MORAL ACTS

A moral act must be our own act; it must spring from our own will. If we act mechanically,
there is no moral content in our act.
All three aspects must be good-the objective act, the subjective intention, and the circumstances-
in order to have a morally good act;
a. The objective act (what we do),
b. The subjective goal or intention (why we do the act),
c. And the concrete situation or circumstances in which we perform the act (where, when,
how, with whom, the consequences, etc.).
Moral action involves taking the necessary steps to transform the intent to do right thing
into reality. This includes moral ownership, moral efficacy and moral courage.
Among the reasons to be moral and integral, regardless of occupation are to: Make a society
better. When we help make society better, we are rewarded with also making better own lives
and the lives of our families and friends. Without moral conduct, society would be a miserable
place.
Moral deliberation is a matter of weighing reasons and being guided by them. Truth in ethics
entails being justified by good reasons, commends, regardless of our feelings, attitudes, opinions,
and desires.
Reason impartiality in Ethics “minimum requirement for morality”.
Reason and Feelings: deemed by ethicists as instinctive and trained response to moral
dilemmas;
May ethicists conclude that being good involves both thinking and feeling;
Feelings and emotion however, can become obstacle or impediments to becoming ethical.
ETHICAL SUBJECTIVISM, moral judgments, moral acts simply describe our personal
feelings;
our moral opinions are based on our feelings and nothing more (ex. Homosexuality or abortion);
there is no such thing as objective right or real wrong:
Emotivism is an ethical theory that regards ethical and value judgments as expressions of feeling
or attitude and prescription of action, rather than assertions or reports of anything.
WILL refers that faculty of the mind- the capacity to act decisively on one’s strongest desire;
It is important in ethics because of its central role in enabling a person to act deliberately;
Will Power – inner strength to make decision, take action, and handle and execute any aim or
task until its accomplished, regardless of inner and outer resistance, discomfort of difficulties;
It bestows the ability to overcome laziness, temptations and negative habits and to carry
out actions, even if they require effort, are unpleasant and tedious or are contrary to one’s habits;
Moral Courage doing the right even at the risk of inconvenience, ridicule, punishment, loss of
job or security or social status;
Requires that we rise above;
apathy (kawalang–pagpapahalaga) (lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern);
complacency (kasiyahang- loob) feeling of smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s
achievements); hatred (pagkapoot), cynicism (pangungutya) and fear-mongering (nakakatakot)
the action of deliberately arousing public fear or alarm about a particular issue in our political
system, socioeconomic divisions, and cultural/religious differences.
Moral Courage + Will = doing the right thing by listening to our conscience, that quite voice
from within
= disregarding it may lead to diminished personal integrity
= demands making judgments about what behavior or acts are
supportive of
ethical ideals
= require us to recognize our responsibilities and be accountable to the
consequences of our own actions
Example:
With Moral Courage and Will: “No, thanks, I don’t want to hear a secret”
Without Moral Courage and Will: “There is no use trying to change the system, its just too
strong.”

Tips on how to develop Will and Moral Courage:

a. Develop and Practice Self-Discipline
= rejection of instant gratification in favor of something better;
=giving up of instant pleasure and satisfaction for a better goal
=self -control; focus all the energy on moral goals
b. Do Mental Strength Training
=declining to satisfy unimportant and unnecessary desires
Example: avoid chatting with your gossipy friend;
Don’t open the internet for a day or two
 c. Repeatedly do acts that exhibit moral courage and will
=practice makes perfect
(example: refusing to listen to gossip or repeat gossip)
d. Avoid Deeds that show lack of moral courage and will
= evading acts of irresponsibility, cowardice, ill will and wickedness
Example: grabbing the spotlight from someone who has earned it remaining silent in the
face of wrong doing or injustice
e. Draw inspiration from people of true great courage
= man of self-discipline and will power and advanced spiritual or moral path
Example: Jesus Christ and His Apostles
REASONS AND IMPARTIALITY DEFINED
Moral truths are truths of reason. A moral judgment is true if it is espoused by better reasons
than the alternatives.
REASON is the basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction. As a quality, it refers to
the capacity for logical, rational, and analytic thought; for consciously making sense of things,
establishing and verifying facts, applying commonsense and logic, and justifying, and if
necessary, changing practices, institutions, and beliefs based on existing or new existing
information.
Moral deliberation is a matter of weighing reasons and being guided by them. Truth in Ethics
entails being justified by good reasons.
IMPARTIALITY involves the idea that each individuals interests and point of view are equally
important. It is also called evenhandedness or fair-mindedness. Impartiality in morality requires
that we give equal and/or adequate consideration to the interests of all concerned parties.

Moral theories allow us to see the implications of the judgements that these (and other
fundamental concerns) are each important in moral reasoning. Perhaps, as a result, moral theories
have in recent years become more concerned to accommodate the insights of what were once
regarded as rival theories.
. A theory is structured set of statement used to explain (or predict) a set of facts or concepts
. Moral Theories provide the framework upon which we think and discuss in a reasoned way and
evaluate specific moral issues
. Tend to be prescriptive

The emotional response is caused by the limbic system. It is unconscious and automatic and
cannot be controlled. We cannot tell our adrenal gland to be still. However, it can be regulated.
The way to regulate it is through reason. Reason makes us civilized. The limbic system makes us
feel anger and the cognitive system controls the expression of that anger so that we do not
behave like heartless ones. The limbic system can suggest that the child deserves a slap, but
thanks to the cognitive system we do noy give it to him, but we explain why we dislike his
behavior.
Reasons gives us arguments not to fall into the temptation of buying ourselves a whim; the
emotion tries to convince us that we deserve it. Logic informs us that a particular relationship
does not suit us, emotion makes us go on. We make thousands of things in a completely
irrational way without thinking, like covering our heads with the sheets if we hear a nocturnal
noise in the house as if the sheets were armored and could guarantee our integrity.

The goal, end, or intention is the part of the moral act that lies within the person. For this reason,
we can say that the intention is the subjective element of the moral act. For an act to be morally
good, one’s intention must be good. If we are motivated to do something that is objectively
good- our action is morally evil. It must also be recognized that a good intention cannot make a
bad action (something intrinsically evil) good. We can never do something wrong or evil in order
to bring about a good. This is the meaning of the saying, “the end does not justify the means”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 1749-1761).
Most emotions are no innate but are conditioned by apprenticeship and our life experience. If we
have “learned” to get neurotic we can also unlearn to do so and transform ourselves into more
stable, serene, psychologically healthy people. The best tool to achieve this is the Rational
Emotive Behavioral Therapy of Albert Ellis whose premise is: as we feel we live. When we
understand how the brain affects the body we increase the options to use rational thinking which
lead us to psychological well-being.

“For an act to be morally good, one’s intention must be good”