ETHICS AND LOVE
• It is love and the worthiness to love and be loved which forms the most distinctive feature of the human personality.
• Love does not merely aim at qualities; one does not love qualities. Love at the deepest reality, the most substantial hidden existing reality in the beloved – a metaphysical center, deeper than all the qualities and essences which one can discover and enumerate in the beloved.
• Ethics means the doing of good and the practice of virtue, to us those should all be motivated by love.
Love of Self and Others
• The first law of nature is self-preservation which means self-love.
• As Fulton Sheen puts it, “there are only two words in the vocabulary of love; you and forever.
Ethics and Justice
Justice – is a moral virtue which comes as a fruit of the constant and proper observance of rights and duties.
Injustice – is the imposition of wrong on another; it also means the violation of the rights of another or others.
2 Essential attitudes of Justice
1. Universality – is an element of justice which requires that justice be applied to all, and not merely to a particular group or class;
2. Equality – is a fundamental principle of justice which demands that justice is for all regardless of station or quality. In life.
Considerations of the Ten Commandments
1. The first commandment, love God above all, is a dictate of p[lain justice. For God is our Lord, Creator, and All, and to love Him fully is to give Him His due.
2. Respect and love of parents is likewise a precept of justice and the golden rule.
3. Killing, lying, stealing, bearing false witness, adultery and all their forms are violations of the rule of justice.
The following legal maxims as re-statements or applications of this same principle, as may be seen by mere inspection:
1. No one can exercise his rights in violation of the rights of others.
2. Whoever receives the benefit must bear the burden.
3. No man is responsible for that which is beyond his control.
4. No one should unjustly favor himself at the expense of another.
5. No judgment shall be rendered against anyone else unless he has been heard.
General application of Justice
1. Distributive Justice
- regulates the exercise of rights between the state and its citizen.
2. Legal Justice
- regulates the exercise of rights of an individual to return his duties to the state.
3. Commutative Justice
- regulates the exercise of rights between man and man.
Particular Application of Justice
Duties of Justice
- follows from the principle of love and justice that is wrong to do anything that is harmful to the body, reputation and property of others.
Rights of an Individual
Self Defense
- an inalienable right to life which includes defense from an unjust aggressor.
Under certain conditions, it is morally justified to kill as unjust people or aggressor in self defense:
a. the attack is unjustly
b. the attack is serious in nature
c. the defense must be simultaneous to the attack
d. the means employed are reasonable
e. the end of the defender is honest
Honor and Good Name
Honor is one of the greatest possession of man but any deliberate act that intends to destroy the good reputation of a person contributes a grievous violation of the moral law.
Truthfulness
Moral truth is the conformity between what one says and what one has in mind. A lies is telling an untruth, telling what is not in ones mind.
Mental reservation
It is the making a statement which would seem a lie without proper qualification but would be a lie with the proper qualification reserved in ones mind.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Human Rights and Natural Law
Human Rights and Natural Law
Natural law always recognizes rights which implies the law of justice, wherein it is our duty to respect the rights of others while others must respect our rights. We have rights that others are bound to recognize and respect.
Rights and Human Person
Person posses worth and dignity that’s why right is due to him. Persons are capable to think, judge and reason; he has a supreme purpose to his being and he has the right to live and work out his destiny; he was also endowed with an immortal soul and he has the right to worship his Creator.
Importance of the Doctrine of Human Rights
The doctrine of human rights is very important to social order because it determines the necessary relationship with others such as relation between employer and employee, landlord and tenants, parents and children in a family. We know that man have rights but rights always involves duty. If a person have the right to live, he have duties which bound to look for the means to sustain that life.
Definition of Rights
• Anything due to a person.
• Moral power residing in a person, in virtue whereof he refers to himself as well as his own actions as other things which is referred to him in preference to other person.
• Moral power to do, hold, enjoy those things appropriate to one’s state in life.
• Right is indeed a power, but it is only moral meaning; one can not use physical force to enjoy a right.
