The Moral Agent (ETHICS)
Man as a Moral Agent
"Moral" comes from the Latin "mores"
referring to society's patterns,
standards, rules of doing things.
"Agent" comes from the Latin "agere",
to do, act.
A moral agent is "a being who is
capable of those actions that have
moral quality and which can be
properly denominated good or evil in
a moral sense."
What is a sufficient condition for
moral agency? - It will suffice if the
agent has the capacity to conform to
some of the external requirements of
morality. according to the Kantian
version, it is also essential that the
agents should have the capacity to rise
above their feelings and passions and
act for the same of the moral law.
The Purpose -driven Moral Agent
-Where do you go (quo vadis), moral agent?
REV. CHARLES COLLENS, S.J.
It is based on the principles laid down by St.
Thomas Aquinas. "Every human act is
directed toward an end".
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
The highest good or end is happiness but
the absolutely final end is God.
ARISTOTLE
End which is sought for its own sake, that is,
it is no longer sought for the sake of another
end, is the summum bonum, the highest
good.
Thomistic Principles by Alfredo Panizo;
regarding the end or purpose of the
moral agent.
1) Every agent that performs an action acts
for the sake of the end or purpose to be
attained.
2) Every agent acts for an ultimate end.
3) Every agent has the power of moving for
an end which is suitable or good for him
"From the Christian point of view, a human
person's destiny in the world is not only to
achieve cultural and moral perfection, but to
attain the eternal happiness of the soul after
death of the body. To know, to love, and to
serve God is our present duty. To see God
himself, Uncreated Splendor, face to face,
to be united to Him by an unbroken and
everlasting operation of the mind, shall be
our eternal destiny.”
The Fundamental Option
The fundamental option is "the stance or
position I decide to take vis-a-vis the
Absolute Value (God) which then
influences ultimately all my other
individual actions and decisions."
One that proceeds to the end expected
of men, the determination to abide by
such end; a free choice to say "yes", like
a "yes" to God, an affirmative response
to God's invitation to follow His way.
No Pre-fixed Plan for Man "There are no
signs in the heavens"
According to some 20th Century thinkers
there are no pre-existing directions.
To the process philosophers like Teilhard de
Chardin (1948) and Alfred North Whitehead,
(1996) whatever a human person is or will
be a result of a creative process.
 A human person has to create his/her
end, purpose , or directions.
 He/she will be totally responsible for
what he/she will be.
The existentialists and process philosophers
do not want any other being to be co-
responsible with them for what they decide
to do. In other words, the fundamental
option for theses thinkers is to remain open
to what they are able to create, discover, or
invent which will guide them to the next
chapter of their lives, to choose whatever
their self -invention leads them to, which of
course, is difficult to imagine.
But other groups, like Martin Heidegger,
Gabriel Marcel and Martin Buber see
themselves as being-with-others,
inseparably related to their fellow man.
"Let us learn to live together"
Together we through life, designing our end
and purposes, guided by messages
unveiled in a life of dialogue with ourselves,
with other selves, and with the world.
Consequently, the end purpose, or direction
of being-with-others, is what they discover
as they learn to live together.
The Development of Moral Character of
the Moral Agent
Share an experience that shaped your
values and moral formation. It may be a
conversation that determined your career,
an event that changed the course of your
life or anything else that you believe has
determined what you have become.
DEFINING MOMENT IN ONE'S LIFE
DEFINING MOMENT- refers to a significant
life-changing event or moment that
reverberates throughout your career and
personal life and so changes everything.
"You make thousands of decisions every
day. Each choice shapes what is to come in
some small way, but occasionally, a
decision has the magnitude to be life-
changing."
This kind of moment can change who we
are and what we value, with reverberations
throughout our careers and personal lives.
Relationship Between Moral Acts and
Character
This essay examined the question of
whether moral character is necessary for
moral behavior. I argued that moral
character is relevant to moral behavior in
two important ways. First, given that I am
already aware of what I ought to do (i.e. of
what the "moral" action is), moral character
does moral actions more readily- more
easily and more willingly that one who does
not. I also argued that moral character
matters in a second, much more
fundamental way: the person who has
moral character is able to recognize what is
moral and occasions for moral behavior in a
way that those who lack moral character
cannot. Those who lack moral character
often fail to act morally because they simply
fail, in many instances, to recognize the
morally relevant aspects of the situations
they find themselves in.