ETHICS
HUMAN ACTS
DEFINITION OF ETHICS

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the study of the
principles of right moral action.

Ethics aims to study the principles underlying the desirable types of
human conduct and to prescribe the principles and methods for
distinguishing right from wrong and good from bad.
THE MATERIAL OBJECT OF ETHICS
 The physical doer of an act is the material object of Ethics, the moral
agent.
 There are two faculties in man that distinguishes them from animals and
that is the intellect and will.
 As the doer of moral acts, the material object of Ethics is the cause of
his her actions.
THE NON-MATERIAL OBJECT OF ETHICS
 The non-material object of Ethics refers to the action done or actions
performed by a moral agent, or also called as human acts.
 It is called non-material because actions are not physical entities that can
be readily perceived.
IDENTIFY THE MATERIAL AND NON-MATERIAL OBJECT
Juana and Marie are childhood bestfriends. They are studying in the same school, staying
in the same dormitory, and are both graduating students. As best friends, they also
share the same room, and share personal secrets. One day Juana tearfully confided to
Maria the she was two months’ pregnant. She was afraid to infrom the school about it
because she might not be allowed to graduate. After telling Maria all her misadventures
with her boyfriends, Juana asked Maria not to tell anyone, especially her (Juana’s)parents.
Maria solemnly promised to keep her bestfriend’’s secret to herself. But the following
day, Maria went to see Juana’s parents and excitedly informed them that their daughter
was in big trouble. Juana, Maria told them, was about to give birth to a healthy baby girl
and contemplating hanging herself because she could not pay her graduation fee.
FORMAL OBJECT OF ETHICS
 The formal object of a science is the special way, aim, or point of view
that the science employs in studying or dealing with its subject matter.
 It is the particular point of view which Ethics considers in dealing with
the subject matter.
Are all acts performed by man a formal object
of ethics?
ARE ALL ACTS PERFORMED BY MAN A FORMAL OBJECT OF ETHICS?
Actions X
Actions Y
Seeing
Telling the Truth
Chewing Food
Helping
Hearing
Slandering
Snoring
Forgiving
WHAT ARE ACTS OF MAN?
 Acts that are naturally exhibited by virtue of our nature as animal beings
 Acts that are performed without awareness of the mind.
 Acts that the person has no direct control.
TWO TYPES OF ACTS OF MAN
 Natural-Involuntary acts- are forms of acts of man that are performed
intuitively or involuntarily.
 Natural-Voluntary- are neutral acts that man performs. But these acts
are within his will to control atleast for some period of time.
GENERAL PRINCIPLE FOR ACTS OF MAN
“It is because of their naturalness or their being biological necessities that
make acts of man void of any moral worth”
INQUIRY
AREN’T ALL OUR ACTIONS DRIVEN BY BIOLOGICAL NECESSITY?
ETHICS
HUMAN ACTS
WHAT ARE HUMAN ACTS?
 In a wider sense, human acts means any sort of activity, internal or
external, bodily or spiritual, performed by a human being.
 Acts that are performed knowingly and freely and which are either
ethical or unethical, but are not morally indifferent.
 Acts which proceeds from the deliberate free will of man.
CONSTITUENTS OF HUMAN ACTS
CONSTITUENT OF HUMAN ACTS
 Knowledge
 a human act must be knowing and deliberate act.
 It means deliberation about the means to perform an action and about the end
to be achieved.
 It means awareness or consciousness of the condtion and implication of our
actions.
PRINCIPLE
“The will cannot act in the dark, for the will is a “blind” faculty in
itself. It cannot choose unless it “see” to choose...”
IF THE WILL CANNOT CHOOSE WHAT IT DOESN’T KNOW...
INQUIRY
“TINUOD BA ANG LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT?”
CONSTITUENT OF HUMAN ACTS
 Freedom
 a human act must be free
 It is an act that is under control of the will, an act that the will can do or leave
undone
 It is the power to choose between two or more courses of action without
being forced to take one or the other by anything except our own will
What is the difference of “feeling free” and “being free”?
ANALYSIS
“Some philosophers teach that man is not free but determined by
heredity, economic factors, environment, character, temperament,
and etc. They say that all these factors so intrinsically affect human
life and determine human conduct that man has little freedom, if
any...”
CONSTITUENT OF HUMAN ACTS
 Voluntariness
 A human act is a voluntary act
 The action or omission of an act must proceed from a principle within the
agent, and from some knowledge which the agent possesses of the end.
 It is a will-act
DEGREES OF VOLUNTARINESS
 Perfect
 It is when the agent fully knows and fully intends the act
 Imperfect
 It is when there is some defect in the agent’s knowledge, intention, or in both.
 Direct
 It is an act which is willed as an end in itself
 Indirect
 Is present in that human act which is an effect, foreseen or foreseeable, of another act
directly willed.
