PHL112 Notes PDF

fPHL112 - Doc Pia K. Garcia Special Notes: Aug 8, 2023 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- Rewritten Understood Class Participation/Consulta...

fPHL112 - Doc Pia K. Garcia Special Notes: Aug 8, 2023 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- Rewritten Understood Class Participation/Consultations 10% Long Tests (2) 60% Research Paper 20% Research Paper Presentation 10% TOTAL 100% Important Reminders: Class starts at 1:30pm Only an allowable of 1 lates or abscences per week. A maximum of 7 lates or absences are allowed throughout the course. Lesson 1: Living my best life? Introducing Ethics Lessons from the Activity. - We are future oriented - We should view it as something that keeps us going and not something we should be anxious about. - We are all searching for something Aristotle Wrote the Nicomachean Ethics and Politics He is the first person to write a major text on Ethics. Born in 384 BC, was an immigrant from Macedonia, and he was the tutor of the king, Alexander the Great. The things we consider good, are they just things we consider as good or are they good by nature. ○ There are much variety of good. ○ Ethics is a Practical Science: It can be studied and it should be applied. - The end aimed at is not knowledge but action. - “We are inquiring not in order to know what excellence is, but in order to become good, since otherwise our inquiry would have been of no use.” - Don’t expect mathematical precision from ethics. - But there is some -even a lot- of truth in ethics - Take a look at the one who acts - the human person - We must study human virtues, human good, and human happiness. Jan 22, 2024 —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Raw Information There is a difference between theology and philosophy. Furthermore, its reasoning is totally different. For example, knowledge stems from believing in the bible and its teachings. Who am I? - How can we say we have a - What observable qualities of ours show us the immateriality of the soul and our immortality 1. The Phenomena of Change and of life (and death) a. Based on Aristotle’s physics and metaphysics b. We can go with what we can observe  c. Things can change in two ways i. Man can come from a boy (Individual retain its identity) ii. Water can come from air (Substance change: it changes entirely) d. Act and Potency i. Act - is actuality - What has actually happened. ii. Potency - Air has the potency to change into water but it does not have a potency to be a flower. 1. Every being is made out of matter and form. Matter is material and form is immaterial. Matter stays the same even after death. 2. Principle of existence must be immaterial because what material can and is often corrupted 3. Immaterial doesn’t have extension. There is nothing to sense 2. The operation of knowing or thinking - Aquinas (Has Christian Influence) a. The capacity of knowing and thinking is immaterial b. The way we know/the operation of knowledge is immaterial i. The way we’re learning ii. When we know, we still hold on our own. We don’t change when learning. When we learn about an apple, we don’t become an apple. c. There must be something immaterial in us d. It has a high degree of perfection e. Because what we have in us is immaterial, it’s incorruptible and so immortal. 3. Check ppt 4. Check ppt s Jan 25, 2024 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —---------------------------------------------------------- Text on using humans as a means to an end - You should not because of who the person is. They are a subject that is thinking and capable of self-determination. Deliverables: - Read the new reading: Jan 29, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —------------------------------------------------------------------- The Readings - First Reading: Analysis of “to use”. Should we use others as a means to an end? No - You should never treat another person as a means to an end because persons are ends in themselves. - We only have a negative way of behaving: The first reading basically just shows what we should NOT be doing. - Second Reading: Love - Needs a common goal/common good -> Establishes equality between the people in the relationship. - Fairness/Justice - Giving the other person their due. It’s all about giving them what they deserve and what they deserve is love. Love - Love is wanting the other to reach their end. For the other person to will the same good which is the common good. - It is possible in work. Everyone in the corporation just has to be striving towards that goal. In that sense, they’re all equal instead of some workers feeling used for their utility. - Love is the only way to preserve relations. Is it okay to use others for mutual benefit? - No. It must be out of love but the prerequisite for love is a common goal. You can have a personal goal but it becomes secondary to the common good that the organization strives for. Human Dignity - It is a notion of human dignity // the dignity of a person as a human being - Can be found in the first text - Persons have the capacity of self-determination - A person is a subject with thinking - The basis of our dignity is because we have the capacity to think and self-determination - You have these because you are a person. - Self-determination means the ability to reach our own ends. Who am I - A UNITY of body and soul - With an immaterial soul, which (probably) makes me immortal - With inviolable dignity Feb 1, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —----------------------------------------------------------------------- Raw Information: Very often, the effect of something is less than the cause. Or atleast, it can only have what the