Part 3: Frameworks and Principles Behind our Moral Disposition

(Lesson 1: Basic Theories as Frameworks in Ethics)

 The term “framework” can be defined as a basic structure underlying a system or concept. Contextually in Ethics, it
refers to “a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality.” With this
definition, a framework is pretty much like a worldview or a held history.

 Personally, held frameworks and principles in Ethics dictate one’s disposition or the way person resolves moral
dilemmas.

Ethicists today generally, divide the study of morality into three general subject areas:

1. Meta-ethics
2. Normative ethics
3. Applied Ethics

Meta-Ethics

 Meta-ethics is the branch of ethics that studies the nature of morality. As such, it talks about the meaning, reference,
and truth values of moral judgments. It also explains what goodness and wickedness mean and how we know about
them.

 Meta-ethical theories are commonly classified semantically as either cognitivism or noncognitivism; substantially as
either universalist or relativist; and epistemologically as empiricist, rationalist, or intuitionist.

Cognitivism vs. Non-cognitivism

Cognitivism states that moral judgments convey propositions, that is, they are “truth bearers” or they are either true
or false. Most ethical theories are cognitivist as they contend that right and wrong are matters of fact.

The most famous forms of cognitive ethics are the moral realism and the ethical subjectivism.

Cognitivist theories:

 Moral realism claims that the existence of moral facts and the truth (or falsity) of moral judgments are independent of
people’s thoughts and perceptions. It maintains that morality is about objective facts, that is, not facts about any person
or groups' subjective judgment.

 Ethical subjectivism on the other hand, holds that the truth (or falsity) of ethical propositions are dependent on the
attitudes or standards of a person or group of persons.

Subjectivism is obviously contrary to moral realism.

 Non-cognitivism denies that moral judgments are either true or false. It claims that ethical sentences do not convey
authentic propositions, hence are neither true nor false.

 Emotivism is the most popular form of non-cognitivist theory. It submits that moral judgments are mere expressions
of our emotions and feelings. Like exclamatory sentences, ethical sentences cannot be said to be either true or false
according to the theory.

Universalism vs. Relativism

Moral universalism theorizes that moral facts and principles apply to everybody in all places.

Also called “moral objectivism”, it claims that a universal ethic exists and that this applies to all similarly situated
persons, regardless of nationality, citizenship, culture, race, gender, sexual preference, religion, or any other
differentiating factor. Believing that some behaviors are simply wrong, it also submits that if something is right for one,
then it is right for another. Moral universalism is very much compatible with “moral realism”.

Moral relativism

On the other hand, submits that different moral facts and principles apply to different persons or group of individuals.

Believing that various cultures have distinct standards of right and wrong, it also maintains that ethical standards also
change over time even in the same culture. Denying a single, objective standard for morality, it holds that all moral
norms are equally true and morals are mere preferences. Noticeably, it is very much compatible with ethical
subjectivism.
Empiricism vs. Rationalism vs. Intuitionism

Moral empiricism is a meta-ethical stance which states that moral facts are known through observation and experience.

The theory is an extension of “empiricism” in epistemology which states that all knowledge of matters of fact is derived
from experience and that our mind is not equipped with pre-experience concepts. Some forms of moral empiricism hold
that moral truths are reducible to matters about people’s opinions or cultural conventions and thus are recognizable by
observation of their conventions.

Moral rationalism

Contends that moral facts and principles are knowable a priori, that is, by reason alone and without reference to
experience.

As “rationalism” in epistemology claims that knowledge about reality are gained through non-empirical deductive
system, most forms of moral rationalism purport that moral facts are known through rational inferential process. In
general, the theory relies on reason rather than intuition in justifying a belief or action.

 Moral Intuitionism

 Submits that moral truths are knowable by intuition, that is, by immediate instinctive knowledge without reference to
any evidence.

 The theory claims that we have intuitive awareness of value or morality and that it defines the basis of our ethical
knowledge. It thus insists that the moral value of actions may be known intuitively even if their consequences have not
been uncovered.

 In its general form, it claims that some moral facts can be known without inference. Hence, some empiricist and
rationalist theories that promote noninferential moral knowledge may be compatible with moral intuitionalism.

Normative Ethics

 Normative ethics is the branch of ethics that studies how man ought to act, morally speaking. As the name suggests, it
examines ethical norms, that is, those guidelines about what is right, worthwhile, virtuous or just.

