METHAETHICS

- The word “META” is a Greek word that means “beyond”

- “ETHICS” is derived from the Greek word “ethos” that means “character”
- Metaethics is the study of moral thought and moral language. Rather than
addressing questions about what practices are right and wrong, and what our
obligations to other people
METAETHICS divided into two:
Cognitivism
- it holds that moral statements do express beliefs and that they are apt for
truth and falsity.
Cognitivism divided into two:
A. Naturalism
-something in our natural world, something observable and knowable
that we can verify empirically.
B Non-naturalism
-is the view that there are real ethical properties and facts that are not
among the natural properties and facts of the world.
Non-Cognitivism
- This is the claim that moral language does not express any factual
statements. Morality is not knowable or objectively true.
Non-Cognitivism divided into two:
A. Emotivism
- states that moral judgements are not claims about reality, but are
emotional expressions of the speaker.
B. Prescriptivism
-says that moral claims are not claims about reality but are personal
prescriptions.
“NORMATIVE ETHICS”

A branch of moral philosophy or ethics that focuses identifying of what is morally

right or wrong. It affects the formulation of moral rules that directly influence of what
human actions, institutions, and ways of life should be. The word normative is an
adjective which comes from "norm." In a philosophical context, the word norm
usually means standard, or rule, or principle, as opposed to what is "normal" for
people to do, that is, what they actually do.
The main question of normative ethics is to determine how basic moral
standards are arrived at and justified. To answer the question we must understand
the two broad categories – the Deontological and Teleological or Consequentialist.
Deontological do not engage the value considerations in establishing ethical
standards, while Consequentialist or also known teleological do. Deontological use
the concept of inherent rightness in establishing a standards, while Consequentialist
(teleological) consider goodness or value brought of an actions as the principal
criteria of ethical value. Deontological focuses on doing certain things based on
principle or because ther are inherently right, while Consequentialist (teleological)
advocates that certain kind of actions are right because of their consequences.
Deontological includes the concepts of obligation, ought, duty, and right and wrong,
while Consequentialist (teleological) emphasize on the good, the valuable, and the
desirable

Ross stated that “normative ethics consisted of a list of duties, each of which is to
be given independent weight: fidelity, reparation, gratitude, beneficence,
nonmaleficence, and self-improvement”.

APPLIED ETHICS
What is applied ethics?
- is a branch of ethics devoted to the treatment of moral problems, practices, and
policies in personal life, professions, technology, and government.
-is a field of ethics that deals with ethical questions specific to a professional,
disciplinary, or practical field.
Some subsets of Applied Ethics
Medical Ethics
• involves examining a specific problem, usually a clinical case, and using
values, facts, and logic to decide what the best course of action should be.

Bioethics
• branch of applied ethics that studies the philosophical, social, and legal issues
arising in medicine and the life sciences. It is chiefly concerned with human life
and well-being, though it sometimes also treats ethical questions relating to
the nonhuman biological environment.

Business Ethics
• also called corporate ethics, is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics
that examines the ethical and moral principles and problems that arise in a
business environment. It can also be defined as the written and unwritten
codes of principles and values, determined by an organization’s culture, that
govern decisions and actions within that organization. It applies to all aspects
of business conduct on behalf of both individuals and the entire company.

Legal Ethics
• is a branch of applied ethics, having to do with the study and application of
what is right and wrong, good and bad, in the practice of law.

Two (2) approaches taken in Applied Ethics

1. Apply ethical principles such as utilitarianism and deontological ethics to each
issue or question

2. Generate a situation-based discourse that uses multiple ethical theories.

Examples of Moral Issues

• Abortion
• Euthanasia
• Giving to the poor
• Sex before marriage
• The death penalty
• Gay/lesbian marriage (or other rights)
• War tactics
• Censorship
• white lies

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD OR A SUPREME BEING

Moral arguments for the existence of God form a diverse family of reasons that
justify the existence of God from some aspect of morality or moral life, generally
understood as a morally good creator of the universe. Both important and fascinating
are moral arguments. They are fascinating because it needs exposure to virtually every
significant philosophical topic dealt with in metaethics to determine their soundness.
They are important because of their prominence in popular apologetic arguments for
religious belief.

The question arises as to how humans can be sure that the spiritual being, the
Supreme Being actually exists. Throughout recorded history humans have thought
of this. There is ample evidence of the belief and a good deal of evidence of humans
attempting to provide support for that belief. The arguments or proofs that have been
offered will be examined. The arguments each have their critics. None appear to be
without weakness.

Theistic Arguments

● Cosmological Argument
○ The cosmological argument is part of classical natural theology, whose
goal is to provide evidence for the claim that God exists. On the one
hand, the argument arises from human curiosity as to why there is
something rather than nothing or than something else.
■ The Cosmological Argument claims that:
● Argues from the existence of the universe to the existence
of God as its cause and creator.
● If everything has a cause, then God is the cause.
● God is the cause of everything.
● Example:
● Kalam’s Cosmological Argument
● “If the universe began to exist, then there is transcendent cause which brought
the universe into its existence. therefore, that transcendent cause is God.”

● Teleological Argument
○ The teleological argument is an attempt to prove the existence of God
that begins with the observation of the purposiveness of nature. The
teleological argument moves to the conclusion that there must exist a
designer. The inference from design to designer is why the teleological
argument is also known as the design argument.
■ The Teleological Argument claims that:
● The world works well and it was designed in a specific way.
The argument follows that if it was designed like this and
God is the one who designed it.
Example:
William Paley’s Teleological Argument
“The world and its contents are complex and of many parts, containing the qualities
of regularity and purpose. we may infer that the world was designed. Therefore, the
world has a designer - God.

● Ontological Argument
o The ontological argument is based on the claim that God’s existence
can be deduced from his definition – that once God is correctly defined,
there can be no doubt that he exists.
■ The Ontological Argument claims that:
● The proposition ‘God exists’ is a priori/deductive – it can be
known to be true without reference to sense experience,
just by thinking about God’s nature.
Example:
Anselm’s Ontological Argument
“If God exist only in our minds, then it is possible for there to be a being
greater than God, namely, a being like God that exist in reality.”

Related Terminologies

● Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a Supreme Being or

deities.
○ Monotheism is the belief in theology that only one deity exists.
○ Polytheism is the belief that there is more than one god.

● Atheism is commonly understood as rejection of theism in the broadest sense

of theism, i.e. the rejection of belief in God or gods.

THE EXISTENCE OF HUMAN FREEDOM

OBJECTIVES
▪ WHAT IS FREEDOM
▪ WHAT IS HUMAN FREEDOM
▪ TWO CONCEPTS OF LIBERTY
▪ IMPORTANCE OF FREEDOM TO HUMAN

FREEDOM AND ETHICS

IMPERATIVE OF ETHICS
ESSENTIAL FOR ETHICS TO EXIST OR BE POSSIBLE

WITHOUT HUMAN FREEDOM ETHICS IS NONSENSE

“No Ethics is likewise possible without human freedom” (QUITO 1989)

FREEDOM AND FREE WILL

FREE WILL
▪ ABILITY TO MAKE CHOICE (Morgan T. 2020)
• NATURAL BIRTHRIGHT TO MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS (Wilkerson T. 2014)

FREEDOM
• ABILITY TO IMPLIMENT YOUR FREE WILL(Morgan T. 2020)
• PHYSICAL AND MENTAL ABILITY TO EXERCISE THAT FREE WILL(Wilkerson T.
2014)

FREEDOM AND LIBERTY

FREEDOM
PREDOMMINANTLY AN INTERNAL CONSTRUCT
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms
– to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own
way (in how he approaches his circumstances).” -Viktor Frankl,

LIBERTY
PREDOMMINANTLY AN EXTERNAL CONSTRUCT
state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority
on one's way of life, behavior, or political views.

WHAT IS HUMAN FREEDOM

DEFINING HUMAN FREEDOM ONTOLOGICALLY
Simply defined, freedom is the function of the will that empowers rational beings
(humans, angels, etc.) to choose their actions. Freedom allows us to
• Act contrary to our instincts, emotions, and desires
• Control our emotions and desires
• Choose among various potential goods
• Choose between physical and spiritual goods
• Choose who we want to become

DEFINING HUMAN FREEDOM TEOLOGICALLY

• Freedom is not only the ability to choose, but the ability to choose what can
do the greatest good for us as human beings.
• True human freedom is the ability to choose the best possible good.

IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN FREEDOM

▪ GIVE US OPPORTUNITIY TO SPEAK, ACT AND PURSHUE HAPPINESS WITHOUT
UNNECESSARY EXTERNAL RESTRICTIONS
▪ LEADS US TO ENHANCED EXPRESSIONS OF CREATIVITY AND ORIGINAL
THOUGHT, INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY AND OVERALL HIGH QUALITY OF LIFE
▪ NO RESPONSIBILITY IF THERE’S NO FREEDOM (Quito 1989)
▪ IF MEN WERE PROGRAMMED TO FOLLOW THE GOOD ALL THE TIME AND BE
REPELLED ALWAYS BY THE EVIL, THEY WOULD NOT DESERVE REWARD AND
PUNISHMENT.

IS FREEDOM REALLY EXISTING?

▪ YES IT IS,
▪ EVEN THERE ARE LAWS, RULES ETC. STILL WE CAN DO WHAT WE WANT TO DO
▪ WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR ACTIONS
▪ HUMAN FREEDOM GAVE MEANING TO OUR LIVES
▪ IF WE DO GOOD THINGS – REWARDED
▪ IF WE DO BAD THINGS – PUNISHMENT
CONCLUSION
FREEDOM IS NOT JUST FOR US TO DO WHAT WE WANT TO DO. IT IS ALSO KNOWING
OUR RESPONSIBILITIES AND THE EFFECTS OF EVERY ACTION WE CHOOSE.

THE EXISTENCE OF
AFTERLIFE
The appeal of a post-mortem existence

✢ The moral law needs to be balanced, with good rewarded and evil
punished, if not now, then in an afterlife.

✢ The afterlife would be the place where human potential could be

fulfilled.

✢ The Bible promises an afterlife as a gift from God.

✢ Many non-religious thinkers find the Eastern religious tradition of

reincarnation
attractive — the belief that the soul migrates after death to
another body, until it is finally released into a higher form.

Christian eschatology offers two eschatological perspectives: Individual and

Universal.

Individual: each individual will suffer death and judgement relative to their beliefs
and their actions. The way in which an individual lives their earthly life brings about
the conditions for the next stage of their existence, after which those judged to
have been saved at the time of their death would enter heaven
and enjoy the company of God, Christ and the angels.

Universal: the world will come to an end, all the dead will be raised to face a
general, last judgement, and all things will come to their final consummation.
The return of Jesus will be the signal for the resurrection of the dead, the good
and the bad. The present heaven and earth will be destroyed and
new ones take their place. Jesus will reign in glory forever, and those who have
been saved will share his reign with him.

Immortality of the soul

Those who take the dualistic view of the body and mind argue that:

✢ The physical body is an outer shell for the real self

✢ The real self is within the mind or soul
✢ The body will die, but the soul is immorta

Plato

✢ Plato suggested that the body belonged to the physical world and would
one day turn to dust. However, the soul belonged to a higher realm where
eternal truths, such as justice, love and goodness will endure forever.

✢ The aim of the soul was to break free from the physical world and fly to the
realm of the forms where it had pre-existed its incarnation, and where it
would spend eternity in contemplation of the truth. At birth, the soul forgets
its previous life, but through philosophy, we can be reminded of the nature
of true reality and recall this lost knowledge. This process is known as
anamnesis — literally, ‘non-forgetting’.

Kant and Hick

✢ Kant believed that the purpose of existence was to achieve the summum
bonum or the perfect good. This could not be achieved by humans and so
the obligation to realise it would be fulfilled by God in an afterlife.

✢ Kant argued that, ‘The summum bonum is only possible on the

presupposition of the immortality of the soul.’
✢ In the twentieth century, John Hick observed, ‘If the human potential
is to be fulfilled in the lives of individuals, these lives must be
prolonged far beyond the limits of our
present bodily existence.’

Descartes

‘Our soul is of a nature entirely independent of the body, and consequently…it is

not bound to die with
it. And since we cannot see any other causes that destroy the soul, we are naturally
led to conclude that it is immortal.’

✢ Furthermore, Descartes saw the non-physical aspect of personal identity

as more reliable than the physical, which was always open to doubt and
uncertainty.

The ghost in the machine

✢ An alternative to dualism is materialism or behaviourism, which is the view

that so-called mental events are really physical events occurring to physical
objects.

✢ Gilbert Ryle in The Concept of the Mind (1949) described dualism as a

theory about a
‘ghost in a machine’ — that is, the ‘ghost’ of the mind in the ‘machine’
of the body. He rejected the notion that body and mind are separate
entities — he called it a category mistake.

✢ Bryan McGee wrote in Confessions of a Philosopher (1997), ‘The

human body is a single entity, one subject of behaviour and
experience with a single history. We are not two entities mysteriously
laced together. We have made what Ryle calls a category mistake

Resurrection of the body

✢ As an alternative to post-mortem existence being in the form of an immortal
soul, the Judaeo-
Christian tradition has asserted that it will involve a body, a recreation by
God of the human individual, not as the physical being which has died,
but as a spiritual being.

✢ After his resurrection, Jesus appeared before his disciples with a body, he
talked and ate with them, and they touched him and saw his scars. Yet he
was different. He appeared and
disappeared — he was beyond death and was not to be confused with a
ghost:

✢ ‘Look at my hands and my feet…touch me and see; a ghost

does not have flesh and bones as you see I have’ (Luke 24:39)

✢ Paul explained that the resurrected body is spiritual and eternal: ‘For the
trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be
changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable and
the mortal with immortality’ (1 Corinthians 15:52–53).

John Hick’s replica theory

✢ John Hick suggested that if someone dies and appears in a new world with
the same memories and physical features then it is meaningful to call this
replica the same person.

✢ Hick argued further that since God is all powerful, it would be possible for
him to create a replica body of a dead person, complete with all the
individual’s memories and characteristics, and to
do so in a place inhabited by resurrected persons:

✢ Mr X then dies. A Mr X replica complete with the set of memory traces which
Mr X had at the last moment before his death, comes into existence. It is
composed of other material than physical matter, and is located in a
resurrection world which does not stand in a spatial relationship with the
physical world.

Hick, J. (1966) Faith and Knowledge

Problems with the immortal soul

✢ Dualists argue that a person’s personal identity is distinct from their body
— people often talk about their real selves as if they were distinct from
their bodies.

✢ Traditional theology disagrees, and suggests that personal identity is

strongly linked to the physical body.

✢ Aquinas believed that the soul — the anima — animated the body and
gave it life. Hence, Aquinas observed:

‘Elements that are by nature destined for union naturally desire to be

united with each other; for any being seeks what is suited to it by nature.
Since, therefore, the natural condition of the soul is to be united to the
body…it has a natural desire for union with the body, hence the will
cannot be perfectly at rest until the soul is again joined to a body. When
this takes place, man rises from the dead.’

✢ Furthermore, our physical characteristics give us an identity and the way in

which others respond to our physical selves has an effect on our minds. For
psychological and physiological reasons, therefore, it may not be
reasonable to make a radical separation between physical and non-physical
identity.

Problems with the resurrected body

✢ Is the resurrected person the same person who died? If death is extinction,
then the resurrected person must only be a copy of the original person.

✢ Our experience of bodies is that they are contingent and corruptible. It

involves a leap of logic to believe that they can be the vehicle for a post-
mortem life.

✢ What about the appearance of the resurrected body? Does the body look
as it did on the point of death? If not, what age is it? And what of physical
defects and mental and emotional
problems?

✢ Is everyone cured and made perfect in the afterlife? And if they are
made perfect, then is that really them and what constitutes
perfection?

✢ Significantly, Jesus was not immediately recognised by the disciples

when he appeared to them. Does this suggest that he looked
completely different, or that they were not psychologically prepared
to encounter him?

✢ Jesus’ resurrection was qualitatively different to the resurrection of

believers, since it
took place within time and space. Can it therefore be a model for the
resurrection in the afterlife

Problems with the replica theory

✢ Hick’s scenario demands that we suspend belief based on regular

experience: we do not have experience of people disappearing from one
place and reappearing in another in the way he suggests.

