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10 Ethics and Love

Our discussion in the last chapter deals with the human person
as the subject of human rights and duties.Now let us consider the
same human person from another angle-as the center and object of
love.
It is love and the worthiness to love and be loved which fors
the most distinctive feature of the human personality.Love does not
merely aim at qualities;one does not love qualities.Love aims al the
deepest reality,the most substantial hidden existing reality in the
beloved-a mataphysical center,deeper than all the qualities and
essences which one can discover and enumerate in the beloved.That
is why true love never says"I love you for your hair,your eyes,your
speaking softly,your fame or money."'It says"I love you-you the
embodiment of all the good,the noblest and the best."'Ii is the person
－the you that is the object of love.It is only such love as is rooted in
the person,the immortal in mortals,that is true,whole and enduring.
Herein is a motive nobler than mere duty or obligation for the
doing of good,and the mainspring of all virtues-love.I must love
my neighbor because he is a person like me and therefore wonthy of
love.A community of men is a society not merely of individuals but
of persons:therefore,they should love one another because they
partake of the same nature,purpose,and destiny;no one should do
harm to anyone.This is the basis of civic friendship,the brotherhood
of men,the unity of the human family.

If men really love,they would do no evil,for evil is essentially

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the hatred,the rejection,or the turning away from good.Nobody

would do harm to anyone,to his body,to his honor,to his belongings,
for,obviously,such action implics hate or the lack of love.
Ethics means the doing of good and the practice of virtue.to us
these should all be motivated by love.To the Christians,there are ten
commandments which are rcducible to two:love of God and love of
neighbor,or by further simplification,to only one word-love.The
whole of the moral order,the whole complexus of moral laws and
concepts can all be summed up in one simple formula-love.
Love of Self and Others.

The first law of nature is self-preservation which means self-

ove.It is but natural to love one's self.Any act,therefore,which does
harm to the self,from the willful exposition of one's body,one's health
to grave danger without necessity,to suicide,would be morally
wrong.Suicide is a violation of the first law of nature.To Christians
it is likewise a violation of the law of God,Who alone has the supreme
dominion over life and death.Man is not the absolute owner of his
life;he just borrowed it,so to say,and so has no right to dispose of it
as he wills.

True love of self does not exclude love for others;for love is
never selfish.It always shiares its goodness to another.As Fulton.
Sheen puts it,"There are only two words in the vocabulary of love:
you and forever.You,because love must not be confined to the seif,;
it reaches out,it radiates itself to another to you.
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The moral law commands us to love our neighbors because all

men have the same human nature;all have a common origin and
destiny.All are creatures of God and,therefore,all are equal before
God.This is the basis of the view of the“＇brotherhood of men under
the fatherhood of God."'It means equality and love among men.Love
and justice,therefore,go together.The whole philosophy of Christi-
anity,of Buddhism,Confucianism,and practically all religions or
creeds,is premised on love,on the brotherhood of men.Love is
defined by Confucius as the very current of life.The very language of
the bible is love:"I give you a new commandment.It is the law of
love;love even your enemies.''"“Though you preach with tongues of
angels if you have not charity in you,you are just like a sounding brass
and a tinkling cymbal,"'and similar quotations of love abound in the
Bible.

Ethics and Justice

We have been interpreting the moral law in terms of love.Now
let us speak of morality in terms of justice.Love and justice,we may
say,are the two foundation stones of morality.

Justice is a moral virtue which comes as a fruit of the constant

and proper observance of rights and duties.Nominally,justice is
defined as the constant will and disposition to give to each one his
due.(Justitia est constans et perpetua voluntas suum cuique
tribuendi).It is properly defined as the principle of rectitude and
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fairness in men's relations with each other.Injustice,its opposite,is

the imposition.of wrong on another;it also means the violation of the
rights of another or others.

From the foregoing definitions,we notice two essential attrib-

utes of justice:universality and equality.
Universality is an element of justice which requires that justice
be applied to all,and not merely to a particular group or class;and
that everyone is bound to give to everyone what is his due.
Equality is a fundamental principle of justice which demands
that justice is for all regardless of station or quality in life.It signifies
that the law must be applied to all without discrimination.For in-
stance,in the relation between the state and the citizen,the govern-
ment should not play favorites to any class or discriminate against any
group or individual.

The universal application of justice finds expression in the

s0-called golden rule which may be positively stated:"Do unto others
as you wish others to do unto you,"'or negatively,"do not do unto
Others what you do not want to be done unto you.
All legal maxims or principles,all laws,either human or divine,
ae reducible to this universal principle of justice.For instance,the
ten commandments are specifications,particularizations,or applica-
cons of the principle of iustice;as may be seen easily from the
following considerations:

1)The first commandment,love God above all,is a dictate of

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plain justice.For God is our Lord,Creator,and All,and to

love Him fully is to give Him His due.