cause has ○ The cause is the soul and the result of it is our ability to learn and think. If you have the capacity, ○ If leading an impact is forever, then the desire must equal what’s being desired. ○ Desire is the cause, the object of desire is the effect. Feb 5, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —---------------------------------------------------- Freedom Jamboard Freedom From We need adequate conditions for it to be exercised. It does entail that to some sense, freedom means being free from a constraint. Freedom For Freedom needs some sort of perfection & fulfilment There’s something you want to achieve. Freedom: You’re the master of your own actions Humans have the ability to shape themselves. Freedom is part of your being We have freedom because we have intellect will. There’s a part of you that no one can reach. There is a lot you cam do with your intellect ad will Freedom has to do w/ the deepest part of you. It shows who you are. “With freedom, comes responsibility” - We are responsible for the accounts we do freely - Really, we cause our own actions. Our freedom is conditional - It’s affected by history and our past experiences. Feb 8, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —------------------------------------------------- Nicomachean Ethics 1. Activities aim for an end 2. Ends/goals can be arranged in a hierarchy/chain 3. There must be an ultimate good 4. Most people say this is happiness but 5. Not everyone agrees on what happiness is 6. 3 Types of Life: Pleasure, Honor, Contemplation/Virtue ○ Pleasure is like preferring a life suitable to beasts. A life of just pleasure is not different from the life of an animal. ○ Honor is given to you & also can be taken away. It’s not dependent on you. ○ Virtus is compatible with being asleep. Politics is theoretically the good life for the group/community Eudaimonia Flourishing A type of activity Other Information Finding the ultimate goal will influence how we live Telos: Feb 15, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ —----------------------------------------------------------- Freedom Freedom comes with your personhood. It has something to do with your intellect and will Freedom means you have an innermost core where you are master of your own actions In a very real sense, you have the power to cause. In a dynamic and existential (but not ontological) sense, you are even the cause of yourself ○ With your freedom, you choose and you act. Freedom From ○ You choose or act for something. Your freedom is a - Freedom for What is going to fulfill this freedom? ○ An ultimate end (telos) ○ Happiness (eudaimonia) How will we find that ○ Look at the activities the human person is capable of ○ Figure out which is proper to the person - his function (ergon) ○ This is the person’s GOOD. Expression of your truest-self: Freedom has to do with the deepest part of you. On this journey, you reveal who you are and you make who you are. Our being, our history, and our experiences shape what we want, what we seek, and how we act. Our freedom is conditioned, or situation and that’s not such a bad thing. Feb 22, 2024 —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —-------------------------------------------------------- Raw Information Choice is different from Voluntary Acts Choice mostly related to the means Choice from Aquinas ○ In Choice, the will “becomes fully proportionate by willing the means fully.” ○ Choice is an act by which the agent becomes ordered towards a particular action ○ “I decided on this action interiorally, whether or not the act is carried out doesn’t matter”. ○ The will forms itself in choice Intentions: You need to have strong intentions to reach the end. Flow of Choice 1. Choice a. Role of knowledge: Intellect b. Role of freedom : Will 2. Reflexive Deliberation a. Gets repeated consistently 3. Your choice reveal who you are and make you who you are Feb 26, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ —--------------------------------------------------------- How to Write Better A. Syllogisms: Arguing Better a. Concrete form of reasoning b. Building block of logical reasoning What is a syllogism ○ An order of argumentation in which propositions are united to infer a conclusion Propositions: The fundamental premises that build up an argument. A statement about something (fact, object, reality) When we have multiple propositions and we link them together, we come up with a conclusion ○ We often think in terms of conclusions Ex. The virtuous life leads to happiness. One should join orgs in college. These are all conclusions Why do we come to these conclusions? ○ The mind is organized verbally  There is a structure within the mind: Logical Reasoning ○ Deductive and Inductive Reasoning Deductive Reasoning: General to Specific Inductive Reasoning: Specific to General When we start with specific realities about the worlds and make claims according to that How do we come to these conclusions? ○ We ask “Why So?” ○ Why did we come to this conclusion? B. The Structure of a Sylogism a. Minor Premise i. S is M ii. S is the Minor Term b. Major Premise i. M is P ii. M means the middle term. The middle term connects the Subject and the Predicate, the Minor and Major Term. c. Conclusion i. Therefore, S is P ii. P is the Major term A to B to C. There should be a clean link C. Arguments a. How We Argued b. How we should Argue i. Our Middle term must be a factual middle link that proves a and b are connected, or that b is the conclusion of a. D. Validity and Truth a. What we should state is valid and true. i. Not valid but false, invalid and false, and invalid but true. b. It’s valid if the syllogism follows an understandable link i. Validity