Sources of Morality

• The sources or principles of morality are the determinants of human

acts in connection with their moral character. Human Reason
evaluates the GOODNESS and BADNESS of Human Act by taking
into consideration the OBJECT, the END and the circumstances
surrounding the act.

• These are the three determining elements of the morality of the

particular action performed by a free agent. Beyond the general or
ontological determinations, human acts are also defined by these
three elements which characterize the moral order and make our
acts good, evil or indifference.
• The morality concerning the object is
called material or substantial morality to
distinguish it from the subjective or formal
morality which depends on the knowledge
and freedom of the agent. It may happen
that a certain action contains a material
morality while formal morality is absent.
• 1. THE OBJECT:

• The first quality describing the human act is the object. It is like the
basic factor of morality, the substance of the moral act. According to
St. Thomas, the primary and specific goodness or badness of an act
is derived from the object which the act naturally and directly tends
as to its term.

• The object is not the matter of which the thing is made but the
matter about which something is DONE; and it stands in relation to
the act as the form, as it were, giving it the species.
The Teaching of St. Thomas on the essence of morality centers on
the object as proved by this summary:

• 1. A good or moral action is a perfect action because it has the fullness

of being.
• 2. An action has the fullness of being when it is in accordance with its
species, i.e., the nature/ essence.
• 3. The nature or essence of an action is given by the object about which
the action is. The fundamental goodness or badness of an action depends
on the object.
• 4. An object is good when it is conformity with its nature or purpose for
which it was made. Otherwise, it is bad or evil.
• 5. In the moral order, an object is good when it is in conformity with
reason. Otherwise, it is evil. Consequently, an action is good or moral
when it is in conformity with reason. An action which is not in
conformity with reason is evil or bad action.
•
• 2. THE MOTIVE:

• The purpose or intention is that for the sake of which something is done. It
is reason behind our acting. Man usually puts an act as a means to
accomplish an end, different from the act itself. Since, the end or intention
is ordinarily present in all human acts, it becomes part of morality. “THE
END”, says Aristotle, “is the object of internal act of the will.”

• Before we put the will and the external senses in motion, we must have a
motive present in our minds or an objective prompting our faculties to act
and achieve the proposed objective. Hence, the importance of the motive
as the second source of morality.
The End or intention of an agent can modify
human actions in four ways:
• A. An indifferent act may become morally
good or evil.

• Example: To study medicine is in itself an indifferent

action. It becomes good when it is intended to
alleviate human sufferings but it becomes bad when it
is intended to perform illegal or immoral operations.
• B. An objectively good act
may become morally evil.
• Example: When a person gives alm to a poor
girl with the intention of seducing her.
• C. An objectively good act may
receive more goodness.

• Example: A person may give alms not only to

help the poor but also for the love of God.
• D. An objectively evil act can
never become good despite the
GOOD MOTIVE.

• The moral Principle:

• THE END DOES NOT
JUSTIFY THE MEANS!
• 3. THE CIRCUMSTANCES:

• The morality of human acts depends not only on the objects of

the act itself and the motives of the moral agent but also on the
circumstances present in the development of the action.
Circumstances are conditions modifying human actions, either
by increasing or by diminishing the responsibility attending
them.
• However, more frequently, circumstances play an important
role in affecting the morality of our actions because man’s acts
are performed at a definite time and place, in particular
manner, for certain reasons, etc. All of which, in one way or
another, increase or diminish the responsibility of an action.
The circumstances affecting the morality of our
actions
• 1. WHO: It is the subject or the person who does or
receives the action. It refers to the person or the one
whom the act is ascribed.

• 2. WHAT: It refers to the object. The circumstance of the

object or the act itself. It also refers to the quality or
quantity of the object of the act.

• 3. WHERE: It is the setting or the place of an action.

• 4. BY WHAT MEANS: it refers to the circumstance of

the means employed by the agent.
• 5. HOW: The circumstance of the manner or
mode when the act is done. This points as to
how the agent performs the act.

• 6. WHEM: The circumstance of time. This

points as to how long does the agent keep evil
intentions or thoughts.

• 7. WHY: The circumstance of end or intention.

This refers to the motive that prompts the agent
to perform the act.
How circumstances affect morality?

• A. circumstances may change, rather than

diminish or increase the goodness or
badness of an action.

• Example:
• To kill one’s parents is not only a crime but
patricide.
• To kill a working animal from a poor farmer is
a worse act than to steal it from a rich man.
• B. Circumstance may change a good or
indifferent act into a punishable one.

