ORAL PRESENTATION
MODULE 2
CODE OF ETHICS
GROUP 4
CE Laws, Ethics, and Contracts
CODE OF ETHICS
INTRODUCTION
Man no doubt is creative because he possesses tremendous bodily and
spiritual powers. Every minute of his life, he acts, transforming himself and
the world around him. Action constitutes a person, an individual in control of
himself and accountable to himself. What person is and what becomes of
him depend largely on the type of actions he performs during his life-time.
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CODE OF ETHICS
HUMAN ACTS
Distinction is made between human acts and acts of man. The
human acts are those actions are those actions which man performs
knowingly, freely, and voluntarily.
The acts of man are those actions which happen in man. They are
instinctive and are not within the control of the will.
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ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTES
For an act to be considered a human act, it must possess the following:
1. It must be performed by a conscious agent who is aware of what he
is doing and of its consequences.
2. It must be performed by an agent who is acting freely, that is by, his
own volition and powers.
3. It must be performed by an agent who decides willfully to perform
the act.
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KINDS OF HUMAN ACT
Human acts are either elicited acts or commanded acts. Elicited
acts are those performed by the Will and not bodily externalized.
Paul Glenn enumerates the following elicited acts:
1. Wish – the tendency of will towards something, whether this be
realizable or not.
2. Intention – The tendency of the will towards something
attainable but without necessarily committing oneself to attain it.
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KINDS OF HUMAN ACT
3. Consent – The acceptance of the will of those needed to carry out the
intention.
4. Election – the selection of the will of those means affective enough to
carry out the intention.
5. Use – the command of the will to make use of those means elected
to carry out the intention.
6. Fruition – the enjoyment of the will derived from the attainment of the
thing he had desired earlie
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KINDS OF HUMAN ACT
Commanded acts are those done either by man’s mental or
bodily powers under the command of the will. Commanded acts
are either internal or external actions.
1. Internal actions are conscious reasoning, recalling something,
encouraging oneself, controlling aroused emotions and others.
2. External actions are walking, eating, dancing, laughing,
listening, reading and others.
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MORAL DISTINCTIONS
Human acts may either be in conformity or not the dictates of reason.
“Dictates of Reason” refers to the shared consciousness of prudent
people about the propriety of a certain action or manner of behavior.
It shows what is permissible in a given situation, the best option as a
matter of fact.
“Dictates of Reason” stand to the norm of morality which is the
standard by which actions are judged as to their merits or demerits.
On the basis of their relation to the norm of morality, actions are
classified into moral, immoral, or amoral.
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MORAL DISTINCTIONS
1. Moral actions – those actions which are in conformity with the norm
of morality. They are good actions and are permissible.
2. Immoral actions – those actions which are not in conformity with
the norm of morality. They are bad or evil and are not permissible.
3. Amoral actions – those actions which stand neutral in relation to the
norm of morality. They are neither good nor bad because of the
circumstances attendant to them.
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EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC EVIL
The relation of actions to the norm of morality is either intrinsic or
extrinsic. Something is intrinsic to a thing when it is integral to the
nature of that thing.
Some actions are intrinsically evil because their nature is defective
either by excess or by lack of certain attributes.
Some other actions are extrinsically evil because certain factors
attached to them by way of circumstances render them opposed to
the norm of morality.
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IMPUTABILITY OF HUMAN ACTS
A human act is done by a person who is in control of his faculties
intellect and free will. In this sense, a person is like a captain of a
ship who assumes full responsibility and accountability for his
decisions.
The imputability of a human act means that the person performing
the act is liable for such act. It involves the notion of guilt or
innocence. Thus, actions are praiseworthy or blameworthy. Actions
are attributed to the doer as their principal cause.
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SANCTIONS AND PENALTIES
The penal laws of our country provide for a system of punishment
for crimes. Ranging from simple fines to imprisonment. The capital
punishment, that is, death penalty, is reserved for “heinous
crimes”.
Unless also prohibited by the laws of the State, immoralities are
not given corresponding legal punishments such as fines or
imprisonment.
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VOLUNTARINESS
Voluntariness comes from the Latin word “voluntas”, referring to
the Will. Voluntariness is essential to an act.
1. Perfect Voluntariness – present in a person who fully intends an
act. A man who, wanting to get even, takes a gun and shoots his
enemy is said to be acting with perfect voluntariness.
2. Imperfect Voluntariness – present in a person who acts without
fully realizing what he means to do, or without fully intending the
act.
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VOLUNTARINESS
3. Conditional Voluntariness – present in a person who is forced
by circumstances beyond his control to perform an act which he
would not do under normal conditions.
4. Simple Voluntariness – present in a person doing an act
willfully, regardless of whether the doer likes to do it or not. It is
either positive or negative. It is positive when the act requires the
performance of an activity. It is negative when an act requires the
omission of activity.
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DIRECT
VOLUNTARINESS
accompanies
an
act
which is primarily intended
by the doer, either as an
end in itself or as a means
to achieve something else.
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TYPES OF VOLUNTARINESS
INDIRECT
VOLUNTARINESS
accompanies an act or
situation which is the
merely result of a directly
willed act.
SIMPLE
VOLUNTARINESS
present in a person doing
an act willfully, regardless
of whether the doer likes to
do it or not. It is either
positive or negative. It is
positive when the act
requires the performance
of an activity. It is negative
when an act requires the
omission of activity.
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INDIRECTLY VOLUNTARY
Generally speaking, a person is liable for the results which are
foreseeable by an ordinary act of prudence. The prankster who
shouts “fire” inside a crowded place has certainly some inkling
that his joke might cause fear, panic, stampede, and injury to
people.
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INDIRECTLY VOLUNTARY
Paul Glenn considers a person accountable for indirectly voluntary
results of his acts when:
1. The doer must be able to foresee the evil result or effect, at least,
in a general way.
2. The doer is free to refrain from doing that which would produce
the foreseen evil.
3. The doer has moral obligation not to do that which produces an
evil effect.
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INDIRECTLY VOLUNTARY
Alfredo Panizo cites these principles:
1. A person is held morally responsible for any evil effect which
flows from the action itself directly and necessarily as a natural
consequence, though the evil effect is not directly willed or
intended.
2. A human act from which two effects may result, one good and
one evil, is morally permissible under four conditions. If any of
these conditions is violated, then the action is not justifiable and
should not be done.
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INDIRECTLY VOLUNTARY
These four conditions are:
The action which produces double effects must be good, or at
least morally indifferent.
The good effect must not come from the evil effect. To do evil in
order to achieve something good is not justified.
The motive of the doer must be towards the attainment of the
good. The evil effect is permitted only as an incidental result.
The good effect must outweigh the evil result in its importance
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