Human Acts ( MAKATAONG KILOS )

According to Ken Levine, “We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us.” We have
to admit that we, humans have imperfections. However, we could minimize those
imperfections. We only have to control ourselves in doing such actions and be mindful of the
possible consequences of the actions that are done.
Human act is defined as those actions which man performs knowingly, freely, and voluntarily.
These are the actions performed with presence of knowledge and the control of the will. We
refer these actions as deliberate, intentional or voluntary.

Distinction is made between human acts and acts of man.

1. Acts of man are those actions which happen in man; They are instinctive and are not
within the control of the will.
In principle, acts of man are not the concern of morals, since they are not voluntary. The
acts of man include:
Biological processes – like digestion, breathing, beating of the heart,etc

ESSENTIAL QUALITIES of Acts of Man

1. Done with out knowledge
2. Without consent
3. Involuntary
• Ex: unconscious, involuntary, semi-deliberate, spontaneous actions • Acts of man
can become human acts when he employs his intellect & will in performing the act.

2. Human acts are action which man performs knowingly, freely, and
voluntarily.

CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN ACTS

• Knowledge
• Freedom
•Voluntary
Human act are either elicited acts or commanded acts
•Elicited acts are those performed by the will and are not bodily externalized.

ACCORDING TO PAUL GLENN ENUMERATES THE FF. ELICITED ACTS

1. Wish - the tendency of will towards something, whether this be realizable or not.
2. Intention - something that is attainable but without necessarily committing oneself to attain
it.
3. Consent - the acceptance of the will of those needed to carry out the intention
4. Election- the selection of the will of those means elected to carry out the intention.
5. Fruition- the enjoyment of the will derived from the attainment of the thing he had desired
earlier.
Commanded acts are those done either by man’ s mental or bodily powers under the command
of the will. It is either internal or external actions.
Examples of internal actions are conscious reasoning, recalling something, encouraging
oneself, controlling arouse emotions and others.
Examples of external actions are walking, eating, dancing, laughing, listening, reading and
others.
MORAL DISTINCTION
1. Moral actions are those actions which are in conformity with the norms of morality.
They are good and permissible action
2. Immoral actions are not conformity with the norm of morality. They are bad or evil and
are not permissible.
3. A moral actions are those actions w/c stand neutral in relation to the norm of morality.
They neither be good or bad in themselves. But certain moral actions may become good
or bad because of the circumstances attendant to them.

The imputability of human acts means that the person performing the acts is liable of
such acts. It involves the notion of guilt or innocence. Thus actions are either
praiseworthy or blameworthy. Actions are attributed to the doer as their principal
cause.

KINDS OF HUMAN ACTS

1.Perfect Voluntariness -present in the person who fully knows and fully intends an act.
2.Imperfect Voluntariness -present in an action who acts w/o fully realizing what he
means to do or without fully intending the act.
3 Conditional Voluntariness - is present in the person who is force by the circumstances
beyond his control to perform an act w/c he would not do under normal condition
4.Simple Voluntariness - present in a person doing an act willfull, regardless of whether
he likes to do it or not. It is either positive or negative.
TYPES OF VOLUNTARINESS
1. Direct Voluntariness -accompanies an act which is primarily intended by the doer,
either as a means to achieve something else.
2. Indirect Involuntariness- accompanies an act or situation which is the mere result of
directly willed act.
A person considers accountable for indirect voluntary result of his acts when:
1. The doer is able to see the evil result or effects, at least in general way.
2. The doer is free to refrain from doing that which would produce the foresee evil.
3. The doer has mortal obligation not to do that which produces an evil effect.

