COURSE: SOCIAL ETHICS

COURSE CODES: CLIS04210, MCCH04211,

MCCP04211, MCCA04211, MCCM04211,
MCIT04211
LECTURER: PAUL MSILIMO
MODULE 1: THE NOTION OF ETHICS

1.0 ETHICS
 The Etymological meaning of ethics: Ethics

comes from the Greek word ethos literally

meaning; conduct, character or a characteristic
manner of behaviour.
 It is constantly interchangeable with the term

morality which is derived from the latin mores

having the same meaning as ethos.
 An ethos as we use that term today is the

character of a culture. Ethics is the study of a

way of life, our way of life, its values, its rules
and justifications. It involves thinking about
good and evil and what they mean.
Ethics has many definitions as follows:
1. It can be and has been, defined as the branch of
philosophy which deals with the morality of human
actions; as the branch of philosophy which studies
the norms of human behaviour
2. It can also be defined as the systematic study of
the fundamental principles of the moral law.
3. Normative science of human conduct.
4. Ethics is concerned with the question of right
and wrong in human behavior. It deals with how
people ought to behave, and why it is wrong to
behave in certain ways and right to behave in
certain other ways. In other words, ethics studies
the reasons why certain kinds of actions are
morally wrong and why other.
5. Ethics is the study of a way of life, our way of
life – its values, its rules and justifications. It
involves thinking about ‘good’ and ‘evil’ and what
they mean.
•The word ‘ethics’ refers both to a discipline – the
study of our values and their justification – and to
the subject matter of that discipline – the actual
values and rules of conduct by which we live.
•Ethics, on the other hand begins with a concern
for individual character – including what we blandly
call ‘being a good person’. But it is also the effort
to understand the social rules which govern and
limit our behaviour, especially those ultimate rules
– the rules concerning good and evil – which we
call ‘morality’.
•It is very clear that ethics and morality are very
closely tied to the laws and the customs of a
particular society. E.g. kissing in public and making
a profit (through cheating) in a business
transaction are considered moral in some societies
while they are considered immoral in other
societies.
•Ethics is directed upon the formation of character,
hence, a treatise of moral education. It discusses
especially those admirable human qualities which
fit a man for life in an organized civic community,
which makes him ‘a good citizen’, and considers
how they can be fostered or created and their
opposites prevented.
•Ethics grows out of life – situations in which we are
confronted with some sort of perplexity or doubt
about what is the right thing to do or the best
course to follow, situations in which different
desires strive for opposed goods or in which
incompatible courses of action seem to be
justifiable.
1.1 MORALITY

 Meaning of morality: quality or value of

human acts by which we call them right or
wrong; good or bad.
 Etymologically, “mos” or “mores’ means
customs, conventions of any social group or
community. Being moral means living
according to the customs (morals) of a
particular community. Morality is the
general term which covers goodness or
badness of human acts. Morality refers,
generally speaking, to, doing the right thing;
it implies action, behaviour or conduct.
Morality cont….
 Morality; is primarily a matter of norms
guiding human conduct.
 Central to morality, in other words, are the

norms which serve as moral standards; we

use them to evaluate human conduct,
human behavior, in terms of right or wrong
or morally bad (immoral).
 The norms or standards, reflecting moral

principles and values, are often expressed

in the form of laws, rules and regulations.
Morality cont….
There is a difference between human acts
(actus humani) and acts of human (actus
hominis) being. The former Moral good is
defined as the free, willing of what is
ontologically good.
 Moral bad is defined as the free, willing of

what is ontologically evil (do not conform to

the end of man). The former involves
knowledge and free will, where as the latter
does not ( eg. Acts of infants, sleep, or
insanity); A person is not held responsible.
 1.1 Relationship between Ethics and Morality

 The term morality is derived from the latin

word “mores” having the same meaning as
ethos.
 Morality refers to Human Acts/conduct which

is voluntarily done out of knowledge and

freedom; as opposed to Acts of Human Being,
which are done without knowledge of
freedom.
 It is similar to the relationship between logic

and thinking or the relationship between

theology and religion.
Relationship btn ethics and morality
cont…,
 The latter is the basis of the former, even
before studying ethics we already have a
sense of morality. It is a systematic study of
the fundamental principles underlying our
morality. Hence morality is the basis of
ethics; the latter is the explicit reflection on,
and systematic of the former.
1.2. The relationship between ETHICS and law

 Ethics and law therefore have some basic

similarities
 Like ethics, law too deals with norms of

human behaviour.
 Both ethics and law are normative and

prescriptive, and both presuppose human

freedom.
 They are both concerned with how men ought

to behave in society; they both prescribe

certain kind of actions and prohibit others.
BUT THEY ALSO HAVE SOME BASIC DIFFERENCES.

 In the first place, ethics is wider in scope,

for law itself is a subject-matter of ethics.
 Ethics is a judge of law for morality takes

precedence over law and is itself the

standard for law.
 Law is at the service of morality and dare

not to contradict morality without ipso facto

ceasing to be law and loosing its right to be
obeyed.
The differences cont..,
 In order any law to be obeyed it must conform to
morality and never contradict it.
 Law comes from an external authority, but
morality comes from man’s internal disposition
and personal conviction.
 Law is enforced by any external authority but
morality needs no external authoritative
enforcement; personal conviction and free choice.
 Law differ from one society to another but the
fundamental moral principles are the same all
over the world;
 Morality is basically universally.
1.4 The relationship between Ethics and Religion

 Like ethics, religion is also concerned about

the morality of human conduct, and both
presuppose human freedom and
responsibility. But religion is not primarily
concerned with morality; the direct object of
religion is not morality but worship, adoration
through rites, prayers etc.
 Religion deals with morality only indirectly as
a necessary condition for true worship; but
not as its primary concern. But the direct
object of ethics is morality.
 Some people associate morality so closely
with religion that they think that there can be
no morality without religion. Some
theologians have even claimed that morality
is inseparable from religion. But the fact that
many unbelievers (who do not profess no
religious beliefs and have no religion do have
a high sense of morality and live exemplary
lives of high moral standard shows that this
claim is false. It is not necessary to be
religious or to belong to any religion in order
to be moral.
1.5. The meaning of moral, immoral, amoral actions

 MORAL: Subject to moral law or morally

responsible. We say, free and rational being is
a moral being. i.e man in as much he is he is
free and natural being is subject to the
moral law and is morally responsible for his
actions. He deserves praise, reward,
punishment for his actions.
 IMMORAL: is opposed to moral, moral means

good or praise worthily…. For ex. That

person is moral life/good life. Contrary to the
criminals are not living moral lives.
 AMORAL: Not subject to the moral law cannot
be held morally responsible, has nothing to do
with morality. For ex. We say that animals are
amoral. Infants are amoral. That means they
cannot be held responsible for whatever they do
or not subject to moral law.
 There are moral actions which all of us would
condemn as morally wrong and ought not to be
done by anybody, For example, robbery ,
embezzlement of public funds, bribery and
corruption, stealing , neglect of one’s duties,
adultery, dishonesty etc. Even those who
indulge in these kinds of actions would agree
that those are morally wrong- they know they
wrong actions which nobody ought to perform
hence they try to escape and avoid being caught.
Other immoral actions;
 Rape
 Surrogate mother hood
 Masturbation
 Euthanasia
 Bestiality: sex between human being and

animal
 Paedophilia: sex between adult and a minor
 Fetilism: sexual attraction to abjects
 Necrophilia: Sexual attraction to dead bodies
 Drug abuse
 There are also certain kinds of actions which all of us
would consider as morally right, for example fidelity
to one’s duties, respect for human life, hospitality,
kindness, helping those in need, honesty etc.
 There are certain kinds of action about which opinions
differ. Some people consider them as wrong while
others consider them as right. Examples of such
actions
 Early marriages
 The way of dressing(half naked)
 Homosexuality
 Lesbianism
 Polygamy
 Contraceptives
 Organ transplant and change of sex
 Alcoholism(the state of drunkenness)
 Discrimination
1.6 THE ORIGIN OF ETHICS

 When did ethics begin and how did it

originate? If one has in mind ethics proper—
i.e., the systematic study of what is morally
right and wrong,it is clear that ethics could
have come into existence only when human
beings started to reflect on the best way to
live.
 This reflective stage emerged long after

human societies had developed some kind of

morality, usually in the form of customary
standards of right and wrong conduct.
 The process of reflection tended to arise
from such customs, even if in the end it may
have found them wanting. Accordingly,
ethics began with the introduction of the
first moral codes. Virtually every human
society has some form of myth to explain
the origin of morality. In the Louvre in Paris
there is a black Babylonian column with a
relief showing the sun god Shamash
presenting the code of laws to Hammurabi
(died c. 1750 bce), known as the Code of
Hammurabi. The Hebrew Bible (Old
Testament) account of God’s giving the Ten
Commandments to Moses (flourished 14th–
13th century bce) on Mount Sinai might be
considered another code of law.
 Therefore, Ethics, on the other hand begins
with a concern for individual character;
including what we blandly call ‘being a good
person’. But it is also the effort to
understand the social rules which govern
and limit our behaviour, especially those
ultimate rules – the rules concerning good
and evil; which we call ‘morality’.
Ancient Greek ethics

 (i.) Socrates, as portrayed in Plato’s

Republic, articulates the greatest good as
the transcendent "form of good itself". The
good, Socrates says, is like the sun.
 The sun gives light and life to the earth, the

good gives knowledge and virtue to the

intelligible world. It is the cause of
goodness in people and actions, and it also
is the cause of existence and knowledge
 In his personal life, Socrates lived extremely
morally. He was chaste, disciplined, pious,
responsible, and cared for his friends. In
Gorgias he defends the notion that it is
better to suffer injustice than to do it.
 The pursuit of and love of the good itself

(rather than any particular good thing)

Socrates thought was the chief aim of
education and (especially) of philosophy.
 The Greeks found this paradoxical, but

Socrates both argued and lived this

philosophy consistently. That is because the
doing of evil damages the soul, which is the
highest part of humans.
 In the Republic, Socrates is challenged to defend the
view that we have reasons to be moral that do not come
from rational self-interest, in response to Glaucon's
arguments in Book 1. The Republic develops the view
that being a good person in an ethical sense involves
achieving internal harmony of the parts of the soul.
 However, Plato's ethical ideal, as expressed in the
Republic, still has much in common with the Homeric
conception of the leader of a tribe or city: the
successful running of the city and the internal harmony
of the citizen who runs it is the main ethical aim, and
there is little mention in Plato of any strictly moral
obligations the ruler may be under.
 (ii). Aristotle's ethics builds upon Plato's with important
variations. Aristotle's highest good was not the good
itself but goodness embodied in a flourishing human
life. His ethics are based on eudaimonia, variously
translated as "happiness," "prosperity," "flourishing," or
"success.
 "A"great-souled" citizen who lives a life of virtue can
expect to achieve eudaimonia, which Aristotle argues is
the highest good for man.
 (iii). Following Plato, Aristotle gives a significant role in
moral life the virtues, fixed habits of behavior that lead to
good outcomes; the main virtues are courage, justice,
prudence and temperance. The highest form of life is,
however, purely intellectual activity.
 Protagoras by Plato (428/427–348/347 bce), there is an
avowedly mythical account of how Zeus took pity on the
hapless humans, who were physically no match for the
other beasts.
 To make up for these deficiencies, Zeus gave humans a
moral sense and the capacity for law and justice, so that
they could live in larger communities and cooperate with
one another
 Morality is rooted in man’s nature and the right
understanding of man’s nature is necessary for the right
understanding of morality.
 For the human nature is a moral nature, and the
moral sphere is exclusively the human sphere
 Man is the only being we know which combines
the two elements: rationality and the passions,
hence the moral sphere is uniquely human. Man
as a rational being or as an effective being, it
would be better and more accurate to define him
as a moral being, since the sphere of morality
pertains to him alone.
 Man is harmonious blend of reason and the
passions.
 In the right of this picture of man portrayed
above, it can be seen that morality cannot be said
to be exclusively the function of reason or that of
passions since reason and instincts or emotions
are inseparably blended together in man.
 Similarly, self discipline (self-control) is a
moral virtue. Rationalists tend to see this
virtue as a reason keeping pure emotions in
check.
 Plato, Kant and others who see morality as a

struggle or warfare between reason and the

emotions imagine reason and the emotions
or instincts as occupying separate
compartments.
 Man is always moral since he is always

subject to the moral law and all his actions

are either morally right or morally wrong.
 Hence, the most accurate definition of man is

that of being a moral being: man is a moral

being.
1.7 DIVISION OF ETHICS/TYPES OF ETHICS Social ethics

 Life ethics
 Environmental ethics
 Medical/bio ethics
 Business ethics
 Political ethics
 Legal ethics
 Cultural and Religious ethics
1.8 THE ROOT OF MORALITY

