HUMAN ACTS

acts which are chosen by exercising one's free will as a consequence of a judgment of
conscience. Human actions are moral because they convey either goodness or evil
when they are carried out.
-also are actions that are proper to humans, thus the crucial element of willful consent
and knowledge of the action must be present. One must freely use his/her intellect and
freewill when acting. Human acts reveal the value of responsibility. or accountability.
(Living a Christian Moral Life, 2013).

The morality of human acts depends on:

— the object chosen;
— the end sought or the intention;
— the circumstances of the action.
Moral Determinants of Human Acts

1. OBJECT OF THE ACT

- Substance/nature of the action
- Good which the will deliberately directs itself
- OBJECT specifies the "act of the will"
- Nature of what was done to its distinct species
- “What was performed by the moral agent?"
- "An object if the act is Good when it is in conformity with reason or when it fulfills or fits
the demand of reason. Otherwise, the object of the act is evil.

2. INTENTION/END IN VIEW
- Motive of the agent - factor which the agent acts; either be morally good or evil
- Purpose for which a human agent performs the act
Concerned with the goal of the activity
- It aims at the good anticipated from the action undertaken
- "What specifically does the agent want to accomplish?"
• Good intention doesn't make an intrinsically disordered act right
• The end does not justify the means.

3. CIRCUMSTANCE
- Refers to the events, occasions or conditions that make the act concrete
- Modify acts either by increasing or diminishing of the moral goodness or evilness of an
act/ responsibility of the agent
- Lighten or aggravate the weight of moral accountability of the performer
* The circumstance does not change the specific nature of the human act.