 This branch evaluates standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions and determines a moral course of action.
Prescriptive in nature, it addresses specific moral questions about what we should do or believe.

 We do normative ethics if we justify norms like “Discrimination is wrong” or “We must always act in accordance with
our duty.”

 Just for easy distinction, whereas meta-ethics tackles questions such as “What is goodness?” normative ethics deals
with issues like “What ought one to do?”

 Normative ethical theories are categorized into three kinds: deontological, teleological, and virtue ethics.

 Deontology

 Is an ethical system that bases morality on independent moral rules or duties.

 The term came from the Greek word deon, which means “duty”, implying the foundational nature of man’s duties or
obligations. This system equates behaving morally with adherence to duties or moral rules, and acting immorally with
failure to obey them.

 Also called non-consequentialism, the system’s principles are submitted as obligatory, regardless of the consequences
that actions might produce.

 Teleology

 Refers to moral system that determines the moral value of actions by their outcomes or results.

 From the Greek word “telos”, which means “end”, teleology takes into account the end result of the action as the
exclusive consideration of it’s morality.

 Teleology deems an action as morally right if its favorable consequences are greater than its adverse outcomes. Its
most famous form is consequentialism which proposes that morality is determined solely by cost-benefit evaluation of
the action’s consequences.
Virtue Ethics

As a moral system, places emphasis on developing good habits of character, like kindness and generosity, and avoiding
bad character traits, or vices such as greed or hatred.

Virtue-based theories give importance to moral education which molds individuals to habitually act in a virtuous
manner. Focusing on the character of the agent, virtue ethics describes right actions as those chosen and performed by
a suitably virtuous person.

Applied Ethics

 Applied Ethics philosophically examines specific, controversial moral issues. Using philosophical methods, this are of
concern in Ethics attempts to determine the ethically correct course of action in specific realms of human action.

 For a subject to be considered as an applied ethical issue, not only must it be a matter of moral judgment, but also it
has to be controversial. That is, there must be considerable groups of people both for and against the issue.

1. Bioethics- This concerns ethical issues pertaining to life, biomedical researches, medicines, health care, and medical
profession.

2. Environmental Ethics- It deals with moral issues concerning nature ecosystem and it’s nonhuman contents.

3. Business Ethics- It examines moral principles concerning business environment which involves issues about corporate
practices, policies, business behaviors, and the conducts of relationships of individuals in the organizations.

4. Sexual Ethics- It studies moral issues about sexuality and human sexual behavior.

5. Social Ethics- It deals with what is right for a society to do and how it should act as a whole.

Part 3: Frameworks and Principles Behind our Moral Disposition

(Lesson 2: Virtue Ethics)

 Socrates (470-399 BC), Plato (427-348 BC), and Aristotle (384-22 are Greek philosophers in the ancient period who
deeply affected

Western Philosophy.

 The contemporary theory in Ethics called Virtue Ethics, is said to have started with these three great philosophers. In
the medieval era, the Italian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) revived, enhanced, and
Christianized the Greek Virtue Ethics.

Virtue Ethics Defined

 Virtue Ethics is a moral philosophy that teaches that an action is right if it is an action that a virtuous person would
perform in the same situations. According to the theory, a virtuous person is someone who acts virtuously and people
act virtuously if they possess and live the virtues. A virtue is a moral characteristic that an individual need to live well.

 Virtue Ethics out emphasis on developing good habits of character and avoiding bad character traits or vices. It focuses
on the character of the agent and describes right actions as those chosen and performed by a suitably virtuous person.

 Virtue ethicists, such as Aristotle, hold that people live their lives trying to develop their faculties to the fullest extent.
We have many faculties to develop such as intellectual, physical, social, moral, and so on. Developing one’s moral
capacity to the fullest is pursuing ethical excellence, which is displayed by the virtues.

 Basically, the virtues are the freely chosen character traits that people praise in others.

