MORALS REVIEWER
CHRISTIAN MORALITY
In this subject, we shall begin our discussion with ethics and morality taking into
consideration of human person as our goal and final step for a holistic study of Christian
Morality.
Ethics- is the Philosophy of Action. It is a basic discipline. It is the backbone of human
existence that gives support to the whole life direction of man.
Why do we want to be moral?
Because it is man’s rational duty (Immanuel Kant).
Because of pleasure and happiness (Mill and Bentham).
It depends upon the situation (Joseph Fletcher).
Because there is God (St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas).
For one’s self-image; to refrain from troubles; because we are persons in relation to
others (Neizsche).
As believers or Christians, what make us different from others?
Because we all know that moral law cannot be dissociated from the Natural Law and the
Eternal/Divine Law of God.
Definition of moral law: a general rule of right living especially : such a rule or group of
rules conceived as universal and unchanging and as having the sanction of God's will, of
conscience, of man's moral nature, or of natural justice as revealed to human reason the
basic protection of rights is the moral law based on man's dignity—
The term 'natural law' is derived from the belief that human morality comes from
nature. Everything in nature has a purpose, including humans. Our purpose, according
to natural law theorists, is to live a good, happy life. Therefore, actions that work against
that purpose -- that is, actions that would prevent a fellow human from living a good,
happy life -- are considered 'unnatural', or 'immoral'.
Eternal law is identical to the mind of God
Divine law is derived from eternal law as it appears historically to humans, especially
through revelation, i.e., when it appears to human beings as divine commands. Divine
law is divided into the Old Law and the New Law (q91, a5). The Old and New Law
roughly corresponding to the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. When he speaks of
the Old Law, Thomas is thinking mainly of the Ten Commandments. When he speaks of
the New Law, the teachings of Jesus.
ETHICS vis-à-vis Morality
Ethics- derived from the Greek word ethicos and has English translation of “custom” or
“character”.
Ethics is a philosophical science which deals with the morality of the human acts.
Postulates of Ethics.
The Existence of intellect and will.
We shall study the human person from a
different point of view.
We begin the theological foundations by
presenting and understanding the human
person according to biblical perspective
and secondly, by describing the human
person to its other fundamental
dimension.
Man is created in the image and likeness of God
Endowed with “a spiritual and immortal ” soul, the human person is the “only
creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake.”
From his conception, he is destined for eternal beatitude. The human person
participates in the light and power of the Divine Spirit.
By his reason, he is capable of understanding order of things established by the
creator
By free will, he is capable of directing himself toward his true good. He finds his
perfection “in seeking and loving what is true and good.
By virtue of his soul and his spiritual powers of intellect and will, man is endowed with
freedom
By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God, which urges him “to do what is good
and avoid what is evil.”
Man as REDEEMED Being.
By His (Jesus Christ) passion, death and resurrection, (Paschal Msytery) Christ
delivered us from Satan and from Sin. He merited us the new life in the Holy Spirit. His
grace restores what sin had damaged in us.
Man as GRACED Being.
He who believes in Christ becomes a Son of God. This filial adoption transforms him by
giving Him the ability to follow the example of Christ. In Union with his savior, the
disciple attains the perfection of charity, which is holiness.
Man as a RATIONAL Being.
Man can think which enables him to achieve self-awareness. Through a reflective
activity, he can reach out to his beginnings and his end, and thus able to understand
himself.
Man can think, reflect and give meaning to his experiences. He does not see, feel or
perceive, he also tries to understand what he sees, feels and perceives.
His reflective capacity always with the aid of grace can go beyond numerous horizons
and bring him into a realization of God. He can distinguish what humanizes and
dehumanizes or diminishes his humanity.
Man as a LOVING Being.
Man is created to love and this is what sets man apart from the rest creation. Only
human person can love, he is called to love. Man is loving by virtue of his being an
image of God who is himself is love and perfect lover.
Christ’s very own act of limitless self-giving on the cross that we might live becomes
for us the pattern of what it truly means to be an image of God. So Man therefore is a
loving being.
Man is a SOCIAL and a RELATIONAL Being.
Man is by nature a social being. Each one of us originated from others and was born
into others. To be human person is to be essentially directed toward towards others
(communal at our core) and towards the well being of others (moral implication). God
did not create man to live in isolation but to form union with other men (Lumen
Gentium 91).
Persons are meant to live with others and to work for the welfare of one another. This
means that each person has duties and responsibilities to society and that human
rights must be exercised for the common good.
Man as created in the image and likeness of God must live in a direct relationship with
God thus making man as God’s representative on earth with the task of executing
God’s will (Gen:28)
Man is directly related with the objective world. God gave him the earth and all that it
contains. He must subdue the world responsibly and creatively. He is God’s steward.
Man shares a common task and is ordered towards same destiny
Man shares a common task and is ordered towards the same destiny. Man acts in
service for others. So man therefore is a SOCIAL BEING.
Man is an EMBODIED Subject.
