John Cedric M.

Comon
2D, SBCA-SOL

Is Man Intrinsically Moral?

This paper focuses on analyzing the nature of man with respect towards his morality
based on established principles of Catechism and my personal opinion regarding such. This
focuses on the different aspects to consider whether man is intrinsically moral in relation towards
his environment and experiences.
Is man intrinsically moral? Sometimes during discussion between individuals questions
like this are being discussed. Whether man is intrinsically an evil creature whom does not follow
laws and fails to conform to societal norms, whether man is intrinsically good upon following
such order or the anything that conforms to the norms of society. If we divulge ourselves further
in understanding such concept of human nature, it all comes down to freedom. Freedom to do
whatever a person wants, freedom to do what I want, freedom to think, freedom to choose and
many more.
Freedom for me is the main source of a persons ability to think and act in accordance
mainly with the norms as well as what he thinks is right or wrong to do. Freedom makes man a
moral subject. When he acts deliberately, man is, so to speak, the father of his acts. Human acts,
that is, acts that are freely chosen in consequence of a judgment of conscience, can be morally
evaluated. They are either good or evil. 1 His acts, whether good or bad, are the consequence of
what he think is right or wrong. His actions spring up from his freedom to do what he wants.
The morality that comes from his freedom springs from three requirements: object,
intention, and circumstances. Along with freedom, a persons morality is subject to the
concurrence of the object of his act, his intention of doing such, and the circumstances of his act.
The object chosen morally specifies the act of the will, insofar as reason recognizes and judges it

1 1749, The Morality of Human Acts; Catechism of the Catholic Church

to be or not to be in conformity with the true good. 2 The intention is a movement of the will
toward the end: it is concerned with the goal of the activity while circumstances contribute to
increasing or diminishing the moral goodness or evil of human acts 3. These three concepts, along
with the will and freedom of a person, identify the act of an individual whether such is morally
right or morally wrong. A person, without freedom to think or do what he want, limits himself
only to what others think are right or wrong things to do. He does not control his actions
conformably to his own understanding of right or wrong. Prevalent in the society today is the
requirement to conform to what society dictates as moral. People tend to perform acts in order to
please society. As such, man is really, in a sense, not intrinsically moral from the context of
societal conformity.
Man chooses the object or the act which he wants to perform along with his intention of
whether he wants to perform such act in a manner whether it is wrong or right and takes in the
consequences of his actions based on the circumstances involved while he performs such act. As
such, man relies on his environment with regards to his morality. His acts are based on what
society thinks is right or wrong to do. It is like having the person in chains, having no freedom to
do what he wants because he is ordered to stay in a particular area or do something in accordance
to the order.
Thus, the answer, for me, with respect to the question of whether man is intrinsically moral is
based really on his freedom to act and perform what he wants. It is based on what he thinks is
right or wrong and if man performs an act in conformity to what society thinks is right or wrong,
then such is a manifestation that a mans view with respect to morality is dependent on the views
of society. Hence, man is not intrinsically moral, but moral in accordance with societys view on
good and evil.

2 1751, The Morality of Human Acts; Catechism of the Catholic Church

3 1754, The Morality of Human Acts; Catechism of the Catholic Church