Transcript

1. MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS Prof. Chris Pelias Institute of Arts and Sciences Far Eastern
University
2. Ethics or Moral Philosophy- deals with human activity in as much as the acts are in
conformity with the natural end. The medium of knowledge is reason alone, setting out the data
of experience and acquired knowledge. Derived from Greek word ethos- conscience Ethics
excludes positive revelation of the Old and New Testaments as source of its moral knowledge
and guidance. Ethics is concerned with norms, mores or traditions and principles of behavior
insofar as these principles are known by reason.
3. Mans Natural End Once a person reaches maturity, he faces a question for himself: What
should I do with my life? What is my purpose in life? Thus, his actions are all directed to his goal,
his purpose, his end. Human actions are characteristically an action for an end. The principle of
human acts is the end, goal or purpose. If no good (real or apparent) is known by reason, no
human act is performed
4. The will is a blind faculty no desire unless the reason shows there is something desirable
Nothing enters the mind without passing first through the senses. Aristotle * mans action is
good if it leads him to his end and bad if it drives him away from his ultimate end. 2 kinds of
good Apparent Good Real Good
5. Attainment of the goal or end- the ultimate end necessitates acts. The ultimate end is a
fixed principle but the various means to attain it is not . Freedom of Choice applies to these
means. Morally good acts are those which are suitable to the attainment of the end. Morally
bad acts are those unsuitable to the attainment of ultimate end.
6. Human Acts - actions that are free and deliberate - those that proceeds from the free and
conscious acts of man - act that is always done for a purpose - an act that after few deliberation
is performed knowledge of the end and consent of the will with
7. - acts that are proper to man as man - acts internal or external,bodily or spiritually
performed by a human being ACTS OF MAN - ACTS THAT MAN PERFORM INDELIBERATELY OR
WITHOUT ADVERTENCE - mans animal act of sensation (use of senses) and appetition ( bodily
tendencies)
8. - acts done abstractedly or with complete inadvertence - acts performed in infancy, infirmity
mind or the weakness of senility - acts done in sleep, in delirium, in the state of unconsciousness
9. CONSTITUENTS OR ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACTS KNOWLEDGE _ product of the mind after
due intellection _ proceeds from the deliberate will Kinds of Knowledge Abstract- purely
speculative, knowledge that is not enough for morals _ it will lead to split level christianity or to
legalism _ Oftentimes children and students are guilty of this _ Religion and moral values are
learned without appreciating it
10. B. Evaluative knowledge _ knowledge applied or knowledge of appreciation is required _
what is objectively true must be subjectively true and meaningful for me _ True education
aims at the formation of the human person with respect to his ultimate goal and simultaneously
with respect to the good of the society of which he is a member and in whose responsibilities as
an adult he has to share
11. MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS A. IGNORANCE _ the absence of knowledge _ is the absence
of knowledge that ought to be there ( privative) _ the absence of intellectual knowledge in man
( negative) _ negation of knowledge
12. Kinds of Ignorance A. Ignorance in its Object - Ignorance of the Law is the ignorance in
the existence of a duty, rule or regulation ex. A young freshman comes to class with fever to
take an exam in chem not knowing that a memo has been passed prohibiting anyone to attend
his class with symptoms manifesting AH1N1

13. 2. Ignorance of Fact ignorance of nature or circumstances of an act as forbidden ex.

