CLE 1ST GRADING REVIEWER Mt 18:20 - Where two or three are gathered

together in my name - That is, to worship

LESSON 1: OUR HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH
me. meaning: The salvation of Christ is not just
• Catholic comes from the greek word for one person but for everybody
katholikos (καθόλου) meaning universal
NAMES ATTRIBUTED TO THE CHURCH
• First time mentioned as Catholics back in
Household of God - But if I should be
Antioch by the people they met (a.k.a
delayed, you should know how to behave in
Disciples)
the household of God, which is the church of
• Greek in the times of Jesus was the the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth
universal language before English in our (1 Tim 3:15)
modern day
• Pillar and the foundation of the truth
• The Church was instituted by Christ Himself
• The Church is like a family it may have
• The popes are descendant of Saint Peter conflicts, misunderstandings, and many
more
• The word church comes from the Latin
word ecclesia, a translation of the Greek • We are one family in the church
word ekklesia, which means assembly or
• A church is also considered a Sacrament
gathering of people.
• Sacrament - it is the visible image of the
• To explain what the Church is, concepts
invisible God - Saint Augustine
like people of God, body of Christ, temple of
the Holy Spirit, communion, sacrament of • Primordial sacrament - Jesus - he is
salvation, among others, are used instituted the first church - also a sacrament
• Transubstantiation – the idea that during • we have to be the visible image of the
Mass, the bread and wine used for invisible God
Communion become the body and blood of
Sheepfold - Jesus is the shepherd and we are
Jesus Christ
the sheep
Church vs church?
• The flock of the sheep of Christ on which is
• Capital C - the people or those who believe He is the door and shepherd
in God (much important)
Cultivated field - that land like a choice
• small c - A building or the building itself vineyard, has been planted by the heavenly
cultivator.
• The fish symbol symbolizes Jesus
Building of God -The Lord compared Himself
• due to the story of the two fish and five
to the stone which the builders rejected, but
loaves
which was made into the cornerstone
• This symbol was used in early Christianity (Capstone).
to know whether a person was Christian or
• the corner stone - Jesus/ God
not they first draw the upper half of the
symbol and later on another person finishes Spouse of Christ - The Apostle Paul says to
the latter half. the Corinthians: "I betrothed you to one
husband to present you as a chaste virgin to
• Peter and Andrew - first fishermen disciple
Christ (2 Cor 11:2)
• James and John - second to them
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• The Church is like the wife of Christ Moral Decision
• The church is feminine (example: The When one is placed in a situation and
mother church) confronted by the choice of what act to
perform.
• Alter Christus - meaning the other Christ
for priests. Example: I choose not to take something I did
not pay for.
LESSON 2: ETHICS
Moral Judgment
Ethics, generally speaking, is about matters
such as good thing that we should pursue and When a person is an observer who makes an
the bad thing that we should avoid; the right assessment on the actions or behavior of
ways in which we could or should act and the someone.
wrong ways of acting. It is what is acceptable
Assessing the action not the person,
and unacceptable in human behavior.
Example: A friend of mine chooses to steal
Ethics as a subject for us to study is about
from a store, and I make an assessment that is
determining the grounds for the values with
wrong.
particular and special significance to human
life. Moral Dilemma
But before we proceed… we have to make When a person compelled to choose over a
some clarifications about: complicated situation wherein one is torn
between choosing one of two goods or
“Moral” and “Ethical”
choosing between the lesser of two evils.
Morals - The term “morals” may refer to specific
Example: A mother may be conflicted between
beliefs of attitudes that people have or describe
acts that people perform. Thus, it is sometimes wanting to feed her hungry child, but then
said that an individual’s personal conduct is recognizing that it would be wrong for her to
referred to as his morals, and if he falls short of steal.
behaving properly, this can be described as
GROUND PROBLEM
immoral.
The grounding problem of ethics is the search
Ethics - The term “ethics” can be spoken of as
for a foundation for our moral beliefs,
the discipline of studying and
something solid that would make them true in a
understanding ideal human behavior and
way that is clear, objective, and unmoving.
ideal ways of thinking. Thus, ethics is
acknowledged as an intellectual discipline LESSON 3: ARISTOTLE VIRTUE ETHICS
belonging to philosophy.
Aristotle
Ethics therefore is the disciplined study of
morality. is considered to be the most important virtue
ethicist.
Moral Issue
A student of Plato
A distinguished situation that calls for moral
valuation. “Often Debatable” The parts of the soul of the virtuous (arete)
person are in harmony and in right order Such
• “Euthanasia” person can live a good life (eudaimonia)
• “Capital Punishment”