People praise them because:

1. They are difficult to develop

2. They are corrective of natural deficiencies
3. They are beneficial both to self and society

 Virtue Ethics defines a moral person as someone who develops the virtues and unfailingly displays them over time.
 The ancient Greeks list four “cardinal virtues” namely:

1. Wisdom
2. Courage
3. Moderation
4. Justice

 The Christian teaching, on the other hand, recommends:

1. Faith
2. Hope
3. Charity
4. Love
5. Others suggest virtues

Socrates and Plato’s Moral Philosophy (knowledge is equivalent to morality, knowledge is power, no application)

 Since Plato wrote down and essentially adhered to Socrates’ philosophy, it is practical to treat their theories jointly.

 In the dialogue “Gorgias” written by Plato, Socrates indicates that pleasure and pain fail to provide an objective
standard for determining moral from immoral since they do not exist apart from one another, while good and evil do.

 In “Euthyphro”. Socrates asks Euthyphro whether something is good because the gods love it, or whether the gods
love it because it is good. Socrates’ point is that what is good has a certain independence from the whims of the gods’
determination of the rightness of our actions and mores. Socrates therefore believed in the existence of objective ethical
standards though he admitted that it is not easy to specify them.

 Central to Plato’s philosophy is his theory of forms- the objectively existing immaterial entities that are the proper
object of knowledge. Everything in the material world is what it is by virtue of its resemblance to, or participation in, this
universal Form or Idea. These unchanging independent forms are like ideal and stable models of the ordinary observable
objects.

 Circularity and squareness are good examples of what Plato meant by Forms. A thing in the physical world may be
called a circle or a square insofar as it resembles or participates the Form “circularity” or “squareness.”

 Now, since everything in the perceptible realm participates in independent and perfect forms, there is also a form
even for moral predicates, such as justice and happiness. The highest of all forms is the form of the Good. For Plato,
those who comprehend the Good will always do good actions. Bad actions are performed out of not knowing the Good.
To know the Good, nonetheless, requires and austere and intellectually meticulous way of life.

 Virtue therefore is regarded as knowledge and can be taught. Knowledge of the Good is considered as the source of
guidance in moral decision making that to know the good, it is argued, is to do the good.

Aristotle’s Ethics (ginagawa nila yung sinasabi nila)

At least two of Aristotle’s works specifically concern morality, the Eudemian Ethics and the Nicomachean Ethics. But
since only a few have studied the former, the Nicomachean Ethics has been regarded as the Ethics of Aristotle since the
beginning of the Christian Era.

Nicomachean ethics- foundation of institutions

 Three general descriptions, which are interrelated, can be used to depict Aristotle's ethics:

1. Self-realizationism: may be termed as his ethical system. In his philosophy, when someone acts in line with his nature
or end (“telos”) and thus realizes his full potential, he does moral and will be happy.

2. Eudaimonistic: Aristotle’s theory focuses on happiness (Eudaimonia), or the good for man, and how to obtain it.

3. Aretaic: means virtue-based. Whereas act-oriented ethics is focused mainly on what we should do, a virtue ethics is
interested basically in what we should be, that is, the character or the sort of person we should struggle to become.

Aristotle’s Telos

 A “telos” is an end or purpose. Aristotle believes that the essence or essential nature of beings, including humans, lay
not at their cause (or beginning) but at their end (telos).
 Aristotle does not agree with Plato’s belief in a separate realm of Forms. Aristotle, instead, argues that rational beings
can discover the “essences” of things and that a being’s essence is its potential fulfillment or “telos” (as the essence of
an acorn is to become an oak tree). The essence or “telos” of human being is rationality and, thus, a life of
contemplation (a.k.a. Philosophy) is the best kind of life for human flourishing.

 Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics can be thus summarized in this manner:

 “All human seek happiness (“well being”), but in different ways. True happiness is tied to the purpose or end (telos) of
human life. The essence (or telos) of human beings (that which separates and distinguishes them as a species) is Reason.
Reason employed in achieving happiness (human “telos”) leads to moral virtues (e.g. courage, temperance, justice, and
prudence) and intellectual virtues (e.g. science, art, practical wisdom, theoretical wisdom)”

In terms of his ethics, Aristotle thus believes in the excellence of philosophical contemplation and virtuous actions
stemming from virtuous persons. By virtuous actions, he means those which the person with wisdom would choose
because what is good is obvious to such a person.

Happiness and Virtues

 Aristotle believes that the ultimate human goal is self-realization.

This entails achieving one’s natural purpose by functioning or living consistently with human nature. Accomplishing it, in
turn, produces happiness; whereas inability to realize it leads to sadness, frustration, and ultimately to poor life. It
therefore behooves us to act in accordance with our nature so as to be content and complete. In detail, what does
Aristotle mean by human nature?

