Lesson No.

Voluntariness of Human Acts

I. Degrees of Voluntariness

a. Perfect and Imperfect

 Perfect – when the agent fully knows and fully intends the act
( Example: telling a lie to your parents )
 Imperfect – when there is some defect in the agent’s knowledge,
intention, or both.
( Example: adding details in narrating an event )
b. Simple and Conditional

 Simple voluntariness is present in a human act done, whether the

agent likes or dislikes doing it.
( Example: washing the dishes after the family meal )
 Conditional voluntariness is present in the agent’s wish to do
something other than that which he is actually doing, but doing
with dislike.
( Example: washing the dishes with a wish of just watching TV )
c. Direct and Indirect

 Direct voluntariness is present in a human act willed in itself.

 Indirect voluntariness is present in that human act which is the
foreseen result of another act directly willed.

A human act that is directly willed is called voluntary in se

while that which is indirectly willed is called voluntary in causa.

 Consider this classic example:

A father kills a rabbit for dinner. He directly wills the act of killing as a means to an
end to be achieved. He also directly wills the dinner as an end to be achieved by this
means. (There is direct voluntariness in every aspect of the act.)

Suppose that the rabbit is a pet of his children. It gave them pleasure every time they
played with it. The father knows that if he will kill the rabbit, it will cause his children
sorrow. Nevertheless, he kills the rabbit to have something for dinner. (There is indirect
voluntariness in the sorrow experienced by the children.)

The father’s direct act of killing the rabbit is called voluntary in se while the result,
sorrow of his children, which he does not directly will, is called voluntary in causa.
d. Positive and Negative

 Positive voluntariness is present in a human act of doing,

performing. It is present in an act that the agent is ought to do
and is doing it.
( Example: A student attends class on his scheduled time. )
 Negative voluntariness is present in a human act of omitting,
refraining from doing. It is present in an act that the agent is not
ought to do but is doing it.
( Example: A student deliberately misses class. )
e. Actual, Virtual, Habitual, Interpretative

 Actual voluntariness (intention) is present in a human act willed

here and now.
( Example: The “I do” vows of a man and a woman during the
marriage rites. )
 Virtual voluntariness (intention) is present in a human act done as
a result of (or in virtue of) a formerly elicited actual intention
even if that intention be here and now forgotten.
( Example: The faithfulness of the husband/wife with his/her
spouse throughout their married life. )
  Habitual voluntariness (intention) is present in a human act done
in agreement with, but not as a result of, a formerly elicited and
unrevoked actual intention. Consider this example:

You make an intention to be baptized in a Catholic religion. Years passed by, you did
not realize it nor you revoked it. One day, you became seriously ill, fighting for your
life. A priest came over and baptized you in your unconscious state. Here, the act of
receiving baptism is in agreement with the actual intention once made and
unrevoked. You possess then habitual voluntariness for the act of receiving the
sacrament of baptism.
  Interpretative voluntariness (intention) is that voluntariness which,
in the judgment of prudence and common sense, would be
actually present if opportunity or ability for it were given.
Consider this example:

The small boy who has to be carried literally to school and kept there against his will,
has an interpretative intention of going to school. For parents and teachers know that,
if the boy could but realize the value of schooling, he would certainly will to attend.
II. Indirect Voluntariness

 Indirect voluntariness, or voluntariness in causa, is present in that

human act which is an effect, foreseen or foreseeable, of
another act directly willed.
 When we bring together indirect voluntariness and imputability,
that is, as worthy of praise/blame, reward/punishment, two
ethical questions on responsibility and permissibility of the act
are raised:
a. When is the agent responsible for the evil effect of a cause directly willed?
b. When may one perform an act, not evil in itself, which has two effects –
good and evil?
 Principle of Indirect Voluntariness (First Question)

 The agent (doer of the action) is responsible (imputable) for the evil
effect of a cause directly willed when the following conditions are
met:
a. when he can readily foresee the evil effect, at least in a
general way
b. when he is free to refrain from doing what causes the evil
effect
c. when he is bound to refrain from doing what causes the evil
effect
 Principle of Double Effect (Second Question)

 The agent may lawfully perform an act which has two effects, one
good and one evil, when the following conditions are met:
a. when the evil effect does not come before the good effect so
as to be a means to it
b. when there exists a reason, proportionately grave or weighty,
which calls for the good effect
c. when the agent intends the good effect exclusively, and
merely permits the evil effect as a regrettable side-issue
 From these two principles, we may deduce the
following thoughts before the performance of
any act:

 We must do good; we must avoid evil.

 We must never do what is evil, even though
good may be looked for and intended as a
result of it.