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For Aristotle, everything that we do is pointed LESSON 4: CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
to our very “Telos”
Telos – “End” “Purpose” “Goal”
Aristotle attempts to identify what are the
characteristics of human being that
differentiate it from other species. To be Human is to use our reason. And in
using our reason, we can produce the
Every species has its own role in the
“Categorical Imperative” and be Moral.
universe. It is the fulfilling its role well that
defines what is the ultimate good of that Immanuel Kant
thing or animal.
• Immanuel Kant was born on April 22, 1724,
Humans only have one main Goal. And that is in Kaliningrad, Russia.
to be HAPPY. • In 1740 Kant entered the University of
Telos of man – “Eudaimonia” Königsberg.
Eudaimonia - “Happiness” “fulfilled life” • He published science papers, including
"General Natural History and Theory of the
But happiness for Aristotle is not the usual Heavens" in 1755
happiness that we usually consider. Happiness • He spent 15 years as a metaphysics
for Aristotle is becoming who you are lecturer. In 1781, he published the first part
supposed to be to function as you are of Critique of Pure Reason. ò
supposed to function. It is more on doing • He died on February 12, 1804, in
than having. Konigsberg, Russia.
And we can only achieve that by becoming “Two things fill the mind with ever new and
virtuous. increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and
Arete (Virtue) the more steadily we reflect on them: the starry
heavens above and the moral law within.”
Virtue is a “golden mean” between the
extremes of excess and deficiency - Immanuel Kant

Virtue is doing things in RIGHT WAY, in the Kant’s Theory represent deontological ethics
RIGHT TIME, in the RIGHT PLACE, in the For him, a right action consists solely in an
RIGHT AMOUNT, towards the RIGHT action that is ruled and justified by a rule or
PERSON. principle.
But how do we become virtuous? Notion of Duty:
• Moral Exemplars Distinction between “I want” and “I ought”.
• Experience
• Choosing to be better everyday Moral actions are not spontaneous, if I see
someone in need of help, I may be inclined to
If you want to be happy, you must be virtuous look the other way, but I will recognize that my
duty is to help. Considering only those actions
that are seemingly good according to Kant are
actions that seem good by duty, that are good
to my common sense of duty and for that they
are right.

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Kant’s Duty ethics suggests that right actions Second Formulation: “Act so as to will the
should only be based of REASON and not maxim of your action as a universal law in the
desires or emotions. kingdom of the Ends.”
Nature of Imperatives But first, the “Kingdom of Ends” must be
discussed. Kant explains that the
• Hypothetical Imperatives
• Categorical Imperatives “Kingdom” is the well-organized union of
accepted moral laws which binds every
Hypothetical Imperatives rational beings. (Formula of Humanity)
If you want you ought. The ought or the duty is In other words, they are the collection of laws
conditioned by your desires, wants and goals. and maxims which are universally valid and
Our goals are grounded in SELF-INTEREST ends in themselves. They are the ideal
“If you will treat me well, then, I will tell you the maxims which can make society an ideal
truth” society. These laws, being the ideal laws which
are universally valid must always be an end
Categorical Imperatives in themselves because they are already “good
The general from of DO. (Unconditioned) in themselves”.

