NORM OF MORALITY

THE MEANING OF NORMS

NORM
A standard of measurement.
It is an instrument through which the quality or quantity
of a thing is determined.
MORALITY
From the Latin word MORALITAS meaning manner, character, proper
behavior
It is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those
that are good (or right) and those that are bad (or wrong)
-Wikipedia
Are the standards that indicate the rightfulness or wrongfulness,
goodness or evilness, value or disvalue of a thing
These are qualities that cannot be measured by any mechanical
device because they are spiritual qualities that appeal only to
reason
The norms of morality are the criteria of judgment
about the sorts of persons we ought to be and the sorts
of actions we ought to perform
(Richard M. Gula)
The word ought implies a duty or obligation. It means
that a person or his action should possess a certain
quality or it falls a short of standards.
The phrase criteria of judgment implies the use of reason
in determining the quality being measured.
BASIS OF MORAL JUDGMENT
The Eternal Law
Is the ultimate norm
The Natural Law
Is the remote norm
Conscience
Is the proximate norm
THE ETERNAL LAW
St. Thomas Aquinas refers to eternal law as the exemplar of
divine wisdom as directing all actions and movements (1-11,
93:1)
St. Augustine defines it as the divine reason or will of God
commanding that the natural order of things be preserved and
forbidding that it be disturbed (Contra Faustum Manicheum,
22:27)
THE NATURAL LAW
Refers to the operational tendencies of the human nature
Is the tendency of human nature towards growth and
self-fulfillment
CHARACTERISTICS OF NATURAL LAW
1. It is universal because it is the human nature which is shared by all men.
Though realized differently according to their respective cultures.
2. It is obligatory because the tendencies of our human nature are the laws of
our desires and actuations which we cannot ignore without dire
consequences..
3. It is recognizable because man, being self-reflexive, is aware of his nature,
of what he is capable of and what is expected of him by his own kind.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NATURAL LAW
4. It is immutable and unchangeable because although change is a rule of life,
human nature in its essentiality and substantiality remains permanent and
unchangeable.
CONSCIENCE
It is the practical judgment of reason telling us what
should be done because it is good or what should be
avoided because it is evil.
TYPES OF CONSCIENCE
1. Correct conscience sees the good as good, the evil as evil. Correct conscience
comes from enlightenment, from refined moral sensibility, or from the
habit of doing good.
2. Erroneous conscience sees evil as something good. Erroneous conscience
comes from malice, ignorance, bad habits and bad influence.
3. Doubtful conscience is a vacillating conscience, unsure of itself.
4. Scrupulous conscience is overly cautious, meticulous, and fearful of committing
a mistake.
TYPES OF CONSCIENCE


5. Lax conscience is indifferent, umindful of right or wrong.
Compulsary Conscience
Conformity and Non-conformity
Formal and Material Norms
Physicalism vs Personalism
There are two view points on how moral acts are to be judged on the basis
of natural law.
1. Physicalism suggests that the physical and biological nature of man
determines morality.
2. Personalism suggests that reason is the standard for moral judgment.
The Order of Reason
Moral Pretension