NORMS OF MORALITY
LAW
CONSCIENCE
LAW
AN ORDINANCE OF REASON PROMULGATED FOR THE COMMON
GOOD
BY ONE WHO HAS CHARGE OF THE SOCIETY
ORDINANCE OF REASON
LAW ORDERS AND DIRECTS HUMAN ACTS TOWARDS THEIR END
LAW FLOWS FROM REASONABLE WILL:
FROM THE ILLUMINED UNDERSTANDING OF THE WILL OF AN END
REASON RECOGNIZES WHAT IS GOOD
GOOD IS WHAT WE OUGHT TO FOLLOW
LAW MAKES US FOLLOW WHAT IS GOOD
PROMULGATED FOR THE COMMON GOOD
LAW IS MADE KNOWN TO THOSE WHO ARE BOUND BY IT
LAW IS NOT MEANT TO IMPOSE HARDSHIPS OR NEEDLESS RESTRICTIONS
TRUE LAW TENDS TO MAKE MEN GOOD,
LIBERATES MEN FROM PERVERSE AND MISTAKEN JUDGEMENTS
LEADS THEM TO THEIR ULTIMATE END
Contribution of Moral Laws
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They provide the objective criteria for our own
conscience to judge what is morally good or evil.
They help our moral development, especially in the
formation of our conscience.
They offer the needed moral stability in our lives
They challenge us to stretch for an ideal beyond our
limited experience, and correct our moral
misconceptions in the process.
CFC 849
CLASSIFICATION OF LAWS:
ACCORDING TO IMMEDIATE AUTHOR
DIVINE LAWS
HUMAN LAWS
ACCORDING TO DURATION
TEMPORAL LAWS
ETERNAL LAWS
ACCORDING TO MANNER OF PROMULGATION
NATURAL LAW
POSITIVE LAW
ACCORDING AS THEY PRESCRIBE OR FORBID AN ACT
AFFIRMATIVE LAWS
NEGATIVE LAWS
ACCORDING TO EFFECT OF VIOLATION
MORAL
PENAL
MIXED
CLASSES OF LAW
ETERNAL LAW
GOD’S ETERNAL PLAN AND PROVIDENCE FOR CREATION
ETERNAL LAW APPLIES TO ALL CREATURES
AND DIRECTS THEM IN HARMONY WITH THEIR NATURE
Eternal Law

The plan of divine wisdom as directing all acts
and movements.
(St. Thomas Aquinas)
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The universal law whereby God directs and
governs the universe and the ways of the
human community according to His plan of
wisdom and love.
Properties of Eternal Law
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Eternal and unchangeable
Absolutely universal
MAN ALONE MAY REFUSE THE DIRECTION OF ETERNAL LAW
AS A BODILY BEING
MAN ACTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH PHYSICAL LAWS
IN MATTERS THAT LIE UNDER MAN’S FREE CONTROL
MAN MAY REFUSE THE DIRECTION OF ETERNAL LAW
NATURAL LAW
THAT MORAL ORDER
(A DIRECTIVE, ORDERING MAN TOWARDS ULTIMATE END)
WHICH ARISES FROM THE NATURE OF MAN AND CREATION
AND WHICH CAN BE RECOGNIZED BY MAN’S REASON.
IT IS ALSO DIVINE NATURAL LAW
BECAUSE ITS ORIGIN IS ULTIMATELY TRACED BACK TO THE WILL OF GOD
Natural Law

The rational creature’s participation in the
eternal law.
St. Thomas Aquinas
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It is the Eternal Law as known to man by his
reason.
There is a way human life should be lived and
this “should-ness” is grasped by reason.
Fundamental Expression of Natural Law

Do good, avoid evil.
Properties of Natural Law

Universal

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Unchangeable

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There is a constant in human nature which
remains throughout all historical and cultural
change.
Obligatory and Indispensable

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It binds every man at all times and in all places
Natural law is identical to God’s will. No human
authority may give a dispensation from it.
Recognizable

It is knowable by all persons using their
critical reason.
Kinds of Law
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Eternal Law
Natural Law
Positive Law
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Divine Positive Law
Ecclesiastical Positive Law
Civil Positive Law
Evangelical or New Law
Positive Law
Laws created by human beings which can
enjoin specific obligations upon
individuals.
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Divine Positive Law
Ecclesiastical Positive Law
Civil Positive Law
HUMAN LAW
LAWS ENACTED BY CHURCH OR STATE
ECCLESIASTICAL LAW
CIVIL LAW
A HUMAN LAW DERIVES ITS BINDING FORCE
FROM NATURAL LAW AND ULTIMATELY FROM ETERNAL LAW
A CONCRETE AND DETERMINATE APPLICATION OF NATURAL LAW
Properties of Human Law

Enforceable

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Concerned with external conduct only

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Human laws oblige only those who are members of the
community for which the laws are enacted.
Historically conditioned