Kinds of Rights
1. Natural Rights – based on the natural law that is on human nature.
2. Human Rights – based on human positive laws, either those enacted by the State or a religious sect.
3. Alienable and Inalienable Rights
• Alienable Rights – are those rights which can be surrendered or removed.
• Inalienable Rights – those which can not be surrendered or remove.
4. Right of Jurisdiction – is the power of lawful authority to govern his subjects and to make laws for them.
5. Right of Property – power to own, to sell or to give away one’s personal possession.
6. Juridical Rights and Non-Juridical Rights
• Juridical Rights – those rights must be respected, allowed, fulfilled as a matter of strict.
• Non-Juridical Rights – rights which are not founded on laws either natural of human but on virtue.
- also called as moral rights.
Misconception of Individual Rights
Two Erroneous Doctrines of Human Rights
1. One theory holds that individual is supreme and entirely free and absolutely independent from all interference or control on the part of the state.
2. The other extreme theory maintains that the state has complete sovereignty of the individual, that man has no reality or existence apart from the state is the source of all rights.
The true concept of right, we believe, is found midway between these two extremes. Man has rights anterior and superior to the state, but these rights are limited by common good.
Limitations of Rights
1. Rights are defined by natural law and, therefore, rights are limited by what the natural law prescribes or allows. There is never right, for instance to do evil.
2. Rights have necessarily the correlative of duties; to every right there exists a corresponding duty. This all follows from the principle of justice: we must give each one his due.
3. Rights must be limited for the preservation of the social order; unlimited rights necessarily means conflict of rights and eventually leads to the very dissolution of all rights.
4. Like every thing human rights are limited because of the very limitation of man’s nature. Man is always a mixture and never a pure being or pure act. Man is physically free yet morally bound. Man is a spirit yet bound to matter, etc., etc.
As Randal says in Preface to Philosophy ( why individual rights cannot be unlimited in society) : “ Unlimited individual rights make all good government impossible and often lead in the end to the ascendancy of one man or a party who exercises the authority of the government and takes all rights away, as in dictatorship.”
The Full Gamut of Human Rights
One limiting his attention to the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights gets the impression that human rights get limited in number. It should therefore be noted in this connection that each right appearing in the list is not a single one but a constellation of cognate rights,
According to the Corona Theory of Rights, a primordial right is viewed as a sun with sub rights emanating from it, as radiations seen like a solar corona during total eclipse.
Furthermore, no listing of rights can be complete for the simple reason that such list would include all possible type of rights, which is potentially indefinite. Even without invoking the world famous theory of Gödel that no system of thought can be complete and closed, we know that such a complete list of rights cannot be finalized because of the indeterminacy and unpredictability of the position and final state of society in final evolution.
Beyond Declaration – Implementation Realization
Every bill of rights is all very fine and ideal in paper. However, the same means little or nothing if not implemented and translated into reality of action and execution; for then the very purpose, which is the enjoyment of these rights by the citizens, is thereby frustrated or hindered.
Natural law always recognizes rights which implies the law of justice, wherein it is our duty to respect the rights of others while others must respect our rights. We have rights that others are bound to recognize and respect.
Rights and Human Person
Person posses worth and dignity that’s why right is due to him. Persons are capable to think, judge and reason; he has a supreme purpose to his being and he has the right to live and work out his destiny; he was also endowed with an immortal soul and he has the right to worship his Creator.
Importance of the Doctrine of Human Rights
The doctrine of human rights is very important to social order because it determines the necessary relationship with others such as relation between employer and employee, landlord and tenants, parents and children in a family. We know that man have rights but rights always involves duty. If a person have the right to live, he have duties which bound to look for the means to sustain that life.
Definition of Rights
• Anything due to a person.
• Moral power residing in a person, in virtue whereof he refers to himself as well as his own actions as other things which is referred to him in preference to other person.
• Moral power to do, hold, enjoy those things appropriate to one’s state in life.