2)Respect and love of parents is likewise a precept of justice

and the golden rule:We obey and love our parents obviously
because by our natural relation and dependence on them
they deserve our respect and love.Likewise,we ourselves
like our children to do the same with us later on.

3) Killing,lying,stealing,bearing false witness,adultery,and

all their forms are violations of the rule of justice:never to
do any harm to anyone whether it be against his life,his
things,his reputation,his family,his bodily integrity(and
also obviously,from the golden rule,these are wrong be-
cause we do not like these things to be done to us).

Notice also the following legal maxims as re-statements or

applications of this same principle,as may be seen by mere inspection:
1)No one can exercise his rights in violation of the rights of
others.
2) Whoever receives the benefit must bear the burden.
3) No man is responsible for that which is beyond his control.
4)No one should unjustly favor himself at the expense of
another.
5)No judgement shall be rendered against anyone else unless
he has been heard.
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The Bill of Rights in our constitution embody our fundamental

rights such as the right to life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
These rights and their correlatives emanate from the principle or
Justice.

In dealing with human relations and in determining the morality

of an action,it is therefore logical and proper to employ the basic
principle of justice as the center or pivotal point of discussion.

General Applications
The principle of justice does not only govern the relations
between an individual with another.It also applies to:

1.Duties of the state to the citizens(distributive juctice);

2.Duties of the individual to the state (legal justice);and

3.Duties of an individual to another(commutative justice).

Distributive Justice

The state must fulfill certain duties toward its citizens.

These duties are clearly stated in our Constitution.

Examples:
（a)The government should render aid for education,the pro-
motion of social justice,the protection of labor,for sanita-
tion,etc.
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Legal Justice
The citizen in turn has his duties to the state;for instance,
to render military service to the state

Commutative Justice
Every individual should render to another that which
belongs to him.The basis of this is the so-called mutuality of
rights and duties..
Particular Applications of Justice
Duties of Justice
It follows from the principle of love and justice that it is wrong
tO do anything harmful to the body,reputation,and property of others.
Inus,murder is a great wrong because 1)It runs counter to the basic
Piinciple of love and justice.2)it does violence to the social order
ald,therefore.,against the moral law.3)It is against man's nature as
a Social being and,therefore,against the natural law.Man,as we have
often pointed out,is made not to live by himself alone but with his
fellow beings in society.But what will happen if men murder each
other?Social life would become impossible.4)It robs God of His sole
dominion over life and death.He is the author of life and'He alone
can take it away.

From the moral viewpoint,willful abortion is likewise wrong,

and no less than willful murder.The fetus is destined by nature and,
therefore,has the natural right to live;and no human authority can
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destroy it.Euthanasia,or mercy killing,the practice of administering

painless death to one suffering from an incurable or loathsome disease,
even with the intention to relieve the patient from useless and ex-
tremely painful suffering,is not morally justified on the same ground:
to shorten directly the life of another,even with the intention to relieve
him from useless suffering,would be against the law of nature and
nature's God Who alone has the authority over every moment of
man's life.The end does not justify the means!

Rights of the Individual

Self Defense
Under certain conditions,it is morally justified to kill an unjust
asgressor in self-defense.
The right to live is a basic and inalienable right.Now,the right
to live necessarily includes the right to use the means necessary to
sustain and defend one's life.But sometimes,it may happen that the
only way to save one's life from an unjuste aggressor is to kill;
therefore,to kill an unjust aggressor may be morally permissible under
certain conditions.These conditions are:

1.That there is imminent danger of losing life or great bodily

possessions.
2.That there is no other way of escape.
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IThere is however the case of indirect euthanasia as in the case of

Qanran,which may be
allowed,under extreme conditions.(See Bio-ethics)

3.I nlat no greater Iorce can be inrlicted than what is required to

ward off aggression.
These conditions are more or less the application of the four
general conditions to justify the doing of an act which has a double
effect.

Honor and Good Name

One of the greatest possessions that a man has is his honor.
Consequently,any deliberate act that intends to destroy the good
reputation of another constitutes a grievous violation of the moral law.
Speaking ill,or writing anything to ruin the good name of anyone,
especially when what is said or written is not true,is a grave wrong.
It is against the principle of love and justice;it inevitably leads lu
discord and disorder among men in society.Hence,it is against man's
social nature.

Libel is always wrong even if what is said or written against the

person is true or partly true;for truth is not justification for libel.A
malicious intent to destroy the reputation of another would,from the
moral standpoint,still constitute libel irrespective of whether the
statements made are true or not."Adstortion'is a newly-coined word
to signify the nefarious practice of extorting money which consists in
suppressing the publication of an article derogatory to one's character
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provided that the intended victim pays a certain amount of money to

the publisher.This act has all the malice of extortion and usually
involves the malicious intent of libel.