 Morality is rooted in man’s nature and the

right understanding of man’s nature is
necessary for the right understanding of
morality.
 For the human nature is a moral nature,

and the moral sphere is exclusively the

human sphere
 Man is the only being we know which

combines the two elements: rationality and

the passions, hence the moral sphere is
uniquely human.
 Man as a rational being or as an effective being, it would be
better and more accurate to define him as a moral being,
since the sphere of morality pertains to him alone.
 Man is harmonious blend of reason and the passions.
 In the right of this picture of man portrayed above, it can be
seen that morality cannot be said to be exclusively the
function of reason or that of passions since reason and
instincts or emotions are inseparably blended together in
man.
 Similarly, self discipline (self-control) is a moral virtue.
Rationalists tend to see this virtue as a reason keeping pure
emotions in check.
 Plato, Kant and others who see morality as a struggle or
warfare between reason and the emotions imagine reason
and the emotions or instincts as occupying separate
compartments
 Man is always moral since he is always subject to the moral
law and all his actions are either morally right or morally
wrong.
 Hence, the most accurate definition of man is that of being a
1.8.1 Different opinions about the source of morality

 i) Thomas Hobbes; (1588-1679) morality is just

a conventional or social contract.
 ii). Jean Jacques Rosseau ( 1712-78): morality
never existed before the formation of state.
 iii). Human custom theory; morality is a mere
custom.
 iv). Social pleasure theory; it is a theory which is
based on public opinions and social traditions.
 v). Intrinsic or natural theory; an act is good or
bad of its own nature independent of any
command or prohibition.

1.9 SOURCES OF MORALITY

 If norms are expressed through rules, laws

and regulations are central to morality and
serve as standards of moral conduct, one may
ask the question: where do these norms
come from? What is the source of our
morality of our moral standards?
 Generally speaking we distinguish three
sources of morality: religion, society and the
human person.
 We differentiate three types of morality:

religious morality, social morality and

personal morality.
 Religious Source Morality: divine revelation which
constitutes a super natural source of moral standards
for the believer.
 It finds expression in the laws of God, as found in the
bible or Quran and in religious traditions. For ex:
religion forbids killing or stealing.
 ii) Social sources of morality: which taken together
result in social ethics or morality. These sources located
within various social institutions. For example: the
family and parental care, the clan and the authority of
the elders, but also the school, the neighborhood etc.
 Here the centre of moral authority lies outside the
individual, with other agents, divine or human. Here we
speak of hetero-nomous ethics.
 iii) Personal source of morality: namely human reason
and human conscience. The first is rational by
definition; the second includes rational as well as non-
rational belief, depending on the way a person’s
conscience has been formed from childhood onwards.
1.10 Factors that determine/ constitute morality

1.10.1 The four faculties for subject factor of morality

 Subjective morality: We look an agent who acts. The

agent or subjective is the individual human being or
the person who is acting. The nature of human
subjectivity is characterized by rationality, i.e
intellective knowledge, freedom and conscience.
 A French philosopher of the time of Enlightenment
René Descartes, reduced the existence of man into
his consciousness as he concludes it that
consciousness is the proof of existence.
 Without this consciousness then man does not exist.
His central dictum is “cogito ergo sum”, I think
therefore I am or I am.
 i) Freedom: freedom refers to a situation where a
person chooses to act and do/ be as she/ he
pleases. A human act is qualified to be moral only
when it is performed out of freedom.
 ii) Will: a faculty which is after everything that is
good as such. It is the wish or voluntary act with
which a person opts to express or do something.
 An individual, over and above making a choice, must
express determinism towards what has been
chosen.
 The voluntariety of the agent towards an act is the
necessitated act proceeding from the knowledge of
the end/goal to which the act leads
 iii) Knowledge: this is the awareness which a person
has in his/her understanding of something. In order
for human act to be determined as moral, the agent
performing of the act must know its nature. Its
confines and its possible consequences, very well.
 It is a type of morality we receive from the
person who performs, this involves intellect
(awareness- an agent should have knowledge;
conscience) and free will (leads an agent to be
responsible for his/her own acts.
iv) Conscience: this is the inner natural law
acting as an indicator, warning by calling for
reasoning.
 It is the force found within every human being
according to which a person feels either exalted
or guilty with regard to his/her actions.
 As such conscience is a practical judgment of
reason concerning the moral goodness or
badness of an action to be performed hic et
nunc (here and now).
The Objective factor of Morality.
 Independent of the agent (intrinsic and extrinsic)
 A person can conform or not conform. It is unlike
subjective factors. Are those modifiers of the
morality of an action. These include:
 Laws/Constitution
 It is an ordinance of reason which is promulgated
for the common good by one in charge over
society.
 Ordinance means that law is a command and never
a request.
 i). Objective intrinsic morality: there are things
which are intrinsically good or bad. It is the agent
who governs the act.
 ii). Objective extrinsic morality: It is a law which
determines morality. The law that governs the act,
2.3.3 Types of law

 Divine law: is one instituted by God

 Human law: Instituted by human being
 Civil law: instituted by the Government. it is

the law of civil society. It defines and

protects natural rights as well as certain
other rights and privileges.
 Ecclesiastical law/canon law: is one
instituted by the church. The church being
society needs to have norms of Christian
living.
 Islamic law: instituted by Islamic religion
 Eternal law: is one guiding the destiny of the
universe
 Demonstration: diagram showing the
completeness of morality.
 Temporal law: is one which is vulnerable to
change.
 Natural law: the word nature comes from the
Latin “nasci-natum” denoting what is given by
birth, what is in born. It is that element which
is present in every human being, and in every
circumstance, and which distinguishes a
person from every other being. It is one
imposed by the nature of things.
 Positive law: is one enacted to the inanimate
creatures.
1.11 Importance of the study of ethics

 i) Our ethics are continually changing. Our society has

experienced enormous changes over the past few
decades in the realm of sexual morality; behaviour is
accepted today which would have been on immorality
50 years ago (e.g. topless beachwear for men).
 Some of these changes have to do with changing
economic and social conditions in our society; others
are reflections of deeper ethical shifts, more emphasis
on individual freedom and less emphasis on the
differences between the sexes and traditional roles.
 Changes in ethics are always disturbing and disruptive;
the study of ethics enables us to understand the nature
of these changes and just as important, to discern the
stable basis of values that underlies them.
 ii) We live in an ethically pluralistic society,
in which it seems that there is no single
code of ethics but many different values
and rules.
 Some people in our society emphasize
individual success and mobility; others
emphasize the importance of group identity
and stable cultural tradition.
 Some people insist that the ultimate value is

individual freedom;
 Others would insist that general welfare is

more important, even if it interferes with

individual freedom.
 Some people consider it absolutely wrong to
take a human life – even life of an unborn
fetus; others do not believe that such life
counts as human; it should be sacrificed if
necessary to the wellbeing of the mother.
 Though these ethical differences are
irreconcilable, it is important that we
understand the nature of these differences,
and this is much of what ethical discussion
and debate is about.
 iii. Our ethics involves choice: In fact freedom of choice
is one of the main values of our ethics.
 But to choose between alternative courses of action or
opposed values requires intelligent deliberation and
some sense of the reasons why one should choose one
rather than another.
 Having to choose between alternatives, however, is
more than enough reason to be clear about their values
and implications, and this too is a central function of
ethics.
 iv) Ethical values are often in conflict: Even when
people agree on certain values, there will inevitably be
times when two or more accepted values run up against
one another.
 Conflicting goals and customs force us to reconsider
continually our ethical priorities; freedom of speech
sometimes threatens safety, security or sensibilities e.g.
when newspapers publish classified military secrets.
 The virtue of honesty must be balanced by
concern for the consequences of telling the
truth, and the virtue of courage must be
measured against the danger one faces.
 The key concepts of ethics define the specific

values by which we live, including honesty,

courage, success, money, marriage, and the
value of life and the significance of death.
 Our ethics determines what we should want,

what we should do, what we should prefer,

and how we should live i.e. the key questions
of ethics: What actions are right? What is a
good person?
1.12 The morality of human action

 An act is said to be human when it proceeds

from the free will of man.
 Human acts are different from acts of man

which are in deliberate, e.g breathing,

digestion, etc.
 A human action is a means to an end. To

perform an action is to use the action as

means to an end, that is, an instrument
employed for the attainment of a certain
objective. If the end aimed at is evil, the
action as a whole is evil if the means
employed is good.
 The good means cannot justify an evil end. (e.g.
stealing in order to help a person who is in need):
helping is a good action, but where have you got the
help?)
 If on the other hand, the end is good but the means
employed to bring it is evil, the action as a whole is
evil, the good end cannot justify an evil means
 The most important aspect of an action from the moral
point of view is the intention.
 An action as willed and foreseen by the agent.
 There is a distinction between direct intention and
indirect intention. The direct intention of an action is
the desired and anticipated result of the action.
 The indirect intention is the by product of the action,
the undesired in itself, foreseen but permitted to
happen as inseparable from the desired goal.
 Intention; is the goal, aim or purpose which a moral
agent wants to achieve by taking a given course of
action.
HOW DOES INTENTION DETERMINES MORALITY?

 A good intention makes better an act which

is good in its very nature
 A good intention makes good an act which is

amoral/morally indifferent in its very nature

 A good intention does not modify/change an

act which is bad in its very nature

 Bad intention makes an act evil, which is
good in its very nature
 An evil intention makes an act which is

amoral/morally indifferent
 An evil intention makes worse an act which is

bad in its very nature

CIRCUMSTANCES

 This refers to all those particulars within

which an action takes place.
 Good circumstances makes better an act

which is good in itself. e.g charity, studying.