 Aristotle identifies three natures of man:

1. The vegetable or physical

2. The animal or emotional
3. The rational or mental

 As previously explained the thing that distinguishes humans from all other creatures is the rational nature or the ability
to reason.

Rational development is this deemed the most important, as it is uniquely human. Accordingly, living in accordance with
reason is viewed as vital in self-realization or developing one’s potential.

 This self-realization- the awareness of our nature and the development of our potentials- is the key to human
happiness. But what is this happiness in line with Aristotle’s ethical view?

 Ethics, for Aristotle, is the inquiry into the human good. This is to say that the purpose of studying ethics is to make
ourselves good, though Aristotle assumes that we already want to become good: This human good is Eudaimonia or
happiness.

 Aristotle observed that wise persons seek an end that is self-sufficient, final, and attainable over one’s life. This end is
happiness which all human beings want. Aristotle also considers happiness as the summum bonum- the greatest good
of all human life. He adds that it is the only intrinsic good, that is, the wealth, and honor are merely means to an end,
happiness is man’s ultimate goal as it is an end itself.

 Compared to Plato’s philosophy, it is happiness (eudemonia), not the Form of the Good, which is the supreme good
with which Aristotle’s ethics is concerned. Aristotle indeed holds that the supreme good in ethics cannot be identified
with the idea of the Good because ethics is a practical science, whereas the immutable idea of the Good could only be of
theoretical interest.

But agreeing with Plato, Aristotle believes that there is an essential connection between living happily and living
virtuously.

 In fact, Aristotle fundamentally connects happiness to virtues, as he explains happiness in terms of activities
manifesting the virtues. Human good, he says, is the activity of the soul in accordance with excellence or virtue.
Aristotle’s happiness, therefore, is not much of a subjective feeling of well-being, but human well-being itself, being the
human good, Moreover, his account of Eudaimonia, is different from hedonist, and utilitarian account of happiness as
pleasure.

Virtue as Habit

Aristotle’s idea of happiness should also be understood in the sense of human flourishing. This flourishing is attained by
the habitual practice of moral and intellectual excellences, or virtues.
Related to self-realization, acting in line with virtues is acting in accordance with reason. The function of human being,
accordingly, consist in activities which manifest the best states of his rational aspect, that is the virtues.

 Aristotle employs the word “hexis” to refer to moral virtue. One denotation of the term “hexis” is an active state, a
condition in which something must actively hold itself. Virtue, thus, manifests itself in action. More explicitly, an action
counts as virtuous, according to Aristotle, when a person holds oneself in a stable equilibrium of the soul, in order to
select the action knowingly and for its own sake. This stable equilibrium of the soul is what constitutes character.

 Moral virtue, for Aristotle, is the only practical road to effective action. The virtuous person, who has good character,
sees truly, judges rightly, and acts morally.

Virtues and the Golden Mean

Virtue refers to an excellence of moral or intellectual character. Aristotle distinguishes two kinds of virtue:

1. Virtues of intellect- the fully rational part of the soul, the intellect.

2. Moral Virtues- pertains to the part of the rational soul which can “obey reason”. Moral virtue is an expression of
character, formed by habits reflecting repeated choices, hence is also called a virtue of character.

 For Aristotle, moral virtues follow from our nature as rational beings- they are the traits or characteristics that enable
us to act according to reason.

 Acting in a reasonable manner is done when we choose to and indeed act in a way that neither goes to excess nor
defect. Excess and defect normally indicate a vice. Virtue lies neither in the vice of deficiency nor in the vice of excess
but in the middle ground. Thus, moral virtue is the golden mean between the two less desirable extremes.

 Happiness and its opposite play a role in the determination of the golden mean, since we tend to do actions that bring
delight and avoid actions that bring agony. The virtuous person is brought up to find enjoyment in virtuous actions and
sorrow in vices.

 Aristotle mentions four basic moral virtues:

1. Courage – the golden mean between cowardice (deficiency) and tactless rashness (excess)
2. Temperance- between gluttony (excess) and extreme frugality (deficiency)
3. Justice- the virtue of giving others right what they deserve, neither more nor less
4. Prudence- enables us to keep away from excess and defect

 The question why we should be moral was also answered by Aristotle by his doctrine of virtues. By simply including
justice or morality among his list of virtues, he implies that man has to be moral.

