The Human Acts

Human Act
Actus Humanus Any thought, word, deed,

desire, or omission which comes from a person acting with full knowledge, who is free to act or to refrain from action, and who gives full assent to will the act. Give examples of Human Acts

Constituent Principles of Human Act

1. Knowledge
Knowledge of the aspired action Attention and judgment on the value of an act One is conscious to achieve the aim of an action

2. Freedom
Implies freedom from any external or internal hindrance or compulsion

If a person, for some reason, is not free to choose what one likes according to ones insight and will and has to act against ones will, the action is not free and thus not a human act.

3. Voluntariness
An act that is willed (volitum) The voluntariness of the human act is determined by the will of the agent. What is willed is both the act itself and the effect of the act (Object).

Acts of Man

Performed without the intervention of

intellect and free will. Acts that are indeliberate, involuntary, not free, not under ones control and beyond the mind and will Spontaneous biological and sensual processes

Acts of Man

All acts performed without the use of

reason (intellect) by people such as lunatics, the drunk or those asleep Spontaneous immediate reactions (anger or sympathy Forced Acts that are against ones will and decision

SOURCES DEFINING THE MORALITY OF HUMAN ACT

1. OBJECT
the EFFECT which an action primarily and directly causes (finis operis) Always and necessarily the result of the act The ACT itself

2. CIRCUMSTANCES
Conditions outside the act Not part of the act It influences or affects the act by increasing or lessening its voluntariness affecting the morality of the act.

Circumstances 1. Circumstance of PERSON

Refers to the doer, the receiver to whom the act is done 2. Circumstance of Place Refers to the locality where the act is done 3. Circumstance of Time Refers to the moment when the act is done

Circumstances
4. Circumstance of Manner Refers to the way the agent manages the act How did the agent do the act? 5. The Condition of the Agent Was the agent influenced by fear, habits, emotions?

Circumstances 6. Circumstance of the Thing itself

Quality of the object or the Value 7. Circumstance of the Means By what means? By whose help?

3. INTENTION
The END or the INTENTION of the agent The GOAL which the agent aims to achieve Whether good or bad, it has tremendous influence on the morality of the agent

Case Study
Paul and Michael are long-time friends. They both attend school that enforces a strict honor code. The honor code policy states that students may not receive help from or assist in giving help to another student on paper test. Further, any student who notices the sharing of such help is obligated to report this violation to a school official. If that student does not, they are just guilty of the infraction as the person who either gave or received help.

Both Paul and Michael are taking a trigonometry class. This has been Pauls most difficult subject all year and he has been preparing for weeks for the midterm exam. He enters the testing room and sits behind Michaels girlfriend Carla. The teacher comes into the room and passes out the exam. After a few minutes of taking the test, Paul sits back in his chair and stretches.

As he leans back, he notices that Carla is cheating off the test next to her. When the test is over the teacher collects the exams. Paul believes that he is the only one who noticed Carla cheating.

Discussion Questions:
1.Should Paul report the dishonesty to the teacher? Does it matter if Carla had never been caught cheating before? 2. If the school does not have an honor code, does his responsibility change? 3. Would Pauls responsibility be different if the teacher was not in the room? 4. Make a moral assessment using the threefont principles of morality.