is all about the correct structure and flow of thought. c. It’s true if the statements in the terms are true, especially the middle term. i. What’s true is concerned with reality. Our judgment must conform with reality. E. In writing an essay a. What premises do I have to prove and which do I don’t have to prove i. Because each judgment, or each term in a syllogism can further be expanded into its own syllogism to be proven. ii. Prove everything based on the text you’re reading b. What materials do I have to use as premise according to the readings. Feb 29, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ —--------------------------------------------------------------------- Rewritten Essay We have the capacity to act out a virtuous life for us to (function) flourish through our own will The ultimate good is something we decide and act out personally Therefore to attain the ultimate good, you have to lead a virtuous life or the activity of your soul (function) has to be virtuous Journeying and Question Ultimate End ○ Means - For the sake of something elese ○ Ends - For itself ○ Happiness/Flourishing Human activity -> will -> choice ○ Feeling Feelings Aristotle and Aquinas Bad emotions aren’t necessarily bad ○ It’s right to be angry toward the unjust ○ It’s wrong to be happy at someone’s suffering Perhaps, emotions are neutral Pleasurable is not good. Pain is not bad. ○ Your emotions are telling you something important about you Aristotle on Emotions Aristotle’s Rhetoric : If you can change what people think with words, you can change what they feel Plato and followers (Predecessors): Emotions are dangerous ○ Worst emotions come out when you’re asleep ○ Passions were blind: They didn’t have reason; just keep them under control Aristotle thought that since human is body AND soul, he thinks that what’s material like emotions is also integral to the flourishing of his soul Emotions always have some sort of cause. Aristotle’s Structure 1. Cognitive component - thought a. What you’re thinking affects your feeling 2. Affective Component - painful/pleasurable 3. Physiological Component - bodily change 4. Goal-Directed behavior  a. People focus too much on our behavior then just manage our emotions. We need to learn our emotions more to better know us and how to better manage our emotions and live our life. Case Study Emotions 1. Compassion a. Cognitive i. Suffering is grave ii. Similarity between person feeling and person suffering iii. Person suffering does not deserve it b. Affective component: Pain Aquinas on Emotions Your intellect allows you to think. Intellect as power and thinking as the activity Appetites ○ Sense Appetite - passions ○ Rational Appetite/Will - affections + choice The movements of the appetites are what he calls the passions and affections Powers of desiring towards good and away from evil 6 Basic Emotions (Concupiscible emotions): Immediate emotions ○ When you think something is good, what you feel is love. Love is a passion. When you love something or somone, she consumes your every thought. ○ When you think something is good, but not yet present, that is desire. ○ When you think something is good and present to you, you feel joy. ○ When you think that something is evil, what you feel is hate. ○ When you think that something is evil and is coming closer, what you feel is aversion/avoidance ○ When you think that the evil is present, what you feel is sorrow/sadness Irascible emotions (5 Emotions) ○ Good in the future that is difficult but possible: Hope ○ Good in the future that is difficult and impossible: Despair ○ KNOW IN YOURSELF THAT IT IS POSSIBLE, CHASE AFTER IT, AND YOU WILL WIN. ○ Evil + Future +Difficult to avoid +Impossible = FEAR ○ Evil + Future + Difficult to avoid + Possible: DARING ○ Obstacle (Evil) Blocking my way to a good = Anger Sometimes anger was a cover for sadness so you will not be paralyzed Sometimes, sadness is good tho so we can reflect Sometimes angry people can see the good right away but something is bblocking is so they become angry. Ekman’s Atlas of Emotions Aquinas thinks that all these 11 emotions are rooted in love.  It’s better to FIND SOMETHING/SOMEONE better to be in love with than to just push that love down or to rejet it or to try to get rid of it. ○ If I give up something, it should be for something that I love more. Because if I just give up that one thing, I’ll be left empty. ○ Figure out what/who you love. I. What are the various goods we love A. Persons 1. God 2. Family 3. Friends B. Activities C. Posessions Mar 4, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —---------------------------------------------------- A Discussion on Emotions Deliberation makes choice, it doesn’t make something voluntary. ○ You deliberate a lot of choices then choose from the list of options. It comes from inside and there’s knowledge involved: 2 things that make something voluntary Why is every emotion rooted in love? ○ Only the things you care about makes you feel. ○ When you’re sad, there’s a good that you want that you don’t have ○ You can say you don’t care about something to convince yourself ○ Only the things that capture the mind and heart can make the appetite move. We feel things without knowing why? ○ Ask yourself why and ponder; the answer will make you know yourself better. ○ Our emotions always tell us something about what we want. What makes something rational? ○ Intense emotions can cloud your judgment How does fear, anger, and compassion affect our ethical responsibility? ○ (1) It’s ethical to feel angry. Your feelings tell you if you’re a good or bad person. If you don’t feel anger toward an injustice, are you a good person? ○ (2) The level of feeling reflects something