Republic of the Philippines

City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

MGT 108
Good Governance and
Social Responsibility
Module

NOT FOR SALE. EXCLUSIVE FOR GORDON COLLEGE USE ONLY.

 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

Module III – Fundamental Principles of Ethics

I. Introduction
Ethics is a science that investigates the nature of the human conduct. In the
process of investigating the nature of the human conduct, it important that we differentiate
between the human act and the act of man. The distinction between these two is an
important process in the determination of the morality of man’s actions. This chapter
looks into the fundamental principles and postulates of Ethics. These fundamentals
concepts are necessary because they serve as guides in our evaluation and judgment of
the morality of human conduct.

II. Learning Objectives

After studying the module, you will be able to:
• Understand the nature of the human acts
• Differentiate human acts from the acts of man
• Explain the different components of the human acts
• Investigate critically the concept of voluntariness of the human act in relation to the
agent’s culpability.

III. Key Topics and Concepts

The Nature of the Human Act

Human acts are actions that proceed from the deliberate free will of man. These
actions are therefore done with knowledge and consent and willfully carried out by the
person. Human acts are characterized as:

1. The free voluntary acts of man;

2. Acts done with knowledge and consent;
3. Acts which are proper to man as a rational being since man has been gifted with
rationality and freedom of will; and
4. Acts which are conscious and under our control and for which we are responsible.

Acts, therefore in order to be truly human, must be done deliberately, intentionally,

and willfully carried out by the agent. Without knowledge, consent and willful choice on
the part of the doer of the act, there can be no human acts.

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NOT FOR SALE. EXCLUSIVE FOR GORDON COLLEGE USE ONLY.
 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

Acts of man, on the other hand, refer to certain types of actions that are naturally
exhibited by man and as such they are morally indifferent (or neutral) because we cannot
judge them to be either ethical or unethical. Acts of man are therefore natural acts that
we perform by virtue of our nature as animal beings. There are two categories of acts of
man:

1. Natural involuntary action – These are actions of man that are performed
intuitively or involuntarily, e.g., blinking of the eyes, metabolism, perspiration,
beating of the heart.

2. Natural voluntary actions – These are actions that are within the control of man’s
will but only for some period of time, e.g., breathing, sleeping, eating, walking.

It is important to note, however, that there are special circumstances where some
acts of man, particularly the natural voluntary actions, may become human acts and
therefore may be judged to be either moral or immoral.

Human Acts in Relation to Reason

• Good acts are those done by man in harmony with the dictates of right reason.
• Evil acts are those actions done by man in contradiction to the dictates of right
reason.
• Indifferent acts are those acts that are neither good nor evil.

The Voluntariness of the Human Acts

The concept of voluntariness is important in ethics because only voluntary acts

have moral bearing. This means that because human acts are performed by man with
knowledge and consent, he is therefore responsible for his actions. However, the degree
of culpability will, by and large, depend on the degree of his responsibility. The following
are categories of voluntary actions:

a.) Perfect voluntariness – actions performed with full knowledge and with full
consent.

b.) Imperfect voluntariness – actions that occur when there is no perfect knowledge
or consent, or when either or both of the knowledge or consent is partial.

c.) Direct voluntary – actions that are intended for its own sake, either as a means or
as an end, e.g., murder, stealing.

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 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

d.) Indirect voluntary – actions that are not intended for its own sake but which merely
follows as a regrettable consequence of an action, e.g., bombing an enemy’s
hideout that leads to the killing of non-combatants within the area.

Indirect voluntary actions are still considered voluntary for the simple reason that
when we act, we will the whole act including its consequences; and since we place
the cause, we also indirectly will the effect, although this is in itself regrettable.
This means that we are responsible for the consequences of our actions even if
these are not intended. Causa causae es etiam causa causati which means, “the
cause of the cause is also the cause of the thing caused.”

The Moral Principle Involved in Actions Having Two Effects (The Indirect Voluntary
Act)

A difficult question sometimes arises as to whether it would be morally right to do

certain actions from which good as well as bad effects follow; meaning is it morally right
to do an act which entails good as well as bad consequences? The answer to this
question is “yes” provided one follows the following conditions (Panizo, 1964):

1. The action must be morally good in itself, or at least morally indifferent.

2. The good effect of the act must precede the evil effect. The evil effect is morally
allowed to happen as a regrettable consequence.
3. There must be a grave or sufficient reason in doing the act.
4. The evil effect should not outweigh the good effect or, at least, the good effect
should be equivalent in importance to the evil effect.