✢ It may be easier to envisage that bodies are recreated in a post-mortem

place than that they can be replicated in a different spatial-temporal
location.
✢ Ultimately, we are still left with the problem of whether any kind of post-
mortem existence can be verified. John Hick resolves this with the principle
of eschatological verification.

✢ He envisages two travellers walking down a road, one of whom believes it

leads to the celestial city, and one who believes that there is no final
destination. Which one of them is right will not

be verified until they reach the end of the road, although their particular positions
will have a vital influence on the way they experience and interpret what happens
to them on the road.
Nevertheless, their respective positions will be either verified or falsified, although it
is not possible to do so during their earthly existence

THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF HUMAN LIFE: WEALTH

• Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions
which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions.
• Wealth in itself does nothing, except provide safety (if you have enough of it)
and the ability to acquire what you need and want.
• To some people, wealth is always going to mean money, but we can’t all be
wealthy in that way. There are so many other ways to be wealthy because
there are so many definitions of wealth. (Candice Elliott)
• Wealth should never be your goal in life. True wealth is of the heart, not of the
purse.” ― (Og Mandino)
• “Wealth is the ability to fully experience life”- Henry David Thoreau
• Wealth is not just about financial it can also be:
➢ Social wealth (Status)
➢ Time wealth (Freedom)
➢ Physical wealth (Health)
POWER
WHAT IS POWER?
◦ In politics and social science, power is the capacity of an indivual to influence
the actions, beliefs, or behaviour of others. The term authority is often used for
power that os perceived as legitimate by the social structure.
◦ Leaders do influence the behaviour of others i.e. they exercise power.
◦ Exercising power should be done ethically.
◦ Acting ethically is believed to be a source of Power. Indeed Ethics itself is
perceived to be power.
WHY IS ETHICS POWER?
◦ For people who operate ethically, their word is their bond.
◦ Ethics fosters the development of one of the most crucial success elements of
an organization – TRUST.
◦ Leaders who believe their subordinates are ethical worry less that they will
negatively be surprised by something wrong in their unit. They believe they
will be informed if something is wrong.

◦ Ethics means doing the right thing which often increases the chances of
success and success usually increase POWER.

◦ Operating ethically can increase personal self esteem which often

contributes to high confidence.

Examples of having POWER ETHICALLY

◦ Police officers who pull over vehicles for checkpoints. They can stop you for
almost any reason. They do that for everyones safety.
◦ Some of Mayors in other cities that leads for the goods of their community and
people.
◦ Our parents, they have the authority to change your decisions or make your
decision wisely.
◦ Having a younger sibling, you can command them to help you in doing
household chores for you to finish immediately.
◦ The Father or Reverend in churches, they can change your way of life or the
beliefs you have in a good ways.

EFFECTIVE USE OF POWER

◦ Impact belief – the leaders believs that what he/she does will have a positive
impact on the organization

◦ Socialized Power – the leader should value power for the “good” that can be
done with it.
◦ Avoiding Personalized Power – ineffective leaders use power to belittle
others, assert dominance and heighten their self importance. Good leaders
desire power to influence others to achieve positive goals for the benefit of
others and the organization.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF POWER
◦ Coercive Power – involves the usage of threat to make people do what one
desires. For example, threatening someone to be fired, transfer, demotions
when they didn‘t get what they want.
◦ Reward Power – uses rewards, perks, new projects or training opportunities,
better roles and monetary benefits to influence people. For example, the
supervisor who provides comp time when they meet an objective she/he sets
for a project.
◦ Legitimate Power – Emanates from an official position held by someone, be it
in an organization, beurocracy, or government. The duration of this power is
short lives as a person can use it only till the time she/he holds that position,
as well as, the scope of the power is small as it is strictly defined by the
position held. For example, the president of a corporatiwon has certain powers
because of the office he holds on the corporation.

◦ Expert Power – this is a personal kind of power which owes its genesis to
the skills and expertise possessed by an individual, which is greater
quality and not easily available. For example, the person exercise the
power of knowledge to influence people.
◦ Referent Power – power wielded by celebrities and film stars as they have
huge following amongst masses who like them, identify with them and
follow them. For example are nationalism, patriotism, celebrities, mass
leaders and widely respected people.

THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF HUMAN LIFE: GOOD LOOKS

• Physical attractiveness is a variable not easily studied. Defined as how pleasing
someone or something looks (Patzer, 2006),
• it is one component of a person’s appearance with influence and impact
greater than recognized, expected, or admitted people believe that persons of
higher physical attractiveness possess more socially desirable traits, live better
lives, and have more successful marriages and occupations than their
counterparts of lower physical attractiveness (Dion, Berscheid, and Walster,
1972).
• the level or amount for any individual person is somewhat subjective and
people generally refuse to admit they respond or interact differently with
people of different levels of physical attractiveness and/or they are not aware
of it.
• "Physical Attractiveness Phenomenon." As defined by Patzer (2006), it is the
collective realities of appearance as distinguished by, or aligned with, physical
attractiveness
• people “assume that good looks are instrumental to leading a socially and
sexually exciting life” (Bassili, 1981)

Why do human want good looks

• according to Aristotle happiness is the ultimate purpose of life and some people
expressed invariable belief that persons of higher physical attractive obtain
more happiness, have more sex, and receive greater respect than those of lower
physical attractiveness. (Berscheid and Walster, 1972)
• Being more or less attractive has important social consequences and people do
generally agree on who is and who is not attractive. Some people enhance their
facial feature because that’s what makes them happy and not because that’s
what society tells them to be.
• For example in employment actions, the line is thin between legal and illegal
employment practices concerning the physically attractive and much less
physically attractive. It remains legal as long those in charge do not make
judgment of physical attractiveness defined in terms of, or in other ways aligned
only with or someway limited to, people according to race, ethnicity, color, age,
or sex.

INTELLECT AND WILL MUST BE SATISFIED

INTELLECT
➢ The faculty of reasoning and understanding objectively, especially with regard
to abstract or academic matters.
WILL
➢ To want or to Choose. If you have free will you are allowed to choose what you
want.

DISCOVERING INTELLECT AND FREE WILL

➢ Man is a free being, But being free is not absolute because it is anchored on
our capacity to do what is right and good.
➢ “A person’s freedom ends where another person’s freedom begins.” We
actually misuse our freedom when we hurt ourselves, others and the world we
live in and the world we live in. This tells us not we must not be the reason for
another’s person pain or misery.
➢ We have to be responsible for every decision and choices that we make
because we are the one who is accountable for the consequences of all our
action.
DILLEMA
➢ A dilemma, is a situation which a difficult choice has to be made between two
or more alternatives especially equally undesirable ones.
Example:
Making decision between two undesirable choices: Your loved one is in non-curable
disease. Will you choose to end your love one’s life or let him/her to suffer through
the disease.
A. End your loved one’s life.
B. Let him/her suffer through the disease.
Most of the time, options are simple and clear:
➢ Waking up in the morning.
➢ Brushing your teeth.
➢ Eating Breakfast.
➢ Making ourselves busy.
➢ Drinking water.
There’s a time, where we will need to choose between two alternatives and make a
difficult decision. For example:
A. Should a young man pursue a college degree that his parents wanted him to
take?
B. Instead, follow his heart and learn a profession that is based to his talents and
interest
Our human intellect is more than capable to process our problems and come up
with innovative solutions for them. The truth is, we human beings are:
➢ Conscious
➢ Free
➢ Moral
➢ Rational
➢ Capable of Abstract Thoughts.
When we use our human intellect well, we then continue to make not just correct
decisions but morally ones as well. Human beings have:
➢ Mental Faculty
➢ Capacity
➢ Freedom to make decision
THE ULTIMATE END: SATISFACTION OF HUMAN INTELLECT AND WILL.
➢ In terms of what it means for something to be an ultimate end, all human
beings agree in desiring the ultimate end because they all desire to attain their
own protection.
➢ In terms of one thing that meets that description, human beings do not all
agree in their ultimate end: some desire wealth as their full and complete
good, whereas others desire pleasure and others desire something else.
➢ The most complete good must be the one that someone with well-disposed
affections desires as ultimate end.

GOD IS THE SATISFACTION OF MAN’S CRAVING

▪ Every people have their own craving, they get attracted by what they need and
what they want. Others are closer to the core of our being: the craving for love,
belonging, or truth.
▪ Craving is a strong will to have something, it can drive us to do wrong deeds to
get what we want.
▪ Our cravings affect us and our hearts desires. Our heart is designed to desires
the greatest need, a right relationship with God.
▪ E.g: money, power, foods, and love.
▪ Here are a few different factors you can apply to the framework of cravings that
can help different people understand their need for God.
▪ CRAVINGS AS EVIDENCE FOR A GOD-CRAVING
▪ CRAVINGS AS FALSE HOPES OR IDOL
▪ CRAVINGS AS EVIDENCE FOR A GOD-CRAVING
▪ We try to fill ourselves with everything we can grab, and yet there remains an
inescapable emptiness within.
▪ E.g: We desire for love, we keep searching for true love that will last and satisfies
us. But when we fail to look for a perfect relationship, we crave for a love that
will return to us. And also applies to our soul that craving for the love of God, at
this point we ask “What if the central craving of your soul, is a craving for God?”
▪ CRAVINGS AS FALSE HOPES OR IDOL
▪ The intense danger of these false hopes or idols is that as we look to them to
give us meaning, hope, and happiness, they inevitably fail to deliver. In order to
maintain any sliver of happiness achieved, we must work harder and sacrifice
more to keep a hold on its ever-diminishing satisfaction. We soon find ourselves
making choices that require sacrifices beyond what we are prepared to give.
These idols end up taking our life rather than delivering the life they promised.
▪ E.g: Hope in idols like power and wealth.

CRITERION OF MORALITY

1. Virtue Ethics
• For Aristotle, the standard of morality is a life of happiness, and virtue
embraces the concept of happiness.
• “Desirable quality” which lies in man’s attempt to find the Golden Mean
or the Life of Moderation
• Example: A virtuous person is someone who is kind across many
situations over a lifetime because that is her character and not because
she wants to maximize utility or gain favors or simply do her duty.
2. Eudemonism
• Following the path towards a good and happy life.
• An orientation of discovering a life of self-control
• Example: If you’re a parent, you should excel at raising your children; if
you’re a doctor, you should excel at healing people; and if you’re a
philosopher, you should excel at gaining knowledge and wisdom, and
teaching.
3. Epicureanism
• For Epicurus, pleasure is the final good, pain is the fundamental evil.
• Pleasure is only made possible by a life of humility and balance desires
if this is achieved, one reaches self-composure.
• Example: intellectual pleasure, serenity of soul, health of body.
4. Stoicism
• To avoid life’s filament of suffering an obstacles, morality should be
anchored in the lack of concern (apathy) and indifference.
• It is in the logic of the mind and not in the heart that sound moral
judgment is maintained through mental discipline.
• Series of predicaments + being unemotional and inexpressive (avoiding
passion) = immunity to life’s meaningless
• Example: Without discipline, we will be blown off course and probably
wrecked; we will have no way of dealing with the emotional storms that
blow in. But with good strong sails, we can harness the wind and make
it useful.
5. Asceticism
• The withdrawal of man’s desires from any mundane glamour and
unessential accessories in life that lead to happiness.
• Deprivation from enjoyable objects or denunciation from pleasing things
= happiness and spiritual transcendence.
• Example: Mahatma Gandhi and many Roman Catholic priests have
made asceticism the personal foundation for their work in society.
6. Teleological Theory of Ethics
• Teleological came from a Greek term telos, meaning “end”
• Morality is determined by the objective purpose or end of a certain
human act.
• Example: You stole a loaf of bread from the neighborhood grocery
because your family was starving.
7. Pragmatism
• Holds a valid type of awareness as always sensible, useful, practical,
favorable, and functional.
• Example: A pragmatic driver will stop if there is a 1% chance that an
entity on the road in front of them is a pedestrian.

8. Situation Ethics / Situationism

• Modern day moral standard that was promoted by Joseph Fletcher.
• Morality of an act is dependent on a given situation and that regardless
of the condition or circumstances.
• A situation in this context refers to a human state of moral affairs or
issues that demands a moral decision.
• Example: When one initially establishes that murder is morally wrong,
one may then have to make exceptions for killing for self-defence, killing
in war, killing unborn children, etc.
9. Deontological Theory in Ethics
• Deontological is derived from the Greek terra deontos, meaning
obligation of function.
• It discards what teleology proposes and that the notion of duty is
autonomous to a good (utility) idea and that correct actions are not
determined fully by the production of amoral goods.
• Example: Pleasure appears not to be good without qualification,
because when people take pleasure in watching someone suffer, this
seems to make the situation ethically worse.

IS GOD’S WILL THE CRITERION OR NORMS?

WHAT IS GOD’S WILL?

• Includes everything that God desires or wishes to happen in heaven and on
earth.
• “What’s God’s will/plan/direction for my life?”
GOD’S WILL AS THE CRITERION
• The believer simply commits himself to or chooses God's Will to the exclusion
of all other criteria.
• It cannot always be applied directly to us and our decisions. Limitations.
• Obeying God is not a moral duty. However God ‘transcends’ human morality in
the sense that his will need not accord with human standards.
Examples:
• Not requiring to worship and rest on seventh day.
• The commandment to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28), is a choice and
unpredictable to happen to everyone.

GOD’S WILL AS NORM

• What we think, teach, and do are to measure up to the standards of Scripture.
• For believers, without belief, the moral community is impossible and life is
meaningless.
• God has all authority. Therefore, whenever and however He speaks, all who
hear Him are obligated to obey Him.
Examples:
• The Ten Commandments- Moral guide for Christian behavior.
• Christian Imperatives – Will in terms of “Do this” & “Do not do this”
IS CONSCIENCE THE CRITERION OR NORM?

CONSCIENCE AS SUBJECTIVE NORM OF MORALITY

• Conscience is the subjective norm of morality in which we trace the moral
authority inside the individual.
• It is not something that directs from outside. Conscience is an ‘inner voice’ as
described by Mahatma Gandhi which directs one by telling what to do or what
not to do.
• Conscience can be defined as the subjective awareness of the moral quality of
one’s own actions as indicated by the moral values to which one subscribes.

BUTLER’S ASPECT OF CONSCIENCE

1. Cognitive or Reflective Aspect
• In the cognitive or reflective function of conscience discerning the
goodness and badness of the human action is important. It considers
characters, actions, intentions and motives with the special aim of
discovering their goodness and badness.

2. Imperative or Authoritative Aspect

• In the imperative or authoritative aspect the decision is important. Here
conscience does not merely give arguments for one action rather than
another, but it decides in favour of one action.

Acts of Conscience
• The feeling of remorse has always been connected with conscience. It is
a deep regret for a wrong committed. Conscience not only makes
judgement over certain actions that we have done as right or wrong, but
it arouses a peculiar feeling of pain that is extremely unpleasant. This
pain of conscience or feeling of remorse is identified by moralists as one
of the reasons of avoiding wrong actions.
Antecedent and Consequent Conscience
1. Antecedent Conscience
• Antecedent conscience deals with future actions.
• Conscience that acts as a guide to future actions, prompting to do them
or avoid them
• The judgment of a person deciding on a moral matter prior to acting on
it. Antecedent conscience either commands or forbids, counsels or
permits the performance of an act.
• Examples:
➢ A person who wants to cheat on the exam but suddenly felt
uneasiness and gave up his plan.
➢ A boy who feels it is right to do his assignments rather than playing
video games.
2. Consequent Conscience
• Consequent conscience deals with the past actions.
• Conscience which is acting as a judge to our past actions, the source of
our self-approval or remorse is known as consequent conscience.
• The judgment of the mind on the morality of an action already
performed. The conscience either approves what has been done, giving
peace to the mind and spiritual joy, or disapproves of what was done,
thus causing remorse and a sense of guilt.
• Examples:
➢ A man who regrets his action after killing someone.
➢ A girl who end up feeling guilty after lying to her parents.

