LESSON RECAP

The Human
Acts
What are Human Acts?

What are Acts of Man?

 Human acts are those
actions which man
performs knowingly,
freely, and voluntarily.

HUMAN ACTS OF
VS
ACTS MAN

Acts of man are

actions which happen in
man. They are instinctive
and are not within the
control of the will.
Essential Attributes of a Human Act
1. Knowing – A person must be fully aware of what
they are doing.

2. Free – A person must be free to choose his actions

without anyone dictating what he should do.

3. Willful – A person must do it willfully.

 Kinds of Human
Acts

Human acts are

Wish Use
either elicited acts or
commanded acts.
Elicited acts are those
Intentio
performed by the will
n Election
and are not bodily
externalized. The
following are examples
of elicited acts: Consent Fruition
 Is the enjoyment of the will derived from the attainment of
the thing desired earlier. Fruition
Use is the command of the will to make use of those
means election to carry out the intention. Use
The selection of the will of those means
effective enough to carry out the intention. Election

Consent The acceptance of the will of those needed to carry out

the intention.
Intentio
The tendency of the will towards something attainable
n but without necessarily committing oneself to attain it.

Wish The tendency of will towards something, whether

this be realizable or not.
Moral Distinctions

Moral Actions Immoral Actions Amoral Actions

Moral Distinctions
Moral Actions

are those actions

which are in
conformity with the
norm of morality.
They are good
actions and are
permissible.
Moral Distinctions
Immoral Actions

actions which are

not in conformity
with the norm of
morality. They are
bad or evil are not
permissible.
Moral Distinctions
Amoral Actions

Actions that stand

neutral in the
relation to the norm
of morality. They are
neither good or bad
in themselves.
 INTRINSIC EXTRINSIC
EVIL EVIL

The relation of actions to the norm of morality is either intrinsic

or extrinsic. Something is Intrinsic to a thing when it is integral to a
thing.
Imputability of Human Acts
Who should be blamed for the incident?
 Imputability of Human
Acts
A human act is done by a
person who is in control of his
faculties: intellect and will. In
this sense, a person is like the
captain of a ship who assumes
for accountability and
responsibility for his decisions.
The imputability of human
acts means that the person
performing the acts is liable of
such acts. It involves the notion
of guilt or innocence. Thus,
actions are either praiseworthy
or blameworthy. Actions are
attributed to the doer as their
principal cause.
 Sanctions and
Penalties
Imputability implies that
the does is either
deserving of reward or
punishment. This is a
basic requirement of
justice.
 Voluntariness

Voluntariness come from the

Latin word “Volunias”, referring to
the will. Voluntariness is essential to
an act. Without it, an act is a mere
act of man. We distinguish between
perfect and imperfect, and
conditional and voluntariness.
Perfect Voluntariness

Present in the person who fully

knows and fully intends an act.
 Imperfect
Voluntariness

Present in an action who acts

w/o fully realizing what he means to
do or without fully intending the
act.
 Conditional
Voluntariness

Present in the person who is

force by the circumstances beyond
his control to perform an act w/c he
would not do under normal
condition.
Simple Voluntariness

Present in a person doing an act

willful, regardless of whether he
likes to do it or not. It is either
positive or negative.
 Types of
Voluntariness

Direct Indirect
Voluntariness Involuntariness
Accompanies an act Accompanies an act
which is primarily or situation which is
intended by the doer, the mere result of
as a means to directly willed act.
achieve something
else.
 Indirect
Involuntariness

A person is accountable for his actions and their

consequences. But is he also accountable for the results not
intended?
Imputability of Human Acts
 (Not intended result)

People panicking resulting

into a stamped that injured
many people

(Human Act) (Intention)

Pushing the fire alarm as a Scare students and teachers

prank as a joke.
The following should be present in order for a person to be
accountable for indirectly voluntary results
1. The doer is able to foresee the evil or effect at least in a general
way;

2. The doer is free to refrain from doing that which would produce the
foreseen result;

3. The doer has moral obligation not to do so that which produces an

evil effect.
 Man, no doubt is creative because he
possess tremendous bodily and spiritual
powers. Every minute of his life, he acts,
transforming himself and the world around
him. Action constitutes a person, an individual
in controlling himself and accountable to
himself. What a person is and what becomes of
him depend largely on the type of actions he
performs during his life-time.
- - Agapay,
Ramon
 END OF DISCUSSION

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