Understanding Moral Action, Character Development, and Conscience

Moral Action and Human Responsibility

We engage in moral action when we imagine different possibilities with varying consequences, are compelled to choose, and subsequently justify our decision as rational human beings. These three stages—imagining possibilities, making a choice, and justifying that choice—constitute the fundamental moral structure. A person is considered amoral when they are the master of their actions but lack responsibility, akin to animals.

Forging Character: Moral and Ethical Being

Moral and ethical character, also known as "custom," is something people forge. While we are born with a temperament, spirit, and a character shaped by nature and society, we can acquire a new character by choosing properties that improve us. According to Zubiri and Aranguren, we possess two types of properties:

• Properties given by nature
• Properties acquired through appropriation

As moral beings, humans necessarily acquire properties. To appropriate a new property, it is necessary to repeat actions in the same direction, thus forming habits of behavior. These habits can become virtues if they predispose us to do good, or vices if they predispose us to act badly. To discern which habits are virtues or vices, we must consult our moral conscience.

Moral Conscience: Capacity and Functions

Moral conscience is the human capacity to recognize that some forms of life, values, or principles are more humanizing and morally superior to others. It performs several crucial functions:

1. Capturing Principles: It is the ability to grasp the principles by which we distinguish between what is morally good and bad.
2. Making Practical Judgments: Conscience performs the function of making practical judgments, considering both general principles and the specifics of a situation. The best way to understand the demands of a moral principle is to attempt to apply it.
3. Self-Criticism: It serves as an internal judge that praises some actions and disapproves of others, often accompanied by remorse.

Responsibility can only be attributed to free and conscious beings.