 Additional moral virtues include:

 Generosity  Civility  Trustworthiness  Reliability  Sociability  Dependability 

Honesty  Sincerity  Gentleness  Tolerance  Benevolence  Cooperativeness  Empathy
Tact  Kindness  Good temper

 Aristotle nonetheless admits that some actions, such as adultery, theft, and murder, do not admit of a mean and are
always wrong.

We could never excuse anyone for committing just the right amount of murders, nor defend someone for committing
adultery with the right person at the right time in the right way.

 In the same vein, no culture considers envy, spite, dishonesty, insensitivity, cruelty, arrogance, injustice, cowardice,
self-centeredness, and the like to be virtues.

Phronesis and Practice

In learning to avoid excess and defect, we thus have to find out for ourselves what the right amount is in our respective
unique case and situation.

Aristotle teaches about an intellectual virtue that plays a significant role in Ethics. The phronesis, the intellectual virtue
of practical wisdom, is that kind of moral knowledge which guides us to what is appropriate in conjunction with moral
virtue.

 This phronesis or practical wisdom is a grasp of the appropriate way to respond- to feel and act- in a particular
situation. Once we have learned the proper amount of some kind of action through moral virtue and practical wisdom,
then, we have “the right prescription” (orthos logos). To be virtuous therefore is to act in accordance with the right
prescription.

 But acting appropriate to the right prescription should be understood in terms of practice, training, or cultivation. To
be virtuous one must perform the actions hat habitually bring virtue. A person must practice and develop the virtue of
generosity, for instance, so that acting generously becomes habitual. Moral education thus comprises imitation,
internalization, and practice until it becomes normal.

 Aristotle’s complete picture of a morally virtuous man therefore is someone who constantly and habitually acts
according to moral virtue and practical wisdom, ideally exhibiting a lifetime of rational living and avoidance of vice,
thereby forming an ethical character, achieving self-realization, and thus realizing happiness and human good. His
comprehensive notion or moral virtue is that it is a state of character manifested in choice and action, resting in the
golden mean, resolved by the prescription that a wise person would determine.

Evaluation of the Greek Philosophical Theories

Takeaways from Socrates and Plato:

 Advocated a positive view of man

 Perseverance is encouraged
 Being moral is equated to being knowledgeable
 Morality is linked with happiness
 A just person has a proper balance among rational, spirited and appetitive aspect of their soul.
 The realm of Forms could be argued to not exist and even if it would be of no help in ethical inquiry.
 This very non-figurative theory serves as one of the pioneers of objectivism in ethics.

Takeaways from Aristotle’s theory:

 More active than Plato’s theory.

 Virtue is not taught but is acquired by practice.
 Virtue does not come naturally and is an achievement.
 Distinguishes “doing right” from “knowing right”
 More practical, particular, and applicable.
 Could better explain accountability and responsibility.
 Opens the door to bias, prejudice, and subjectivism.
 Moderation could be said that it’s not always the solution.
 There is no universal agreement on what is moderate.
 Complex and tough prescription of being moral.

Thomas Aquinas’ Ethics

 Also called the Angelic Doctor and the Prince of Scholastics, Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) is an Italian philosopher
and theologian who ranks among the most important thinkers of the medieval time period.

 In Ethics, Aquinas depends so heavily on Aristotle. Like the Greek philosopher, Aquinas believes that all actions are
directed towards ends and that happiness is the final end. Aquinas thinks that happiness consists in activities in
accordance with virtue.

 But like Augustine, Aquinas declares that ultimate happiness is not attainable in this life, for happiness in the present
life remains imperfect. True happiness, then, is to be found only in the souls of the blessed in heaven or in beatitude
with God.

The Typology of Laws

Central also in Aquinas ethics is his typology of laws. By the term “law”, he means an ordinance of reason for the
common good, promulgated by someone who has care of the community. Aquinas’ laws should also be understood in
terms of “rules and measures” for people’s conduct and as “rational patterns or forms.” Obedience to the law is thus
viewed also as participating in or being in conformity with the pattern or form.

