FREEDOM AND RATIONALITY

The Nature of Human Acts and Acts of Man

Ethics or Morality is distinctly focused on the exercise of one’s freewill and
its consequent freedom. Such presupposes conscious knowledge of the agent (the
person who performs the action) doing a particular act or acts. A person who does
an act out of freedom and knowledge is a person who performs a human act.
Thus, a human act is a conscious and free exercise of one’s capacities. Such is
planned or designed and therefore the agent is aware and has control over that
which he does including the means used and the purpose to which that act is
directed. In a word, a human act is a conscious and free act. When a person
decides to go and consult a doctor, he truly knows and is free to do so. When a
politician accepts a bribe, the politician also knows and freely accepts it. Both of
them, therefore, should be responsible for those actions they choose to do.
On the other hand, an act of man, is an act that is beyond one’s
consciousness and freedom. They happen like instincts, without him deliberating
on it or without his knowledge or the consequent exercise of his free will. Classic
examples are digestion, blood circulation, or breathing. Even if through some
special human skills and some people can control them for a limited span of time,
they are considered acts of man because the will has no control upon them.
Unarguably, ethics or morality is more concerned with human acts rather
than acts of man. Only acts done with knowledge and freedom are properly
human acts and therefore can be considered morally good or evil.

Elements of Human Act

There are three constituents of the human act, namely: knowledge,
freedom, and voluntariness.
1. Knowledge means that the act is done in the light of the agent’s knowing
capacity. He is aware and conscious of what he wants to do and the purpose
to which the act is directed, including some calculated consequences or
 collateral effects, depending on what extent the agent knows them.
Example: A person is aware and conscious what stealing is.

2. Freedom means that the act is performed in accordance with and not
against the will. It is a quality of the freewill by which one is able to choose
between one or two or more alternatives. When one chooses under duress
or force and does it against his will, freedom is absent. Freedom therefore
is a free act done without any element of force or coercion.

Example: A person chooses to steal without any element of force or coercion.

3. Voluntariness is a quality of the human act whereby any commission or

omission of an act is a result of the knowledge which an agent has of the
end. It means that the act done by the agent is intentional. It proceeds from
the employment of knowledge and freedom. When one knows the end for
which the act is done, and the agent purposely pursues it, the voluntary
character of his action is present.

Example: A person purposely or intentionally steals the cellphone to gain

something from it.

Sources of Morality / Determinants of Human Acts

The concept of the “sources of morality” refers to the “determinants of the
human acts.” In other words, these determinants or sources make the human acts
good, evil or indifferent.
The following are the determinants or sources of morality:
1. The object of the act is the very substance of the act. It answers the
question “what was performed by the agent?” It refers to what was
distinctly and specifically done by the agent. It is the primary determinant
of morality because by merely looking at the act itself, one can see if it is
 good, evil or indifferent.
Independent of any law, regulation or order, an object of the act is good
when it is in conformity with the nature or the purpose for which it was
made. Otherwise, an object is evil. Examples of good acts are giving food to
the hungry, organ donation or respecting others. Evil acts are murder, theft
or abortion. Indifferent acts are sleeping, whistling or tapping especially
when the agent is not conscious of the end for which they are done.

2. Motive of the agent refers to the purpose or goal for which a human agent
does an act. It answers the question “what specifically does the agent
personally want to accomplish.” Humans perform acts to achieve a purpose
but this purpose or motive are sometimes different from the object of the
act itself. For example: the object of almsgiving is to help a hungry person.
But when an agent gives alms to a hungry girl in order to seduce her, the
motive makes the act of almsgiving bad, although it is good when the object
alone is considered.

3. The circumstances refer to the conditions, events or occasions in which the

act is done affecting its morality in one way or another. They exist outside of
the nature of the act and are not of the essence of the act. However, they
can increase or diminish the goodness of the act and can aggravate or
mitigate the evil of an act.

The commonly accepted circumstances are:

a. The Circumstance of Person refers to the agent performing the act or to

the person to whom the act is done.
b. The Circumstance of Quantity or Quality of the Act refers to what is the
extent of the act.
c. The Circumstance of Place refers to the venue where the act is done. d.
The Circumstance of Instrument refers to that which is used and employed
in the performance of an act.
e. The Circumstance of Manner refers to the way (how) the act is
 performed by the agent.
f. The Circumstance of Time refers to the time when an act is done and how
long.
g. The Circumstance of Intention refers to the motive of the agent. It is
given special consideration above due to its importance.

Sources:

Manlangit, OP, Jerry. Fundamental Concepts, Principles and Issues in Bioethics

Vol. 1. Manila: UST Publishing House. (2010).

Sambajon, Marvin Julian, Jr. Health Care Ethics. Manila: C & E Publishing,
Inc. (2007).