• Right is indeed a power, but it is only moral meaning; one can not use physical force to enjoy a right.
Kinds of Rights
1. Natural Rights – based on the natural law that is on human nature.
2. Human Rights – based on human positive laws, either those enacted by the State or a religious sect.
3. Alienable and Inalienable Rights
• Alienable Rights – are those rights which can be surrendered or removed.
• Inalienable Rights – those which can not be surrendered or remove.
4. Right of Jurisdiction – is the power of lawful authority to govern his subjects and to make laws for them.
5. Right of Property – power to own, to sell or to give away one’s personal possession.
6. Juridical Rights and Non-Juridical Rights
• Juridical Rights – those rights must be respected, allowed, fulfilled as a matter of strict.
• Non-Juridical Rights – rights which are not founded on laws either natural of human but on virtue.
- also called as moral rights.
Misconception of Individual Rights
Two Erroneous Doctrines of Human Rights
1. One theory holds that individual is supreme and entirely free and absolutely independent from all interference or control on the part of the state.
2. The other extreme theory maintains that the state has complete sovereignty of the individual, that man has no reality or existence apart from the state is the source of all rights.
The true concept of right, we believe, is found midway between these two extremes. Man has rights anterior and superior to the state, but these rights are limited by common good.
Limitations of Rights
1. Rights are defined by natural law and, therefore, rights are limited by what the natural law prescribes or allows. There is never right, for instance to do evil.
2. Rights have necessarily the correlative of duties; to every right there exists a corresponding duty. This all follows from the principle of justice: we must give each one his due.
3. Rights must be limited for the preservation of the social order; unlimited rights necessarily means conflict of rights and eventually leads to the very dissolution of all rights.
4. Like every thing human rights are limited because of the very limitation of man’s nature. Man is always a mixture and never a pure being or pure act. Man is physically free yet morally bound. Man is a spirit yet bound to matter, etc., etc.
As Randal says in Preface to Philosophy ( why individual rights cannot be unlimited in society) : “ Unlimited individual rights make all good government impossible and often lead in the end to the ascendancy of one man or a party who exercises the authority of the government and takes all rights away, as in dictatorship.”
The Full Gamut of Human Rights
One limiting his attention to the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights gets the impression that human rights get limited in number. It should therefore be noted in this connection that each right appearing in the list is not a single one but a constellation of cognate rights,
According to the Corona Theory of Rights, a primordial right is viewed as a sun with sub rights emanating from it, as radiations seen like a solar corona during total eclipse.
Furthermore, no listing of rights can be complete for the simple reason that such list would include all possible type of rights, which is potentially indefinite. Even without invoking the world famous theory of Gödel that no system of thought can be complete and closed, we know that such a complete list of rights cannot be finalized because of the indeterminacy and unpredictability of the position and final state of society in final evolution.
Beyond Declaration – Implementation Realization
Every bill of rights is all very fine and ideal in paper. However, the same means little or nothing if not implemented and translated into reality of action and execution; for then the very purpose, which is the enjoyment of these rights by the citizens, is thereby frustrated or hindered.
Ethics and Law
ETHICS AND LAW
• Ethics deals with morality and morality presupposes a norm or law of conduct by which right is distinguished from wrong.
• Law may be defined as crystallized ethics.
The Metaphysical Basis of Law
• Everything is good because every being that everything and end suited to this nature. This is another way of saying that everything has its natural law.
• Normality of Function is the proper way in which by reason of its specific end, it should achieve the fullness of its being or its growth.
• Natural law in general is as we just seen, “the ideal formula of development of a given thing; it might be compared with an algebraic equation, say of a curve to which all curves in reality must conform or resemble at least in order to be true curve at all.
General Concept of Law
• Law in its widest sense, means a rule or norm which governs the nature and/ or actions of things.
• All beings in the universe, whether living or non-living, are governed by laws in this sense. These laws styled: “laws of nature” or simply natural laws.
• We also speak of the laws which control the biological functions of plants and animals, such as the laws of nutrition, growth, reproduction, etc. in every case, a law is conceived as directive of action.
