Human Acts ( MAKATAONG KILOS )

According to Ken Levine, “We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us.” We have
to admit that we, humans have imperfections. However, we could minimize those
imperfections. We only have to control ourselves in doing such actions and be mindful of the
possible consequences of the actions that are done.

Human act is defined as those actions which man performs knowingly, freely, and voluntarily.
These are the actions performed with presence of knowledge and the control of the will. We
refer these actions as deliberate, intentional or voluntary.

Distinction is made between human acts and acts of man.

1. Acts of man are those actions which happen in man; They are instinctive and are
not within the control of the will.
In principle, acts of man are not the concern of morals, since they are not voluntary. The
acts of man include:
Biological processes – like digestion, breathing, beating of the heart,etc

ESSENTIAL QUALITIES of Acts of Man

1. Done with out knowledge
2. Without consent
3. Involuntary

• Ex: unconscious, involuntary, semi-deliberate, spontaneous actions • Acts of man can become
human acts when he employs his intellect & will in performing the act

Human Acts
- Voluntary acts of men
- Acts done with knowledge and consent
- Acts that are proper to man as man; since man alone has control of his mental faculties and has free
will
- Acts which are consciously undertaken and are under our control
- Human acts are those of which man is the master; doing or not doing as he pleases.

Human acts must be done with consent and full knowledge. Only then would this have moral bearing.
Ex.If a soldier is caught and is coerced to kill one of his troop member is he morally wrong?
A gun used in a killing is not liable. The liability lies in the person who pulled the trigger. As far as
natural law is concerned the gun provided the service it was created for.

CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN ACTS

• Knowledge
• Freedom
•Voluntary
HUMAN ACTS
Human persons – intelligent and free
│-
capable of determining our own lives by our own free choices
HOW?
│-
by freely choosing to shape our lives and actions in accord with the truth
→
by making good moral choices
-
T h e s e c h o i c e s p e r f o r m e d a s f r e e p e r s o n s a r e c a l l e d HUMAN Acts
DEFINITION OF HUMAN ACTS
-Acts which man does as man = acts proper to man as man
-Acts of which he is properly master = because he does
t h e m w i t h full knowledge and of his own will = actions performed by
man knowingly and f r e e l y = w i l l →properly enlightened byknowledge→
s u p p l i e d b y t h e intellect
Therefore :
Human acts are those acts which proceed from a deliberate freewill
HUMAN ACTS – THE CONCERN OF MORALITY
- only human acts are moral acts = it is only with human acts that
m a n i s responsible for his actions
REASON AND FREEDOM
– makes man a moral subject

REASON-
Human acts are either in agreement or in disagreement with the
dictates ofreason.
dictates of reason
- shared consciousness of prudent people about the manner of action or behavior
- Norm of morality which is the standard bywhich actions are judged as
good or evil
= good ---in harmony with reason
= evil --- opposed to reason
= indifferent ---neutral

FREEDOM-
makes man a moral subject- when man acts in deliberate manner --- he is the
father of his acts
- man is thus responsible for those acts --- he can acknowledge that he has
done them because he wanted to --- and he can explain w h y h e d e c i d e d
t o d o t h e m = those acts can be morally classified– they are either good or evil

INTELLECT AND WILL IN HUMAN ACTS-

- intellect and the will are not 2 successive acts but 2 elements of human acts
-it is not that the intellect that knows and the will that decides but man who
both know and decides through simultaneous use of the 2 faculties.
- will –directs the intellect to know
- intellect –directs the will to want the object it proposes

WILL
- t h e o n l y o b j e c t w h i c h necessarilya t t r a c t s t h e w i l l - - -
ABSOLUTE GOOD perfectly known as such-
-Partial goods or God imperfectly known –will not necessarily attract the will
WILL – naturally inclined to the good – but man may sometimes deliberately choose
something morally evil,how come? - I n t h i s c a s e , t h e w i l l c h o o s e s a
partially good t h a t t h e w i l l i t s e l f h a s commanded the intellect to present
as such = how did it happen?
= the will has a fixed inclination to the good
– t h e w i l l c a n o n l y c h o o s e s o m e t h i n g b a d when it is presented under its good
aspects
= it is due to the disordered disposition of the will with respect to its last end, and the
m e a n s l e a d i n g t o i t = t h e r e l i e s t h e culpability of the choice

Human act are either elicited acts or commanded acts

•Elicited acts are those performed by the will and are not bodily externalized.