 Good circumstances makes good an act,

which is indifferent in itself .e.g running for

dear life
 Good circumstances can make less evil an act

which otherwise is evil in itself .e.g.

destroying a den of robbers or killing a
robber who has has attacked.
 During a war a commander may order the
bombing of a military base of the enemy. The
commander foresees that some innocent
civilians will surely be affected by the
bombing and destroying the military base of
the enemy, but it is allowed to happen since
it is inseparably connected with the desired
goal. In this case, the killing of some
innocent civilians along with the soldiers in
the military base of the enemy; is the indirect
intention of the action.
 NB: This means that in order for an action
to be good both the end as well as the means
must be good; if any of them is bad, the
action is bad.
IMPEDIMENTS TO MORALITY

 The unit is intended for the purposes of

helping the student to know those other
factors which impede (hinder) an action from
being classified as either good or evil.
 In other words, once any one of these
impediments occurs in an action, it
negatively affects the factors determining
morality of the action considered. Anything
which hinders an act to be ethically judged
as either good or bad. Once an impediment
occurs in a human act it renders such as act
to be merely amoral.
 i. Ignorance: Lack of knowledge.
 Vincible ignorance(culpable) and
 invincible ignorance(not culpable)
 ii. Passsion;
 iii. Fear;
 iv. Habit;
1.13 Ethics and education

 Man’s complex nature is the foundation of

knowledge, education and civil society. But
man’s nature as a rational and social being is
also the foundation of morality.
 For man is a moral being by nature, that is, by
his nature as a rational and social being.
 Morality, in other words, has its roots in the
rational and social being. There are three things:
civil society, education and morality have the
same foundation and that is human nature. They
are all centered around human and are
inseparable from human nature, they also
inseparable from each other.
 Civil society cannot be separated from
morality or from education.
 Nor can education be separated either from

morality or from society.

 Any education that is devoid of morality is

incomplete and useless. Such education is

even
1.14 ETHICS AND POLITICS

 St. Augustine speaks of the necessity of justice

to the government that justice is essential to
government that without justice there can be
no government.
 Any group of people who come together to
form a government without justice is a gang of
criminals on a large scale.
 The same thing can also be said in a slightly
different way. “Remove morality, remove
honesty and public accountability and what are
governments but gangs of thieves and treasury
looters. Harmful both to the individual who
acquires and the society in he lives.
 Education must be imbued with morality in
a very high degree otherwise it would do
more harm than good to the society.
 Jean Rousseau: in his famous essay, said

“since learned men began to appear among

us, good men have disappeared” meant that
the education of those “learned men” was
not imbued with morality. Consequently,
their education was not beneficial to
mankind since it could not fulfill the needs
of human nature.
 Any government made up of dishonest and

fraudulent people whose main purpose of

coming to government is to enrich
themselves is a not a government but a
 Once morality is taken away from
government we do not have government
any more. We have a gang of criminals or a
gang of thieves with the key to the national
treasury in hands.
 It is impossible to separate morality from

politics as it is to separate it from law.

1.15 The Africa Traditional Values
ethics
 The African values were their traditional way
of expressing their religion. Hence the
promise of African Religions is the renewal of
human affairs here and now.
 Through ritual action, misfortunes may be

overcome, sickness removed and death put

off.
 The supreme of a supreme God existed in the

African Traditional Religions long before

LEADERSHIP/KINGSHIP

 The forms of the family found in traditional Africa

were consistent with the economic form of production.

 Marriage and family: this was one of the life centered
dimensional values.
 Initiation: this was also a life centered dimensional
value in the traditional African Society.
 No one went through life without undergoing initiation
stages and ceremonies of initiation.
 Stages of ceremonies: at birth, child hood,
adolescence and manhood.
 Property ownership, law and justice
 Property ownership: for Africans the ownership of
property was not viewed as exclusively
 Laws: through traditional African did not have
written constitutional laws they always
expressed their beliefs, customs or taboos in
legal manner.
 The laws in the traditional society of Africa

regulated all those customary aspects of life

regarding wedding, marriage, ride price,
divorce, sex in married life, death
ceremonies, kingship, sacrifices, farming,
relations with culture, relation with nature.
 The laws were tied to religion so that they

were to be followed to the letter, since with

violation of any, a heavy curse was related.
The laws constituted the bulk of the culture
of every individual community.
KWASI WIREDU ON AKHAN ETHICS

 Professor Wiredu argues that among the Akan

people of Ghana, morality is not founded on
religion but on rational reflection as to what is
conducive to human welfare.
 If you ask the Akan why it is wrong to have sex
relation with another man’s wife, he would not
tell you that it is wrong because God or the gods
have said it should not be done. He will tell you,
would you like the same if were done to you?
 The Akhan defines morality in terms of the
conditions of human welfare.
 Wiredu says that it is only the common man that
attributes taboos to the gods.
Sophie Oluwole on Yoruba Ethics

 Dr Oluwole argues that Yoruba morality is not a

religious morality but secular morality. This does
not mean that gods does not play a role in their
morality. For the Yoruba do not believe that the
moral laws were made by the gods for men.
 For them the gods are agents of moral sanction
rather than authorities whose moral prescriptions
man must obey. This does not justify that their
morality is religious one.
 The same arguments have been held by Claude
Summer on Ethiopian Traditional ethics, Placid
Tempels on Bantu Ethics.
AFRICAN ETHICS AND ITS SOCIAL ELEMENT

 R.M. Downess says, One the most serious

violations of the moral order in African
traditional ethics is the employment of
mystical forces to do harm to one’s
neighbour.
 This is a typical example of evil, hence

witchcraft which is precisely the

employment of mystical forces to harm
one’s neighbour uncompromisingly
condemned all over Africa.
 The essence of goodness in Africa traditional
ethics consists in doing good to others while
the essence of evil consists in doing harm to
others.
 Other good elements of African ethics:
Extended family, mutual help and
independence. The traditional African call
and treat any relation as a brother or a sister.
 Today: all over Africa children of poor parents

are being helped to acquire education by

relations. Many African poor children are
helped. Cf. Ujamaa and Julius Kambarage
Nyerere.
 MODULE 2: SOCIAL ETHICS
 By “society” we surely refer to a more or less bigger
group of people. We may speak of a Tanzanian
society and the African society.
 The word “society”" from Old French societe
"company" (12c., Modern French société), from Latin
societatem (nominative societas) "fellowship,
association, alliance, union, community," from
socius "companion The word society is derived from
Latin “societies” which means a group of people,
people when are taken together
 People live in society and as such interact with one
another. The society must put down those rules
which act as checks and balances. Such checks and
balances form SOCIAL ETHICS.
 It has been observed that virtually every society
has a well established social ethics dealing with
such matters as family.
 SOCIAL ETHICS: Is a scientific study which deals
with different social aspects of human life. It
examines how a human person interacts with
his/her surroundings. It gives the person
principles of good moral conduct.
 The already seen divisions of ethics into
branches or types and domains and specific
domains have not yet identified specifically Social
Ethics. It is, at this juncture worthwhile
remembering that Ethics deals with all areas of
human life and it is impossible to be able to give
its comprehensive categorization.
 It can be categorized in many ways depending on
the intention of the one who categorizes it.
 Social ethics is more than a mere
community ethics and in this course, as far
as the objective aims outcomes are
concerned, it may encompass all six main
domains taken together.
 Social Ethics deals with ethics as it is related

to the society. It tries to put ethics into

practice. Social Ethics is distinguished from
personal ethics which signifies a moral code
applicable to individuals, while social ethics
means moral theory applied to groups.
Social ethics can be synonymous with social
and political philosophy, in as much as it is
the foundation of a good society or state.
 There is a temptation to equate social ethics
with community ethics but that should not
be the case. Social ethics is more than a
mere community ethics and in this course,
as far as the objective aims and outcomes
are concerned, it may encompass all six
main domains taken together.
 2.1 THE LINK BETWEEN SOCIAL ETHICS AND SOCIETY (social morality)

 People live in society and as such interact

with one another. Human beings
sometimes can be selfish and pursue
only what promotes their own individual
interests. Hence, the society must put
down those rules which act as checks
and balances. Such checks and balances
form social ethics.
 If people live without following
regulations it is impossible to attain the
good for which the society exists.
 The following opinions should be promoted:
 It has been observed that virtually every

society has a well established social ethics

dealing with such matters as family
organization, individual duties, sexual
activities, property rights, personal welfare,
truth telling and promise keeping etc.
 In this respect all societies irrespective of

their cultural dissimilarities in patterns of

human behavior have somehow developed
the universality of basic moral rules
forbidding murder, theft, infidelity, incest,
lies and disrespect. Anything else which looks
to be opposed to such a universality of
morality is due to diversity of cultures rather
than the socio-human perception of morality.
 In this respect all societies irrespective of
their cultural dissimilarities in patterns of
human behavior have somehow developed
the universality of basic moral rules
forbidding murder, theft, infidelity, incest,
lies and disrespect. Anything else which looks
to be opposed to such a universality of
morality is due to diversity of cultures rather
than the socio-human perception of morality.
 In order that any society be able to progress

and fulfill the purpose for which it exists, the

individual members that constitute it must
adopt and cultivate a certain basic moral
disposition, the individual members must be
morally matured if the society in which they
live is to develop and progress.
 In fact the moral maturity of the individual
members of a society is conditio-sine-qua
non for the development and progress of
that society.
 ETHICAL THEORIES
 Teleological theory
 Utilitarianism theory
 The deontological theory
 Virtue ethics theory
 TELEOLOGICAL THEORY

 The word teleology comes from the Greek “teleos”

which means the “end” or “final results”.
 Teleological moral systems are characterized
primarily by a focus on the consequences which
any action might have (for that reason, they are
often referred to as consequentalist moral
systems, and both terms are used here).
 Thus, in order to make correct moral choices, we
have to have some understanding of what will
result from our choices. When we make choices
which result in the correct consequences, then we
are acting morally; when we make choices which
result in the incorrect consequences then we are
acting immorally.
 According to this theory, ethical obligations are
established by an examination of the end results or
consequences of an action. Therefore this theory
tries to predict what will happen if one acts in
various ways e.g. if one acts in a rational and good
way, the end result will be good.
 Therefore, according to this theory, what is ethically
right is determined through an evaluative process. It
maintains and advocates the general rule of actions
which says,
 The teleological theory disagrees with the principle
of Machiavelism which says that “the end does not
justify the means”. To them this is unethical, for
actions are good or bad by evaluation of their end
results i.e. “the end justifies the means”.
 Both the deontological and teleological theories
provide us with guidelines which we should follow
before we act.
 The utilitarian ethical theory is founded on
the ability to predict the consequences of
an action. To a utilitarian, the choice that
yields the greatest benefit to the most
people is the choice that is ethically correct
 There are two types of utilitarianism, act

utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Act

utilitarianism adheres exactly to the
definition of utilitarianism as described in
the above section. In act utilitarianism, a
person performs the acts that benefit the
most people, regardless of personal
feelings or the societal constraints such as
laws.
 Rule utilitarianism, however, takes into account the
law and is concerned with fairness.
 A rule utilitarian seeks to benefit the most people
but through the fairest and most just means
available. Therefore, added benefits of rule
utilitarianism are that it values justice and includes
beneficence at the same time.
 DEONTOLOGICAL THEORY

 Deontology = deon + logos

 For deontologists, the ends or
consequences of our actions are not
important, but the intention is important.
 The word deontology comes from the Greek

roots “deon”, which means duty, and

“logos”, which means science. Thus,
deontology is the "science of duty." It deals
with human duties or obligations, or
responsibilities.
 Deontological moral systems are
characterized by a focus upon adherence to
independent moral rules or duties. To make
the correct moral choices, we have to
understand what our moral duties are and
what correct rules exist to regulate those
duties.
 Before one undertakes a decision one asks

oneself the following questions:

 What are my moral duties?
 What are my basic moral obligations as a

human being?
 How do I weigh one moral duty against

another?
 What are my responsibilities?
When we fulfill our duties, obligations and
responsibilities, we are behaving morally and
when we fail to fulfill them we are behaving
immorally. Typically in any deontological
system, our duties, rules, and obligations are
determined by God. Being moral is thus a
matter of obeying God.
 The classical deontologist, Immanuel Kant, a

German scholar, proposed the principle of

categorical imperative i.e. “always do good
and avoid evil”. He insisted that what makes
an act right or wrong cannot be its
consequences – which are often entirely out
of our hands and a matter of luck – but the
principle or maxim which guides the action.
 There are certain obligations and duties that must be
respected even if doing so does not produce the
desired results/consequences. The heart of Kant’s
ethics is, “duty for duty’s sake”, not for the sake of
the consequences. One should do one’s duty for its
own sake rather than for personal gain.
 Deontological moral systems typically stress the
reasons why certain actions are performed. Simply
following the correct moral rules is often not
sufficient; instead, we have to have the correct
motivations. This might allow a person to not be
considered immoral even though they have broken a
moral rule, but only so long as they were motivated
to adhere to some correct moral duty. E.g. one may
do something apparently right with a wrong intention
or one may do something bad or wrong with a good
intention (situational ethics). Our duties and
obligations should be fulfilled regardless of one’s
desire.
 Another classical deontologist, John Rawl,
proposed the theory of original position in
relation to the order of things at the
beginning i.e. “If good maintain it”.
 Our duties and obligations should be
fulfilled regardless of one’s desire.
 Deontology provides a basis for special

duties and obligations to specific people,

such as those within one's family. For
example, an older brother may have an
obligation to protect his little sister when
they cross a busy road together.
 This theory also praises those deontologists

who exceed their duties and obligations,

which is called "supererogation
 For example, if a person hijacked a train full
of students and stated that one person
would have to die in order for the rest to
live, the person who volunteers to die is
exceeding his or her duty to the other
students and performs an act of
supererogation.
 The questions that can be raised for this
theory are:
◦ Is it the motive of duty that give it its
morality?
◦ Is it only the sense of duty and not her
love for her child that gives morality to a
mother’s devotion?
 NB: Purely deontological and purely
teleological theories are ideal types and
cannot stand singly to determine the
foundation of a moral norms
 In the rights ethical theory the rights set

forth by a society are protected and given

the highest priority. Rights are considered
to be ethically correct and valid since a
large or ruling population endorses them.
 Individuals may also bestow rights upon

others if they have the ability and resources

to do so. For example, a person may say
that her friend may borrow the car for the
afternoon. The friend who was given the
ability to borrow the car now has a right to
A major complication of this theory on a
larger scale, however, is that one must
decipher what the characteristics of a right
are in a society. The society has to
determine what rights it wants to uphold
and give to its citizens. In order for a
society to determine what rights it wants to
enact, it must decide what the society's
goals and ethical priorities are.
 Therefore, in order for the rights theory to

be useful, it must be used in conjunction

with another ethical theory that will
consistently explain the goals of the society.
For example in America people have the
right to choose their religion because this
right is upheld in the Constitution.
Critiques
 Moral excellence is the result of a habit or

custom. None of the moral excellences or

virtues is implanted in us by nature; for that
which is by nature cannot be altered by
training.
 The virtues, then, come neither by nature

nor against nature, but nature gives the

capacity for acquiring them, and this is
developed by training. We acquire virtues by
doing acts.
 It is a kind of moderation and this is

cultivated by habitually practicing

moderation.
 Aristotle’s theory of virtue is this: a virtue is
neither too much nor too little, “a mean
between the extremes”. Too much
perseverance in the face of an enemy isn’t
courage, but foolhardiness. Too little
perseverance is cowardice.
 Having too much to drink is vulgar and

ruinous but Aristotle insists, refusing to drink

altogether is not virtuous either.
 Virtue is having the right amount (of
pleasure, perseverance, of drink, of money,
strength, humor, etc.)
 It is a kind of moderation and this is
cultivated by habitually practicing
moderation.
 Fundamental human rights
 A RIGHT: Is a justifiable claim to have or to
obtain to which one is entitled or a justifiable
claim to act in a particular manner if one is
entitled to do so. A right may be moral or legal
 A moral right is a justifiable claim on moral
grounds to have anything or act in a particular
manner; e.g. a begger has a moral right to
receive alms…….but cannot take any legal
action in case they refuse to give him
 A LEGAL RIGHT: conferred by law, it can be
enforced by a legal procedure.
 It is not always right to wave one’s right. The
ability to know when to demand one’s right and
when to wave it is a part of moral maturity.
 Some rights are natural and basic to human
existence, known as fundamental human rights.
They are based on human nature and therefore
universal. These are:
 The right to exist
 The right to bodily integrity
 The right to freedom or self determination
 The right to self-expression
 The right to own property within certain limits
 The right to marry and to have children
 The right to education
 The right to a just wage for one’s labour
 The right to be treated with justice
 The right to good name
 The right to belong to any religion, the right to
freedom of worship
 Some of these rights can be waved by the individual
 Virtue ethics theory

 What is a virtue?
 It is the inner disposition and attitude of moral
ethical conduct. It simply means any kind of
excellence or goodness.
 Virtue is a positive feature of a person –
character, personal charms and achievements.
 A virtue is a cultivated habit that feels entirely
natural. Virtues have to do with actions and
feelings. Virtue is concerned with the regulation of
feelings and actions.
 Examples of virtues include; honesty,
accountability, responsibility, truthfulness,
courage, fairness, transparency, justice, true love,
the virtue of environmental integrity and
 Virtues should be learned, acquired,
practiced and personalized right from
childhood. Thus goes the saying, “charity
begins at home
 Virtue in general is a synonym for morality.
 Morality is not conceived with rules or

principles, but with the cultivation of such

character.
 Virtues should be learned, acquired,
practiced and personalized right from
childhood.
 Virtue-based ethical theories place much
less emphasis on which rules people should
follow and instead focus on helping people
develop good character traits, such as
kindness and generosity. These character
traits will, in turn, allow a person to make
the correct decisions later on in life.
 Virtue theorists also emphasize the need for

people to learn how to break bad habits of

character, like greed or anger. These are
called vices and stand in the way of becoming
a good person. Virtue ethics give a human
person the proper direction in his behavior or
actions.
 MODULE 3. CONSCIENCE AS FOUNDATION OF MORAL CONDUCT

 3.1 Etymology & definition:

 The word conscience has its origin from

different languages:
 Latin – “sciere” which means “to know”, “to

grasp”, “to apprehend”, “ Con “ which means

“with”
 French – “Consiens” which means “self
knowledge”.
 In the popular mind, conscience is often

thought of as an “inner voice”, telling us

what to do or avoid.
 Conscience is a function of intellect
concerned with actions that can be good or
bad. It deals with the practical question:
“what ought I do here and now in this
concrete situation?
 Law is the objective norm of morality but it

is something external. It cannot reach its

purpose of guiding man’s actions towards
his ultimate end unless the law is known by
men and recognized in its obligatory
character.
 Often we find ourselves saying: “This is

good, this is not good or right”.

 Every human person is given the ability to
make correct judgments right from the time of
conception. Conscience is the same practical
intelligence I use to judge what to do or avoid
in other affairs of life: how should I protect my
health/life, how should I invest my money? Like
other human judgments, conscience can go
wrong or it can make mistaken moral
judgments. Conscience works hand in hand
with the human mind or intellect, heart and
soul. It involves a kind of self – examination or
selfevaluation.
 There exists in each of us a sort of “moral
sense” which leads us to discern what is good
and what is evil, just as there exists a sort of
“aesthetic sense” which leads us to discern
what is beautiful and what is ugly.
 3.2 Basic characteristics of conscience

 i) It is an inner power which warns, condemns,

praises and guides.
 ii) Conscience is associated with duty and
obligation i.e. it warns and tells one what to do
and what not to do.
 iii) It is characterized with a spirit of tenderness,
pity, true love and secrecy. In human life there
are things which are not supposed to be revealed
e.g. confessions, medical doctors’ secrecy, court
secrecy, etc. This is conscience clause or
professional secrecy.
 iv) It presupposes the right use of reason
(intelligence).
 3.3 Conscience and freedom
 Freedom is a condition necessary for the
exercise of virtue, but it is not a virtue in itself.
It does not make a person good. Freedom
enables us to do what we want, but it does not
tell us what to want.
 Freedom is very important in the proper
functioning of the conscience. Therefore, only in
true freedom can a person be truly committed to
do what is good and avoid what is evil.
 Every human person needs to be free in order to
commit himself/herself to doing good and
avoiding evil. It helps one make responsible
decisions and judgments in whatever one does.
Freedom involves will power and intellect.
 However, human freedom can be misused
e.g. in cases of rape, theft, corruption, etc.
We should therefore be free and responsible
for our actions; freedom and responsibility
entail each other. We are responsible for the
free choices we make.
 This must is not something external; it is not

a physical compulsion. One knows that he

could refuse to help; so in one sense one is
free to help or not to help; when he says that
he must help, he means that he considers he
ought to help, i.e., he experiences a moral
call within himself to offer help. If he refuses
this “call” he knows that he is doing wrong. In
that sense he is not free to refuse.
 This inner voice is what we call “conscience”
 Conscience then is the judgement that one
gives of oneself with regard to one’s way of
acting. It is acting with knowledge (cum-
scientia) when one speaks of knowledge that
is involved in morality and not a mere
knowledge of things.
 It may thus be defined as an act of the
intellect judging that an action must be
performed as obligatory or must be omitted
as sinful, or may be performed as lawful or is
advisable as the better course of action. It is a
person’s inner sense of what is right or what
is wrong morally
 It leads to feelings of remorse when one does
things that go against his moral values and to
feelings of rectitude or integrity when one’s
 It is also the attitude which informs one’s moral
judgement before performing any action.
 Karl Peschke sees moral precepts as signposts
and markers on the road and conscience as a
sense to perceive the signs without which
precepts are not enough:
 The study of conscience is therefore the study of
man himself. It is the examination of what is
inside himself and what apart from external laws
can actually influence the human conduct.
 The study of conscience should therefore be at
the centre of the study of Ethics and Social Ethics.
 It is the study of the moral development of the
human person. When we agree with Aristotle that
the primary reason for studying ethics is to make
us better people, then an examination of our
moral development should be part of this
3.4 Conscience and Natural Moral Law

 Conscience presupposes that man has in

himself a natural sense of what is good and
what is bad, what is just and what is unjust,
what is right and what is wrong.
 One of the assumptions underlying
developmental theories in both philosophy
and psychology is that humans have an
innate desire to grow and fulfil their
potentials and this belief that human nature
strives toward the good life is consistent with
the philosophies of Kant and Aristotle as well
as many non-Western philosophies such as
Confucianism and Buddhism.
 English “nature” comes from Latin, “nasci-
natum” denoting what is given by birth, what is
inborn. By nature in this respect, we do not
mean physical or biological one, but
metaphysical nature. It is the spiritual corporeal
essence of man as the principle of man’s action.
 It is present in every man and in every
circumstance, and which distinguishes man from
every other being. Instead of man’s nature, we
may even speak of man, human being, human
person, human dignity, rights of man or the
rights of the peoples, conscience,
humaneness(in conduct), human values, that
inalienable part of man which links all men, the
human in man. In this “nature” individuals and
peoples all have a common denominator, or
common good of man.
 3.5 Types or Kinds of Conscience

