ETHICS 100 LESSON 3 & 4

THE HUMAN ACT ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACT

CATECHISM OF CATHOLIC CHURCH ON HUMAN • Knowledge – The agent of act (the

ACTS actor/person) knows what he is doing. He
knows its results, good or bad. The act in
Freedom makes man a moral subject.
other words is done deliberately.
When he acts deliberately, man is, so to speak, the • Freedom – the person who does the action is
father of his acts. Human acts, that is, acts that are not pressured to do or not to do the action.
freely chosen in consequence of a judgment of He is free from all external forces beyond his
conscience, can be morally evaluated. control. To do the act out of fear make the
action not his own. Human act must be done
They are either good or evil.
in freedom.
HUMAN ACTS (ACTUS HUMANUS) • Voluntaries – the agent does the act out of
his own decision and will. He does the act
- are actions or activities that emanate from
because he decides to do it. It emanates from
the rationality of man. These are acts proper
his heart and reason.
to man as man.
Examples The absence of one of these elements make
➢ Act to vote a candidate an act not human. As a result, since the action is
➢ Act to decide done freely, knowingly and voluntarily, man is
➢ Act to teach responsible of such an act.
➢ To love
CLASSIFICATION OF HUMAN ACT
➢ To hate
➢ To attend a party • Elicited Act – if it begins and ends in the will
➢ To read, to study without bodily movement
- A human act is an act of which a man is • Commanded Act – if it requires both mind
master, to do or not to do: it is an act of free and body
will. It is an expression of self. It is a man's
own act, not of other agents about him. It is ELICITED ACTS
not an organic process going on in his body: it ➢ Wish – a desire or love, or a longing for an
is an output of his soul and spirit. Man is objector anything, impossible or possible to
responsible to God for all his human acts, realize.
and to his fellowman for many of them: and ➢ Intention – a purpose or aim, a determination
for none but his own human acts is any man to act in a certain way, attainable or not but
responsible. not obligatory.
A truly 'human act' is a voluntary act, which means ➢ Consent – an affirmation of the will to go on
that the person has engaged their will to embrace, the intention of the agent.
as he shall explain in his text, an end or goal to be ➢ Election – the agent chooses a way to carry
achieved, and subsequently chooses a way to out his intention.
realize that end. --- Thomas Aquinas ➢ Use – after the mind has selected the means
to carry out the intention, this time the mind
ACTS OF MAN (ACTUS HOMINIS) uses the means.
➢ Fruition – a result of the object being desired.
- A human act is an act of which a man is
master, to do or not to do: it is an act of free EXAMPLE OF AN ELICITED ACT
will. It is an expression of self. It is a man's
own act, not of other agents about him. It is I wish to become a famous. (Wish)
not an organic process going on in his body: it To attend several parties or to become a celebrity.
is an output of his soul and spirit. Man is (Intention)
responsible to God for all his human acts,
and to his fellowman for many of them: and To attend several parties. (Consent)
for none but his own human acts is any man By taxi or by private car. (Election)
responsible.
- A human act is an act of which a man is Go to the garage and drive the private car. (Use)
master, to do or not to do: it is an act of free
Be in the party and socialize with new people/friends
will. It is an expression of self. It is a man's
and be famous. (Fruition)
own act, not of other agents about him. It is
not an organic process going on in his body: it COMMANDED ACTS
is an output of his soul and spirit. Man is
➢ Internal Acts – seem to be like elicited act
responsible to God for all his human acts,
because it is also solely in the mind of the
and to his fellowman for many of them: and
agent. However, it requires the body to
for none but his own human acts is any man
complete it. Examples: Efforts to remember,
responsible.
conscious reasoning, effort to control anger,
 deliberate use of the imagination in amount of money increases the evil, while fear of
visualizing a scene harm can lessen a person's responsibility.
➢ External Acts – acts done by the body under Circumstances can never make an evil act into a
the direction of the will. Deliberate walking, good one.
eating, writing, speaking.
HUMAN ACTS AND ITS MODIFIER
➢ Mixed – this is the combination of the internal
and external acts as the word suggests. MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACT
Example, when studying, one uses the mind
and the body. This refers to the degree or intensity of an act.

MORALITY OF HUMAN ACTS “How bad” or “how good” the human act is

➢ Morality of Human act refers to the goodness Modifiers are:

or badness of an act. These are called ➢ Ignorance
“morally good” or “morally evil”. ➢ Concupiscence
➢ When the act is done in accordance with the ➢ Fear
law of God and human reason, which is ➢ Violence
attested to by the conscience, the act is ➢ Habit
morally good. On the other hand, if there is a
violation on the law - morally evil IGNORANCE

GOD’S LAW - The absence of knowledge

- Unavailability of information about the
causes or effects of a thing or action.
- Ignorance is invincible when a person is not
capable of getting rid of his ignorance,
example, inadvertence (unmindfullness) and
forgetfulness.
- Ignorance is vincible if it can be dispelled by
the use of the term moral diligence, example,
avoidance to know a new rule.

