CN: 19

FOLLOSO, Emil Mari C.

7:00AM 8:00AM

Modifiers of Human Acts

The greater the knowledge and freedom, The greater the voluntariness, The greater the moral responsibility.

- Alfred Panizo

I.

Definition:
1. Modifiers a word or phrase that affects the meaning of another, usually

describing it or restricting its meaning.

2. Human Act is an act which proceeds from the deliberate freewill of man

having the constituents of human act freedom, knowledge, voluntariness present at all times or just even one of them.
3. Act of Man a human act without any constituents present. 4. Concupiscence powerful feeling of physical desire. 5. Advertence the action or process of turning the mind or attention.

II.

Summary:
1. Modifiers of human act refer to the degree or intensity of the morality of an

act or may simply mean to how good or how bad an act is

2. The goodness and/or badness of an act depend on factors such as ignorance,

concupiscence/passion, fear, force/violence, and habit

3. Ignorance may either be invincible if a person is incapable of removing

his ignorance or vincible if it can if he is willing to know. Ignorance may also be divided into three, namely: by law, by facts, and by reality.
4. Concupiscence or passion may be antecedent, an act of man, if it flares up

without the approval of your own will and consequent, a human act, if it is according to your will.
5. Fear, disconcerted state of mind due to the expected danger, may either be

voluntary or involuntary depending on the intensity of fear

6. Force, violence or compulsion is external physical power making one do

something against his will.

7. Habit simply means a constant way of acting obtained by repeating it.

Responsibility for habitual acts depends on the amount of advertence and in the effort to get rid of the habit.
8. Other modifiers of responsibility or of human act may also include

sleepiness, sickness, pain, alcohol, drugs, and conditions affecting the awareness and self-control of a human being.
9. Each factor affects different constituents of human act: Ignorance affects

knowledge, Passion affects will, Fear opposing the will from intention, Force involves will or voluntariness, and Habit, a voluntary act of doing.
10. Voluntariness mainly affects ones mind in acting out. It may be perfect if

he has full knowledge and full consent and imperfect if there is something wanting in the agents knowledge or consent or both.

III.

References: Books
1. Tabotabo, C., Corpuz, R., & Dela Cruz, R. (2011). Standards of Human

Conduct:

Ethics for Filipinos. Mindshapers Co., Inc.

2. Fagothey, A. (1967). Rights and Reasons: Ethics in Theory and Practice.

The C. V. Mosby Company.