Theology 103

Moral Teaching of the Church and Bioethics

CPC VMGO
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A center of Excellence for Catholic Education

• CPC Mission:
Produce globally competitive professionals committed to quality catholic instruction, relevant
research and community service for Love of God and country under the patronage of the Blessed
Virgin Mary.

• Motto
Pro Deo et Patria (Love of God and Country)

• Core Values
Charity Faith
Hope Service
Integrity Justice
Excellence Mercy

mo-ral-i-ty
• principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.
• a particular system of values and principles of conduct.
• the extent to which an action is right wrong.

• Morality is a system or set of ideas about right vs. wrong and good vs. evil behavior; it is
subjective rather than objective, and is part of the philosophical study of ethics.
• Morality directs people to behave in certain ways and avoid behaving in other ways. It evaluates
behavior as right or wrong and may involve measuring the conformity of a person's actions to a
code of conduct or set of principles.

• Morals are a system of beliefs that is taught for deciding good or bad as opposed to coming
from within and are emotionally related for deciding right or wrong.
• Morals are what you believe to be right and wrong. People can have different morals: you might
say, "I like his morals" or "I wonder about his morals." Your morals are your ideas about right
and wrong, especially how you and treat other people.

- Morals refers to the beliefs of a person about good or bad.

- Immorality refers to the action of a person in interpreting of good or bad.

Bioethics
• Bioethics is the study of the principles of right and wrong behaviors that guide medical research
and practice with both humans and animals.
• is a specific domain of ethics that is focused on moral issues in the field of health care.
• Study of ethical and moral issues related to the practice of medicine

The end is the 1ST GOAL of the intention and indicates the purpose pursued in the action.
The intention is the movement of the will towards the end.

Purpose of human in the world:

- Know
- Love
- Service
 Moral - good Acts of Man - involuntary actions
Immortal - bad (unintentional)
Amoral - both good or bad
Faculty of Spirit
Sources: - Memory
- Object chosen (action) - Intellect
- Intention (it resides to the action) - Freewill
- Circumstances/Situation
Will - it means choosing or deciding
Human Acts - voluntary actions (intention)

Nature of Man and its Dignity Thinking/knowing the TRUTH

Person has
(1) Soul - Intellect & Will Choosing the GOOD
(2) Body

• To "will" something, one has "to know" beforehand.

• Man cannot choose or act unless he knows which is a "better" good.
• When a person chooses to act according to what he knows is right - He acts freely
• Only man is capable of acting free - HUMAN ACTS
• But the intellect does not always determine the will.

Nature of Freedom
Proceeds from the intellect and will
• Based on reason which the will followed
• When man makes decisions, he is free.
• Man is accountable for what he is doing because he is CONSCIOUS of what he is doing, why
he is doing it & how he is doing it.

DECISION results in ACTION - CONSEQUENCES faced with Sense of Responsibility

ACTS not morally accountable

• Acts of persons asleep or under hypnosis.
• Reflex actions where the will has no time to intervene.
• Acts of performed under serious physical violence.
 e.g. a hostage obliged to do an evil action.
 Since the will is constrained, then it is not a moral act which could be evaluated.

Human Acts versus Act of Man

ACTS OF MAN
• Actions beyond one's consciousness; not dependent on the intellect & the will
• ESSENTIAL QUALITIES of Acts of Man
 Done without knowledge
 Without consent
 Involuntary
• Ex: unconscious, involuntary, semi-deliberate, spontaneous actions
• Acts of man can become human acts when he employs his intellect & will in performing the act.

HUMAN ACTS
• Actions done CONSCIOUSLY and freely by the agent/or by man
• ESSENTIAL QUALITIES/Constituent Elements of Human Acts
1. Knowledge of the act
2. Freedom
3. Voluntariness
• Man takes into responsibility of these actions
 Morality of Human Acts

What is Morality?
• From the Greek word MORES - behavior
• Refers to the sense of rightness or wrongness or wrongness of an act.
• Quality of the human act that is either good qi bad, right or wrong based on some norms that
are either inherent in the act or are observed due to some individual or social conventional
acceptance.

