The Morality of

Human Acts
 MAN AS THE ACTING
PERSON
The Morality of Human Acts

I. HUMAN ACTS and ACTS OF MAN

II. CONSTITUENT PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN ACTS

III.DETERMINANTS/SOURCES OF MORALITY
W h a t i s
a
hum a n
a c t?
 HUMAN ACTS

Human acts are actions that proceed from

insight into the nature and purpose of
ones doing and from consent of freewill.
HUMAN
ACTS
ACTUS
HUMANI

Acts that proceed from

reason and free will
Is human act
different from
act of man?
YES!
 ACTS OF MAN
ACTUS HOMINIS

Actions which are performed

without the intervention
Of the intellect and the free
will
ACT OF MAN OR
HUMAN ACT
CALLING
FALLING ASLEEP
COFFEE SPILL
PUTTING MOBILE PHONE IN A CUP OF
COFFEE
VIOLATING TRAFFIC
CONFUSED
1. breathing 2. playing video games

3. cheating during exam

4. sleeping during exam

5. studying
6. praying; going to mass

7. scratching ones self

8. hunger 9. eating

10. taking a bath

 ACTS of MAN
ACTUS HOMINIS

More Examples:
beating of the heart
digestion
actions of a child who
has not come to the use
of reason
actions while asleep
Falling in love (?)
 II. CONSTITUENT PRINCIPLES
OF HUMAN ACTS
(Essential
Conditions)
1. Knowledge

The will can decide

for something and
seek it only if it is
known.
2. Freedom

Freedom is the
ability to act
without
restraint.
3.
Voluntariness

Voluntariness of ones action is a

will-act,
wherein there must be both the
knowledge and freedom in the
III. DETERMINANTS/Sources
OF MORALITY
 It is the primary
1. THE OBJECT source for the
/ THE ACT judgment of an
action
ITSELF
The action or the
deed itself
Identified to that
effect which pertains
to the essence of the
act
Morally good
Evil
Indifferent
2. THE END INTENDED BY
THE AGENT / INTENTION

It is the objective
of the act
The reason or
the intention for
doing an act.

WHY?
 INTENTION
1.An act which is good in itself and is
done for a good end
2.An act which is bad itself and is done
with a bad end
3.An act which is good itself and is done
with a bad intention
4.An act which is bad itself and is done
with a good end
5.An indifferent act which is done for a
good end
3. CIRCUMSTANCES

influence or
affect the act by
increasing or
lessening its
VOLUNTARINESS
or freedom thus
AFFECT THE
MORALITY OF
THE ACT
 These CIRCUMTANCES are:

1. the PERSON WHO?

2. the PLACE WHERE?

3. the TIME WHEN?

4. the MANNER HOW?

5. the CONDITION of the Agent WHY?

6. the THING ITSELF WHAT?
7. the MEANS BY WHAT MEANS?
To
paraphrase
several
sages:
Nobody can
think and hit
at the same
Class Activity
1. Divide into groups of 5.
2. Think of a situation which can be good or bad
depending on the Object, Circumstance, and
Intention.
3. Make TWO skits that will show the situation:
Skit No. 1 should show that it is good.
Skit No. 2 should show that it is bad.
4. The skit presentation must not exceed 15 minutes
5. Maximum 30 points based on:
Creativity 10 points
Reality of the situation 10 points
Content and correctness of the given example 10 points
 MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS

Factors which may

affect the freedom
and voluntariness
of human acts

These factors may

diminish ones
culpability
mpairments of required knowledg

1.Ignorance

Impairments to free consent:

2. Passion
3. Fear and social pressures
4. Violence
5. Dispositions and habits
 Ignorance
It is merely the
lack or absence
of knowledge of
a person
capable of
knowing a
certain thing or
things.
Invincible Vincible
VINCIBLE
Ignorance
that which
CAN AND
SHOULD BE
DISPELLED
EXAMPLE

A Negrito who has been

living all his life in the
mountains, and who
happens to come to Manila
for first time, and violates
traffic laws.
Dr. Masipag discovers in his
patient certain symptoms which
he does not recognize. Because
of laziness though he can easily
consult his medical books and
fellow physicians Dr. Masipag
makes no attempt to ascertain the
nature of the disease indicated by
those symptoms.
The culpability is grave because it
involves a serious matter
An engineering student is doubtful whether their
Philo prof will have a long quiz today or not. In
order that she may NOT know the schedule, she
hides her notebook in PHL 5 and her diary where
her daily school activities are listed. This is done
so that she can use the excuse that she does not
know that there is A QUIZ.

AFFECTED vincible which is deliberately

fostered in order to avoid any
obligation.

The malice or culpability increases.

 SUMMARY:

Invincible ignorance no
responsibility or culpability
(w/o knowledge = no voluntariness)

Vincible ignorance does not

eliminate MORAL
RESPONSIBILLITY but LESSENS
/AGGREVATES it
 PASSION
These are strong tendencies toward the
possession of something good or toward
the avoidance of something evil.

