Science

Dominican College of Tarlac
College Department
College of Education
SY. 2022-2023
ETHICS
GENERAL EDUCATION SUBJECT
GE8 - ETHICS
CHAPTER 4:
THE ACT
Lesson 1: Human Acts
Lesson 2: Reason and Impartiality
Lesson 3: Feelings and Moral Decision
Making
GE8 - ETHICS
“ONLY HUMAN BEING CAN BE ETHICAL”
Only human beings can be Ethical (lifted from the book of

De Guzman, (2017) – Ethics: Principles of Ethical
Behaviour in Modern Society)
Only human beings are rational,

autonomous, and self-conscious
Only human beings can act that can be

labeled morally or immorally
Only human being are part of the moral

community
3
LESSON 1:
HUMAN ACTS
4
HUMAN ACTS VS ACTS OF MAN
Not all acts

are human
acts! 5
NOT ALL ACTS OF MAN ARE HUMAN ACTS
HUMAN ACTS ACTS OF MAN
• An act that • Acts that man

proceeds from performs
the deliberate inadvertently
freewill of man and without
the exercise of
free choice
Immanuel Kant
6
THE THREE-FOLD ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACTS
CHAPTER 4 – LESSON 1
THREE-FOLD ELEMENTS OF HUMANS
KNOWLEDGE FREEDOM
Has intellectual knowledge in Acted under the control of the
doing the act and the awareness will without influence,
to the means and end of act constraints or force
VOLUNTARINESS
Presence of knowledge and freedom.
A voluntary act is a willful act.
Immanuel Kant
8
HUMAN ACTS VS ACTS OF MAN
Only human acts have moral worth,

thus can be judged either right or
wrong.
Only human acts can hold man

responsible and accountable.
9
MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS
MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS
▰ Modifiers of Human Acts refer to the factors that affect

the degree or the intensity of the morality of an act.
▰ Ignorance
Refers to How good or how
bad is the human act ▰ Concupiscence
They lessen or increase the
Affecting the degree of ▰ Fear responsibility of the agent of
responsibility/accountability/
culpability of the moral agent. ▰ Violence the action
▰ Habit
11
1. IGNORANCE
▰ Ignorance is different from Innocence
▰ Ignorance is the absence of knowledge in a
person who is required to know what he
doesn’t know.
▰ Innocence means absence of knowledge in a
person who is not required to know what he
doesn’t know.
▰ Two types of Ignorance:
▻ Vincible Ignorance
12
▻ Invincible Ignorance
1. IGNORANCE
Vincible Ignorance is a conquerable ignorance.
Vincible ignorance can easily be reminded through
ordinary diligence and reasonable efforts and
therefore a vincibly ignorant person is culpable of his
action.
Invincible Ignorance is an unconquerable

ignorance. It is the type in which a person without
being aware of it or lack the means to rectify it,
hence, it is also called inculpable ignorance.
13
1. IGNORANCE
▰ Invincible ignorance renders an
involuntary. A person cannot be held
morally liable if he is not aware of his
state of ignorance.
Ex. A waiter who is not aware that the food

he is serving has been poisoned cannot be
held responsible for the murder
14
1. IGNORANCE
▰ Vincible ignorance does not destroy but lessens
the voluntariness and the corresponding
accountability over the act.
▰ Though it decreases voluntariness, increases the
accountability over the resultant act. Insofar as it
willed to persist, increases the accountability.
Certainly, refusing to rectify the ignorance implies
malice. And the malice is greater when ignorance
is used as an excuse for not doing the right thing.
15
2. CONCUPISCENCE
▰ A modifier of human acts that refers to the
bodily desire of man sometimes called
“passion”
▰ Always means to satisfy the body.
▰ Among others, concupiscence are;
▻ Desire, anger, hope, despair, love,
hatred, sorrow, etc.
▰ Two kinds of Concupiscence: Antecedent
and Consequent 16
2. CONCUPISCENCE
Antecedent Concupiscence is
passions that suddenly flare up
without approval of the will or mind.
Consequent Concupiscence is
when the will or mind acts in favor of
the antecedent.
17
2. CONCUPISCENCE
▰ Antecedent Concupiscence
does not destroy but lessens
the voluntariness of an act.
▰ Antecedent concupiscence
does not destroy the
voluntariness of an act.
18
3. FEAR
▰ It is defined as the disturbance of the mind of a
person who is confronted by an impending danger
or harm to himself or loved ones.
▰ Since fear desires to evade an impending evil, its
goal is nothing else but to safeguard the self from
the anticipated evil.
▰ Two Acts under the state of Fear