• Law refers to the free acts of rational beings, to the violation acts of men. Thus, in its ethical or strictest sense, the term law means the rule of conduct which governs, directs, or regulates the free acts of men.
The Eternal Law
• There is in every man, the voice of reason which tells him of a law: Do good and avoid evil.
• Law proceeds from First Cause, the Supreme Lawgiver who is the ultimate source of all laws and the obligations. The moral law then is nothing else but the eternal laws, the law of God, made known to man by reason
• There exists in god an eternal law: As Aquinas profoundly observes: “Just as in every artificer, there pre-exists an exemplar of the things that are set up by his art, so too, in every governor there must pre-exist the exemplary of the order of things that are to be done by those who are subject to his government.
• The eternal law then applies to all creatures, rational, irrational, animate, inanimate. The law so applied to created things is what is called the natural law or law of nature.
The Physical and Moral Law
• A law in order to be true must be promulgated or made known to the subject in order to be truly binding
• This law of conscience is called the natural moral law. It is nothing else but the same eternal law made known to man by reason. “God has written His law, not on blocks of marble or on scrolls of paper; but on the heart of man.
• Herein lies another difference between the physical and the natural moral law. In the former, there is no freedom of choice. Inanimate objects for instance, act necessarily, invariably in accordance with the law.
Human Positive Laws and the Moral Laws
Positive laws are the laws of the state. The laws of the state are based on and derive their binding force from the natural moral law. When legislators enact laws, they really do not make the laws; they merely re-state, interpret, determine or specify what is contained in a general way in the natural moral law.
The function of the positive laws is to clarify and apply to specific cases, the general principles of the natural moral law. Without positive laws, the moral law would be subject to the individual interpretations of man and there will arise many conflicting interpretations and this would inevitably result into social disorder and chaos. Everybody knows that without the proper sanctions, the law can be easily violated because violators could do so with impunity.
Quotations
“There are eternal, immutable laws of good and evil to which the Creator Himself in all His dispensations, conforms; and which he has enabled human nature to discover, so far as they are necessary for the conduct of human actions.”
“Let it not be forgotten, let it be emphasized, repeated, emblazoned in the halls of every legislative body, that morality is a fundamental principle in legislation.”
Life and Law
Very early in life man becomes aware that he is living in a world of laws.
“If he reflects at all upon these laws, he realizes that they are not of his choosing – in fact, in many cases they are the reverse of what he would have chosen, but that their powers is in no way affected by his disapproval.”
“There is no way in which he can get free of them. He can act as though they did not exist, in which case they damage or even destroy him. If he is a sane man, he may dislike them but he accepts them, and does his best to live with them.”
“As there are laws that govern the body so there are laws – in particular, the moral law – which governs the soul. The moral law is no more made by man, or dependent on the approval of man, or in any way escapable by man, than the material law.”
Law and Justice
Laws are made for the purpose of securing the common good.
Laws according to Thomas Aquinas, can be unjust in two ways:
1. When they are contrary to the common good:
a. as when a government imposes on subjects burdensome laws which promote not the good of the people but the selfish interest of the rulers;
b. when the rulers enact laws outside of their powers;
c. when the laws are discriminatory in their impositions.
2. Laws can also be unjust when they contravene or run counter to the natural law or the divine law.
• Ethics deals with morality and morality presupposes a norm or law of conduct by which right is distinguished from wrong.
• Law may be defined as crystallized ethics.
The Metaphysical Basis of Law
• Everything is good because every being that everything and end suited to this nature. This is another way of saying that everything has its natural law.
• Normality of Function is the proper way in which by reason of its specific end, it should achieve the fullness of its being or its growth.
• Natural law in general is as we just seen, “the ideal formula of development of a given thing; it might be compared with an algebraic equation, say of a curve to which all curves in reality must conform or resemble at least in order to be true curve at all.
General Concept of Law
• Law in its widest sense, means a rule or norm which governs the nature and/ or actions of things.
