10/22/13

1
!"#$%
1LLCS CkLA1LD
1nINGS
nUMAN
8LING
LUDAIMCNIA
(vl81uCuS LllL
LlvLu ln
l8lLnuSPl)
reason & w|||
nUMAN
8LING
IkILNDSnI
WI1n GCD
(fa|th, hope, |ove)
LCVL CI GCD &
C1nLkS
#1. Mora||ty]eth|cs |s a response to the hearts
deep |ong|ng for happ|ness understood as our human
!"#$%, the best poss|b|e or most fu|h|||ng way of ||fe.
#2. 1he best and most fu|h|||ng
way of ||fe |s to ||ve a v|rtuous
||fe, |ov|ng God and a|| others
because God |oves them.
#3 . numan acts are the steps we
take to ache|ve th|s !"#$%. A||
human acts are mora| acts.
#4. numan acts have an |nter|or
d|mens|on that shapes character for
beuer or for worse depend|ng on the
k|nd of acnons we perform.
Good acts done we|| form v|rtues, ev||
or med|ocre acts form v|ces.
S|nce we become what we do, we must
p|an our acnons we||.
#6. numan be|ngs are created by God w|th
natura| |nc||nanons towards happ|ness,
goodness and truth that are both |nter|or
supports of freedom and the foundanon of
natura| |aw.
8ut these |nc||nanons need to be deve|oped
through educanon and pracnce of the v|rtues |n
order for a person to ach|eve true freedom.
#S. Ireedom |s the exerc|se of &"'%$( and )*## |n
pursu|t of the exce||ence and fu|h||ment proper to
us as human be|ngs. We are most free when we act
v|rtuous|ythat |s when we know, des|re, and w|||
the good.
#7. Good fr|endsh|ps are schoo|s of v|rtue through wh|ch we
become our best se|ves and move towards |ov|ng un|on w|th God.

#8. As we open ourse|ves to God |n fr|endsh|p, God hea|s and
ra|ses up human nature so we can ||ve as h|s fr|ends and come to
the fu|h||ment and happ|ness proper to us as human be|ngs. 1he
mora| ||fe |s a ||fe ||ved |n fr|endsh|p w|th God.
10/22/13
2
# 9. Ir|endsh|p w|th God |eads us to
befr|end others for Gods sake
espec|a||y enem|es, the |ast, the |ost,
and the |east.
#10. Ir|ends of God make
Gods dream for the wor|d
(the re|gn of God) the|r own
and work to make |t a rea||ty.
1h|s fr|endsh|p consntutes our
happ|ness-the fu|h||ment of
our ||ves.
Who am I ?
Who am I |n re|anon to God? 1o
s|gn|hcant others? 1o soc|ety?
now do I eva|uate my character?
Who ought I to become ?
What story]v|s|on am I ca||ed to ||ve?
What |s the change I want to see?
What v|rtues do I need to deve|op?
How do I become this?
What pracnces and acnons w|||
he|p me ||ve the v|s|on? What
acnons are |ncons|stent?
numan acts have an |nter|or and
exter|or d|mens|on.

Good acts done for good monves
strengthen our |nc||nanons to the
good. 1hey form VIk1ULS wh|ch |ead
to true freedom.

Defecnve acts even when done for
good monves weaken our natura|
|nc||nanons. 1hey form v|ces wh|ch
damage freedom.

Human acts affect our character because they
involve directing our will towards or away
from the good. We are always shaping and
reshaping ourselves through our actions
1he morallLy of human acLs depends on Lhe:

Cb[ect of the Act- 1he ob[ecL of an acL ls Lhe acLs naLural end,
lL ls an lnLenuonal acL- a purposeful, meaningful, behavior LhaL
one chooses Lo do. lL specles whaL Lhe person chooses Lo do. lL
answers Lhe quesuon, WhaL am l dolng?

Intennon of the Agent - 1he mouves or purposes of Lhe doer ln
chooslng Lo perform an acuon. lL answers Lhe quesuon WhaL do
l wanL Lo accompllsh by Lhls acL? Cne lnLenuon can be
embodled by many acLs and one acL can embody many
lnLenuons.

C|rcumstances -1hese lnclude who does Lhe acL as well as
where, when, how, wlLh whaL means an acL ls done, and Lhe
consequences of Lhe acL.

10/22/13
3
C8ILC1 CI 1nL AC1:
8unnlng
8unnlng for exerclse.


IN1LN1ICN CI 1nL AGLN1:
1o wln a maraLhon.
1o lose 13 lbs.
1o L lnLo my weddlng sulL.


CIkCUMS1ANCLS:
l am a brldegroom
l run for an hour a day.
l use a Lreadmlll.





C8ILC1 CI 1nL AC1:
laylng Lennls.


IN1LN1ICN CI 1nL AGLN1:
1o geL Lhe auenuon of a
preuy glrl.
1o prove Lo her lm aLhleuc.


CIkCUMS1ANCLS:
l have a serlous hearL
condluon and shouldnL
sLraln myself.
C8ILC1 CI 1nL AC1:
uslng a condom Lo prevenL Plv
lnfecuon durlng lnLercourse.