▻ Action out of Fear (from fear or because of fear)
19
▻ Action with Fear (or in fear)
3. FEAR
▰ Running from someone who is

trying to kill you. (Action out of
fear)
▰ Walking along the dark alley to

get home. (Action with fear)
20
3. FEAR
▰ Acts done out of fear are voluntary; but in
certain instances, acts done out of fear
may be involuntary
▰ Acts done with fear are voluntary,
although they are unpleasant to the agent
▰ Fear as a disturbance of the mind lessens
but doesn’t destroy voluntariness.
21
4. VIOLENCE
▰ Violence, force, and compulsion are
defined in ethics as the application or use
of physical power or external force on a
person by another for the purpose of
compelling him to do something against his
will.
▰ Violence is different from a threat.
Otherwise, if violence appears as a threat,
then it is not violence at all but fears. 22
4. VIOLENCE
▰ Physical actions resulting from violence
are involuntary by themselves. This
means that the act by which the agent is
forced to do is involuntary in as much as
he does not will it.
▰ If the agent consents to do an act that
proceeds from the use of force, then, the
act becomes voluntary; hence the agent
is responsible for it. 23
5. HABIT
▰ Habit is defined as a constant and

easy way of doing things acquired
by the repetition of the same act.
▰ Once habits are acquired, it would

be very difficult to eradicate them,
because they can make the agent
act spontaneously and even
automatically. 24
5. HABIT
▰ Habits do not destroy voluntariness, and
actions performed by “the force of habit”
are imputable to man.
▰ If a habit is acquired involuntarily, (like the
use of profane language during
childhood), the existence of the habit and
the acts which proceed unintentionally
from the habit will lack voluntariness and
responsibility so long as the agent
remains ignorant of the existence of the
25
habit.
CLASSIFICATION OF HUMAN ACTS
- IN RELATION TO THE WILL
- IN RELATION TO REASON
HUMAN ACTS IN RELATION TO THE WILL
Elicited Acts Commanded Acts

Acts are started by the Acts are begun in the will, performed
by the will, completed by the will
will, performed by the will through another medium which is
and completed by the will under the control of the will
Controlling emotions.
“I wish”, “I want”, “I like”
Observable actions like running.
27
ELEMENTS OF ELICITED ACTS
Counsel
Consent
Wish Intention “judgment” or
‘decide what
“Desire” “Attainability” “do I really need
means to use”
that?”
Command Fruition
Choice “interplay “satisfaction of
‘right to pick” between intellect attaining desired
and the will end”
28
TYPES OF COMMANDED ACTS
INTERNAL EXTERNAL MIXED ACTS

ACTS ACTS
Actions by man by
way of internal Acts that are affected by Acts that include the
mental powers under bodily powers of man under use of both body
the command of the the command of the will and mental powers
will
e.g., Act of remembering, e.g., eating, jumping, e.g., taking exam,

imagination and singing driving, debating
controlling anger
29
HUMAN ACTS IN RELATION TO REASON
GOOD ACTS/ EVIL ACTS/ INDIFFERENT/