• Example:
• A soldier sleeping at his post during war time
will be sentenced by a military court to capital
punishment, where sleeping ( an indifferent
act) is concerned here.
• In summary, human acts in order
to be morally good, must be perfect
according to the three elements:
object, end, and circumstance. Any
deficiency will make a human act
evil.
Money in the Christian Morality

• In the OT, prosperity i,e wealth seems to

be a blessing from God. It is secondary to
peace of soul, name, fame, and wisdom.
Neglecting or persecuting the poor is
condemned.
• Care for the poor is presented as a duty
towards God. The poor are the “anawim”
praised by God.
• In the NT, attachment to wealth (avarice)
is condemned. The supreme value is the
kingdom of God while material goods
become very secondary (1Tim. 6:17).
• Money is regarded as the root of all evil.
Jesus commands everyone to share
wealth with the poor. (Mt. 19:21,Lk 12:33)
• The Church teaches that the goods of the earth belong
to all. Private property is a secondary right. As St.
Thomas says, everyone has the right to share in the
good of the world. (Vat. II, Gaudium Et Spes nos.
6972. Populorum Progressio no. 48 speaks of the
same right even on the level of nations).

• Nevertheless, money does not matter; we need it. It is

a useful good, a means. But it is a secondary good
and we should not be attached to it. The question is,
do you posses money or are you possessed by it? It is
dangerous, for possession of it can make us desire
further evils.
Power in the Christian perspective

• Power is always to be for the common good, and must

be exercised within the limits of moral order. Gaudium
Et Spes nos. 74, 75 speaks against totalitarianism and
authoritarianism forms of government. Power is given
not to lord it over people but to serve. It is to be used
FOR THE PEOPLE, to build up true community.
Christian Attitude towards pleasure

• 1. Pleasure is evil if it is harmful

• 2. pleasure is evil if it harms others.
• 3. Addictive pleasure is not right.
• 4. Proportionately costly pleasure is not right.
• 5. Pleasure, however, is part of life, it relaxes
the mind and our body.
God, the ultimate end of man

• Perfect happiness, the ultimate good,

cannot be found in material goods. If the
object of the intellect is universal truth, the
object of the will must be universal good.
Hence, only God, the universal good, can
alone satisfy the will of man.
HUMAN
ACTS
• Human Acts are actions that proceed from the
deliberate free will of man.

• The term human acts refers to any activity

performed by man. This activity could either be
physical, spiritual, internal, or external.
• However, we understand Human acts as actions
that are proper only to man.
• AGERE SEQUITUR ESSE:
• (A thing acts according to its nature or action follows
being.)
• Acts of Man:
• These are the acts of Perception (Sensation)
• The beating of the heart
• Blood circulation in the body
• Digestion of the food in the stomach, and the like.

However, all these activities do not need man’s

freedom and will.
This is why actions that happen within the body are
not human acts because they occur without the control
of the will and the consciousness of the human mind.
• Nevertheless, acts of man do not only mean actions
that happen inside the body but also those that occur
outside the body that are done without man’s
consciousness, knowledge, and free will.

• Example:
• Actions done by infants, insane, embeciles, morons,
and among others.
• In contrast to human acts, ACTS OF MAN do
not make man responsible for his actions. We
have to make it clear that man is responsible
only for his action if he does the act out
knowledge, freedom and voluntariness. These
are human acts. On the Contrary, actions that
are done without knowledge, freedom, and
voluntariness do not make man responsible.
These are acts acts of man.
B. Three fold Elements
of Human Acts
• KNOWLEDGE:
• A human Act is done with knowledge.
• Doing an act with knowledge makes the act
deliberate. This means that the agent has
intellectual knowledge of the act.
• Further, in performing an act with knowledge,
the agent has awareness about the means to
employ as he performs the act. And the agent
has also the awareness of the end to achieve
his actions.
• FREEDOM:
• A human act is an act done with freedom.
• An act done with freedom means that the agent
does an act under the control of his will.
• This suggests that when the agent performs an
act with freedom, his will is not affected or
influenced by any constraint either within
himself or outside himself.
• In simple terms, the agent is not forced to do or
not do a particular action. Therefore, a human act
is an act which is determined solely by the will.
• VOLUNTARINESS
• Of the three constituents of human acts, it is
voluntariness that requires the presence of the
two other constituents (knowledge and
freedom). This means that the voluntary act is
synonymous with human act. For the purpose
of clarification, it must be always remembered
that an action can be qualified a human act if it
has the three constituents.
• Voluntariness requires the presence of knowledge
and freedom in the agent because for the agent to
will the act, he must have the knowledge of what
the act is and he must also have freedom to
perform or not to perform the act. Thus, a
voluntary act is a willful act.
Classification of Human Acts

• Relation to the WILL

• Relation to REASON
• Human Acts in relation to the will refer to
those actions which are started, performed,
and completed, by the will either by will alone
or through other faculties which are under the
control of the will.

• Human Acts in relation to reason refer to those

actions that are either in agreement or in
disagreement with reason.
• 1. HUMAN ACTS IN RELATION TO THE WILL

• there are two kinds of human acts:

• Elicited Acts
• Commanded Acts
• Elicited Acts are those which are started
by the will, performed by the will, and are
completed by the will as the sole agent.

