Norms of Human Actions: Objective vs Subjective

Norms of Human Actions

• Guides or norms direct human actions to conform with moral standards
• Objective norm refers to the Law
• Subjective norm refers to Conscience

Law as Objective Norm/Guide of Human Acts

• A law is a design or plan governing the movements/operations of persons or things
• All operations of creatures are governed by laws
• Physical laws govern the movement of bodies
• Biological laws apply to living organisms
• Psychological laws affect emotions and instincts of animals

Classification of Law

• Laws are distinguished by their immediate author in the following ways:
  • Divine laws come directly from God
  • Human laws are the enactments of the Church and are called ecclesiastical laws
  • Laws enacted by the State are called civil laws
• Laws can be distinguished by their duration:
  • Temporal laws
  • Eternal laws, which represent God's plan for the universe
  • Human laws are temporal but express requirements of Eternal Law
• Laws can be distinguished by the manner of promulgation:
  • Natural law, which coincides with Eternal Law
  • Laws governing irrational creatures are called physical laws
  • Moral law is apprehended by human reason and also called natural law
  • Positive laws are legislated and can be divine, like the Ten Commandments, or human, like laws of Church and State
• Laws are either affirmative or negative depending on whether they prescribe or forbid an act
  • Negative laws are also called prohibitory laws
  • Affirmative laws bind always, but not at every moment
  • Negative laws of natural order bind always and at every moment
• Laws can be distinguished based on the effect of their violation:
  • Moral violation is a fault or sin
  • Penal violation renders the violator liable to a penalty but the violation does not infect him with sin
  • Mixed violation involves both fault and penalty

The Eternal Law

• Moral law requires understanding the eternal law
• God created the universe to reflect divine perfections and manifest His glory
• God's glory is seen when His wisdom, beauty, goodness, and power are reflected in His creatures
• The universe has order and design
• Laws govern the operations of creatures
• Eternal Law is the overall design/plan of the universe and is composed of different laws

The Moral Law

• Moral law is part of the Eternal Law
• Moral laws are part of God's design that directs creatures
• Moral law governs operations performed freely
• The moral law governs the free actions of people
• It helps people unite with God in heaven
• Moral law makes a person good as a person

The Purpose of the Moral Law

• The purpose of moral law is to glorify God through people's sanctification and to bring happiness
• Irrational creatures give glory to God necessarily, following the laws of their nature
• Men and angels give glory to God freely by obeying moral laws/commandments
• Observing God's commandments makes a person holy
• Happiness results from following moral law, by uniting ourselves to God
• Christ promised happiness to those who keep God's word

The Natural Law

• Natural law expresses human nature demands as disclosed by reason
• Natural law precepts are embedded in human nature, unlike physical laws
• Natural law is present in our nature, allowing us to know moral truth
• With the inclination of our will towards good, we follow the moral order

Human Positive Law

• Human Positive Law is an ordinance of reason, promulgated for the common good by the one who has charge of society
• A law is an ordinance that directs human acts to an end
• A law is an ordinance of reason, not a decree of the legislator's will and serves as a proper direction, necessary or useful to be attained
• Law must be reasonable
• Law must be just, honest, possible to fulfill, useful, relatively permanent, and promulgated to be true
• A law is promulgated and made known to the subjects
• Promulgating the law puts it into application as an authorized ordinance

Human Law Continued

• A law is promulgated for the common good and is distinct from a precept
• A precept is issued by authority for a particular good
• A law applies to subjects in a certain place, whereas a precept is personal and binds its subjects wherever they are
• Laws are always enacted by public authority, while precepts issue from public or private authority
• Laws endure until repealed, whereas precepts cease to bind with the preceptor's removal
• A law is for the common/public good and promotes true liberty and the unhampered exercise of free acts
• A law is promulgated in a society and exists in a politically united State
• A law is promulgated by one who has charge of society or a body united forming governmental power
• Author of the law must have concern for observance
• The author establishes sanctions for those who violate it

Conscience as Subjective Guide of Human Acts

• A human is good if conformed with divine law, otherwise morally bad
• Divine law enunciates general moral principles known through faith and reason that must be applied to concrete acts
• Conscience applies the general moral principle to the particular action
• Comes from the Latin "cum+scientia" meaning "with knowledge"
• Acting "in conscience" means acting in accordance with knowing laws
• Conscience is a practical judgment of reason on an individual act as good to be performed, or as evil to be avoided

Qualities of Conscience

• Focuses on individual acts, not general moral judgment.
• Conscience judges before and after an act.
• Judges act as good/evil before the act
• Judges approval/disapproval after an act
• Leads to peace if good, remorse if bad.

