Jem Riel

Moral Accountability
• Human acts, because they are

voluntary, are accountable acts
Actions are imputed on the doer
as its principal cause and
therefore, deserving of either
reward or punishment.
The Subject of Human Act
• The subject of a human act is any person who is
capable of acting intelligently and freely. like the
ship captain who assumes full responsibility for
the ship and its cargo, a person is accountable
for his decisions and actuations. A person is
either guilty or innocent deserving or
underserving of punishment.
Sanctions of Human Act
• The penal laws of the country provide for a system of
punishment for wrongdoings, ranging from fines to
imprisonment. The capital punishment or death penalty
is reserved for "heinous crimes”
• Unless also prohibited by the laws of the land, no
punishments are imposed on immortal acts. However,
immoral acts carry with them the burden of guilt,
remorese and shame. The Scriptures speaks of death
as the punishment for sins. It means both physical and
spiritual death.
Modifiers of Human Act
• A voluntary act is under the control of the intellect
and will of a person. There are, however, factor
that may influence the intellect and will so that
actions are not perfectly voluntary. These factor
are called modifiers of human. Because they
interfere with the application of the intellect and
will, they either reduce or increase accountability.
The moral axiom is:
• The greater the knowledge and the
freedom, the greater the voluntariness
and therefor, the accountability
(Panizo, 38)
The 5 Modifiers of Human Act
1. IGNORANCE
• Ignorance is the absence of knowledge which a
person ought to possess. A lawyer is expected to
know the law: the doctor, the doctor, the cure of
illnesses: and the manager, his business operations.
In the realm of morals, everyon normal person who
has attained the age of reason, approximately seven
(7) years old, is expected to know the general norms
of proper conduct and behavior.
• Ignorance is either vincible or invincible.
2. Passions
• Passions, or conscupiscence, are psychic
responses. They either tendencies towards desirable
objects, or tendencies away from undersirable
objects. The former are considered positive
emotions, such as love, desire, delight, hope, and
bravery. The latter are negative emotions, such as
hatred, horror, sadness, despair, fear and anger.
• In relation to actions, passions are either antecedent
or consequent.
Principles:
• Antecedent do not always destroy Voluntariness but
they diminish accountability over and act. Antecedent
passion weakens will power without completely
blocing it. Thus, the so called "crimes of passion" are
voluntary.
• Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness
and mayy even increase accountability. This is
because consequent passions are the direct result of
the will consenting o them, instead of subordinating
them to the control of reason.
3. Fear
• The disturbance of the mind of a person who
confronted by an impending danger of harm to
himself or loved ones.
• Act done 'with'fear(voluntary) the person acting
with fear is acting in spite of his fear and still
very much control of his conduct; it doesn't
exempt a person from moral and legal
responsibility.
4. Violence
• Refers to any physical force exerted on a
person by another free agent for the purpose
of compelling the said person to act against
his will.
• Absolute violence excludes any
voluntariness from the forced action.
• Relative violence lessens te voluntariness
from the forced action.
5. Habit
• Constant and easy way of doing things acquired by
the repetition of the same act.
• Deliberately admitted habit does not lessen
voluntariness.
• Opposed habit lessens voluntariness or precludes
it.
• What is the difference between
moral accountability and moral
responsibility?
• The main difference between responsibility and
accountabiblity is that responsibility can be shared,
while accountability cannot. Responsibility means not
only being responsible for something, but ultimately being
responsible for your actions.
What is an example of a
moral responsibility?
• Thus, we may consider it a person's moral
responsibility to jump in the water and try to
rescue another person, when she sees that
person drowning. If she manages to pull the
person from the water we are likely to praise
her. whereas if she refuses to help we may
blame her.
Why is moral
accountability
important?
• Moral responsibility refers to the self-
obligation to do good to minimize harming
other people directly or indirectly. It gives
people the principles that guide them to
take actions that meet their best interests.
Poverty
• Poverty is never an excuse for commeting a
crime just as wealth does not justify abuses.
But there is a correlation between poverty and
crimes. People who are dirt poor and starving
are unlikely to think about ther morals.
Action and Emotion
• Man is not a robot devoid of feelings.
Every human act involves a person
emotionally. Thus, we pray fervently, we
work earnestly, we play eagerly, we eat
hearily, or we live happily. The docalogue
enjoins us to love God "with all our heart
and with all our soul"

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Moral Accountability

• Human acts, because they are

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