INQUIRY
 When is the moral agent responsible for the evil effect of a
cause directly willed?
 When may one perform an act, not evil in itself, which has two
effects, one good, and one evil?
WHEN IS THE MORAL AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EVIL
EFFECT OF A CAUSE DIRECTLY WILLED?
 The agent must be able to foresee the evil effect, at least in a
general way
 The agent must be free to refrain from doing that which is the
cause of the evil effect
 The agent must be morally bound not to do that which is the
cause of the evil effect
WHEN IS THE MORAL AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EVIL
EFFECT OF A CAUSES DIRECTLY WILLED?
(i) The agent must be able to foresee the evil effect, at least in a general way
(ii) The agent must be free to refrain from doing that which is the cause of the evil effect
(iii) The agent must be morally bound not to do that which is the cause of the evil effect
Michael knows that if he drinks liquor, he will drink to excess, and will use blasphemous
language, which will scandalize those that hear it. He declares, and truly enough, that he
hates intemperance, and that he dreads the evils of blasphemy and scandal. Nevertheless
he drinks liqour, and the foreseen evil occur. How far is Michael responsible for the evil
effects? When does he incure their guilt?
WHEN IS THE MORAL AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EVIL
EFFECT OF A CAUSES DIRECTLY WILLED?
(i) The agent must be able to foresee the evil effect, at least in a general way
(ii) The agent must be free to refrain from doing that which is the cause of the evil effect
(iii) The agent must be morally bound not to do that which is the cause of the evil effect
Michael knows that if he drinks liquor, he will drink to excess, and will use blasphemous
language, which will scandalize those that hear it. He declares, and truly enough, that he
hates intemperance, and that he dreads the evils of blasphemy and scandal. Nevertheless
he drinks liqour, and the foreseen evil occur.
CASE ANALYSIS
You are local polictician. A devatastating typhoon hass ravaged a rural community, leaving
hundreds homeless and without food.You control the distribution of relief goods donated
by international organizations.You know the supplies are insufficient for everyone.You
foresee that if you distribute the goods fairly, it will ponly provide a meager relief for a
short time and likely lead to chaos and infighting as people struggle for limited resources.
You also foreee that some people will inevitably suffer greatly no matter hat you do.
However, you are alsso aware that your duty as a public servant demands impartiality and
equitable distribution, especially in time of crisis.You are free to distribute equally, but you
are also free to prioritize certain groups to ensure your political power, even though you
know this will result in greater suffering for others. If you choose to prioritize certain
groups, you directly will the consequence of others beings deprived. When are you
morally culpable for the suffering caused by your distribution choices?
WHEN MAY ONE PERFORM AN ACT, NOT EVIL IN ITSELF, WHICH
HAS TWO EFFECTS, ONE GOOD, AND ONE EVIL?
 The evil effect must not precede the good effect
 There must be a reason sufficiently grave calling for the act in its good
effect
 The intention of the agent must be honest, that is, the agent must
directly intend the good effect and merely permit the evil effect as a
regrettable incident or side issue
WHEN MAY ONE PERFORM AN ACT, NOT EVIL IN ITSELF, WHICH
HAS TWO EFFECTS, ONE GOOD, AND ONE EVIL?
(i) The evil effect must not precede the good effect
(ii) There must be a reason sufficiently grave calling for the act in its good effect
(iii) The intention of the agent must be honest,
The general of an army storms an enemy city. He foresees that many noncombatants will be killed.Yet to take the city will be a big step towards
winning a just war. Is the general’s act allowable?
WHEN MAY ONE PERFORM AN ACT, NOT EVIL IN ITSELF, WHICH
HAS TWO EFFECTS, ONE GOOD, AND ONE EVIL?
(i) The evil effect must not precede the good effect
(ii) There must be a reason sufficiently grave calling for the act in its good effect
(iii) The intention of the agent must be honest,
The general of an army storms an enemy city. He foresees that many noncombatants will be killed.Yet to take the city will be a big step towards
winning a just war. Is the general’s act allowable?
WHEN MAY ONE PERFORM AN ACT, NOT EVIL IN ITSELF, WHICH
HAS TWO EFFECTS, ONE GOOD, AND ONE EVIL?
You are a physician working in a rural clinic in a developing country.You
have a limited supply of a life-saving antibiotic. Two patients arrive in critical
condition: a young child with a severe infection and a pregnant woman with
a related, but slightly less critical infection. Both patients will die without
the antiobiotic.You only have enough of the medication for one person.
The child has a greater chance of complete recovery with the antiobiotic.
The pregnant woman, if she survives, will deliver a healthy baby in a few
weeks. If you give the antibiotic to the child, the woman and her unborn
baby will likely die. If you give it to the pregnant woman, the child will die,
but the woman and her baby have a chance at survival.