Chapter 3

The Human Acts

I want you to bear in mind that your action reveals your moral character,
why? Because your actions are the product of your thoughts and desires. That’s
why what you are and what you will become as a person depends on your choice
and actuation.
In this part, you will know the nature of your actions,

I – Attributes of Human Act

Human acts are actions preforms by a person who is acting knowingly,
freely, and willfully. These actions are deliberate, intentional, and voluntary. They
are differentiated from the acts of man which are instinctive and not under the
control of your free will.
An act is done knowingly when the doer is conscious and aware of the
reasons and the consequences of your actions. It means that you the performer of
an act is fully aware and conscious of your actions, regardless the nature of an act,
whether it is intrinsically good or intrinsically evil, the point here is that you the
agent know your actions, and much more you know what you are doing. In short,
you have complete knowledge before and after committing the act.
Based on the norms, every normal person on the age of reason is presumed
to act knowingly. However, children who are below the age of reason, the senile,
and the insane are considered incapable of moral judgment. Therefore, they are not
culpable on the consequences of their actions.
 An act is done freely when the doer acts by his initiative and choice without
being forced to do so by another person or a situation. In other words, you
performed an act voluntarily. Hence, an action done under duress and against
one’s free will is not a voluntary action.
An act is done willfully when you the doer consents to the act, accepting it
as your own, and assumes accountability for its consequences.
Therefore, an act that lacks any of the above-mentioned attributes is either
imperfectly voluntary or involuntary.

II – Kinds of Human Act

There are only two kinds of Human Act, namely; Elicited or Commanded Act
ELICITED ACT
These are actions performed by the will but not bodily externalized. There
are six kinds of elicited acts such as:

Wish
Wish is the tendency of the will towards the object, without considering
whether it is attainable or not. The object of wishing includes the
impossible, or that which is remotely possible.

Intention
The intention is the tendency of the will towards an object which is
attainable, without necessarily committing oneself to get it.

Consent
Consent is the acceptance of the will to carry out the intention.
 Election
Is the selection of the will of those means necessary to carry out the
intention

Use
Use is the command of the will to make use of the means elected to carry
out the intention.

Fruition
Fruition is the enjoyment of the will due to the attainment of the intention.

Commanded Act
The commanded act is a mental and bodily action performed under the
command of the will. These are either internal or external actions. The internal
actions are those performed mentally. External actions are those performed bodily.
However, all external actions are derived from the internal acts, because every
deliberate act is first thought of and decided mentally. Thus, philosophers speak of
human acts as “being first in intention, but last in execution”.

III – Moral Distinction of human acts

Based on their conformity or non-conformity with the norm of morality,
human acts are either, moral, immoral, or amoral.

Moral action
Moral actions are those actions that conform to the norms of society based
on the dictate of reason. They are morally good, permissible, and acceptable
actions (such as working, studying, telling the truth, loving someone, etcetera).
 Immoral action
Immoral actions are those which are not in conformity with the norms of
the society. These are unreasonable, unacceptable, and impermissible actions.
They are evil and prohibited actions, (such as cursing, cheating, stealing, lying,
killing, and etcetera).

Amoral action
Amoral actions are those which stand neutral or indifferent to the norm of
morality. These are acts neither good nor evil, but they may become evil because
of its circumstances.

For instance, playing basketball becomes morally wrong when it causes a

student to miss his class. Alcoholic wine or drinks are amoral, but excessive
drinking is wrong.

The adjective ethical and unethical is respectively synonymous with right

and wrong, proper and improper. They are best described as actions concerning
professional standards rather than with moral laws. Example, a teacher who
reveals information about his student is unethical but not necessarily immoral

IV- The evilness of an immoral act

Immoral actions are either intrinsically or extrinsically evil. The act is

intrinsically evil when its wrongfulness is part of the nature of such an act. Such as
stealing, killing, and the like, in those acts, the wrongfulness is obviously in the
nature of the acts. In stealing it deprived someone of his property against his will.
In killing, it deprived someone of his right to live. Such acts are intrinsically evil.
 An act is extrinsically evil when its wrongfulness comes from the outside
factor. This indicates that actions which are by nature are good or neutral may
become evil due to external factors, whether the motive of the person or the
circumstances of doing the act. An example of this act is almsgiving, this act is
good in itself, but it becomes extrinsically evil when it is done to establish one’s
public image or popularity. Helping is good we are bound to help those are in
need, however, if you help with an evil motive your act becomes evil.

V – Voluntariness
The term voluntariness or volition is derived from the Latin word
“voluntas” which means the Will. Voluntariness is either perfect or imperfect,
either simple or conditional.

1. Perfect Voluntariness
This form of voluntariness occurs when a person who performs the act is
acting with full knowledge and complete freedom. In other words, you are acting
or performing it freely out of your own decision. In short, you willed it. For
instance, you are acting with perfect voluntariness when you give something to
others when you are asked, you tell the truth, when you decided to study your
lessons, and when you eat your favorite foods.

2. Imperfect voluntariness
This form of voluntariness occurs when a person who acts or performs the
activity is acting it without full knowledge or understanding what he is doing, or
without complete freedom. For example, you in the mode of imperfect
voluntariness when you perform an act or activity or a certain tasked which you
dislike.
 3. Simple voluntariness
It occurs when the person performs any activity regardless of his liking or
not liking it. This form of voluntariness is either positive or negative. Simple
positive voluntariness occurs when the act requires the performance of an activity.
For example for this like, studying, caring for the sick, and helping those who
meet an accident near your post. Negative voluntariness occurs when the act
requires the omission of an activity. This means that you are prohibited to perform
such acts. Example for this like, this product is not edible, Bawal umihi ditto, no
right turn, and no entry private property.

4. Conditional voluntariness
It occurs when the person who does the act is forced by the circumstance to
perform such an act which he would not do under normal conditions. In short, you
are forced to do so because of the situation. For example, giving money to a
robber, a woman being raped, forced marriages, a tortured accused to accept the
charges against him.

VI – Direct and Indirect Voluntary

The direct voluntary act is the result of a primary intended act. This means
that you are doing things according to your intention. Examples of this like, going
to a birthday party, watching movies, and cooking delicious foods for your family.
The indirect voluntary act is the result of an act that follows or goes along
with the primary intended act. This means that these are things that happened
beyond your plan. In short, the unexpected things that occur along to the first
intention. Alright, let’s go back to the examples above, you’re going to a birthday
party with your friend, and while enjoying the party you are attacked by the
gangsters. So, the incident that you are attacked by the gangster is what we called
indirect voluntary. Let’s consider the second example, you’re watching a movie,
 and in doing so you missed your next class, so the missing of your next class is
indirect voluntary.

Take not guys that you are accountable for actions directly intended. So
whatever the consequence of your first intention whether it resulted in good or bad
you are liable to it. In the same manner, you are also accountable for the indirect
voluntary actions with the following conditions;

i. When the doer can foresee the evil result or consequences though in
a general way.
ii. When the doer is free to refrain from doing that actions which would
result in the foreseen evil.
iii. When the doer has the moral obligation not to do that which would
result in something evil.

VIII – The Significance of Human Acts

To sum up, it is good to note that human acts come from the intellect and
the will, they express the thoughts and desires of the person, revealing his moral
character. Therefore, people are judge by their actions. Thus we condemn a person
for his evil deed or praise him for doing well.
We often hear people say that they “condemn the sin but not the person”
this statement is probably acceptable if it means we should not rush to judge the
guilt of the suspect. But the statement above is wrong if it means we should not
blame the person for his/her evil deeds.