That which is primarily and per se attained by the nature of the act that a person freely wills to perform. E.g., murder, prayer, or promising. The object of a moral act is the primary and most essen...
(also called Ethics).— The philosophical study of human actions with respect to their goodness or badness, considered from the perspective of the human good knowable by reason alone.
The doctrine according to which the goodness or badness of human actions is exclusively contingent upon circumstances of individual agents, situations, cultures, etc. Moral relativism denies that ther...
1. The quality of a human action with respect to whether it is good or bad (perfective or defective of the human actor). 2. The code of conduct followed by an individual or group.
The moral necessity of performing some action. Such obligation can bind universally in view of the end of virtue (i.e., in view of the natural law or the New Law) or as regards, some particular deter...
1. Ontologically understood, a state of being complete, i.e., not lacking in what is required by a nature; self-sufficiency. 2. Morally understood, being in a state or consistently living in a way tha...
(in scholastic usage, also called Political Science or Politics).— The division of moral philosophy that studies the nature, principles, and structures of the political community, as well as the dynam...
The principle according to which an action that has both a good and a bad effect is morally permissible on the following four conditions: (a) the act to be performed is morally good in itself or moral...
(also called Practical Wisdom).— The intellectual and cardinal virtue by which one makes the right decisions about what is to be done in concrete situations (“right reason about things to be done”). I...
1. The moral virtue that is a part of justice by which one strives to render to God what He is owed, e.g., prayer, devotion, and worship. 2. A system of beliefs and practices that pertain to a divinit...
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