DIVISION OF IGNORANCE

➢ Ignorance of the Law – when one is unaware

of the existence of the law or at least, a
SOURCES OF MORALITY particular case comprised under its
provision.
1. The Object –It is the aim or goal of a certain ➢ Ignorance of Facts – When not related to the
action. law but the thing itself or some circumstance
The object directly chosen by the will determines the is known.
basic morality (good or bad). The person's intellect ➢ Ignorance of Reality – When a person is not
sees this as according to moral standards (good) or cognizant that a section has been attached at
not according to moral standards (evil). a particular time.

2. The Intention – the means of attaining the IGNORANTIA NON EXCUSAT

object. IGNORANTIA LEGIS NEMINEM EXCUSAT
The person also has an intention which determines - In law, ignorantia juris non excusat (Latin for
the act's morality. An intention can guide many acts "ignorance of the law excuses not"), or
or even a whole lifetime (as loving God). One act can ignorantia legis neminem excusat ("ignorance
have a multiplicity of intentions (Doing a favor to help of law excuses no one"), is a legal principle
someone and also to receive a favor in return). holding that a person who is unaware of a law
However, a good intention can never turn an evil act may not escape liability for violating that law
into a good one. A good purpose cannot justify evil merely by being unaware of its content.
means. However, an evil intention can make a good IGNORANTIA JURIS NON EXCUSAT
act into an evil one, such as giving alms to gain
praise. IGNORANTIA LEGIS NEMINEM EXCUSAT

3. Circumstances – these are environments or - In the Philippines, this law principle and
conditions prevailing when the action is done. presumption can be found in Article 3 of the
These are the who, what, where, when, with Civil Code of the Philippines which states that
whom, under what condition and why the “Ignorance of the law excuses no one from
action was performed. compliance therewith.”
- This presumption in Philippine Law is based
Only the act and the intention make an act good or on expediency, convenience, public policy
bad. The circumstances can increase or diminish the and necessity. It is said that the good hardly
goodness or evil. For example, stealing a large
 need law: when they do good acts, this is not TWO GENERAL TYPES OF VIOLENCE:
because they are deliberately complying with
PERFECT AND IMPERFECT
the law, it is because they are simply good
men. On the other hand, without this law - In cases where the victim gives complete
principle and presumption, the corrupt will resistance, the violence is classified as
make social existence unbearable, abuses perfect violence. If a woman walking a dark
will increase, and feigned ignorance will be street at night is attacked and she attempts to
rewarded. fight of the attackers with all the physical
powers at her command, she has been the
CONCUPISCENCE
victim of perfect violence. However, if the
- Refers to the bodily desire of man sometimes victim offers insufficient resistance, the
called passion. violence is classified as imperfect violence.
- The word concupiscence is defined as a
HABIT
strong desire, a tendency or attraction,
usually arising from lust or sensual desires. It - A repeatable act of a person in comfort and
is, morally speaking, the tendency to go off ease. It is an inclination to do and finish
course. something. Habits may be good or evil as to
➢ Always leading to the satisfaction of the body. whether they influence one to do good or evil.
➢ Desire If a habit disposes a person to do good, it is
➢ Anger called a virtue. However, if a habit disposes a
➢ Hope person to do evil, it is called a vice.
➢ Despair
➢ Love
➢ Hatred
➢ Sorrow
2 KINDS OF CONCUPISCENCE
1. Antecedent Concupiscence – a passion
that suddenly flares up without approval
of the will or mind (ex: anger)
2. Consequent Concupiscence – when the
will or mind acts in favor of the
antecedent (ex: anger deliberately
fostered)
- Moral principles regarding concupiscence:
Antecedent concupiscence lessens the
voluntary nature of human acts and lessens
the degree of moral responsibility
accordingly. Consequent concupiscence
does not lessen moral responsibility. Rather,
a person acting with consequent
concupiscence is completely responsible.

FEAR

- This is a disconcerted state of a person’s

mind due to the expected danger that comes
anytime.

2 kinds of acts relevant to fear:

1. Act out of fear (ex. Soldier who will run or not

from the battle)
2. Act in fear (ex. Person under holdup gives up
his money)
- Moral principle of fear: Fear diminishes the
voluntary nature of the act. A sinful act done
because of fear is somewhat less free and
therefore less sinful than an act done not
under the influence of fear.

VIOLENCE

- A force usually physical, inflicted upon a

person for the purpose of compelling the said
person to amend or act against his will.