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PHL5 PRELIM REVIEWER

Christian Ethics / Moral Theology


- This deals with the study of man as a moral being called by God to respond in freedom and
responsibility to attain the fullness of life in Christ.
On the word, MORAL:
MORAL
A. Etymological definition:
> From the Greek term Ethos meaning custom
> From the Latin term Mos meaning custom/character.
**Custom (pag-uugali; kinaugalian).
On Filipino usage: action done out of habit / tradition (hospitality, use of po and opo, pagmamano etc)

B. Definition
Moral specific kind of behaviour determined by an individual or group, as norm or driterion to be
followed.
**When a behaviour conforms with the norm/criterion, the act is said to be moral (good) and if it does not
conform, it is immoral (bad).

CONTEMPORARY MORAL TRENDS
1. Might is right
- Power is Right.
- The trend: If one has higher status in life than others, his action is said to be right because of his
authority / superiority.
- Additional comments: The endpoint of authority is service and having this kind of belief is said to
outcome bad effects such as having pride.
2. Morals are mores
3. Individual is the measure
- The trend: What is right for me is moral / what caters for your desire, own good is moral.
4. Right is moderation
5. Right is what brings pleasure
- The trend: Anything pleasurable to the senses or anything that makes you feel good is right.
6. Right is the greatest good for the greater number of people.
- The trend: People are right when they always give themselves to offer help and charity to other people.
- Additional comments: If we give charity and benevolence, we make people to become dependable (no
room for development). One must choose the people they are helping.

ETHICAL SYSTEMS
1. DEONTOLOGY
Etymological Def: Deon means duty.
- It is to assess a persons character by how well he or she follows moral rules, even if by doing so tragic
results occur.
- is the normative ethical position that judges the morality of an action based on the actions to rule/rules.
- act according to your duty.
- following what is right.
Example: The case of Robinhood. Even his intention is to help people by stealing to other people, the
action is considered immoral.
2. ALTRUISM
Etymological Def: Atrui means alter / other.
- to help, serve, or benefit others if necessary at the sacrifice of self interest.
- motivates cooperation, brings harmony, giving your whole self to other people.
Example: The love of parents to their children.
3. INTRINSICISM
Etymological Def: INTRINSICism, from Intrinsic meaning belonging to a thing by its very nature.
- is the belief that value is a non-relational characteristics of an object. This means that an object can be
valuable or not, good or bad, without reference to who it is good or bad for, and without reference to the
reason it is good or bad.
- see if the action is right or wrong.
- the value of the act is what is important.
4. SUBJECTIVISM
- belief that is based from feelings, emotions, desires, and the will of the person.
- based on what the person thinks about it.
- no objectivity.

5. COLLECTIVISM
- is a belief that countries, industries and services should be owned and controlled by the state or by all
the people in a country.
- one for all, all for one mentality.
- group actions are better than individual actions.
- the greater good is much important than the individual.
- can be formed to communism.

6. PACIFISM
- is a belief that even in self defense is unjustifiable under any conditions
and that negotiation is preferable to war as a means of solving disputes.
- bad things that happen to you is acceptable.

7. HUMANISM
- is a practice that focuses on human values and concerns, attaching prime importance to human rather
than divine or supernatural matter.
- maximize goals and talents.
- almost has no faith.
- based on peoples skills.
8. ANARCHISM
- a political belief that society should have no government, laws, police or other authority but should be a
free association of all its members
- emphasizes mans freedom to express himself without repression of any kind and the highest attainment
of humanity is freedom and any form of compulsory government should be eliminated.
- opposite of democratic form of ideas.
9. EXISTENTIALISM
- is the search and journey for true self and true personal meaning in life.
- pioneered by Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
- This philosophy holds that individuals create the meaning and essence of their life thereby stressing the
absence the absence of transcendent false.
- man is capable of defining its own existence, he can choose to become who he wants to be.
10. EUDAIMONISM
Etymological Def: Eudamonia means happiness.
- moral philosophy that deals with right actions that leads to the well being of an individual and achieving
happiness.
- Eudomonist is characterized as individual trying ton immerse himself and strive to excel in their talents,
seek happiness through rational pursuit and who value ability on all intelligent being to share in all
individual beings.
11. UTILITARIANISM
- always act in the way that will produce the greatest overall amount of good (in the world).
- believes that the moral worth of an action is only determined solely means of contribution from overall
utility (use).
- if you are not useful you do not have worth.
- pleasure is good to be maximized. It is whatever brings to happiness to the greater number of people.


