The Stages of Moral Development,

Development and Formation of

Conscience and Meaning of
Human Act

Presentation by Group 3
What is Moral Development?
Moral Development
It is the way we
distinguish right
from wrong as we
grow older.
KOHLBERG'S THEORY OF
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Kohlberg's theory proposes that there are
three levels of moral development, with
each level split into two stages. Kohlberg
suggested that people move through these
stages in a fixed order, and that moral
understanding is linked to cognitive
development. The three levels of moral
reasoning include preconventional,
conventional, and postconventional.
 Level 1.
Preconventional
Morality

It lasts until approximately age 9.

Children don’t have a personal code of morality, and
instead moral decisions are shaped by the standards of
adults and the consequences of following or breaking
their rules.
 Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation

The child/individual is good in order to avoid

being punished. If a person is punished, they
must have done wrong.
 Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange

Children recognize that there is not just one

right view that is handed down by the
authorities. Different individuals have
different viewpoints.
 Level 2.
Conventional
Morality
Characterized by an acceptance of social rules
concerning right and wrong.
Most adolescents and adults begin to internalize
the moral standards of valued adult role models.

Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationships

The child/individual is good in order to be seen as

being a good person by others. Therefore, answers
relate to the approval of others.
 Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order

The child/individual becomes aware of the

wider rules of society, so judgments concern
obeying the rules in order to uphold the law
and to avoid guilt.
 Level 3.
Postconventional
Morality

Characterized by an individuals’ understanding of

universal ethical principles.
Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles,
and moral reasoning is based on individual rights and
justice.
 Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights

The child/individual becomes aware that while

rules/laws might exist for the good of the
greatest number, there are times when they will
work against the interest of particular
individuals.
 Stage 6. Universal Principles

People at this stage have developed their own set

of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the
law. The principles apply to everyone.
 Development &
Transformation of
Conscience
Pazino defines conscience as “an act of the practical judgment of reason
deciding upon an individual action as good and to be performed and as evil
and to be avoided” referring to as the “inner or little voice of God”.

Panizo (1964) quotes St. Thomas regarding the obligatory force of conscience:
“Every conscience, whether right or erroneous, whether with regard to acts
which are evil in themselves or acts which are indifferent, is obligatory, so that
he who acts in opposition to his conscience, does wrong.”

Rev. Thomas V. Berg (2012) defines conscience as follows :

In the Natural Law tradition, conscience is understood to be a judgment
emanating from human reason about choices and actions to be made, or
accomplished, or already opted for and performed.
 Aquinas held that conscience, in this strict sense was an

Act of human reason or called

A time deliberation
Judgment

The Interior
resounding
of reason

awareness of a
choice
an action’s harmony
or disharmony
with the kind of
behavior which truly
leads to our genuine
well-being, and
flourishing
 The Formation of Conscience
What then is meant when it is said that the conscience must be “formed”?

Conscience formation begins with the deep-seated

1 decision to seek moral truth.

A sound conscience must stand on the firm

2 foundation of integrity, sincerity and forthrightness.

Conscience formation is sustained by the habit of

3 consistently educating oneself by exposure to objective
moral norms and the rationale behind those norms.
Conscience needs a guide…
The church’s moral teaching, while certainly
enlightened by divinely revealed law, is, at its core, the
application of what this tradition has discovered over the
centuries about the kinds of behavior that lead us to live
genuinely fulfilling human lives. You do not place
yourself at odds with the tradition lightly.

Conscience information requires a habit on-going

self-information (what we might call moral
information gathering) through study, reading, and
other types of injury.
This consultation with persons whose moral judgment
we know to be sound and accord with the Church
moral tradition.
By “Prudence” we mean the virtue as understood within the Natural
Law tradition.

This should not be confused with timidity, “covering one’s back”

or dissimulation (hiding the truth). (Berg, 2012)
Added by Fr. Vitaliano Gorospe (1974), that getting to the highest-
level, conscience-based moral decision can mean the widening
human consciousness.
As one’s consciousness widens, the moral parameters or standards
of one’s decision making widens, one moral conscience widens,
one matures.
Problems with Kohlberg's Methods

1. The dilemmas are artificial

2. The sample is biased
3. The dilemmas are hypothetical
4. Poor research design
Problems with Kohlberg's Theory

1. Are there distinct stages of moral development?

2. Does moral judgment match moral behavior?
3. Is justice the most moral principle?
Human Acts
The material object of ethics which refers to the act done by a
human person in which his rational and higher faculties of
intelligence and freewill are utilized contrary to those acts in
which said faculties are not used.
According to Fr. Coppins, (2017) Human Acts are those of
which is a man is master, which he has the power of doing or
not doing as he pleases.
Human Acts are acts of a moral agent.

Acts of Man
These are natural processes within the body that continue to
function without the use of free will and reason. They just
happen naturally as automatic responses to situations. (Living
a Christian Moral Life, 2013)
The actions which merely happen in the body or through the
body without the awareness of the mind or the control of the
will are not human acts but merely acts of man.
Human Acts vs.
Acts of Man
Human Acts
Acts that we do with the use of free will and intellect.
They are done freely, deliberately, and voluntarily.
Example: studying, working, eating healthy foods.