about you. How important or not something is to you. Emotions help make things important to you. ○ Emotions show what you care about. Emotions motivate you to do something. Conclusions ○ Rational - Intellect (The intellect knows) ○ Emotions - Sense appetite (It desires/wants). But the sense appetite doesn’t move without some form of knowledge. Will is somewhere in the middle of rationality and emotions  It’s the intellect’s capacity to know the reason that rationality and emotions don’t go against one another. Your intellect can talk to your emotions because cognition is one of the biggest things that make up the movement of desire. The way you know things. Emotion can make you know more ○ The subjects that you assimilate better are the ones you care about. ○ Attraction or love show you what you like more ○ In my whole stay in UAP, I liked Hamlet, PerDev, Business Math and Finance, Accounting. What do you think would be the ideal Mar 7, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —------------------------------------------------------------- Virtue: The best version of myself About how you and other people see you Virtues are what helps us achieve that vision of ourselves Helps you make those connections that you want to make with others Virtue accompanies our power of choice Ordered Dispositions and Perfection of a power ○ We arrange our intellect more to know what is true ○ Our senses to go after the good. ○ Makes our powers do what they’re actually supposed to do ○ Virtues create harmony between our powers Things you want to be Good son, friend, child of good, brother, boyfriend, Filipino, good at what you do Choice is Reflexive “Choice forms (and, it can be assumed, reinforces) states” ○ Choice form states and also comes from states 1. Your choices say something about you (It comes from something inside you) 2. Your choice define you a. You make yourself but you can keep on correcting your image, undoing the bad choices you’ve done in the past. 3. Your choice come back to you, which is what makes it reflexive Virtue is a Habit - Aquinas It is something that is immaterial that you have ○ You can possess things in an immaterial way Virtues have to be learned; it’s not innate ○ It’s a second nature we acquire Habit means you need to PRACTICE, and PRACTICE CHOOSING Key Ideas about habits 3 things necessary for a habits ○ Habits are dispositions Things are arranged towards a particular purpose ○ They are acquired through use We only learn virtues by doing them, not by knowing them. Practice over theory ○ They are stable There is a certain consistency that is required What turns habits to a Virtue ○ They are perfections of a power Virtue perfects powers within you so the power can operate its purpose ○ And principles of good operation “Virtue is a good habit of the powers of the soul by which we live well. They perfect the powers of the soul, ordering and orienting them to the good of reason.” The 4 Cardinal Virtues - Aquinas 1. Temperance a. Regulates and perfects your love for pleasure 2. Fortitude a. Strengthens your appetite in oercoming difficulty/evil or in persevering in good despite the difficulties. b. “Not this is misfortune, but to bear this worthily is good fortune” c. What fortitude regulates is your agression/fighting spirit - when to fight and when not to. 3. Prudence a. Discovers the good in the particular and concrete;directs the other virtues, applies right reason to action, deliberates the means to the end. b. Geared toward concrete things, not ideas 4. Justice a. Right operations; perfects man in his dealings with others; what is due. Virtues Enable You to Love well We think of the best version of ourselves ○ To better connect with people and with ourselves Allows us to aim for our priorities ○ And give our appropriate time and effort to do so The way you love something ○ How you relate to things/person/experience/concepts ○ It is not a virtue when one priority becomes more important than another Mar 11, 2024 —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —---------------------------------------------------------- Connecting the Essay to the Reading, Passions and Virtues Balance reason & Emotion ○ But some decisions require more emotions and others more reason Emotion can be reckless, reason can lead to regret ○ Emotions have a cognitive aspect, an affect, a physiological aspect, and is action-oriented. Passion is neither good nor bad ○ Passion w/o reason, less “good” How to balance: reason regulates, emotion motivates ○ Reason: Deliberation ○ Emotion: Action Holy Trinity: Choice, reason, emotion; one cannot be w/o the others. ○ They can “enhance” human goodness “Sometimes you don’t know enough to care” ○ When you know more, you feel more Important Notes It’s not the good things that are bad, but desiring it too much, loving it too much. ○ Because there is such a thing as too much. ○ Obsession isn’t good. Because it makes you disregard everything else. You are not only a student, but also a son, a friend, a lover, etc. If you have a nature, all your powers are geared towards the flourishing of that nature. ○ Reason, Will, and Sense Appetite ○ You have to listen to all these because they’re part of you and they lead to your flourishing ○ Sense appetite and will leads to emotions Emotions have 4 components ○ Cognitive - Partial (Point of view). The total point of view comes from reason Each of your emotion is making you focus on something partial and to emphasize it in the moment. ○ Affective - ○ Physiological ○ Goal-directed behavior Harmony, not balance with regards to reason and emotion being used to make choices. Mar 14, 2024 —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —----------------------------------------------------------------- How