Human Acts
- are acts which are controlled by intellect and the will.
- an act which is performed with insight.
- Man knows what he is doing and freely chooses to do what he likes, but he must be responsible and
accountable for such act.**
Acts of Man
- acts performed by man as irrational being.
- Present in this are: ignorance, passion, fear, violence & habits**
**Two Types of Human Actions
1. Human Act (actus humaini) An action that is performed with the use and consent of our thinking (intellect
and judgment) and our willing (doing); also called personal acts.
2. Acts of Humans (actus hominis) Actions that happen without the intervention of our thinking and willing.
These include:
a. Biological processes like digestion, breathing, etc.
b. Actions performed without, or a physically impaired use reason and intellect like people asleep, lunatics,
drunk or drugged people.
c. Spontaneous reactions that precede any intelligent and willful activity like the first reaction of anger or joy
or sadness, etc.
d. Forced acts carried out against a persons personal decision and will.



Force Acts
- are acts which through effected by some insights and cooperation of intellect are carried out against
mans personal decision and will.
Sample: Kapag pinakasal ka sa taong hindi mo gusto/mahal.

Constituent Principle of Human Acts
1.) Knowledge
- advertence of what you are doing, consciousness of what you are thinking and willing.
- When is knowledge present in Human Acts?
a.) Recognition or knowledge of the aspired object.
b.) Attention given to acts to attain the aspired object.
c.) Judgment on the value of the act.

2.) Voluntariness
- no influence of other people
- the internal principle which motivates an agent to act acoording to his own free will.
- quality of human acts whereby any action/ omission come from a principle within an agent.
- freedom from external interference.

KINDS OF VOLUNTARINESS
Division of Voluntary Act and their effects
1.) Perfect Voluntary Act
- when is performed with full knowledge or full attention and full consent of the will.
Sample: (Sample ni Maam) Malapit lang bahay niyo sa school, so nilalakad mo lang siya kapag
pumupunta ka ng school Tapos one time, nalate ka ng gising. Nagdecide ka na sumakay na lang
ng sasakyan para hindi malate kahit na alam mong pwede lang lakarin yung school galing sa
bahay niyo.
2.) Imperfect Voluntary Act
- act that is performed but attention or consent or both are imperfect.
Sample: Kunwari galit ka sa isang tao, tapos sa sobrang galit mo eh pinatay mo yung taong yun.


Other Samples**
a.Imperfect attention and consent: A drunk pissing in public; a drug addict murdering his family while loaded.
b.Full attention but imperfect consent: A soldier being tortured and eventually confessing army secrets.

3.) Actual Voluntary Act
- act which proceed from present deliberation of the will.
4.) Virtual Voluntary Act
- act that is performed by virtue of a previous deliberation of the will but still persist in this effect.
Sample: May nagpa-aral sayo sa college. Pinangako mo sa sarili mo na babawi dun sa nagpa-aral
sayo, pero ang magagawa mo yun pagkatapos pa ng ilang taon.

EFFECTS:
1.) Positive Voluntary Effect
- effect caused by the active influence of the will.
- kung ano ang iniisip mo, yun yung gagawin mo.
2.) Negative Voluntary Effect
- effect caused by voluntarily omitting to do a due action
- may gagawin ka pero di mo ginawa.
Sample 1:
Positive: May nakita kang nahulog yung wallet. Pinulot mo yung wallet tapos binalik mo sa may-
ari.
Negative: Hinayaan mo lang na hindi niya marealize na nalaglag yung wallet niya.
Sample 2:
Positive: Kunwari galit si Dandrei kay Enery. Tapos may homework. Tapos nagtanong si Enery
kung paano gagawin. Binigyan ng maling instructions ni Dandrei si Enery.
Negative: Hindi pinansin ni Dandrei yung tanong ni Enery.

3.) Direct Voluntary Effect
- effect that is intended as an end to itself.
*Abortion (Alam mo na mamamatay yung bata)


4.) Indirect Voluntary Effect
- effect that is not intended but indirectly permitted to happen as an inevitable consequence of the willed
object.
Sample:
*Yung mga nagrarally sa Mendiola. Para mapigilan yung ginagawa nilang pagrarally, yung mga
pulis, mageexecute ng water bomb sa mga raliyista. Ang kaso lang, may mga estudyante at mga
sibilyan na nadadamay.
*Kunwari may kaaway ka, tapos nagplano kang patayin siya gamit ng paglalagay ng bomba sa
gamit niya. Eh pupunta ng ibang bansa yung tao na yun tapos sumakay siya ng eroplano. Tapos
sumabog yung bomba, hindi lang siya yung namatay kasama na rin yung ibang tao na nakasakay
sa eroplano.

Consequences of Voluntariness
Imputability/Responsibility
- relationship of the action performed to the agent.

Modifiers of Voluntariness
A. Factors that impair knowledge
A.I Ignorance
- lack of knowledge
- one is suppose to know of his moral.