MORAL ACTS IMMORAL ACTS AMORAL ACTS
Actions “in Actions “in it stands in no

harmony with the contradiction to positive relation to
dictates of right the dictates of the dictates of right
reason” right reason reason
e.g., Businesses e.g., selling e.g., walking,

paying the right expired products running, playing
amount of taxes
30
LESSON 2:
REASON AND IMPARTIALITY
1
The ultimate basis for ethics is clear:

human behavior has consequences for
the welfare of others
We are capable of acting toward

others in such a way as to increase
or decrease the quality of their
lives.
2
Reason and impartiality are not absolute to any particular

group of people, while morality is absolute
Whatever is considered wrong morally within a certain

group cannot be debated through reason. Morality decides
the outcomes first and then employs reason to justify it
For impartiality, fairness is given more importance where

people are supposed to be treated equally before the law
While morality may apply generally to a particular group of

people, the same cannot be said of reason and impartiality
because the two take a more individualized approach.
3
REASON
▰ Reason is the capacity for consciously making sense
of things, establishing and verifying facts, applying
logic, and changing or justifying practices, institutions,
and beliefs based on new existing information.
▰ Reason is sometimes referred to as rationality.
▰ Reasoning is associated with thinking, cognition, and
intellect.
▰ The philosophical field of logic studies ways in which
humans reason formally through argument
4
REASON
▰ Reason is the basis or motive for an action, decision, or
conviction. It is the capacity for logical, rational, and
analytic thought; for consciously making sense of things
▰ Since human beings are rational, they have ‘freewill to
strive for perfection”
▰ Fulfillment and well-rounded development bring happiness
to humans. In order to be ethical, humans must do actions
that express rationality
▰ Moral judgment must be backed by the best arguments
and reasons for us to arrive with the best decision in a
5
situation
IMPARTIALITY
▰ Morality requires impartiality with regard to the moral
factors affected by a violation of a moral rule. Morality
requires the impartial consideration of each individual’s
interest.
▰ Evenhandedness or fair-mindedness is a principle of
justice holding that decisions should be based on
objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias, self-
interest prejudice, or preferring the benefit of one person
over another for improper reasons.
▰ Impartiality makes no discrimination as to nationality, race,
religious beliefs, class, or political opinions. 6
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF IMPARTIALITY
▰ In the Euthyphro, Socrates expresses

astonishment that a young man would
prosecute his own father for murder.
▰ The conventional assumption he seems to
be making is that filial relationships
impose special constraints that may
override other considerations, even in the
gravest matter.
7
▰ For Euthyphro, by contrast, a murder is a

murder, the fact it was committed by his
father has no bearing upon what he is
required to do about it. He must prosecute
his father just as he would a stranger.
▰ This brief passage can serve as an
emblem of a perplexing range of problems
that bedevil ethical theory.
8
1. We grant the powerful and persistent force of self-

interest in our lives, and yet, morality must
somehow give us reasons for constraining such
motives;
2. We grant that rules and principles of conduct will be
useless or counter-productive in purely local or short-
range terms, and yet morality must give us
reasons for acting in principle in spite of it;
3. We grant that our favorites and friends have special
claims on our attention and yet, morality must give
us reasons for occasionally denying such claims.
9
CONSEQUENCES OF THE FUNDAMENTAL
PRINCIPLE OF IMPARTIALITY
It establishes one of its key

values: non-discrimination, which
is one of the most important
elements of all aspects of the
protection of the human being:
human rights law, humanitarian
law, and refugee law.
11
▰ Impartiality is one of the more commonly

recognized aspects of the role of the
Mediator.
▰ This does not mean that the mediator
should somehow become inhuman and
not have a feeling of bias towards one
party or another, but that/he or she
practices in a way that minimizes any
manifestation of this bias. 12
▰ Impartiality serves a purpose in

supporting conflict resolution whether
we are a mediator or not.
▰ The mediator creates a channel for
communication and not an obstacle to
it and remaining impartial allows for
the channel to be as unimpeded as
possible. 13
MORALITY, thus, requires that

we should NOT play favorites,
manipulate rules to our personal
advantage, or make ad hoc
exceptions for ourselves. In that
sense it requires us to be
Impartial.
14
LESSON 3:
FEELINGS AND MORAL DECISION
MAKING
15
FEELINGS AND MORAL DECISION MAKING
▰ Broadly stated that ethics is “concerned with