MOVEMENT OF
THE SENSITIVE
APPETITE
THAT PRECEDES
THE FREE
DECISION OF THE
WILL
1. Carlo is always bullied by his classmate.
By continuously imagining over the insult,
Carlo builds up such a state of frenzy that
he finally attacks and kills his classmates
c

2. A boy who is in danger of being

drowned suddenly becomes panic-stricken
and forcibly seizes a companion who also
drowns.
 TWO types OF PASSION

1.ANTECEDENT arises
spontaneously before the
previous judgment of reason&
before the will controls the
psychological situation.

2. CONSEQUENT which is
DELIBERATELY aroused by the will
to ensure a more prompt and
willing operation.
 3. FEAR
A MENTAL AGITATION OF DISTURBANCE BROUGHT
ABOUT BY THE APPREHENSION OF SOME PRESENT OR
IMMANENT DANGER

This DANGER may be bodily

injury, loss of reputation or
riches, harm to a friend, etc.

Real? Or imaginary?

TWO types OF FEAR:

1. Grave fear aroused by the presence of a danger regarded as
SERIOUS.
ex. Fear of death, or loss of a leg

2. Slight fear aroused by less or not serious which can be easily

avoided.
ex. Fear of losing ones coin purse
 4. VIOLENCE
AN EXTERNAL FORCE APPLIED
TO COMPEL A PERSON TO DO SOMETHING CONTRARY TO
HIS WILL

VIOLENCE IS CAUSED BY SOME PHYSICAL OR PSYCHIC

AGENT

THERE IS NO IMPUTABILITY,
EXCEPT INSOFAR AS THE INNER WILL MAY HAVE CONSENTED
OR EXTERNAL RESISTANCE HAVE FALLEN SHORT
OF THE DEGREE NECESSARY AND POSSIBLE IN THE CIRCUMSTANCE
 EX.

A girl is carried off bodily by two young

male acquaintances. The girl resists
somewhat but it was not enough. She
could have freed herself from her
captors by screaming or shouting for
help. The girl, by not offering strong
resistance, which should have been
effective, is judged to consent to the
evil into which she is taken.
5. HABITS
Inclination to perform some particular action
acquired by repetition, and characterized by a
decreased power of resistance and an increased
facility of performance.

Sometimes called: second nature

If disposes to evil = VICE

If disposes to good = VIRTUE

TWO PRINCIPLES on imputability of EVIL action

1. Evil habits do not lessen the imputability of evil actions

if the habit has been

performed by force of habit

recognized as evil and is freely permitted

to continue.

lessen the imputability of evil actions performed by force

2. Evil habits

of habit if one is sincerely trying to correct the

habit
 Truly, a person is seen as morally responsible for
his/her actions if and only when he/she uses his/her
FUNDAMENTAL freedom as person.

But his/her actions cannot simply be judged as GOOD

or BAD unless the three SOURCES of defining
MORALITY of the human acts, namely, the ACT itself,
the CIRCUMSTANCES, and the INTENTION are clearly
considered and investigated.

However, one has still to consider and look at some MODIFIERS

of the human acts that may either INCREASE, LESSEN, or
completely LOSE the culpability of the human agent.

WHERE AM I?
 It was 7:00 in the morning, Teresa planned to
attend the Eucharistic celebration at 10:00 am in
their parish so she can ask for the priests
signature on her mass attendance card which
serves as proof of her going to mass every
Sunday which she will submit to her Theology
teacher. Suddenly, her friends call her and ask
her if she can go with them shopping. They plan
to meet with her at 9:30 a.m. Teresa thinks of
these two choices. After an hour of discernment,
she decides to go to mass because she knows
that her teacher will scold her if she sees that her
mass attendance card has no priests signature.
 She has a scheduled preliminary exam the next
day. Teresa busied herself watching DVDs all
day until she fell asleep. When she woke up, it
was already 5:00 am. She had to leave home by
6:00 am to be on time for school during the
examination. Teresa was thinking of cheating
because she was not able to review. She
wanted to look on her seatmates answer but
she realized that academic dishonesty is bad
and against moral obligation. She decided to
answer the exam on her own to uphold moral
integrity as a Thomasian and show obedience to
Gods commandment.
 Some of your close friends are failing
in a subject which you are good at.
They ask you to let them copy your
answers in a take-home quiz to prove
that you are a good friend. Besides,
they reason out that it is acceptable
because you would be doing the
greater good for a greater number of
people. Aware of the possible
consequences, you agreed to cheat for
the sake of your friends.
 SOURCES/DETERMIN
CONSTITUENTS ANTS OF THE
PRINCIPLES OF MORALITY OF AN
MORALITY ACT

-Knowledge -Object
-Voluntariness -Intention
-Freedom -Circumstance/s

MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACT

-ignorance -fear
-habit -violence
-passion
Create a story which is composed of
the constituents of morality,
determinants of the morality of
human act and at least 2 modifiers
which lessen or increases the
agents culpability.
Present your story in class in a PPT
presentation.
Let your classmates analyze your
own version of a story.
Present your story next meeting.