REMINDER: A moral act depends on whether or not there is consent by the will.

HUMAN ACTS
They include...
1. Thought
2. Speech
3. Action

What is the basis of Morality?

Morality is based in part upon the, fundamental conviction that:
1. There is an objective moral law which can be known by the intellect - NATURAL MORAL LAW
2. Some actions are intrinsically evil - not justifiable regardless of the circumstance

Morality and Human Acts

• Human acts are those that are freely chosen in consequence of a judgment of conscience.
• They are either good or evil.
• Their morality depends on the object chosen, the intention and the circumstances

Which Action is subjected to morality

Human Acts? Acts of Man?

• All Human act are subjected to morality.

• Human acts are different from animal act because man by nature acts towards an end His life
has a purpose.
Moral Determinants of Human Acts

1. OBJECT OF THE ACT

- Substance/nature of the action
- Good which the will deliberately directs itself
- OBJECT specifies the "act of the will"
- Nature of what was done to its distinct species
- "What was performed by the moral agent?"
- "An object if the act is Good when it is in conformity with reason or when it fulfills or fits the
demand of reason. Otherwise, the object of the act is evil

2. INTENTION/END IN VIEW
- Motive of the agent - factor which the agent acts; either be morally good or evil
- Purpose for which a human agent performs the act
- Concerned with the goal of the activity
- It aims at the good anticipated from the action undertaken
- "What specifically does the agent want to accomplish?"
• Good intention doesn't make an intrinsically disordered act right
• The end does not justify the means.

3. CIRCUMSTANCE
- Refers to the events, occasions or conditions that make the act concrete
 - Modify acts either by increasing or diminishing of the mora goodness or evilness of an act/
responsibility of the agent
- Lighten or aggravate the weight of moral accountability of the performer
* The circumstance does not change the specific nature of the human act.

What makes a morally act good or bad?

1. Goodness of object, end or intention & circumstance all together as well as
consequence
2. Evil end or intention corrupts the action even if the object is good
3. Avoid concrete acts that are always wrong to choose - object of the act
4. The acts which in & of themselves independent of circumstance & intention are always gravely
illicit by reason of their object.
Error: to judge only the intention & circumstance

JUDGING THE MORALITY OF HUMAN ACTS

The moral object can either be

- good (e.g. praying)
- bad (e.g. stealing)
- indifferent (e.g. eating)
The intention can be either good or bad.

Human Act as Freely Chosen

Human Acts are not merely physical events, that come & go, like the falling of rain or the turning
of the leaves, nor do they as Karol* Wotyla emphasized in THE ACTING PERSON, "happen" to
a person.

WHAT IS LAW?
• Law is a system of rules and principles established by a governing authority to regulate behavior
within a society, It/ serves to maintain order, protect individual rights, ensure justice, and provide
a framework for resolving disputes.
• Law is a rule of conduct developed by the government or society over a certain territory. Law
follows. certain practices and customs in order to deal with crime, business, social relationships,
property, finance, etc. The Law is controlled and enforced by the controlling authority.

MORAL LAW/ NORMS

• Moral law refers to a set of ethical principles or standards that guide human behavior based on
notions of right and wrong. Unlike legal law, which is enforced by governmental institutions and
has formal penalties for violations, moral law is often more subjective and varies widely among
different cultures, religions, and individuals.
• Norms are the unwritten rules and expectations that govern behavior within a society or group.
They are social guidelines that dictate what is considered acceptable or unacceptable hehavior
in various situations.

