Module 4

Moral Accountability
Mrs. Soledad A. Tambaoan
Instructor

Email Address:
sollytambaoan01@gmail.com

Contact Number:
0961-436-8702

Module Duration:
September 26– 30, 2022

GE004
Ethics
 MODULE 4 – MORAL ACCOUNTABILITY

MODULE SCHEDULE
This module is designed to be discussed for a period of two weeks. Lesson Delivery will be done in synchronous and
asynchronous learning. The platform to be used will be facebook messenger, google classroom and google meet
created for the class.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of the module, you are expected to:

1. define moral accountability;

2. distinguish the different modifiers of human acts;
3. apply the different concepts learned in one’s daily life.

INPUT INFORMATION

I. INTRODUCTION
Human acts, because they are voluntary, are accountable acts. Actions are imputed on
the doer as its principal cause and, therefore, deserving of either reward or punishment.

II. The Subject of Human Acts

The subject of a human act is any person who is capable of acting intelligently and
freely. Like the ship captain who assumes full responsibility for the ship and its cargo, a
person is accountable for his decisions and actuations. A person is either guilty or
innocent, deserving or undeserving of punishment.

Business organizations, institutions, associations, or unions which are constituted by

law as juridical person are also subject of human acts. Like the individual person, these
organizations can sue and be sued for their actions.

III. Sanctions and Penalties

The penal laws of the country provide for a system of punishment for
wrongdoings, ranging penalty from is reserved fines to for imprisonment.
The capital punishment or death penalty is reserved for heinous crimes".

Unless also prohibited by the law of the land, no punishment is imposed

on immoral acts also immoral prohibited remorse for acts. However,
immoral acts carry with them the burden of guilt, remorse, and shame.
The scripture speaks of death as the punishment for sins. It means both
physical and spiritual death.

The medical science traces many illnesses to immoralities and spiritual

disorientation. Evil acts and habits cause suffering and unhappiness and
not only to the victims, but to the perpetrator and his relatives. The
shamefulness of such actions is shared by all members of the family of
the guilty. And there is the risk of being ostracized, losing a job, or being
abandoned by loved ones.

IV. The Modifiers of Human Act

A voluntary act is under the control of the intellect and will of
a person. There are, however, factors that may influence the
intellect and will so that actions are not perfectly voluntary.
These factors are called modifiers of human. Because they
interfere with the application of the intellect and will, they
either reduce or increase accountability. The moral axiom is:

The greater the knowledge and the freedom, the greater the
voluntariness and, therefore, the accountability (Panino: 38)

The following are the modifiers of the human act: (1)

Ignorance, (2) Passions, (3) Fear, (4) Violence, and (5)
Habit
1. Ignorance.
Ignorance is the absence of knowledge which a person
ought to possess. A lawyer is expected to know the law; the
doctor, the cure of illnesses; and the manager, his business
operations. In the realm of morals, everyone normal person
who has attained the age of reason, approximately seven
(7) years old, is expected to know the general norms of
proper conduct and behavior

Ignorance is either vincible or invincible. Vincible ignorance

is one which can easily be corrected through ordinary
diligence. Not knowing the time or the name of a seatmate
is vincible ignorance. Invincible ignorance is one which is
not easily remedied, because the person is either not
aware of his state of ignorance, or, being aware of it, does
not have the means to rectify such ignorance. The waiter
who serves contaminated food without being aware of the
fact has invincible ignorance. The police may have
invincible ignorance about the perpetrator of a crime.

A vincible ignorance which is intentionally kept in an effort to escape responsibility is called affected ignorance. An
employee acts with affected ignorance when he refuses to heed the instruction of his supervisor. A moral axiom that states
"Ignorance of the law excuses no one" means one should not act in the state of ignorance and one who has done wrong
may not claim ignorance as a defense. A driver who does not know the traffic rules deserves a heavy penalty.