Division of Conscience
• The judgement of the conscience can be understood as the judgement of the
intellect. The human intellect can be mistaken either by adopting false
premises or by drawing an illogical conclusion. Because of this there can be
different consciences such as correct, erroneous, doubtful, certain, perplexed
and scrupulous consciences.
1. A Correct Conscience judges as good what is really good, or as evil what is
really evil.
❖ Examples:
➢ A person who asks permission first before taking something
that s/he do not own.
➢ A boy who pay his debts.
2. An Erroneous Conscience judges as good what is really evil, or as evil what
is really good.
❖ Examples:
➢ Cheating on exam because the topic wasn’t discussed by the
instructor.
➢ A thief who helps the poor.
3. A Certain Conscience judges without fearing that the opposite may be true.
❖ Examples:
➢ A boy who thinks it is okay to tell white lies.
➢ A policeman thinks that killing the suspect is the best
alternative, whereas it is unnecessary.
4. A Doubtful Conscience either hesitates to make any judgement at all or
does make a judgement but with misgivings that the opposite may be true.
❖ Examples:
➢ A poor family who are supported by a bank robber.
➢ A boy who choose to be silent rather than help his classmate
against the bullies.
5. A Perplexed Conscience belongs to one who cannot make up his/her mind.
Such persons remain in a state of indecisive anguish, especially if s/he
thinks that s/he will be doing wrong whichever alternative he chooses.
❖ Examples:
➢ Stealing food or money to feed his starving child.
➢ A boy who seen his classmate cheating and hesitate if he need
to tell it to his instructor or not.
6. A Scrupulous Conscience torments its owner by rehearsing over and over
again doubts that were once settled. S/he finds new sources of guilt for old
deeds that were best forgotten, striving for a kind of certainty about one’s
state of soul that is beyond our power in this life. A person is plagued by
doubts about many different acts, tending to see sin where there is none,
and to see mortal sin where there is only venial sin.
❖ Examples:
➢ Believing that people who don’t go to church are sinners.
➢ A man who follow rules even though it is unjustifiable.

ELEMENTS OF LAW
Law
o is a rule of human action prescribed by authority
o to express the order of nature is a derived one, which became current only after
a considerable historical development
Early Law and Custom
o Clans, tribes, and village communities were ruled by institutions which
mythology might explain as established by the gods or by the ancestor of the
race but for the living generation they were a fixed body of rules.
o History opens with this reign of custom. Conduct in all these respects was
governed by an undifferentiated mass of rules, which were enforced upon the
individual not only by the severest human penalties, but by the even more
terrible fears of superhuman power.
Law of Nature or Natural Law
o unwritten norms of conduct and the order of physical phenomena combined
under the single notion of law of nature
Example: sanctity of oaths, the duty of hospitality
Conventional morality would be a body of conduct approved by the custom or habit
of the group of which the individual is a member:
➢ Christian morality would be conduct approved by Christians as in accordance
with the principles of Christianity.
➢ Confucian morality would be conduct approved by Confucius.
In this way of putting it “morality would not be an ideal but an actual system.”
Four stages in the development of law with respect to morality and morals are
generally recognized.
1st is the stage of undifferentiated ethical customs, customs of popular action, religion,
and law, what analytical jurists would call the pre-legal stage. Law is undifferentiated
from morality.
2nd is the stage of strict law, codified or crystallized custom, which in time is
outstripped by morality and does not possess sufficient power of growth to keep
abreast.
3rd there is a stage of infusion of morality into the law and of reshaping it by morals;
what I have called in another connection the stage of equity and natural law.
4th there is the stage of conscious lawmaking, the maturity of law, in which it is said
that morals and morality are for the lawmaker and that law alone is for the judge.
The Key Elements
1. Personal Responsibility
▪ perform duties with honesty, care, diligence, professionalism,
impartiality and integrity
2. Compliance with the Law
▪ Behavior inconsistent with the Code of Ethics and Conduct should not be
considered acceptable and should be addressed in a timely manner.
3. Relations with the Public
▪ shall not engage in any discriminatory practices based on race, national
or ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, disability or any other
discriminatory practices.
4. Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
▪ dealings with, or decisions made in respect to, individuals who share
private interests
THREE KINDS OF LAW

1.) Eternal Law

is identical to the mind of God as seen by God himself. It can be called law because
God stands to the universe which he creates as a ruler does to a community which
he rules. When God’s reason is considered as it is understood by God himself, i.e. in
its unchanging, eternal nature, it is eternal law.

2.) Divine Law

is derived from eternal law as it appears historically to humans, especially through
revelation, i.e., when it appears to human beings as divine commands. Divine law is
divided into the Old Law and the New Law. The Old and New Law roughly
corresponding to the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. When he speaks of the
Old Law, Thomas is thinking mainly of the Ten Commandments. When he speaks of
the New Law, the teachings of Jesus.

3.) Natural Law

is a system of law that purports to be based on values intrinsic to human nature that
can be deduced and applied independent of positive law. According to natural law
theory, all people have inherent rights, conferred not by act of legislation but by
"God, nature, or reason."

4.) Human Law

is law made by humans. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, the human law is related
to natural law. Natural Law should applied before making a man-made law
according to St. Thomas Aquinas
SYNDERESIS

Objectives:
1. To know what is Synderesis
2. Differentiate Synderesis from Conscience
3. Learn what is the Importance of Synderesis
4. To know if Synderesis can be mistaken

Discussion:

"Synderesis" is a technical term from scholastic philosophy, signifying the innate

principle in the moral consciousness of every person which directs the agent to
good and restrains him from evil.

Thomas Aquinas, the principal advocate of the intellectualistic view of the

relationship of conscience and synderesis, explicitly defines ‘conscience’ as the
“application of knowledge to activity” ( Summa Theologiae , I-II, I) The knowledge
he has in mind here comes from the synderesis, which he regards as the natural
disposition of the human mind by which we apprehend without inquiry the basic
principles of behavior.

Synderesis and Conscience

Synderesis Conscience
is the use of reason by which a person
is the actual ethical judgement a
acquires knowledge of basic morality
person makes which leads to a
and its principles and understands
particular course of action based
that it is important to do good.
upon these principles.
What is the importance of Synderesis?
God's existence becomes a factor only when we take into account the divine law which is
meant to corroborate human laws which ultimately derive from synderesis. The
importance of synderesis is that all other moral principles are referred back (referuntur)
to, and have a single root (una radice) in this most pure intuition (Q. 94, 2).

Can Synderesis Be Mistaken?

Synderesis cannot be mistaken. It produces discernment of the first practical
principles, or primary precepts. We have an innate desire to "do good and avoid evil",
which sums up in a general sense the more specific primary precepts: preservation of
life, reproduction, living in society, education and worship of God.

NATURAL MORAL LAW

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The theory of natural law says that humans possess an intrinsic sense of right and
wrong that governs our reasoning and behavior.
• The term 'natural law' is derived from the belief that human morality comes from
nature.
• Natural law is constant throughout time and across the globe because it is based
on human nature, not on culture or customs.

What Is Natural Law?

❖ Natural law is a theory in ethics and philosophy that says that human beings
possess intrinsic values that govern our reasoning and behavior. Natural law
maintains that these rules of right and wrong are inherent in people and are not
created by society or court judges.

❖ The term 'natural law' is derived from the belief that human morality comes from
nature. Everything in nature has a purpose, including humans. Our purpose,
according to natural law theorists, is to live a good, happy life. Therefore, actions
that work against that purpose -- that is, actions that would prevent a fellow
human from living a good, happy life -- are considered 'unnatural', or 'immoral'.
Understanding Natural Law
❖ Natural law holds that there are universal moral standards that are inherent in
humankind throughout all time, and these standards should form the basis of a
just society. Human beings are not taught natural law per se, but rather we
“discover” it by consistently making choices for good instead of evil. Some schools
of thought believe that natural law is passed to humans via a divine presence.
❖ The concept of morality under the natural law theory is not subjective. This means
that the definition of what is 'right' and what is 'wrong' is the same for everyone,
everywhere.
❖ The natural law approach to solving ethical dilemmas begins with the basic belief
that everyone has the right to live their life.

Natural Law vs. Positive Law

❖ The theory of natural law believes that our civil laws should be based on
morality, ethics, and what is inherently correct. This is in contrast to what is called
"positive law" or "man-made law," which is defined by statute and common
law and may or may not reflect the natural law.
❖ Examples of positive law include rules such as the speed that individuals are
allowed to drive on the highway and the age that individuals can legally purchase
alcohol. Ideally, when drafting positive laws, governing bodies would base them on
their sense of natural law.
❖ "Natural laws" are inherent in us as human beings. "Positive laws" are created by us
in the context of society.

Examples of Natural Law

❖ Examples of natural law abound, but philosophers and theologians throughout
history have differed in their interpretations of this doctrine. Theoretically, the
precepts of natural law should be constant throughout time and across the globe
because natural law is based on human nature, not on culture or customs.
❖ When a child tearfully exclaims, “It’s not fair [that]..." or when viewing a
documentary about the suffering of war, we feel pain because we're reminded of
the horrors of human evil. And in doing this, we are also providing evidence for the
existence of natural law. A well-accepted example of natural law in our society is
that it is wrong for one person to kill another person.
THEORIES REGARDING DOUBT
What is Doubt?
• It says that the doubt is a mental state which can lead to an emotional level that
can cause indecision between belief and disbelief. It may involve uncertainly,
distrust or conviction on certain facts, actions, motivates or decisions. Doubt can
result in delaying or rejecting relevant action out of concern for mistakes or missed
opportunities.
Psychoanalytic Theory by Sigmund Freud.
Ego (doubt)

Id
Ego
Superego

A pleasure-seeking person dominated by the id

A guilt –ridden or inferior-feeling person dominated by superego

A psychologically healthy person dominated by the ego.

Id
The Id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual desires. The Id operates on the pleasure
principle which is the idea that every wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately,
regardless of the consequences.
Super Ego
The Super Ego plays the critical and moralizing role. The existence of the super-ego is
observable in how people can view themselves as guilty as bad, shameful, weak and feel
compelled to do certain things.
The Ego
The ego or I is the only region of the mind in contact with reality. It grows out of the id
during infancy and becomes a person’s sole source of communication with the external
world. It is governed by the reality principle, which it tries to substitute for the pleasure
principle of the id.
CONSCIOUS - to be well informed of something.
PRECONSCIOUS – contains thoughts and feelings that a person is not currently aware of,
but which can easily be brought to conscious.
UNCONSCIOUS – things we are unaware of and cannot become aware of.
For example
Conscious - a woman’s ego may consciously motivate her to choose excessively neat,
well-tailored clothes because she feels comfortable when well dressed.
Preconscious - At the same time, she may be only dimly or preconscious aware of
previous experiences of being rewarded for choosing nice clothes.
Unconsciously - In addition, she may be unconsciously motivated to be excessively neat
and orderly due to early childhood experiences of toilet training.
Thus, her decision to wear neat clothes can take place in all three levels of mental life.

● According to Freud 1933-1964, the ego becomes differentiated from the id when
infants learn to distinguish themselves from the outer world. While the id remains
unchanged, the ego continues to develop strategies for handling the id’s
unrealistic and unrelenting demands for pleasure.
• At times the ego can control the powerful, pleasure-seeking id, but at other times it
loses control. In comparing the ego to the id, Freud used the analogy of a person
on horseback. The rider checks and inhibits the greater strength of the horse but
ultimately at the mercy of the animal. Similarly, the ego must check and inhibit id
impulses, but it is more or less constantly at the mercy of the stronger but more
poorly organized id. The ego has no strength of its own but borrows energy from
the id. In spite of this dependence on the id, the ego sometimes comes close to
gaining complete control, for instance, during the prime of the life of a
psychologically mature person.
Post-Freudian Theory by Erik Erikson
Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt

• If early childhood is a time for self-expression and autonomy, then it is also a time
for shame and doubt. As a children stubbornly express their anal-urethral-
muscular mode, they are likely to find a culture that attempts to inhibit some of
their self-expression.
• According to Erikson’s epigenetic diagrams, autonomy grows out of basic trust and
if basic trust has been established in infancy then children learn to have faith in
themselves and their world remains intact while the experience a mild
psychosocial crisis. Conversely if children do not develop basic trust during infancy
their attempts to gain control of their anal, urethral and muscular organs during
early childhood will be met with a strong sense of shame and doubt setting up a
serious psychosocial crisis. Shame is a feeling of self-consciousness of being
looked at and exposed. Doubt on the other hand, is the feeling of not being certain,
the feeling that something remains hidden and cannot be seen. Both shame and
doubt are dystonic qualities and both grow out of the basic mistrust that was
established in infancy.
THE EASTERN PHILOSOPHERS (INDIA)

1. Ancient Philosophers

A. Chanakya (l. c. 350-275 BCE, also known as Kautilya and Vishnugupta)

- was prime minister under the reign of Chandragupta Maurya (r. c. 321-c.297
BCE)
- founder of the Mauryan Empire (322-185 BCE)
- He is best known as the author of the political treatise Arthashastra which he
wrote as a kind of instruction manual for the young Chandragupta on how to
rule effectively.
• According to one tradition, he served as advisor to the last king of the Nanda Dynasty
(c. 5th century -322 BCE) Dhanananda (also given as Dhana Nanda, r. 329-322/321
BCE) who ruled the Kingdom of Magadha.
• The Arthashastra is considered Chanakya’s training manual by which he
transformed Chandragupta from a citizen to a monarch.
Ethical qualities in a leader according to Chanakya
• A Leader should work to achieve its goal
• A Leader must be responsible for everything
• A Leader shouldn't spread wrongness
• A Leader shouldn't postpone urgent matters
B. Adi Shankara known as Shankaracharya (788-820 CE)

- was born into a poor Brahmin family at Kaladi, present day Kerala, India.
- was an Indian philosopher and theologian who expounded the doctrine of
Advaita Vedanta.
- He also founded ‘Dashanami Sampradaya,’ which talks about leading a
monastic life.
• one of Shankaracharya’s most important works is his efforts to synthesize the six
sub-sects, known as ‘Shanmata.’ ‘Shanmata’, which literally translates to ‘six
religions,’ is the worship of six supreme deities.
• he condemned the ‘Mimamsa school of Hinduism’ which was purely based on ritual
practices.

Contributions of Adi Shankara to Ethics

Advaita Vedanta
• Ethics have a firm place in philosophy
•There cannot be "any absolute moral laws, principles or duties"
• Learning values and ethics is permanent
• The self seeds the self in all beings
2. Modern Philosophers

A. Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

- Indian lawyer, politician, social activist, and writer who became the leader of
the nationalist movement against the British rule of India.
- He was killed by a fanatic in 1948.
• In the eyes of millions of his fellow Indians, Gandhi was the Mahatma (“Great Soul”).
• internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest (satyagraha) to
achieve political and social progress.
• Born in Porbandar, India, Gandhi studied law and organized boycotts against British
institutions in peaceful forms of civil disobedience.
Ethical Conduct according to Gandhi
• Men cannot be perfect
• Men should fight injustice but in a non-violent way
• Men have to uphold the right, regardless of the consequences.
• A man should have a social living
B. Ramana Maharshi (December 30, 1879 – April 14 1950)

- was probably the most famous Indian sage of the twentieth century
- He was a charismatic person, and attracted many devotees, some of whom
saw him as an avatar and the embodiment of Shiva.
• at the age of 16, he had a "death-experience" where he became aware of a "current"
or "force" (avesam) which he recognized as his true "I" or "self".
• Ramana Maharshi didn't have a human guru (other than himself).
• Ramana Maharshi's main means of instruction to his devotees in order to remove
ignorance and abide in Self-awareness was through silently sitting together with his
visitors.
The Role of Ethics in Ramana Way
• Self-awareness must be practiced
• Self-enquiry is a discipline by itself
• Self-awareness is all encompassing
• Virtues happen naturally and effortlessly

THE EASTERN PHILOSOPHERS: CHINESE

ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS
Confucius (551–479 BC)
• Confucius is one of the most known and influential of Chinese philosophers.
• His ideas about creating social and political harmony through good governance,
proper human relations and individual moral development shape Chinese thought
and history for many centuries
• His teaching and philosophy greatly impacted people around the world and
remain influential today.
Confucian Virtue Ethics:
• Flourishing: enjoy life in simple pleasure
• We Filipino really enjoy simple get together with the family and friends.
• Baby Anna really love the banana gift from her parents.
• The virtues: having the virtues of benevolence, righteousness, wisdom and
propriety.
• Being aware and careful to what others may feel.
• Take the opportunity to help others

Ethical Particularism: ethical teaching is taught according to the needs and abilities of
different students.
• Golden Rule: “One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.”
• Chona shows respect to her students so that she can gain respect to.
• Silver Rule: “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.”
• Jaebum knows that bullying is bad.