Truthfulness
One of our duties of love toward our neighbors is truthfulness or
veracity.Moral truth is the conformity between what one says and
what one has in mind.A lie is telling an untruth,telling what is not in
one's mind.
Lying is intrinsically wrong:1)it is against the natural purpose
of speech.Man is a speaking creature;he is given the power of speech
in order to be able to live and communicate with his fellows.But how
can he liua nnd commnnicate with hic fellowc hu lvinngYT xinn tande
life.Lying does violence to man's social nature and,therefore,is
against the moral law.

Mental Reservation
Mental reservation is the making of a statement which would
seem a lie without qualification but would not be a lie with the proper
qualification reserved in one's mind.It is similar to giving a double-
meaning statement.Under certain conditions,which are dictated by
the principle of justice and prudence,a mental reservation is not a lic
and,therefore,does not share in the malice of a lie.

Examples of mental reservation:

1.Pleading not guilty(though one is in fact guilty)in court,can
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be a form of mental reservation,which does not incur any

violation of truthfulness.For the phrase"not guilty''is to be
understood as not guilty until and unless you prove so.This is
in accordance with the legal principle that a person must be.
presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

2.To a fellow who always disturbs you by always going with you
to the show,you can tell"I will not go to the show''(although
you are really going),reserving the phrase"if you go with me"
in your mind.

3.To one who wishes to buy,asking you if you have this or that
thing(butter,for instance),you may answer"'no"'reserving
mentally the qualification."not for sale."'

Sometimes,it may even be advisable or necessary to make

a broad mental reservations,in the case of a priest when asked
what he heard in the confessional;or in the case of a doctor when
asked by his nervous patient about the patient's really serious
condition.The priest can say,"I can not tell,"and the doctor
can say,"you should not worry,''or"you will be better''(if
you don't worry),with those enclosed in parentheses only in the
doctor's mind.

4.It is wrong to make a mental reservation when one is obliged to

tell,as when a boy is asked by his father if he got the money
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from his pocket(his father's pocket).If the boy really got it,he
Cannot make a mental reservation.

Family and Social Ethics

The closest of human relations exist among the members of the
family.Proper relations which is the very basis of family life and
society demands respect and love for authority.Thus,obviously,
children are enjoined by the natural moral order(and hence,by the
moral law)to respect,obey and love their parents and elders.This is
the general consensus of mankind evidenced in the traditions,customs
and"laws of all people of all times."

The duties of parents to children and of children to parents are

too obvious to be mentioned here.However,it is worthwhile to
emphasize that the primary end of family life is the proper upbringing
of children.This entails especially the proper training and education
of children in the home and in the school.

One of the greatest problems of our times,especially in our

country,one that has recently attained alarming proportions,pressing
for urgent concern and action on all civic minded citizens is juvenile
delinquency.This"revolt”of our youth began with the slow loosen-
ing of moral discipline among our youngsters,but it is fast erupting
into vandalism,gangsterism,and at times into an all out war with all
the crimes and offenses associated with it.
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While many and varied must be the causes indicative or consti-

tutive of the malady,the root cause,we believe is to be traced to the
veins or conditions of family life.The evil of teenagerism,we believe
is primarily and mainly due to the lack or neglect oi moral guidance
and training on the part of parents for their chiidren in the home.The
church,the schools and other civic organizations can help but can
never supplant or provide by themselves aione this moral training so
essential to the life of children if they have to become good men and
women of tomorrow.Moder life is accidentally disrupting family
unity and integrity.Parents are too busy or perhaps cven ignorant or
we believe,the constant fulfillment by both parents and children of
their respective duties prescribed by the natural moral law.
Parents,therefore,should not only look after the physical and
intellectual welfare of their young but also after their moral training
which is the most important of all.Moral training should be given by
constant teaching and good example.For their part,the children are
obliged to love and obey their parents,as we already pointed out
before,unless,as what may seldom happen,they are asked or made
by their parents to do something contrary to the natural law.If,for
instance,one wishes to enter the religious state and does so against
great opposition from the parents,there would be no disobedience on
one's part because we have to obey God first.