 Considering the action, conscience may be

antecedent, concomitant and Consequent:
 Antecedent - the action judges the morality

of the act before it is done. The antecedent

conscience commands, exhorts, permits or
forbids.
 Concomitant-the intellect judges the morality

of the act while it is being done. The

concomitant conscience animates the good
action and disturbs the one who does the
evil.
 Consequent-the intellect judges the
morality of the act after it has been done.
This judgement, of course, will change the
morality of the act already done. For the act
is good or bad if at the moment it was done
the intellect judged it to be good or bad;
the judgement after the act has been done
will not make a good act bad or a bad act
good. The consequent conscience approves
excuses, reproves or accuses.
 3.6 TYPES OF CONSCIENCE

 In view of its conformity with the objective moral

order, conscience can also be true or false.
 i) True or Right conscience-when one judges
licit what really licit is, or illicit what really illicit
is.
 ii) False or Erroneous - when one judges licit
what really illicit is, or illicit what really is licit.
This false or erroneous conscience can be
invincibly when one is not aware or is not
capable of the awareness of the error involved
and vincibly erroneous when one is aware or is
not capable of the awareness of the error
involved.
 According to the degree of the subjective
certitude of the person who judges and acts,
conscience can be certain or doubtful.
 Three more types of conscience overlap the
others and present a special case. These are
Perplexed, Scrupulous and Lax Conscience.
 iii) Perplexed-When one is doubting what he
should do and when he is not able to solve it is
said to be perplexed. For example, a mother
who on Sunday faces a dilemma of fulfilling the
obligation of Sunday mass or staying to nurse
her sick child. The omission of either obligation
seems sinful to her. In such and similar cases if
time allow one should ask counsel or in case of
need consult some sources like laws, etc. If
time does not allow it, one.
 iv) Scrupulous- A conscience which for slight
motives, or without any motive at all, often
fears to do an action thinking that it is a sin.
A scrupulous person is often tortured by
doubts that he may be living in mortal sin, or
he may be constantly beset with an
unfounded fear of having committed sin.
 E.g A scrupulous housekeeper will come back

five or ten times to her kitchen to be sure

that she turned off the gas. A chemist will go
through anguish verifying time and again the
prescription he has just made. He certainly
has reason to be prudent, yet it must not be
made a sickness. A scrupulous conscience is
not a conscience at all.
 v) Certain-the judgement of the practical intellect is
sure, without any fear of the opposite. What is
required is moral certainty.
 vi) Doubtful-the judgement of the practical intellect
is not sure. There is some fear of the opposite.
 NB. A certain conscience can be false and a false
conscience can be certain.
 vii) Lax-Dead (lax) conscience:
 This is a kind of conscience that does not judge
things seriously. It is blunt and reckless. It does not
bother to look for objective truth. A dead
conscience is the source of all evils in our society e.
murder, suffering, injustices, etc. The causes of a
dead conscience include; peer pressure, bad
company, greed for material gains, drugs, too
much freedom, unethical culture, etc.
 3.7 FORMATION OF CONSCIENCE

 Considering the formation conscience can be

correctly formed or wrongly formed.
 Correctly formed-one tries as far as possible to
arrive at the judgement with seriousness and
after study, having in view the objective truth.
This is a kind of conscience which helps one to
arrive at a right judgment with seriousness and
objective truth.
 Wrongly formed-when one does not care
sufficiently to arrive at objective truth. This is
when someone lacks the sufficient ability and
courage to arrive at an objective truth and to
protect it.
 Since conscience stands in need of illumination and
guidance man is responsible for its formation. To call
upon the judgement of one’s conscience without
having striven to inform it properly is an insulting
abuse. Unwillingness to inform one’s conscience to
use the best available resources to understand the
truth of the moral situation facing one, is already an
unwillingness to respond to the one true God.
 The process of forming one’s conscience is
accomplished by the use of reflex principles which
we use while reflecting on the state of doubt and
ignorance in which we now find ourselves.
 We have two possible courses of action open to us:
“play it safe” implying that the morally safer course is
preferable or “take the easier way” implying that a
doubtful obligation does not bind. The morally safer
course is always allowable but sometimes it is very
burdensome.
 The necessary conditions for a well formed, true and
upright conscience include: love for the truth. We should
always avoid destructive philosophies and deceptive ideas
e.g. negative foreign influences.
 A well formed conscience is upright and truthful for it
formulates its judgment according to reason, in
conformity with the true good.
 In order to form an upright conscience, one should
acquire the habit and culture of reflection before speaking
or acting. “Think before you act”. One should ask oneself:
Are the words I’m going to speak constructive or
destructive? Are they of benefit to anyone? Are my actions
constructive or scandalous? Is God happy with my actions
and words? We should always ask ourselves of the
consequences of our deeds and words.
 Everyone should have special respect for the dignity of an
upright conscience as well as freedom of choice. We
should help others especially the young and the youth to
make appropriate personal decisions in their lives i.e. we
should be exemplary.
 Formation of conscience is a lifelong task, so parents,
educators, and leaders (political, religious) should
constantly help children and the youth to form upright
and active conscience. Much emphasis should be put
on ethical values such as honesty, truthfulness,
prudence, commitment, transparency, accountability,
responsibility, courage, etc.
 Formation of conscience must consist in both rational
appropriation of set of moral norms and acquisition of
necessary factual knowledge and experience of our
daily live since we make our decisions more out of the
beliefs we live by and the habits we have formed than
out of the principles we have learned.
 The world of moral values to a large extent consists in
a collection of traditions and religious observances,
exemplary figures and ways of acting, stories and
images, which are mediated by the communities to
which a person belongs. (Cfr. . K. H. Peschke. Ibid.,) pp.
205-207.
 3.8 Conclusion
 A reflection on Conscience is indeed central to our
course on Social ethics since our aim is to mould an
individual person who will ultimately influence the
society. Social ethics deals with the practice of the
knowledge of ethics in the society. Ethics is the
branch of philosophy pondering on rightness and
wrongness of various actions and motivations of
man. Behind ethics, externally are morals, rules,
laws, commandments, customs, traditions, etc but
all these are external.
 They need an internal force or motivation in order to
be practical. Conscience provides for this internal
motivation. It is as it has been seen, an ultimate
subjective norm of morality.
 However, it is something to be taken with much
care. Its limitless force and unstoppable
conviction may be detrimental if it happens to
be erroneous.
 Hence, the formation of the right conscience
should be the responsibility of both the
individuals and the society.
 Despite the fact that freedom of conscience is
one of the basic human rights, still the societies
and individuals need to be defended from the
tyranny of erroneous consciences. It is rather
mere anxiety and fear. It is a disease of the soul
doing harm not only to the soul but also to the
body. At times it brings one to despair. Mental
ailments, as everyone realizes, can be far more
torturing than physical sufferings.
 Perhaps no keener mental suffering can be
had than that involving conscience. In a word,
scrupulous people are suffering souls, really
and truly sick. They deserve the love,
tenderness and patience which every sick
person deserve.
 Bad education, bad company, vehement and

uncontrolled passions, sloth, neglect of

prayer, lust, too much solicitude for temporal
affairs, etc. are the causes of the formation of
a lax conscience. One who with knowledge
and will acts with a lax conscience sins
gravely in a grave matter.
Prayer, spiritual retreat, frequent examination
of conscience, reading of good books, choice
of a good advisor or spiritual director, etc.,
are the remedies to overcome a lax
conscience. Conscience is the interpreter of
God’s law.
 Conscience is not source of good and evil. It

is only a warning. It manifests an obligation

but it does not create it.
 3.9 Truthfulness, Secret and Right to Privacy

 i) Truthfulness.
 Truthfulness is an attitude of the mind in

which one reverences the truth as a value

which can claim man’s respect in every
regard.
 It is a disposition by which one is, first, as

absolutely open as possible to the truth,

second, prepared to follow out in action the
known truth unconditionally, and third, ready
to share it with one’s fellowmen as something
which is, at least in principle, due to them.
 Truthfulness fundamentally is receptivity,
submissiveness to being, readiness not to
refuse the claims of reality. Truth is not
shaped by man, but rather man must suffer
to be shaped by the truth and permit himself
to be grasped by it.
 Truthfulness ultimately means that a man lets

himself be grasped by the very source of

truth and being.
 Truthfulness must be integrated, i.e.
truthfulness in thoughts, words and actions
or conduct. In order to attain truthfulness, a
person must first of all be truthful in his
thought. He must accept the truth which
confronts him in many various ways and seek
it earnestly.
 The audible word must in some measure be
an expression of the inner word of
knowledge. It is true that man cannot express
his thoughts and insight exhaustively in
external words, and often he is not even
permitted to do so.
 However truthfulness in words requires that

whatever is stated in the external words be in

harmony with a persons internal thought and
knowledge. A person’s actions must also be
true.
 They must agree with the principles he

upholds and the faith he professes.

Truthfulness in conduct means that a person
acts and lives in conformity with his thoughts
and words.
Lies and Lawful Concealment of
Truth.
 A lie consist in a verbal statement which
contradict a person’s internal conviction and
knowledge.
 Hence lie is a speech contrary to what a

person has in mind with the intention to

deceive, ‘cum intentione fallendi’. This would
distinguish lie from idle speeches in which,
for example, a person would say to himself:
‘It is raining” although the sun is shining, or
from invented stories which children at times
recount as real happenings.
 Consequences of lying
 i) Lying leads the neighbour into error and

undermines mutual confidence. It gives

wrong information which might lead to
wrong conclusion whenever used and this
makes realistic and efficient action
impossible.
 (ii) Lying is a breach of the promise which is

contained in every assertion or statement

 Secrets and Right to Privacy
 The term “privacy” in this respect means the

right to concealment of personal information

and one’s private life. By privacy a person has
the right to protect his information against
the knowledge of others unless his consent is
 A secret is a hidden fact which may not be
divulged. The hidden fact may be a defect or
fault, e.g. the illegitimacy of a child or good
of high value which needs protection against
abuse like an invention or secrets of national
defence. Three kinds of secrets are
distinguished: the natural, the promised, and
the secret of trust;
 Three types secrecy

 The natural secret. This deals with matter

that is private. It comes from nature and the
natural law or obligations. It obliges one not
to reveal the information. Others who happen
to find about them are also bound to keep
them secret.
 No convention or agreement is required to
make it binding. Fraternal concern and the
nature of human fellowship demand secrecy.
It includes all hidden facts whose revelation
by the very nature of the case would injure or
displease another and would result in no high
value worth of that injury or displeasing.
 ii) A promised secret is one which one has
promised to keep, after having received the
knowledge thereof, even though apart from
the promise there may be no obligation of
secrecy. A promise of secrecy in matters
which are useless and unlawful does not
bind.
 iii) Secrets of trust: It deals with matter

confided after exacting a promise of

secrecy. This is the strictest kind of secret
and binds in justice, because it is based on
a contract expressed or implied.
 This is when the knowledge is confided to
one only under the condition, expressed or
implied, that the matter is confidential and
not to be revealed. Professional secrets are
typical examples of secrets of trust and are
usually natural secrets also.
 Obligations regarding secrets
 The ways of keeping a secret are;
 Silence (refusal to answer)
 Evasion (distracting the questioner without

giving the information)

 Equivocation (use of double meaning

expressions) and
 Mental reservation (limiting the obvious
sense of words to some particular meaning
intended by the speaker).
 Respect and love forbid revealing secrets in

order not to endanger the life of our fellow

human beings.
 When we reveal secrets we misuse
truthfulness and hence violate justice. We
should therefore, respect the life and
integrity of others.
 MODULE 4: WORK, PROPERTY

THE NOTION OF WORK

 It is simply something (manually or intellectually)

that man does in order to earn his or her live

hood. However, work should have higher aim
than simply earning a living or surviving. It has an
objective of bettering and improves human life.
 The meaning of work: any activity that whether

manual or intellectual, whatever its nature or

circumstances; it means any human activity that
can and must be recognized as work, in the midst
of all the many activities of which people are
capable and to which they are predisposed by
their very nature, by virtue of humanity itself.
 Activity involving mental or physical effort done in
order to achieve a result.
 A task occupying a specific amount of time
 Physical or mental activity in order to achieve a
result
 Task to be undertaken
 A thing or things done or made: the results of an
action
 Real definition: Work is the occupation of human
energies (neither animals nor machines work), be
they or physical or intellectual ( manual and
intellectual work), for a proper or social utility
( the economic goal does not yet decide the
morality or immorality of work; in fact even the
wretched work)
 Work is also a fundamental dimension of man’s
existence on earth. For man, work has not only a
2. Relationship of work to property Ownership

i). What is property?

