Applied Ethics

MODIFIERS AND ENDS OF HUMAN ACT

The ideal is for man to act deliberately, that is, with perfect voluntariness. This is
not always possible though. Oftentimes, a certain degree of doubt or reluctance
accompanies an act. At other times, emotions hold sway, propelling action with the
swiftness of an impulse.
Factors that influence mans inner disposition towards certain actions are called
modifiers of human acts. They affect the mental or emotional state of a person to
the extent that the voluntariness involved in an act is either increased or decreased.
We cite this principle: the greater the knowledge and the freedom, the greater the
voluntariness and the moral responsibility.
Authors point to the following as modifiers of human acts:

Ignorance

Passions

Fear

Violence

Habit

1. IGNORANCE

DEFINITION:
Ignorance of the law excuses no one. This implies that one should not act in
the state of ignorance and that one who has dome a wrong may not claim
ignorance as defense. Ignorance is the absence of knowledge which a person
ought to possess.
Ex. A lawyer is expected to know his law... the doctor, his medicine.
Ignorance is either vincible or invincible. Vincible ignorance is the kind of
ignorance that can easily be reminded through ordinary diligence 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
pedestrian.
Invincible ignorance is the type which a person possesses without being aware
of it or having awareness of it, lacks the means to rectify it. The ignorance
regarding missing objects and persons is often invincible. Sometimes, too, a
person acts without realizing certain facts. Thus, a cook might be unaware that
the food he is serving is contaminated. Affected ignorance, is the type by which
a person keeps by positive efforts in order to escape responsibility or blame.
PRINCIPLE:
1. Invincible ignorance renders an act involuntary. A person cannot be held
morally liable if he is not aware of his state of ignorance.
Ex. A waiter who is not aware that the food he is serving has been poisoned
cannot be held for murder.

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 is in has the
3. To act with vincible ignorance is to act imprudently.
4. 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 in so far, that it is 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.

2. PASSIONS
DEFINITION:
Passions or concupiscence are either tendencies towards desirable object or
tendencies away from undesirable or harmful things. The former is called
positive emotions; the latter, negative emotions.

The positive emotions include love, desire, delight, hope and bravery.
The negative emotions include hatred, horror, sadness, despair and fear and
anger.

Passions are psychic responses. As such, they are neither moral or immoral.
However, man is bound to regulate his emotions and submit them to the control
of reason. Passions are either antecedent or consequent. Antecedent are those
that precede an act. It may happen that a person is emotionally aroused to
perform an act. Antecedent passions predispose a person to act.
PRINCIPLE:
1. 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 passions are voluntary. But insofar as passions
interfere with the freedom of the will, ones accountability is diminished.
2. Consequent passions are those that are intentionally aroused and kept.
3. 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.
PRINCIPLE: Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness, but may even
increase accountability. This is because consequent passions are the direct

results of the will which fully consents to them instead of subordinating them to
its control.
3.

FEAR
DEFINITION:
Fear is the disturbance of the mind of a person who is confronted by an
impending danger or harm to himself or loved ones. Distinctions is made
however between an act done with fear and an act done out or because of
fear.
Certain actions which by nature are dangerous or risky are done 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 act performed with fear.
In these cases, fear is a normal response to danger. Such actions are
voluntary, because the doer is in full control of his faculties and acts in spite
of fear.
But acts done out of fear are entirely different. The child reads his book out
of fear of the mother; the employee volunteers to work overtime out of fear
being fired by the boss.; a friend stops smoking out of fear of contracting
cancer.
PRINCIPLE:
1. Acts done with fear are voluntary. A person acting with fear is acting freely
in spite of his fear and is in full control of himself.
2. Acts done out of fear, however, great, is simply voluntary although it is also
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 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.

4. VIOLENCE
DEFINITION:
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 persons.
PRINCIPLE:
1. External actions are commanded actions, performed by a person subjected
to violence, to which reasonable resistance has been offered are involuntary
and are not accountable.

2. Elicited acts or those done by the will alone are not subject to violence and
are therefore voluntary. The will insofar as it is a spiritual faculty is not within
the reach of violence.

5. HABITS
Definition:
Habit as defined by Glenn, is lasting readiness and facility, born of frequently
repeated acts, for acting in a certain manner.
Habits are acquired inclinations towards something to be done. They assume
the role of a second a second nature, moving one has them to perform
certain acts with relative ease.
PRINCIPLE:
1. Actions done by force of habit are voluntary in cause, unless a reasonable
effort is made to counteract the habitual inclination.
2. Habits are either good or bad. We speak here of bad habits which lead to
immoral actions.
3. Habits are voluntary in cause, because they are the result of previously
willed acts done repeatedly as a matter of act.