Acts of Man
Acts that we do without free will and intellect; some are done by instinct.
The actions are performed without conscious deliberation or knowledge and with
the absence of a free will. Acts of man constitute unconscious and involuntary
actions.
Example: breathing, digestion, circulation of air in the body.
Constituents of
Human Acts
1. Human acts must be known and deliberate.
An individual, as the moral agent, has full knowledge of doing a certain
action. There is prior knowledge and a deliberate evaluation of whether to
fulfill an action or not (Living a Christian Moral Life, 2013).

2. Human acts must be free.

An individual as the moral agent is free from any external factors as well as
internal pressure to do an act. He/she is neither forced nor intimidated to do
or not to do something (Living a Christian Moral Life, 2013).

3. Human acts are voluntary.

The action proceeds from the willingness of an individual to perform an
action with a perceived knowledge of the end. (Living a Christian Moral Life,
2013).
Determinants of the Morality of Human Act
Rev. Coppens, S.J. says that to know whether an individual human act is
morally good, three things are considered.
1. Object of the Act
It is the thing done. In reality, it is not distinct from the act itself; for we
cannot act without doing something, and that thing that is done is the
object of the act.
The act or object may be viewed as containing a further specification.
For an individual act to be good, its object, whether considered in itself or
as further specified, must be free from all defect; it must be good, or at
least indifferent.
2. End - It is the purpose intended by the agent.
i. "The end does not justify the means."
3. Circumstances - It refers to the time, place, person, and conditions
surrounding the moral act.
Impediments to
Human Acts
IGNORANCE
pertains to the lack of pertinent information, as to the nature, circumstances,
and effect of a certain action
a. Invincible Ignorance - being totally ignorant of the things surrounding
his/her action and there is no way to remove/dispel it.
b. Vincible Ignorance - There is a lack of required knowledge to determine
the goodness or badness of a certain action, but this can be dispelled or
learned.
2 forms:
i. affected vincible ignorance - pretending to be ignorant since he/she
just wants to gain the approval of the other for his/her wrong action
ii. supine or crass ignorance - happens when a person exerts little
effort to know something
CONCUPISCENCE
a situation where one's inordinate passion hinders one to exercise correct
reasoning, thus also affects his/her actions

PASSION
- are either tendencies away, from under undesirable or harmful things.
Positive emotions - love, desire, delight, hope, bravery
Negative emotions - hatred, horror, sadness, despair, fear, anger.

a. Antecedent Concupiscence - A spontaneous/sudden inordinate

passion influences an action before it has been controlled by the will
b. Consequent Concupiscence - The passion has already passed through
the intellect and controlled by the will, but still, the individual performs
the human act.
FEAR
the disturbance of the mind of a person who is confronted by an impending
danger or harm to himself or loved ones.
Types of Fear:
a. Slight Fear - aroused by danger
- that is not serious
b. Grave Fear - aroused by the presence of a danger
- that is regarded by most people as serious
Principles of Fear:
Acts done with fear are voluntary.
Acts done because of intense fear or panic are involuntary
VIOLENCE
any physical force exerted on a person by another free agent for the purpose of
compelling said person to act against his will.

Types of Violence:
a. Perfect Violence
 Physically Perfect Violence - in which all possible forms of
resisting are utilized
 Morally Perfect Violence - in which all powers of resistance
should be used but not employed for a good reason.
b. Imperfect Violence – is that in which some resistance is shown but not as
much as should be.
HABIT
a firm and stable behavioral pattern of acting

VIRTUE – Disposes to God

– good habits

VICE – Disposes one to Evil

– bad habits
Internal and External
Principles of Human
Acts
 INTERNAL PRINCIPLES
1 Intellect

2 Will and Sense Appetites

3 Habit

4 Virtue and Vice

 EXTERNAL PRINCIPLES
1 Law
- Civil Law
- Natural Law
- Eternal Law
2 Grace
 Freedom
and
Responsibility
 "Man is condemned to be free,
because there is no God."

"Whether he likes it or not, man is

doomed to freedom, as he himself
is freedom."

John Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976)
contends that the emphasis on freedom
enables us to understand philosophy as a
"going-after-the-whole" that is at the same
time a "going-to-our-roots"
claims that man is "Dasein"
Da - means there
Sein - means being
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Moral Development is the way we distinguish right from wrong as we grow
older.
Kohlberg's theory is broken down into three primary levels. Such as
preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. Wherein, at each
level of moral development, there are two stages.
A sound conscience must stand on the firm foundation of integrity,
sincerity and forthrightness.
Human Acts are acts of a moral agent.
Acts of Man happens naturally as automatic responses to situations.
The 3 Constituents of Human Act are knowledge, free will, and
voluntariness.
The Determinants of Morality of Human Act are object, end, and
circumstances.
The Impediments of Human Act are Ignorance, Concupiscence, Fear,
Violence, Habit.
Thank you!