Lesson No.

Modifiers of Human Acts

 The modifiers of human acts refer to the things that may affect the
human act’s essential qualities and thus lessen the moral character
of the act, and consequently diminish the responsibility of the agent.
 There are five of them, namely:
1. Ignorance
2. Concupiscence
3. Fear
4. Violence
5. Habit
 Let us consider them.
1. Ignorance

 Generally, it means the lack or absence of knowledge.

 It can be classified into:
a. Negative ignorance is the absence of intellectual knowledge in man.
( Example: A Philosophy teacher lacks knowledge about higher mathematics. )
b. Privative ignorance is the absence of knowledge that ought to be present.
( Example: A licensed civil engineer lacks knowledge about strength of materials. )
c. Positive ignorance is the presence of a false knowledge. This is also called
mistake or error.
( Example: Judging someone in the mall as an acquaintance but really is not due to
poor eyesight. )
 Before we will discuss the ethical principles governing ignorance, let us first
consider it in three ways.

A. Ignorance in its Object

 This talks about the thing of which the agent may be ignorant about.
a. Ignorance of Law
 This refers to the ignorance of the existence of a duty, rule, or
regulation.
b. Ignorance of Fact
 This refers to the ignorance of the nature or circumstances of an act as
forbidden. It is also lack of knowledge that what one is actually doing
comes under the prohibition of a known law.
c. Ignorance of Penalty
 This is lack of knowledge of the precise sanction affixed to the law.
B. Ignorance in its Subject
 This refers to the agent in whom ignorance exists.
a. Vincible Ignorance
 This is ignorance that can be dismissed by the use of ordinary diligence.
 This results due to lack of proper diligence on the agent, and is his fault
 This is also called culpable ignorance.
 Degrees of Vincible Ignorance
a. crass (stupid/gross) ignorance – if it be the result of total or nearly total, lack of effort
to dispel it
b. simply vincible – if some efforts were done but not persevering and whole-hearted
effort, be unsuccessfully used to dispel it
c. affected ignorance – if positive effort is made to retain it
 b. Invincible Ignorance
 This is ignorance that ordinary and proper diligence cannot dispel
because:
a. the agent has no realization whatever of his lack of knowledge
b. the agent who realizes his ignorance finds ineffective his effort to
dismiss it
 This is not the fault of the agent.
 This is also called inculpable ignorance.
 Degrees of Invincible Ignorance
a. physically invincible – if no human effort can dismiss it
b. morally invincible – if it would be extremely difficult to dismiss it even with the aid of
some good and prudent men
C. Ignorance in its Result
 This refers to acts performed while ignorance exists
a. Antecedent Ignorance
 It is that which precedes all consent of the will.
b. Concomitant Ignorance
 It is that which accompanies an act that would have been performed
even if the ignorance did not exist.
 An act done in concomitant ignorance is non-voluntary.
c. Consequent Ignorance
 It is that which follows upon an act of the will.
 The will may directly affect it or crassly neglect to dispel it.
 The Ethical Principles on Ignorance
a. Invincible ignorance destroys the voluntariness of an act.
 An act, in so far as it proceeds from invincible ignorance, lacks
voluntariness, is not a human act, and is not imputable to the agent.
b. Vincible ignorance does not destroy the voluntariness of an act.
 The agent has knowledge which bears indirectly upon the act which he
performs in ignorance, and the act has, in consequence, at least indirect
voluntariness, and is a human act imputable to the agent.
c. Vincible ignorance lessens the voluntariness of an act.
 While vincible ignorance does not destroy the voluntariness of an act, it
lessens voluntariness, and diminishes the responsibility of the agent.
d. Affected ignorance in one way lessens and in another way increases
voluntariness.
 Despite the bad will which it implies, it is still lack of knowledge, direct and
perfect, and lessens the voluntariness of the act that proceeds from it.
 If being deliberately fostered to serve as an excuse for sin against a law, it
shows the strength of the will’s determination to persist in such sins, thus,
increases the voluntariness of an act that proceeds from it.
2. Concupiscence

 It refers to those bodily appetites or tendencies which are called the passions, viz.,
love, hatred, joy, grief, desire, horror, hope, despair, courage or daring, fear, and
anger.
 It can be classified into:
a. Antecedent – when these passions spring into action unstimulated by the
will-act.
( Example: the automatic feeling of awe over a wonderful scenery )
b. Consequent – when these passions are directly or indirectly stirred up or
fostered by the will
( Example: getting angry on the teacher retained for a long time )
 From descriptions mentioned, antecedent concupiscence is an act
of man, and not a human act; it is a non-voluntary act, and the
agent is not responsible for it while consequent concupiscence is the
fault of the agent, for it is willed, either directly or indirectly, i.e.,
either in se or in causa, and thus, the agent, as a result, is responsible
for it.
 The Ethical Principles on Concupiscence
a. Antecedent concupiscence lessens the voluntariness of an act.
 Antecedent concupiscence disturbs the mind and hinders the calm
judgment of the mind upon the moral qualities of an act, thus, impairing
knowledge needed for perfect voluntariness.
 It is a strong and sudden urge to action, and thus it lessens the full and
prompt control which the will must exercise perfectly, hence, it impairs
freedom.
 Since knowledge and freedom are impaired by it, the voluntariness of an
act is thereby lessened, and in consequence, diminishes the responsibility
of the agent.
b. Antecedent concupiscence does not destroy the voluntariness of an act.
 Although knowledge and freedom are lessened by it, they are not
destroyed; and the agent’s responsibility, while diminished, is not
cancelled.
 If the antecedent passion is so great as to make control of the agent’s acts
impossible, then the agent is temporarily insane, and his acts are not
human acts but acts of man.
c. Consequent concupiscence, however great, does not lessen the
voluntariness of an act.
 Consequent concupiscence is willed, directly or indirectly, thus, the acts
that proceed from it have their proper voluntariness.
3. Fear

 It is the shrinking back of the mind from danger.

 It is the anxiety or worry of mind (from slight disturbance to actual panic) brought
about by the apprehension of imminent or coming evil.
 It may be classified as:
a. From Fear – when actions are done caused by fear
( Example: A student cheats because he is afraid of failing. )
b. With Fear – when fear is the accompanying circumstance in doing an act
(Example: A student cheating is afraid of being caught. )
 The Ethical Principle on Fear

An act done from fear, however great, is simply voluntary, although it is

regularly also conditionally involuntary.
 Fear does not excuse an evil act which springs from it.
 The law of Church and State provides that an act done from grave fear,
unjustly suffered, and excited directly in order to force the agent to do an
act that is against his will, is an invalid act or one that may be invalidated.
4. Violence

 It is the external force applied by a free cause (that is, by human beings) for the
purpose of compelling a person to perform an act which is against his will.

 The Ethical Principle on Violence

Acts elicited by the will are not subject to violence; external acts caused by
violence, to which due resistance is offered, are in no wise imputable to the
agent.
5. Habit

 This refers to operative habit, which is a lasting readiness and facility, born of
frequently repeated acts, for acting in a certain manner.

 The Ethical Principle on Habit

Habit does not destroy voluntariness; acts from habit are always voluntary, at
least in cause, as long as the habit is allowed to endure.