MORAL VALUE OF HUMAN ACTS Flashcards
- Involuntary acts
- spontaneous biological and
sensual processes
ACTS OF MAN
- performed by a person who has full knowledge through free will
HUMAN ACTS
done with ___, _______, and _______
knowledge, freedom, and voluntariness
Elements of Human Act
- KNOWLEDGE of the ACT
- FREEDOM in DOING the ACT
- VOLUNTARINESS OR FREE WILL in DOING the ACT
the person is conscious and aware of the
(1) _______ and the
(2) _________ of his/her actions.
reason
consequences
the person is conscious and aware of the
(1) reason and the
(2) consequences of his/her actions.
- KNOWLEDGE of the ACT
Knowledge ______one to be mindful of his or her actions.
directs
The person acts by his/ her own choice and initiative.
- FREEDOM in DOING the ACT
- A person was not influenced by another person or any situation to perform his/her action.
- FREEDOM in DOING the ACT
_______ OR FREE WILL in DOING the ACT
VOLUNTARINESS
Freedom and Responsibility
Every act directly willed is _____ to its author.*
IMPUTABLE
*The moral responsibility for one’s human actions.
* A person’s accountability for his or her deliberate actions.
IMPUTABILITY
- VOLUNTARINESS OR FREE WILL in DOING the ACT
the person:
- consents or agrees to the act,
- accepting it as his/her own, and
- assumes accountability for the result
- the “deservingness’ of blame or praise
- natural product of our rationality
ACCOUNTABILITY
distinguishes right and wrong action
reason
one to choose which action to perform
free will or freedom
- Causation: being the cause of something.
- Duty
- Obligation or having certain duties or obligations towards other people
RESPONSIBILITY
directed to what will or may happen;
prospective
directed to what had happened already
retrospective
Moral vs Legal Accountability
on deserving blame or praise:
- Moral standards (moral rules or principles)
- legal standards (laws/statutes)
Moral vs Legal Accountability
on sanction/ penalties for wrongdoers:
legal sanctions
moral: internal
criminal offenses - external -physical
punishments
legal sanctions
mental suffering like guilt/remorse, shame, self- hatred, low self-esteem, etc.
moral: internal
2 Conditions for Moral Accountability
- Attribution conditions
- Degree conditions
for they determine whether moral accountability can be attributed or assigned to a person for an action that
he/she has done.
Attribution conditions:
would make one morally accountable for the action under consideration
incriminating conditions
would spare one from moral accountability for the action under consideration.
excusing condition
a person is only accountable for
actions in which he/she is the cause.
agency condition:
a person knows or has the capacity to know the moral quality (goodness or badness) of his/her action
knowledge condition
a person intends or freely chooses to perform an action he/she is doing.
intentionality condition
for they determine the degree of one’s moral accountability. It could be
Degree conditions
when they lessen the degree of one’s moral accountability
mitigating conditions
when they increase the degree of one’s moral accountability
aggravating condition
A PERSON IS ACCOUNTABLE FOR AN ACTION IF AND ONLY HE/SHE :
- is the AGENT of the action;
- knows or has the capacity to know that
the action is good or bad; and - intentionally performs the action
circumstances surrounding the act that determine the degree of one’s moral accountability to an act.
Degree Conditions
degree of knowledge
more knowledgeable >
the greater the moral
accountability
degree of knowledge
less knowledgable <
the lesser the moral accountability
the difficulty in life that forces one to perform a wrong doing ____________
degree of pressure
degree of pressure
the greater the pressure <
lesser the moral
accountability
degree of pressure
the lesser the pressure >
the greater the moral accountability
the seriousness of the injury caused by the wrongdoing
degree of intensity
degree of intensity
the greater the intensity of the injury >
the greater the moral accountability
degree of intensity
the lesser the intensity of the injury <
the lesser the moral accountability
the participation in a group or collective act of wrongdoing
degree of involvement
degree of involvement
the greater the involvement >
the greater the moral accountability
degree of involvement
the lesser the involvement <
the lesser the moral accountability
actions that are in conformity or agreement with the norms of morality
Moral
actions that are not in conformity to or in disagreement with the norms of morality
Immoral
- actions that stand neutral or indifferent
with the norms of morality (neither
good nor bad actions) - Action becomes good or bad depending
on its intention and/or circumstances.
Amoral
determine how an act is rendered good or bad, moral or immoral in relation to the norms of morality
THE DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY
THE DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY
1.Object (_____)
2. Intention (________)
3. Circumstances
1.Act itself
2.Intention
moral object of the act (______)
WHAT WE DO
- Also known as “actin-itself”;
- the action that the person did.
- the primary source for the judgment on the morality of the act.
moral object of the act (WHAT WE DO)
- refers to the GOAL which the agent aims to achieve
- This is usually called the subjective element of a moral act because the intention for doing the act lies within us.
INTENTION
are conditions outside the act that influence or affect that act by increasing or lessening its voluntariness or freedom, and, thus, affecting the morality of the act.
CIRCUMSTANCES
refer to factors that influence the person to perform a moral action.
Impediments
This is when the actions are done underthe circumstances where ignorance,passion, fear, violence, and habit are present.
Impediments
These are the factors that diminish one’s responsibility and impair the element of voluntariness of human act.
Impediments
Knowledge of a moral
situation is impaired by:
- Ignorance,
- Error, and by
- Inattention.
the lack or absence of knowledge needed by a person in doing an act.
Ignorance
*the person is not aware, and which
* he/she is unable to overcome by him/herself unless someone will tell him/her about the truth.
Invincible ignorance
- The person has the chance to know the norm/truth BUT did not avail the opportunities offered, to correct his/her lack of knowledge.
Vincible ignorance
the moral truths is very widespread in mass-media
culture - the “fraud of the masses”
Error
may be the result of drunkenness, of violent emotion, sleepiness or absent-mindedness.
Inattention
Full consent to a particular moral act isimpaired by passion, by fear, by force or by ingrained habit.
Impediments to full FREEDOM AND CONSENT
is an intense emotion which urges ones feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something.
Passion or Concupiscence
the shrinking back of
the person from an
impending evil.
- Fear
the ability to recognize danger by either confronting it or withdrawing from it (also known as the fight or flight response).
fear
a very pervasive form of fear, operating through the instinct for acceptance, esteem, safety, competitiveness.
Social pressure
where violence is employed to constrain a person to act in a certain way.
Force
- a firm routine of behavior that is done regularly.
- Anything you do automatically without consciously thinking about it, or without specifically deciding to do it, is a ___________.
Habit
