Human Acts  recalling something

 encouraging oneself
According to Ken Levine, “We all make choices, but in  controlling arouse emotions.
the end our choices make us.” We have to admit that we, Examples of external actions are:
humans have imperfections. However, we could  walking
minimize those imperfections. We only have to control  eating
ourselves in doing such actions and be mindful of the  dancing
possible consequences of the actions that are done.  laughing
 listening
Human act is defined as those actions which man
 reading
performs knowingly, freely, and voluntarily. These are the
actions performed with presence of knowledge and the
Moral Distinction
control of the will. We refer these actions as deliberate,
1. Moral actions are those actions which are in
intentional or voluntary.
conformity with the norms of morality. They are good and
permissible actions.
Distiction is made between human acts and acts of man.
2. Immoral actions are not conformity with the norm of
Human acts are action which man performs knowingly,
morality. They are bad or evil and are not permissible.
freely, and voluntarily.
3. Moral actions are those actions w/c stand neutral in
Acts of man are those actions which happen in man; they
relation to the norm of morality. They neither be good or
are instinctive and are not within the control of the will.
bad in themselves. But certain moral actions may
become good or bad because of the circumstances
Characteristics of Human Acts
attendant to them.
 Conscious agent (knowing)
 Performed by agent where acting freely (free) Extrinsic and Intrinsic Evil
 Performed by agent who decide wilfully to
perform the act (wilful) The imputability of human acts means that the person
performing the acts is liable of such acts. It involves the
Kinds of Human Act notion of guilt or innocence. Thus actions are either
1. Elicited acts are those performed by the will and praiseworthy or blameworthy. Actions are attributed to
are not bodily externalized. the doer as their principal cause.

PAUL GLENN ENUMERATES THE FOLLOWING Sanction and Penalties

ELICITED ACTS:  Voluntariness comes from the Latin word
 Wish - the tendency of will towards something, “Volunias”, referring to the will. Voluntariness is
whether this is realizable or not. essential to an act.
 Intention - something that is attainable but without  Perfect Voluntariness -present in the person who
necessarily committing oneself to attain it. fully knows and fully intends an act.
 Consent - the acceptance of the will of those  Imperfect Voluntariness -present in an action who
needed to carry out the intention. acts without fully realizing what he means to do or
 Election- the selection of the will of those means without fully intending the act.
elected to carry out the intention.  Conditional Voluntariness - is present in the
 Fruition- the enjoyment of the will derived from person who is force by the circumstances beyond
the attainment of the thing he had desired earlier. his control to perform an act which he would not
do under normal condition
2. Commanded acts are those done either by man’s  Simple Voluntariness - present in a person doing
mental or bodily powers under the command of an act wilful, regardless of whether he likes to do
the will. It is either internal or external actions. it or not. It is either positive or negative.
Examples of internal actions are:
 conscious
 reasoning
Types of Voluntariness extent that the voluntariness involved in an act is either
 Direct Voluntariness -accompanies an act which increased or decreased. This is significant because the
is primarily intended by the doer, either as a accountability of the act is correspondingly increased or
means to achieve something else. decreased.
 Indirect Involuntariness- accompanies an act or
situation which is the mere result of directly willed 1. IGNORANCE - is the absence of knowledge which a
act. person ought to possess.

Indirect Involuntariness TYPES OF IGNORANCE

A person considers accountable for indirect voluntary a. Vincible ignorance -can easily be reminded through
result of his acts when: ordinary diligence and reasonable efforts.
1. The doer is able to see the evil result or effects, at b. Invincible ignorance -is the type which a person
least in general way. possesses without aware of it, or, having awareness of it,
2. The doer is free to refrain from doing that which would lacks the means to rectify it.
produce the foresee evil. c. Affected ignorance -is the type which a person keeps
3. The doer has mortal obligation not to do that which by positive efforts in order to escape responsibility or
produces an evil effect. blame.

