Ph 104 Notes.docx

AM+DG Aristotle’s Moral Theory Nicomachean Ethics - Rationalist: stresses the supremacy of our rational nature - Teleological: upholds the purposive nature of our universe Teleological - Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and every pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason, the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim. - The telos defines the goodness of a thing. - If a thing does not act in accordance to its telos, something is wrong with it. It is a defective instance of its kind. Acorns that fail to grow into mature oaks do not develop as they should. - The telos becomes the norm, or the basis for evaluating something. What then is the telos of man? - Everything in nature has a distinctive end to achieve or a function to fulfill. The good refers to the attainment of the end. The god thing is that which serves its purpose or attains its end. - What is the end of man as man? o Not man as a doctor, as a policeman, or whatever, but man as man. The End of Man - First of all, the end of man is not mere life, because that plainly is shared with him even by vegetables, and we want what is peculiar to him. Next there is the life of sensation, but this again manifestly is common to horses, oxen, and every animal. - The Plant o Manifests a particular form of life Aristotle calls: Life of Growth  Nutrition  Growth  Reproduction - Animals o Manifests a particular form of life Aristotle calls: Life of Perception  Nutrition, Growth, Reproduction  Sensation: able to hear, feel, taste, etc.  Locomotion: able to move from one place to another - There remains then “an active life of the elements that have a rational principle… If the function of man is an activity of the soul which follows or implies a rational principle, then the human good turns out to be activity of the soul in accordance with excellence of reason…”

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Life of Reason Nutrition, Growth, Reproduction, Sensation, Locomotion RATIONALITY The function of a human being is whatever a human being does insofar as he is a human being. o The exercise of reason, being the distinctive (idion) activity of a human being, is the human function (ergon). o “As a human being, his function is to perform the activity that distinguishes human beings from the other animals, and this is to use reason. We are functioning as human beings, and not merely as animals or vegetables, when we use our reason.” (Susan Meyer, Aristotle and the Pursuit of Happiness) o Morality involves action, for nothing is called good unless it is functioning  Virtue is more clearly manifested in the performance of fine actions than in the non-fulfillment of basic principles. o “As at the Olympic Games, it is not the finest and strongest men who are crowned, but they who enter the lists, for out of these the prize men are selected; so too in life, of the honorable and good, it is who act who rightly win the prizes.” (Aristotle, Moral Character) o “Morality is Action” o The good man is not the one who does a good deed here or there, now and then, but whose whole life is good.  “For one swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day; and so too one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed and happy.” (Aristotle)  The good friend is the friend that stands by you at all times.  Virtue in terms of character The Goal of Moral Action o Why should we be good? o All men will agree that happiness alone is the end that alone meets all the requirements for the ultimate end of human action. Indeed, we choose pleasure, wealth, and honor only because we think that “through their instrumentality we shall be happy.” o Happiness is another word or name for good, for like good, happiness is the fulfillment of our distinctive function:  “Happiness is a working of the soul in the way of excellence or virtue” o Happiness consists in the acting of it What is happiness? o “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence” (Aristotle) o EU PRATTEIN: Doing well o EU ZEN: Living well

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The Happy Life for Man o Life of Pleasure o Life of Commerce o The Reflective Life o The Political Life o If this goal that I have, is for something else, then that is not the ultimate goal of my action. o Should be something desired for its own sake  Life of Pleasure  The life of pleasure is not distinctive of human beings.  Life of Commerce  Money is for something and thus cannot be the ultimate end of life.

