PREFINAL HANDOUT#2

Professional Ethics with Values Formation

Morality

c Morality is the quality of right and wrong of human
acts.

c We consistently judge actions of people being
right or wrong.

c There may be a difference in opinion regarding
morality but the basic fact remains there is indeed
a difference between right and wrong.

c However, there must exist a basis on which one
would state that an act is right or wrong.

Morality * Property of STI
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Norm of Morality

c Norm
q Standard

c Norm of Morality
q Standard of right and wrong
q Reason why some actions are morally right and
some morally wrong

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Human Acts

c Ethics deals with morality of human acts

q The rightness or wrongness of an action

c Human Acts

q Voluntary acts of men
q Acts done with knowledge and consent
q Acts that are proper to man as man; since man
alone has control of his mental faculties and has
free will
q Acts which are consciously undertaken and are
under our control
q Human acts are those of which man is the master;
doing or not doing as he pleases

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Human Acts

c Human acts must be done with consent and full
knowledge.

c Only then would this have moral bearing.

c If a soldier is caught and is coerced to kill one of
his troop member is he morally wrong?

c A gun used in a killing is not liable. The liability lies
in the person who pulled the trigger. As far as
natural law is concerned the gun provided the
service it was created for.

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Voluntariness and
Responsibility

c Voluntariness is equated to freedom of will in
man.

c Ethics accepts that man is able to control his own
will and thus do actions as he pleases.

c Ethics, morality, liability, responsibility, rewards
and punishments are all interrelated; and all of
these have man as a free agent as a premise.

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Voluntariness and
Responsibility

c Voluntariness and ethics – ethics is the study of
human acts and by definition human acts are
voluntary.

c Morality and voluntariness – only acts that are
done with consent have moral bearing. Can we
hold dogs, stones, cars morally liable?

c Human act and voluntariness – these two
concepts are inseparable.

c Voluntariness and responsibility – knowledge and
consent equates to being responsible with all
aspects of the action.

c Punishment – what do you think is the
relationship of punishment and voluntariness?

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Further Study on
Voluntariness

c The difference between perfect and imperfect
voluntariness must be established.

c Direct voluntariness versus indirect voluntariness
is also distinguished.

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Perfect vs. Imperfect
Voluntariness

c Perfect voluntariness implies full knowledge and
consent
q This is where an act is understood clearly by the
initiator
q Performed with consent

c Imperfect voluntariness then implies the partial
knowledge and/or partial consent
q One must see that two areas are concerned
knowledge and consent
q If one is lacking then imperfect voluntariness is
present

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Direct vs. Indirect
Voluntariness

c An act is directly voluntary when the act is
intended for its own sake
q Example: A person who willingly goes to a bar for
drinking is a directly voluntary act.
q When one cuts class with friends to watch a movie.
The cutting class, accompaniment of friends, and
viewing of a film are all voluntary acts.

c An act is indirectly voluntary when the act is not
intended for its own sake
q Example: A holdup occurs and the criminal asks for
your money.
q When you go to a bar for drink and you end up in a
fight.
q These events or actions may not be intended but
they occurred nevertheless.

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Actions Having Dual
Effects

c It is entirely possible that an act may be ethical or
morally right even if it produces both good and evil
effects.

c These however must satisfy some basic
requirements. These are:
q The act in itself should be good or at least amoral
(morally indifferent)
q The evil effect is not intended but allowed to
happen as a regrettable side issue
q The reason for doing such an act should be grave
and heavily rooted in reason
q Evil effect must never outweigh the good effect

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Factors that Lessens
Accountability

c Ignorance, Passions, Fear, and Violence are
factors that could lessen accountability

c Would an Aeta living in the mountains be held
accountable when he comes to Manila and
violates traffic laws? How about a Manileño who
does not know that there is a new law?

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Ignorance

c Ignorance is the absence of knowledge.

c Ignorance is categorized into two:
q Invincible – a type of ignorance that could not be
dispelled with any amount of effort because under
the situation it is impossible
q Vincible – a type of ignorance that could be
dispelled with diligence

c Our Aeta friend could not be held liable because at
that instant his ignorance is invincible. He cannot
comprehend what law he has violated because to
him it is non existent. The Manila fellow on the
other hand knows there are traffic laws and he
should be updated. He is vincible therefore liable.

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Passion and Fear

c Passion and fear are terms of emotion.

c When there is a presence of extreme emotions
then the will of a person is not at free.

c When one acts out of fear the freedom is
restricted and the responsibility diminishes as
well.

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Violence

c The impulse from something external that forces
an agent to do something that is against his will.

c This occurs when one agent enforces his will on
another.

c Is there a time when the use of violence is
warranted?

c YES, when?

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PREFINAL HANDOUT#2

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PREFINAL HANDOUT#2