Good Government:The moral ideal of government

• Humane Government -government for the good of his people
• Innocent until proven guilty
• Guidance by Virtue not by Threat- rule them using virtues, not scaring them by
your rule
• Giving counseling to the rugby boys, instead of threatening them to put in
jail.
• Government By Moral Example- to be a good leader, you must be a good follower.
• to be a good leader, you must be a good follower

ren, love or human-heartedness, as the basic virtue of manhood.

Mencius(372–289 BC or 385–303 or 302 BC)

• was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who has often been described as the "second
Sage", that is, after only Confucius himself. He is part of Confucius's fourth
generation of disciples. Mencius inherited Confucius's thinking and developed it
further.
• was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who has often been described as the "second
Sage", that is, after only Confucius himself. He is part of Confucius's fourth
generation of disciples. Mencius inherited Confucius's thinking and developed it
further.
• The philosophic ideas of Mencius might be regarded as an amplification of the
teachings of Confucius. Confucius taught the concept of ren, love or human-
heartedness, as the basic virtue of manhood. Mencius made the original goodness
of human nature (xing) the keynote to his system.
The four beginnings (siduan)
• he feeling of commiseration- sympathy and sorrow for the misfortune of others
• Sending cards to someone has been bereaved
• the feeling of shame- feeling worthless
• Jackson is guilty for not able to help in their group activity
• the feeling of courtesy/ respect- pay respect to anyone, anything, anytime and
anywhere
• Jaebum as the leader of the group acknowledge all his members.
• the feeling of right and wrong- to approve and disapprove
• Jaebum always evaluate what will be the result of his action.
The four cardinal virtues of ren:
• (yi)-righteousness
• Returning the object you borrowed
• (li)- respect
• Pay respect not just to elderly but to all people you encountered.
• (zhi)- wisdom
• Act according to what you feel is right.
A key belief of his was that humans are innately good, but that this quality requires
cultivation and the right environment to flourish.
MODERN PHILOSOPHER
Tu Weiming(6 February 1940 (age 80 years)
• is a Chinese-born American philosopher. He is Chair Professor of Humanities and
Founding Director of the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking
University. He is also Professor Emeritus and Senior Fellow of Asia Center at Harvard
University
• He has developed a new approach to Confucian ethics and contributed to the
discussions of epistemology and scientific rationality, from the perspective of
Confucian “xin xue” (discourse on the mind.) Tu is one of the most influential and
visionary thinkers in the world.
PHILOSOPHIES
• Filial Piety
• Bambam always says “po” and “opo” to his parents.
• Jaebum is taking care of his parents.

• the Rectification of Names

• Chen is showing to his son that he is a good father by providing all of his needs
• Mark is doing his best to get a good grade in school.

EASTERN PHILOSOPHERS: BUDDHIST

Siddhartha Gautama
• later known as the "Buddha", which means "The Awakened One"
• live approximately between 560-480 BCE and died at the age of 80
• A prince born in Lambuni, in the Nepalese Region of Terai, or the modern-day
Nepal.
• Turned into an ascetic person and become a spiritual teacher
• Contributed many areas in Philosophy including Epistemology, Metaphysics and
Ethics
• His teachings becomes the foundation of Buddhist Philosophy
Buddhist Philosophy
The Buddha’s basic teachings are usually summarized with the:
The Four Nobles of Truth
Is more about obtaining Happiness and Contentment rather than the Nature of
Universe, Existence of God and The concept of Heaven.
• The truth of suffering (dukkha)—all forms of human beings is afflicted with
suffering.
• The truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya)—the cause is craving, born of the
illusion of the soul.
• The truth of the end of suffering (nirhodha)—through enlightenment
• The truth of the path that frees us from suffering (magga)—Path called “Middle
way” or The Eightfold Path.
The Eightfold Path
The Buddha taught his followers that the end of suffering, as described in the
fourth Noble Truths, could be achieved by following an Eightfold Path.
The Eightfold Path of Buddhism teaches the following ideals for ethical conduct,
mental disciple and achieving wisdom:
• Right understanding (Samma ditthi)—Know the truth
o One thinks that in the world, change is constant.
• Right thought (Samma sankappa)—A mind free of evil
o Lila focuses and appreciate the good things in her life, to avoid getting
envious to others
• Right speech (Samma vaca)—Say nothing that hurts others.
o Maria is angry but still being mindful of the words she says.
• Right action (Samma kammanta)—works for the goods of others
o Despite of Pandemic, Frontliners do their best in order to help those who are
in need.
• Right livelihood (Samma ajiva)—Respect Life
o Abstaining from drug and alcohol addiction for a healthy lifestyle.
• Right effort (Samma vayama)—Resist Evil
o Vince answers his online quiz with his own knowledge without being
tempted to use the internet to search for the right answers.
• Right mindfulness (Samma sati)—Control Thoughts
o Instead of letting herself down, Ann thinks optimistically despite of the
hardships she experienced.
• Right concentration (Samma samadhi)—Practice Meditation
o After a long tiring day, John takes time to relax and reflect on his day.

Way of Inquiry
• Explains the danger of believing on other’s beliefs depending on Hearsay,
Tradition, Authority and Trust.
o Example: Gossip and Rumors.
• One should maintain an Open Mind and analyze the given concepts with
experience, reasoning and happiness.
o Example: Critical thinking and the saying “Think before you speak”
Karma
• Karma is a Sanskrit term that literally means "action".
• Refers to action driven by intention which leads to future consequences. Those
intentions are considered to be the determining factor in the kind of rebirth in
samsara, the cycle of rebirth
o Good Karma—be born to heaven realm
o Bad Karma—rebirth as an animal or torment in hell realm
• The purpose of Buddhism is to make our consciousness take over one’s behaviour
and weakened the negative thoughts which is obtained by Meditation.
• The phrase “what goes around comes around” usually illustrates what karma is
• EXAMPLES:
o (Good Karma)—A person is rewarded for giving back a lost wallet.
o (Bad Karma)—A student cheated on the exam, got caught and have 0 for the
examination
Illusion of The Soul
• Although Buddhist believed in Rebirth, the Buddha says the We are temporarily a
collection of parts and activities that act in unison in order to be considered a
human being.
o i.e. we are like a computer, which is build with independent components
that is put together.
• He called the illusion of the soul, manifest to self as ego, which is the root of all
suffering. Ego seek to Control, Control manifest both Desire and Aversion, which
gives lack of inner peace and harmony.
• But its still a curse without a soul. Buddhism concepts says that there is a constant
link between your past life and the present but there is a no soul went across.
o E.g. A person lights as new candle from an old one; the link is the flame, the
candle represents the present and the past life.

THE GREEK PHILOSOPHERS – ARISTOTLE

Aristotle (384 BC - 322BC)

• was a Greek philosopher and scientist, better known as the teacher of Alexander the
Great
• born in Stagira, Greece
• his father Nicomachus named him Aristotle, which means “the best purpose”.
• Aristotle was sent to Athens at about the age of seventeen to study in Plato’s
Academy, then a pre-eminent place of learning in the Greek world.
• made important contributions to logic, criticism, rhetoric, physics, biology,
psychology, mathematics, metaphysics, ethics, and politics. He was a student
of Plato for twenty years but is famous for rejecting Plato’s theory of forms.
• He was more empirically minded than Plato and Plato’s teacher, Socrates.
✘ A prolific writer, lecturer, and polymath, Aristotle radically transformed most of the
topics he investigated. In his lifetime, he wrote dialogues and as many as 200
treatises, of which only 31 survive.

✘ As the father of western logic, Aristotle was the first to develop a formal system for
reasoning. He observed that the deductive validity of any argument can be
determined by its structure rather than its content.

✘ The emphasis on good reasoning serves as the backdrop for Aristotle’s other
investigations. In his natural philosophy, Aristotle combines logic with observation
to make general, causal claims.

✘ Aristotle was the founder of the Lyceum, a school based in Athens, Greece; and he
was the first of the Peripatetics, his followers from the Lyceum.

Aristotle’s Ethics
I. With respect to the good, right, happiness, the good is not a disposition. The good
involves a teleological system that involves actions.

Good is that which all things aim. Something is good if it performs its proper function.
The good of human beings cannot be answered with the exactitude of a mathematical
problem since mathematics starts with general principles and argues to conclusions.
Aristotle distinguishes between happiness (eudaimonia) and moral virtue:
1. Moral virtue is not the end of life for it can go with inactivity, misery, and unhappiness.
2. Happiness, the end of life, that to which all aims, is activity in accordance with reason
(reason is the arete or peculiar excellence of persons).

II. The Good Character.

People have a natural capacity for good character, and it is developed through practice.
The capacity does not come first--it's developed through practice.
Virtue, arete, or excellence is defined as a mean between two extremes of excess and
defect in regard to a feeling or action as the practically wise person would determine it.
The mean cannot be calculated a priori.

III. Pleasure is the natural accompaniment of unimpeded activity. Pleasure, as such, is

neither good nor bad.
A. Even so, pleasure is something positive and its effect is to perfect the exercise of
activity. Everything from playing chess to making love is improved with skill.
B. Pleasure cannot be directly sought--it is the side-product of activity. It is only an
element of happiness.
C. The good person, the one who has attained eudaimonia, is the standard as to what is
truly pleasant or unpleasant.

IV. Friendship: a person's relationship to a friend is the same as the relation to oneself.
The friend can be thought of as a second self.
A. In friendship a person loves himself (egoism) not as one seeks money for himself, but
as he gives his money away to receive honor.
B. The kinds of friendship:
1. Utility
2. Pleasure
3. The Good--endures as long as both retain their character.

V. The Contemplative Faculty--the exercise of perfect happiness in intellectual or

philosophic activity.
A. Reason is the highest faculty of human beings. We can engage in it longer than other
activities.
B. Philosophy is loved as an end-in-itself, and so eudaimonia implies leisure and self-
sufficiency as an environment for contemplation.
EPICUREANISM
Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, we will be able to know and understand about:
• Epicurus himself
• Epicureanism
• History of Epicureanism
Epicurus (341-271 B.C.E)
• Epicurus is one of the major philosophers in the Hellenistic period following the
death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E and of Aristotle in 322 B.C.E.
• Epicurus developed an unsparingly materialistic metaphysics, empiricist
epistemology, and hedonistic ethics.
• Epicurus was born around 341 B.C.E and grew up in the Athenian colony of Samos,
an island the Mediterranean Sea.
• He studied philosophy under followers of Democritus and Plato.
• Epicurus founded his first philosophical schools Mytilene and Lampsacus, before
moving to Athens around 306 B.C.E. There, Epicurus founded the Garden, a
combination of philosophical community and school.
• The residents of the Garden put Epicurus’ teachings into practice.
• Eventually, he died from kidney stones around 271 or 270 B.C.E.
Epicureanism
• Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based on the teachings of Epicurus,
founded around 307 B.C.E.
• It teaches that the greatest good is to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a
state of tranquility, freedom from fear “atraxia” and absence from bodily pain
“aponia”.
• This combination of states is held to constitute happiness in its highest form.
• So Epicureanism can be considered a form of Hedonism, although it differs in its
conception of happiness as the absence of pain and in its advocacy of a simple life.
• After Epicurus’ death, Epicureanism continued to flourish as a philosophical
movement.
• Epicureanism went into decline with the rise of Christianity.
History of Epicureanism
• Epicureanism was originally a conceived by Epicurus as a challenge to Platonism
although, Democritus had propounded a very similar philosophy almost a century
earlier.
• Along with Stoicism and Skepticism, the school of Epicureanism later became one
of the three dominant school of Hellenistic philosophy, lasting strongly through the
later Roman Empire.
• During Epicurus’ lifetime, it’s members included Hermarchus, Idomeneus, Colotes,
Polyaenus and Metrodorus.
Hermarchus – was a son of Agemarchus, a poor man of Mytilene, and was at first
brought up as a rhetorician, but afterwards became a faithful disciple of Epicurus
who appointed him his successor as the head of his school about 270 B.C.E.
Idomeneus – of Lampsacus, was a friend, disciple and benefactor of Epicurus 310-
270 B.C.E. There are no other information about him but he married Batis, sister of
Sandes, who is also Lampsacus native and pupil of Epicurus.
Colotes – was a pupil of Epicurus and one of the most famous of his disciples. He
was a great favourite with Epicurus, who used by way of endearment, to call him
Koλωτάρας and Koλωτάριoς.
Polyaenus – was an ancient Greek mathematician and friend of Epicurus.
Metrodorus – of Lampsacus was the disciple and intimate friend of Epicurus, and is
described by Cicero as “almost a Second Epicurus”.
• Lucretius (99-55B.C) was the school’s greatest Roman proponent, composing an
epic poem, “On the Nature of Things” on the Epicurean philosophy of nature.
• After the official approval of Christianity by Roman Emperor Constantine (272-337)
in 313 A.D., Epicureanism was repressed as essentially irreconcilable with Christian
teachings, and the school endured a long period of obscurity and decline.
• In more modern times, the French philosopher and priest Pierre Gassendi (1592-
1655) referred to himself as an Epicurean and attempted to revive the doctrine, as
did Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and the Utilitarian Jeremy Bentham.
Example:
• People who enjoy luxury surroundings and having a good wine.
• You enjoy your trip to World Disney.
• Enjoying the beautiful view from the balcony of your house while drinking your
favorite fruit juice.
• Being surrounded by positive people.
• Watching your favorite movie for nth time while eating your favorite food.

STOICISM

I. OBJECTIVES
a. To discuss what Stoicism is
b. To identify who was the proponent of Stoicism
c. To tackle the brief history of Stoicism
d. To know what is the relevance of Stoicism in Ethics
II. STOICISM

A. What is stoicism?
• The endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without
complaint.
• An ancient Greek school of Philosophy founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium. The
school that taught that virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge; the wise
live in harmony with the divine reason (also identified with Fate and Providence)
that governs nature of fortune and to pleasure and pain.

