Lesson 4: The Sea of Conscience

What is conscience?
- Many people believes that conscience is the gauge of morality it acts as a
barometer or a measurement either as mandated by the authority, norms
in the society, natural law or religious laws that determines how things
should be or should not be.
- Conscience comes from a Greek word “CUM ALIA SCIENTIA” which
means “MAN’S CORRECT APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE”

8 Kinds of Conscience
1. ANTECEDENT CONSCIENCE

- The judgment of a person deciding on a moral matter prior to acting on it.

Antecedent conscience either commands or forbids, counsels or permits the
performance of an act.

Example: It is the night before the final exam, if your mind is telling you that
cheating is wrong, and you have the feeling of not doing it, your conscience
forbids you to commit a bad act

2. CONSEQUENT CONSCIENCE

- The judgment of the mind on the morality of an action already performed. The
conscience either approves what has been done, giving peace to the mind and
spiritual joy, or disapproves of what was done, thus causing remorse and a sense
of guilt.

Example: In dire need of money, you decide to go to your friend's boarding

house hoping that he can lend you some penny. As you approach the door of his
house, you discovered that there was 1,000.00Php fell on the ground. You
picked it up and decided to go home immediately. Delighted by the event, you
thought of going to Mang Inasal to have a bountiful dinner. As you sleep in the
night, you were unhappy and the thought that you spent a money which is not
yours cannot be erase in your mind.

3. TRUE CONSCIENCE
- Is a type of conscience that judges things as they are. It judges action as good
as really good and bad as really bad.

Example: A student of NGEC 8 under Mrs. Ocon was given a grade of 1.2 for
the prelim period.That student was you. However, you know for a fact that you
were not able to take the 3 minor quizzes and failed during the prelim
examination. Your best friend whose surname listed is right after you got a
failing remark despite of topping the quizzes and passed the major exam. As the
result, you approached your teacher and verified things despite of the fact that
you may have a failing grade in reality,

4. ERRONEOUS CONSCIENCE

- It judges things in a distorted manner and consider bad acts as good one and
good acts as bad one. This is also an ignorant conscience.

Example: A PMI student caught in a buy-bust operation related to selling of

illegal narcotics. During the interrogation, the student told the police that he was
forced to do so because of extreme poverty and it aided his maritime education.

5. CERTAIN CONSCIENCE

- Is a subjective certainty of the legality of particular actions to be performed or

to be avoided. According to many moralists, this type of conscience is highly
regarded that man should develop one. A state of mind when it has no prudent
fear of being wrong about its judgment on some moral issue and firmly decides
that some action is right or wrong.

Example: When a mother discovered that she is having an ectopic pregnancy,

she decided to remove the fetus as early as possible to save her life from
possible complications. She had the abortion because she has to live for her 2
children that are still dependent to her.

6. DOUBTFUL CONSCIENCE

- A state of mind when it cannot certainly decide for or against a course of

action and leaves the person unsure about the morality of what one is to do, or
what one may have done.

Example: An example would be if you had to decide to steal food or money to

feed your starving child.

7. SCRUPULOUS CONSCIENCE
- Is one which sees wrong where there is one. It is a type of conscience where it
is afraid to commit evil.

Example: Scrupulous people means very careful to do things properly and

correctly, such as paying friends back for money borrowed right away.

8. LAX CONSCIENCE

- A type of conscience where it fails to see wrong where obviously there is

wrong.

Example: Having extra marital affair is an example of lax conscience. A two-

timer boyfriend or girlfriend is definitely wrong.

Learning Objectives for Lesson 4-B

At the end of the discussion, the students will be able to:

1. Define values,

2. Identity valuable needs from non-valuable wants, and

3. Apply valuable needs in the real life situations.

What is values?

- It refers to any object or being to satisfy human needs. It refers to any amount
of commodity obtained in exchange of another. Values are the object of human
desires and striving at the same time. Values are also subjective beliefs which
people hold to be true. In other words values refers to people, things, ideas or
even goals which holds importance to one's life.

- Max Scheller defined values as valuable essences or properties.