ACCORDING TO PAUL GLENN ENUMERATES THE FF. ELICITED ACTS

1. Wish - the tendency of will towards something, whether this be realizable or not.
2. Intention - something that is attainable but without necessarily committing oneself to attain
it.
3. Consent - the acceptance of the will of those needed to carry out the intention
4. Election- the selection of the will of those means elected to carry out the intention.
5. Fruition- the enjoyment of the will derived from the attainment of the thing he had desired
earlier.
Commanded acts are those done either by man’ s mental or bodily powers under the command
of the will. It is either internal or external actions.
Examples of internal actions are conscious reasoning, recalling something, encouraging
oneself, controlling arouse emotions and others.
Examples of external actions are walking, eating, dancing, laughing, listening, reading and
others.
MORAL DISTINCTION
1. Moral actions are those actions which are in conformity with the norms of morality.
They are good and permissible action
2. Immoral actions are not conformity with the norm of morality. They are bad or evil and
are not permissible.
3. A moral actions are those actions w/c stand neutral in relation to the norm of morality.
They neither be good or bad in themselves. But certain moral actions may become good
or bad because of the circumstances attendant to them.

The imputability of human acts means that the person performing the acts is liable of
such acts. It involves the notion of guilt or innocence. Thus actions are either
praiseworthy or blameworthy. Actions are attributed to the doer as their principal
cause.

Voluntariness and Responsibility

- Voluntariness is equated to freedom of will in man. Ethics accepts that man is able to control his own
will and thus do actions as he pleases. Ethics, morality, liability, responsibility, rewards and punishments
are all interrelated; and all of these have man as a free agent as a premise.

Voluntariness and ethics

Ethics is the study of human acts and by definition human acts are voluntary.
Morality and voluntariness – only acts that are done with consent have moral bearing.
Ex. Can we hold dogs, stones, cars morally liable?
Human act and voluntariness – these two concepts are inseparable.
Voluntariness and responsibility – knowledge and consent equates to being responsible with all
aspects of the action.
Kinds of Human Acts
1. Perfect voluntariness implies full knowledge and consent . This is where an act is understood clearly
by the initiator .Performed with consent.
2. Imperfect voluntariness then implies the partial knowledge and/or partial consent . One must see
that two areas are concerned knowledge and consent . If one is lacking then imperfect voluntariness is
present.
3 Conditional Voluntariness - is present in the person who is force by the circumstances
beyond his control to perform an act w/c he would not do under normal condition
4.Simple Voluntariness - present in a person doing an act willfull, regardless of whether he likes
to do it or not. It is either positive or negative.
 TYPES OF VOLUNTARINESS
1. Direct Voluntariness -accompanies an act which is primarily intended by the doer,
either as a means to achieve something else.
An act is directly voluntary when the act is intended for its own sake .

Example: a .A person who willingly goes to a bar for drinking is a directly voluntary act.
b. When one cuts class with friends to watch a movie. The cutting class, accompaniment of
friends, and viewing of a film are all voluntary acts.

2. Indirect Involuntariness- accompanies an act or situation which is the mere result of directly willed
act.
An act is indirectly voluntary when the act is not intended for its own sake
Example: a. A holdup occurs and the criminal asks for your money.
b. When you go to a bar for drink and you end up in a fight.
These events or actions may not be intended but they occurred nevertheless

A person considers accountable for indirect voluntary result of his acts when:
1. The doer is able to see the evil result or effects, at least in general way.
2. The doer is free to refrain from doing that which would produce the foresee evil.
3. The doer has mortal obligation not to do that which produces an evil effect.

. - A person is held morally responsible for any evil effect w/c flows from the action itself
directly and necessary as natural consequences, though the evil effect is not directly willed or
intended.

-. Human act from w/c two effects may result, One good and one is evil, Is morally
permissible under four conditions. If any of this conditions is violated, then the action is
not justifiable and should not be done.
 The action w/c produce double effect must be good in itself, or at
least morally indifferent.
 The good effect must not come from the evil effect.
 To do evil in order to achieve something good is not justifiable.
 The motive of the doer must be towards the attainment of the
good. The evil effect is permitted only as an incidental result.
 The good effect must not out weigh the evil effects in its
importance.
EXAMPLES: An elder brother who puts hot sauce on a cake before giving it to a begging
younger brother, so that the younger will not ask for more, and the elder can have the
cake all to himself.
•A teenager who is yawning a lot, showing how uninterested she is to listen in her
professor.

MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS

 Factors that influence man’s inner disposition towards certain actions are called
modifiers of human acts. They affect the mental or emotional state of a person to the
extent that the voluntariness involved in an act is either increased or decreased. This is
significant because the accountability of the act is correspondingly increased or
decreased.
1. IGNORANCE - Is the absence of knowledge which a person ought to possess.
Ignorance is categorized into two:
A. Invincible – a type of ignorance that could not be dispelled with any amount of effort
because under the situation it is impossible
B.. Vincible – a type of ignorance that could be dispelled with diligence
ex. Would an Aeta living in the mountains be held accountable when he comes to Manila and violates
traffic laws? How about a Manileño who does not know that there is a new law?
Analysis :
. a.Our Aeta friend could not be held liable because at that instant his ignorance is invincible. He
cannot comprehend what law he has violated because to him it is non existent.
b. The Manila fellow on the other hand knows there are traffic laws and he should be updated. He is
vincible therefore liable.