The Determinants of Morality

The factors that link human acts with their norms are called the determinants of
morality. As the link, the determinants of morality serve as the measure of the goodness
and the evilness of the human act. There are three determinants of morality – the end of
the action, the end of the agent and the circumstances of the act.

1. The End of the Action – this refers to the natural purpose of the act or that in which
the act in its very nature terminates or results, thus, the end of the action of studying
is learning.

2. The End of the Actor – this refers to the intention or the motive of the doer of the
act. This is to be distinguished from the end of the action. The motive of the agent
varies with different individuals, while the end of the act is always the same.

4
NOT FOR SALE. EXCLUSIVE FOR GORDON COLLEGE USE ONLY.
 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

3. Circumstances of the Act – refer to the conditions that affect the human act by
increasing or decreasing the responsibility of the actor. These circumstances of
the act are not considered part of the action itself which means as acts per se can
exist even without the circumstances. However, when acts are performed,
circumstances affect the morality of the act. The following are considered the
circumstances of the act because they can either aggravate or mitigate the
culpability of the actor:

▪ Who – refers to the person or the one whom the act is ascribed.
▪ What – refers to the quality or the quantity of the object of the act.
▪ Where – refers to the place where the act is performed.
▪ How – refers to the manner or mode by which the act is performed.
▪ By what means – refers to the means employed by the actor.
▪ When – refers to the circumstance of time.
▪ Why – refer to the circumstances of end or intention of the act.

The Principles Involved in the Circumstance of the Action

Paul Glenn (1968) writes five principles involving the implications of the
circumstances of the act:

1. An indifferent act can become good or evil through circumstances, e.g., eating
meat is indifferent. However, eating meat on Good Friday intentionally is evil.
2. A good act can become evil through circumstances, e.g., giving money to poor
people is a good action. However, giving money to the same poor people to
buy votes during elections is evil.
3. Ak intrinsically good act can become better or an intrinsically evil act can
become worse through circumstances, e.g., visiting a sick person to comfort him
is a good action. However, not visiting a mother who is sick in the hospital out
of hatred is worse.
4. An evil act can never become good through circumstance, e.g., stealing money
to buy food cannot make the action of stealing good.
5. A good act done with evil means destroys the entire objective goodness of the
act., e.g., giving food to the hungry is a good action. However, giving money to
the hungry through robbery is evil.

5
NOT FOR SALE. EXCLUSIVE FOR GORDON COLLEGE USE ONLY.
 Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Olongapo City Sports Complex, East Tapinac, Olongapo City
Tel. No. (047) 224-2089 loc. 314

IV. Teaching and Learning Materials/Resources

Learning Modules, Lecture Notes, PowerPoint Presentation, Textbooks and
Handbooks, Online Resources (Online Articles & Audio or Video Clips)

V. Learning Task 4

Case 4: Mr. X

Mr. X is a graduating student. He is aware that he has an exam in Math the

following day. Yet he plans to do the usual: partying all night long with his friends. Mr.
X is a born partygoer; he never liked the idea of studying. He is also born cheat,
surviving all the difficult examinations by cheating.

“We don’t need to review! Look bro, I’m about to graduate without having to study
anything since first year!” he boasted to his friends when they told him that they need
to prepare for their math exam. True to his words, Mr. X didn’t review even if his friends
did. He instead prepared a kodigo. “Cheating is bad if you’re caught,” that is, if my
teacher can catch me.” The following day his class took them exam. And he did as
expected. His kodigo approaching him from the back. Mr. X was caught cheating. “Sir,
I’m not cheating, I’m just reading my notes,” the teary-eyed Mr. X would later explain.

Questions:

1. Is Mr. X guilty of cheating? Why or why not? Explain your answer.

2. What is the aggravating circumstance of Mr. X’s act that will increase his moral culpability?

VI. References
Ballada et. al., Good Governance and Social Responsibility, DomDane
Publishers, 2015
Roa, Business Ethics and Social Responsibility, Rex Printing. Inc., 2015

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