AM+DG The Origin of Moral Action - To know the good is not sufficient to do the good. There must be deliberate choice in addition to knowledge. There cannot be choice without reason. - An action has a moral quality only if it proceeds from reason Morality and Responsibility - Morality and moral choice imply human responsibility. If some ways of behaving and right and other wrong, it is necessary to discover why a person acts in a wrong instead of right way. - If we are to praise or blame, praise virtue and blame vice, a person must be truly capable of making a choice. - An act for which a person could be held responsible must be a voluntary act. - A genuine choice is a voluntary action. - An absence of either reason and will may remove accountability The Human Act - Voluntary: to hekousion - Involuntary: to akousionop - Praise or blame is given only to what is voluntary; that which is involuntary receives pardon and sometimes even pity. - A good act done voluntarily should be praised A bad act done voluntarily is liable to blame Reason (knowledge)  Will (Choice)  Action (Behavior) The Voluntary Act 1. The act is voluntary if it originates from the agent. (WILL) 2. The act is voluntary if the agent knows the particular aspects of the actions (REASON) The Involuntary Act: - Some actions are involuntary for which a person is not morally responsible. 1. The act is involuntary if it is done out of ignorance of particular circumstances 2. The act is involuntary if it is the result of external compulsion. 3. The act is involuntary if it is done to avoid a greater evil External Goods - Happiness clearly also requires external goods, for it is impossible or not easy, to perform fine actions if one is without resources. - For in the first place, many things are done by means of friends, or wealth, or political power, as if by means of tools. - It is ethical excellence not the possession of external that is responsible for happiness. Assignment Write one story illustrating a principle of to hekousion and another of to akousion. State the principle at the start of each story. May be based on actual incident or something concocted. Narrative = 2 pages only, Standard Format, Due March 26

AM+DG The Moral Theory of Thomas Aquinas - The Christian Aristotle - Patron of Catholic Schools Moral Theory - Morality is the quest for happiness. - Happiness is closely associated with the end or purpose of man - To achieve happiness man must fulfill his purpose. Aristotle vs. Aquinas - Aristotle o Envisioned a naturalistic morality through which men could achieve virtue by fulfilling their natural end - Aquinas o Added the doctrine of the supernatural end of man and proposed double level of morality according to his dual end. o Human nature has its source and ultimate end in God, therefore, it does not contain its own standard of fulfillment o We cannot find in this world our complete fulfillment Efficient Cause] Final Cause Due to its potentiality and openness, the human soul is oriented to become actualized The Role of the Will - Moral acts are willed acts. Where the will does not operate, action has no moral quality whatsoever and falls back into the category of mere natural activity - And, even in moral actions, external acts have a moral quality only becausetje eeeee - A person is said to be good or bad simply or morally, on the basis of his will, for it is through the will that everything else in the person is used well or badly The Nature of the Will - The power of faculty of the soul by which a human agent is in control of his actions. - To have control means that when the person acts, it is possible to act otherwise or not to act at all. - This mode of acting is contrasted to the middle of nature in which an agent is determined to act in only one way and cannot do otherwise than it does - The will is the power of choice REASON (shows choices)  WILL (makes decision)  ACTION - The full range of appetites seeks to be satisfied and in man the process of satisfaction requires that choices be made between alternatives. The choice must be made by the will under the direction of reason. - If the right choices are made, a person achieves happiness

AM+DG The Moral Constitution of Man - The moral constitution of man consists of sensuality, appetites, the will, and reason - If a man were moved to act by his appetites in a mechanical or rigorously determined way, his acts would not be free and could not be considered from a moral point of view. - The full range of appetites seeks to be satisfied an in man the process of satisfaction requires that choices be made between alternatives. The choice must be made by the will under the direction of reason. Not only is freedom a prerequisite for an act to be considered moral. o An act is human only if it is free - Freedom is possible where there is knowledge of alternatives and the power of the will to make choices. Not every choice is correct. The will by itself cannot always make the right move. - Reason or the intellect must serve as its guide Reason  Will  Action - When the intellect directs the will, it helps the will to choose the good Kinds of Acts - The human act may either be Human Act (Actus Humanus) or Act of Man (Actio Hominis) - Actus Humanus o Actions over which man is the master o They are properly called human because they are rationally controlled and are voluntary. - Actio Hominis o Actions not regulated and directed by reason. o They characterize and manifest the generic nature of man or his participation in animal life. - Ralph McInerny, “Aquinas’s Moral Theory” o Human acts and moral acts are synonymous. Anything done with deliberation, consciously, voluntarily, counts as a human action. o Not every event or activity that can truly be ascribed to a human person counts as a human act.  It is one thing for Socrate’s bear to be growing, it is another for Socrates to grow a beard. The Morality of the Act - There are three factors that determine the morality of an act o Objectum  Purpose of the act o Finis  Intention of the agent o Circumstantia  Factors affecting the act - The objective of the human act inherently constitutes the reality of the human act while the end of the moral agent and the circumstances of the act enter into or are integral to the full reality of the human act.