 It is what man possesses and what he or she

can possess as an individual, family, group

etc.
 It is that which one owns, one’s wealth or

goods.
 It presupposes the right to possession, use,

or disposal of anything.
 ii) What is Ownership?
 It is a right to freely possess and dispose of a

thing.
 It is the exclusive right of control over a
thing. No other person except the owner is
entitled to use the thing or to dispose of it.
Subject to ownership are not only material
goods but also intellectual and spiritual
creations.
 Ownership in a full sense or perfect
ownership includes.
 The right to dispose of a thing freely i.e. to

use, consume, sell, donate. He or she can

dispose depending only upon his or her will.
 The right to the fruits of a thing, whether

they are natural or industrial

 The right to exclude others from acting upon

the thing
 Imperfect ownership:
 It is a limited and qualified right over a thing.
One has only the use of the thing or the right to
its fruits but not the power of disposal over its
substance.
 The holder of the right of ownership can be
individual person or juridical person. Juridical
persons of private are corporations, private
organizations, religious associations.
 3) The relationship of work to property
ownership.
 Property is directly related with work since it is
through work that man can create wealth and
posses it. Even if one may possess through
inheritance and mere belonging still wealth is the
product of work of somebody. It is actually here
that we have an ethical and moral question of the
 Social life in society and the state is
essentially determined by the conditions of
work and property. The order of work and
property determines the distribution of the
total product of economy. It is therefore no
surprise that most of the time social and
political revolutions are inflamed by
conditions of work and property which are
considered exploitative and unjust. The moral
order of work and property are the two
problems which are at the root of the modern
“social question”.
The goal and importance of work:

 i. Work provides for daily livelihood. The immediate

purpose of work for most people is to make a living
(self-preservation). Man is dependent upon material
goods for the maintenance of his existence. He needs
food, clothing, and shelter. It enables to provide vital
goods for himself/herself and his/her family and
those entrusted to him or her. Without excluding
his/her neighbours (GS 67).
 There are people who possess sufficient property, eg.
By inheritance, they do not work……..
 ii) It prevents idleness which is a source of many evils.
 Iii. It curbs the rebellious flesh,
WORK MAKES A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION TO A SELF REALIZATION OF A
HUMAN BEING THROUGH DIFFERENT WAYS:

 i) LEARNING: It offers an opportunity to learn,

expand the horizon, and improve self
awareness and personal growth
 ii) ACCOMPLISHMENT; Work is a place to

accomplish things and be recognized, which

leads to greater satisfaction, confidence and
self-worth.
 iii. PRESTIGE/STATUS; the question like “where
do you work? Ohoo, I am a
Doctor/Teacher……it confers respect,
recognition, and sense of worth on employees.
iv) POWER: it provides an arena for acquiring and
exercising power.
v). BELONGING TO THE COMMUNITY: A sense
of community, friendship and experience.
vi) AGENCY: A sense of real involvement gives
people meaning.
vii) AUTONOMY; is a great intrinsic motivator.
4. THE OBLIGATION AND DIGNITY OF WORK

 The purpose and meaning of work contains

also the reasons for the duty to work.
 Work is a normal way of self-preservation. It

is ordinarily by his work that a person

satisfies his material needs and the needs of
those entrusted to him.
 To the extent that a man is able to work and

has no other legitimate source for his

sustenance, he must acquire what is
necessary for his livelihood by his labour.
 Some people possess sufficient property e.g.
by inheritance, and do not have to work for
their livelihood. In fact it is desirable that
there people in a community whose living
does not depend on their daily work.
(peschke, P.638)
 This gives them greater freedom to dedicate

themselves to concerns of common interests.

Eg. Political tasks, cultural enterprises,
religious services etc. But those who do not
depend on their work in order to make a
living are strictly obliged to work in one way
or another.
 5. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN
WORK AND HUMAN DIGNITY
 The dignity of the person who works:
 Then such a system , we maintain , is

altogether unjust to matter how much wealth

it produces, or how justly and equitably such
wealth is distributed”
 Any activity which would be detrimental to

any worker would be wrong and inhuman. It

happens even today that workers are made
slaves of their work.
 This situation can by no means be justified by

so called economic laws.

 In this case, the important is that the entire
process of productive work, therefore must
be adapted to the: needs of the person,
requirements of his life, above all his
domestic life. In labour, it is man who comes
first. It is a person who works; it is for a
person himself/herself that he/she works.
 Work should not be superior to the worker,

never again will work be against the worker;

but always work will be for the worker, work
will be in the service of man, of every man
and for all of man.
 “……work exists for man and not man for
work; if this were not so, man would become
a slave again.
 “……man is the source, the focus and the end
of all economic and social life”
 Work is also the fundamental dimension of
man’s existence on earth.
 Work will not only transform nature, adapting
it to our own needs, but also achieve
fulfillment as a human beings and indeed, in a
sense become more human beings.
 Without this consideration it is impossible to
understand the meaning why industriousness
should be a virtue; for virtue, as a moral habit,
is something justifiable anxiety that in work.
 Since work is fundamental to how human beings
realize their destiny in this world, it is of fundamental
importance in shaping the dignity of the human
person. Hence, lack of dignified means to earn what is
essential for one’s life and contributing to the
common good of mankind is lacking an essential part
of human dignity.
 To be deprived of work, to be unable to provide one’s
family and oneself, is to become not only economically
vulnerable, but also humanly stunted. Even the threat
of job loss is enough to erode a sense of personal
dignity and self-worth. Work, therefore, whether a
paid job or unpaid work in the home, as a caregiver, or
in a volunteer capacity is fundamental to human
nature and its expression.
 This connection between work and human dignity lies
at the core of individual and social progress. Progress
is deeply rooted in the struggles of ordinary people to
realize a decent life for themselves and their children.
 Human dignity, therefore, should not regarded as
passive, but as active. Human potential is more
fulfilled when people have the means to express
their creativity, and an important way they do that is
through work. When people are denied the ability to
work, they are denied the dignity that comes with
that work.
 Society thus has both a practical and moral
obligation to promote economic system that allow
for the widest possible expression of human
potential through work.
 It should however be noted that human dignity
transcends work and those people who cannot work
because of various reasons like health and those
handicapped are sharing the same dignity.
 The commandment of work is universal obligation. It
is the same for everyone. It is a general obligation.
Idleness is disorderly.
5.THE DUTY OF CONSCIOUS PREPARATION FOR ONE’S PROFFESSION

 The significance and purpose of work further

demands that a person choose his profession
responsibly and prepare himself consciously
for it.
 The responsible choice of a profession
requires above all the sober realistic
assessment of one’s talents and capabilities.
 One is only allowed to choose a profession

whose demands one is able to comply with

sufficiently. One has to choose on profession
which he/she believes that he/she can do it
efficiently.
6. DUTIES IN THE PRACTICE OF THE PROFESSION

 Every worker or profession is obliged to render

the services consciously which he/she agreed to
perform and which he is paid.
 Whoever performs his work badly, does not
comply with his obligations, or conducts his job
carelessly, sins against justice. He is obliged to
restitution.
 In many professions there exists an obligation
of continued education and updating of one’s
knowledge in order to measure up to one’s task.
 All working people are called to contribute to
the common good by seeking excellence in
production and service
 THE RIGHT TO WORK AND TO JUST RECOMPENSE
 The duty to work asserts the right to work.
 EMPLOYMENT
 Employment or labor is a contract in which a person
obliges himself to serve another, who undertakes to
pay him a just recompense according to mutual
conditions agreed upon.
 The wage paid to the working man must be
sufficient for the support of himself/herself and of
his familyIn the employment contract, however,
commutative justice is inadequate to solve all the
problems.
 WAGE:
 Is the contractual remuneration for labour service.
The work is performed in accordance with a
contract between an employer and employee. In the
contract of work, one can not make work a mere
commodity apart from the person who works.
10. THE CRISIS OF WORK IN AFRICA
 In societies in which most people can earn a living a
living only by working for others, being unable to find a
job (unemployment) is a serious problem.
Unemployment refers to enforced idleness of wage
earners who are able and willing to work but can not
find jobs. Because of its human costs in deprivation and
a feeling of rejection and personal failure, the extent of
unemployment is widely used as a measure of workers’
welfare. The proportion of workers unemployed also
shows how well a nation’s human resources are used
and serves as an index of economic activity.
 The problem of unemployment is serious in our society
today, especially full employment.
 Millions of people have no access to work and this can
bring great distress to their lives.
 Unemployment is the worst evil in the sense that the
unemployment feel that they have fallen out of the
common life, they are not wanted, that is the thing
that has the power to corrupt the soul of any person
 Effects of unemployment to people include, local
communities are shattered and amenities decline. If
a person loses a job, their sense of belonging
disappeares, they can feel humiliated, angry,
worthless, depressed.
 Health problem can increase, there is a loss of self
esteem, families suffer extra strain, there increases
in the abuse of alcohol and hard drugs, violence and
suicide.
 Unemployment affects a person’s whole lives of
those close to him or her. In a society where so many
people are over worked and some people are over
paid, it seems tragic that people aren’t able to share
jobs and thus give everyone a sense of purpose and
 11. CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT

 Globalization and the rise of new low cost

overseas competition among countries
 Increased competition within domestic
product market
 Decline in demand
 Economic crisis
 Disruptive technologies
 Laziness and choosing work
 Corruption
 Privatization
 12. Workers: their Right and Duty.