1. A person is held morally responsible for any evil effect w/c flows from the action
itself directly and necessary as natural consequences, though the evil effect is not
directly willed or intended.
 2. Human act from w/c two effects may result, One good and one is evil, Is morally
permissible under four conditions. If any of this conditions is violated, then the action is
not justifiable and should not be done.
 The action w/c produce double effect must be good in itself, or at
least morally indifferent.
 The good effect must not come from the evil effect.
 To do evil in order to achieve something good is not justifiable.
 The motive of the doer must be towards the attainment of the
good. The evil effect is permitted only as an incidental result.
 The good effect must not out weigh the evil effects in its
importance.
EXAMPLES: An elder brother who puts hot sauce on a cake before giving it to a begging
younger brother, so that the younger will not ask for more, and the elder can have the
cake all to himself.
•A teenager who is yawning a lot, showing how uninterested she is to listen in her
professor.

MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS

Factors that influence man’s 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. This is
significant because the accountability of the act is correspondingly increased or
decreased.
1. IGNORANCE - Is the absence of knowledge which a person ought to possess.
TYPES OF IGNORANCE
a. Vincible ignorance -can easily be reminded through ordinary diligence and
reasonable efforts.
b. Invincible ignorance -is the type which a person possesses without aware of it, or
, having awareness of it, lacks the means to rectify it.
c. Affected ignorance -is the type which a person keeps by positive efforts in order
to escape responsibility or blame.
PRINCIPLES OF IGNORANCE
Invincible ignorance renders an act involuntary
Vincible ignorance does not destroy, but lessen the voluntariness and the corresponding
accountability over the act.
Affected ignorance, though it decreases voluntariness, increases the accountability over the
resultant act.
2.PASSION-are either tendencies away, from under undesirable or harmful things.-positive
emotions , the former include love, desire, delight, hope and bravery.-Negative emotions, the
latter include hatred, horror, sadness, despair, fear and anger.
TYPES OF PASSION
A. Antecedent Passion -are those that precede an act.
B.Consequent Passion -are those that are intentionally aroused and kept.
PRINCIPLES OF PASSION
 Antecedent passions do not always destroy voluntariness, but they diminish
accountability for the resultant act.
 Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness, but may increase accountability.
3.FEAR - is the disturbance of the mind of a person who is confronted by an impending danger
or harm to himself or loved ones. –
- is an instinct for self- preservation.
PRINCIPLES OF FEAR
 Acts done with fear are voluntary.
 Acts done out of fear, however ,great, is simply voluntary, although it is also
conditionally voluntary.
 Acts done because of intense fear or panic are involuntary.

4. 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.
. PRINCIPLES OF VIOLENCE
 External actions, or commanded actions, performed by a person subjected to
violence, to which reasonable resistance has been offered, are involuntary and
are not accountable.
 Elicited acts, or those done by the will alone, are not subject to violence and are
therefore voluntary.
5. HABITS -as defined by Glenn “ is a lasting readiness and facility, born of
frequently repeated acts, for acting in a certain manner.”
PRINCIPLE OF HABITS
 Action done by force of habit are voluntary in cause, unless a reasonable effort is
made to counteract the habitual inclination.
6.ACTION AND EMOTION -Emotions are generally instinctive in origin. Neither the
degree of their intensity, clarity or awareness makes them human acts to be
judged as good or evil. They become good or evil by the attitude of the person
manifesting them .A person who nourishes his feeling of hostility towards another
is more prone to acquire the motive for inflicting harm on the object of his hatred.
This is not to say that man is helpless in the tide of his emotions and that man’s
responses to action are emotionally motivated. It means simply that man’s
thoughts and actions are colored by his emotions.
.7 REFINEMENT OF EMOTIONS
Ethics deals with emotions as factors affecting human motivation and
behavior. Instead of repressing them, it calls for their refinement. This means that
man is expected to act not only with his mind and body, but precisely with his
heart and soul.
Doing good for another is not a virtue unless it comes from the “love” of what
is good.

THE ENDS OF HUMAN ACT

1. End -it is the purpose or goal of an act. - it is the act which completes or
finishes an act.
2. End of the act – it is the natural termination of an activity.
3. End of the doer – it is the personal purpose intended by the person
performing the act. – it is called the motive.
4. Motive – is the reason why a person performs an act. – it is the force that
sustains the act and brings it to completion.