Living and non living creatures

material substances

Soul

is not circumscribed is a particular place of the body but rather containing the whole body

Characteristics of the soul

1. It is non material or non corporeal.
2. It is simple and not composed of parts.
3. It is unique and exclusive or not transferable.
4. It is immortal.

Faculties of the Soul:

• Intellect
• Will

Intellect

Latin: Intus – within & Legere – to read

Characteristics of the Intellect:

1. a power or ability to look into the being of tings & to grasp the essence of that thing.
2. The intellect knows through;
a. Sensation

b. Abstraction

3. Truth is the object of thinking.

Mental Act

• Apprehension or Abstraction
• Judgment
• Reasoning

Mental Product

• Idea
• Enunciation
• Argumentation

External Sign

• Term
• Proposition
• Syllogism

Logical Issue

• Predicability
• Predication
• Inference

Ignorance

an impediment or modifier of knowledge in the intellect.

Proof of the existence of the soul: Aristotelian Proof

Aristotelian Proof

Will

is a spiritual power by w/c man inclines himself to the goals w/c are perceived by the intellect. It is inclined to both sensible and intellectual goods.

real or authentic good

- good as such, absolute, universal

apparent good

– evil in itself but appears as good & not lead us to the good as such,
absolute, universal

Four Causes Why Man Goes for Apparent Good:

a. Ignorance or lack of knowledge
b. Desire for instant gratification
c. Fear from suffering
d. Even if one knows it’s evil, still one pursues it because of the good

Man’s Social Nature:

• On Sexuality
• On Needs for Others
• On Human Authority

Important points about Man:

1. Man is a special being for he has a dual composition ( body-physical & soul-spiritual) but one person.

2. It is the whole man who acts & is therefore responsible. We can’t dichotomize his action into physical/biological from spiritual sphere as though distinct.

3. The body is external & more observable. The soul is internal, can’t be sensed but can be known.

Some Ethical Theories:

• Naturalism
• Situation Ethics
• Emotive Theory
• Utilitarianism or Pragmatism
• Voluntarism

Naturalism

stresses on what is natural or normal on man.

Jean Jacques Rousseau – (hippie generation)

“Man is good by nature hence allow him to follow his natural inclinations.

Thomas Hobbes

Man is evil & belligerent by nature hence you can’t trust him. “Homo
homini lupus – Man is a wolf to man”

Situation Ethics

No objective or universal norms of morality for everything depends on
situation. If situation demands you to do evil, then do it.

Emotive Theory

No rational basis for right or wrong for everything depends on feelings and
emotions. If you don’t feel guilt, do it otherwise don’t do it.

Utilitarianism or Pragmatism

The social perspective is the essence of democracy.

1.“Whatever is useful is good.”

(John Stuart Mill & Jeremy Bentham)

2.“Whatever works is good.”

(John Dewey & William James)

From the Individual’s perspective

as long as you don’t harm anyone.

From the Social perspective

greatest good for the greatest number.

Voluntarism - William Ockham

“Everything depends on God and His will is arbitrary (not
based on reason or evidence). Akin to Virgil saying in his poem Aenid, “Sic volvere parcas – So spin the fates.”

Kinds of Act:

• Acts of Man
• Human Acts

Acts of Man

- those acts w/c flow from man as an animal.

1. Actions w/c flow from our biological, physical, physiological, chemical functions and not controlled by the will.
2. Acts performed by insane or imbecile persons or intellectually incapacitated.
3. Acts performed thru the influence of a physical force.
4. Acts w/c happen in a fortuitous or accidental manner.

Human Acts

– those acts w/c flow from man as a rational being.

There are 3 constituent elements w/c make an act a human act:

• Knowledge
• Freedom
• Voluntariness

Knowledge

– awareness of what the moral agent is doing. Meaning, the person doing the act is conscious of what he is doing and aware of the consequences.

Freedom

- is a property of the human will by w/c man determines himself in his action toward an end or good.

Characteristics of Freedom:

a. It is the capacity for self-determination to its goal w/out being forced or coerced except by itself.
b. Doing whatever we want is not freedom but omnipotence or abuse of freedom. The desire to have no limits in man can’t be done because man has limitations.
c. The essence of freedom is not so much on choice but on self-determination, that is, deciding to reach an end. So even if there’s still one choice, as long as the subject “you” is still there, there’s still freedom. This is self-determination. Self-determination does not presuppose choice for again, even if you don’t have choice, you still have freedom.

Voluntariness

– a will act, the person is doing the act itself with complete volition.

Acts may be assessed as:

• Good act
• Evil act
• Indifferent act

Good act

- conforms w/ the norms of morality.

Evil act

- disconforms with the norms of morality.

Indifferent act

- it stands in no positive relation, neither good nor evil but can be made
good or evil depending upon the situation or circumstances.

Important considerations about the act:

1.A good act may become morally evil if the intention is evil.
2.A good act may receive more goodness if the intention is good.
3.An evil act can never become morally good despite of the good intention.

Morality may be assessed as:

• Moral
• Immoral
• Morally Justifiable

Moral

-the act and the end are good.

Immoral

-either the act or end is evil.

Morally Justifiable

-one performs an act w/ 2 effects, 1 good & 1 evil.

MODIFIERS or IMPAIRMENTS

They are also called obstacles of human act which affects or prevents a clear knowledge ( intellect) of the object of the act. Or impair the coming about of a human act in its roots by diminishing or preventing the consent of free will ( will).

Impairments of required knowledge:

1. Ignorance
2. Error
3. Inattention

Impairments of free consent (will):

1. Passion
2. Fear
3. Violence
4. Habit

Ignorance

- lacking of a required knowledge w/c human being should have of his moral duties.