• All beings in the universe, whether living or non-living, are governed by laws in this sense. These laws styled: “laws of nature” or simply natural laws.
• We also speak of the laws which control the biological functions of plants and animals, such as the laws of nutrition, growth, reproduction, etc. in every case, a law is conceived as directive of action.
• Law refers to the free acts of rational beings, to the violation acts of men. Thus, in its ethical or strictest sense, the term law means the rule of conduct which governs, directs, or regulates the free acts of men.
The Eternal Law
• There is in every man, the voice of reason which tells him of a law: Do good and avoid evil.
• Law proceeds from First Cause, the Supreme Lawgiver who is the ultimate source of all laws and the obligations. The moral law then is nothing else but the eternal laws, the law of God, made known to man by reason
• There exists in god an eternal law: As Aquinas profoundly observes: “Just as in every artificer, there pre-exists an exemplar of the things that are set up by his art, so too, in every governor there must pre-exist the exemplary of the order of things that are to be done by those who are subject to his government.
• The eternal law then applies to all creatures, rational, irrational, animate, inanimate. The law so applied to created things is what is called the natural law or law of nature.
The Physical and Moral Law
• A law in order to be true must be promulgated or made known to the subject in order to be truly binding
• This law of conscience is called the natural moral law. It is nothing else but the same eternal law made known to man by reason. “God has written His law, not on blocks of marble or on scrolls of paper; but on the heart of man.
• Herein lies another difference between the physical and the natural moral law. In the former, there is no freedom of choice. Inanimate objects for instance, act necessarily, invariably in accordance with the law.
Human Positive Laws and the Moral Laws
Positive laws are the laws of the state. The laws of the state are based on and derive their binding force from the natural moral law. When legislators enact laws, they really do not make the laws; they merely re-state, interpret, determine or specify what is contained in a general way in the natural moral law.
The function of the positive laws is to clarify and apply to specific cases, the general principles of the natural moral law. Without positive laws, the moral law would be subject to the individual interpretations of man and there will arise many conflicting interpretations and this would inevitably result into social disorder and chaos. Everybody knows that without the proper sanctions, the law can be easily violated because violators could do so with impunity.
Quotations
“There are eternal, immutable laws of good and evil to which the Creator Himself in all His dispensations, conforms; and which he has enabled human nature to discover, so far as they are necessary for the conduct of human actions.”
“Let it not be forgotten, let it be emphasized, repeated, emblazoned in the halls of every legislative body, that morality is a fundamental principle in legislation.”
Life and Law
Very early in life man becomes aware that he is living in a world of laws.
“If he reflects at all upon these laws, he realizes that they are not of his choosing – in fact, in many cases they are the reverse of what he would have chosen, but that their powers is in no way affected by his disapproval.”
“There is no way in which he can get free of them. He can act as though they did not exist, in which case they damage or even destroy him. If he is a sane man, he may dislike them but he accepts them, and does his best to live with them.”
“As there are laws that govern the body so there are laws – in particular, the moral law – which governs the soul. The moral law is no more made by man, or dependent on the approval of man, or in any way escapable by man, than the material law.”
Law and Justice
Laws are made for the purpose of securing the common good.
Laws according to Thomas Aquinas, can be unjust in two ways:
1. When they are contrary to the common good:
a. as when a government imposes on subjects burdensome laws which promote not the good of the people but the selfish interest of the rulers;
b. when the rulers enact laws outside of their powers;
c. when the laws are discriminatory in their impositions.
2. Laws can also be unjust when they contravene or run counter to the natural law or the divine law.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Factors that Lessen Accountability
Since responsibility depends on the voluntariness present in act, we must inquire in to the factors which affect voluntariness in an action. Factors that influence man’s inner disposition towards certain actions are called “modifiers” of human acts. These are namely: ignorance, concupiscence, fear, violence and habits.