For Aquinas, there are four primary types of law:

1. Eternal Law: refers to the rational plan of God by which all creation is ordered. As God is the supreme ruler of
everything, the rational pattern or form of the universe that exists in His mind is the law that direct everything in the
universe to its appointed end. To this eternal law, everything in the universe is subject.
2. Natural Law: is that aspect of the eternal law which is accessible to human reason. Because mankind is part of the
eternal order, there is a portion of the eternal law that relates specifically to human conduct. This is the moral law, the
or order to which people are subject by their nature ordering them to do good and avoid evil.

3. Human Law: refers to the positive laws. For natural law to be adhered to, more exact and forceful provisions of
human law are helpful. Because the natural law is too broad to provide particular guidance, the human law’s precise,
positive rules of behavior, are supposed to spell out what the natural law prescribes.

4. Divine Law: serves to complement the other types of law. It is a law of revelation, disclosed through sacred text or
Scriptures and the Church which is also directed toward man’s eternal end.

The Natural Law

 Obviously, the type of law that is Primarily significant is Ethics is the natural law. Part of this natural law is our inherent
natural tendency to pursue the behavior and goals appropriate to us.

 According to Aquinas, this natural law is knowable by natural reason. For instance, our practical reason naturally
comprehends that good is to be promoted and evil is to be avoided.

 By virtue of a faculty of moral insight or conscience that Thomas called syndresis, we also have natural inclination:

1. To Survive
2. To Reproduce and Educate Offspring
3. To know the truth about God and to live peacefully in society

Features of Human Actions

Aquinas evaluates human actions on the basis of not only their conformity to the natural law but also of their specific
features.

He mentions at least three aspect through which the morality of an act can be determined: in terms of

1. species, 2. accidents, and 3. end.

Species: of an action that refers to its kind. It is also called the object of the action. Human deeds may be divided into
kinds, some of which are good, some bad, and some indifferent or neutral. Aquinas holds that for an action to be moral,
it must be good or at least not bad in species.

Accidents: simply refer to the circumstances surrounding the action. In ethically evaluating an action, the context in
which the action takes place is also considered because an act might be flawed through its consequences.

End: stands for the agent’s intention. An act might be unjust through it’s intention. To intend to direct oneself against a
good is clearly immoral.

Happiness, Moral Virtues, and Theological Virtues

 Aquinas believes that all actions are directed towards ends and that happiness is the final end. He also thinks that
happiness is not equates with pleasure, material possessions, honor, or any sensual good, but consists in activities in
accordance with virtue. A person needs a moral character cultivated through the habits of choice to realize real
happiness.

 Aquinas defines virtue as “a good habit bearing in activity” or a good faculty-habit. Habits are firm dispositions or
“hard to eradicate” qualities that dispose us to act in a particular manner.

 Aquinas differentiates between acquired and infused habits. The autonomous will of a person plays a major role in
acquired habits as they involve consistent deliberate effort to do an act time and again and despite obstructions. The
infused virtues, on the other hand, are independent of this process as they are directly instilled by God in our faculties.
These virtues are thus divine gifts which elevate the activities of those who receive them.

Aquinas mentions at least two kinds of infused virtues:

1. Moral virtues
2. Theological virtues

 Moral Virtues have as their object not God Himself, but activities that are less virtuous and inferior to the final end. To
this kind belong the four basic virtues:

1. Prudence
2. Fortitude
3. Temperance
4. Justice

 Theological values, on the other hand, are concerned directly with God. They provide us with true knowledge and
desire of God and of His will. Here are the 3 virtues that serve that attune us to our final end:

1. Faith: makes us recognize and believe in the true God.

2. Hope: makes us wish to be with Him.
3. Love: makes us adore Him.

 Unlike Aristotle’s virtues, Christian virtues are not applications of the golden mean between extremes. We ought to
exercise these virtues according to what God demands of us and according to our capacity as individuals.

 Aquinas also treats the theological virtues in terms of the vices and sins which respectively conflicts with them.

An Analysis of Thomistic Ethics

Takeaways from Thomistic Ethics:

 The goodness and badness of an action lies in the interior act of will.
 More of a deontologist or Kantian.
 Against contemporary philosophy due to adherence to natural law.
 Prescribes to the doing of good, avoiding evil, pursuing knowledge and living at peace.
 Promotes a positive view of the world as rational, humane, and ordered.
 Earthly happiness can also be desirable.