Lecture 7:

Norm of Morality

Ms. Angela Suzanne L. Roldan RPm

CAS-Psychology Department
Meaning of Norms

A standard of measurement

Norms are used to support a judgment on the

moral qualities of human acts
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.” – Gula

 Quality of character = persons we ought to be

 Quality of an act = actions we ought to perform

 Actions reflects character.

 Basis of Moral Judgment

1.Eternal Law
2.Natural Law
3.Conscience
Basis of Moral Judgment

Eternal Law (Ultimate norm) – The will of God is to

preserved natural order and forbid what disrupts it
(Contra Faustum Manicheum).
Natural Law (Remote norm) – “The command to become what
one potentiality is, a person within a community of persons.” ; towards
growth and self-fulfilment.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NATURAL LAW

1. It is universal – Shared by all men

2. It is obligatory – Laws of our desires and actuations which has dire
consequences
3. It is recognizable – we are capable of self-reflexive (knowing what
is expected from you)
4. It is immutable and unchangeable – human nature is permanent
and unchangeable.
Conscience - “Judgment of Reason” The practical
judgment of what is good and what must be avoided.

TYPES OF CONSCIENCE

1. Correct conscience – sees what is good as good, the evil as evil

(habit of doing good; results from upbringing, education, good
habits and intelligent laws.).

2. Erroneous conscience – sees what is evil as good (malice,

ignorance, bad habits and influence).
TYPES OF CONSCIENCE

3. Doubtful conscience – vacillating / indecisive; unsure of

itself.

4. Scrupulous conscience – overly cautious, meticulous, fear

of committing mistakes

5. Lax conscience – indifferent, unmindful of right or wrong.

Compulsory Conscience

When conscience operates in the realm of truth and

sound reason it is compulsory to listen to it.

When conscience deviates from the norm and urges us to

do what is unreasonable, it is “our own evil work.”
Conformity and Non-Conformity of a
Human Act

 A person must do whatever fits his functions, and it works both ways through
good and evil.

 A talented singer must sing well; and an honorable student must perform well in
school.

 Eating junk foods does not fit the health of a person who’s a vegetarian.

 Immoral acts do not fit human soul.

Formal and Material Norms

 Formal norms – “What kind of person we ought to be.” It is consists of directives

towards character development. (Be honest, be respectful, be direct)

 Material norms – “what actions we ought to do.” Material norms determine

whether an act on account of its nature conforms or does not conform with the
formal norms.

 How about parents asking their obedient child to steal? Is it disobedience to

disobey such directives?
Moral Relativism

 The human mind is finite and limited thus it doesn’t always

grasp the moral significance of certain acts or events (death
penalty, divorce, abortion, gay marriage, or euthanasia)
whether they are morally permissible or not.

 Differences however does not mean that there are no

absolute truths. (The golden rule; evil deeds must be
punished) Yet, people may disagree about the application of
these truths (an eye for an eye).
Physicalism vs Personalism

 How acts are to be judged on the basis of Natural Law.

 Physicalism – Anything opposed to man’s physical, biological and

physiological tendencies are wrong and immoral.

 Personalism – Reason is the standard of moral judgment. Right

reason or “recta ratio” is the dynamic tendency to know the truth
and to grasp the whole reality.
The Order of Reason

“Endowed with intelligence and freedom, he is

responsible for his fulfilment as he is with his salvation.”

“Humans are not subject to the God-given order of

nature…rather nature provides the possibilities and
potentialities which the human person can use to make
human life truly human.” – Richard Gula