AM+DG Objectum - Specific purpose of the act - The objective can cause a human act to be morally good or evil even without considering either the end of the moral agent or the circumstances - Bonum in genere o Acts that are good in themselves o Helping someone is always bonum in genere (the act objectively only) - Malum in genere o Acts that are bad in themselves o Torture is malum in genere (whatever the intention, it’s immediate effect is to inflict pain, and thus is an evil act in itself. - Daniel Westberg, “Good and Evil in Human Acts” o The central defining feature of an action which established its species, or what kind of action it is, is the objectum. o The object or objective is what the person or agent is planning to achieve in the immediate sense. o This must be differentiated from the larger purpose or end, which is also relevant to the moral assessment of an act but does not give the action its specific nature. Morally Neutral Actions - There are certain actions which we do consciously and willingly which cannot be easily classified as good or evil. - They can be good or evil if we consider the circumstances and the end or motive of the moral agent. Finis Operantis - The end of intention of the agent. - The end of the agent can provide moral species to the human act, or it can cause a good act to differ in kind from an evil act. - An act that Is objectively good can become evil due to the evil intention of the moral agent. The intention of end of the moral agent agent can cause a human act to be morally good or morally evil of its own kind Circumstantia - Contrbutes to the goodness of badness of an act. - Circumstance do not affect the totality of theaco - 7 circumstances o Qius (what o Cur (why) o Quando(by what means) o Quibuis Auxxailiis o Quid o Quomodo - The circumstances are accidents of the human act since tthey areoutsoide the human act since tehey are ourside te human essence of

AM+DG Reason  Will  Action - The virtues of the natural man are achieved when the appetites are duly controlled by the will and reason. - This framework may be problematic. - Lacks a sort of guidance The natural end of man is further realized through his knowledge of the natural or the moral law. - The law is the source for the knowledge of the good HW: Aristotle Assignment-Sample narrative may be either praiseworthy or blameworthy. LAW  REASON  WILL - When reason is guided by the law, it is able to guide the will properly The Moral Law  REASON  WILL  The Exterior Act - Clifford G. Kossel, “Natural Law and Human Law” o Law is a dictate of practical reason for the common good promulgated by one who has care of the community o A supposed law that lacks any of these four criteria is not a genuine law.  “There is no moral obligation to do the impossible.” o 4 Criteria (Law is unreasonable)  A law contradicts itself  A law must be for the common good. (commonality and good)  A law must be promulgated (must be made known)  A law must be promulgated by legitimate authority o Coercion is not of the essence of law but coercion by threat of sanction is necessary because not all subjects will readily listen to the law. - Kinds of Laws o Eternal Law o Natural Law o Human Law o Divine Law

