20/02/2025

CHAPTER 3:
THE HUMAN ACT
RUBY ROSE P. VINLUAN
Instructor, CASS

OUTLINE
• Human Acts versus Act of Man • The Human Act As Freely Done
• The Human Act as Knowingly Done 1. The Modifier Of Freedom: Fear
and Violence
1. Modifier Of Knowledge:
Ignorance
2. Reason and Impartiality
• The Human Act As Willfully Done
1. Modifiers of the Will: Passions
and Habits

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Human Acts versus Act of Man

• Ethics deals with the study of man and particularly with his actions. But not every act which
proceeds from man is a human act, as used and understood in ethics. By human acts in
ethics, we mean:
1. The free voluntary acts of man
2. The acts with knowledge and consent
3. Acts which are proper to man as man; because, of all animals, he alone has knowledge and
freedom of will.
4. Acts which, we are conscious and under our control and for which we are responsible.
5. Human acts are those which man is master, which he has the power of doing or doing as
he pleases.

Human Acts versus Act of Man

• Acts therefore, in order to be truly human, must be done willfully,

knowingly and freely. Without will or consent, knowledge and freedom,
there can be no human act properly so called.
• Human acts are either elicited or commanded acts.
• Elicited acts are those performed by the will and are not bodily
externalized.

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Elicited Acts
• Paul Glenn enumerated the following elicited acts:
1. Wish is the tendency of the will towards something, whether this this be
realizable or not. The object of wishing may include the impossible, or that which
is remotely possible such as winning the sweepstakes.
2. Intention is the tendency of the will towards attainable but without necessarily
committing oneself to attain it. Such is our intention to study the lesson, to attend a
party, or to spend a vacation in Baguio
3. Consent is the acceptance of the will of those needed to carry out the intention.
Thus, a woman is said to show consent when she consciously attract attention to
herself.

Human Acts versus Act of Man

4. Election is the selection of the will of those means effective enough to carry out
the intention. A salesman shows election when he opts to visit a client instead of
just writing him a letter.
5. Use is the command of the will to make use of those means elected to carry out
the intention. It is this act of the will which moves the salesman to dress up and
take a ride to see his client.
6. Fruition is the enjoyment of the will derives from the attainment of the thing he
had desired earlier. The joy of the woman on being complimented for her
attractiveness, or the satisfaction of the salesman in closing a deal with his client is
fruition.

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Commanded Acts
• Commanded acts are those done either by man‘s mental or bodily powers under
the command of the will. Commanded acts are either internal or external actions.
• Examples of internal actions are conscious reasoning, recalling something,
encouraging oneself, controlling aroused emotions and others.
• Examples of external actions are walking, eating, dancing, laughing, listening,
reading and others.
• Some actions are combinations of internal and external actions such as listening,
studying, reading, driving a car, writing a letter or playing chess.

The Human Act as Knowingly Done

• Another essential attribute for human act is knowledge. It means that you
should be sure that you know what you are doing.
• When a person chooses to act according to what he knows, he acts freely.
• What can make man know what he is doing is his reason.
• But the intellect does not always determine the will.

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Modifier of Knowledge: Ignorance

• “Ignorance of the law excuses no one”
• Ignorance is the absence of knowledge which a person ought to possess. In the realm of morals,
every one of age and reason is expected to know at least the general norms of good behavior.
• Ignorance is either vincible or invincible.
• Vincible ignorance can easily be reminded through ordinary diligences and reasonable efforts. The
ignorance of a visitor regarding a particular address in a certain place is vincible, since he can easily
ask for information from a policeman or pedestrian.
• Invincible ignorance is the type which a person without being aware of it, or having awareness of
it, lacks the means to rectify it. The ignorance regarding missing persons or objects is often
invincible. Thus, a cook might be unaware that the food he is cooking is contaminated.

Modifier of Knowledge: Ignorance

Principles:
1. Invincible ignorance renders an act involuntary. A person cannot be held morally liable if he is not aware
of his state of ignorance
2. Vincible ignorance does not destroy but lessens the voluntariness and the corresponding accountability
over the act. A person who becomes aware of the state of ignorance, he has the moral obligation to
rectify it by exercising reasonable diligence in seeking the needed information. To act with vincible
ignorance is to act imprudently.
3. Affected ignorance though it decreases voluntariness, increases the accountability over the resultant act.
Insofar as affected ignorance interferes with the intellect, it decreases voluntariness. But insofar as it
willed to persist, it increases accountability. Certainly, refusing to rectify ignorance implies malice. And
the malice is greater when ignorance is used as an excuse for not doing the right thing.

