HUMAN ACTS AND

ITS MORALITY
SIGNIFICANCE TO
VOLUNTARINESS
AND
RESPONSIBILITY
ETHICS and HUMAN ACTION
 THE HUMAN ACTS
 The human act is one that is proper to
a human being, an act that proceeds
from the free will of a man.
 A Human act is an act that is

deliberately performed by one

possessed of the use of reason.
Deliberately performed means that is
done freely and knowingly.
 ACTS OF MAN
 It refers to certain types of actions
that are naturally exhibited by man
 It is an involuntary action; it is natural

act of vegetative and sense of faculties

 But these acts may become human

acts when they are performed with

malice or when we are directed by will
Three Elements of Human Acts
 KNOWLEDGE- a human act proceeds from the
deliberate will

 FREEDOM – a human act is an act determined

by the will and by nothing else

 VOLUNTARINESS – the formal essential quality

of the human act. Both knowledge and
freedom are present.
 MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS
 If one of these are present then it is considered as
ACTS OF MAN
1. Ignorance – In general, it is the lack of knowledge
regarding a certain thing
2. Emotion – is a feeling, such as anger, fear, joy or of
despair
3. Violence – a force exerted on a person by another in
order to compel him to perform a certain action
against his will
4. Habits – internal principles of human acts. A habit
can be understood initially as a disposing of a power to
act in a determinate way.
 TWO CATEGORIES OF ACTS OF MAN

1.NATURAL INVOLUNTARY ACTIONS

-These are actions of man that are performed
intuitively or involuntary
-Examples: blinking of the eyes, digestion,
perspiration, beating of the heart
2. NATURAL VOLUNTARY ACTIONS
-These are actions that are within the control
of man’s will but only for some period of time
-Examples: eating, sleeping, walking
 CLASSIFICATIONS OF HUMAN ACTS

 1. ELICITED ACTS – These are human

acts which find their adequate cause
in the will alone.
 WISH
 INTENTION
 CONSENT
 ELECTION
 USE
 FRUITION
 TYPES OF ELICITED ACTS
 1. WISH – the simple love of anything
 2. INTENTION – the purposive tendency of the will
towards a thing.
 3. CONSENT- the acceptance by the will of the
means necessary to carry out intention.
 4. ELECTION – the selection by the will of the precise
means to be employed in carrying out an intention
 5. USE – the employment by the will of powers to
carry out its intention by the means elected
 6. FRUITION – the enjoyment of a thing willed and
done
CLASSIFICATIONS OF HUMAN ACTS
 2.COMMANDED ACTS – Human
acts that do not find their
adequate cause in the simple-will
act, but are perfected by the
action of mental or bodily powers
under the control of will.
TYPES OF COMMANDED ACTS
 1. INTERNAL – acts done by internal
mental powers under command of the
will
 2. EXTERNAL – acts affected by bodily

powers under command of the will

 3. MIXED – acts that involve the

employment of bodily powers and

mental powers
VOLUNTARINESS OF A HUMAN ACT
 A. DEGREES OF VOLUNTARINESS

a. PERFECT – it is present in the human act

when the performer fully knows and fully
intends the act
b. IMPERFECT- it is present when there is
some defect in the agent’s knowledge,
intention or in both
c. SIMPLE – it is present in a human act
performed, whether the agent likes or
dislikes doing it
VOLUNTARINESS OF A HUMAN ACT
 d. CONDITIONAL – is present in the agent’s wish
to do something other than which he is actually
doing
 e. DIRECT – is present in a human act willed in
itself
 F. INDIRECT – is present in that human act which
is the foreseen result of another act directly willed
 G. POSITIVE – is present in a human act of doing,
performing
 H. NEGATIVE – is present in a human act of
omitting, refraining from doing
"Even the most rational approach to
ethics is defenseless if there isn't the
will to do what is right."

- Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918 - 2008), Russian Novelist and

Historian, Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970
Thank you for
listening!