THE MORAL AGENT

LESSON 4
MORAL AGENCY
MORAL AGENCY
The moral agency of the human
person is the center of his/her
identity and integrity that grounds
his/her person hood and human
a c t s . T h e m o r a l a g e n t i s i d e n t i fi e d
with, characterized by and
designated of functions or role of
moral agency as hereby presented
in the next slide.
THE MORAL
AGENT
 THE MORAL AGENT
Identity of the Moral Agent Characteristics of the Agent Rules of the Agent

•Sentient being •Capacity to know and love •Decision-making with freedom

•Emotive being •Endowed with freedom of and impartiality
•Intelligent being free will •Responsible and accountable
•Social being •With moral courage agent
•Political being •Self-consciousness •An epitome of virtuous life
•Steward of environment •Reasoning power •Be a being-with-others
•A microcosm •Gender sensitive •Defender of human dignity
•An Embodied spirit •Distinctive character traits and its inherent rights
•A creature of God and/ •Behavioral and affective •Upholds freedom as foundation
or product of evolution traits of morality
•Sense of otherness •An advocate of the supremacy
•Others of goodness, righteousness, and
the rule of law
•Stewardship
•Others
WHO THE
MORAL
AGENT IS
 WHO THE MORAL
KEY POINTS
AGENT IS
•Human life as a moral agent begins at conception when a zygote forms.
•A human being possesses sensation through the reptilian brain and
emotion through the limbic brain.
•The human person is unique in having the abilities to feel, reason, and be
considered a rational animal.
•In Aristotle’s view, humans are political beings and are inherently social,
being part of various societal structures.
•As a moral agent, a human must embody values of being human,
patriotic, and environmentally conscious, as well as exhibiting traits such
a s i n d e p e n d e n c e a n d u n i t y.
• S c i e n t i fi c a l l y , t h e h u m a n p e r s o n i s c o n s i d e r e d a c h i l d o f t h e u n i v e r s e ,
p a r t o f n a t u r e , a n d a m i c r o c o s m r e fl e c t i n g t h e m a c r o c o s m .
•Theologically, humans are created by God as spiritual beings in His
i m a g e , r e fl e c t i n g H i s g o o d n e s s , w i s d o m , a n d r i g h t e o u s n e s s , a s b o t h m a l e
and female.
WHAT THE
MORAL
AGENT IS
 WHAT THE MORAL AGENT IS
The “what” of the human person speaks of his/her characteristics, capacity, and role
o r t a s k d e s i g n a t e d , a s s u m e d o r g i v e n t o h i s / h e r m o r a l a g e n c y. T h e m o r a l a g e n t i s
endowed
with the capacity to know and understand morality in its true meaning and
implication.
He/she has to experience himself/herself a sense of moral obligation in acting or
following
h e r e a n d n o w e x i s t i n g r u l e s , r e g u l a t i o n s , p o l i c i e s , p r i n c i p l e s o r l a w. I n t h e e x e r c i s e o f
freedom, which is the foundation of morality, the moral agent has to have an informed
and reasonable choice to discern what is good or bad, right or wrong, and decide with
i m p a r t i a l i t y. To m a n i f e s t h i s / h e r d i s t i n c t i v e m o r a l c h a r a c t e r t r a i t s ( v i r t u e s o r v i c e s ) ,
the
human person has to live a life he/she wants conditioned upon personal responsibility
a n d a c c o u n t a b i l i t y. L e t u s g o t h r o u g h t h e s t a t e m e n t s b e l o w a n d d r a w j u d g m e n t o n t h e
morality
of the character traits that a moral agent may have.
 WHAT THE MORAL AGENT IS
“ Yo u a r e w h a t y o u
do”
“I am what I think”
“He/she is what he/she wears”
“One is what he/she says”
“ We are w hat w e e at”
Any judgment drawn from the foregoing
statements may be considered behavioraland
a ff e c t i v e d i s p o s i t i o n s . T h e d i s p o s i t i o n o f
character refers to the mode of acting ofthe
moral agent. He/she has a universal way of
conducting himself/herself properly
orimproperly that demonstrates virtuosity or
vice. If the improper behavior becomes vice,
itmay develop into an obsessive-compulsive
d i s o r d e r o f c h a r a c t e r. P r o p e r b e h a v i o r
deservespositive recognition with honor, praise
or commendation while improper behavior
earnsnegative attitude of disapproval, shame,
 WHAT THE MORAL AGENT IS
Moreover, the distinctive characteristic of a moral agent is his/her
sense of otherness. He/she is a being-with-others, which may mean and
i m p l y:
Re a d i n e s s o f o n e s e l f t o b e t h e re w h e re v e r t h e o t h e r p e r s o n i s ;
Av a i l a b i l i t y t o b e a t t h e o t h e r p e r s o n ’ s s e r v i c e ;
Openness to be in non-discriminatory interaction or dialogue with other
people regardless of color, gender, age, belief or status; and
M o r a l c o u r a g e i n d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g t o r e s o l v e d i l e m m a a ff e c t i n g t h e
interest
and well-being of others at whatever cost.