Principles:
a. Invincible ignorance renders an act involuntary. A per son is not morally liable if he not aware of his state of
ignorance. Persons in this situation are said to be "acting in good faith", and their wrongdoings are regarded as "honest
mistakes". Such is the case of a hunter who accidentally shot a farmer whom he mistook for a boar.

b. Vincible ignorance does not destroy but lessens the voluntariness and the corresponding accountability over an act.
Once a person becomes aware of his state of ignorance, he should make an effort to remedy it. To act without being
sure of relevant facts is to act imprudently. A doctor may be guilty of gross negligence when he prescribes the wrong
medicine to a patient.

c. Affected ignorance, though it decreases voluntariness, increases the accountability of an act. Because affected
ignorance interferes with the intellect, it decreases voluntariness. But because it is maliciously kept, it increases
accountability. A person who prefers to remain ignorant in order to escape responsibility does not deserve kindness.

2. Passions.
Passions, or concupiscence, are psychic responses. They are either
tendencies towards desirable objects, or tendencies away from
undesirable objects. The former is considered positive emotions,
such as love, desire, delight, hope and bravery. The latter are
negative emotions, such as hatred, horror, sadness, despair, fear,
and anger.

In relation to actions, passions are either antecedent or consequent.

Antecedent passion comes as a natural reaction to an object or
stimulus without being aroused intentionally. It precedes any act;
thus, it is called "antecedent". It is antecedent passion when we feel
happy in the company of a friend. Consequent passion, on the other
hand, is the result of an act which causes it to be aroused. Reading
pornography, for instance, arouses sexual desires.

In themselves, passions are not evil. However, because they

predispose a person to act, they need to be subjected to the control of reason.

Principles:
a. Antecedent passions do not always destroy voluntariness, but they diminish accountability over an act.
Antecedent passion weakens will power without completely blocking it. Thus, the so called "crimes of passion" are
voluntary.

b. Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness and may even increase accountability. This is because consequent
passions are the direct result of the will consenting to them, instead of subordinating them to the control of reason.
3. Fear.
Fear is the disturbance of the mind of a person who is
confronted.

There is a difference between acting with fear and acting

out of fear. Some actions which are difficult or dangerous
are done with `fear. New experiences such as embarking
on a long trip, being left alone in the dark, or speaking in
front of a crowd, make some people nervous and fearful.
These actions are done with fear. It is acting out of fear,
when fear causes a person to act, like to jump from the top
floor of a burning building.

Principles:
a. Acts done with fear are voluntary and are accountable.

b. Acts done out of fear, however great, is simply voluntary, although it is also conditionally voluntary. It is simply voluntary
because the person remains in control of his faculties. It is, however, conditionally voluntary, because if it were not for
the presence of a danger, the person would not have acted.

Intimidating or threatening a person with harm is an unjust act. Legally and morally speaking, actions done out of fear
because an unjust situation are invalid acts. Thus, contracts entered into by a party because of fear is null and void (Paul
Glenn: 41-42).

4. Violence.
Violence is any physical force exerted on a person by a free
agent for the purpose of compelling said person to act against
his will. Insults, torture, isolation, starvation, and mutilation are
examples of violence.

Principles:
a. External, or commanded which acts, reasonable performed
resistance by a persona subjected to violence, to which
reasonable resistance has been offered, are involuntary and
not accountable.

b. Elicited acts, or those done by the will alone, are not subject
to violence and are therefore voluntary.

Active resistance should always be exerted to ward off any

unjust aggressor. However, if resistance is impossible, or if there
is a serious threat to one's life, a person confronted by violence can always offer internal resistance by withholding consent.
This is enough to save one's moral integrity (Panizo:37).

The Will is a spiritual faculty is not within the reach of violence. There are thousand martyrs who had suffered death instead
of surrendering their will to their tormentors. We may not be too harsh on those whom we consider villains or weaklings,
those who succumbed to the vile wishes of their oppressors. "Violence of force", says Bernard Haring, "in any instance, if
bound up with the refined cruelty of present-day methods of psychological torture, can constitute a serious temptation and
often also contribute towards a notable diminution of inner freedom” (Haring: 108).

5. Habits
Habit is the readiness, born of frequently repeated act, for acting in a
certain manner. Habits are acquired through the repetition of an acts over
a period of time. they are either good or bad. Habits become a second
nature, moving one to do something with relative ease without much
reflection. They are difficult to overcome.