Kinds of Ignorance:

• Invincible Ignorance
• Vincible Ignorance
• Affected or Pretended Ignorance

Invincible Ignorance

– ignorance w/c cannot be conquered by such ordinary diligence & reasonable effort. Also called antecedent ignorance because it precedes any voluntary act and is not willed by any consent of the will.

Principle: Invincible ignorance makes an act involuntary for this is not a human act hence the agent is not responsible to his action or omission.

Vincible Ignorance

- ignorance w/c can be conquered by ordinary effort but was not acquired because of negligence or intentionally not acquired.

Principle: Vincible ignorance does not destroy voluntariness but it does lessen the voluntariness & responsibility of an act.

Affected or Pretended Ignorance

– when a person positively wants to be ignorant in order to plead innocent to a charge of guilt.

Principle: Affected ignorance does not excuse a person from his evil action on the contrary, it actually increases the malice or their moral responsibility.

Error

- closely connected with ignorance is error.
- Error is a state of holding incorrect beliefs or opinions, or the fact of acting wrongly or misguidedly.

Principle: A person is held morally responsible for his actions w/c flows from his error especially if there’s no effort done to correct his error.

Inattention

- failure to take proper care or give enough attention to something. This is an actual, momentary privation of knowledge.

Principle: A person is held liable and morally responsible for his acts resulting from inattention.

Passion

- strong tendencies towards the possession of something good or towards the avoidance of something evil.
Principle: Morally speaking, passions are neither good nor evil but indifferent. Hence can be good when ordered towards virtue or evil when ordered towards vice.

Eleven Chief Passions:

1. Love
2. Desire
3. Delight
4. Hope
5. Bravery
6. Anger
7. Hatred
8. Sadness
9. Despair
10. Feat
11. Horror

Divisions of Passions:

• Antecedent Passion
• Consequent Passion

Antecedent Passion

– passion comes first before the judgment of reason & control of the will.

Consequent Passion

- time element modifies it that judgment of reason & control of the will were already present before committing an act.

Principles of Antecedent Passion:

• May completely destroy freedom, and consequently moral responsibility.
• Lessens freedom and diminish the responsibility of human actions because they blind the judgment of the intellect & block the freedom of the will.
• Do not always destroy freedom, for passions seldom escape the control of reason.

Principle of Consequent Passion:

Do not lessen the voluntariness of an act but may increase it.

Fear

Disturbance of the mind caused by the thought of an impending evil. Or an unpleasant feeling of anxiety or apprehension caused by the presence or anticipation of danger.

Classification of fear:

1. Acts done with fear or in spite of fear. (Principle: This is always voluntary and the person is morally responsible.)

2. Acts done from fear or through fear or because of fear. (Principle: This is involuntary and the person’s moral responsibility is lessened.)

3. Fear may be slight or grave according to the amount or to the proximity of the impending evil.

Violence

- or compulsion is the application of an external force on a person by another for the purpose of compelling him to do something against his will.
- Application of an external force.

Habit

- constant and easy way of doing things acquired by the repetition of the same act.
- Synonymous to addiction, dependency, obsession, weakness etc.

Principles of Habit:

1.Habits do not destroy voluntariness, and actions performed by the force of habit are imputable to man.

2.If a habit has been contracted absolutely involuntary & unintentionally, it will lack voluntariness & responsibility as long as the person concerned remains ignorant of the existence of such habit.

3. If an evil habit has been contracted voluntarily, but a positive effort constant effort is being made to dispel it, the acts inadvertently proceeding from the habit are considered involuntary and not imputable to man.

End

- is defined as “that towards which a thing tends”.

Two ways to pursue the end among creatures:

1. Way of the irrational creatures - Plants don’t know their end. Brutes know their end but not as end but as necessity.

2. Way of rational creature (man)- knows his end as end by directing his acts to the goals of his choice. He’s free to do or not to do. We know our end not out from necessity but freely and voluntarily.

As a material being

- seeks material possessions/possessions/pleasure

- Temporal End

As a spiritual being

- seeks virtues and values like truth, love, God etc.

- Spiritual End

As social being and the need to be needed

- seeks the need to need

- Social End

God is the last end of man. Proofs:

1. Ascending Order (from man to God)

2. Descending Order (from God to man)

Ascending Order (from man to God)

Man’s highest powers are the intellect & will with truth and good respectively as their end, Since God is the absolute truth & good,
Hence, God is man’s last end.

Descending Order (from God to man)

Outside God, there’s no other absolute truth & absolute good,
Being an absolute truth & absolute good, He can’t allow creatures not to have Him as the last end, Hence, God is man’s last end.

Good

Aristotle defined as “that w/c everyone desires”- “quod 14 mnia appetunt”

Good may be classified into two:

1. Real or authentic good – that w/c is really good in itself. Ex. Virtues

2. Apparent good – it appears as good but evil in itself. Ex. Vices or all kinds of sin

Happiness

1. Happiness is not just a fleeting state that ones you have it, no more. The desire for happiness is constant.
2. Although pleasure, convenience, usefulness, expediency etc are not automatically happiness though happiness experiences these too. Note that even in pain there’s happiness.
3. Happiness is defined as a stable & perpetual possession of the good that is totally perfect. It is desired for itself for w/c all other things are desired & w/c satisfies all the demands of man’s nature.
4. This marks true happiness..unlike the “quien mas tiene, mas guirre”.
5. Perfect happiness can only be found in God.

Being:

• Accidents - known by sense knowledge/value judgment (pleasure/pain)
• Essence (substance) - known by the intellectual knowledge good as such, absolute, universal

Both passed to the intellect and passed to the will

Will

- by its natural inclination, always chooses the good as such, absolute universal good. We don’t have a choice. But in so far as actual choice is concerned, since the will depends on the intellect before it acts.