Passions Increase the Good of an Action Aquinas’ structure of the powers of the person For aquinas, knowledge and desire are very knit together  4 Internal senses of the person according to Aquinas (Cognitive component of emotions) ○ Imagination - Ability to make images of information in your mind ○ Memory - The ability to store these information ○ Common Snese - What pieces information together ○ Estimative/Cogitative - Tells you whether something would be good or bad for you. Red flag, green flag indicator for people and others. Sense judgment Senses - Sense Appetite Contains the 4 internal senses of the person. Your emotions have to be virtuous Reason - Rational Appetite Reason needs to talk to the rational appetite and your 4 internal senses If reason is the leader, it ought to listen to its citizens. It ought to listen to the emotions and decide which to listen to. - The harmony between reason and emotion The rational appetite can overflow to the sense appetite Ideal Relationshp: Your reason can evaluate your emotions and you emotions align with what you really find important You usually experience and feel all these together With Regards to Emotion Doing good should also feel good (If it does not feel good, we have to work on the virtues we have) ○ If we still do the things, we then ask ourselves why we still do the thing ○ We should do the good actions because we want to Passions/Emotions: Movements of Sense Appetite The principle of any human action is reason Types according to Reason ○ Antecedent Passions - Before Reason Ex. Mercy/Compassion. It’s better to give alms when you’re intent is for them to have a better life which they deserve than to do it just because you pity them. Reflect about the situation ○ Consequent Passions - After reason. Human Flourishing is both Subjectie and Objetve The Marshmallow Test Delayed Gratification: Resisting the urge to take an immediate reward for a bigger reward in the future. ○ Not only to put the breaks on and say no, but also to change what you want  ○ If you have goals that are really important to you, you will be beter able to delay gratification and regulate your emotions. ○ You shouldn’t say no all the time. SOME TIMES, you have to enjoy in the moment too. Walter Mischele: Delayed Gratification -> Emotional Regulation -> Long-term goal setting ○ Being able to do delayed gratification also helps you with your emotions and goals. Next Meeting: Assignment of Roadmap to a good life Apr 1, 2024 —-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Discussion: Question and Answer Questions: 1. Why is loneliness so terrible 2. What are the different relations that a human person can have? 3. What do these have to do with ethics? Discussion Insights Relations are imperative to a person ○ It is a strong driver or our desires and choices ○ Relations reflect your virtues “You choose people like you” Loneliness can come even when you are in relationships Lonneliness as sadness and a lack of love. What is the proper relationship and balance toward self and others? ○ When you self-care too much, you limit yourself ○ If you drown out the relation of self to others, you don’t figure out who you really are. If you’re not in tune with yourself, you can’t relate that much with others ○ The man who is not happy with himself will not find happiness in others - Aristotle 2 Reading to Read 1. https://uap.instructure.com/courses/10433/files/1558038?module_item_id=282145 2. https://uap.instructure.com/courses/10433/files/1558037?module_item_id=282146 Apr 4, 2024 —-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —-------------------------------------------------------------------- The Two Readings Discussion 1. A new paradigm a. More about gift, and our capacity of self-gift 2. Dependent Rational Animals a. Dependence and vulnerability will always be a part of our lives  Tina Lecture: *Treat this like supplementary materials, not a full blown lecture Julian Marias Wrote the book, “the person” in 1996. Trying to capture the reality that is the person The person is happening. The person is not an is ○ People aren’t objects ○ Look at persons as they live their lives ○ The person I am tomorrow is not the same as the person I am today. Our Main Points last Monday 1. To be alone is not the same as being lonely 2. Loneliness is something more profound: lack of love. a. Implicit definition of relationships: purpose of relationships is for us to give and receive love 3. Benefits and Disadvantages of Loneliness a. Although loneliness can push us to find companionship, it can also lead us to find something lesser just to fill that void. b. It can lead us to despair that we abandon all attempts to find anything that can fill that missing peace. 4. Loneliness is so bad because man is a social being. a. Not all types of social activities fill up that need for love b. Sociability does not mean we are not lonely c. To be alone is necessary sometimes. You can find solace in it but you also have to go back to the realm of social sphere. Marias on Our Lesson Convivencia - “living together with others.” ○ Has to be accompanied by the continual practice of solitude. ○ It reveals to us certain parts of ourselves Solitude is what’s necessary for people to do to relate to other people on a personal level ○ It’s a retraction from other people to be WITH oneself. ○ It is through being with oneself that we find ourself being relational Disappointment = Despair ○ Some people shut themselves off from the possibility of social connection. He is afraid to be with others. ○ When a man rejects his nature of vulnerability. Dissolution in the social ○ Man can lose himself in the realm