Principle:
a. Actions done by force of habit are voluntary in cause unless a
reasonable effort is made to counteract the inclination.
Habits are voluntary in cause, because they are the result of
previously willed acts done repeatedly over a period of time. Thus,
every action resulting from habit partakes of the voluntariness of
those previous repeated acts. However, when a person exerts
 consistent efforts to counteract the habit, the actions resulting from such habit are regarded as acts of man and,
therefore, not accountable.

V. Poverty
Poverty is never an excuse for committing a crime just as wealth does not
justify abuses. But there is a correlation between poverty and crimes.
People who are dirt poor and starving are unlikely to think about their
morals.

Nobody deserves to be poor. Poverty is a social evil which must be

corrected by the State. It becomes an act of injustice by the State that fails
to look after the welfare of the people, neglecting their economic needs.

VI. Action and Emotion

Man is not a robot devoid of feelings. Every human act involves
a person emotionally. Thus, we pray fervently, we work
earnestly, we play eagerly, we eat heartily, or we live happily.
The Decalogue enjoins us to love God "with all our heart and
with all our soul".

Emotions are natural and beneficial. The positive tendencies of

love, kindness, humility, reverence, and justice express
approval of what is good and worthy in an object. The negative
tendencies of anger, horror, and hatred express disapproval
and repudiation of evil as such.

VII. Refinement of Emotions

Emotions, however, need to be subjugated to reason because un- bridled passions could lead a person to his perdition. One
must learn to rein his emotions and work them to his advantage.

"It is evident", says Bernard Haring, "that education, through proper discipline and cultivation of emotional life (in which we
include the cultivation of the values of character and disposition), is in many ways more significant than the tense straining of will
power" (The Law of Christ, I-199).

Moral perfection comes from within. Filipinos speak of a good person as possessing “abutting kalooban”. He is one who is
mapagmahal, matulungin sa kapwa, at may-takot sa Diyos.

Reading Material:
The Virtue of Temperance
Pope John Paul II

Virtue is not something abstract, detached from life, but, on the

contrary, it has deep "roots" in life itself, it springs from the latter
and forms it. Virtue has an impact on man's life, on his actions
and behavior. It follows that, in all these reflections of ours, we
are speaking not so much of the virtue of man as a living and
acting "virtuously"; we are speaking of the prudent, just, and
courageous man, and finally, precisely today, we are speaking
of the "temperate" (or "sober") man.

The term "temperance" itself seems in a certain way to refer to

what is "outside man". We say, in fact, that a temperate man is
one who does not abuse food, drinks, pleasures, who does not
drink alcohol to excess, who does not deprive himself of
consciousness by the use of drugs, etc. This reference to
elements external to man has its basis, however, within man. It is as if there existed in each of us a "higher self" and a "lower self". In
our "lower self", our "body" and everything that belongs to it is expressed: its needs, its desires, its passions of a sensual nature
particularly. The virtue of temperance guarantees every man mastery of the "lower self" by the "higher self". Is this humiliation of our
body? Or a disability? On the contrary, this mastery gives higher value to the body. As a result of the virtue of temperance, the body
and our senses find the right place which pertains to them in our human condition.
A temperate man is one who is master of himself. One in whom passions do not prevail over reason, will, and even the "heart". A man
who can control himself. If this is so, we can easily realize what a fundamental and radical value the virtue of temperance has. It is even
indispensable, in order that man may be fully man. It is enough to look at someone who, carried away by his passions, becomes a
"victim" of them - renouncing of his own accord the use of reason (such as, for example, an alcoholic, a drug addict) - to see, clearly
that: to be a man" means respecting one's own dignity, and therefore, among other things, letting oneself be guided by the virtue of
temperance.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Answer the following question (10 points each).
1. Why are we accountable for our actions?
2. What is the penalty for immoral acts?

ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
Be ready for a 15-item quiz.

ASSIGNMENT
1. Explain: “Ignorance of the law excuses no one.”

LEARNING RESOURCES
Agapay, Ramon (2016): Ethics and the Filipinos. National Bookstore