Alfredo Panizo cites this Principles: PRINCIPLES OF IGNORANCE

1. A person is held morally responsible for any evil effect  Invincible ignorance renders an act involuntary.
w/c flows from the action itself directly and necessary as  Vincible ignorance does not destroy, but lessen
natural consequences, though the evil effect is not the voluntariness and the corresponding
directly willed or intended. accountability over the act.
2. Human act from w/c two effects may result, one good  Affected ignorance, though it decreases
and one is evil, is morally permissible under four voluntariness, increases the accountability over
conditions. If any of these conditions is violated, then the the resultant act.
action is not justifiable and should not be done.
2. PASSION
Four Conditions - are either tendencies away, from under undesirable or
1. The action which produces double effect must be good harmful things.
in itself, or at least morally indifferent. - positive emotions , the former include love, desire,
2. The good effect must not come from the evil effect. To delight, hope and bravery.
do evil in order to achieve something good is not - negative emotions, the latter include hatred, horror,
justifiable. sadness, despair, fear and anger.
3. The motive of the doer must be towards the attainment
of the good. The evil effect is permitted only as an TYPES OF PASSION
incidental result.  Antecedent Passion -are those that precede an
4. The good effect must not outweigh the evil effects in act.
its importance.  Consequent Passion -are those that are
Examples: intentionally aroused and kept.
• An elder brother who puts hot sauce on a cake before
giving it to a begging younger brother, so that the PRINCIPLES OF PASSION
younger will not ask for more, and the elder can have the  Antecedent passions do not always destroy
cake all to himself. voluntariness, but they diminish accountability for
• A teenager who is yawning a lot, showing how the resultant act.
uninterested she is to listen in her professor.  Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness,
but may increase accountability.
Modifiers of Human Acts 3. FEAR
Factors that influence man’s inner disposition towards - is the disturbance of the mind of a person who is
certain actions are called modifiers of human acts. They confronted by an impending danger or harm to himself or
affect the mental or emotional state of a person to the loved ones.
- is an instinct for self- preservation. - doing good for another is not a virtue unless it comes
from the “love” of what is good.
PRINCIPLES OF FEAR
 Acts done with fear are voluntary. THE ENDS OF HUMAN ACT
 Acts done out of fear, however, great, is simply End - it is the purpose or goal of an act.
voluntary, although it is also conditionally - it is the act which completes or finishes an act.
voluntary. End of the act – it is the natural termination of an activity.
 Acts done because of intense fear or panic are End of the doer – it is the personal purpose intended by
involuntary. the person performing the act.
– it is called the motive.
4. VIOLENCE - refers to any physical force exerted on a Motive – is the reason why a person performs an act.
person by another free agent for the purpose of – it is the force that sustains the act and brings it
compelling said person to act against his will. to completion.

