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The

Morali
ty
of
Human
Act
Human act explained:
o Human act is “an act which proceeds from the
deliberate free will of man”. (Glenn, P. 1965:3)
Hence, these actions are performed by man
knowingly, freely and voluntarily.

o Man, just like any animal, also feels, hears, sees,

employs the sense of taste and smell, has bodily
tendencies or appetites. But, more than an animal,
man is rational; he knows or understands and
possess free will (the faculty to make a choice).
Ergo, it is only the act that proceeds from the
knowing and freely willing human being that has
the full character of a human act. Human act then
Human act explained:

o In Ethics and morality, human acts should be

distinguished from acts of man.

o As pointed out, human acts proceed from

one’s conscious knowledge, freedom, and
voluntariness. The moral agent by nature
always acts knowingly, freely and with
consent (voluntarily).
Human act explained:

o Acts of man are simply activities (involuntary

actions) which occur mostly as biological or
instinctual functions; it does not involve a
degree of self-awareness or consciousness
while taking place in the moral agent.

o Acts of man are therefore actions/activities

occurring in man without deliberation or
reflection, freedom and consent. In a way, the
moral agent “perform” them instinctively.
Human act explained:

o Consequently, it can be reckoned that all

human acts are acts of man, but not all acts of
man are human acts.

o Examples of acts of man: various physiological

processes, such as the beating of the heart,
breathing, respiration, digestion, and the like;
actions that are spontaneously happening in
the person during his/her impulsive,
unconscious and instinctive moments, such as
sudden feeling of fear, rage, anger, lust, etc.
Human act explained:

o Acts of man, therefore, are those that humans

have in common with animals whose actions
and movements emanate from purely sensual
nature. These activities are “performed”
without deliberation and free will.

o Ergo, the moral agent is neither morally

responsible nor accountable for acts of man.
Human act explained:

o Children who are below the age of reason, the

insane, the senile, lunatics, people who are
under the heavy influence of drugs and
alcohol (of course, the act of taking these may
be with consciousness and knowledge, hence
a different matter altogether)- are said to be
incapable of acting knowingly and with
sufficient knowledge.
Human act explained:

o There are always instances when an act of

man progresses to become a human act:

o Example: I overhear a gossip . . . (the act of

hearing sound or voice is but a natural
physiological function, therefore, an act of
man; but then I stop and listen to the
gossip . . . (the act of stopping and listening
involves deliberation and a choice, and
therefore is now a human act)
Human act explained:

o At the point when an act of man (hearing)

transitions to be a human act (listening), that
human act now becomes a MORAL ACT.
o Moral act, because it now assumes moral
quality or characteristic of either being good
or bad/evil.
o In this case, the moral agent (the doer or
performer of the act) now bears moral
responsibility. Meaning, his action either
deserves praise, reward, approval for being
good or punishment, sanction, condemnation
Human act explained:

o As it stands to reason, human act can be:

1. good - if it stands in harmony with the
dictates of right
reason.
2. bad/evil - if in opposition to these dictates.
3. indifferent – if it stands in no positive
relation to the
dictates of reason. (in matter of
experience, there is
really no such thing as an indifferent
human act; as
Human act explained:

o A human act is also that which is classified

as good or bad, right or wrong, and thus,
subject to morality and its norms (Baldemeca et
al. 1984: 92)
Human act explained:

o Three important elements or constituents

must be present on the part of the acting
agent for an act to be strictly considered a
human act:

1. Knowledge
2. Freedom
3. Voluntariness or Consent
 Human act explained:

1. Knowledge - A human act proceeds from

the deliberate will; it
requires deliberation. “Deliberation” means
advertence, or knowledge
in intellect of what one is
about and what this means.
 Human act explained:

2. Freedom - A human act is an act

determined by the will and by
nothing else. It is an act that is under
control of the will,
an act that the will can do or leave
undone. Such an act is called a free act.
Thus, every human act is free;
the moral agent can choose to execute
it or not. In other words, freedom is an
essential element of the human act.
Human act explained:

3. Voluntariness - The Latin word for will is

voluntas, and from this word we
derive the English terms, voluntary and
voluntariness. Voluntariness implies
will-act. For it to be present,
there must be both knowledge and freedom
in the moral agent. Hence the
term voluntary act is
synonymous with human act.
Human act explained:
Voluntariness, since synonymous with a human
act must be elaborated:

o Kinds or Degrees of Voluntariness:

1. Perfect and Imperfect Voluntariness
2. Simple and Conditional
3. Direct and Indirect
4. Positive and Negative.
5. Actual, Virtual, Habitual, and Interpretative
Human act explained:

1. Perfect and Imperfect Voluntariness

a) Perfect voluntariness is present in the
human act when that agent (i.e.,
the doer, performer, actor) fully knows
and fully intends the act.
b) Imperfect voluntariness is present
when there is some defect in the
agent’s knowledge, intention, or in both.
Human act explained:

2. Simple and Conditional

a) Simple voluntariness is present in a
human act performed,
whether the agent likes or dislikes doing it.
b) Conditional voluntariness is present
in the agent’s wish to do
something other than which he is actually doing
but doing it with repugnance or
dislike.
Human act explained:

3. Direct and Indirect

a) Direct voluntariness is present in a
human act willed in itself.
b) Indirect voluntariness is present in
that human act which is the
foreseen result (or a result that could and
should have been foreseen) of
another act directly willed.
Human act explained:

4. Positive and Negative

a) Positive voluntariness is present in a
human act of doing, performing.
b) Negative voluntariness is present in
a human act of omitting,
refraining from doing.
Human act explained:

5. Actual, Virtual, Habitual, and

Interpretative
a) Actual voluntariness (or actual
intention) is present in a human act
willed here and now.
b). Virtual voluntariness (or virtual
intention) is present in a human act
done as a result of (or in virtue of) a formerly
elicited actual intention, even if
that intention be here and
now forgotten.
Human act explained:

5. Actual, Virtual, Habitual, and

Interpretative
c) Habitual voluntariness (or habitual
intention) is present in a human act
done in harmony with, but not as a result of,
a formerly elicited and unrevoked
actual intention.
d) Interpretative voluntariness (or
interpretative intention) is that
voluntariness which, in the judgement of
prudence and common-sense,
Human act explained:

o Two Moral Practical Questions in Relation to

Indirect Voluntariness:

a) When is the agent (doer, actor,

performer) responsible for the evil
effect of a cause directly willed?

(b) When may one perform an act, not evil

in itself, which has two effects, one
good, one evil?
Human act explained:

(a) The First Question: When is an agent

responsible for the evil effect of a
cause directly willed?
- The agent is responsible for such an
effect when three conditions
are fulfilled, namely:

(1) The agent must be able to foresee the evil

effect, at least in a general
way.
(2) The agent must be free to refrain from
Human act explained:

(a) The First Question: When is an agent

responsible for the evil effect of a
cause directly willed?
- The agent is responsible for such an
effect when three conditions
are fulfilled, namely:

(3) The agent must be morally bound not to do

that which is the cause of the evil effect.
Human act explained:

(b) The Second Question: When may one

perform an act, not evil in itself, from
which flow two effects, one good,
one evil?
- One may perform such an act when three
conditions are fulfilled, namely:
(1) The evil effect must not precede the good
effect.

(2) There must be a reason sufficiently grave

calling for the act in its good
effect.
Human act explained:

(b) The Second Question: When may one

perform an act, not evil in itself, from
which flow two effects, one good,
one evil?
- One may perform such an act when three
conditions are fulfilled, namely:

(3) The intention of the agent must be honest,

that is, the agent must directly intend the
good effect and merely permit the
evil effect as a regrettable incident or “side issue.”
 The modifiers of Human
Act and conditions the affect
 Modifiers are factors
to a considerable extent man’s inner
disposition towards certain action.

1. Ignorance
2. Passions (Concupiscence)
3. Fear
4. Violence
5. Habit
 The modifiers of Human
Act
1. Ignorance is the absence of knowledge;
absence implies negation, so in this case
ignorance is negative. But if it is absence of
knowledge that ought to be present, the
ignorance is not merely negative but
privative.

Examples: A pupil in Mababang

Paaralan ng Bayabas does not
know Silliman Hymn naturally. Her ignorance is
negative. But if a
Sillimanian does not know the
 The modifiers of Human
Act
Ignorance can be classified according to:
1) its object - i.e., in the thing of which a
person may be ignorant;
2) its subject - i.e., in the person in whom
ignorance exists;
3) its result - i.e., with references to the
acts that are performed in ignorance.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
o Ignorance in its object:
a) Ignorance of Law is the ignorance of
the existence of a duty, rule, or
regulation.
(b) Ignorance of Fact is ignorance of the
nature or circumstances
of an act as forbidden.
(c) Ignorance of Penalty is lack of
knowledge of the precise sanction
(i.e., an inducement sufficient to make
reasonable men obey the
 The modifiers of Human
Act
o Ignorance in its subject:

(A) Vincible Ignorance (i.e., conquerable

ignorance; ignorance that
can and should be supplanted by
knowledge) is ignorance that can be
dispelled using ordinary diligence.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
o Ignorance in its subject:

+ Vincible Ignorance has subtypes:

1. culpable ignorance – results from the moral
agent’s proper lack of diligence to dispel
it.
2. crass (or supine) ignorance - results from
total, or nearly total, lack of effort
to dispel it.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
o Ignorance in its subject:

+ Vincible Ignorance has subtypes:

3. simply vincible – results from some effort
exerted by the moral agent to dispel
it, yet it’s only a half-hearted effort,
and thus the ignorance is not overcome.
4. affected – results from the moral agent’s
positive effort to remain ignorant (to be
used potentially as alibi or excuse).
 The modifiers of Human
Act

o Ignorance in its subject:

(B) Invincible Ignorance – is that which ordinary

and proper diligence on the part of
the moral agent cannot dispel.
This sort of ignorance is attributable to one to
either that the person in whom the
ignorance exists has no realization
whatever of his lack of knowledge, or the person
who realizes his ignorance
finds ineffective his effort to dispel it.
 The modifiers of Human
Act

o Ignorance in its subject:

(B) Invincible Ignorance – has two degrees:

* physically invincible - no human effort can
dispel it.
* morally invincible - effort exerted by good
and prudent to
dispel it is not effective.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
o Ignorance in its result:

(a) Antecedent Ignorance is that which

precedes all consent of the will.
b) Concomitant Ignorance is that ignorance
which accompanies an
act that would have been
performed even if the ignorance
did not exist.
 The modifiers of Human
Act

o Ignorance in its result:

(c) Consequent Ignorance is that which

follows upon an act of the will. The
will may directly affect it, or supinely
neglect to dispel it.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
The ethical principles that derived from
ignorance as modifier of human act:

FIRST PRINCIPLE: Invincible ignorance destroys

the
voluntariness of an act.

SECOND PRINCIPLE: Vincible ignorance does not

destroy the
voluntariness of an act.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
The ethical principles that derived from
ignorance as modifier of human act:

THIRD PRINCIPLE: Vincible ignorance lessens the

voluntariness of an act.

FOURTH PRINCIPLE: Affected ignorance in one

way lessens and, in
another way, increase voluntariness.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
2. Concupiscence or Passions
o Concupiscence means those bodily
appetites or tendencies that in one way or
another affect the moral agent’s
knowledge, freedom and voluntariness.

o Examples: love, hatred; joy, grief, desire,

aversion or horror; hope, despair; courage
or daring, fear; and anger. We treat here of
the passions in general
 The modifiers of Human
Act
o Types of Concupiscence of passions:

1. antecedent passions – are those that

spring into action
unstimulated by any act of the will; that is,
when they arise
antecedently to the will-act.
2. consequent passions - are those
which the will, directly or
indirectly, stirs up and fosters.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
o Ethical principles that derived from passions
or concupiscence as modifier of human act:

FIRST PRINCIPLE: Antecedent concupiscence lessens

the
voluntariness of an act.
SECOND PRINCIPLE: Antecedent concupiscence does
not destroy the
voluntariness of an act.
THIRD PRINCIPLE: Consequent concupiscence,
however great, does not
 The modifiers of Human
Act
3. FEAR

o Fear is the shrinking back of the mind from

danger.

o More accurately, fear is the agitation of mind

(ranging from slight disturbance to actual
panic) brought about by the apprehension of
impending evil.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
3. FEAR

o Ethical Principle that derived from fear as a

modifier of human act:

PRINCIPLE: An act done from fear, however

great, is simply voluntary, although it is
regularly also conditionally involuntary.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
4. VIOLENCE

o Violence or coercion is external force applied

by a free cause (i.e., by a cause with free will)
or by man for the purpose of compelling a
person to perform an act which is against his
will.

PRINCIPLE: Acts elicited by the will are not

subject to violence; external acts
caused by violence, to which due resistance is
 The modifiers of Human
Act
5. HABIT

o Habit - is a lasting readiness and facility, born

of frequently repeated acts, for acting in a
certain manner.

PRINCIPLE: Habit does not destroy

voluntariness; and acts from habit are always
voluntary, at least in cause, as long as the
habit is allowed to endure.
 The Determinants of the
Morality of Human of
Human Act
1. object
2. intention
3. circumstances

Note: For the elaboration of this topic view and

study the video clip displayed in the
page aligned to this Part 3.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
Summary of the Ethical Principles of the
Modifiers of Human Act:

Regarding ignorance:

a) Invincible ignorance destroys the

voluntariness of an act.
b) Vincible ignorance does not destroy the
voluntariness of an act.
c) Vincible ignorance lessens the
voluntariness of an act.
d) Affected ignorance in one way lessens
 The modifiers of Human
Act
Regarding Concupiscence of Passions:

a) Antecedent concupiscence lessens the

voluntariness of an act.
b) Antecedent concupiscence does not
destroy the
voluntariness of an act.
c) Consequent concupiscence, however
great, does not lessen the voluntariness
of an act.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
Regarding Fear:
An act done from fear, however great, is
simply voluntary, although it is regularly also
conditionally involuntary.

Regarding Violence:
Acts elicited by the will are not subject to
violence; external acts caused by
violence, to which due resistance is offered,
are in no wise imputable to the agent.
 The modifiers of Human
Act
Regarding Habit:

Habit does not destroy voluntariness; and

acts from habit are always voluntary, at
least in cause, as long as the habit is allowed to
endure.