2.PASSION-are either tendencies away, from under undesirable or harmful things.-positive

emotions , the former include love, desire, delight, hope and bravery.-Negative emotions, the
latter include hatred, horror, sadness, despair, fear and anger.
TYPES OF PASSION
A. Antecedent Passion -are those that precede an act.
B.Consequent Passion -are those that are intentionally aroused and kept.

PRINCIPLES OF PASSION
 Antecedent passions do not always destroy voluntariness, but they diminish
accountability for the resultant act.
 Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness, but may increase accountability.
3.FEAR - is the disturbance of the mind of a person who is confronted by an impending danger
or harm to himself or loved ones. –
- is an instinct for self- preservation.
PRINCIPLES OF FEAR
 Acts done with fear are voluntary.
 Acts done out of fear, however ,great, is simply voluntary, although it is also
conditionally voluntary.
 Acts done because of intense fear or panic are involuntary.

4. VIOLENCE - refers to any physical force exerted on a person by another free agent for the
purpose of compelling said person to act against his will.
. PRINCIPLES OF VIOLENCE
  External actions, or commanded actions, performed by a person subjected to
violence, to which reasonable resistance has been offered, are involuntary and
are not accountable.
 Elicited acts, or those done by the will alone, are not subject to violence and are
therefore voluntary.
5. HABITS -as defined by Glenn “ is a lasting readiness and facility, born of frequently repeated
acts, for acting in a certain manner.”
PRINCIPLE OF HABITS
 Action done by force of habit are voluntary in cause, unless a reasonable effort is
made to counteract the habitual inclination.

THE ENDS OF HUMAN ACT
1. End -it is the purpose or goal of an act. - it is the act which completes or
finishes an act.
2. End of the act – it is the natural termination of an activity.
3. End of the doer – it is the personal purpose intended by the person
performing the act. – it is called the motive.
4. Motive – is the reason why a person performs an act. – it is the force that
sustains the act and brings it to completion.
The Morality of Human Acts
Morality– (Latin mores: of manners or customs) Those principles governing whether an act is right or
wrong, as understood through natural reason and in accordance with the teachings of Christ as they are
revealed through Scripture and Tradition…
The Sources of Morality In order to evaluate whether an act is morally good or evil, all three elements
must be considered.
1. Object– the matter of a human act or the action itself3 “The object is the ‘matter’ of the human act,
the ‘what’ we do.”
The object determines the morality of an act… The human act receives its goodness or malice
primarily from the morality of the act itself. For example, adultery is always evil by its object,
independently of the purpose of the one who does it.
2. Intention – the motive for which a person commits a good or evil act. Rooted in an act of the will, the
intention is one’s purpose or motive for acting. It answers the question ‘why’ one does a particular act.
One’s intention can be involved in a series of actions or several motives can be involved in the same act.
A key principle of Catholic morality centers on the role of intention: A good intention can never make an
intrinsically evil action good. The end does not justify the means. If an act has both an evil object and an
evil intention, then the malice of the act increases. “On the other hand, a good intention can a good
intention can reduce the guilt of a morally bad act, but it cannot make an intrinsically evil act a good act.
3. Circumstances –The particulars of the human act which are not necessarily connected with the
human act but which affect the morality of the act. Circumstances are secondary elements of a moral
act – the how, who, when, where of the act. They contribute to the goodness or the evil of an act…
Circumstances can also lessen or heighten a person’s blame worthiness for a particular act. However,
they cannot change an evil act into a good one
. how – the manner in which the act is done
who – the person acting
when – the timing of an act
where – the place where the act occurs.
 The circumstances, including the consequences, are secondary elements of a moral act. They contribute
to increasing or diminishing the moral goodness or evil of human acts (for example, the amount of a
theft). They can also diminish or increase the agent’s responsibility (such as acting out of a fear of
death). Circumstances of themselves cannot change the moral quality of acts themselves; they can make
neither good nor right an action that is in itself evil.

General Rules for Judging the Morality of an Act

In order for an act to be morally good, the object, intention, and circumstances must all be good.
1. An act is morally good if the object of the act itself, the intention, and the circumstances are good.
2. If an act itself is intrinsically evil (evil by its very nature), the act is never morally allowable regardless
of intention or circumstances.
3. If the object of the act is itself morally good (or at least neutral), its morality will be judged by the
purpose or the circumstances.
4. Circumstances may create, mitigate, or aggravate sin.
5. If all three moral elements (the object of the act itself, the intention, and the circumstances) are
good, the act is good. If any one element is evil, the act is evil. If a reservoir is fed by three streams, and
one of them is polluted, the reservoir is polluted.