Health Care Ethics

HUMAN ACT AND ACTS OF MAN

STUDY GUIDE
Sept. 22, 2020

Apolonio, Justin C.

Section A

40 pts

Watch the videos on you tube regarding Human Acts and Acts of Man. Take down notes in
preparation for the Midterm exam on October 6, 2020. For today’s activity, reflect your
understanding of the differences between Human Acts and Acts of Man by writing two of your
most unforgettable experiences: Elaborate your answers to get 10 pts for each.

1. a. Share one unforgettable experience that reflects a HUMAN ACT. ( 10pts)

Recently, there was a vehicular accident in front of our house involving a drunk driver and a
family. The two parties were both riding a motorcycle. It happened in the evening while I
and my brothers were playing basketball in our yard, when suddenly we heard a loud crash.
I immediately asked my brothers to tell my mother to call for an ambulance and police
officers. I was the first person to the scene of the incident. I saw the family sitting on the
road while the drunk man was lying face down at the other side of the road. All of what I
have learned in Nursing and Emergency Medical Service training rushed into my mind. At
that time, I approached the family and asked them if they are hurt. Luckily, they only
suffered minor injuries. The next thing that I did was to approach the drunk man and asked
if he was okay, but there was no response and also no movement. I noticed that a lot of
blood was pooling around his head so I waited for my cousin, who was a registered nurse, to
assess him. I went back to the family to calm them, while also asking if they feel pain
anywhere on their body. My cousin also assessed the family after she was done with the
drunk man. Unfortunately, the drunk man died. The family and the drunk man were then
sent to the hospital when two ambulances arrived.

b. Apply to check if the three elements of Human acts are present in your story to qualify
that it is indeed a human act.(10pts)

The three elements of Human Acts are: Knowledge, Freedom, and Voluntariness. I can
say that these three are present in my story because at that time I consciously went to
the scene of the accident. I was willing to do so because I was knowledgeable of what to
do in those kinds of situations, and lastly, I voluntarily went there to help instead of just
waiting for someone to arrive.
2. a. Share another unforgettable experience that reflects an Act of Man. (10pts)

When I was a child, while going to school with my mother, we always encountered a
mentally challenged man who always runs in the middle of the road and blocks our car. We
were scared because he was shouting and moving erratically. He always looks at us, smiles
then he would circle our car and peer at the windows. We would then drive away when he is
not blocking our car anymore.

b. Explain what elements qualified it to be considered an act of man? (10pts)

First, the man was unconscious of what he is doing. He is mentally challenged, so he is

moving unconsciously, which means that the three elements (knowledge, freedom, and
voluntariness) that makes up a Human Act is not present or not complete with this man.
That is why it is considered as an act of man.