Prepared by:

Kyla P. Rodrigueza
Raphael B. Lorenzo
 A NORM IS A STANDARD OF
MEASUREMENT. WE MEASURE
THE MORAL QUALITIES OF
THE SIZE, THE WEIGHT, THE
HUMAN ACTS ARE MEASURED
LENGTH, THE DURATION, THE
WITH THE USE OF A NORM OR
INTENSITY, THE QUANTITY, AND
STANDARD TO SUPPORT A
THE DEPTH OF SOMETHING. WE
JUDGMENT.
MEASURE OBJECTS, EVENTS,
EMOTIONS, AND PERSONS.
The norms of morality “are the criteria
of judgment about the sorts of persons
we ought to be and the sorts of actions
we ought to perform”
(Richard M. Gula:1)

Moral norms are the criteria for

judging the quality of character, what
sort a person one ought to become
and the quality of an act , what sort of
action ought to be done.
The Eternal Law

The Natural Law

Conscience
Eternal Law is the plan of God in creating all creatures,
both animate and inanimate, giving to each of them its
respective nature. The Book of Genesis tells the story of
creation.

St. Thomas Aquinas refers to eternal law as “ the

exemplar of divine wisdom as directing all actions and
movements”(1-11,93:1).

St Agustine defines it as “the divine reason or will of

God commanding that the natural order of things be
preserved and forbidding that it be disturbed”(Contra
Faustum Manicheum, 22:27)

The concept of Eternal law is inferred from the order

and harmony of the created universe.
Natural law refers to the operational tendencies of the human
nature - the chemical, biological, physiological, psychological, and
rational properties of man as an organism.

St. Thomas Aquinas says that “the natural law is nothing else than
the rational creature’s participation of the eternal law” and
“provides the possibilities and potentialities which the human
person can use to make human life truly human”.

Paul Tillich refers to the natural law as “the inner law of our true
being, of our essential created nature, which demands that we
actualize what follows from it”. Pointing to it as the “will of God”,
he explains it to be – “the command to become what one
potentially is, a person within a community of persons”.

Natural law is the tendency of human nature towards growth and

self-fulfillment.
It is universal - because it is the human nature which is shared by all men, though
realized differently according to their respective cultures.

It is obligatory – because the tendencies of our human nature are the laws of our
desires and actuations which we cannot ignore without dire consequences.

It is recognizable – because man, being self-reflexive, is aware of his nature, of what

he is and what he is capable of and what is expected of him by his own kind.

It is immutable and unchangeable – because, although change is a rule of life,

human nature in its essentiality and substantiality remains permanent and
unchangeable.
Conscience is the choice of a particular good in a given situation.
People refer to conscience as “the voice of God” – a whisper of
admonition.

Conscience is the practical judgment of reason telling us what

should be done because it is good, or what should be avoided
because it is evil. The judgment is “practical” because it leads to
a course of action.

Conscience is “judgment of reason” because it derives from our

understanding of what ought to be done as good and what ought
to be avoided as evil. These is how actions are said to be in
accordance with dictate of reason.

Conscience has two functions. Before the commission of an act,

conscience directs towards that which is good. After the
commission of an act, conscience either approves or reproes the
act. A reproaching conscience punishes the doer with remorse.
an approving conscience rewards the doer with “peace of mind”.
1. Correct conscience sees the good as good, the evil as evil. It comes from
enlightenment, from refined moral sensibility, or from the habit f doing good.

2.Erroneous conscience sees evil as something good. It comes from malice, ignorance,
bad habits, and bad influence.

3. Doubtful conscience is a vacillating conscience, unsure of itself.

4. Scrupulous conscience is overly cautious, meticulous, and fearful of committing

mistake.

5. Lax conscience is indifferent, unmindful of right or wrong.

 Conformity Formal and
Compulsory Moral
and Non- Material
Conscience Relativism
conformity Norms

Physicalism
The Order Moral
vs
of Reason Pretension
Personalism
  “ Our bond with the natural
moral law”, (Bernard Haring),
COMPULSORY “ is an exalted participation in
the eternal law of God
CONSCIENCE manifested by our conscience
whose natural function it is to
reveal our likeness to God”
(Law of Christ: 1-147).
  The conformity or non-
conformity of a human act with
the norms constitutes morality.
We recall the definition of
CONFORMITY Aristotle of the good as that
AND which fits the function. For
example, it fits the function of
NON-CONFORMITY a talented singer to sing well.
Similarly, it fits the function of
a decent and honorable
person to do what is
honorable.
  Formal norms relate to formation of
character, what kind of person we ought
to be. These consist of such directives
towards character development, such as
“be honest”, “be direct”, “be
FORMAL respectful”, etc.
 Material norms relate to actions, what
AND actions we ought to do. Material norms
determine whether an act on account of
MATERIAL NORMS its nature conforms or does not conform
with the formal norms.
 The directives of formal norms are
permanent and unchangeable because
they are the requirement s of natural
law. The directives of material norms
are temporary and changeable because
they are the result of rational evaluation.
  Moral Relativism is possible because
the human mind, being finite and
limited, does not always grasp the
moral significance of certain acts or
events. Thus, debates would continue
on whether death penalty, divorce,
MORAL abortion, gay marriage, or euthanasia
is morally permissible. Moral
RELATIVISM relativism is also descriptive of
cultural differences.
 However, the differences in the moral
practices of people do not prove that
there are no absolute truths and
principles of morals.
  Physicalism suggests that the physical and
biological nature of man determines
morality. Morality is in accordance with the
natural order in the universe. Anything
opposed to man’s physical, physiological, or
biological tendencies is wrong and immoral.
 Personalism suggests that reason is the

PHYSICALISM standard for moral judgment. Right reason,

or “recta ratio”, is the dynamic tendency in
the human person to know the truth, to grasp
VS the whole reality as it is. Morality is in
accordance with the order of reason, or the
dictate of reason.
PERSONALISM  While seemingly opposed, these theories
are not irreconcilable. Reason, if it must be
“recta” has to accept the reality of man’s
biological tendencies. Physicalism on the
other hand, has to submit that biological
tendencies needs to be regulated by reason.
In fact, man “can creatively intervene in a
reasonable way to direct the order of nature
in way that would be truly human”(Gula: 41)
  Every living thing acts in accordance with
its nature. Man acts in a way proper to him
through the use of reason. “ In a morality
based on the order of reason”, writes
Richard Gula, “the human person is not
THE subject to the God-given order of nature
in the same way the animals are. The
ORDER human person does not have to conform
to natural pattern as a matter of fate.
OF Rather, nature provides the possibilities
and potentialities which the human
REASON person can use to make human life truly
human. The given physical and biological
order does not provide moral norms;
rather, it provides the data and the
possibilities for the human person to use
to achieve human goals.
  It is, however, possible for a person to
do good without having a good
character. People do laugh while deep
inside they are hurting and unhappy.
The receptionist greets you with a most
beautiful smile without a bit of respect
for you. This means an evil person can
MORAL pretend to be good.
 Ethical standard requires that we have a
PRETENSION clean mind and a pure heart.. This is
how moral laws bind the whole of
being-our senses, our emotions, our
thoughts, our desires, and our actions.
And so we say that the authenticity of a
good act comes from the soul. If our soul
is untainted, we may pretend to do evil
but still remain good.
THANK YOU!!!