Lesson 3. Human Act PDF

THE ACT Lesson 3 Human Acts Human acts (Actus Humani)refer to actions that proceed from insight into the nature and purpose of one’s doing and from consent of free will. Specifically, human acts are those actions done by a person in certain situations which are essentially the...

THE ACT Lesson 3 Human Acts Human acts (Actus Humani)refer to actions that proceed from insight into the nature and purpose of one’s doing and from consent of free will. Specifically, human acts are those actions done by a person in certain situations which are essentially the result of his conscious knowledge, freedom and voluntariness or consent. Hence, these actions are performed by man knowingly, freely, and voluntarily. Acts of Man Acts of man are those that humans share with animals whose actions and movements from purely sensual nature. These things are performed without deliberation and free will. The person here is neither morally responsible nor accountable for these kinds of action  HUMAN ACTS ACTS OF MAN Acts that we do with the use of free Acts that we do without free will and will and intellect intellect; some are done by instinct. They are done freely, deliberately, The actions are performed and voluntarily. without conscious deliberation or knowledge and with the absence of a free will. Acts of man constitute unconscious and involuntary actions Characteristics/Elements of Human Acts 1. Human acts must be known and deliberate An individual, as the moral agent, has full knowledge of doing a certain action. There is prior knowledge and a deliberate evaluation of whether to fulfill an action or not. 2. Human acts must be free An individual as the moral agent is free from any external factors as well as internal pressure to do an act. He/she is neither forced nor intimidated to do or not to do something 3. Human acts are voluntary. The action proceeds from the willingness of an individual to perform an action with a perceived knowledge of the end. He/she wills to perform the act with the understanding that he/she knows consciously where his/her actions are leading into Remember: The absence or lack of any of these essential elements renders an entire act defective and less voluntary or involuntary, which in turn also affects its moral quality. Major determinants of the morality of human acts By determinants of morality, we mean the various factors or elements that would allow us to identify concretely, what is good or bad, in reference to the objective norm of morality. 1. The act itself or the object of the act These are what a person does and the object of the act is that effect which an action primarily and directly causes.  2. The motives or the intention It the reason behind our acting. Depending on one’s motive or intention, a particular act can be modified in its moral worth, there are (4) principles to be considered: 2.1.An indifferent act can become morally good or morally evil depending upon the intention of the person doing the act. 2.2.An objectively good act becomes morally evil due to a wrong or bad motive. 2.3.An intrinsically morally good act can receive added goodness if done with an equally noble intention or motive. 2.4.An intrinsically evil act can never become morally good even if it is done with a good motive or intention. 3. The Circumstances The moral goodness or badness of an act is determined not only by the object or act itself, plus the motive or intention of the moral agent, but also on the circumstances or situation surrounding the performance of the action. Circumstances are those conditions outside of the act. They are not part and parcel of the act itself. They affect the act by aggravating, mitigating, exempting or justifying the voluntariness or freedom and thus affecting the morality of the act.  FOUR TYPES OF CIRCUMSTANCES THAT AFFECT THE MORALITY OF THE ACT 1. Mitigating - They lessen or decrease the degree of moral good or evil in an act. Ex: Antecedent Concupiscence 2. Aggravating - They increase the degree of moral good or evil in an act without adding a new and distinct species of moral good or evil. Ex: Murder, Direct Abortion 3. Justifying - They show adequate reason for some acts done. They diminish voluntariness and culpability. Ex: Self- defense, Just War 4. Exempting - These are defenses where the person committed an act but is not criminally liable. Ex: Accident Modifiers of Human Acts Modifiers of Human Acts They are the factors that affect to a considerable extent man’s inner disposition towards certain actions. They influence specifically the mental and /or emotional state of a person concerned to the point that the voluntariness involved in an act is either increased or decreased. This is significant precisely because the moral accountability of the doer of the action is also increased or decreased, as the case may be. These modifiers affect human acts in the essentials qualities of knowledge, freedom, voluntariness and so make them less perfectly human. 1. Ignorance 2. Concupiscence or Passion 3. Fear 4. Violence 1. Ignorance Ignorance is the absence of necessary knowledge which a person in a given situation, who is performing a certain act, ought to have. Ignorance is the negation of knowledge. a. VINCIBLE - This type is conquerable since it is correctible. b. INVINCIBLE - This type in unconquerable since it cannot be corrected. c. AFFECTED - An individual keeps by positive efforts in in order to escape blame and accountability.  Kind of Effect Ignorance Invincible Renders an act involuntarily. A person cannot be held morally responsible or liable if he is not aware of the state of his ignorance. Vincible Does not destroy, but lessens the voluntariness and the corresponding accountability over the act. Affected Does not excuse a person from his bad actions; on the contrary it actually increases their malice. 2. Concupiscence or Passion Passion or concupiscence is here understood as a strong or powerful feeling or emotion. They are those bodily appetites or tendencies as experienced and expressed in such feelings as fear, love, hatred, despair, horror, sadness, anger, grief and the like. 1. Antecedent Concupiscence - occurs spontaneously without having to stimulate it. 2. Consequent Concupiscence - arises at the command or continues having the consent of the individual's will.  Concupiscence Effect Antecedent passions They diminish accountability for the resultant act. They weaken the will power of a person without ,however, completely obstructing his freedom. Consequent passions May even increase accountability. This is because they are the direct results of the will which fully consents to them instead of subordinating them to its control. 3. Fear Fear is the disturbance of the mind of a person who is confronted by an impending danger or harm to himself or loved ones. It a passion which arises as an impulsive movement of avoidance of a threatening evil ordinarily accompanied by bodily disturbances. Acts done because or out of intense fear or panic are simply involuntary. Moral accountability is extinguished because consent was not exercised when the act was performed. 4. Violence 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. This is any act where great and brutal force is inflicted to a person like torture, mutilation and the like. Any action resulting from violence is simply involuntary. The person whose physical external conduct emanates from and controlled by violence should always be in defiance in terms of one’s will. This means that even one is compelled to do something one should not consent to it. Moral Responsibility
Moral Reasoning Process  For someone to have a moral responsibility for some matter, means that the person must exercise judgment and care to achieve or maintain a desirable state of affairs. Notice that we speak of people reaching "an age of responsibility" or "age of discretion," indicating that a lt ho u g h c hi ldr en m a y fo llo w m o r a l r u les, something more is required in terms of cognitive ability or matured judgment to exercise responsibility appropriately.  The moral sense of responsibility, in which one undertakes to achieve some future state of affairs or maintain some present one, should not be confused with the causal sense of responsibility for some existing or past state of affairs. Causal sense of responsibility example: storm.