PRINCIPLES OF VIOLENCE KINDS OF ENDS

 External actions, or commandedactions, Proximate or Remote End
performed by a person subjected toviolence, to  Proximate end is the purpose which a doer
which reasonable resistance hasbeen offered, wishes to accomplish immediately by his actions.
are involuntary and are notaccountable. (e.g. The proximate end of eating is the
 Elicited acts, or those done by the willalone, are satisfaction of hunger.)
not subject to violence and aretherefore voluntary.  Remote end is the purpose which a doer wishes
to accomplish in a series of acts. (e.g. The
5. HABITS - as defined by Glenn “is a lasting readiness remote end of the proximate end of eating is the
and facility, born of frequently repeated acts, for acting in promotion of health.)
a certain manner.” Intermediate or Ultimate End
 Intermediate end is the purpose which is desired
PRINCIPLE OF HABITS as a means for obtaining another thing. (eg. All of
 Actions done by force of habit are voluntary in those activities leading towards graduation...)
cause, unless a reasonable effort is made to  Ultimate end is the purpose which is desired for
counteract the habitual inclination. its own sake and not because of something else.
(eg. A student may assign his graduation as an
6. ACTION AND EMOTION - emotions are generally ultimate end.)
instinctive in origin. Neither the degree of their intensity,
clarity or awareness makes them human acts to be ACTION AND MOTIVATION
judged as good or evil. They become good or evil by the Alfredo Pizano gives us opportunity to cite principles
attitude of the person manifesting them. A person who according to human principles:
nourishes his feeling of hostility towards another is more
 Every agent that performs an action acts for the
prone to acquire the motive for inflicting harm on the
sake of an end or purpose to be attained.
object of his hatred. This is not to say that man is
 Every agent act towards an ultimate end.
helpless in the tide of his emotions and that man’s
 Every agent has the power to move himself
responses to action are emotionally motivated. It means
towards an end which he finds suitable for him.
simply that man’s thoughts and actions are colored by
his emotions.
END AS SOMETHING GOOD
The concept of end coincides of that of good. According
7. REFINEMENT OF EMOTIONS
to Aristotle, good means either: good as an end itself or
- ethics deals with emotions as factors affecting human
good as a means to another end.
motivation and behavior. Instead of repressing them, it
calls for their refinement. This means that man is
Apparent good – it is evil viewed or disguised as good.
expected to act not only with his mind and body, but
precisely with his heart and soul.
When someone desires evil as an end, it is only because THE GREATEST GOOD
he views it, subjectively, as something good. Every In the language of the philosophers, the greatest good is
human activity is intended for the attainment of Summum Bonum. For Aristotle, the greatest good is
something good. happiness. Happiness is what man aims to achieve in all
his activities. The ultimate purpose of life is the
THE MEANING OF GOOD attainment of happiness. As a psychological state,
Good is that which fits a function. happiness is the feeling of contentment arising from the
“The good of man proves to be activity of social possession of a good.
conformity with excellence; and if there is more than one
excellence, it will be the best and the most complete of SOME ERRORS CONCERNING HAPPINESS:
these.” - Aristotle  Some people give the impression that money or
wealth can buy happiness.
Needs are those goods which are essential to man as  Some people equates health with happiness.
man.  Sensual people vainly seeks happiness in earthly
pressures.
Wants are those goods that an individual requires  Certain people cling to their public image as if
because of his particular circumstance in life. God Himself was made after their illusion.
 Some dedicate their lives to science and art.
KINDS OF GOOD  Some propose that the final purpose of man is
Essential and Accidental good the promotion of the state of government.
 Essential good are those that fit the natural needs
of man as man. It is also called as perfective. (eg. NATURAL ANDSUPERNATURAL HAPPINESS
NEEDS: food, shelter, health, knowledge, virtue, Natural happiness is that which is attainable by man
life...) through the use of his supernatural powers.
 Accidental good are those that fit the wants of an
individual because of his circumstance. It is also Supernatural happiness is that which is attainable by
called as non-perfective. (eg. WANTS: money, man through the use of his natural powers as these are
car, good name...) informed and aided by God’s infusion of grace.
Real and Apparent good
 Real good is something which has an intrinsic Natural happiness consists in the perfection that can be
value. It includes both essential and accidental attained by man through the employment of his body and
goods. (eg. good acts and habits, parents and soul and the powers inherent in them.
parenthood, pleasure and joy...)
 Apparent good is actually an evil thing but is For Aristotle, natured happiness does not rest on one
viewed as “good” under certain aspects. (eg. single object. Rather, it consists in the attainment of all
diseases, sadness, death, worry, crimes...) development. Complete happiness, in the natural order,
Perfective and Non-perfective Good consists in those goods pertaining to the soul.
 Perfective good is that which contributes to the
integral perfection of a person. (eg. education, The highest good, according to Aristotle, belongs to the
virtue, food, exercise, medicine...) intellect: the contemplation of truth.
 Non-perfective good is that which merely
contributes to the external appearance or THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE
convenience of a person. (eg. clothes, wealth,
social status, political power...) Christian philosophers, notably St. Augustine and St.
Perfect and Imperfect Good - also called unlimited or Thomas Aquinas teach that man in every deliberate
limited goods respectively, absolute and relative goods. action acts toward an end and ultimately, to an absolute
 Perfect good has the fullness of qualities enabling ultimate end: happiness.
it to fully satisfy human desire.
 Imperfect good possesses only certain qualities Man cannot attain perfect happiness in his life, because
so that it does not fully satisfy human desire God can never be known.
except in a relative of limited sense.