Basic definitions and some discussion of 8 key concepts in discussing morality from the Catholic Tradition. Christian Ethics 20, Christian Morality, Key Concepts in Morality

1. Key Concepts in Morality

2. The Golden Rule
Why does every culture have such a consistent ethic of
right and wrong?
Is there such thing as an “individual morality”?

3. Natural Law
Natural Law is the original moral
sense which lets us figure out the
good and the bad. Because
everyone has this ability, we can
decide basic duties and
fundamental rights – we can make
community and civil law.

4. Human Dignity
What gives a human dignity?
 What takes it away?

5. Human Dignity
a) If I have rights, then I have dignity.
b) Because I have dignity, I should have rights.

6. Human Dignity
The dignity of the human person is rooted in his or her
creation in the image and likeness of God.

7. Human Dignity
God gives each human person a spiritual soul that
does not die, the ability to think, and freedom to
choose.

8. Happiness
What is happiness?
 Is it a Christian desire to be happy?

9. Happiness
We all want to live happily; in the
whole human race there is no
one who does not agree with this,
even if they haven’t thought of it.

10. Happiness
We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there
is no one who does not agree with this, even if they haven’t
thought of it.
God has placed this desire in the
human heart in order to attract
humanity to Himself, who alone
can make us happy.

11. Freedom
Freedom is the power given to us by
God to act or not to act, to do this
or to do that, and so to perform
deliberate actions on our own
responsibility.

12. Freedom
We can understand the
consequences to our actions, and so
we can cooperate with (or resist)
God’s plan for our happiness.

13. Responsibility
We are responsible for our free actions.

14. Responsibility
We are responsible for our free actions.
Sometimes we are less responsible, for
example:
 when we don’t know what we are doing or
 don’t know it is wrong,
 when we are pressured to do something,
 when we are too attached to something, or
 if we’ve developed a habit.

15. Principle
a fundamental truth or proposition
that serves as the foundation for a
system of belief or behavior or for a
chain of reasoning.

16. Ends Means
The intended
and desired
result of a human
action.
The process or
steps taken to
achieve an end.

17. Authority
Authority is the power or right to give
orders, make decisions, and enforce
obedience when:
 It is recognized by the population as a whole
 It serves the common good
We must obey legitimate authority, as long
as it is not unjust or immoral.