1. Ignorance
- is the absence of intellectual knowledge which a person ought to possess. It is either vincible or invincible.
a. Vincible ignorance – can be easily reminded through ordinary diligence and reasonable efforts. Under of it is the affected ignorance, this is the type which a person keeps by positive efforts in order to escape responsibility or blame.
b. Invincible ignorance – is the type which a person possesses without being aware of it, or, having awareness of it, lack the means to rectify it.
Principles:
1. Invincible ignorance renders an act involuntary.
2. Vincible ignorance does not destroy, but lessens the voluntariness and the corresponding accountability over the act.
3. Affected ignorance, though it decreases voluntariness, increases the accountability over the resultant act.
2. Concupiscence (Passions)
- are either tendencies towards desirable objects, or, tendencies away from undesirable or harmful things. The former are called positive emotions; latter, negative emotions. It is either antecedent or consequent.
a. Antecedent – are those precede an act.
b. Consequent – are those that are intentionally aroused and kept.
Principles:
1. Antecedent passions do not always destroy voluntariness, but they diminished accountability for resultant act.
2. Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness, but may even increase accountability.
3. Fear
- is the disturbance of the mind of a person who is confronted by an impending danger or harm to himself or loved ones.
Principles:
1. Acts done with fear are voluntary.
2. Acts done out of fear, however great, is simply voluntary, although it is also conditionally voluntary.
3. Acts done because of intense fear or panic are involuntary.
4. Violence
- refers to any physical force exerted on a person by another free agent for the purpose of compelling said person to act against his will.
Principles:
1. External actions, or commanded actions, performed by a person subjected to violence, to which reasonable resistance has been offered, are involuntary and are not accountable.
2. Elicited acts, or those done by the will alone, are not subject to violence and are therefore voluntary.
5. Habits
-as defined by Glenn, “is lasting readiness and facility, born of frequently repeated acts, for acting in a certain manner.”
Principle:
1. Actions done by force of habit are voluntary in cause, unless a reasonable effort is made to counteract the habitual inclination.
1. Ignorance
- is the absence of intellectual knowledge which a person ought to possess. It is either vincible or invincible.
a. Vincible ignorance – can be easily reminded through ordinary diligence and reasonable efforts. Under of it is the affected ignorance, this is the type which a person keeps by positive efforts in order to escape responsibility or blame.
b. Invincible ignorance – is the type which a person possesses without being aware of it, or, having awareness of it, lack the means to rectify it.
Principles:
1. Invincible ignorance renders an act involuntary.
2. Vincible ignorance does not destroy, but lessens the voluntariness and the corresponding accountability over the act.
3. Affected ignorance, though it decreases voluntariness, increases the accountability over the resultant act.
2. Concupiscence (Passions)
- are either tendencies towards desirable objects, or, tendencies away from undesirable or harmful things. The former are called positive emotions; latter, negative emotions. It is either antecedent or consequent.
a. Antecedent – are those precede an act.
b. Consequent – are those that are intentionally aroused and kept.
Principles:
1. Antecedent passions do not always destroy voluntariness, but they diminished accountability for resultant act.
2. Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness, but may even increase accountability.
3. Fear
- is the disturbance of the mind of a person who is confronted by an impending danger or harm to himself or loved ones.
Principles:
1. Acts done with fear are voluntary.
2. Acts done out of fear, however great, is simply voluntary, although it is also conditionally voluntary.
3. Acts done because of intense fear or panic are involuntary.
4. Violence
- refers to any physical force exerted on a person by another free agent for the purpose of compelling said person to act against his will.
Principles:
1. External actions, or commanded actions, performed by a person subjected to violence, to which reasonable resistance has been offered, are involuntary and are not accountable.
2. Elicited acts, or those done by the will alone, are not subject to violence and are therefore voluntary.
5. Habits
-as defined by Glenn, “is lasting readiness and facility, born of frequently repeated acts, for acting in a certain manner.”
Principle:
1. Actions done by force of habit are voluntary in cause, unless a reasonable effort is made to counteract the habitual inclination.
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