Unit 2 Flashcards
Object
- What you have chosen to do
- It is the concrete physical action that you have taken
Intention
- Why you have chosen to do the object in question
- We will something for some particular reason(s)
Circumstance
- The person who is performing the action
- The content of the action itself
- Ex: Age, economic status, feelings, what someone is stealing
What makes an action praiseworthy
- Both the objects and the intention of an action must be good in order for the action as a whole to be morally praiseworthy
- An evil action cannot be justified by a good intention
Circumstances (Info)
- Greatly effect its moral status
- Level of responsibility of person/culpability
- Level of moral goodness or evil of an action
- No matter how grave the circumstances are, they can never change an inherently immoral act to a good one
- Rare occasions where action and intention can be good but the circumstances deem in inappropriate (writing a polanca for a friend, but writing it during a class)
Typical Definition of Freedom
-The state of having little or no legal or physical restraints upon one’s actions
Christian Definition of Freedom
-Freedom is the power (ability) rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to preform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility (freedom)
Determinism
- The idea that human actions are dictated by and can be predicted by laws of nature (Newton)
- The human person is predictable (mechanical), so no freedom
Conditioning
- Freedom is an illusion and people are the sum total of their past experiences (Ivan Pavlov)
- People are the sum total of their past experiences, so no freedom
Catholic Response to the Philosophies that Oppose Freedom
- There is a lot of truth in both of there
- Human Biology and environmental factors play an enormous role in human behavior
- A person’s “responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by … habit, inordinate attachments (addiction), and other psychological and social factors.” (CCC 1735)
- Reality of Freedom (Aristotle)
- As practical as you can get
- The nature of our free will
- As practical as you can get
Law
- A rule of behavior that is made by a competent authority for the sake of the common good
- Usually made for society
Eternal Law/ Divine Law
-Always true and never changes, the order that reflects the will and purpose of God
Moral Law
- Govern the relationships humans have with God and one another
- known through conscience (part of our humanity)
- rational expression of Eternal Law
Natural Law
- A moral law that can be understood by all the use of reason about what is right and what is wrong
- stamped on hearts”
- Ex: The Golden Rule
- Kind of Moral Law
Why does the Church add Natural Law to its teachings?
- There are many moral issues that Jesus does not explicitly address
- The Bible is not the sole source of ethics
What is Natural Law?
- A source of moral law different that divine law, but compatible, and incomplete without Scripture and teachings of Jesus
- Innate and applicable to all
- Knowledge of the teachings can be found through reason and conscience
- An objective moral law that can be grasped by human reason
Politics
- Natural Law allows for the development of civil laws regardless of religion (Allie to politics)
- Also, honest and rational ethical debates
- It is not the Church’s responsibility to make the teaching prevail in political life (Deus Caritas Est, 2005, Benedict XVI)
Old and New Testament
- Old Law: Old Testament, 10 Commandments
- New Law: New Testament, Sermon on the Mount/ Beatitudes (Happiness)
Why the Natural Law is not enough
- Because of Original Sin (Concupiscence) and the clouding of intellect, we need something explicit
- Old Law: Law of Moses// Summarized in the Ten Commandments (Decalogue)
a. Original Covenant// Based in Love
b. Stage 1 of the Kingdom of God
The Parts of the Moral Act
- Object
- Intention
- Circumstance
Sins of Commission
-A deliberate thought, deed, or word
Sins of Omission
-Result of a failure to do something that is morally required
Mortal Sin
- An action so contrary to the will of God that it results in a complete separation from God and his grace
- As a consequence of that separation, the person is condemned to eternal death.
- For a sin to be a mortal sin:
- the act must involve grave matter
- the person must have full knowledge of the evil of the act
- person must give his or her full consent in committing the act
Venial Sin
- Less serious offense against the will of God that diminishes one’s personal character
- weakens, but dues not rupture, one’s relationship with God
Capital Sin
- Seven sins that are particularly harmful because they lead to and reinforce other sins and vices
- The seven are traditionally called pride, greed, envy, wrath, gluttony, lust, and sloth
Law Time Line
1st: Eternal Law/Divine law (orders living things)
2nd: Natural Moral Law (our vision of creation)
3rd: Original Sin (creates tension)
4th: Old Law, New Law (Love of God and Neighbor)
Magisterium
- Parts: Precepts of the Church and Canon Law
- The Church’s living teaching office, which consists of all bishops, in communion with the Pope
Precepts of the Church
- General/ Framework
- Sometimes called the commandments of the Church
- basic obligations for all Catholics that are dictated by the laws of the Church
- Ex: Don’t use the Lord’s name in vain
Canon Law
- specific details
- The name given to the official body of laws which provide good order in the visible body of the Church
- Marriage, how to worship God
Old Law
- Divine Law revealed in the Old Testament
- summarized in the Ten Commandments
- Also called the Law of Moses
- contrasts with the New Law of the Gospel
New Law
- Divine Law revealed in the New Testament through the life and teaching of Jesus Christ and through the witness and teaching of the Apostles
- The New Law perfects the Old Law and brings it to fulfillment
- Also called the Law of Love
Great Commandments
- Jesus’ summary of the entire divine Law as the love of God and the love of neighbor
- Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength & love your neighbor as yourself
Infallibility
-The Gift of the Holy Spirit to the whole Church by which the leaders of the Church—the Pope and the bishops in union with him—are protected from fundamental error when formulating a specific teaching on a matter
Vice and Virtue
- Vice: Something that leads a person to sin
- Virtue: Something that leads a person to good