B. Who was the proponent of Stoicism?

• Zeno of Citium (336-265 BCE)
o Born in the Phonecian-Greek city of Citium in Cyprus.
o Was influence by Socrates to study Philosophy upon reading the copy of his
Memorabilia.
o Studied under Crates of Thebes then under Stilpo the Megarian and then
became a pupil of Polemo.
o Founded the Stoic School of Philosophy in Athens which taught the Logos
(Universal Reasoning).
C. Brief history of Stoicism
• The trace origins of what later became Stoicism can be found in the figure
of Heraclitus (535-475 BCE), the pre-Socratic philosopher most famous for his
discussions of the Logos (a crucial Stoic concept) and his “process metaphysics,”
summarized in the phrase “panta rhei” (everything flows). He is referred to by all
the major late Stoics, including Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus.
• A crucial historical event occurred in 399 BCE, with the death of Socrates. The
Stoics explicitly referred to their philosophy as Socratic in nature, and their idea
that virtue is the chief good is articulated by Socrates in the Euthydemus.
• The Stoics were also influenced by the Cynics, whose philosophy was inspired by
Antisthenes (445-365 BCE), and most famously epitomized by Diogenes of Sinope,
mentioned with admiration by Epictetus.
• In 323 BCE the Greek world is shaken by the death of Alexander (“the Great”), which
is followed by the disintegration of his empire and the beginning of the Hellenistic
period, during which a number of philosophies, including Stoicism, arise and
flourish.
• Around 300 BCE Zeno of Citium, a former Phoenician merchant who had studied
with the Cynic Crates and several others, begins to teach his own philosophy in the
Stoa Poikile (painted porch), an open market in Athens. His followers are initially
called Zenonians, but the word Stoics is the one that sticks.
• Chrysippus (279-206 BCE) becomes the third head of the Stoa. He makes huge
contributions to logic, among other things, writing a large number of books, listed
by Diogenes Laertius, who comments that “but for Chrysippus, there had been no
Porch.” (Lives and Opinions of the Eminent Philosophers, VII.183)
• In 155 BCE another crucial event occurs that likely affected the successive history
of philosophy in the ancient world, not just Stoicism: a delegation of three
philosophers, including Diogenes of Babylon, the head of the Stoa, arrives in Rome
on a diplomatic mission. While there, the philosophers lecture to the public,
introducing the Romans to philosophy for the very first time. Reportedly, they enjoy
great success and piss off Roman conservative aristocrats, like Cato the Elder.
• About seven decades later, in 86 BCE, Athens is sacked by the Roman General
Sulla, and it ceases to be the cultural center of reference of the Mediterranean
world. This begins a diaspora of philosophers, who transfer their schools to
Rhodes, Alexandria of Egypt, and, of course, Rome.
• The next important figure is Posidonius (135-151 BCE), a major exponent of the so-
called middle Stoa, and teacher of Cicero. I hope to be writing quite a bit more
about him eventually, as I’m slowly making my way through his extant fragments.
• Cicero (106-43 BCE) himself is a major contributor to the history of Stoicism, even
though his allegiance is formally for the Academic Skeptics. He writes abundantly,
and generally sympathetically, about Stoicism, including in book III of De Finibus,
the Paradoxa Stoicorum, and the Tusculan Disputations.
• In 31 BCE Octavian, adoptive son of Julius Caesar, defeats Mark Anthony and
Cleopatra at the battle of Actium, which marks the end of the Hellenistic period,
the beginning of the Roman Empire, and the onset of the late Stoa.
• Seneca the Younger (4 BCE-65 CE) writes by far most of the extant literature on
Stoicism, including his famous philosophical letters to his friend Lucilius, the
landmark treaties On Anger, and a number of other books.
• Several Stoic philosophers are persecuted by Nero, Vespasian, and Domitian,
because of their criticisms of the tyranny exercised by these emperors (the so-
called Stoic opposition). Twice, in 88/9 and 93/4 CE, Domitian expels all
philosophers (not just the Stoics) from Italy.
• One of those expelled by Domitian is Epictetus (55-135 CE), a brilliant former slave
and student of Musonius Rufus. His most famous student, Arrian of Nicomedia,
transcribes Epictetus’ dialogues with his students and visitors, producing what we
know as the Discourses and the Enchiridion.
• The last great ancient Stoic we know of is the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180
CE), who near the end of his life writes a personal diary of philosophical reflections
that is referred to today as The Meditations.
• At this point we have the first great hiatus (indicated in the second slide by the
sundial), as Stoicism declines together with the other Hellenistic schools, replaced
by Christianity during the last part of the history of Rome and beyond.
• The first resurgence of Stoicism is the result of the efforts of Justus Lipsius (1547-
1606), who explicitly forges his Neo-Stoicism as an attempt at reconciling the
ancient philosophy with the tenets of Christianity. It does not last long, though it
probably influences some major modern philosophers, like Descartes and
especially Spinoza.
• We then have a second hiatus, until the publication, in 1995, of Pierre
Hadot’s Philosophy as a Way of Life. That book is not specifically about Stoicism
(though his The Inner Citadel, centered on Marcus Aurelius, certainly is), but puts
back on the map the idea that philosophy can, and should, be practical, a sort of
therapy for the sane, so to speak. (It is also relevant that some modern
psychotherapies, like REBT and CBT, taking holds in the 1960s and ‘70s, are loosely
inspired by Stoic teachings.)
• In 1998 Larry Becker publishes A New Stoicism, the first serious attempt by a
modern scholar to update Stoic philosophy for contemporary life. It is not a “how
to” manual, but rather a conceptual analysis and discussion of what form Stoicism
might take in the 20th and 21st centuries.
• Finally, beginning in 2012, a diverse group of philosophers, cognitive therapists,
and others, launches Stoic Week and the associated annual Stoicon, which —
together with the publication of accessible books by the likes of Don
Robertson, Bill Irvine, John Sellars, and others (including, eventually, yours truly),
sets the stage for, and continues to define and reshape, what I call the Fifth Stoa
(after the early, middle, late ones, and Neo-Stoicism). And the story continues, Fate
permitting…

D. Relevance of Stoicism in Ethics

Stoic Ethics was not just another theoretical subject but, an eminently
practical one. Indeed, especially for the later Stoics, ethics-understood as the study
of how to live one’s life-was the point of doing philosophy.

CARDINAL VIRTUES

• Temperance
• Courage
• Justice
• Practical Wisdom
STOIC DISCIPLINE

• The discipline of desire, sometimes referred to a Stoic acceptance, is derived from

the study of physics, and in particular from the idea of universe cause and effect. It
consists in training oneself to desire what the universe allows and not to pursue
what it does not allow. A famous metaphor here used by Epictetus, is that of a dog
leashed to a cart: the dog can either fight the cart’s movement at every inch, thus
hurting himself and ending up miserable; or he can decide to gingerly go along
with the ride and enjoy the panorama.
• The discipline of action or also called Stoic “philanthropy” and is the most
prosocial of the cardinal virtues. The basic idea is that human beings ought to
develop their natural concern for others that in a way is congruent with the
exercise of the virtue of justice. A representative quote is perhaps the one found in
Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations: “Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them
then or bear with them.”
• The last discipline is that of assent, referred to as Stoic “mindfulness” (not to be
confused with the variety of Buddhist concepts by the same name, especially the
Zen one.). Regards to the necessity to make decisions about what to accept or
reject of our experience of the world, that is, how to make proper judgements.

Examples of Stoicism in our daily lives

1. If you are working as a professor, you are to endure all your feelings from home by not
bringing it to your work place specially when you feel sad or broken.

2. As a teenager, you are to endure your excitement whenever you see your crush for
him/her not to notice your reaction.

3. As a child of our parents, we are to endure our feelings whenever we are being scolded
for what we have done.

4. We filipinos are known for smiling despite of what we have been throught, that's an
example of stoicism.

5. During our childhood, we tend to endure the pain of every wound we get in playing
with our childhood friends.
UTILITARIANISM

• What is Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a theory of morality, which advocates actions that foster happiness or
pleasure and opposes actions that cause unhappiness or harm. When directed toward
making social, economic, or political decisions, a utilitarian philosophy would aim for the
betterment of society as a whole. Utilitarianism would say that an action is right if it
results in the happiness of the greatest number of people in a society or a group.
• Understanding Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a tradition of ethical philosophy that is associated with Jeremy Bentham
and John Stuart Mill, two late 18th- and 19th-century British philosophers, economists,
and political thinkers. Utilitarianism holds that an action is right if it tends to promote
happiness and wrong if it tends to produce sadness, or the reverse of happiness—not just
the happiness of the actor but that of everyone affected by it. At work, you display
utilitarianism when you take actions to ensure that the office is a positive environment for
your co-workers to be in, and then make it so for yourself.
• The Three Generally Accepted Axioms of Utilitarianism State That;
• Pleasure, or happiness, is the only thing that has intrinsic value.
• Actions are right if they promote happiness, and wrong if they promote
unhappiness.
• Everyone's happiness counts equally.
Utilitarianism by Famous Philosophers
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
-Father of utilitarianism
-English philosopher and political radical
-later criticized by his disciple, john stuart mill
-born in London at a time of great scientific and social change
-work on legal reforms and wrote “the principle of morals and legislation of 1789”
• He famously held that humans were ruled by two sovereign masters — pleasure
and pain. We seek pleasure and the avoidance of pain, they “…govern us in all we
do, in all we say, in all we think…” (Bentham PML, 1). Yet he also promulgated the
principle of utility as the standard of right action on the part of governments and
individuals. Actions are approved when they are such as to promote happiness, or
pleasure, and disapproved of when they have a tendency to cause unhappiness, or
pain.
• Quote by Jeremy Bentham
“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain
and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as to
determined what we shall do.”
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
-Follower of Bentham
-Disagreed with some of Bentham’s claims
-English philosopher, political economist, and civil servant
-The most influential English-speaking philosopher in the nineteenth century
• Like Bentham, Mill sought to use utilitarianism to inform law and social policy. The
aim of increasing happiness underlies his arguments for women's suffrage and free
speech. We can be said to have certain rights, then — but those rights are
underwritten by utility. If one can show that a purported right or duty is harmful,
then one has shown that it is not genuine. One of Mills most famous arguments to
this effect can be found in his writing on women's suffrage when he discusses the
ideal marriage of partners, noting that the ideal exists between individuals of
“cultivated faculties” who influence each other equally. Improving the social status
of women was important because they were capable of these cultivated faculties,
and denying them access to education and other opportunities for development is
forgoing a significant source of happiness.
• Quote by John Stuart Mill
“Actions are right in proportions as the tend to promote happiness; wrong as the
tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure and
the absence of pain.”
VEGETATIVE LIFE

-Is the simple metabolic and reproductive activity of humans or animals, apart from the
exercise of conscious mental or psychic processes (Anon, 2000)
-In many respect, Vegetative Life is considered as the most primitive form of life. This
statement assumes something like evolution from simple to complex life forms.
- “Vegetative Life focus on nutrition, growth and reproduction of human.”
-It’s not all about physical aspect of human but also on behavioral and mental aspect.

Physical Aspect
In terms of physical aspect every human can reproduce another life, through that
reproduction, the nutrition will take place to give growth on the life that was created.
Examples:
-The newly wed was having a honeymoon.
-A pregnant woman eats fruits and vegetables.
-A baby takes some vitamins.
-The teenager reaches the adolescence stage where experiencing having a deep voice,
facial hairs, and enlargement on their height.
-An old man having an exercise, eat healthy foods, and taking his maintenance.

Mental Aspect
-In mental aspect, we are experiencing growth through the improvement of our reasoning
and logical thinking. We can distinguish that growth because we can handle the big
problems that we are encountered in our life.
Examples:
-College freshmen answering logical problems to improve their skills and easily
understands a mathematical problem.
-A boy reflecting himself about his experiences in life.
-Some students reading a book and other reading materials in the library.
-A man having his consultation to a psychologist.
-A boy having an enough sleep every day.

Behavioral Aspect
In terms of behavioral aspect, we can create growth on different situations like
discovering your true self, gain experience from others through their stories, and
challenges that we encounter in life.
Examples:
-An high school boy having consultation to a Guidance Counselor.
-Reyes Family attending mass every Sunday.
-A girl raising up by her grandparents on a farm.
-A teacher telling stories with lesson in front of the class.
-Choosing the right circle of friends.

“We can use this experiences to nourished ourselves to become a better person. As we go
through the vegetative life we can serve as a role model to the younger generations. We
can use those growths to have an advantage and ability to inspire and help the life of
other people.”

“The strongest principle of growth lies on the human choice.”-George Elliot

SOUND CONCEPT OF HUMAN NATURE - LAYERS OF LIFE AND POWER

SENTIENT LIFE

➢ Sentient is an adjective that means being able to perceive or feel things. It is derived
from the early 17th century, Latin word Sentire, which means “feeling”.
➢ Sentience is the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively.
Eighteenth-century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think
(reason) from the ability to feel (sentience). In modern Western philosophy, sentience is the
ability to experience sensations (known in philosophy of mind as "qualia"). In Eastern
philosophy, sentience is a metaphysical quality of all things that require respect and care.

SENTIENCE IN BUDDHISM

In Buddhism, sentient beings are beings with consciousness, sentience, or in some

contexts, life itself. Sentient beings are composed of the five aggregates, or skandhas:

1. Matter
2. Sensation
3. Perception
4. Mental Formations
5. Consciousness.

In the Samyutta Nikaya, a Buddhist scripture, the Buddha is recorded as saying that "just
as the word 'chariot' exists on the basis of the aggregation of parts, even so the concept of
'being' exists when the five aggregates are available."

While distinctions in usage and potential subdivisions or classes of sentient beings vary
from one school, teacher, or thinker to another, it principally refers to beings in contrast
with Buddhahood (“awakened one”), a state of perfect enlightenment sought in
Buddhism. That is, sentient beings are characteristically not enlightened, and are thus
confined to the death, rebirth, and dukkha (suffering) characteristic of saṃsāra.

“Sentient beings” is a term used to designate the totality of living, conscious beings that
constitute the object and audience of Buddhist teaching. Translating various Sanskrit
terms (jantu, bahu jana, jagat, sattva), sentient beings conventionally refers to the mass of
living things subject to illusion, suffering, and rebirth (Saṃsāra). Less frequently, sentient
beings as a class broadly encompasses all beings possessing consciousness, including
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

At its most cognitively sophisticated levels, sentience may be conceptualized in the context
of three related psychological domains or capacities. It is becoming increasingly clear from
the accumulating evidence that these three domains are not a cognitive ‘package’; despite
our still-limited knowledge, at this point, they appear to be separable related capacities.
The first two have to do with one’s awareness of self, physically and/or mentally.
1. Self-awareness is a sense of personal, particularly autobiographical, identity. Self-
awareness may exist at a physical level, referred to as self-recognition, to more
abstract levels of psychological continuity through time.

2. Metacognition is the ability to think about, or reflect upon, one’s own thoughts and
feelings, and is clearly underwritten by self-awareness in the psychological realm but
not necessarily by self-awareness in the physical realm (i.e., self-recognition).

3. Theory of Mind (ToM) comprises capacities, such as perspective-taking, modeling of

others’ mental lives, including empathy. ToM is others oriented, related to one’s
ability to take the physical and mental perspective of others, and is presumably
underwritten by metacognition.

Sentience refers to any of these psychological phenomena. In normal adult human beings,
all three of these capacities are found to some extent. The study of sentience in other
animals is tantamount to determining how many of, and to what extent, these capacities
are shared. Although we tend to view humans as having the full range and depth of
sentience, it is important to acknowledge the possibility that other animals might have
properties of sentience that humans lack. This possibility is difficult to assess.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SENTIENT?

➢ It means that you can make a distinction between yourself and another object.
Without knowing that you exist as distinct, as individual, you couldn’t measure the
differences between yourself and other objects.

➢ To be sentient means that you have developed and integrated your physical vehicle
to the point or degree that you are emotionally responsive and emotionally
conscious. It is subjective in nature. It is a step in conscious development that
usually preceeds intellectual consciousness which is objective in nature.

WHAT BEINGS ARE NOT SENTIENT?

What we do know based on our present knowledge is that all sentient beings are humans
and animals, but not all animals are sentient. Beings that have no centralized nervous
systems are not sentient. This includes bacteria, archaea, protists, fungi, plants and certain
animals. There is the possibility that a number of animals with very simple centralized
nervous systems are not sentient either, but this is an open question and cannot be settled
yet.

EXAMPLES

➢ Proposition of Equality Bill in order for the LGBT community to be protected,

recognized and not be discriminated. This shows that they have feelings and we
should not invalidate those.
➢ Existence of animal welfare and protection laws. Such legislation implicitly, if not
explicitly, recognizes that animals are sentient.
➢ DDS believing that Rodrigo Duterte is the best president of the Philippines. This
statement shows subjectivity or the quality of being based on or influenced by
personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.
➢ Filipinos’ awareness of the Government incompetency shows being Sentient.
➢ Pain and suffering of those who experience anxiety. We should always show
empathy as Sentient Beings.

RATIONAL LIFE
• Rational life is based on or in accordance with reason / logic / intelligent thinking
rather than emotions.
• It is particularly function had by human being and a human life.
• Rational life is an aspect of Human Nature.
➢ Rationality in the medieval period of philosophy up to modern era, was the basis of
moral criterion and philosophers then placed it in a prominent position. They believed
that reason really subjugates passion and leads to the development of mature
responsible individuals. In this, the society benefits at large. Thus, within this period,
reason is the sole determinant of moral behavior.
RATIONAL LIFE AN ASPECT OF HUMAN NATURE
THEORY OF HUMAN NATURE
• Plato believed that we are composed of two substances, a material body, and
immaterial mind. Aristotle rejects this. Aristotle recognized living things, he says
that plants have a vegetative structure, non-human animals have this structure
plus a sensitive structure, and human animals add to this a rational structure
which makes them unique. Each different thing then has a different structure or
form. Thus some things have a richer or more complex form than other things.
Example:
Eating, drinking, digesting, perceiving, reproducing, sleeping and being awake—do
not have the same meaning for a non‐human animal as for a human animal.
• Aristotle taught that men can increase their knowledge by augmenting the
evidence of the senses through reason (i.e., through logic and the formulation of
abstractions). Thus, reason is not only what is most special about humanity
compared to other animals, but it is also what we were meant to achieve at our
best.