AM+DG April 2, 2019 - Aquinas “Only those actions which proceed from deliberate will are called properly human” ACTS OF THE WILL - Interior: The proper acts of the will itself - Exterior: Acts done as commanded by the will - The interior act of the will and the exterior deed compose a single act. - There are times when an act that takes place exhibits a double good or evil, and sometimes only one. So, the moral goodness or evil of an act is sometimes identical from the interior and exterior points of view and sometimes it is different. - For the act to be good, willing a good end is not enough. The object must also be good. Sometimes the exterior act is good because of the good end. o When can a good end be a bad act?  Robin Hood: Two separate actions.  Purpose = Good (to give to the poor)  Why does his good intention result into a bad act? o Since he can still help the poor without stealing or doing bad. - Repetition: Doing an action repeatedly can increase the quality of the will’s intention. - Extent: The tenacity in pursuing the goal to conclusion may serve either the goodness or the badness of the act - Intensity: Certain actions, as instances of pleasure and pain, make the will more intense or more remiss. - Circumstances beyond our control: o In cases where the will is not deficient, but circumstances totally prevent the execution of the act, there is no diminishment of the goodness of the will. The Consequence of an Act - The consequence does not make an action that was evil to be good, nor one that was good to be evil. - If a person gives alms to a beggar who then misuses the gift of money to buy shabu, the generosity of the giver is not diminished. - If after undergoing torture, a prisoner develops the virtue of patience, the torturer is not excused just because his action turned into something good. - If the insult hurled by a teacher at his student challenged the latter to do his best, that does not make the insult a good act and the teacher a good man. Foreseen Consequences - Forms part of the goodness or badness of an act - When the consequences are naturally connected to the action itself, a reasonable person would normally expect such results, the agent should be anticipating them, and these increase the goodness or malice of the action ~ the consequences determine the object of the action. Unforeseen Consequences - When the consequences are rarer or more incidental, and one would not normally anticipate them, then they do not increase the goodness or badness of the act. - Karen Anne Killan (???)

AM+DG Modifiers of Voluntariness - Aristotle: An act that is voluntary deserves either praise or blame. - Level of accountability varies - Can be modified completely, such that there is not accountability - Can be modified partially, such that the accountability is lessened - Modifiers: factors that undermine the mastery of the human acts o Modifies an Act  Violence  Coercion or imposition by an external principle  Physical  “When external acts are done through acts of violence, they are involuntary since they are not contrary to the will of the person coerced.”  Fear  Caused by threat of evil which can be avoided by adopting certain measures.  “An act done out of fear is voluntary because despite the fear, the act can be considered to emanate from the will and presupposes an interior act of willing.  I made a choice to still doing something. (I was afraid to die, etc.)  Voluntariness is lessened due to the presence of a threat.  I would not have done it if there was no threat. o Modifies Knowledge  Concupiscence  Extreme form of feeling, passion, or emotion.  “There are instances, though rare, when concupiscence or the lust for a delightful object or a pleasurable activity is so intense that it overpowers reason and the subsequent act is appropriately considered as an animal act since it does not originate from reason and will but entirely from passion.”  “Since there is no internal act of the will, either of consent or of resistance, then the act is neither voluntary not involuntary.  It is simply not a human act due to absence of reason and will.  Ignorance  Privation of the requisite knowledge  The knowledge is absent when it should be there.  Concomitant o Accompanies the doing of an act which would still be done even if there were knowledge prior to the execution of the act o Concomitant ignorance does not cause an act to be involuntary because it does not result to something that is contrary to the will

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Consequent Ignorance o The ignorance is a consequence of my action o I willed it, I did nothing to resolve my ignorance. o “A consequence of the will because the person deliberately avoids to have knowledge of what he can and should know.” o Ignorance of Wrong Choice o Affected Ignorance  Malicious ignorance.  I know that I do not know, but I do not try to know, so that I can use it. o Ignorance of Universal Principles  Due to neglect o All acts that follow from consequent ignorance are voluntary Antecedent Ignorance o Precedes the act of willing and causes the moral agent to will and then do that which he would not have willed and done. o “I am ignorant that I am ignorant” o Usually happens when someone thinks one thing is the right thing. o Antecedent ignorance causes an act to be involuntary

Announcements: - Group Paper on Aquinas: April 4, Thursday. - Max pages of Kant Grp Paper is (8); single spaced. - Sign-up for Final Oral Exam is Thursday, April 4.

AM+DG The Moral Theory of Immanuel Kant