• Commanded Acts are those which begun

in the will, performed by the will, but are
completed by the will through another
medium which is under the control of the
will.
Conscience
In the classic Disney movie, Pinocchio,
Jiminy Cricket is chosen by the Blue
Fairy to be Pinocchio's "official"
conscience. He agrees to his post as,
"Lord High Keeper of the Knowledge of
Right and Wrong, Counselor in
Moments of Temptation, and Guide
along the Straight and Narrow Path."

Do each of us have a “Jiminy Cricket” as our conscience to tell us right from

wrong?
NO!! Conscience is NOT an inner voice within us that is separate from who we
are…Rather, it is a reflection of our being:
Conscience is not what we have, it is It is the operation of the
something we are. intellect.
“Deep within his conscience man discovers a law
which he has not laid upon himself but which he
must obey. Its voice ever calling him to love and
to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in
his heart at the right moment….For man has in
his heart a law inscribed by God….His
conscience is man’s most secret core and
sanctuary. There he is alone with God voice
echoes in his depth.” Vatican II, Gadium et Spes
To define and clarify…
It is NOT an inner voice that
Conscience: a judgment of goes untouched, unexamined
and undeveloped.
reason whereby the human
person recognizes the moral Conscience IS molded by our
quality of a concrete act that he environment, but must be
is going to perform, is in the evaluated against TRUTH when
making a decision.
process of performing, or has
already completed. Conscience IS NOT a feeling, it is an act
Conscience refers to our entire being as of the intellect and will that must be
creatures who desire to turn towards examined against truth before final
goodness and truth. judgment can be made.

The Latin root for the word “conscience” means to know.

It deals with our acts of judging based on our KNOWledge of
right and wrong,
Conscience vs.
“Consciousness”:
• Consciousness refers to a general awareness of ourselves,
other people and our surroundings.

• Conscience refers to our awareness (consciousness) of right

and wrong,
Again, Conscience is not a
feeling; it is a practical
The job of the conscience is to judgment; an operation of the
evaluate whether or not a intellect that must be examined
particular act is good or evil, against TRUTH.
and to advise accordingly.

“Conscience enables one to assume responsibility for the

acts performed.”
Review of the Moral Act:

There are three basic components for determining whether an action

is moral or immoral:

1. The object chosen

2. The intention (the “end”)
3. The circumstances surrounding the action
“A morally good act requires the goodness of the
object, of the end, and of the circumstances together.
An evil end corrupts the action, even if the object is
good in itself (such as praying and fasting ‘in order to
be seen by men’).
The object of choice can by itself vitiate [corrupt] an
act in its entirety. There are some concrete acts– such
as fornication– that it is always wrong to choose,
because choosing them entails a disorder of the will,
that is, a moral evil.” CCC 1755
Conditions that Lessen Guilt…
• “Violence is an external force applied by one person on another to compel
that person to perform an action against his or her will.”
• “Fear is a disturbance of mind resulting from some present or
imminent danger.”

• “Concupiscence is the rebellion of passions [emotions] against

reason.” It is the tendency of human nature toward evil.
• Ignorance is lack of knowledge in a person capable of possessing
such knowledge. There are two types of ignorance:
- Vincible Ignorance is that which can and should be dispelled. For example, if someone
thinks it might be wrong not to eat meat on Fridays in Lent, but purposely never asks a
priest or a friend about it, then he still commits sin if he eats meat on those days.

- Invincible Ignorance is that which cannot be dispelled. In other words, someone is

ignorant of his own ignorance.
“We can sum up by saying that invincible ignorance eliminates the moral
responsibility for a human act; vincible ignorance does not eliminate moral
responsibility, but may lessen it.”
Divisions of Conscience…
Certain vs. Doubtful
• Certain: one which dictates a
True (correct) vs. Erroneous course of action in clear terms
• True (correct): one which indicates without fear of error

correctly the goodness or badness of • Doubtful: one which leaves

a moral conduct a person undecided as to the
• Erroneous: one which falsely proper course of action
indicates that a good action is evil, or
an evil action is good **We must always follow a
certain conscience!
A person with a false conscience may/may not be
guilty of an evil act depending on whether his Lax vs. Scrupulous
ignorance was vincible or invincible. • Lax: forms moral judgments on
Did he try to know the truth and yet remained in insufficient grounds; may be
error?- invincible; he is innocent. persuaded that great sins are
OR Was he negligent in seeking the truth or tried NOT permissible
to seek the truth?- vincible; not innocent • Scrupulous: when someone sees
evil where there is none
When our conscience is honestly and correctly formed, we MUST follow
it in every circumstance!
But, in order to follow our conscience, we must always seek to
FORM our conscience…
Steps to help our conscience grow and be attuned to God’s will.
1. Find the facts.
2. Examine your motives.
3. Think of the possible effects.
4. Consider alternatives.
5. What does the law have to say?
6. What is the reasonable thing to do?
7. What does your own experience and that of other people say
about the issue?
8. What would Jesus have done?
9. What is the teaching of the Church?
10. Pray for guidance.
11. Admit that you sometimes sin and might be wrong.
12. After all of this, follow your conscience. “Everyone who knows what
is the right thing to do and does not do it commits a sin.” James 4:17