Acts of Man andHuman Acts

ACTS OF MANACTUS HOMINIS

ACTIONS WHICH ARE PERFORMED WITHOUT THE INTERVENTION

OF THE INTELLECT AND THE FREE WILL

THEY COMPRISE ALL SPONTANEOUS BIOLOGICAL AND SENSUAL PROCESSES

ACTS OF MAN:

INVOLUNTARY actions Actions which merely happen in

the body or through the body without the awareness of the mind or the control of the will.

Nutritive processes of the body, circulation, respiration, growth, chemical reaction.

They comprise all spontaneous, biological, & sensual processes without the use of reason.

HUMAN ACTSACTUS HUMANI

ACTS THAT PROCEED FROM REASON AND FREE WILL

RIGHTLY CALLED PERSONAL ACTS

Human Acts can be:

EthicalGood, moralUnethicalBad, immoral, evilIndifferent, amoral

Ethical – correct, acceptable Unethical – incorrect, unacceptable Moral – specific sense: good MORAL – one who correctly judges

between right & wrong, and consequently act on what is virtuous.

general sense: deals with the question of good or bad.

Immoral – wrong, bad, evil, sinful - one who does not act in conformity with the principles of right and wrong.

AMORAL1. Not involving questions of right or

wrong; without moral quality; neither moral nor immoral.

INDIFFERENT NEUTRAL

2. When a person is blind to some moral values.

2.A--- Unaware of what is right or wrong--- Do not possess ethical notions at all as a result of an unusual upbringing or inborn.

2.B-- Lacking moral sensibility; one

who is not concerned with any moral standards at all;

--not caring about right and wrong; --having no moral standards,

restraints or principles; --with callous conscience.

IMPUTABLE - To impute – to charge/accuse a person with fault, an offense or a crime.

CULPABLE – guilty, blameworthy, (Latin) “mea culpa” – my

fault.

ACCOUNTABLE – answerable or responsible

LIABLE - legally responsible.

Human Acts – voluntary, deliberate, intentional acts. [knowledge, freedom, Will/ consent/

voluntariness]: ELICITED COMMANDED

KINDS OF ELICITED HUMAN ACTS 1. Wish2. Intention3. Consent4. Choice / Election / Selection5. Use6. Fruition / Satisfaction

Elicited acts – a simple WILL-ACT

WISH – the first tendency of the will towards a thing, whether this thing be realizable or not. It is the simple love of a thing. (Desire)

INTENTION – the purposive tendency of the will towards a thing regarded as realizable, whether the thing is actually done or not. (Active Desire; will to obtain it).

CONSENT – the acceptance by the will of the means necessary to carry out the intention. (A definite decision).

ELECTION – the selection by the will of the precise means to be employed in carrying out the intention.

USE – the employment by the will of powers to carry out its intention by the means elected.

FRUITION – the enjoyment of the thing willed & done; the will’s act of satisfaction in intention fulfilled. (The actual attainment & enjoyment of the desired good).

COMMANDED ACTS – under orders from the will

1. INTERNAL – acts done by internal mental powers under command of the will. {Effort to remember, conscious reasoning, effort to control anger, deliberate use of the imagination in visualizing a scene}

2. EXTERNAL – acts effected by bodily powers under the command of the will. {Deliberate walking, eating, writing, speaking}

3. MIXED – acts that involve the employment of bodily & mental powers. {Study which involves the use of intellect and the use of eyes in reading…}

CONSTITUENTS OF HUMAN ACTS

KNOWLEDGE

The faculty of thought. The intellect discerns in a given object both perfection and

imperfection, both good and evil, and therefore presents it to the will as desirable in one

respect and undesirable in another

FREEDOM

the ability to act without restraint.

In the context of internal control,

freedom is also known as self-

determination, individual sovereignty,

or autonomy.

when an object is proposed, the will, on account of its unlimited scope,

may love or hate, embrace or reject it.

Whenever there is deliberation in the understanding,

there is freedom in the will, and the consequent act is

free; vice versa, whenever an act

proceeds from the will without deliberation,

it is not free, but necessary.

FREE WILL / VOLUNTARINESSEVERY VOLUNTARY ACT OF MAN INCLUDES A

NECESSSARY ELEMENT:THE QUEST FOR GOODAND A FREE ELEMENT:

THE CHOICE OF THE CONCRETE OBJECT IN WHICH THE GOOD IS SOUGHT

IF A MAN IS NOT FREE TO CHOOSE WHAT HE WOULD LIKE ACCORDING TO HIS INSIGHT AND WILL BUT HAS TO ACT AGAINST

HIS WILL,HIS ACTION IS NOT FREE AND

CONSEQUENTLY NOT A HUMAN ACT

DIVISIONS OF VOLUNTARY ACTS / EFFECTS

1.Perfect and Imperfect voluntariness

2.Simple and conditional voluntariness

3.Actual, virtual, habitual and interpretative voluntariness

4.Positive and negative voluntariness

5.Direct and indirect voluntariness

PERFECTLY VOLUNTARY ACT

IS AN ACT WHICH IS PERFORMED WITH FULL ATTENTION

AND FULL CONSENT OF THE WILL.