 When one mentions of the right of workers the

idea of the revolt of the workers in 19 th C following
the concientization from the theories such as
those of Carl Marx comes into mind.
 Karl Marx treats of the situation in which workers
are exploited and he has no reason to emphasize
on their duty but on their right to revolt against
exploitation of their owners. More often than not
issues of workers regards their rights since these
have been violated throughout history. when
speaking of the right to work, is an urgent
demand however if this is the only means for a
person to earn a livelihood, the alternative being
begging or public relief.
 Since we have already in the previous sections
seen the obligation and dignity of work, at this
juncture let’s see with regards to workers the
right to a just wage, the right to protection and
social security and the right to organize and to
strike.
 Cfr. K. H. Peschke. Christian Ethics, vol II.
op.cit., p. 641.
 As for Social ethics we take a broader line that
work is both a duty and a right. One has a duty
to work and has a right to be provided with
decent occupation. This follows from man’s
right and obligation of self-preservation, of
support for his dependants, and from his
calling to cooperate with God in the plan of
creation.
 But just as the duty to work is also met by the
performance of unpaid work, and even to a
very large extent, so also the right to work
refers to any kind of work, whether paid or
unpaid. A man, e.g. a peasant on his
homestead, can serve his family by work
which does not receive any remuneration, just
as a woman, e.g. a housewife, can do so by
her unpaid work in the home. The right to
work for a wage, which comes most
spontaneously to mind
13. The principle of respect for autonomy

 This principle states that an ethical theory should

allow people to reign over themselves and to be able
to make decisions that apply to their lives. This
means that people should have control over their
lives as much as possible because they are the only
people who completely understand their chosen type
of lifestyle.
 Each man deserves respect because only he has had
those exact life experiences and understands his
emotions, motivations and body in such an intimate
manner. In essence, this ethical principle is an
extension of the ethical principle of beneficence
because a person who is independent usually prefers
to have control over his life experiences in order to
obtain the lifestyle that he enjoys.
 There are, however, two ways of looking at
the respect for autonomy. In the paternalistic
viewpoint, an authority prioritizes a
dependent person's best interests over the
dependent person's wishes. For example, a
patient with terminal cancer may prefer to
live the rest of her life without the medication
that makes her constantly ill.
 The physician, on the other hand, may

convince the patient and her family members

to make the patient continue taking her
medication because the medication will
prolong her life.
 In this situation, the physician uses his or her
authority to manipulate the patient to choose the
treatment that will benefit him or her best medically.
As noted in this example, one drawback of this
principle is that the paternalistic figure may not have
the same ideals as the dependent person and will deny
the patient's autonomy and ability to choose her
treatment. This, in turn, leads to a decreased amount
of beneficence. A second way in which to view the
respect for autonomy is the libertarian view. This
standpoint prioritizes the patient's wishes over their
best interests.
 This means that the patient has control over her life
and should be content with her quality of life because
she has chosen the path of life with the greatest
amount of personal beneficence.
 Although this viewpoint is more mindful of the
patient's desires, it does not prevent the patient from
making decisions that may be more harmful than
 14. THE PRINCIPLE OF JUSTICE

 The justice ethical principle states that ethical

theories should prescribe actions that are fair
to those involved. This means that ethical
decisions should be consistent with the ethical
theory unless extenuating circumstances that
can be justified exist in the case.
 This also means that cases with extenuating
circumstances must contain a significant and
vital difference from similar cases that justify
the inconsistent decision. An ethical decision
that contains justice within it has a consistent
logical basis that supports the decision.
 For example a policeman is allowed to speed on the
highway if he must arrive at the scene of a crime as quickly
as possible in order to prevent a person from getting hurt.
 Although the policeman would normally have to obey the
speed limit, he is allowed to speed in this unique situation
because it is justified under the extenuating circumstances
 i).COMMUTATIVE JUSTICE
 It is a virtue which inclines one to give another (physical or
moral person) what is his due as a person distinct and
independent from oneself.
 It concerns with the exchange of goods and services to
strict equality of values, unless one party voluntarily
renounces its right to full compensation.
 Injustice in the strict sense of the word is committed when
commutative is violated. For example, injustice in a strict
sense is violated when an employer does not pay the
employee, his wages.
 communitative justice is also called individual justice or
justice of equality
 ii. Distributive justice:
 Regards the just distribution of honours and
burdens in society.
 Distributive justice has to guide those in
authority, be it in the state.
 The individuals are not equal in their
qualifications, resources and dedication to the
common welfare, aids, burdens, and honours
must be distributed in proportion to their needs,
capabilities and merits
 iii)The principle of participation
 Describes how one makes "input" to the
economic process in order to make a living. It
requires equal opportunity in gaining access to
private property in productive assets as well as
equality of opportunity to engage in productive
work.
 The principle of participation does not guarantee
equal results, but requires that every person be
guaranteed by society's institutions the equal
human right to make a productive contribution
to the economy, both through one's labour (as a
worker) and through one's productive capital (as
an owner). Thus, this principle rejects
monopolies, special privileges, and other
exclusionary social barriers to economic self-
reliance.
 Defines the "output" or "out-take" rights of an
economic system matched to each person's
labour and capital inputs. Through the
distributional features of private property within
a free and open marketplace, distributive justice
becomes automatically linked to participative
justice, and incomes become linked to
 The principle of distributive justice involves
the sanctity of property and contracts. It
turns to the free and open marketplace, not
government, as the most objective and
democratic means for determining the just
price, the just wage, and the just profit.
 The principle of harmony encompasses the

"feedback" or balancing principles required to

detect distortions of either the input or
output principles and to make whatever
corrections are needed to restore a just and
balanced economic order for all. This
principle is violated by unjust barriers to
participation, by monopolies or by some
using their property to harm or exploit
others.
 "Economic harmonies" is defined in The Oxford
English Dictionary as "Laws of social adjustment
under which the self-interest of one man or group
of men, if given free play, will produce results
offering the maximum advantage to other men
and the community as a whole." This principle
offers guidelines for controlling monopolies,
building checks-and-balances within social
institutions, and re-synchronizing distribution
(outtake) with participation (input).
 The first two principles of economic justice flow
from the eternal human search for justice in
general, which automatically requires a balance
between input and outtake, i.e., "to each
according to what he is due." The principle of
harmony, on the other hand, reflects the human
quest for other absolute values, including Truth,
Love and Beauty.
 It should be noted that Kelso and Adler
referred to the third principle as "the principle
of limitation" as a restraint on human
tendencies toward greed and monopoly that
lead to exclusion and exploitation of others.
Given the potential synergies inherent in
economic justice in today's high technology
world, the concept of "harmony" is more
appropriate and more-encompassing than
the term "limitation" in describing the third
component of economic justice. Furthermore,
"harmony" is more consistent with the truism
that a society that seeks peace must first
work for justice.
iv. Need for labour rest:
 “Work is made for man and not man for work”.
 Studies conducted in countries around the world

demonstrate that people can actually work

themselves to death. Factors such as workplace stress
and long hours contribute to the risk of death from
overwork.
 Hours of Labour refers to the length of the working

day and the working week. Determining standard

hours of work constitutes one of the principal issues
in labour-management relations and is a major
subject for social legislation in virtually all countries.
Some people normally work from dawn to dusk. The
issue of work – life balance and its effect on worker
fatigue is becoming of increasing importance in
sectors where public safety is a prime concern (e.g.
air-traffic control and medicine). Too much work has
led to stress – induced errors and high levels of
worker burnout.
 Workers’ priorities are changing, and more
people are trading long work hours and
financial rewards for increased time for
themselves, their families, and their leisure
activities. Some specialists believe that
because of “always on, always connected”
technology, work – life has diminished as
employees are continuously available,
connected, and expected to work 24 hours a
day and for 7 days a week (24/7). Concerns
exist that work – life balance may be taking a
back seat because of increasing pressures
from global economic competition, among
other factors.
 In conclusion, work brings to light some
fundamental aspects of man’s being: a being
which is gifted with body and spirit. In fact,
work is the fruit of a hand and mind, a mind
that is intelligent and free. Work is a
transformation which evidences the creative
power of man. Work manifests the social
character of man which is evident in any form
of work.
 Man does not only work for himself, but also

and above all for others. Finally, work reveals

another aspect of man’s being: his continual
self – transcendence. Man is never satisfied
with his work, or with his machinery. He
searches continually to better the modes of
production.
 MODULE 5: SEXUALITY AND MARRIAGE

5.1. Sexuality
 Sexuality is a part and parcel of being human. To

be human is to be either male or female. Our

sexuality in terms of our femininity or masculinity
affects many or our day to day actions.
 The meaning of human sexuality
 Human Sexuality is a general term referring to

various sexually related aspects of human life,

including physical and psychological
development, and behaviours, attitudes, and
social customs associated with the individual's
sense of gender, relationships, sexual activity,
mate selection, and reproduction.
 Sexuality affects the way people relate to one
another. There is always a difference in the
following sexuality relations. Husband-wife.
Father- son. Father- daughter. Mother- son.
Father-daughter, mother-daughter, boy-
girlfriend. Girl-girlfriend. Boy –sister.
 Sexuality can be defined as the quality or

state of being sexual. Quite often it is an

aspect of one's need for closeness, caring,
and touch.
 Sexuality permeates many areas of human life

and culture, thereby setting humans apart

from other members of the animal kingdom,
in which the objective of sexuality is more
often confined to reproduction.
 Human Sexuality is so wide a field that one
can hardly explore it. Since sexuality is not a
thing that can be separated from the human
person dealing with sexuality means dealing
with the human person himself/herself. Man
has been evolving throughout history and
although his nature remains essentially the
same the continuing uncovering of the
mysteries of himself and his environment
always makes the study about him ever more
complicated and more so in such delicate
aspects of himself as sexuality biological,
psychological, social, economic, political,
cultural, ethical, legal, historical and religious
and spiritual factors”.
 Being sexual is an essential part of being
human. Through our sexuality, we are able
to connect with others on the most intimate
levels, revealing ourselves and creating
strong bonds. Sexuality is a source of great
pleasure and profound satisfaction. It is the
means by which we reproduce-beginning
new life into the world, and transforming
ourselves into mothers and fathers.
Paradoxically, sexuality can also be a source
of guilt and confusion, a pathway to
infection, and a means of exploitation and
aggression.
 As far as our course is concerned we restrict
ourselves into moral and ethical perspectives
of Sexuality and hence Sexual Morality.
Sexual Morality attempts to explain the
meaning and purpose of human sexuality and
the moral significance of those relations
which are of an erotic and sexual nature.
 At this juncture we need to restrict ourselves

into acts which are strictly of sexual nature

and not thinking vaguely that sexuality is as
wide as man himself. As far as morality is
concerned acts of strictly sexual nature are to
be separated from other ordinary acts.
 5.2 Marriage

 Marriage comes from the Latin word”

matrimonium” means “ munus matris”, that
is, the office of the mother.
 Indeed in marriage the burden of the
procreation weighs heavily on the mother
rather than on the father
 The Latin word “ matrimonium” may mean

also “muniens matrem”, that is, protection

of the mother.
 Marriage must be of different sexes.
 Marriage is a covenant/contrast/bond of union
between man and woman, freely entered into by
them to become husband wife respectively, for
establishing a family, procreating children and
complementing one another.
 CONTRACT
 From the word “contrahere” may mean to draw
together, to restrict, to diminish, to limit.
 Contracts deal with things: they engage the
services of people and are usually made for a
stipulated period of time.
 COVENANT
 Comes from the latin word, ‘FIDERE” which
means “trust and fidelity. Fidelity is the essence
of the covenant.
 Covenant signifies partnership, communion, and
love.
 5.2.1. TYPES OF MARRIAGE

 i) RELIGIOUS MARRIAGE
 a) Christian Traditional: this binds all
the Christians where marriage is monogous.
For some Christians e.g. Catholics such
marriage is never open to divorce. Such
marriage takes place in church.
 b) Islamic: this binds the Muslims and the

marriage is open both to polygamy and

divorce
 ii) CIVIL MARRIAGE
 This marriage binds all citizens of a country

irrespective of their religion. It is

monogamous but open to divorce. It is
granted purely by the government.
 III) CUSTOMARY MARRIAGE
 This takes place when one marries in

accordance with his/her traditional cultural

customs. Such marriage is open to
polygamy.
 iv) OTHERS
 All other religious marriages
 Polygamy-where there is one husband with

many wives
 Polyandry-one wife with many husbands
 Homosexual – the same gender.
 Trial marriage- where the spouses to be live
together simply to find out whether they can be
good for one another before finally tying the
knot.
 Other forms of marriage…..
 i) Monogamy: marriage is perfect when it is one
wife one husband.
 ii) Love: marriage can never be contrasted
unless the spouses to be are attracted to each
other.
 iii) Relationship: the marrying couple need not
be attracted to one another but they need to
develop friendship.
 iv) Conjugal act: those marrying would expect
their friendship and love for another to grow
 v) Social status: with marriage comes new
social state to the partners. They become
more responsible and more committed.
 vi) Unconditional: marriage is the best when

it is done without any conditions attached

 For every kind of marriage to be valid i.e

indissoluble, the following conditions must

be met.
 Conditions for validity of marriage
 Freedom: these marrying must be
absolutely free to choose the partners they
are marrying.
 ii) Exchange of consent: the consent of both
partners, each to one another, must be
expressed at a given moment. It is best
when expressed before witnesses. (Ring as
a sign)
 iii)) Age limit: no marriage is valid which is

entered by minors. No one who has not

attained the maturity age recognized by the
society, government or religion can enter
marriage validly. Internationally, the age
limit is 18 years.
 iv) Productivity: since the major purpose of
marriage is for establishment of family and
procreation, anyone who is not capable
both of satisfying the sexual needs of the
other partner and producing children can
not marry.
 Effects of marriage
 Family: this is the most obvious effect of

marriage. Whether they have children or

not, the married spouses are already a
family.
 Oneness: those who are married, through

the conjugal act of love become one.