PROPERTIES OF VALUES:

1. VALUES ARE SUBJECTIVE

- The importance of a being is dependent to the subject.

2. VALUES ARE OBJECTIVE

- All beings have worth or value apart from the subject.

3. VALUES ARE RELATIVE

- There are things or certain actions that might be good for you but harmful to
others and vice versa.

4. VALUES ARE BI-POLAR

- It refers to the rightness and wrongness of an act or the goodness and badness
of a thing.

5. VALUES ARE HIERARCHICAL

- These are orders of importance.

MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

- has often been represented in a hierarchical paramidwi five levels. The four
levels (lower-order needs) are considered physiological needs, while the top
level of the pyramid is considered growth needs. The lower level needs must be
satisfied before higher-order needs can influence behavior.

1. Self-actualization

- includes morality, creativity, problem solving, etc.

2. Esteem

- includes confidence, self-esteem, achievement, respect, etc.

3. Belongingness

- includes love, friendship, intimacy, family, etc.

4. Safety

- includes security of environment, employment, resources, health, property,

etc.

5. Physiological

- includes air, food, water, sex, sleep, other factors towards homeostasis

Lesson 5: Human Acts VS. Acts of Man

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the discussion, the students will be able to

1. Differentiate acts of man from human acts,

2. Judge responsibilities after the performance of human acts, and

3. Appraise modifiers of human acts which alter responsibilities.

What is act of man?

- Many are contuse whether or not acts of man is the same with human act
but philosophy emphasized that the two are not the same. Acts of man
refers to actions that pertains to human but these actions are also shared
by animals. Such actions do not involve knowledge, no condition to
exercise the right of choosing and much more no requirement for
submission to one's own volition. These acts of man refer to human
nature.
What is human act?

- Human acts are actions that pertain to human alone. It is a series of

complicated actions that involves the three essential elements of human
act. Furthermore, human act-entails responsibilities after the act has been
performed. It places the agent of the act to become liable to the outcome
of his action whether it is good or bad one.

(3) THREE ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACT:

1. KNOWLEDGE

2. FREEDOM

3. VOLUNTARINESS

HUMAN ACT IN RELATION TO REASON

1. GOOD ACTS

- it refers to the absence of evil.

2. EVIL ACTS

- it refers to the absence of good.

3. INDIFFERENT ACT

- it is neither good nor evil.

INDIRECT VOLUNTARINESS OF HUMAN ACT

- REFERS TO AN ACT WHICH IS DESIRED NOT AS AN END IN

ITSELF BUT A FORESEEN EFFECTS OR CONSEQUENCES OF AN
ACT. THE PERSON IS MORALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EVIL
EFFECT WHICH IS NOT DIRECTLY WILLED.

ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING CIRCUMSTANCES:

1. IF THE AGENT FORESEE THE EVIL EFFECT

2. IF THE AGENT IS FREE TO REFAIN FROM DOING THAT WHICH

IS THE CAUSE OFTHE EVIL EFFECT

3. IF THE AGENT KNOWS THAT HEIS MORALLY BOUND NOT TO

DO THAT WHICH IS THE CAUSE OF THE EVIL EFFECT

HUMAN ACT FROM WHICH TWO EFFECTS MAY RESULT, ONE

IS GOOD AND THE OTHER IS EVIL, IS MORALLY PERMISSIBLE
UNDER THE FOLLOWING CIRCUMSTANCE:

Innocence is

1. THE ACTION MUST BE MORALLY GOOD IN ITSELF.

2. THE GOOD EFFECT OF THE ACT MUST PRECEDE THE EVIL

EFFECT. THE EVIL EFFECTS MORALLY ALLOWED TO HAPPEN
AS A REGRETTABLE CONSEQUENCE.

3. THERE MUST BE A GRAVE OR SUFFICIENT REASON IN DOING

THE ACT.

4. THE EVIL EFFECT SHOULD NOT OUTWEIGHT THE GOOD

EFFECT OR ATLEAST THE GOOD EFFECT SHOULD BE
EQUIVALENT TO IMPORTANCE TO THE EVIL EFFECT.
 MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACT:

1. IGNORANCE

- is the lack or absence of knowledge where one has the obligation to know.