of social realm ○ It’s trying to flee from solitude. ○ To be with others all the time and try to escape loneliness all the time, is BAD Marias approach can help us engage with Doc Pia’s class. She makes us draw from our lives and we raise our experience to the level of philosophical inquiry. MINDMAP QUESTION: How would you explain that the human person is a relational being? Apr 8, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —------------------------------------------------------------------- How do I know What is Good? - Natural Law Raw Information Reasoning out the existence of an objective good is really difficult Examples of “good” things: The love received from friends and family. Natural Law Terminology ○ Nature: What is natural to man ○ Law: A moral sense that arises spontaneously that is rooted in man’s nature Natural orientation of man towards the good Add: If there is an objective good, why? Assignments:  Read Ethics readings to be read before next Thursday. Answer Assignment Tab Natural Law Reading Notes Natural law is our fundamental orientation toward the good inscribed in the deepest part of our being Natural moral law means that the moral authority is born immediately and spontaneously within man Human intelligence has the capacity to achieve moral truth Natural law: Law of practical reason ○ Fundamental structure of the operation of practical reason, of all its self-evident truths, and of all its reasoning. Natural law is natural because both the reasons that formulate it and the tendencies to which practical reason has reference are all essential parts of human nature ○ They belong to what man is; it’s not contingent on any decision. It is universal because all human’s reason is practically identical. However, Natural Law is insufficient, thus it is supplemented by civil law. To exercise our natural moral law requires a great learning period Three orders of precepts according to St. Thomas ○ First and most common principle: maximum evidentness e.g. golden rule Do and pursue what is good and avoid evil ○ Secondary precepts which is close to first precept: refers to specific types of actions such as commerce. Can be reached with reasoning from first precept ○ Secondary precept which is distant from first precept: can be known from second order through difficult reasoning. E.g. the absolute indissolubility of marriage Individuals have the capacity to correct themselves 3 Points: 1. What is a point that struck you? 2. What was a point you kind of disagree with? 3. What is a point that you find mysterious? A point that you have to think about. a. The secondary precept which is distant from the first precept. Where do these concepts come from and are they still universal laws or can they be disproven like the indissolubility of marriage. Apr 11, 2024 —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —------------------------------------------------------------------------ Discussion: N.L is innate. But it needs to be trained ○ Good should be personally chosen instead of imposed upon us. I feel like its presence and a person’s capacity to exercise them is what makes the serial killers and the likes. ○ Natural law is always there in every person  ○ But a its development within a person and how a person exercises it differs. All elements of N.L. vary in degree of accessibility N.L. is backed by reason, which makes within us an inclination that drives us towards the good ○ BUT IT’S NOT A LAW THAT IS IMPOSED ON US, thus we must still choose it. Tina’s Discussion Natural Law is not the same as virtue ○ Virtue is a habit (disposition), while natural law is a law What makes N.L. a Law? ○ Laws in general pertain to solving specific problems. Natural solves the universal problem of badness. ○ It is a law because it has three orders of precepts: The Natural Law is universal ○ It’s innate to everyone but it needs to be developed. The Natural Law is Permanent ○ It remains within itself and it cannot be changed ○ It will always be within us. ○ It can be changed in some sense, and certain additions can be added to natural law. ○ It cannot be completely lost by a man but it can be somewhat erased when it comes to particular actions. The Three Precepts 1. ”Good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided” or “Do good, avoid evil” a. The first one is better because it gives a more nuanced understanding of good. The pursuit is what nuances it because “do good” implies the good as an act; while “pursue good” implies that the good is an end. i. Not only do good actions, but also pursue good ends b. This is where all other precepts and principles come from. It is the most general rule. It is also the most evident in comparison to the second and third precepts. Apr 15, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ —----------------------------------------------------- Discussion Insights Answers the question: How do I know what is good? The relationship between laws and reason ○ The civic laws influence your reason because they are what strictly sets what’s good and bad within a country = the society you’re in forms your reason. ○ Civic law doesn’t change anything about what the natural law is. ○ Your reason is what makes us recognize the natural law. Why do people do bad things even though natural law is innate to us? ○ Does choosing something evil for a good intention make the act good? ○ Does the means justify the end?  