• “Aristotle explains that the purpose of life is earthly happiness or flourishing that
can be achieved via reason and the acquisition of virtue.” He states that each
human being should use his abilities to their fullest potential and should obtain
happiness and enjoyment through the exercise of their realized capacities.
FOCUS OF RATIONAL LIFE
Intellect Power
1. Intellective Cognition – is the intellect, enable ability of the mind to reach correct
conclusions about what is true/false, solve problems. It also enables us to know
and understand.
• Simple apprehension - The intellect wherein by the acts of our senses we
mentally grasp a thing without differing or denying anything about it.
• Judgement - The inetellect wherein we join two understood terms obtain or
acquired in simple apprehension and deconstruct them either by affirmation
or negation.
• Reasoning- The intellect wherein we draw conclusion from a given act of
validity.
2. Intellective Appetitive – is the will, capacity to select a desire and actively decide
instead of reacting impulsively. Responsive to the intellect’s estimations of what is
good or choice worthy.
Example: Will: Intention, Consent, Choice, Joy, etc.
RATIONAL BEHAVIOR
• It refers to a decision-making process that is based on making choices that result in
the optimal level of benefit or utility for an individual.
• The assumption of rational behavior implies that people would rather take actions
that benefit them versus actions that are neutral or harm them.
• It can relate to different aspect of human life such as: mental aspect and emotional
aspect.

MENTAL ASPECT
• This refers to intellectual capacity of a person associated with or requiring
the use of the mind in constructing ideas, information and even reasons.
Example: Choosing practical love which involve money rather than romantic
ones to have a better life in this hard situation. Use of mind and reasons over
emotions.
As a leader, you always prioritize the process of an activities and share ideas,
information to your members.
EMOTIONAL ASPECT
• Having its source in or being guided by the intellect (as distinguished from
experience or emotion). Helps to maintain the current circumstances, by
avoiding risky decisions that can change the status quo currently being
enjoyed.
Example: The act of thinking the welfare of an individual rather than arising the
emotion of disappointment because of wrong action.
Handling a project needs full focus and an open mind to each co-
worker. Emotional instability during working hours should always be separated.

11 PASSION OF MAN (Love, Desire, Joy, Hatred, Aversion)

What is passion?
Passion is the state of affection or being affected by the things we perceived through
sensation.
By passions we are to understand here motions of the sensitive appetite in man which
tend towards the attainment of some real or apparent good, or the avoidance of
some evil. The more intensely the object is desired or abhorred, the more vehement is the
passion.
As humans, our passion is divided into two the concupiscible and irascible.
A. Concupiscible Appetites- involves ease and facility in acquiring or avoiding its
desired object.
-The object of the concupiscible is real or apparent good, and suitable to the
sensitive inclination.

• Love
• Desire
• Joy
• Hatred
• Aversion

LOVE
-Love means to be deeply committed and connected to someone or something. The
basic meaning of love is to feel more than liking towards someone.
-To be intent on knowing, respecting, and valuing an other for what they actually are and
can be.
-If the person is impelled to seek that which is suitable to his well-being.
Example:
1. Showing respect and support to your partner.
2. If you put time and effort to your relationship.

DESIRE
-Desire is the motivation that leis behind every action, the power and energy that causes
all movement
-Desire incites persons to make the most incredible efforts. It can be transformed into
energy for positive or negative ends
-if he impelled to possess that which he loved.
Example:
1. Your family or your partner supporting on what you are doing.
2. Having your own family that motivates you to work hard.

JOY
-The emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or
satisfying; keen pleasure
-A state of happiness or felicity.
We feel joy in our bodies because of the release of dopamine and serotonin, two types of
neurotransmitters in the brain. Both of these chemicals are heavily associated
with happiness (in fact, people with clinical depression often have lower levels of
serotonin).
Example:
1. Spending time with your friends or family.
2. Celebrating your own birthday with your love ones.

HATRED
-intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury.
What causes hatred?
People might begin to hate another person or group when they: Feel envy or want what
the other person has. They may consider it unfair that someone has what they lack. Have
contempt for another person or believe them to be inferior
Example:
1. Your partner cheated on you.
2. Hearing in news that former Philhealth officials misspent or stole 15 billion.

AVERSION -A strong feeling of dislike, opposition, repugnance, or antipathy (usually

followed by to): a strong aversion to snakes and spiders. a cause or object of dislike;
person or thing that causes antipathy.
-A person or thing that causes a feeling of strong dislike or not wishing to do something
Example:
1. A strong aversion to people who do bullying.
2. Some Filipino expressed their antipathy in the government by doing rally.

ELEVEN PASSION OF MAN

PASSION
Passion is the state of affection or being affected by the things we perceived through
sensation.
By passions we are to understand here motions of the sensitive appetite in man which tend
towards the attainment of some real or apparent good, or the avoidance of some evil. The
more intensely the object is desired or abhorred, the more vehement is the passion.
Continuation…
6. SORROW
▪ distress caused by loss, affliction, disappointment, etc.; grief, sadness,
or regret
▪ a cause or occasion of grief or regret, as an affliction, a misfortune, or
trouble
▪ the expression of grief, sadness, disappointment, or the like
Example:
1. It saddens me when I look at my friends with complete family,
happily talking while me, on the other hand, doesn't even
experience that kind of moment.
2. It is indeed sorrowful to hear the news about the death of the
greatest of all time NBA player, Kobe Bryant.
7. HOPE
▪ Hope is commonly used to mean a wish : its strength is the strength of
the person's desire. But in the Bible hope is the confident expectation
of what God has promised and its strength is in His faithfulness
▪ a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

Example:
1. Even though I am a poor since birth, I feel hopeful that through
hard work and dedication, I will one day achieve my dreams and
help my family's situation.
2. Nowadays, COVID-19 Virus is really potent which killed a lot of
human being but I know one day, there will be a vaccine and we
will return to our normal life routine without fear of getting sick.
8. DESPAIR
▪ Despair is the feeling of not having any hope left. If you completely
forgot to study for your final exam in math, you might feel despair when
your teacher passes out the test. Despair can also refer to someone or
something that causes you to worry or be sad. The verb despair means
to lose hope.
▪ the complete loss or absence of hope.
Example:
1. I've lost my mother when I was seven years old. Back then, I felt
great despair. The feeling of losing someone that you need in
your life make you sense hopelessness.
2. My grandfather got cancer and that cancer being incurable
makes me feel that there is no chance of him staying alive for
long and you cannot do a thing about it.
9. COURAGE
▪ Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one.
▪ Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face
difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.
Example:
1. Not being afraid to stand up for others and for myself when
seeing injustices like racial bullying and taunting.
2. Helping out a person or animal in need, even if it might put you
in a little bit of danger like when someone got rob in front of you.
10. FEAR
▪ Fear is a natural, powerful, and primitive human emotion. It
involves a universal biochemical response as well as a high
individual emotional response. Fear alerts us to the presence of
danger or the threat of harm, whether that danger is physical or
psychological.
▪ an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or
something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
Example:
1. Being afraid of great heights like being in a super tall building
then suddenly got a glance of a view below
2. When you got disease that needs to undergo operations but
it is a life and death situation.
11. ANGER
▪ Anger is a natural response to perceived threats. It causes your body
to release adrenaline, your muscles to tighten, and your heart rate
and blood pressure to increase. Your senses might feel more acute
and your face and hands flushed. However, anger becomes a
problem only when you don't manage it in a healthy way
Example:
1. When someone is taking advantage of you and instead
thanking you of that someone, he/she tricked you and got
you humiliated.
2. The anger you felt when someone spout many insults about
your kind parents.
A. FACTORS THAT AFFECT KNOWLEDGE AND DELIBERATION

• Ignorance
- Is the absence of knowledge which a person ought to possess.
TYPES OF IGNORANCE
1. Vincible Ignorance
- Can easily be reminded through ordinary diligence and reasonable efforts.

2. Invincible Ignorance
- Is the type which a person possesses without aware of it, or having
awareness of it, lacks the means to rectify it.

3. Affected Ignorance
- Is the type which a person keeps by positive efforts in order to escape
responsibility or blame.

• Concupiscence
- In Theology, the proneness of sin in man’s nature due to the fall of adam and
eve.
- In Morality, the bodily appetites or tendencies or simply Passions.

TYPES OF CONCUPISCENCE
1. Antecedent Concupiscence
- the sort which precedes an act of the will and is not willfully stimulated, such
as sudden anger.
2. Consequent Concupiscence
- that which is stimulated by the will, such as anger deliberately fostered.

A. FACTORS THAT AFFECT KNOWLEDGE AND DELIBERATION

HUMAN ACTS AND RESPONSIBILITY

Human acts are actions performed by human, knowingly and freely. Also called intentional
or deliberate actions, or, voluntarily.
c. FEAR
• It is one of the emotions.
• Agitation or disturbance of mind resulting from some present or imminent danger.
Types of Fear
• Light Fear
fear in which the evil threatening is either present-but-light or grave-but-remote.
o Present-but-slight
e.g. An elderly lady experience fears when she hears someone passing her
door at night, but her fear is only slight because she knows it is probably her
neighbor arriving home at usual.
o Grave-but-remote
e.g. A man fears that he may die of cancer in his life, but his fear is light because
the grave danger is very remote.
• Grave Fear
is that which is present when the evil threatening is considered serious.
o Intrinsic Grave Fear
is that agitation of the mind which arises because of a disposition within one’s
mind or body.
e.g. Fear of having cancer
o Extrinsic Grave Fear
is that agitation of the mind which arises from something outside oneself.
e.g. fear when a house is on fire or fear of a robber in a house

FEAR DIMINISHED THE VOLUNTARY NATURE OF THE ACT.

Considerations:
✓ Any acts that are done, and would have been done, whether fear was present or not
are clearly voluntary, and if they are wrong, the person is morally responsible.
✓ A sinful act done because of fear is somewhat less free and therefore less sinful than
act done not under the influence of fear.

d. VIOLENCE
• External force applied by someone on another in order to compel him to perform an
action against his will.
In cases where the victim gives complete resistance, the violence is classified as perfect
violence.
• Perfect Violence
o Physically perfect violence
in which all possible forms of resisting are utilized.
e.g. if a woman walking along a dark street at night is attacked, and she attempts
to fight off the attackers with all the physical powers at her command, she has
been the victim of physically perfect violence.

• Morally Perfect Violence

is that in which all powers of resistance should be used but not employed for a good
reason.
e.g. A man being robbed attempts to fight the robber but soon realizes that further
resistance will probably result in his death.

However, if the victim offers insufficient resistance, the violence is classified as imperfect
violence.

• Imperfect Violence
is that in which some resistance is shown but not as much as should be.
e.g. A stenographer who is working after hours in an almost empty building is
approached but the department head. The man suddenly filled with lustful
intentions, makes certain rough and violent advances. The young woman for a
moment puts up some resistance and feels that addition resistance might terminate
the incident. However, she quickly ceases resistance and gives in to the man. The
stenographer is the victim of imperfect violence.

Moral Principles
✓ Regarding perfect violence, the moral principle is this: that which it is done from
perfect violence is entirely involuntary, and so in such cases there is no moral
responsibility.
If an individual is a victim in the absolute sense of the word, no sensible person will
condemn him. If the victim makes a judgement that resistance is utterly useless, he
need not to resist. There is no obligation to do what is useless.
✓ Regarding Imperfect violence: that which is done under the influence of imperfect
violence is less voluntary and so the moral responsibility is lessened but not taken
away completely.

HUMAN ACTS AND RESPONSIBILITY

TWELVE STAGES OF HUMAN ACTION

Aristotelian structure according to which human acts have three major

components: willing the end, deliberating concerning the means, and choosing.
Twelve successive steps may be distinguished in human actions.
1. A simple apprehension of the good. The intellect proposes under the general form of
good the end to be attained.
2. A simple volition to acquire it. The will takes complacency in this good as good, and
bids the intellect see whether the good is suitable and possible.
3. A judgment that the good is possible. The intellect judges of its possibility.
4. An intention of taking the means to attain it. The will is borne toward the end to be
attained, really desires it, and bids the intellect seek the means.
5. An examination of these means. The intellect points out the means.
6. Consent of the will to these means. The will approves of them and orders the fittest to
be sought.
7. Discernment of the fittest means. The intellect points it out.
8. A choice of this means. The will chooses it and commands the intellect to prepare the
means of executing the action.
9. An indication of what is to be done for the execution of the action. The intellect
indicates these means.
10. An impulse given to the faculties or powers destined to execute the action. The will
moves the faculties or powers that elicit the action.
11. The exercise of these faculties or powers. These faculties or powers execute the
command of the will.

12. Delectation of the will. The will rests in the completion of the action and in the end
attained.

These subordinate actions were categorized into three factors;

➢ First, the first four stages of human action refer to the end of the action considering
the general way, then determinately and particularly.

✓ Making decisions with a positive intension toward someone; Risking

something to explore new things and develop particular matter, such as
emotions, confidence, ideas, etc.
✓ Not denying or affirming about anything happened from the personal action
using senses or even decision-making skills; taking responsibilities of the
outcome.

➢ Second, the following four stages have their object the means, which examined in
general and then later the best will be chosen.

✓ Analyzing the possible outcome and consequences of the action; taking

responsibility of the possible result.
✓ Considering the person being affected or/and the affect of the action toward
something or someone.

➢ Third, the last four stages of human action have for their object the execution of
these means, and the repose and pleasure of the will in the accomplished action.

✓ The use decision-making skill of someone to execute an action.

✓ Understanding the possible result and analyzing the intension of action that
lead to finalization of the decision.

Every human action may be resolved into three principles:

(1) An impulse of the will to good in general;
(2) knowledge of a particular good;
(3) liberty in the choice of this good.

Without the first condition the will could not act; without the second condition, it would
have no direction; without the third condition, it would not act conformably to its nature.
THE MORALITY OF HUMAN ACTS
(Ends, Means, & Circumstances)

MORALITY AND HUMAN ACTS

⬗ Human acts are those that are freely chosen in consequence of a judgement of
conscience.
⬗ They are either good or evil.
⬗ Their morality depends on: the object chosen (Means), the intention (Ends) and the
Circumstances.

ENDS
The intention or the end is of the subject, the human person who acts. You have control
over your own intentions. If your intention is immoral, change your intention. Your
intention is the purpose or goal for which the act was chosen. But for this font to be
moral, all that you intend must be moral. It is not moral to intend to achieve a good end
by an immoral means
⬗ Motive of the agent – factor w/c a person acts; either be morally good or evil.
⬗ Purpose for w/c a human person performs the act
⬗ Concerned with the goal of the activity
⬗ It amis at the good anticipated from the action undertaken.

EXAMPLES
• If a team won a big game (of which winning is good), but used dishonest means
(perhaps by deflating footballs), the outcome itself is tarnished.
• If people gave gifts to the underprivileged, but did so by stealing them from others,
stealing would undermine the charitable act.
• He's campaigning with illegal funds on the theory that if he wins the election the
end will justify the means
• The officer tricked her into admitting her guilt—the end sometimes justifies the
means.
• The father stole a money from someone just to buy his son his favorite toy to
become happy.
MEANS
The means or moral object is of the act itself, the objective act chosen by the human
person. Some acts are in themselves immoral; other acts are in themselves moral. The
mean is the end in terms of morality toward which the act itself, by its very nature, is
directed. This inherent ordering of the act toward its moral object determines the
essential moral nature (the inherent moral meaning) of the act itself. When the means is
evil, the act is intrinsically evil and always immoral, regardless of intention/ends or
circumstances.
⬗ Substance / nature of the action
⬗ Good which the will deliberately directs itself
⬗ OBJECT specifies the “act of the will”
⬗ Nature of what was done to its distinct species
⬗ “The act is good when it is in conformity w/ reason or when it fulfills or fits the
demand of reason. Otherwise, the mean of the act is evil.