Pedestrian violates law not knowing that the underpass is in use already B. Ignorance in its
Subject 1. Vincible Ignorance (Conquerable Ignorance) - ignorance that can be supplanted by
knowledge by the use of ordinary diligence - ignorance is due to lack of proper diligence.
14. Kinds of vincible ignorance 1.1 Simply vincible- some effort has been done but not enough to
dispel the ignorance 1.2 Crass or Supine- result of total or nearly lack of effort to dispel it 1.3
Affected- if positive effort has been done to retain the ignorance. Past actions cannot be
judged with present knowledge
15. 2. Invincible Ignorance- ignorance that ordinary and proper diligence cannot dispel. this is
attributable to 2 causes; (a) the person has no realization of his lack of knowledge (b) the person
who realizes his ignorance finds his effort ineffective
16. C. IGNORANCE IN ITS Result 1. Antecedent Ignorance that which precedes all consent of
the will ex. The chef served a poisonous mushroom not knowing that it can cause the death of
its customers 2. concomitant- accompanies an act that would have been performed even if the
ignorance did not exist. ex. A student misses his ethics class but even if he knows, he will still
miss it.
17. 3. consequent- that which follows upon the act of the will ex. A doctor suspects that the
patients disease is cancerous but deliberately refrain from making sure, and does not inform
him.
18. PRINCIPLES 1. Invincible ignorance destroys the voluntariness of the act 2. Vincible Ignorance
does not destroy the voluntariness of an act 3. Vincible Ignorance lessens the voluntariness 4.
Affected ignorance is one way lessens and in another way increases voluntariness
19. ll. ERROR- state of beleiving what is not true Like ignorance is a privation of right knowledge
and true insight due to false opinions and convictions because of deficient education, influence
of bad company, reading of misleading books and papers, insidous influence of mass Media.
Error is positive ignorance. We all need erasers to our pencils.Principle of error follow
Principle of Ignorance lll. Inattention momentary deprivation of knowledge
20. B. FREEDOM Not the power to do what we like, but the the right of being able to do what
we know we ought to do in relation to our ultimate end. Responsibility- the ability of an
individual to give a fitting response to a human situation that involves human needs. Both
freedom and responsibility are interlinked with each other and as such inseparable There are
many things in man that he would like to do but he cannot do. ex. To stay young forever, to
know everything
21. Although his freedom is limited , he is free in his choices His freedom lies on the fact that
once he made a decision no one can make him change his mind When he chooses no power
whatsoever can force him to change his choice(dignity of man) He can be enticed, induced,
persuaded but never forced. His choice is not on his natural end but is free determine himself
towards the end and means to attain it
22. Impairments to Freedom 1. Antecedent or Inculpable Passion- occurs when it springs into
action unstimulated by the will. - always lessens the voluntariness of the act and diminishes
responsibility since it hinders reflection of reason and weakens attention - the stronger is the
passion the weaker is the intellect and will - does not destroys the responsibility of the agent
since knowledge and freedom maybe lessened but he is still the master of his act If passion is
so great, as to make control impossible then the agent is temporarily insane and his act is not
human act but acts of man
23. 2. Consequent passion- follows the free determination of the act and is freely admitted and
consented to and deliberately aroused. - the will directly or indirectly stirs them up - however

great does not lessen the voluntariness since it is willed directly or indirectly. ex. Planned
revenge or assassination, reading pornography, singing hymns of praise
24. 3. Fear- shrinking back of the mind because of an impending evil Kinds: a. Acts done with
fear or inspite of fear as when a person climbs a dangerous mountain at night . Fear in this case
accompanies an act whichin itself is voluntary b. Acts done from fear and through fear or
because of fear as when a person threatened with a gun yields his wealth to a thief. c. fear
maybe slight or grave according to the amount of proximity of the impending evil. The danger of
death or losing a big amount of property are cases of grave fear.

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Human Acts and Acts of Man [Ethics]

This is one of our topics in our subject bioethics. We even had a skit to portray the differences between
human acts and acts of man.

Human act proceeds from the deliberate free will of man. Man knows what he is doing and freely
chooses to do what he likes, but he must be responsible and accountable for such act.
There are three elements of human act:
1. knowledge
2. freedom
3. voluntariness

There are modifiers of human acts. If one of these are present, then it is considered as act of man.
1. ignorance
2. passion
3. fear
4. violence
5. habits

Tell whether the following is a human act or act of man.

A. Juan, a young man who grew in the province went to the city for the first time. He crosses the street
without a second thought and almost got hit by a car.

- It is an act of man, because there is IGNORANCE. Since Juan grew up in the province, he has not idea
about traffic rules.

B. Bea is a college student. Her mother works as a vegetable vendor while her father is a waiter. Their
earnings are barely enough to send their child to school. Before the finals exam, Bea's parents failed to
send her money for her tuition fee. One of Bea's friends, Michelle, offered her to work as a prostitute for
her to earn. Michelle told her about the work. Without hesitation, Bea signed up for the job.
- It is a human act. There is knowledge, freedom and voluntariness. Bea was at the right age with the
right mind to decide whether to work as a prostitute or not.

C. Mrs. Aquino is a very rich businesswoman. Her only son was kidnapped and the kidnappers asked for
P50 million pesos. Mrs. Aquino gave the money right away.
- It is an act of man. There is fear present. Mrs. Aquino was afraid of losing her son so she gave the
money.

D. Martial law was declared. Michael was forced by the soldiers to tell them where the rebels were at
gunpoint. Michael told them their hiding place.
- It is an act of man. Violence is present. Michael was forced to tell an information he must have kept.

E. Paula had been planning to kill her husband who has a mistress. It almost drove her crazy, thinking of
how her husband cheated on her. When the time came, she went to see her husband and pulled the
trigger, killing him.
- It is an act of man. There is passion, Paula's desire to have revenge. She did not think about the
consequences of her act, like getting jailed.

F. Anthony wanted to join a certain fraternity. After passing the initiation rites, it was his turn to do the
initiation of paddling one of the new ones, Pepe (hitting the back or legs with a huge piece of wood like
baseball bat or boat paddle). He hit Pepe so hard that he had hemorrhage that lead to death.
- It is a human act. Anthony has the knowledge that a lot of men died of hazing. He also has freedom and
voluntariness to do the act.
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