ETHICS

Module 3:
Moral Standards and Human
Freedom

Prepared by: Ms. Kimberly De Guzman Yoro

MORAL STANDARDS
 At the end of this module,
you are expected to...

OBJECTIVES 1 To understand moral standards in relation to human life.

2 To learn the issue of voluntariness in human acts

“Man can only be moral if he is fully aware of his actions. Brutes have no morality for they are not
guided by reason hence they are not responsible for their actions and are not classified as human acts.”

1. Man is the only Moral Being – due to three things:

a) man is capable of action,
b) man has intellect and
c) man has free will.
Being capable of action man can employ his bodily activities to perform actions. With man’s intellect he
can discern the good or evilness of his actions and at the same time equate the repercussions of his
actions once asked to justify them. Free will is present and inherent in men unless they are idiots and
with that they have the freedom of choice whether to perform or not the action at hand.
2. Man is a the highest form of Animal – endowed with intellect, man can decide what’s best for him
although their desires are the same with brutes such as hunger, thirst, pain and sensual needs; man
moves based on reason while their lower counterparts have only instinct. Sentient beings like animals
rely on instinct which are natural biological drives, while men can decide whether an act is moral or
Enter
not. title

3. Man is a rational animal – Ratio is the Latin term for “reason” that means man has the
power to discern things based on his previous knowledge of things. Unlike brutes, man
has the power of abstraction – this is his ability to correlate ideas previously based on
his mind as well as his understanding of the situation at hand, thereby giving him a
logical or correct decision.
4. The intellect and the will – they are correlative with each other because the intellect is
the agent of knowing while the will is the agent of choice. From intellect – knowledge is
stored this will then guide the will to decide which is basically “good”. They co-exist and
from their
Enter partnership “virtue” is born.
title
VOLUNTARINESS
OF
HUMAN
ACTS
“A voluntary act is under the control of the intellect and the will and must be answerable for their actions.”

1. Perfect voluntariness – when a person acts with full knowledge and complete freedom –
we are fully aware of what we are doing
2. Imperfect voluntariness – when a person acts without full understanding and no freedom – we are
made to perform acts we did not like
3. Simple voluntariness – it is the disposition of a person doing the activity regardless to his liking or not
– this may be positive or negative. The former is by making him to do something while the other is to
prevent or stop him from doing things.
4. Conditional voluntariness - it is the situation when the person was forced by
circumstances or under duress which he would not do under normal circumstances.
Example is being extorted money by a neighborhood toughie in exchange for his
“protection”.
 MODIFIERS
OF
HUMAN ACTS

Prepared by: Ms. Kimberly De Guzman Yoro

1. Ignorance – this simply means absence of knowledge. A doer’s responsibility for his actions may
be increased or decreased due to this. A person may have committed an act for he is unaware of it.

There are three types of ignorance and they are:

1. Vincible ignorance that can easily be corrected such as calling a person with a wrong name or
entering the wrong classroom.
2. Invincible ignorance – cannot be rectified an example is a waiter who gave the wrong food to the
customer or a killer that claimed the life of a wrong victim.
3. Affected ignorance – is the doer’s attempt to escape responsibility such as a suspect denying his
complicity in a crime he has done.
2. Passions – Psychic responses that may adhere or abhor them to either desirable or undesirable
tendencies. Positive emotions such as love, desire or hope are manifestations of the first while hatred,
horror and despair are example of negative emotions.

3. Fear – it is the disturbance of the mind when confronted by danger to himself or a loved one.
Actions whether done with fear or out of fear may affect one’s action. Acts done with fear are voluntary
while acts done out of fear are two different things.

4. Violence – it is physical force given to a free person to coerce him to do or not to do something.

5. Habits – readiness to perform habitual acts. Habits are done mechanically that thinking is no longer
necessary may either be good or bad. It is second-nature to the doer and doing it is instinct.
THANK YOU
FOR
LISTENING!

Prepared by: Ms. Kimberly De Guzman Yoro

 ETHICS
Module 4:
Morality

Prepared by: Ms. Kimberly De Guzman Yoro

 At the end of this module,
you are expected to...

OBJECTIVES 1. To know the Two Fundamental

Questions
2. To understand the Norms of
Morality
3. To learn what are Defective
Moralities
THE NORMS
OF
MORALITY

Prepared by: Ms. Kimberly De Guzman Yoro

Rationally speaking man acts in accordance to his nature, that human nature quantify as
justification as to why an act be it good or bad is performed. In doing so it conflicts with the higher
intelligence endowed to men.

Human nature dictates that man has to satiate his hunger no matter what and may be considered
moral if we are to consider human nature. If man decides to study the situation by not initially grabbing
the “opportunity”, then he acted in relation to the ultimate norm.

In truth we can never reach divine status but we must keep in mind that there is no conflict with the
Natural law and the Eternal law (the Law of God). The Natural is patterned after the Eternal Law, man
must adhere to his nature of man which is using his intellect unlike human nature that is only to follow
his passions.
Rationally speaking man acts in accordance to his nature, that human nature quantify as
justification as to why an act be it good or bad is performed. In doing so it conflicts with the higher
intelligence endowed to men.

Human nature dictates that man has to satiate his hunger no matter what and may be considered
moral if we are to consider human nature. If man decides to study the situation by not initially grabbing
the “opportunity”, then he acted in relation to the ultimate norm.

In truth we can never reach divine status but we must keep in mind that there is no conflict with the
Natural law and the Eternal law (the Law of God). The Natural is patterned after the Eternal Law, man
must adhere to his nature of man which is using his intellect unlike human nature that is only to follow
his passions.
DEFECTIVE
NORMS
OF
MORALITY

Prepared by: Ms. Kimberly De Guzman Yoro

Human Nature is a simple foundation of man but there are philosophies and they are:

1. Hedonism – this is also known as the Philosophy of Pleasure that pleasure alone is the
primary purpose of man’s existence. It is true man desires for happiness but a happy
life need not be composed of pleasure alone.

2. Utilitarianism – is simply the ends of an action must be good, if it is not then the action
is unjustified. From the word “utility” it means that anything that is of use to the agent is
moral. There are two types of utilitarianism and they are individual utilitarianism and
social utilitarianism – the first is known as egoism which is the definition given – the
agent is the one who will gain. Altruism is the other term for social utilitarianism but
the receiving factor is the society where the agent belongs.
3. Moral Rationalism – simply states that human reason is the only foundation of morality
as postulated by German Philosopher Immanuel Kant which he dubbed as “Categorical
Imperative”. However as Kant further explained we have to do good because we ought
to be good in doing so he is implying blind obedience. The general rule is that everyone thinks the
same for men are reasonable so conflict is a remote possibility.

4. Moral Positivism – The State is the foundation of morality since laws are
geared for the common good apparently, an act is moral if he obeys the law and evil if
he disobeys it.
5. Moral Evolutionism – morality just like evolution is ever-changing until it reached its perfect form.
Friedrich Nietsche added that man was born with hardly any basis for right and wrong and their
collective lives is a never-ending struggle for change until they reach perfection.

6. Moral Sensism – Contrary to Moral Evolutionism men are born with a special moral
sense (not reason) that is comparable to the five senses.

7. Communism - They believed in the philosophy of material dialectics that means two material
things are the only ingredients necessary for change. They deny the existence of God, the free will
and immortality for they do not matter being immaterial.
THANK YOU
FOR
LISTENING!

Prepared by: Ms. Kimberly De Guzman Yoro