TWO GENERAL

FORMS OF ACTS
 Two General Forms of Acts

Acts of Man
Human Acts
1. Acts of Man
Involuntary Natural Acts
- These include the involuntary, intuitive or reflex
acts exhibited by man such as the blinking of the eye,
the beating of heart, sneezing, yawning, breathing,
scratching, and others.
Voluntary Natural Acts

- They include voluntary and natural, but not

necessarily reflexive acts, such as sleeping, eating,
drinking, etc.

- these types are actions we usually perform as part

of our daily, socially learned activities, such as
brushing our teeth, combing our hair, cutting our nails,
taking a bath, etc.
 - the second type of nonmoral acts is different
from the first type because it involves a certain
degree of freedom or voluntariness
 Involuntary natural acts and voluntary natural acts
are neither moral nor immoral, they do not possess
any moral values. Nonmoral acts can hardly be the
formal object of ethics. But we should take note that
the voluntary natural act, like sleeping, could become
moral acts if they are performed beyond their natural
purposes. Sleeping at work, for example, is no longer
perceived as simply a natural act, but an unethical and
an unacceptable act.
2. Human Acts

- Human acts include actions that are

conscious, deliberate, intentional, voluntary and
are within the preview of human value judgement

- Human acts are either moral or immoral.

 - These actions are products of man’s rationality
and freedom of choice – like telling the truth, helping
others in distress, and caring for the sick.

- Since moral acts contain the elements that allow

for moral judgement and setting of moral
responsibility. These acts are then said to be the formal
object of ethics.
 Classification of Human Acts
Acts are judged as to their moral worth based on
conformity to standards or norm of morality. Human
acts are classified into the following:
1. Moral or ethical acts
These are human acts that observe or conform to a
standard or norm of morality.
2. Immoral or unethical acts
These are human acts that violate or deviate from a
standard of morality.

Amoral or Neutral Acts

Amoral or Neutral Actions do not apply to human
acts because human acts can either be moral or immoral
but not morally neutral. Instead, the classification
applies to non-moral acts (acts of human).
 Components of Moral
Depending on the ethical theory applied, a moral or
human act may be ethical/moral or unethical/immoral if
one or two of its elements either conform to or violate a
moral principle of the theory. Differences in elements
emphasized mark the difference between and among
major theories of ethics.
 These elements upon which to focus assessment of whether
moral or human acts conform to or violate a particular norm are
enumerated below.
1. The intention or motive of the act.
2. The means of the act.
This is the act or object employed to carry out the intent of
the act.
3. The end of the act.
The intent of the act is assumed to be always directed toward
a desired end or a perceived good.
Distinction is made between the end and the
consequence of the act. If the end refers to the
perceived good that can be derived from the
performance of the act, the consequence is the
outcome or the actual conclusion or result of the
moral act.
 Moral Act and Human Will
Moral acts or human acts stem from the human will
that controls or influence the internal and external
actions of man. The stirs a person to act, or hampers
him from acting.
Living against all odds, hoping in the midst of
hopelessness, finding meaning in great loss, selfless
sacrifice for others.
The will is the agency of choice. The will may prompt
reason to overpower passion or on the other extreme,
arouse passion and allow it to overrun reason.
The will is a potential force for both good and evil.
The human will is what ethics, and religious and
values education aim to tame through the instruction
of the moral sense which is borne out of human
experience.