Divisions:
1.) Invincible Ignorance
- ignorance which cannot be overcome by reasonable diligence or ordinary effort.
2 things to identify invincible ignorance:
a.) He does not realize his ignorance. It does not cross his mind that there is knowledge to be
acquired.
Sample:
Yung isang simpleng IT student na tulad ni Kevin. Nung tinanong siya kung ano yung pangalan
nung lahat ng buto sa katawan kunwari nung kaibigan niya, syempre hindi niya lahat alam kasi
hindi naman siya isang med student para malaman yung ganun, pake naman niya sa pangalan ng
buto sa katawan, eh hindi naman niya kailangan malaman yun since hindi related sa course niya
yung mga bagay na tulad na ganun.

b.) He does not realize his ignorance but all is efforts to gain knowledge is of no avail.
Sample: Gustong malaman ng bulag kung anong kulay ng langit. Pero dahil bulag siya, hindi niya
kayang malaman kung anong kulay nun.

A.2 Vincible Ignorance
- it can be overcome by reasonable diligence and effort.
Sample:
*Kapag kunwari nalate si Bushi tapos hindi niya naabutan yung announcement ng teacher na may
quiz kinabukasan, pwede niyang malaman agad na may quiz gamit ng pagtatanong via text at iba
pang social media gaya ng facebook, twitter and the likes.
*Kapag yung isang doktorgrumaduate nung 1980, since na maraming discovery yung nalalaman
every year in the field of medicine, kaya niyang maovercome yung ignorance niya about that new
discovery gamit ang pagreresearch.

A.3 Crass/Supine
- an ignorance which is deliberately willed to excuse oneself from a charge of guilt.
Sample:
*May kaibigan ka na nakakakita sa tatay mo na laging may kasamang babae. Sinabi niya yun sayo
pero hindi mo na ginustong pakialaman yun kasi ayaw mong masira yung pamilya mo kahit hindi
mo pa alam kung totoo yung sinasabi ng kaibigan mo o hindi.
*May mga taong kahit alam nilang may nararamdaman na sila sa katawan nila pero ayaw nilang
magpacheck up kasi takot silang malaman kung ano yung resulta nun.

Principles of Ignorance
1.) Invincible ignorance prevents the voluntariness of an action and destroys responsibility.
2.) Vincible ignorance does not take away responsibility and voluntariness.
3.) * Crass ignorance increases voluntariness and responsibility
* Increases the voluntariness of an action because the person did not dispel the ignorance in fact
there is something that came up to his idea.
* There is an intentionality in the sinful effect of such an ignorance because there is real no effort
to dispel the ignorance.

A.2 Error
- False opinion or erroneous conviction regarding the origin and end of an action.
Origins of Error:
1. Deficient education
2. Bad Influence
3. Reading/Misleading books, magazines, newspapers etc.
4. Suggestions from media, companies, organizations, unions, associations.

A.3 Inattention
- actual or momentarily privation of knowledge
- physically present but mentally absent

Examples of Total Inattention (Acts of Man)
*Fast asleep
*Severely intoxicated by liquor or drugs
*People who had gone through anaesthesia
*Totally sick

RULES:
1.) A person is not totally attending to what he is doing, he does not accomplish a human act.
2.) If the person is half-attending to what he is doing, his action is an imperfect human act.

Factors that impair free consent:
1.) Passion / Concupiscence
- feelings, emotions, sentiments
- sensitive appetite produced by something good / evil as apprehend by the imagination
- strong rendencies towards the possession of something good or avoidance of something evil.
**Passion has no connotation of evil.

a.) Joy is the delight which is produced by the presence and possession of the desire good.
b.) Sadness Experience produced by the presence of something which is evil.
c.) Desire tendency towards perceptible good which is absent.
d.) Aversion turning away from a perceptible evil which is absent or foreseeable in the future.
e.) Love Tendency towards a desirable good which is either present or absent.
f.) Hatred Dislike for a perceptible evil which is either present or absent.
g.) Hope Reaching out of towards a future good whose attainment is possible.
h.) Despair turning away from a good which is impossible to attain.
i.) Courage is revolution to attack on evil which is impossible to conquer.
j.) Fear State of anguish resulting from the thought that a threatening evil cannot be possibly
overcome.
k.) Anger State of displeasure resulting from the feeling of having been insulted to avenge on
injury.
Divisions of Passion
a.) Antecedent
- Passion that precedes the action of the will but at the same time induces the will to perform an
action.
- spontaneous reaction
b.) Consequent
- Passion which arouse by the will inducing prompt and voluntary action
- deliberate passion

Principles:
1.) Antecedent passion may completely destroy freedom and voluntariness.
Example: A drowning victim who doesnt know how to swim also and both of them die.
2.) Antecedent passion do not always destroy freedom and voluntariness.
Example: The husband killed his wife because of jealousy.
3.) Antecedent passion diminishes freedom and responsibility
4.) Consequent increases the voluntariness and responsibility and freedom of the person.

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