Introduction to Morality Flashcards
The most basic principle of the Christian moral life is the awareness that every person bears the dignity of being made in the ________________
image of God
He has given us an immortal soul and through the gifts of _________________________ enables us to understand the order of things established in his creation
intelligence and reason
Sadly, because of the ______, we also suffer the impact of ______________, which darkens our minds, weakens our wills, and inclines us to sin.
Fall; Original Sin
________________ delivers us from Original Sin but not from its effects—especially the inclination to sin, concupiscence. Within us, then, is both the powerful surge toward the good because we are made in the image of God, and the darker impulses toward evil because of the effects of Original Sin
Baptism
According to ______________ (German theologian)
“Morality is that part of Theology that searches for the norms of free human conduct in the light of God’s revelation.”
Franz Bockle
2 elements according to Bockle:
Morality is concerned with free human conduct
Morality is guided by God’s revelation
Morality is concerned with free human conduct
- Morality presupposes freedom
- Freedom means we can make choices about our lives/actions
- Morality concerns with what we do with our freedom
According to Franz Bockle, morality is?
Morality is that part of Theology that searches for the norms of free human conduct in the light of God’s revelation
Context of Morality
- Morality is founded on the natural and eternal laws of God.
- From the bases of our experiences, we want to be good because of our belief in salvation.
- Man is reward-oriented creature.
- We are lucky that God, in his wisdom, knows how to reward us properly not only later in heaven but already here on earth.
- Our moral lives can’t be fully lived, understood, and explained through our reasoning alone.
Morality is guided by God’s revelation
- Man has more than reason or human intelligence to guide his actions
- Revelation means “God unveiled himself in human history, by inviting people to share his very life.”
- God’s self-disclosure is known as salvation history
means “God unveiled himself in human history, by inviting people to share his very life.”
Revelation
God’s self-disclosure is known as
salvation history
God’s self-disclosure is known as salvation history
- Is recorded in the ________________ (the chronicle of Yahweh’s dealing with the Jews)
- Is fulfilled in the_______________, when God’s own son, Jesus Christ, came as God’s final word, his total self-communication
Old Testament; New Testament
According to ____________________ (French theologian)
“Morality is the science of what human ought to be by reason of what he is. It is concerned with what humans ought to be in the light of what humanity is.”
Antonin Sertillanges
According to Antonin Sertillanges (French theologian), morality is?
Morality is the science of what human ought to be by reason of what he is. It is concerned with what humans ought to be in the light of what humanity is
3 elements according to Sertillanges
- Morality is a science
- Is concerned with what humans ought to be
- In the light of what humanity is
Morality presupposes freedom
Morality is concerned with free human conduct
Freedom means we can make choices about our lives/actions
Morality is concerned with free human conduct
Morality concerns with what we do with our freedom
Morality is concerned with free human conduct
Man has more than reason or human intelligence to guide his actions
Morality is guided by God’s revelation
Revelation means “God unveiled himself in human history, by inviting people to share his very life.”
Morality is guided by God’s revelation
God’s self-disclosure is known as salvation history
Morality is guided by God’s revelation
An open-ended body of study; it builds up, it develops
Morality is a science
The more a person understands himself, the more refined his behavior will be.
Morality is a science
How things should be
Is concerned with what humans ought to be
How people should act
Is concerned with what humans ought to be
Morality asks people to be the persons they are meant to be
In the light of what humanity is
Christian faith defines men and women:
As children of God with basic dignity, having an eternal destiny
As created by God, redeemed by Christ, indwelt by the spirit, destined to eternity (God)
In the light of what humanity is
What is right is to act as a child of God, what is wrong is to forget one’s basic dignity
In the light of what humanity is
In anything, a Christian asks: “what is the human thing to do?”
