Sir Jojo

Aquinas’ Moral Philosophy

a. Law

● Eternal law is nothing else than

the type of Divine Wisdom, as
directing all actions and
movements.
● Natural law is the rational
creature’s participation in the
eternal law. It is the sharing in
the Eternal Law by intelligent
creatures.

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 Aquinas’ Moral Philosophy

● Human law is commonly

interpreted as positive laws
which are enacted and enforced
in human societies.
● Divine law is God’s law as
divulged in the scripture.

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 Aquinas’ Moral Philosophy

b. Elements of Moral Act

● The object of a human act is

what one would see if he were to
witness the act itself.
● The end of a human act is what a
person had in mind when he
performed an act.
● The circumstances of a human
act refer to the different
particular characteristics that
encompassed the act.

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 Aquinas’ Moral Philosophy

c. Happiness and virtues

● For Aquinas, every human act is

directed towards ends.
● He claimed that man’s final end is
happiness.
● Man is unable to reach his
supernatural end through his
natural abilities alone.
● Man must receive the infused virtues
from God to attain his supernatural
and ultimate end which
supernatural union with

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 Aquinas’ Moral Philosophy

c. Happiness and virtues

Two types of infused virtues: moral and

theological.

● Moral virtue directs man’s appetite

so that it seeks and chooses only
what is good. There are four moral
(also called cardinal) virtues:
prudence, justice, temperance, and
fortitude.
● The theological virtues
to take part in God’s
faith, hope, and charity.
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Immanuel Kant and Right Theory

a. The Good Will

● What is good about the good will is

not what it achieves. It doesn’t
derive its goodness from
successfully producing some good
result. Rather, it is good ‘in itself’.
● If someone tries their hardest to do
what is morally right but they don’t
succeed, then we should still praise
their efforts as morally good.

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Immanuel Kant and Right Theory

b. Duty

● Kant argues that to have a good will

is to be motivated by duty.
● Morality is a set of principles for
everyone. So the concept of duty is
the concept of a principle for
everyone.
● The good will is a will that chooses
what it does, motivated by the idea
of a principle for everyone.

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Immanuel Kant and Right Theory

Hypothetical and Categorical

Imperatives

● Hypothetical Imperatives are

statements about what you ought to
do, on the assumption of some desire
or goal. They specify a means to an
end.
● Moral duties are not hypothetical.
They are what we ought to do, full
stop. They are your duty regardless
of what you want. They are
‘categorical’.

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 Utilitarianism

Act Utilitarianism and Rule

Utilitarianism

● Act Utilitarianism - is an ethical

philosophy which holds the
principle that the rightness of an act
is determined by its effect in the
general happiness.
● Rule Utilitarianism – maintains that
the principle at issue should be used
to test moral rules, and then the
rules can be utilized
decide on which moral
right or wrong under the
circumstances.
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Sir Jojo