ELROMER TARIPE

Phlo 11 – ETHICS Department of Liberal Arts and

Behavioral Sciences
When you suddenly wake up because of your
friend's loud snoring, do you think that his
snoring is immoral?
LESSON 1.2:
THE MORAL
EXPERIENCE
OBJECTIVES

1 2
Identity the essential Recognize the
elements of morality; importance of
distinguishing human
act from act of human.
 This lesson provides an
overview of moral
experience. It tackles the
elements of morality. It also
distinguishes the difference
between the human act and
the act of a human.
THE ELEM ENTS OF MORAL
EXPERI ENC E
THE ELEMENTS OF MORAL EXPERIENCE

MORAL AGENT
Refers to the doer of a moral behavior. Ikaw!
MORAL ACT
Refer to the activity of the moral agent. Ang imo gibuhat!
REASON OF FRAMEWORK
It answers the question why and how such moral act is right or
wrong.
When you do household chores,
you possess a moral
experience. You are the moral
agent, your moral act is doing
the household chores, and you
have your own reason why you
think doing the household
chores is right.
 When you tell a lie to your
instructor about your current
situation, you still encounter a
moral experience. You are the
moral agent who is lying, your
moral act is the distortion of
truth, and you may reason out
that lying is morally good based
on a “Facebook meme.”
H U M A N ACT A N D ACT O F H U M A N
 HUMAN ACT
The human act are those actions which
man perform knowingly, freely, and
voluntarily. We refer to these actions as
deliberate, intentional, or voluntarily.
 ACTS OF MAN
The acts of man are those actions which
happen in man. They are instinctive and
are not within control of the will.
Biological and Physiological movements.
 HM
U MOARNAALCI TT Y ACTS OF MAN
Deliberate, intentional, or Biological and
voluntarily. Physiological
THE
COMPONENTS OF
HUMAN ACT

1. Knowledge
2. Freedom
3. Voluntariness
The Components of Human Act

KNOWLEDGE
It must be performed by
a conscious agent who is
aware of what he is
doing.
The Components of Human Act

FREEDOM
It must be performed by
an agent who is acting
freely, that is, by his own
volition and powers.
The Components of Human Act

V O L U N TA R I N E S S
A human act is performed
willingly. Your action must
come from your own
willfulness.
Human acts must, therefore, be knowing ,
free, and willful. The lack of any of these
attributes renders an act defective and less
voluntary.
 MORAL DISTINCTION
Human acts may either be in conformity
or not with the dictates of reason.
The relation of actions to the norm of morality
is either intrinsic or extrinsic.
EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC EVIL
 INTRINSIC EVIL
Actions are intrinsically evil because their
nature is defective either by excess or by
lack of certain attributes.
 EXTRINSIC EVIL
Actions are extrinsically evil because
certain factors attached to them by way
of circumstances render them opposed
to the norm of morality.
 Actions that are intrinsically evil are always
prohibited and under any circumstances.
Actions that are extrinsically evil may be
tolerated provided the circumstance rendering
it to be wrong is first removed.
VOLUNTARINESS
 VOLUNTARINESS
Voluntariness comes from the Latin word
“voluntas” , referring to the will. It is
essential to an act of man.
VOLUNTARINESS
1. Perfect
2. Imperfect
3. Conditional
4. Simple
5. Direct
6. Indirect
P E R F E C T VO L U N TA R I N E S S
A person who fully knows and fully
intends an act.
 I M P E R F E C T VO L U N TA R I N E S S
A person who acts without fully realizing
what it means to do, or without fully
intending the act.
C O N D I T I O N A L V O L U N TA R I N E S S
A person who is forced by circumstances
beyond his control to perform an act
which he would not do under normal
conditions.
 S I M P L E V O L U N TA R I N E S S
A person doing an act willfully, regardless
of whether he likes to do it or not. It is
either positive or negative.
 D I R E C T V O L U N TA R I N E S S
It accompanies an act which is primarily
intended by the doer, either as an end in
itself or as a means to achieve
something else.
 I N D I R E C T VO L U N TA R I N E S S
It accompanies an act or situation which
is the mere result of a directly willed act.
 A person is accountable for his
actions and their consequences. But
is he also accountable for results not
directly intended?
 I N D I R E C T LY VO L U N TA R Y
Generally speaking, a person is liable for
the result which are foreseeable by an
ordinary act of prudence.
The doer is able to foresee the evil result or
effect, at least, in a general way;
The doer is free to refrain from doing that
which would produce the foreseen evil;
The doer has moral obligation not to do that
which produces an evil effect (Ibid. 18-19)
Alfredo Panizo cites these principles: (Ibid. 38-39)

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.
Alfredo Panizo cites these principles: (Ibid. 38-39)

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.
The four conditions;

1. The action which produce double

effects must be good in itself or at least
morally acceptable.
The four conditions;

2. The good effect must not come from

the evil effect. To do evil in order to
achieve something good is not justified.
The four conditions;

3. The motive of the doer must be towards

the attainment of the good. The evil effect
is permitted only as an incidental result.
The four conditions;

4. The good effect must outweigh the evil

result in its importance.
 This principle and conditions find
application in the so called “therapeutic
abortion” where the direct intention is the
saving of the mother's life with the
incidental resultt of aborting the fetus.