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Ethics 2 3 Law and Conscience

The document discusses the concepts of law and conscience. It defines law as an ordinance of reason promulgated for the common good by the authority in charge of society. There are three classifications of law: eternal law instituted by God, natural law dictated by conscience to do good and avoid evil, and human positive law promulgated by church, state, or other institutions. Conscience is one's practical judgment of an act as good or evil. It comes in correct, erroneous, scrupulous, lax, certain, and doubtful forms. The document also discusses moral dilemmas as situations with two or more moral actions to choose from that cannot all be performed.

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Corrine Abucejo
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393 views11 pages

Ethics 2 3 Law and Conscience

The document discusses the concepts of law and conscience. It defines law as an ordinance of reason promulgated for the common good by the authority in charge of society. There are three classifications of law: eternal law instituted by God, natural law dictated by conscience to do good and avoid evil, and human positive law promulgated by church, state, or other institutions. Conscience is one's practical judgment of an act as good or evil. It comes in correct, erroneous, scrupulous, lax, certain, and doubtful forms. The document also discusses moral dilemmas as situations with two or more moral actions to choose from that cannot all be performed.

Uploaded by

Corrine Abucejo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CONCEPT OF LAW &

CONSCIENCE
What is Law?
• St. Thomas Aquinas defines law as an “an
ordinance of reason promulgated for the
common good by one has charge of
society.”
• It is a product of man’s rational nature
• A command or directive emanating from
a legitimate authority
Qualities of Law
• It must be just
• It must be honest
• It is possible to be fulfilled
• It is useful as guide to attain a goal
• It must be relatively permanent
• It must be promulgated
• It must be directed to the common good
• It must be promulgated by one who has the care
of the community
Classifications of Law
• ETERNAL LAW
• it is instituted by God, such as the Ten
Commandments. It is also known as the
Divine Law
• It comes from the universal plan of God
and the providence of nature
• It is summarized into two: Love of God
and Love of neighbor as yourself
Classifications of Law
• NATURAL LAW
• Dictated silently by man’s conscience: “Do
good and avoid evil.”
• It is an innate universal command which comes
from the very heart of the person regardless the
place and time.
Attributes:
• The natural law is obligatory
• The natural law has its own proper sanctions
• The natural law is knowable and recognizable
• The natural law is immutable and unchangeable
Classifications of Law
• HUMAN POSITIVE LAW
• Promulgated by the Church (ecclesiastical law)
or by the State (civil law) or by any legitimate
institution for the benefit of the people.
• This law is man-made.
• It is not absolute or permanent
CONSCIENCE
• It tells the person internally what is ought to do in
a certain situation
• It morally dictates him: Do good and avoid evil
• An act of practical judgment of reason
• it is the practical judgement of reason upon an
individual act as good and to be performed or
as evil and therefore, to be avoided. (Glenn)
• It is the mind of man passing moral judgement
(Thomas Aquinas)
• It is the action of the practical intellect deciding
whether a particular, proposed operation is good
or bad (John A. Hardon)
Kinds of Conscience
• Correct or True Conscience – it discerns the person what is
good as good, what is evil and evil
• Erroneous or False Conscience – it makes mistakes what is
good as evil, and what is evil as good
• Scrupulous Conscience – it is extremely cautious or fearful
to the point that the person refuses to judge the act
• Lax Conscience – it finds excuses for an evil act not to be
sinful. The sinful act is judged as not sinful or even good
act.
• Certain Conscience – it is of sure and firm judgement on
an act without a bit of doubt.
• Doubtful Conscience – it is a suspension of judgment on an
act because he is not sure on the goodness or badness
• You are at your best friend’s wedding just an
hour before the ceremony is to start. Earlier that
day, you came across definitive proof that your
best friend’s spouse-to-be is having an affair with
the best man/maid of honor, and you catch
them sneaking out of a room together looking
disheveled. If you tell your friend about the affair,
their day will be ruined, but you don’t want them
to marry a cheater. What do you do?
MORAL DILEMMA
A moral dilemma is a situation where”
• You are presented with two or more actions, all of which you
have the ability to perform
• There are moral reasons for you to choose each of the actions
• You cannot perform all of the actions and have to choose which
action, or actions when there are three or more choices to
perform
Three Levels of Moral Dilemma
• INDIVIDUAL
• This is experienced by individuals who have a hard
time to choose the right action from two or more
actions
• ORGANIZATIONAL
• Administrative decisions are characterized as having
routines, and challenges.
• Dilemmas encountered by the administrator and the
employees
• SYSTEMIC
• Occur in the ordinary condition of life

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