For Kant there is only one imperative Third Formulation: “Act in such a way that
command and it is the Moral Law. you always treat humanity, whether in your
own person or in the person of any other,
“Tell the truth” never simply as a means but always at the
Categorical – It applies to all situation same time as an end.” (Do not treat people
as objects)
Imperative - it is commanding, an ought to do
In this formulation, respect for other people is
Reason over Sentiments! put into emphasis. It states that one must not
by any means use and treat other people for
Formulation of the Categorical
his own advantage. This means that a person
First Formulation: “Act only on that maxim must not in any way regard people only as a
through First which you can at the same time means but always an end.
will that it that it should become a universal
What is wrong will always be wrong, even
law.” (Universalizability principle)
though everybody is doing it; and what is
In this formulation, Kant emphasizes that a right will always be right even though
person’s action in order for it to be morally nobody is doing it.
acceptable must be universal. In other words,
LESSON 5: NATURAL LAW THEORY
it must always apply to every situation. For
example, “You shall not kill”. It is a universal Thomas Aquinas
maxim because it can apply to every situation.
That is why it is categorical. That a person • Italian Philosopher and Theologian Saint
ought not to kill. Thomas Aquinas, also known as Thomas
of Aquino, was born on 1225 in
An action can only be moral, if it can be Roccasecca, Italy. He was the son of
universalizable. Landulph, count of Aquino, and
Theodora, countess of Teano.
• Right is right and wrong is wrong.
• Before being born, a holy hermit prophesied
• No gray areas in morality.
to his mother : “He will enter the Order of
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Friars Preachers, and so great will be his • Always will exist
learning and sanctity that in his day no one • Can’t not exist
will be found to equal him.” Contingent Being
• St. Thomas Aquinas later became one of - Any being that could have not existed
the most influential medieval thinkers of Argument from Degrees
Scholasticism and the father of
Thomistic School of Theology. Properties come in degrees. In order for
• Greatly influenced by ARISTOTLE there to be degrees of perfection, there must
be something perfect against which everything
Let us first lay some foundations of these else is measured.
Theory: And it can be seen in Aquinas’ 5 proof of
God’s existence: God is the pinnacle of perfection.

• Argument of Motion Teleological Argument

• Argument of Causation
All things have an order or arrangement that
• Argument of Contingency
leads them to a particular goal. Because the
• Argument from Degrees
order of the universe cannot be the result of
• Teleological Argument
chance, design and purpose must be at work.
Argument of Motion This implies divine intelligence on the part
Our senses prove that some things are in motion. of the designer. This is God.
Things move when potential motion becomes Thomas Aquinas
actual motion. Only an actual motion can convert
a potential motion into an actual motion. Nothing • A Roman Catholic who argued that God
can be at once in both actuality and potentiality in created everything with a purpose.
the same respect (i.e., if both actual and potential, it • A rational basis for Morality
is actual in one respect and potential in another).
Therefore nothing can move itself. NATURAL LAW
Therefore each thing in motion is moved by The moral philosophy of St. Thomas
something else. The sequence of motion cannot Aquinas (1225-1274) involves a merger of at
extend ad infinitum. Therefore it is necessary to least two apparently disparate
arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no traditions: Aristotelian eudaimonism and
other; and this everyone understands to be God
Christian theology.
Argument of Causation
• Natural Law is the rational understanding
Everything must have a cause or something that and following of God’s final purpose.
creates an effect on another thing. Without the first • God Created everything on purpose.
cause, there would be no others. Therefore, the • Humans were created with the ability to
first cause is God.
reason and can therefore choose to follow
Argument of Contingency an intended purpose.
• A good action in one which was achieved
Because objects in the world come into existence
and pass out of it, it is possible for those to exist by fulfilling the purpose for which it was
or not exist at any particular time. However, nothing designed.
can come from nothing. This means something Basic Goods
must exist at all times. This is God.
• Life
Necessary Being
• Ability to reproduce
• Always existed • Education
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• Longing for God
• Living in a society
• Avoiding offense
• Shunning Ignorance
How does the natural law work?

Through the use of reason, we can extract

morality from the basic goods
But if it is natural for us to be good? Why is
there a lot of evil in the world?
Emotion & Ignorance
• Reason should be the guide
• Through the use of reason we can come up
with the four cardinal virtues
• Prudence
• Justice
• Fortitude
• Temperance
It is a participation in the Eternal Law
Not made by humans
Same for all human beings at all times
An unchanging rule or pattern which is there
for human beings to discover
Naturally knowable moral law.

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