EXAMPLES
• studies indicate that when we praise effort over performance in the classroom,
students end up actually doing better academically and psychologically.

• cheating or avoiding hard classes might keep your GPA high, but using these
means never justifies the end result.

• she study so hard in her examination that is why she got the highest score in the
class.
• A son fulfills her mother’s wish as a promised before she died.
• to say that a person is exploiting or manipulating another is often to imply that the
person is using the other in a morally problematic way.

CIRCUMSTANCES
The circumstances follow from the intention and the act. The circumstances are the good
and bad consequences of the chosen act, in so far as these can be reasonably anticipated
by the person at the time that the act is chosen. If an act can be reasonably anticipated to
have bad consequences which morally outweigh any good consequences, then the
choice of that act is a sin. If the reasonably anticipated good consequences morally
outweigh any reasonably anticipated bad consequences, then the font of circumstances
is good.
⬗ Refers to the events, occasions or conditions that make the act concrete.
⬗ Modify acts either by increasing or diminishing of the moral goodness or evilness of
an act.
⬗ Lighten or aggravate the weight of moral accountability of the performer.

EXAMPLES
• Because of being poor and having lack of money, the father of the family was
forced to rob a bank just for his family to have meal to eat.
• Despite of being a homeless child, Erick manage to return a wallet full of cash to its
owner.
• Despite of having a lot of money, Jerick forced his friend to pay for the bill in the
resto they have eaten.
• Even though Jipyeong grows without a parents to guide him, he manage to
become a good boy and show care to everyone he will encounter.
• Even if Dosan is struggling to answer his exam, he manages not to copy the
answers of his seatmate despite of seeing the paper of his classmate.

"Even the most rational approach to ethics is defenseless if there isn't the will to do what
is right."

THE PRINCIPLE OF DOUBLE EFFECTS

Principle of Double Effect (PDE) or Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE) sometimes

invoked when an action has two effects (hence, ‘Double Effect’); one good and the other
harmful.
This doctrine says that if doing something morally good has a morally bad side-
effect, it's ethically OK to do it providing the bad side-effect wasn't intended.

The several elements to the doctrine of double effect:

• The intended effect of care must be positive
• Any harmful effects of care should be predicted but not intended
• Harmful effects of care should not be used as a way to achieve beneficial results
• The beneficial effects of care should outweigh the harmful effects
• Interventions should be appropriate and proportionate
This might seem counter-intuitive, but the principle is used in serious argument about
some important issues in ethics.

SITUATIONAL EXAMPLES OF PDE

EUTHANASIA
• This principle is commonly referred to in cases of euthanasia.
• It is used to justify the case where a doctor gives drugs to a patient to relieve
distressing symptoms even though he knows doing this may shorten the patient's
life.
• The doctor is not aiming directly at killing the patient - the bad result of the
patient's death is a side-effect of the good result of reducing the patient's pain.

WAR AND CIVILIAN DEATHS

• If an army base in the middle of a city is bombed and a few civilians living nearby
are killed as well, nothing unethical has been done.
• Because the army base was a legitimate target and the death of civilians was not
the intention of the bombing (even though their death could be predicted).

ABORTIONS WHEN THE MOTHER'S LIFE IS IN DANGER

• Saving the life of a pregnant woman causes the death of her unborn child.
• For example, performing an abortion when continuing the pregnancy would risk
killing the mother.
• The death of the fetus is merely the side-effect of medical treatment to save the
mother's life.

DENGVAXIA
• The formulation of the Dengue Vaccine of french drugmaker Sanofi Pasteur aims to
prevent the Dengue disease.
• Allegations surfaced that the vaccine was linked to the deaths of several children in
the Philippines.
• The effects to the children who received the vaccination were not the real
intention.

SELF DEFENSE
The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one's own life; and
the killing of the aggressor.... The one is intended; the other is not.

JEREMY BENTHAM

The Founder of Modern Utilitarianism

February 15, 1748 - June 6 1832

Place of birth: London

Country of Nationality: England

⚫ The said truth is that it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the
measure of right and wrong.

⚫ Bentham was the first to give an expression to the philosophy or moral theory of
utilitarianism. His idea has a moral intuitive appeal, and is very simply: the right thing
to do, i.e. the principle of either political or personal morality is to maximize utility.
How does one define utility?

⚫ Utility is the balance of pleasure over pain and happiness over suffering, i.e. general
welfare or collective happiness.

MODERN UTILITARIANISM

⚫ Utilitarianism is the view that one should do whatever will bring about the greatest
amount of good.

⚫ Holds that what’s ethical (or moral) is whatever maximizes total happiness while
minimizing total pain.

⚫ An action is right if it tends to promote happiness and wrong if it tends to produce

the reverse of happiness—not just the happiness of the performer of the action but
also that of everyone affected by it.

Moral Aspect

Moral Philosophy:

⚫ Bentham borrows the phrase, "the principle of utility" from David Hume, and refers to
actions that promote happiness to a larger group of people.

⚫ Happiness, he defines as maximizing pleasure and minimizing suffering.

⚫ The moral obligation of all is that which results in greater happiness for a larger
number of people, and anything that doesn't is therefore morally wrong. That is,
morality can be reduced to principles of sympathy and antipathy.
Example:

◆ considering the suggestions of others before making decisions

◆ sacrificing a little of your time to tend to other important things that will make others
feel good

◆ donating to the persons who are affected by a typhoon

◆ following quarantine protocols to reduce the rate of infection of COVID-19

◆ giving your own food for someone who needs it more

“ALL FOR GREATER GOOD”

Application to Philippine's Society

◆ The concept of “Bayanihan”, working hand in hand to achieve one common goal.

◆ The issue of extrajudicial killings, the execution of a criminal or suspected criminal, in

order to reduce crime rate in the Philippines and for everyone to feel secured.

LOVE OF SELF AS THE MOST NATURAL LOVE:

• State of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical,
psychological and spiritual growth.

• Having a high regard for your own well-being and happiness.

• Taking care of your own needs and not sacrificing your well-being to please others.
• Not settling for less than you deserve.

WAYS TO PRACTICE SELF-LOVE:

• Practice gratitude – each day your brain retains a pattern to look for the positive.

• Speak more loving words about/towards yourself - yourself deserve your love and
affection just as much as anybody else.

• Exercise - get in some kind of movement for your body and your brain every day.

• Get outdoors more - take a little walk outside to clear your head.

• Put down your electronics and unplug for an hour every day - focus and do
something else.

• Spend time alone - give yourself a few minutes of YOU time.

• Drink more water - water is life.

BENEFITS OF SELF-LOVE:
• Greater happiness - shows that those who show themselves compassion are happier
than those who do not.

• Stronger resilience - we respond to stressful or upsetting events more flexibly.

• Increased motivation - people have greater motivation to work toward their goals.

• Better physical and mental health – better immune function, stabilized glucose
levels in people with diabetes, and relaxation. It also induced higher
parasympathetic activity in its participants, promoting stress reduction and emotion
regulation on a physiological level.

EXAMPLES OF SELF-LOVE

• A generally high-achieving student who fails a test but tells herself, “It’s alright, we
all fail sometimes. You’re still a pretty good student overall.”
• A person who forgets about meeting up with a friend and feels terrible about it
might show herself love by saying, “I can be forgetful sometimes, but I’m always
forgiving when a friend forgets something, so I’m going to be forgiving to myself as
well. I am still a good friend and I will plan to make it up to her.”
• A father who loses his temper and raises his voice to his child might tell himself,
“You’re not a bad father; you just lost your temper. Everyone loses their temper
once in a while. I’ll apologize to my child, forgive myself, and commit to doing
better in the future.”
• A wife who lets slip something insulting about her mother-in-law to her husband
shows self-compassion by thinking, “Everyone makes mistakes. I made a mistake
and I feel bad about it, but it doesn’t make me a bad person.”

Jean-Jacques Rosseau’s “Social Contract”

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Born 1712,Died 1778
Most popular and influential of the ‘philosphers’ prior to and during the French
Revolution!
Published “The Social Contract” in 1762

Rousseau’s ‘Problems’
• Can there be legitimamte political authority?
• How is freedom possible in civil society?
A Few Assumptions
• Our nature=total physical freedom,no restraints on behaviour
• To be human,we must be active in a ‘society’
• Each member of society must enter into a ‘social contract’with all of the others
What is a ‘social contract’?
• The agreement through which each person enters into civil society
• The contract binds people into a community that exists for mutual preservation.
• We sacrifice physical freedom to gain civil freedom(rational thought)
In the political sphere…
• Everyone will be ‘free’ because everyone will forfeit the same amount of freedom
and receive the same amount of responsibility.
Administration:Two Parts
• Sovereign-the voice of the law and absolute authority within the state.In
Rousseau’s words,the sovereign is the “the people speaking together”. (GENERAL
WILL)
• Government-charged with application of the law toward particular
matters(PARTICULAR WILL)
Quotes
• “Man is born free,and everywhere he is in chains.”
• “Every law the people have not ratified in person is null and void—is,in fact,not a
law”
• “The legislative power belongs to the people,and can belong to it alone.”

THE PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES

The Basic
➢ The definition of human society, which is characterized by patterns of relationships
between individuals that share a distinctive culture or institution,
➢ Primitive Societies, “any of numerous societies characterized by features that may
include lack of a written language, relative isolation, small population, relatively
simple social institutions and technology, and a generally slow rate of sociocultural
change” (Service, 2018).

Types of Primitive Societies

1. Nomads
• are communities of people that move from one place to another, rather than
settling down in one location.
• Nomads, on the other hand, move periodically or cyclically, in conjunction
with climate or animal migration patterns, usually returning to their original
location at various times.
• Some significant examples include the Eurasian Avars, Hephthalites , Wu Hu,
Plain Indians.
Hunter-gather - are foragers, dependent upon the natural availability of food.
Consequently, they are relatively mobile, moving on as their food supplies become
exhausted. This nomadic lifestyle.
2. Horticulturalists
• Horticultural societies actually grew out of hunter-gather groups that had
developed a sustainable supply of food and resources allowing them to
create sedentary communities.
• At first, they cultivated a variety of crops on a small scale around their
dwellings, or in specialized plots.
• The main distinction of this society is developed agriculture (such as the
Sumerians and Egyptians).

3. Pastoralists
• societies used a form of agriculture where livestock (such as cattle, sheep,
goats, and camels), were taken to different locations in order to find fresh
pastures.
• Early use of domestic animals for primary carcass products (meat) appears to
have broadened to include exploitation for renewable "secondary" products
(milk, wool, leather, fuel, fertilizer and riding/transport).
• The Saami reindeer herders of Russia, the Bakhtiari of Iran, the Bedouin and
Fulani of Africa are all examples of contemporary pastoralist societies.
Societal structure
1. Band
• A band society is the simplest form of human society which consist of a small
kinship group, often nor much larger than an extended family (usually no
more than 30 to 50 persons in all).
• Bands tend to have very informal leadership; the older members of the band
generally were looked to for guidance and advice, but there are no written
laws and law enforcement like that seen in more complex societies.
• Example: -Ju/'hoansi of Kalahari Desert in southwestern Africa
-Mbuti Pygmies in the Ituri rain forest
-Eskimos in Alaska.
2. Clan
• is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by
perceived descent from a common ancestor.
• Even if actual family patterns are unknown, clan members nonetheless
recognized a founding member or "apical ancestor."
• As kinship-based bonds could be merely symbolic in nature some clans
shared a "stipulated" common ancestor, which is a symbol of the clan's unity.
• When this ancestor is not human, this is referred to a totem (a natural object
or animal that is believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance
and that is adopted by it as an emblem).
3. Tribe
• A tribe consists of a group of interlinked families or communities sharing a
common culture and dialect.
• Composed of an ethnic group, whose members identify with each other,
usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or family, and are also
usually united by common cultural, behavioral, linguistic, or religious
practices.
• For various reasons, the term "tribe" fell into disfavor in the latter part of the
twentieth century. Thus, it was replaced with the designation "ethnic group,"
which defines a group of people of common ancestry and language, shared
cultural history, and an identifiable territory.
RELIGION
Animism
• It was Edward Burnett Tylor who introduced the term "animism" to refer to any belief
in mystical, supernatural, or non-empirical spirit beings.
• societies relied on animism to explain the occurrence of certain events and
processes.
• The cornerstone of animistic thought is the affirmation of the existence of some kind
of metaphysical entities (such as souls or spirits) that are seen as the life-source (or
life-force) of human beings, animals, plants, and even non-living objects and
phenomena.
Shamanism
• is a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with
the spirit world.
• A practitioner of shamanism is known as a shaman, and such an individual is
credited with the ability to diagnose, cure, and sometimes cause human suffering by
forming a special relationship with, or gaining control over, spirits.
• They were also believed to have the ability to control the weather, divination, the
interpretation of dreams, Astral projection, and traveling to upper and lower worlds.
• Shamanism is based on the premise that the visible world is pervaded by invisible
forces or spirits that affect the lives of the living.

THE RIGHT OF THE STRONGEST

The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms
strength into right, and obedience into duty. Hence the right of the strongest, which,
though to all seeming meant ironically, is really laid down as a fundamental principle. But
are we never to have an explanation of this phrase? Force is a physical power, and I fail to
see what moral effect it can have. To yield to force is an act of necessity, not of will—at
the most, an act of prudence. In what sense can it be a duty?
Suppose for a moment that this so-called "right" exists. I maintain that the sole result is a
mass of inexplicable nonsense. For, if force creates right, the effect changes with the
cause: every force that is greater than the first succeeds to its right. As soon as it is
possible to disobey with impunity, disobedience is legitimate; and, the strongest being
always in the right, the only thing that matters is to act so as to become the strongest. But
what kind of right is that which perishes when force fails? If we must obey perforce, there
is no need to obey because we ought; and if we are not forced to obey, we are under no
obligation to do so. Clearly, the word "right" adds nothing to force: in this connection, it
means absolutely nothing.
Obey the powers that be. If this means yield to force, it is a good precept, but superfluous:
I can answer for its never being violated. All power comes from God, I admit; but so, does
all sickness: does that mean that we are forbidden to call in the doctor? A brigand
surprises me at the edge of a wood: must I not merely surrender my purse on
compulsion; but, even if I could withhold it, am I in conscience bound to give it up? For
certainly the pistol he holds is also a power.
Let us then admit that force does not create right, and that we are obliged to obey only
legitimate powers. In that case, my original question recurs.

The Social Contract or Principles of Political Right.

Book 1 Chapter III. The Right of the Strongest

• Rousseau states that there is no “right of the strongest.”

• Strength itself only forces obedience through fear, but it cannot possibly “produce
morality.”
• If “the strongest [were] always right,” the concept of “rights” would be meaningless:
anyone who says it is right to “obey those in power” really means that people
should “yield to force,” but not that the powerful have some inherent moral right to
be obeyed.
• Rousseau concludes, “might does not make right,” and people should only obey
“legitimate powers.”
• Force is a physical power, and not a ground on which you can establish morality.
• For something to be called a “right,” it needs to be justifiable on moral grounds.
Physical force, by definition, is irrelevant to morality.
• Because morality is only created when people agree to follow a certain set of rules
or laws, it is impossible for mere force to create an ethical state of affairs, or a
legitimate form of political community.

SITUATIONAL EXAMPLES:

• A society is controlled by a small percentage of very wealthy people. The wealthy

people deny opportunities to those who are poor. The poor work for almost no
wages and struggle to achieve a basic human standard of living such as having
food and shelter. The poor are carefully controlled by the oppressors and
prevented from organizing or resisting the will of the wealthy.

• The powerful dictate justice; the strongest is always in the right.

Public authorities enforce rules which they violate themselves. Most of them are
not held accountable because of their power and influence, while ordinary people
are detained for the same violations of the rules that these officials themselves are
breaking. It’s easy for these people to demand disciple from ordinary people, but
they themselves cannot follow the rules. These officials appeal for a little
compassion but show no compassion to ordinary people, especially the poor.
Powerful people respond quickly to unfair treatment when they are the victims, but
they are less likely to notice injustice when they benefit or when others are
victimized.