IMPERFECTLY VOLUNTARY

IS AN ACT IF ATTENTION OR CONSENT OF THE WILL OR BOTH ARE IMPERFECT

POSITIVELY VOLUNTARY ACT

THE WILL EFFECTS SOMETHING POSITIVELY BY EXERCISING ACTIVE

INFLUENCE ON THE CAUSATION OF AN

OBJECT FOR EXAMPLE, INJURING A NEIGHBOR BY SETTING

HIS HOUSE ON FIRE

NEGATIVELY VOLUNTARY ACT

THE WILL EFFECTS SOMETHING NEGATIVELY

BY VOLUNTARY OMISSION OF AN ACT WHICH COULD HAVE AVERTED AN EVIL

TO ANOTHER PERSON OR HELPED HIM TO SECURE A GOOD FOR EXAMPLE, NOT

TO EXTINGUISH A FIRE ALREADY STARTING IN A

NEIGHBOR’S HOUSE

DIRECTLY VOLUNTARY

IF THE ACT IS INTENDED AS AN END IN ITSELF OR

IF IT IS INTENDED AS A MEANS FOR ANOTHER END

INDIRECLTY VOLUNTARY

IF AN ACT IS NOT INTENDED BUT MERELY PERMITTED

AS THE INEVITABLE RESULT OF AN OBJECT DIRECTLY

WILLED.

PRINCIPLE OF DOUBLE EFFECT

THE MORAL OBJECTOR THE ACT MAY NOT BE EVIL IN ITSELF

THE GOOD AND EVIL EFFECT MUST PROCEED

AT LEAST EQUALLY DIRECTLY

FROM THE ACT

THE INTENTION OF THE AGENT MUST BE

GOODTHE AGENT MAY NOT INTEND OR APPROVE OF THE EVIL EFFECT

BRIEFLY

UNDERTAKING AN ACTION FROM WHICH A GOOD AND EVIL EFFECT ARE

FORESEEN IS PERMISSIBLE :IF THE ACTION IN ITSELF IS NOT EVIL, IF THE BAD EFFECT IS NOT INTENDED

IF THERE IS SUFFICIENTLY GRAVE REASON TO PERMIT THE EVIL.

THERE MUST BE A PROPORTIONATELY GRAVE REASON IN ORDER

TO PERMIT THE EVIL EFFECT.

Principle of indirectly willed act

1. The agent must foresee the evil effect of his act.

2. He must be free to refrain from doing the act which is the cause of the evil effect; and

3. He must be morally obliged to stop doing the act which is the cause of the evil effect.

Cases:

1. Your classmate put a time bomb in your bag while you were out for a break. The bomb exploded while the class was on going killing you and the professor and other classmates. Is your classmate responsible for the death of your professor and other classmates though its not the motive of his act?

2. At gunpoint,, a man fires a gun inside the crowded movie house making all the people inside panic and resulting in the injury of many and to the death of one or two movie goers. Is the agent responsible of the evil effect of his act?

Principle of double effect1.The act must be good in itself or at

least indifferent.2.The evil effect must not precede the

good effect.3.There must be a sufficient reason for

doing the act. A sufficient reason exist when:

a.) the good effect is more important or at least equally important than the bad effect;

b.) the act is the only means of achieving the good effect.

4.The intention of the agent must be honest.

Cases:

1. A patient is dying. Medical relief there is none. Can a doctor give the patient drugs and medicines killing her instantly, thus ending the patient’s agony or sufferings?

2. In order to free the city of Manila from the Japanese and put an end to the war in the Philippines, Gen. Mc. Arthur ordered the bombing of Intramuros , thus killing many civilians and non-combatants. Was the general’s act allowable?

Cases:

3. A pregnant and gravely sick woman is advised by the doctor to take certain medicines and drugs. She knows that these medicines will cause the death of the fetus. Will she follow the advice of the doctor?

4. Both mother and child are in danger of death during a delivery. In order to save the life of the mother, the doctor crushes the head of the fetus directly killing him. Is it permissible?

5. An engineer builds a school in a distant barrio in order to get the votes of the people for an unworthy and corrupt candidate. Is the action of the engineer moral?