As a subject, the person is in-charge of his own life. He has a certain degree of
autonomy and self-determination empowered to act accordingly to his conscience in
freedom and knowledge.
The affection of love needs to be expressed in bodily ways such as through a gift, or a
kiss or an embrace. God so loved us as to come to us in bodily form so that we could
know divine love in the only way human can know it, in an embodied form.
Embodied subject implies that our bodies and souls are not accessories. What
concerns the body inevitably concerns the whole person, for our bodies are essential
to being human and to relating in human ways.
Man is a HISTORICAL Subject
To be a historical subject means to be relentlessly temporal, seizing each opportunity
of the present moment as part of a progressive movement toward our full human
development.
Much of spiritual theology today has capitalized on this characteristic of the person by
using the metaphors of life as a journey and of each person as a pilgrim made to rest
only in God.
When we integrate our past into the person we are becoming, we move into the
future not only with a sense of integrity but also with a coherent sense of direction.
The moral imperative of being a historical subject is to integrate the past into the
person we are becoming so as to shape a future rather than to settle into a static
condition.
The moral significance of the personal historical process is that one’s moral
responsibility is proportionate to his or her capacities at each stage of development.
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Kohlberg identified three levels of moral reasoning: pre-
conventional, conventional, and post-conventional.
LEVEL 1: PRECONVENTIONAL
Stage 1: Obedience-and-Punishment Orientation
Stage 2: Instrumental Orientation
LEVEL 2: CONVENTIONAL
Stage 3: Good Boy, Nice Girl Orientation
Stage 4: Law-and-Order Orientation
LEVEL 3: POSTCONVENTIONAL
Stage 5: Social-Contract Orientation
Stage 6: Universal-Ethical-Principal Orientation
LEVEL 1: PRECONVENTIONAL
A child’s sense of morality is externally controlled. Children accept and believe the rules
of authority figures, such as parents and teachers. A child with pre-conventional
morality has not yet adopted or internalized society’s conventions regarding what is
right or wrong, but instead focuses largely on external consequences that certain
actions may bring.
Stage 1: Obedience-and-Punishment Orientation
Focuses on the child’s desire to obey rules and avoid being punished. For example, an
action is perceived as morally wrong because the perpetrator is punished; the worse the
punishment for the act is, the more “bad” the act is perceived to be.
Stage 2: Instrumental Orientation
Expresses the “what’s in it for me?” position, in which right behavior is defined by
whatever the individual believes to be in their best interest. Stage two reasoning shows
a limited interest in the needs of others, only to the point where it might further the
individual’s own interests.
LEVEL 2: CONVENTIONAL
A child’s sense of morality is tied to personal and societal relationships. Children
continue to accept the rules of authority figures, but this is now due to their belief that
this is necessary to ensure positive relationships and societal order.
Stage 3: Good Boy, Nice Girl Orientation
Children want the approval of others and act in ways to avoid disapproval. Emphasis is
placed on good behavior and people being “nice” to others .
Stage 4: Law-and-Order Orientation
The child blindly accepts rules and convention because of their importance in
maintaining a functioning society. Rules are seen as being the same for everyone, and
obeying rules by doing what one is “supposed” to do is seen as valuable and important.
Moral reasoning in stage four is beyond the need for individual approval exhibited in
stage three.
Level 3: Postconventional
A person’s sense of morality is defined in terms of more abstract principles and values.
People now believe that some laws are unjust and should be changed or eliminated.
Post-conventional moralists live by their own ethical principles—principles that typically
include such basic human rights as life, liberty, and justice—and view rules as useful
but changeable mechanisms, rather than absolute dictates that must be obeyed without
question .
Stage 5: Social-Contract Orientation
The world is viewed as holding different opinions, rights, and values. Those that do not
promote the general welfare should be changed when necessary to meet the greatest
good for the greatest number of people. This is achieved through majority decision and
inevitable compromise. Democratic government is theoretically based on stage five
reasoning.
Stage 6: Universal-Ethical-Principal Orientation
Laws are valid only insofar as they are grounded in justice, and a commitment to justice
carries with it an obligation to disobey unjust laws. People choose the ethical principles
they want to follow, and if they violate those principles, they feel guilty. In this way, the
individual acts because it is morally right to do so (and not because he or she wants to
avoid punishment).
Chapter 2: BASIC ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
A. THE HUMAN ACTS
definition
What is actus hominis and actus humanus. An act of man
(actus homanus) deals with a specific act of a human
person that is done without consciousness or
deliberation, that is, without knowledge or freedom-an
involuntary act.
Human act (actus humanus) is one that is realized
with deliberation that is done with knowledge,
freedom and voluntariness (awareness). It is an act
subject to judgment.
Man differs from animals since he is the master of
his acts. In this light, only those actions in which he is
the master may be properly called human acts. Man
is the master of his acts through his reason and his
will by means of which it is said that choice is the
faculty of the will and reason.
Therefore, acts proceeding from deliberated will are human acts. Others will
conveniently say they are actions of men.