In the light of what humanity is
is the systematic study of the rightness and the wrongness of human actions
Ethics
The Science of Morals
Ethics
is the rightness and wrongness of the human action
Morality
The practice of ethics
Morality
refers to principles of right and wrong behavior or rightness and wrongness of human actions
Morality
In determining the morality of human actions, the moral agent is guided by the __________________________________
broader rules or principles of ethics
attempts to provide systems of moral principles and the reasons why these principles are valid
Ethics
is more concerned with the theories that can be used to explain why a particular moral principle is valid or not, right or wrong
ethics
basic ethical principles that may help determine the rightness or wrongness of a human action:
- Respect for persons
- Truthfulness and confidentiality
- Autonomy and informed consent
- Beneficence
- Non-maleficence
- Justice
Morality comes from the Latin word _____ or ___________ which means “_____________”.
mos; mores; custom
Ethics is derived from the Greek word _______________, the English translation of which is “____________” or “____________”, “_________________”.
ethicos or ethos; custom; character; Customary Behavior
is a philosophical science which deals with the morality of the human acts.
Ethics
refers to the goodness or the badness, the rightness or the wrongness of human acts
Morality of human acts
Immoral =
Unethical
Moral =
Ethical
one who is good and does the right thing
Moral/ethical person
one who ids bad and does what is wrong
Immoral/unethical
Moral philosophy
Ethics
Ethics: Moral philosophy
- Provides principles on the morality of human acts
- Provides a theoretical knowledge of the morality of human acts
- Provides bases of right or wrong and good or bad actions.
- It does not necessarily follow that man does what he knows.
- Ethics does not actually guarantee that man will be moral.
- One can be moral when one applies ethics (theory).
moral theology
Morality
Provides principles on the morality of human acts
Ethics
Provides a theoretical knowledge of the morality of human acts
Ethics
Provides bases of right or wrong and good or bad actions
Ethics
It does not necessarily follow that man does what he knows
Ethics
___________ does not actually guarantee that man will be moral.
Ethics
One can be _________ when one applies ethics (theory).
moral
The praxis (practice) of the ethics (theory)
Morality
Morality is properly called _______________
applied ethics
Actualizes the theory into a real action
Morality
The doing of ethics
Morality
customs, habitual ways of doing things
Moral
In morality, the fundamental value is always the
human person and the person in relationship with society
Every human person has an innate tendency to seek his or her fulfilment and perfection. The mere fact of being alive and being human means that one has purpose, one has goals, one seeks meaning in life. Also it means that one has needs and desires pursuant to keeping oneself alive and seeking one’s own fulfillment. This fulfilment, or perfection, we call “________________”.
the good
Anything contributing to the full actualization of human potential and the proper development of the human person is _________________.
good or moral
Just as anything that contributes to the proper growth and development of the human person is good, so anything that frustrates or acts against this proper growth and development is considered to be _________
evil
evils in the objective sense before any moral slant has been added
pre-moral evils
What are some of the things that frustrate human life and development, and which everyone would therefore consider evil? Here is a partial list:
- Death
- suffering
- pain
- disability
- Deprivation of freedom
- Discrimination that deprives one of opportunity to improve oneself
- Deprivation of worth and self-esteem
- Death
- suffering
- pain
- disability
- Deprivation of freedom
- Discrimination that deprives one of opportunity to improve oneself
- Deprivation of worth and self-esteem
we call these _______________
pre-moral evils
Human beings may be deprived of what they need for their growth and development as persons in different ways. One way that pre-moral evil may be caused is by natural disaster such as earthquakes, floods, epidemics, accidents and in general, things which are outside of human control. We call such evils “_________________”. But as we know quite well, most of the evil in the world does not occur in this way.
physical evils
Occur when we voluntarily and deliberately become involved in the spread of pre-moral evil.
moral evils
Most evil in the world is brought on by the free, deliberate and unjustified actions of human beings. We call such evils “________________”.
moral evils
Jesus’ teachings about love have two dimensions:
Vertical
Horizontal
Vertical
pointing to God
Horizontal
pointing to others
Two presuppositions in moral theology
- Man possesses freedom of will
- Man is accountable to an ultimate value or authority
Division of moral theology
- General morals
- Special morals
2 subdivisions of special morals
- Man’s responsibility in the religious realm: God
- Man’s responsibility towards the created world: neighbor & creation
Treats the general presuppositions of the moral act and its qualities that it may contribute to human’s final goal
General morals
Treats the human action
Special morals
Why the action has to be done?
General morals
Ethics of being
General morals
What action has to be done?
Special morals
Ethics of doing
Special morals