Since family unity is the basis of social unity,it follows that

anything destructive or detrimental to family life and unity is likewise
destructive of the social and moral order.Thus,from the moral
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standpoint,divorce is wrong,for:

1)It destroys family unity which is the very foundation of the

social unity;
2)It means the breaking of a solemn promise made in marriage;
and it is morally wrong to break one's promise.Marriage is
essentially a contract,a promise made by a couple to stick
to each other,for good,because love which is the very
essence of marriage must be true and enduring.Have we
ever heard of a lover tell his beloved,"I love you,dearest,
for two days and two nights only?'
3)It stifles the very spirit of love which holds the family
together;for how can a couple truly love each other when
they know that they may be separated from each other by
divorce perhaps in the near future?The very thought of
possibility of a divorce thereby hampers the love that should
exist between husband and wife.
4)It is against the primary end of marriage which is the proper
upbringing of children;for it deprives the children of their
right to be supported by both parents especially when they go their lives
5)It separates what nature has welded together.In each child
nature and nature's God has inseparably linked both father
and mother.But divorce would separate these two naturally
inseparable elements,as if this could be done by arranging
that one half go to the father and the other half to the mother
in the process of separation;so that divorce would put
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asunder what nature and nature's God has joined together.

Birth Control and Morality

Birth control is discussed nowadays as a means to check the
menace of the so-called population explosion and its attendant and
consequent evils.Frequently,however,the moral issues involved are
not taken into consideration in these discussions.This is unfortunatt
because birth control is primarily and fundamentally a moral question
which should be viewed and answered from the moral standpoint.If
ethics is life as we have shown it to be,then any question that deals
with the very possibility and beginnings of human life,and which is
intimately bound up with the very end and function of family life,is
basically a moral question.But first we have to make an important
distinction between two types of birth control;namely,natural and
artificial:

A.Natural birth control includes the following:continence,the

so-called rhythm method.

B.Artificial birth control,which includes any device(mechanical,

chemical,surgical as in sterilization)for the purpose of destroy-
ing the semen and/or frustrating the end of the sexual act while
taking advantage of the pleasure in it.Willful abortion falls
under this latter type and involves greater malice.
An intelligent judgment concerning the morality of birth control
must be based on a right appreciation of human sexuality in marriage.
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（a)On a purely biological(physiological)level,the two scxes

appear as essentially directed towards one another and at the
same time towards the apparition of a third person,the child.
Indeed,the sexual differentiation in plants and in animals as well
as in man is a sign of a complementary role in the apparition of
an offspring and the perpetuation of the species.
N.B.On this ground already,one understands the unnatu-
ralness of birth control.Unfortunately,however,many argu-
ments against contraception stop at this level and are for this
reason quite incomplete,because on this level alone sexual
union would be no different in man and in brutes.Sex can be
valued on a still higher insight.

（b) On a psychological level in which not brutes are involved but

persons,sex becomes penetrated,modified,and elevated by
human rationality and distinctively human emotions.On this
psychological level,sexual union in marriage gets a deeper and,
consequently,higher meaning.Two human beings united in
wedlock are capable of more than just fecundation but also
specially mutual self-giving in love for their mutual perfection
（conjugal love).This conjugal love is fostered and manifested
in many ways but especially through the particular act of sexual
intercourse.Hence,sexual union is a communion between
persons,non-mediated and direct,symbolizing as well as creat-
ing the personal love of the partner to each other and their
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openness to offsprings,because this gift of self to one another

is a gesture capable of transcending itself in the apparition of a
new person,the child.

From this consideration of intercourse as a natural symbol and

expression of love,capable of transmitting life the intrinsic malice of
birth control comes clearly to the fore.Contraception belies coniugal

In other words,such mates perform what appears to be the act

of love but is only a sham;they lie to one another in their bodies as in
their hearts.They take that which says perfect union and corrupt it till
it can express only mutual pleasure.They abuse the symbol of the gift
of oneself to another till it betokens precisely the withholding of this
gift.And precisely by such an abuse the openness to children is
automatically blocked.

As practical solution,as of now,this only can be said:

1)A pill whose function is simply to regularize an abnormal cycle,
and which is used for such purpose,seems to be licit,as any
nonnal medicine can be licit,when the method of rhythm is
morally advisable.
2) A pill whose function is simply to inhibit the ovulation or which
is simply used for that purpose,cannot yet be declared allowed
by the Moral Theologians,even when there is good reason for
avoiding new birth.
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Latest Pronouncements of the Church

on Contraception

The church has consistently maintained its opposition if not

condemnation of contraception and abortion.The same stand of the
church against the same was reiterated and stressed by Pope John Paul
in a homily he delivered in the mass he concelebrated in Cebu City,
Philippines,February 1981.
＂From the moment of conception and through all
subsequent stages,all human life is sacred,for it is created
in the image and likeness of God.Human life is precious
because it is a gift of God,whose love knows no limit;,and
when.God gives life,it is forever.Whoever attempts to
destroy human life in the womb of the mother not only
violates the sacredness of a living,growing and developing
human being,and thus opposes God,but also attacks
society by undermining the respect for all human life.If a
person's right to life is violated at the moment in which he
is first conceived in his.mother's womb,an indirect blow
is struck also at the whole moral order which serves to
ensure the inviolable goods of man.