Natural Appetite: Your tendency to grow toward something. If we include God in the discussion - Natural Law is our participation in the creative wisdom of God Natural Law is the Intelligibility of our being & Activity ○ There is a way we exist and we can know our existence and what activities will make us flourish and which will not. On Law Answering the 4 Questions ○ What is it - Ordinance of reason - Either reason made it or it’s knowable ○ What’s it for - It’s for the common good ○ What did it come from - from an authority who has care of the community. ○ What is it made of - It’s put into effect even when no one follows it OR it’s made into reality because of those who follow it Rules - Normative/Prescriptive Imposed? Forced? Like the laws of motion, we just follow it, we aren’t forced to follow it. Ask 4 Questions (Aristotelian) 1. What is it? 2. What is it for? Purpose 3. Where did it come from? 4. What is it made of ? On Good and Evil There is an objective reality but your thoughts on it really depends on your perspective Why do people do bad things? ○ You could be closer or farther away from what’s objectively good because of your culture, how you’ve been brought up, etc. Natural law is a law because reason rules freedom How does reason rule freedom? ○ (1) Conscience - It’s an act, a judgment that your reason make whether an act is good or not. It is you applying your knowledge of good and evil to a particular situation, act, or option. ○ (2) Sources of morality of an act The object of the act - has the most weight - can be good, evil, neutral What that act achieves by itself. The “end of the act.” The intention of the agent - can make a good act better or worse. It can’t change the nature of the act. Can make the bad act less evil, nonetheless still evil. What the agent wants. The end of the agent. Circumstances - Increase or decrease the goodness of an act Apr 18, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ —--------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion on Conscience Reasoning inside you Tells us we exist. Ex. J.A.R.V.I.S PRACTICAL; guilt prevents evil ○ Conscience is the act that proceeds from the knowledge of natural law Conscience is a DICTATE of REASON ○ It applies knowledge to a specific action Conscience is self-referential ○ In the realm of personal good, this becomes more relevant Discussion on the “Sources of Morality” (1) Object of the act (2) Intention of the Agent (3) Circumstances Is what grounds our conscience Are impersonal. Focuses on the objective morality of an act. The object of the act carries the most weight because Each act, by itself, has a specific moral character ○ There are no neutral acts: everything is either good or evil, but varies a lot in degree. ○ “It’s evil, but it’s not that bad” “Right and Wrong” isn’t always equal to “Good and Evil” Apr 29, 2024 —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —--------------------------------------------------------- 3 Takeaways/Insights and 1 Question I. Abortion Group 6 A. Insights 1. Abortion is murder because life begins at conception. In abortion, you kill the unborn baby that’s innocent which is what constituted abortion. 2. Most people who go through abortion do it to continue education or because of financial issues. 3. Abortion leads to a multitude of suffering: the loss of a life, the guilt of the parents, and th B. Question 1. Assuming that abortion is murder, is the doctor who performed the abortion a murderer? Does he/she engage in an unethical practice? II. LGBTQ  A. Insights 1. From a theological perspective, love should be between a man and a woman. They are to be married eventually and to use that love to bear children. Thus, you should repress any homosexual desires as this is not the function of your sexuality. 2. To be queer is not a choice but to repress it is a choice. 3. The LGBTQ believes that you should love for the sake of itself and not for an external end which is to reproduce. B. Questions 1. Is it ethical for queers to show love towards the same sex through intercourse? III. Social Media A. Insights 1. Social media is a double-edged sword. 2. Social media can provoke negative emotions such as jealousy due to comparing our lives to others. 3. It’s incredibly addicting because it increases our self-esteem which may rely on social media too much B. Questions 1. How can we use social media to protect ourselves from the harm? IV. Gossip A. Insights 1. Not partaking in gossip will boost your credibility and make people respect you. 2. Gossip distorts the truth as it gets passed on to more and more people. 3. Gossip is natural as it stems from our innate need to belong to the community. B. Questions 1. Should we stop gossip entirely? May 2, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —------------------------------------------------------------ V. Poverty A. Insights 1. The government considers those who have more than 18 pesos per meal to be not in poverty (preposterous) 2. Poverty is a cycle; The government needs to intervene. 3. The virtue of compassion helps eradicate poverty by prompting people to help those in need. B. Questions 1. Poverty is a cycle but can they lift themselves from poverty with social mobility through education? 2. Can ethical communism eradicate poverty? 