making sense of intuitions” about what is right
and good. We do this by reasoning our
feelings.
▰ Biologists verify that ‘Emotion is never truly
divorced from decision-making, even when it
is channeled aside by an effort of the will.”
▰ Moral philosopher Mary Midgley writes
“Sensitivity requires rationality to complete it,
and vice versa”.
16
ETHICS VS FEELINGS
ETHICS VS FEELINGS
▰ Many times, there’s a conflict between what we naturally feels and what
is considered to be ethical.
▰ The problem is most of our feelings in today’s world are unethical,
politically incorrect, or even outright harmful.
18
1. GROUPISM
Natural Feeling I am part of a group. I am supposed to help this group become

better. I am also supposed to compete with other groups
Reasoning Being part of a herd made it easier for our ancestors to survive
in the wild. There were so many survival benefits that
belonging to a group brought. Naturally, our ancestors started
developing good feelings about belonging to a group
Ethical Help the group. Help other groups too,
viewpoint there is no compelling reason to compete in today’s times of
peace
19
2. PATRIOTISM
Natural Feeling I was born in a place. I am supposed to help people in the

geographical vicinity around me. Those outside the border
don’t deserve that much attention as those inside the border
do.
Reasoning Patriotism is Groupism on a higher scale. There have been
countless stories of propaganda by governments to motivate
people to join their wars to fight people over borders. We,
humans, tends to justify these efforts as noble
Ethical Wars are always bad. There is no reason to be proud of your
viewpoint country just because you were born in it
20
3. DUNBAR’S NUMBER
Natural Feeling I cannot maintain more than 150 stable relationships
Reasoning Our brains have limited capacity and it becomes mentally hard
to maintain more relationships.
Ethical Acceding to the Dunbar’s number promotes groupism. Just as

viewpoint we push ourselves to become better human’s we should also
try to push the Dunbar number further.
21
4. NEGATIVE FEELINGS TO CONTENT ON SOCIAL
NETWORKS
Natural Feeling I hate what’s being posted on Facebook. They are just stupid
selfies, people gloating their achievement or just distracting,
unproductive content
Reasoning Any of us have been taught to compete with others since our
childhood. We tend to compare ourselves with other
Ethical We don’t have to compete with our friends, we can applaud

viewpoint their life achievements without comparing our lives with theirs.
22
STEPS IN MORAL
REASONING MODEL
STEPS IN MORAL REASONING MODEL
Identify the problem. What facts make this an ethical

situation?
Identify the potential issues involved. What level of ethical

issues are we dealing with: systematic, corporate, or
individual?
Review relevant ethical guidelines. Given the facts and the
ethical issues, what alternative actions are possible in
this situation?
Know relevant laws and regulations. Who will be

affected by the alternatives and to what degree?
24
STEPS IN MORAL REASONING MODEL
Obtain consultation. Use ethical principles to decide on the
best alternative. The ethics of each of the most plausible
alternatives are assessed using ethical principles or rules
Consider possible and probable courses of action. Can the
best alternative be put into effect? Having decided on one
alternative, we need to see whether there are any practical
constraints that might prevent that alternative from being
acted upon
List the consequences of the probable courses of action
Decide on what appears to be the best course of action.

Implementing the best alternative
25
SCENARIO:
Ana has a brother who is unemployed and

no longer enrolled in school. She observed
that her brother consistently goes home late
after midnight. He frequently locks himself in
his room when he's at home. When Ana
decided to check on him once, she
discovered his brother using illegal drugs in
his room. What will Ana have to do?
26
SCENARIO:
STEP 1: Identify the problem. Gather the facts.
▰ Ana has an unemployed brother

▰ Ana’s brother always comes home late after
midnight
▰ Ana’s brother often locks himself in his room
▰ Ana’s brother is using illicit drugs
27
SCENARIO:
STEP 2: Determine the ethical issues
▰ Ana will report his brother to the authorities because

what he is doing is illegal, and very detrimental to
his health.
▰ Ana will not report his brother to the authorities
because they are siblings, and it is better to keep
the entire family together
28
SCENARIO:
STEP 3: What alternative actions are possible in

this situation?
▰ Ana can talk to his brother directly

▰ Ana can tell her parents
▰ Ana can report it to the authorities
▰ Ana will pretend that she hasn’t seen anything.
29
SCENARIO:
STEP 4: Know relevant laws and regulations.
Comprehensive Dangerous Act of 2002