Role of law in Society:

• Without law our society would be chaotic, uncivilized mess and anarchy would reign
supreme.
• The role that laws has in society is that it creates a norm of conducts in the society we live in
laws are made to protect its citizen from harm. It set in way that all citizens are given equal
opportunity, protection from harm no matter your race, Gender, religion and social standing.
*Under the law all its citizens are guarantee equal protections. In society laws are made to
promote the common good for everyone. That is sets up Guideline for everyone in society to act
in way that brings the Greater Good.

Kinds of law by Sir Jhon Salmond

Sir John Salmond refers to eight kinds of law:

1. Imperative law
2. Physical or scientific law
3. Natural or moral law
4. Conventional law
5. Customary law
6. Practical or technical law
7. International law, and
8. Civil law

Imperative law
• Imperative law means a rule of action imposed upon by some authority which enforces
obedience to it. In other words, it is a command enforced by some superior power either physically
or in any other form of compulsion.

Kinds of Imperative law:

There are two kinds of imperative law, Divine or human,
1. Divine laws are consisting of the commands imposed by God upon men either by
threats of Punishment or by hope of his blessings.
2. Human laws are the laws by analogy

Sir Jhon Salmond classifies Human Laws into four sub classes
1. Imperative law imposed and enforced by State is called "Civil law"
2. Imperative law imposed and enforced by members of society is "Moral law"
3. Those imposed and enforced by different institutions or autonomous bodies like Universities,
airline companies etc. they are called "Autonomic law"
4. Those imposed upon States by the society of States are called " International law"

Natural or Moral law:

• It has various other names such as, "the Moral law" "Divine law" "God Law", “universal or eternal
law” and "law of reason" etc.
• by natural law is meant the principles of natural right and wrong (the Principles of natural
Justice)".

Natural laws have been called:

 Divine law: - commands of God imposed upon men.
 Law of Reason i.e., being established by that reason by which the world is Governed.
 Unwritten law: - (as being written not a brazen table or a pillar of stone but by the finger
of nature in the hearts of people. universal or common law (being of universal validity)
 Eternal law (being uncreated and invariable)
 Moral law (being the expression of the Principles of morality)

Civil Law
• It is the law of the States regarding the land "Civil Law" according to the Salmond, is "the law of
State of or the law of the land, the law of lawyers and the law of the courts".
• Civil law is the positive law, or law of the land which means the law as it exists. It is backed by
the force and might of the State for purposes of enforcement. Civil law differs from special law
as the latter applies only in special
• circumstances the other term is used for the civil law is Municipal Law and national law.

FUNCTIONS OF MORAL LAW

Moral laws serve several important functions in society and individual lives. Here are some key
functions of moral law:

[Link] Behavior: Moral laws provide a framework for determining what is right and wrong,
helping individuals make ethical decisions and navigate complex social interactions.
2. Promoting Social Order: By establishing standards behavior, moral laws help maintain
harmony and reduce conflicts within a community. They contribute to a sense predictability and
stability in social relations.
3. Encouraging Personal Integrity: Moral laws often reflect values such as honesty, integrity,
and responsibility, guiding individuals to act in ways that align with these values and fostering
personal development.
4. Protecting Rights and Welfare: Moral laws aim to protect the rights and welfare of individuals,
ensuring that actions do not harm others and promoting justice and equality
5. Fostering Trust and Cooperation: Shared moral values and norms build trust among
individuals and groups, facilitating cooperation and collaboration in various social and professiona
contexts.
6. Providing a Basis for Legislation: Many legal systems are influenced by moral principles.
Moral laws can shape and inform legal frameworks, ensuring that laws reflect societal valves and
ethical considerations.
7. Encouraging Accountability: Moral laws hold individuals accountable for their actions,
reinforcing the idea that people are responsible for their behavior and its impact on others.
8. Enhancing Community and Identity: Common a moral values contribute to a sense of
community and identity, as individuals feel connected through shared beliefs and ethical
standards.

Overall, moral laws play a crucial role in shaping individual behavior, fostering social cohesion,
and upholding ethical standards in various aspects of life.