3 Elements: a. Natural Law b. Conscience  c. In analyzing an issue, ask these questions? - What are the goods at stake? (Natural Law Aspect) - Check the sources of Morality: What are the Object, intention, and circumstances? - How would the intentions of the agent play into this - Conscience: Is what I’m doing what I should be going In analyzing an issue, ask these questions? - What are the goods at stake? (Natural Law Aspect) - Check the sources of Morality: What are the Object, intention, and circumstances? - How would the intentions of the agent play into this - Conscience: Is what I’m doing what I should be going Comments on the Topics - These are what’s happening around me, how should I proceed? - Some are acts (gossip, abortion), tools (Social Media), and social issues (LGBT, and Poverty) - So we analyze them in different ways Gossip Gossiping is bad but it can be done right? Does gossip necessarily need to be negative? Your reputation is not perfectly aligned and the sharing of information are often flawed Sharing of information if good, gossiping is bad Gossip is a type of sharing information: FINAL ANALYSIS ○ Entails information that is often negative ○ Object: The potentially irresponsible spreading of dubious information Bad ○ Intention: Curiosity, Malice Can make it not as bad or worse ○ Circumstances: Can vary a lot What makes up gossip? i. Presence/absence of person ii. Warning is different from badmouthing iii. Sharing information that’s not yours to shave What constitutes gossip 1. You tell other people who do not need to know a. Does not include who you need to warn because they’re involved 2. Your information is not surely true  a. If the person who told the information did not try to figure out or assess the truth of the situation Social Media They could have highlighted the virtues part It’s a circumstance: Social media make it easy to share information ○ Is the information true? ○ Should I share it? ○ How does the information affect me? Abortion They all agreed that abortion is murder Is an evil action a legitimate option for a good intention? ○ Is it okay to choose something evil for the sake of something? ○ Is abortion being evi an assumption that I’m making? Why? Socratic - Why and Why, Prove and Prove Abortion is murder ○ What is the nature of the fetus? ○ The Fetus is a human being - Doc Pia Talk about the life of the child AND the mother Church and LGBTQIA+ Not to focus on theological reasoning but on philosophical reasoning ○ The point of departure is faith: theology is I believe it because God said it On Faith (Church): Love should reflect the trinity The way the group used the 10 minutes to discuss the topic was pretty good ○ Good flow and time allocation Love and sex ○ Does sex really have a purpose Poverty Friendship Very well in reading the philosophical text and practical points Evaluate more on the practical points and better evaluation through philosophical concepts We did more breadth than depth. Made breaking up questions more of a question. More analysis, less expository Raw Information The way your reputation aligns with the truth of yourself matters to you ○ Reputation needs to be true  ○ We act according to our reputation ○ Reputations are not always true Not every issue is a moral issue May 9, 2024 —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —------------------------------------------------------------------ Principles of Social Morality Nuancing the Good On SCALE and CONTEXT ○ The crossover from the personal and the collective good? ○ What is the connect and where is the divide?e Take note - Man as a being deserving of love - Man as a being in relation - You cannot sustain yourself in isolation - Man as intrinsically needy Principles of Social Morality 1. Common Good a. The sum total of social conditions which allow the fuller and easier attainment of individual and collective fulfilment i. Which allows to reach fulfilment b. What all the other principles refer to. c. Society has certain levels and you have to achieve it in all the levels 2. Universal Destination of Goods a. Answers to the intrinsic neediness of man b. The fulfilment of his particular needs facilitates his contribution to the common good c. Private Property: We are allowed to exercise personal autonomy i. We need luxury as well ii. We need to meet our needs first before we help the needs of society d. Preferential option for the poor: In the interest of justice, it is right that we recognize and act upon cases of exceptional neediness i. Spiritual Neediness 3. Solidarity a. The recognition of our shared neediness, interdependence b. Social relationships are elevated and oriented more fully towards the common good. 4. Subsidiarity a. Pertains to entities b. Within the levels of powers, it protects the rights of those in the lower tiers and the higher powers help assist the productive powers of those below them.  5. Participation Express the truths of society, inviting its members to responsibly and freely cooperate for the flourishing of the human condition Fundamental Values of Social Life LOVE ○ The highest and universal criterion of social ethics ○ The only sufficient basis for human relationships JUSTICE ○ Requires the recognition of the other as a person Love is what goes beyond justice ○ The constant and perpetual will to give others their due. FREEDOM ○ Goes hand in hand with our dignity as human persons TRUTH ○ The base of the pyramid: reality. Connecting Values and Principles Universal Destination of Goods and Justice ○ Every human being has needs that needs to be fulfilled. If those needs aren’t fulfilled, they can’t reach flourishing. When they’re needs are unfulfilled, it is unjust. May 13, 2024 —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —---------------------------------------------------------------- Guidelines Part 1 Miss will choose one at random that we will answer Prepare a short definition for this Part 2 We will be able to choose whether society or friendship Part 3 Focus most of attention on here Why is it hard to do what’s good - Often it’s answered by virtue - We do know what’s good but sometimes we prioritize goods in a skewed way - Therefore, we must know ourselves - For example, if you have high grades, but you still ponder more on why your friend has more material things, you have to understand why you focus on those things - Look into your values. Fix any misconceptions you may have.