We can kind of see the idea of “might makes right” in how humans respond to each
other, and quite literally, especially, with men.
• In some groups and some nations, people may find that the most powerful, those
who have the most cunning and can effectively steer the military, make the best
leaders.
• Some men quantify their self-worth in how physically strong they are or by who
wins the most fights.
Between the sexes, they believe that might makes right can take a dangerous course.
While there are traditional beliefs about work and homemaking, some men feel that it is
right to abuse women because men are generally stronger.

THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO OF KARL MARX AND FRIEDRICH ENGELS

The Communist Manifesto reflects an attempt to explain the goals of Communism,
as well as the theory underlying this movement. It argues that class struggles, or
the exploitation of one class by another, are the motivating force behind all
historical developments. Class relationships are defined by an era's means of
production. However, eventually these relationships cease to be compatible with
the developing forces of production. At this point, a revolution occurs and a new
class emerges as the ruling one. This process represents the "march of history" as
driven by larger economic forces.

BASIC ADVOCATIONS OF THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO

1. Abolish land and rent
2. Establish progressive income tax
3. Abolish inheritance
4. Confiscate property of emigrants and rebels
5. Centralize credit with national bank
6. Centralize the means of communication and transport
7. Extent factories and cultivate wastelands
8. Establish industrial armies
9. Distribution of the population more equitable over the country
10. Established free education & abolished children's factory labor

TEN (10) EXAMPLES APPLICATION OF THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO

1. No more private property; all property is now owned by the government to be
redistributed when necessary.
2. Tax the rich more than the poor so that the amount of money that everyone has
will eventually even out, as the tax money will be redistributed amongst the
population.
3. When a person dies, their possessions go to the government to be redistributed,
instead of being passed down to family members.
4. Our governments get to take the belongings (including land) of those who leave
the country and then proceed to redistribute them.
5. There is to be one bank controlled by the government, who is the singular
producer in the banking industry.
6. The government controls all forms of interaction conducted by citizens within
the country, as well as the means by which they travel from place to place. (For
example, only one mailing company, run by the government, and only one
railroad company, run by the government.)
7. Increase in government-run factories and ensuring of all land being used to its
potential. Basically, of the land is good, farm on it, and if the land is bad, build
factories on it.
8. Everyone must work. Creation of huge labor force for factories and farms.
9. Rearrange the people, factories, and farms so that there is an equal
concentration of them across the country.
10. Kids must attend school to be prepared for their futures. There is to be no more
child labor.

Man’s Natural and Inalienable Rights According to St. Thomas

Natural Rights are rights which some hold to be “inalienable” and belongs to all
humans, according to the natural law. If a right is inalienable, that means it cannot be
bestowed, granted, limited, bartered away, or sold away. Rights cannot be derogated
these include the right to life, the right to be prosecuted only according to the laws that
are in existence at the time of the offence, the right to be free from slavery, and the right
to be free from torture.
St. Thomas Aquinas, much like Aristotle, wrote that nature is organized for good
purposes. Unlike Aristotle, however, Aquinas went on to say that God created nature and
rules the world by "divine reason."
The Natural Law, according to St. Thomas, is "the light of reason is placed by
nature (and thus by God) in every man to guide him in his acts." Therefore, human beings,
alone among God’s creatures, use reason to lead their lives. The master principle of
natural law, wrote Aquinas, was that "good is to be done and pursued and evil avoided."
Aquinas stated that reason reveals particular natural laws that are good for humans such
as self-preservation, marriage and family, and the desire to know God. Reason, he taught,
also enables humans to understand things that are evil such as adultery, suicide, and
lying. If any moral theory is a theory of natural law, it is Aquinas’s.
• Two key features of the natural law according to St. Thomas
1. When we focus on God’s role as the giver of the natural law, the
natural law is just one aspect of divine providence; and so, the theory
of natural law is from that perspective just one part among others of
the theory of divine providence.

2. When we focus on the human’s role as recipient of the natural law, the
natural law constitutes the principles of practical rationality, those
principles by which human action is to be judged as reasonable or
unreasonable; and so, the theory of natural law is from that
perspective the preeminent part of the theory of practical rationality.

Man’s Natural Rights according to the Natural Law

1. Right to Life
❖ This means that nobody, including the Government, can try to end your life.
It also means the Government should take appropriate measures to
safeguard life by making laws to protect you and, in some circumstances, by
taking steps to protect you if your life is at risk.

2. Right to Private Property

❖ Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with
others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

3. Right to Marry
❖ Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or
religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to
equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

4. Right to Physical Freedom

❖ The ability to live without being put in a prison.
5. Right to Worship
❖ The right to worship or not as you choose. One can't penalize you because of
your religious beliefs.
6. Right to Work
❖ Guarantees that no person can be compelled, as a condition of
employment, to join or not to join, nor to pay dues to a labor union.

Examples
• One of the main issues in the Philippines during President Duterte’s term is the
Extra Judicial Killings (EJK) during his so-called “War on Drugs”. This issue is clearly
a violation of man’s right to life.

• In the Philippines there are people who are called informal settlers. These are
people who built their homes in a public or private property. There are moments in
which these informal settlers are driven away from their homes because the real
owners found a way to make use of the property. They are sometimes driven from
their home without prior relocation or at least cash assistance from the owners.
That is ethically incorrect according to the right to private property. Although the
original owners have rights to do whatever they want to their property, the
informal settlers also have equal rights to private property according to the natural
law.

• The Philippine law does not provide divorce inside the country. Although it is still
not legal here, divorce is a part of the right to marry because it gives equal rights to
both parties even though the marriage is terminated.

• During Marcos’ term there are a lot of cases of human rights violations. Many
people are imprisoned without prior investigation, they didn’t even have the right
to defend themselves. Some of them are tortured and even killed. This is clearly a
violation of the right to physical freedom and right to life.

• There are cultures in the Philippines which sometimes (although subtle) violate
some of the rights above. Some of this are parents sometimes wants their child to
do or to be what they want him/her to do or to be. This situation violates the child’s
right to physical freedom. Because of this many of the young Filipinos can’t do
what makes them happy which is ethically wrong according to the natural law.

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all
members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the
world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which
have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human
beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has
been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to
rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the
rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the
equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and
better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the
United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights
and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest
importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to
the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration
constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these
rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure
their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of
Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

ARTICLE 1: WE ARE ALL BORN FREE AND EQUAL

➢ state of being equal in status, rights, or opportunities.
EXAMPLE: The Social Amelioration Program of the government given by every family in
the Philippines whether rich or poor whose affected by the Pandemic.
ARTICLE 2: DON’T DISCRIMINATE
➢ Means that do not treat a person or particular group of people differently,
especially in a worse way from the way in which you treat other people, because of
their skin color, sex, sexuality, etc.
EXAMPLE: A requirement that all employees be over six feet tall may be indirect
discrimination. Women and some disabled people will be disadvantaged and to be
justified this would need to be a strict requirement for the job.
ARTICLE 3: THE RIGHT TO LIFE
➢ No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.
EXAMPLE: Your daughter's detained in a hospital under mental health legislation. She
suffers from severe depression and has attempted suicide in the past. She's at high risk of
attempting suicide again and has tried to escape several times. You're worried the
hospital staff are not doing enough to protect her. In a situation like this, the hospital may
have a positive obligation to protect your daughter's life under this article . If they fail to
take steps to protect her and this results in her death, it may be a breach of her right to
life.
ARTICLE 4: NO SLAVERY
➢ Nobody has any right to make us slave
EXAMPLE: A 15 year old girl work for a couple in exchange for her tuition. It was agreed
that the girl would work for the couple until she had paid back her education, but after a
month she was forced to another couple. The couple forced her to work 15 hours a day
with no pay and no holidays. In the scenario, the couple had breached the positive
obligations under the prohibition of slavery.
ARTICLE 5: NO TORTURE
➢ Nobody has any right to hurt us or to torture us.
EXAMPLE: A public authority can never use lack of resources as a defense against an
accusation that it has treated someone in an inhuman or degrading way.
ARTICLE 6: YOU HAVE RIGHTS NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO
➢ Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
EXAMPLE: A Filipino citizen is experiencing a domestic violence from her boss, this citizen
can still complain for the violated rights in that specific country where she was.
ARTICLE 7: WE’RE ALL EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW
➢ All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal
protection of the law.
EXAMPLE: The equal right to enter into contracts or access government services.
ARTICLE 8: YOUR HUMAN RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED BY LAW
➢ We can all ask for the law to help us when we are not treated fairly.
EXAMPLE: Republic Act No.10368: “Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act
of 2013.”
ARTICLE 9: NO UNFAIR DETAINMENT
➢ Nobody has the right to put us in prison without good reason and keep us there, or
to send us away from our country.
EXAMPLE: Arresting, detaining, and prosecuting activists in the Philippines for exercising
their democratic rights to engage in dissent and advocacy.
ARTICLE 10: THE RIGHT TO TRIAL
➢ If we are put on trial this should be in public. The people who try us should not let
anyone tell them what to do.
EXAMPLE: When a person is in charged with a crime or involved in some other legal
dispute, that person has the right to have the assistance of counsel and should held in
court trial.
ARTICLE 11: WE’RE ALWAYS INNOCENT TILL PROVEN GUILTY
➢ Nobody should be blamed for doing something until it is proven. When people say
we did a bad thing we have the right to show it is not true.
EXAMPLE: In a criminal case, the prosecution has to prove that the defendant is
completely guilty through arguments and with support of evidence.
ARTICLE 12: . THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY
➢ Nobody should try to harm our good name. Nobody has the right to come into our
home, open our letters, or bother us or our family without a good reason.
EXAMPLE: A medical doctor in a private hospital in Manila recorded a conversation with
his lady patient without the patient's knowledge and prior consent.
ARTICLE 13: FREEDOM TO MOVE.
➢ We all have the right to go where we want in our own country and to travel as we
wish.
EXAMPLE: Domestic Travel
ARTICLE 14: THE RIGHT TO SEEK A SAFE PLACE TO LIVE
➢ If we are frightened of being badly treated in our own country, we all have the right
to run away to another country to be safe.
EXAMPLE: A 10 years old girl who live in her single mother because her parents are
divorced is experiencing physical abuse from her mother. The girl decided to leave her
mother and choose to live with her father where she knows a safe place to go.
ARTICLE 15: RIGHT TO A NATIONALITY
➢ We all have the right to belong to a country.
EXAMPLE: A filipino child born in America.
ARTICLE 16: MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
➢ Every grown-up has the right to marry and have a family if they want to. Men and
women have the same rights when they are married, and when they are
separated.
EXAMPLE: Same-sex marriage is now legal in the UK under the Marriage (Same Sex
Couples) Act 2013. The Courts have also held that Article 16 includes a right for
transgender people to marry. However to get married in the gender they identify with,
trans people need to have a Gender Recognition Certificate, which can be hard for some
people to obtain.
ARTICLE 17: THE RIGHT TO OWN PROPERTY
➢ Everyone has the right to own things or share them. Nobody should take our things
from us without a good reason.
EXAMPLE: Demolishing your own house with a land title without a permit.
ARTICLE 18: FREEDOM OF THOUGHT
➢ We all have the right to believe in what we want to believe, to have a religion, or to
change it if we want.
EXAMPLE: Public authorities should take care when using procedures that involve the
swearing of oaths. A requirement to swear on a religious text, such as the Bible, would
breach human rights law.

ARTICLE 19: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

➢ We all have the right to make up our own minds, to think what we like, to say what
we think, and to share our ideas with other people.
EXAMPLE: Journalists and other people working in the media.
ARTICLE 20: . THE RIGHT TO PUBLIC ASSEMBLY
➢ We all have the right to meet our friends and to work together in peace to defend
our rights. Nobody can make us join a group if we don’t want to.
EXAMPLE: Hosting a party, having a board game night with the neighbors, or even going
to church.
ARTICLE 25: FOOD AND SHELTER FOR ALL
➢ We all have the right to a good life. Mothers and children, people who are old,
unemployed or disabled, and all people have the right to be cared for.
EXAMPLE: Bantay bata 163, Home for the Agent, Abot-Kaya Pabahay Fund
ARTICLE 26: THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION
➢ Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.
Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education
shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible
to all on the basis of merit.
EXAMPLE: ESTABLISHING PUBLIC SCHOOLS, SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS

ARTICLE 27: COPYRIGHT

➢ Copyright is a special law that protects one’s own artistic creations and writings;
others cannot make copies without permission. We all have the right to our own
way of life and to enjoy the good things that art, science and learning bring.
EXAMPLE: Copying any literary or artistic work without a license or written agreement
and Recording a film in a movie theater
ARTICLE 28: . A FAIR AND FREE WORLD
There must be proper order so we can all enjoy rights and freedoms in our own country
and all over the world.
EXAMPLE: Establishing a law for all the people
ARTICLE 29: RESPONSIBILITY
➢ We have a duty to other people, and we should protect their rights and freedoms.
EXAMPLE: Responsibilities that are agree to by parties to a legal contract.
ARTICLE 30: NO ONE CAN TAKE AWAY YOUR HUMAN RIGHTS
➢ Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or
person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the
destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
Example: The Government as powerful as it is does not have the right to take away
human right #30 from any individual.

The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha: The duties of the Layman

What is layman?

✣ Lay People. Common forms of Buddhist practice for lay persons include visiting
temples to pray, burn incense, place offerings of fruit or flowers at altars, and
observe rituals performed by monks, such as the consecration of new images or
the celebration of a Buddhist festival.

The duties of the Layman

1.) It has already been explained that to become a disciple of Buddha one must believe in
the Three Treasures: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
To become a lay follower one must have an unshakable faith in Buddha, must believe in
His teachings, Dharma, study and put precepts into practice, and must cherish the
Brotherhood, Sangha.
Lay followers should follow the Five Precepts: not to kill, not to steal, not to commit
adultery, not to lie or deceive, and not to use intoxicants.
E.G
• The Terrorists and Government should have a peace agreement to avoid killings.
• A beggar didn’t steal even though that he is so hungry
2.) If lay followers want to awaken an earnest and undisturbed faith in the Buddha’s
teachings, they should realize within their minds a quiet and undisturbed happiness, that
will shine out on all their surroundings and will be reflected back to them.
E.G.
▪ A boy patiently waiting for his turn on the cashier.
▪ Teresa gave food to a beggar.
3.) Therefore, one should first have the wish of hearing the Buddha’s teachings.
There is satisfaction in hearing the Buddha’s name, that is worth passing through a world
filled with fires.
E.G.
▪ A boy always follows his parents.
▪ Thai people always follow their beliefs.

4.) Those who hear and receive the Buddha’s teaching know that their lives are transient
and that their bodies are merely the aggregation of sufferings and the source of all evils,
and so they do not become attached to them.
E.G
▪ An old woman always get her check up every month.
▪ Romeo buy some vitamins for his immune system.
5.) Lay members of the Buddha’s Sangha should study the following lessons every day:
How to serve their parents, how to live with their wives and children, how to control
themselves, and how to serve Buddha.
E.G
▪ One partner always think to avoid pre-marital sex.
▪ Jake was given a chance to get all he wants in a department store but he just gets
what he need.
6.) Those who follow the teaching of Buddha, because they understand that everything is
characterized by “non-substantiality,” do not treat lightly the things that enter into a
man’s life, but they receive them for what they are and then try to make them fit tools for
Enlightenment.
E.G
▪ A boy always think positive even though that he is always faced challenges in life.
▪ Even though that Carla always scold by her boss he just thinks that it is a lesson for
her.
7.) Those who believe in Buddha taste this universal purity of oneness in everything, and
in that mind they feel compassion for all and have a humble attitude to serve everyone.
E.G
▪ People around the world send donation for the affected of the typhoon in our
country.
▪ Mark made a program for on a home for the aged.
8.) A lay follower will enjoy his happiness by habits of recollection, reflection and
thanksgiving. He will come to realize that his faith is Buddha’s compassion itself and that
it has been bestowed upon him by Buddha.
E.G
▪ Students always give respect to the higher authorities of the school.
▪ An old woman reflecting herself about what she encountered in life.