 Exclusiveness/unity
 Complementarity: in very many ways the
married spouse complement one another,
physically, socially, spiritually, economically,
psychologically and intellectually.
 Chief Conditions for validity of marriage
 Productivity is thus seen as expressing the

spouse openness to procreation.

 v) Consummation: marriage is valid until
and unless the couple have their first sexual
intercourse. Unless it is said to be only
ratified.
 Legitimate of children: all the children born
out of a given wed-lock become
automatically legitimate to that marriage.
 vi)Parental marriage: the parents get an

automatic right to exercise authority over

children born of that marriage.
 vii) Social status: the two married do not

remain a boy and girl, but wife and

husband.
 viii )Equality: both the husband and the
wife are equal partners in marriage.
 5.3 Marriage crisis/problems today

 Economic factor
 Unnecessary elaborate weddings.
Fundraisings, expensive dowries, gifts are
made a must.
 ii) Religious challenges: Differences in the

faiths of partners
 iii)Wife- swapping: This happens especially

in the west. After staying for sometimes two

different families come together and make
temporary arrangement for the partners to
swap.
 A husband from family A goes with a wife
from family B and vice versa.
 iv) Modernity: technology, entertainment

industry, fashion show, pornography,

internet dating.
 Health: HIV/AIDS: sexually transmitted
diseases, contraceptive
 Professional studies and job: makes one to

stay longer before contemplating marriage.

 Single parenthood: in today’s world there

are found persons who do not want to

marry though they want children of their
own,
 viii) Pre- marital sex: due to increase
accessibility to media, many youngsters
practices pre-marital sex even before they
are truly physically, emotionally, socially,
economically and psychologically mature.
 The purpose of marriage is both to
complement one another given the natural
longings of love between two sexes and to
continue the human stock by procreation
through sexual intercourse which actually
culminates that unfathomable love between
two partners of different sexes Cfr. K.H.
Peschke, Christian Ethics, op.cit., p. 470.
 The responsibility of the upbringing and
education of the offspring. This union of two
or more partners in case of monogamous
marriage (the case of Islam and some
traditional societies) with the children that are
born therein or even without them (in case the
partners are not blessed with offspring) form
a family which is the basis of the society.
 Because of their basic importance for
mankind, the right to marry as well as the
equality of both partners in the marriage
covenant have been included in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights article 16 which
states that: “Men and women of full age,
without any limitation due to race, nationality
or religion, have the right to marry and to find
 They are entitled to equal rights as to
marriage, during marriage and at its
dissolution”. A note must be taken here in
cases as in some traditional societies and
religions like Catholic Church where
dissolution of marriage is not thought of
and can be only accepted as unavoidable
necessity. The Roman Catholic Church, in
fact, does not dissolve but only nullify
marriage in which it is a sacrament with
special graces for life and not a mere
contract.
 The argument is taken right from the book
of Genesis where a man leaves his father
and his mother to unite with a woman who
becomes his wife and these become one
body. The body (one) can’t be separated.
Marriage practices are very diverse across
cultures, may take many forms and are
often formalized by a ceremony called a
wedding. The act of marriage usually
creates a kind of obligations (legal,
religious, social, etc.,) between the
individuals involved.
 In some societies, as the case of African
extended family, these obligations also
extend to certain family members of the
married persons. Almost all cultures that
recognize marriage also recognize adultery
(unfaithfulness in marriage in which a
partner engages in sexual intercourse with
another person) as a violation of the terms
of marriage. External recognition can be
manifested in a variety of ways. Some
examples include the state, a religious
authority, or both. It is often viewed as a
contract but in a religious views it might be
more than that and in some traditional
views it is more binding than a mere
contract since it unites families.
 Civil marriage is the legal concept of
marriage as a governmental institution
irrespective of religious affiliation, in
accordance with marriage laws of the
jurisdiction. If recognized by the state, by
the religion(s) to which the parties belong
or by society in general, the act of marriage
changes the personal and social status of
the individuals who enter into it.
 Although the institution of marriage pre-

dates reliable recorded history, many

cultures have legends concerning the
origins of marriage. The way in which a
marriage is conducted has changed over
time, as has the institution itself.
 One of the oldest known and recorded
marriage laws is discerned from
Hammurabi’s Code, enacted in ancient
Mesopotamia (widely considered as the
cradle of civilization). The legal institution
of marriage and its rules and ramifications
have changed over time depending on the
culture or demographic of the time. Various
cultures have had their own theories on the
origin of marriage. One example may lie in
a man's need for assurance as to paternity
of his children.
 The Place of Sex in married Life
 In African societies sex is not used for

biological purpose alone. It has also

religious and social uses. For procreation
and pleasure, sex plays an important and
obvious role in any normal marriage and in
any society of the world. There are African
peoples among whom rituals are solemnly
opened or concluded with actually or
symbolic sexual intercourse between
husband and wife or other officiating
persons.
This is like a solemn seal or signature, in
which sex is used in and as a sacred action,
as a ‘sacrament’ signifying inward spiritual
values. In some societies, like the Nyakyusa,
it is believed that sexual fluid is dangerous
to children and the wife either keeps away
from the husband during the nursing
period, or must thoroughly wash herself
after intercourse if she has children.
 It is also believed among the Nyakyusa that

a newly married woman is a great danger to

her parents; and a woman should not bear
more children when her son has got
married.
 In many societies, it is a great offence on
the part of children to look at or talk (joke)
about the genitals of their parents. Sexual
organs are the gates of life.
 For many African peoples, the genitals and

buttocks are the parts of the body most

carefully covered; their lack of covering
constitutes ‘nakedness’ in the eyes of
traditional Africans.
 There are areas where sex is used as an

expression of hospitality. This means that

when a man visits another, the custom is
for the host to give his wife (daughter or
sister) to the guest so that the two can
sleep together.
 In other societies, brothers have sexual
rights to the wives of their brothers
(remembering here that a person has
hundreds of brothers and their wives are
‘potentially’ his wives as well).
 Where the age group system is taken very

seriously, like among the Masai, members

of one group who were initiated in the same
batch are entitled to have sexual relations
with the wives of fellow members.
 These religious and social uses of sex are

held sacred and respectable. If there is a

breach of them, this is taken very seriously.
 Sexual offences of one kind and another are
many, and show clearly that Africans consider
the proper uses of sex to be sacred and must
therefore be safeguarded
 Without going into details we should here
mention what constitutes sexual offences in
African societies. Ritual offences arise where,
on account of taboos and ritual regulations,
people (including married couples) are
forbidden to have sexual relations at a given
times.
 When adultery is discovered it is severely
dealt with: in some societies the guilty person
(particularly a man) would be whipped, stoned
to death, made to pay compensation or have
his head or other parts of his body mutilated
 Marriage then, is a religious duty and
responsibility for everyone. It forms the focal
point where departed, present and coming
members of society meet. It is the point of hope
and expectation for the unmarried and their
relatives; once it has been reached and
procreation taken place, the individual may now
drift into the old: his (her) solemn duty is
performed. The physical side of choosing the
partner, preparation for marriage, actual wedding
ceremony and marriage gift, are the outward
expression of a religious happening which says
 We are making a sacred undertaking, Similarly,
the physical aspects like virginity, procreation,
polygamy, barrenness, divorce, inheriting a wife
or husband, the use of sex, and sexual offences,
are all regarded and experience mainly as
 Marriage is, therefore, a sacred drama in
which everybody is a religious participant,
and no normal person may keep away from
this dynamic scene of action. Sexual
intercourse with all its strictness,
sacredness and sociality is thought of within
marriage itself, whatever that might mean.
 Many people have proposed arguments

against marriage for various reasons. These

include political and religious criticisms,
reference to the divorce rate, as well as
celibacy for religious or philosophical
reasons.
 Many controversies have arisen over the centuries
in relation to marriage - including issues relating
to the suitability of partners of different
denominations, faiths, tribes or races, the
acceptable number and minimum age of wives,
the rights of partners, especially wives, and wider
family obligations.
 For example, a contemporary controversy of
particular significance in the USA concerns the
exclusion of homosexual relationships from legal
and social recognition and the rights and
obligations it provides. Social conservatives
opposed to same-sex marriage in some countries
claim that any attempt to define marriage to
include anything other than the union of one man
and one woman would deprive the term of its
fundamental and defining meaning.
 In other countries, polygamy is a socially
conservative practice. Advocates of same faith
marriage and same-race marriage may criticize
the legalization of interfaith marriage and
interracial marriage respectively
 By 2010, 37 U.S. states have passed laws which
define marriage as limited to a union between
one man and one woman: 33 state legislatures
have passed statutes to that effect, and 4 states
(Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska and Nevada) have, by
popular vote, passed Defense of Marriage Acts
(DOMAs) as constitutional amendments; the
Ohio state legislature is currently debating a
Defense of Marriage Act. Thirteen states,
therefore, do not currently have laws on their
books which limit marriage to a union between
one man and one woman.
 ◦ Is there alternative to Marriage Life?
 When sexual activity leading to procreation

as well as satisfying human natural need for

love and pleasure is restricted to married
state of life it goes without saying that there
is no alternative to marriage life. In the
conservative view of conventional sexual
morality there is no alternative to marriage
life if one is not able to abstain from, at
least, sexual intercourse.
This is because in this view sexual intercourse
is allowed only between two partners of
different sexes who are in a married state
and it should be strictly exclusive to them,
hence impossibility of having sexual intimacy
outside marriage.
 SOME CAUSES OF DIVORCE TODAY
 Divorce: this is a situation where those who

are legally married have their marriage

dissolved.
 It is complete breakdown in marriage. It is a

total separation of two people who had

been married.
 Adultery
 Concubinage and polygamy
 Lack of children in marriage
 Sickness. Disabilities
 Diminished economic resources and poverty
 The loss of love, commitment and
truthfulness
 The loss of beauty