Acts as

Willfully Done
Act as Willfully Done
- An act is done "willfully" if done
voluntarily and intentionally and with
the specific intent to do something the
law forbids.

- -One essential attribute of an act to be

truly human is the willingness to do the
act.
 Elicited or Commanded

ELICITED ACTS Commanded Acts

simply will-acts - acts begun actions that are carried out by
and completed in the will. the mind and body that are
example of this is INTENTION. ordered by the will.
-Body-mind acts which are
done to carry out the elicited act
of the subject
Will
- the faculty of choice or decision, by
which we determine which actions we
shall perform.

- the will is naturally seen as the point at

which we exercise our freedom of
action – our control of how we act.
Modifiers of the Will:
Passions and Habits
 Passion or
concupiscence
-are either tendencies towards
desirable objects or
tendencies away from undesirable or
harmful things..
 PRINCIPLE
Antecedent Consequent
Passion Passion

•Antecedent Passions lessens •Consequent Passions do not

freedom and diminish the lessen voluntariness but may
responsibility of human actions even increase responsibility.
because they tend to blind the
judgment of the intellect and
block the freedom of the will.
Habits
is a constant and easy way of doing
things acquired by the repetition of
the same act.
Principle of
Habits
 •Habits do not destroy voluntariness, and
actions performed by the force of habits are
imputable to man.
 •If a habit has been contracted absolutely
involuntary and unintentionally, it will lack
voluntariness and responsibility as long as the person
concerned remains ignorance of the existence of
such habit.
•If an evil/bad habits has been contracted voluntarily,
but a positive and constant effort is being made to
counteract/resist/deter it, the acts inadvertently
proceeding from the habit are considered involuntary
and not imputable to man.
Feelings As Instinctive Response to Moral
Dilemmas

-Some ethicists hold that

moral judgments at their best should
also be emotional.
 Feelings as obstacles to Making the
Right Decisions

- the faculty of choice or decision, by

which we determine which actions we
shall perform.

- the will is naturally seen as the point at

which we exercise our freedom of
action – our control of how we act.
Ethical Subjectivism

-Ethical subjectivism is a meta-

ethical theory, it holds that the truth
or falsity of ethical
propositions is dependent on the
feelings, attitude, or standards of a
person or group of persons.
It denies that there is objectivity in
morality.
 • Controversial Ethical topic: Abortion

First Group Abortion is immoral!

Second Group Abortion must be tolerated.

Third Group No moral stance is objectively right and wrong, your moral
opinions
are merely based on your feelings!
 • Homosexuality is wrong!

• • He is not stating a fact about homosexuality, he is just reporting his

feelings towards it.
Analyzing Ethical Subjectivism

- • Positive side:
- We are to identify our moral principles
by simply following our own feelings,
not by what
- society dictates.
 Problem 1:

• It provides a weak foundation when dealing with acts like rape,

bullying, and
slavery.

• We cannot say that these acts are morally incorrect, we can only
express our negative feelings towards it.

• We believe and claim that our stance represents the “truth.”

 Problem 2:
• Implies that each of us is infallible in expressing our feelings
about moral issues.

• We can be wrong in our moral evaluation.

• Counter-argument: “If Ethical Subjectivism is correct, then

each of us is infallible in our moral judgments as long as we are
speaking sincerely. But we are not infallible – we may be
mistaken, even when we are speaking sincerely. Therefore,
Ethical Subjectivism cannot be correct”.
 Problem 3:

• Subjectivism cannot account for the fact of disagreement in

ethics.

• Counter-argument: “When A says, “X is morally acceptable”

and B says “X is
morally unacceptable”, they are disagreeing. But if Ethical
subjectivism is correct,
there would be no disagreement between A and B. Therefore,
Ethical Subjectivism
cannot be correct.”
Subjectivism
vs.
Emotivism
 Subjectivism

= “I disapprove of hazing.”

• Seen as a statement of fact about the speaker.

• Can be true or false.
 Emotivism

• ≠ “I disapprove of hazing.”
• = “Do not participate in hazing.”

• Does not state a fact about the speaker at all.

 Evaluating Emotivism: Faults

1. It suggests that in ethical disputes, we can only appeal to emotion,

not reason. This situation can bring about anarchy.

2. It is against deliberate discussions about ethical differences.

3. It fails to distinguish moral judgements from expressions of

personal preferences
4. Personal taste does not require to be supported by reason. Moral
statements require backing by reasons. In the absence of sensible
rationale, they are merely capricious and ignorable.

5. The theory reduced morality to mere matters of feelings without

reasons. The fact is moral truths are truths of reasons.
Feelings Can Help in Making the Right
Decisions
- Feelings Can Help in Making the Right
Decisions
- There are situations in which our
feelings and likings are relevant to the
rightness of our decisions and actions.
Christian Philosophy of love is
basically a string of liking, desire, or
emotion.
- Moral compasses are strongly
influenced by the fleeting forces of
disgust, fondness, or fear
 Six ways to Control Your
emotions and Make Better Decisions

Pause and Don't always

assess the rely on your Put it in writing
situation. gut.

Narrow your Ask the

Options majority. Avoid burnout