- Innocence is a mental state where there is also lack or absence of

knowledge however the person has no obligation to know.

2. CONCUPISCENCE

- these are crimes of passion. When one person is driven to perform act with
high or intense emotion that makes him unable to rationalize the situation.
Example is absolutory cause.

3. FEAR

- an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is

dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Actions done with and from fear
are voluntary acts.

4. VIOLENCE

- it refers to the use of physical power or external force on a person by

another.

5. HABIT

- a constant and easy way of doing things acquired by the repetition of the
same act.

Lesson 6: DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the discussion, the students will be able to:

1. Enumerate the determinants of morality,

2. Translate the determinants of morality with the different circumstance of

morality, and

3. Examine the degree of liability in relation to the performance of the ad.

Conventional moral philosophers propose that for an act to be morally valid it
must conform equitably to the Determinants of Morality performed by a free
agent. These are the following:

1. OBJECT OF MORALITY

- also known as the object of the will that which the will chooses to do and thus
nothing else but the act itself which is deliberately willed.This refers to the
means used or employed in performance of a certain act.

2. END OF MORALITY

- it refers to the result of the act whether it is intrinsically good, evil or a mere
indifferent act.

3. CIRCUMSTANCES

-these refers to the conditions in the performance of the act.

7 KINDS OF CIRCUMSTANCES:

1. WHO

- these refers to the circumstance of the agent. It refers to the person or the one
to whom the act is ascribed.

2. WHAT

- it refers to the quality or quantity of the object of the act.

3. WHERE

- it refers to the place where the act was performed.

4. BY WHAT MEANS

- it refers to the means employed by the agent.

5. HOW

- it refers to the manner or mode by which the act is done

6. WHEN
- this refers to the circumstance of time. This one points out when was the act
performed and in what manner does the element of time affects the performance
of the act

7. WHY

-it refers to the very reason of the commission of the act. It refers to the motive
that prompt the agent to perform the act.

Revised Penal Code of the Philippines Justifying Circumstances and Other

Circumstances which EXEMPT from Criminal Liability

Art. 11. Justifying circumstances. - The following do not incur any criminal
liability.

1. Anyone who acts in defence of his person or rights, provided that the
following circumstances concur,

1) Unlawful aggression.
2) Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it.
3) Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending
himself.

2. Anyone who acts in defence of the person or rights of his spouse, ascendants,
descendants, or legitimate, natural or adopted brothers or sisters, or his relatives
by affinity in the same degrees and those consanguinity within the fourth civil
degree,

3. Anyone who acts in defence of the person or rights of a stranger.

4. Any person who, in order to avoid an evil or injury, does not act which
causes damage to another, provided that the following requisites are present;
First. That the evil sought to be avoided actually exists; Second. That the injury
feared be greater than that done to avoid it; Third. That there be no other
practical and less harmful means of preventing it.

5. Any person who acts in the fulfilment of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a
right or office.

6. Any person who acts in obedience to an order issued by a superior for some
lawful purpose.
Art. 12. Circumstances which exempt from criminal liability

1. An imbecile or an insane person, unless the latter has acted during a lucid
interval.

2. A person under nine years of age.

3. A person over nine years of age and under fifteen, unless he has acted with
discernment,

4. Any person who, while performing a lawful act with due care, causes an
injury by mere accident without fault or intention of causing it.

5. Any person who act under the compulsion of irresistible force.

6. Any person who acts under the impulse of an uncontrollable fear of an equal
or greater injury.

7. Any person who fails to perform an act required by law, when prevented by
some lawful insuperable cause.

Art. 14. Aggravating circumstances. - The following ace aggravating

circumstances:

1. That advantage be taken by the of tender of his public position.

2. That the crime be committed in contempt or with insult to the public

authorities.

3. That the act be committed with insult or in disregard of the respect due the
fended patty on account or his rank, age, or sex, or committed in the diveling ol
the intended act.