States of Conscience

• A true conscience judges good as good and evil as evil
• Erroneous conscience is that which is not true
• Invincibly erroneous, without knowledge
• Culpably erroneous, through the agent's fault
• Certain conscience is an assured judgment that must be obeyed, whether correct or invincibly erroneous
• Doubtful Conscience is a hesitant judgment, aware of the possibility of error
• Acting with a practical doubt is never permissible and must be resolved with certainty

Morality

• Comes from Latin "moris" (behavior)
• Morality is a standard of good/bad human behavior/attitudes
• Principles are complicated to those who have lost them
• Principles are universal laws true at all times
• All matter obeys the laws of physics and all men ought to obey the laws of morality
• Principles are objective
• Moral principles based on objective facts (ex: golden rule)
• Moral principles are realistic and objective

The Sources of Morality

• Factors a conscience considers to conform actions to moral law
• Three factors:
  • Object of the act
  • Intention of the agent
  • Circumstances of an act
• If an act is good, all 3 factors must be good (cf. CCC, no. 1750)

The Object of One’s Choice

• The object refers to the Act itself and is the matter of human act related to morality
• Three possibilities:
• Conformity to moral law (ex: giving food) making the act objectively good
• Contrary to moral law (ex: stealing/lying) making the act objectively evil/bad
• Neither conformity or contrary (ex: a stroll) making the act morally indifferent
• The object is the primary determinant of morality
• If the object is evil, the action is evil and forbidden

The Intention of the Agent

• The end goals of the agent
• Agents performing an act can increase or decrease morality depending on the aim
• Good acts in themeselves can be evil by intention for which it is performed, but evil acts cannot be made good
• The intention of an agent can bring a bad act into the line of reason
• Good act for good purpose takes on new goodness
• Evil act for evil purpose takes on new malice
• Objectively good act for an evil end is entirely evil; or partially evil if end is not gravely evil
• An objectively evil act cannot become good due to your good intention
• "The end does not justify the means."

The Circumstances of the Act

• Conditions affect morality, but not the acts theme selves
• Seven circumstances: quis, quid, ubi, quibus auxiliis, cur, quomodo, quando? (Who, what, where, with what ally, in what condition, when and why?)
• Circumstance of person (who): Action is influenced by the person involved
• Circumstance of quantity/quality (what): Gravity of theft varies on quantity stolen
• Circumstance of place (where): Scandal given, sinful act in public is worse
• Means/instrument (by what means): Example, drunkenness using stolen money
• Circumstance of manner (how): Reflect agent's good or bad faith
• Circumstance of time (when): Quantity and quality of time involved
• Circumstance of motive (why): End of motive
• Circumstances increase/decrease good or evil, add a new element, or alter the existing one

How Circumstances Affect Morality

• Circumstances may make an objectively good act good, less good, or even bad
• Circumstances may make an objectively evil act more or less evil, but it can never turn it into a good act
• An action must be good in all elements (end of the act, end of the agent, and the circumstances) to be morally correct
• A defect in these elements would make the act morally wrong either totally/partially

Situation Ethics and Pragmatism

• Three elements of morality are not recognized
• Thinking that the end justifies means
• Morality of an act depends solely on intention
  • Situation Ethics bases the moral value of an act soley on the intention of the agent
  • Pragmatism bases the moral value of an act soley on the circumstance
• The end and circumstances determine morality but do not justify evil

Actions With Double Effects

• The morality of actions having indirectly voluntary bad effects is important
• Good effects justify action even if bad effects occur
• Not permissible to abort baby to save the mother's life
• An action with double effect should be morally good/indifferent so long as certain conditions are met
• Principle: In order to licitly perform an action w/ good & bad effect, action must be morally good in itself/at least morally indifferent
• It's never licit to perform actions that are intrinsically evil even though good is obtained
• The intention of the agent must be good and must only do the good
• The good should be proportionate to the existing evil