IN1LN1ICN CI 1nL AGLN1:
revenung Plv lnfecuon.



CIkCUMS1ANCLS:
1he couple are marrled.
1heyve been marrled 1 monLh.
1he husband dlscovered he had Plv
only aer Lhey were marrled.



C8ILC1 CI 1nL AC1:
uslng a condom durlng sex Lo
prevenL concepuon of a chlld.


IN1LN1ICN CI 1nL AGLN1:
1o avold Lhe nanclal burden
LhaL concepuon wlll brlng.

CIkCUMS1ANCLS:
1he couple are marrled.
1heyve been marrled 1
monLh.
1hey canL aord Lo ralse a
chlld.
1o choose an act |s to d|rect my w||| to embrace a
parncu|ar goa|-or|ented behav|or. 1he behav|or I
embrace shapes and d|rects my w|||.

1hus the C8ILC1 CI 1nL AC1 determ|nes the
LSSLN1IAL and MCS1 IMMLDIA1L IN1LN1ICN of
the person acnng. A|| other |ntennons the person
may have had become secondary or c|rcumstanna|.

1hus the ob[ect of the act |s the pr|mary
determ|nant of an acts mora||ty.


Linda was lonely after her break-up.
I wanted to comfort her. I didnt intend
to betray or hurt you when I had sex
with your friend Linda in the office.
1he ob[ect of AuuL1L8?
ls for a marrled person Lo
engage ln sexual relauons
wlLh someone oLher Lhan
ones spouse.

IMMLDIA1L]LSSLN1IAL
IN1LN1ICN CI 1nL AC1
1kUS1 & IIDLLI1
IN MAkkIAGL
C8ILC1 CI ADUL1Lk:
nav|ng sexua|
re|anons w|th
someone other than
one's spouse.
NATURAL INCLINATION
1he mar|ta| bond of trust and hde||ty
|s broken by betraya|.
1he tra[ectory of our w||| towards
trustworth|ness and mar|ta| hde||ty
|s subverted.
1he des|re for hde||ty |s weakened
and we |ose the freedom for
trustworth|ness and fa|thfu|ness.
I
L
M
8
k
A
C
L
1
n
I
S
A
C
1

10/22/13
4
1. In determ|n|ng the mora||ty of an act, we must cons|der
the mora| ob[ect, |ntennon and c|rcumstances together.
2. nowever, the ob[ect of the act |s the ma|n determ|nant of
|ts mora||ty because |n choos|ng an act, we |ntend |ts
ob[ect even though we may have other |ntennons. 1he
ob[ect of the act determ|nes the |mmed|ate]essenna|
|ntennon of the act.
3. Some acnons are ev|| |n themse|ves (apart from |ntennons
and c|rcumstances) because the|r ob[ect enta||s
contrad|cnng a human good or a v|rtue necessary for
human our|sh|ng. 1hese are ca||ed d|sordered or
|ntr|ns|ca||y ev|| acts. When done w|th know|edge and
consent of the w|||, Chr|snans ca|| them persona| s|ns.


kLSLC1 &
kCMC1L LIIL
ICk ALL
C8ILC1 CI A8Ck1ICN:
W|||fu||y end|ng the ||fe of an
unborn human be|ng.
NATURAL INCLINATION
An unborn human be|ng |s
k|||ed.
1he dr|ve of my w||| towards
the respect for ||fe |s
comprom|sed and can be |ost.
I d|m|n|sh my freedom for the
good.
I
L
M
8
k
A
C
L
1
n
I
S
A
C
1

1. An ev|| |ntennon can corrupt an otherw|se good
act or |ncrease the ma||ce of an a|ready ev|| act.
(Lx. G|v|ng money to orphanages to d|sgu|se the
fact that your bus|ness uses ch||d |abor. Cb[ect |s
good but the |ntennon |s d|sordered]ev||.)

2. A good |ntennon can |essen the gu||t for an ev||
act, but |t can never make an |ntr|ns|ca||y ev|| act
good. (Lx. Iannne engages |n prosntunon to
support her ch||d.)

3. We shou|d never d|rect|y w||| ev||, a|though |n
some cases we may need to to|erate |t |n order to
prevent greater harm.
1. ClrcumsLances can lncrease or dlmlnlsh Lhe moral
goodness or evll of an acL or Lhe degree of
responslblllLy of Lhe doer. 8uL Lhey cannoL make evll
acLs good. ClrcumsLances lnclude:
who does/recelves Lhe acL
where Lhe acL Lakes place
When Lhe acL Lakes place
how Lhe acL ls carrled ouL/means used
whaL consequences follow
2. ln some cases, Lhe clrcumsLances can be so lmporLanL LhaL
lL becomes parL of Lhe ob[ecL of Lhe acL. Murder becomes
fraLrlclde lf one kllls ones broLher. A man who haLes Cod
and kllls a prlesL because he serves Cod ls noL [usL
commlmng murder buL sacrllege.