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External compliance with the law suffices to secure the
social order and the common good.
Limited to particular groups
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Has the coercive power of the law
Human laws change as societies and civilizations
change
Has presumptive obligatory force

Presumption favors the duty to obey the law.
Evangelical or New Law:
The Law of the Spirit
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The New law is called a law of love because it makes
us act out of love infused by the Holy Spirit, rather
than from fear; a law of grace, because it confers
the strength of grace to act, by means of faith and
the sacraments; a law of freedom, because it sets us
free from the ritual and juridical observances of the
Old Law, inclines us to act spontaneously by the
prompting of charity, and finally, lets us pass from
the condition of a servant to that of a friend of Christ
– or even to the status of son and heir (CCC 1972).
The content of this new law responds to the
obligation of the Christian to shape his life according
to Jesus Christ.
Just Law
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Generally, an unjust law does not oblige.
Conditions of a Just Law
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It must promote the common good
The burdens which the law imposes on
society must reflect an “equality of
proportion.”
It must not exceed the power of its human
authors.
Various notions of Conscience
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Feeling of guilt, worry, dissatisfaction,
restlessness or a feeling of “hiya” when
they do something wrong.
Sincerity: to be “true to one’s self”: “I can
do anything as long as it does not hurt
anybody”
What “authorities” tell them to do: the
laws of the government, the Church, the
parents, the “barkada.”
CONSCIENCE
PRACTICAL JUDGMENT OF REASON UPON AN INDIVIDUAL ACT
AS GOOD TO BE PERFORMED OR EVIL TO BE AVOIDED
JUDGMENT OF REASON
THROUGH THE PROCESS OF REASONING, BASED ON MORAL PRINCIPLES,
CONSCIENCE JUDGES AN ACT AS GOOD OR BAD.
SYNDERESIS
ACQUIRED EQUIPMENT OF MORAL PRINCIPLES
INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE OF RIGHT AND WRONG (Dictate of one’s conscience)
THE STARTING POINT OF THE REASONING PROCESS
WHICH ENDS IN THE JUDGMENT OF CONSCIENCE
WHEN WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH POSSIBLE COURSE OF ACTION
WE COMPARE IT MENTALLY WITH MORAL RINCIPLES
AND ARRIVE AT A CONCLUSION WHETHER THE ACT IS GOOD OR BAD
Two basic element of conscience
1.
2.
Moral judgment that discerns what is
right and wrong.
Moral obligation or command to do good
and avoid evil
CONSCIENCE IS A PRACTICAL JUDGMENT
•REFERENCE TO AN ACTION THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE OR
AVOIDED
•IT IS A REASONING PROCESS THAT ALWAYS ENDS IN
JUDGMENT
THAT COMMANDS, FORBIDS, ALLOWS, ADVISES
•CONSCIENCE IS A DICTATE: “DO THIS, DO THAT”
CONSCIENCE IS A JUDGMENT UPON AN INDIVIDUAL ACT
TO BE PERFORMED OR OMMITTED IN THE PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCE
BEFORE THE ACTION
CONSCIENCE JUDGES AN ACT AS GOOD TO BE PERFORMED OR EVIL TO BE AVOIDED
AFTER THE ACTION
CONSCIENCE IS A JUDGMENT OF APPROVAL OR DISAPPORVAL
STATES OF CONSCIENCE
CORRECT OR TRUE CONSCIENCE
WHEN IT JUDGES AS GOOD THAT WHICH IS GOOD
AND EVIL THAT WHICH IS EVIL
CERTAIN CONSCIENCE
WHEN CONSCIENCE IS FIRM AND ASSURED
WHEN THE AGENT HAS NO FEAR OF BEING IN ERROR
MUST BE OBEYED AT ALL TIMES
DOUBTFUL CONSCIENCE
WHEN THE AGENT IS AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ERROR
IT NOT ALLOWED TO ACT IN A STATE OF PRACTICAL DOUBT
THE DOUBT MUST BE RESOLVED AND REPLACED WITH CERTITUDE
FORMATION OF CONSCIENCE
TO FORM ONE’S CONSCIENCE MEANS TO GET RID OF DOUBT
AND ACHIEVE CERTAINTY
TO REASON OUT THE RIGHT AND WRONG OF A GIVEN SITUATION
MORAL CERTITUDE IS SUFFICIENT AND REQUISITE
FOR THE GUIDANCE OF THE CONSCIENCE-JUDGMENT
IT IS POSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE MORAL CERTITUDE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY
DIRECTLY
BY STUDYING THE ACT ITSELF AND ITS MORAL DETERMINANTS
AND HAVING A CLEAR KNOWLEDGE OF THE QUALITY OF THE MORAL ACT
AS GOOD OR EVIL
INDIRECTLY
BY APPLYING THE REFLEX MORAL PRINCIPLE
WHICH MEANS THAT A DOUBTFUL LAW DOES NOT BIND.