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