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The Human Act As Willfully Done

• One essential attribute of an act to be truly human is the willingness to do
the act; you like doing it, you love doing it and your mind, your heart, your
soul and your whole self is with.
• Whether it be elicited or commanded, the willingness should be present to be
truly human and to have moral significance.

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Modifiers of the Will : Passions and Habits

• Passion or concupiscence, are either tendencies towards desirable objects or
tendencies away from undesirable or harmful things. The former are called positive
emotions; the latter negative emotions. Passions are psychic responses. As such they
are neither mortal nor immoral. However, man is bound to regulate his emotions
and submit them to the control of reason.
• Passions are either antecedent or consequent.
• Antecedent passions are those that precede an act. It may happen that a person is
emotionally aroused to perform an act. Antecedent passions predisposed a person
to act. Thus, love may induce one to make numerous and lengthy phone calls to his
sweetheart or to plot the murder of a rival.

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Kinds of Passion
• Antecedent passions do not always destroy voluntariness, but they diminish accountability
for the resultant act. Antecedent passions weaken the will power of a person without
however, completely obstructing his freedom. Thus, the so called “crimes of passion” are
voluntary. But in so far as passions interfere with the freedom of the will one’s
accountability is diminished.
• Consequent passions are those intentionally aroused and kept. Consequent passions
therefore are said to be voluntary in cause, the result of the will playing the strings of
emotions. Thus, a young man may deliberately arouse himself sexually by reading
pornographic magazines or a victim of injustice may intentionally nurse his resentment
towards his tormentor. The young man who commits lasciviousness after arousing himself
sexually and the fellow who commits vengeance due to his cultivated resentment are both
morally accountable.

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Modifiers of the Will : Passions and Habits

• Habit as defined by Glenn “is a lasting readiness and faculty, born of
frequently repeated acts, for acting in a certain manner. Habits are acquired
inclinations towards something to be done.
• A habit is not easy to overcome or alter. It requires a strong-willed person to
correct a habit successfully within a limited period of time. Thus, alcoholics
and smokers find it almost impossible to reform.
• Action done by force of habit are voluntary in cause, unless a reasonable
effort is made to counteract the habitual inclination, Habits are either good
or bad,. We speak here of bad habits which lead to immoral acts.

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The Human Act As Freely Done

Freedoms as a Foundation of Morality
• Basically, morality is a question of choice. Morality, practically is choosing
ethical codes, values or standards to guide us in our daily lives.
Philosophically, choosing is impossible without freedom.
• Morality requires and allows choice, which means, the right to choose even
differently from our fellows. In their daily lives, people make the choice to
give to charities, donate time and money to schools, mentor children, open
businesses, or protest animal cruelty.

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Modifiers of Freedom: Fear and Violence

Fear
• Fear is the mind of a person who is confronted by an impending danger or harm himself or
loved ones. Distinction is made however between an act done with fear and act done out or
because of fear.
• Certain actions which by nature are dangerous or risky are done with fear with varying
degree of fear. Climbing a cliff, flying an airplane through a storm, diving for pearls, or
arresting a notorious killer are examples of acts performed with fear. In these cases, fear is a
normal response to danger.
• Fear is an instinct for self-preservation. We even fear new experiences or situations such as
embarking on a long journey, being left alone in a strange place, or being asked to speak
before a group of people.

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Modifiers of Freedom: Fear and Violence

Principles:
1. Acts done with fear are voluntary. A person acting with of fear is acting in spite of his fear and is in
full control of himself.
2. Acts done out of fear, however great is simply voluntary although is conditionally voluntary. It is
simply voluntary because the person remains in control of his faculties including that of moderating
fear. It is also conditionally involuntary because, if it were not for the presence of something feared, the
person would not act or would act in another way.
3. Acts done because of intense fear or panic are involuntary. Panic completely obscures the mind. In
this mental state, a person is not expected to think sensibly. Thus, a person in a state of panic might
jump from the 12th floor of a building. Such is not considered suicide since it is done involuntarily.
Panic cause a person to lose complete control of himself.

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Modifiers of Freedom: Fear and Violence

Violence
• Violence refers to any physical force exerted on a person by another free
agent for the purpose of compelling said person to act against his will.
Bodily torture, maltreatment, isolation and mutilation are examples of
violence against person.

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