(Protector/Coddler) – Any person who knowingly and
willfully consents to the unlawful acts provided for in this
act and uses his/her influence, power, or position in
shielding, harboring, screening, or facilitating the escape
of any person he/she knows, nor has reasonable
grounds to believe on or suspects, has violated the
provisions of this act in order to prevent arrest,
30
prosecution, and conviction of the violator.
SCENARIO:
STEP 5: Use ethical principles to decide on the

best alternative.
▰ Ana cannot confront her brother directly.
▰ More than Ana, her parents have the authority to
make decisions about his brother.

▰ Ana can advise her parents to speak with her
brother and counsel him to complete his

education or look for a job, in order to steer her
brother’s attention away from drugs.
31
SCENARIO:
STEP 6: Can the best alternative be put

into effect?
Yes, since Ana knows her parents love them,

and they will listen to her.
32
SCENARIO:
STEP 7: List the consequences
▰ If Ana directly confronts her brother, he might threaten

him.
▰ If Ana informs her parents that her brother is doing drugs:
▻ her parents can accuse her of lying about his brother
▻ her parents report it to the authorities and allow his
brother to be put in jail/ rehabilitation
▻ her parents shall counsel his brother to stop doing
drugs, continue his study or look for a job. 33
SCENARIO:
STEP 8: Make a decision. Implement the best

alternative
▰ What would be Ana’s decision? Or the better

question would be, if you were Ana, what
would you do?
34

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Dominican College of Tarlac

Only human beings can be Ethical (lifted from the book of

Only human beings are rational,

Only human beings can act that can be

Only human being are part of the moral

Not all acts

HUMAN ACTS ACTS OF MAN

• An act that • Acts that man

Only human acts have moral worth,

Only human acts can hold man

▰ Modifiers of Human Acts refer to the factors that affect

Invincible Ignorance is an unconquerable

Ex. A waiter who is not aware that the food

▰ Two Acts under the state of Fear

▰ Running from someone who is

▰ Walking along the dark alley to

▰ Habit is defined as a constant and

▰ Once habits are acquired, it would

Elicited Acts Commanded Acts

INTERNAL EXTERNAL MIXED ACTS

e.g., Act of remembering, e.g., eating, jumping, e.g., taking exam,

GOOD ACTS/ EVIL ACTS/ INDIFFERENT/

Actions “in Actions “in it stands in no

e.g., Businesses e.g., selling e.g., walking,

The ultimate basis for ethics is clear:

We are capable of acting toward

Reason and impartiality are not absolute to any particular

Whatever is considered wrong morally within a certain

For impartiality, fairness is given more importance where

While morality may apply generally to a particular group of

▰ In the Euthyphro, Socrates expresses

▰ For Euthyphro, by contrast, a murder is a

1. We grant the powerful and persistent force of self-

It establishes one of its key

▰ Impartiality is one of the more commonly

▰ Impartiality serves a purpose in

MORALITY, thus, requires that

▰ Broadly stated that ethics is “concerned with

Natural Feeling I am part of a group. I am supposed to help this group become

Natural Feeling I was born in a place. I am supposed to help people in the

Natural Feeling I cannot maintain more than 150 stable relationships

Ethical Acceding to the Dunbar’s number promotes groupism. Just as

Ethical We don’t have to compete with our friends, we can applaud

Identify the problem. What facts make this an ethical

Identify the potential issues involved. What level of ethical

Know relevant laws and regulations. Who will be

Decide on what appears to be the best course of action.

Ana has a brother who is unemployed and

STEP 1: Identify the problem. Gather the facts.

▰ Ana has an unemployed brother

STEP 2: Determine the ethical issues

▰ Ana will report his brother to the authorities because

STEP 3: What alternative actions are possible in

▰ Ana can talk to his brother directly

STEP 4: Know relevant laws and regulations.

Comprehensive Dangerous Act of 2002

STEP 5: Use ethical principles to decide on the

▰ More than Ana, her parents have the authority to