Chapter 2 (Prt. 1) Flashcards
Human acts or
Actus Humanis
refer to “actions that proceed from
insight into the nature and purpose of one’s doing and from consent of free will
Human acts
Specifically,/_______/ are those actions done by a person in certain situations which are essentially the result of his/her conscious knowledge, freedom and voluntariness or consent. Hence, these actions are performed by man knowingly, freely, and voluntarily
human acts
________defines human acts/as “an act which proceeds from the deliberate free willof man”
It is that which a person does or performs in a given situation when he/sh& decides and thinks for himself/herself.
Paul Glenn
is also that which is classified as good or bad, right or wrong, and thus, subject to morality and its norms
human act
three important elements or constituents are obviously present for an act to be strictly considered a human act:
Knowledge
Freedom
voluntariness or consent
lare the free and conscious acts of a human person which are proper to humans alone. These actions are what make a human being “Truly human”, an earthly creature different and distinct from all others.
human acts
actions which happen in the person
“naturally” even without his/her awareness of himself/herself while doing them.
These actions are done without deliberation, reflection and consent.
They are performed just instinctively.
Acts of man
T or F| all human acts are acts of man, but not all acts of man are human acts.
True
beating of the heart, breathing, respiration, digestion, and the like.
Acts or of man
instant and spontaneous feelings of fear, rage and anger, sleeping, dreaming, seeing, eating, and walking, among others.
Acts of man
humans share with animals whose actions and movements emanate from purely sensual nature.
These things are performed without deliberation and free will.
The person here is neither morally responsible nor accountable for these kinds of actions.
Acts of man
Basic Elements of Human Acts (characteristics for an act to be considered a human act)
The act must be..:
Deliberate
Performed in Freedom
Done Voluntarily
. It must be performed by a conscious agent who is very much_aware of what he/she is doing and of its consequences- good or evil.
The act must be deliberate
children who are below the age of reason, the insane, the senile, lunatics, people who are under the heavy influence of drugs and alcohol (of course, the act of taking these may be with consciousness and knowledge, hence a different matter altogether) are said to be incapable of acting knowingly and with sufficient knowledge.
The act must be deliberate
. If must be done by an agent who is acting freely, with his/her own volition and powers.
The act must be performed in freedom
An action performed under duress and against one’s own free wil cannot be strictly considered a free and voluntary action. The person who is performing the action should be free from any force beyond his/her control, or from any powerful influence from outside.
Otherwise, we can say that the act is not truly and entirely his/her
own.
The act must be performed in freedom
/ It must be performed by an agent who decides willfully to perform the act.
The act must be done voluntarily.
The act, to be truly a voluntary one, must come from the core of a person’s being. This wilflulness is the resolve to do an act here and now, or in some other time in the future.
The act must be done voluntarily.
as the human act is done knowingly, freely, and voluntarily, the person concerned becomes morally_______ of such an act.
accountable
The absence or lack of any of these essential elements of human acts renders an entire act defective and less voluntary, which, in turn also affects its_____ quality.
moral
Major Determinants of the Morality of Human Acts
The Act Itself or the Object of the Act
The Motiv or the Intention
The Circumstances
refers to the action that is done or performed by an agent, or simply, WHAT the person does.
The act itself or the object of the act
ft is “the natural termination or completion of an act…[which] determines whether an act is intrinsically or extrinsically good or evil”
The act itself or the object of the act
is “that act effect which an action primarily and directly causes. It is always and necessarily the result of the act, independent of any circumstances or of the intention of the agent”
the object of the act
is the purpose or intention that for the sake of which something is done.
It is the reason behind our acting.
It answers the question “WHY the person does what he does?”
The motive
One normally performs an act as a means to achieve an end or goal, different from the act itself.
practically present in all human acts, it then becomes an important and integral part of morality.
The Motive or the Intention
four principles to be considered in motive or intention
2.1 An indifferent act can become morally good or morally evil depending upon the intention of the person doing the act.
2.2 An objectively good act becomes morally evil due to a wrong or bad motive.
2.3 An intrinsically (objectively) morally good act can receive added goodness, if done with an equally noble intention or motive.
2.4 An intrinsically evil act can never become morally good even if it is done with a good motive or intention.
The moral goodness, or badness of an act is determined not only by the object or act itself, plus the motive or intention of the moral agent, but also on the_______ or situation surrounding the performance of the action.
circumstances
refer to the various conditions outside of the act.
They are not, strictly speaking, part and parcel of the act itself.
Circumstances
“are conditions that influence, to a lesser or greater degree, the moral quality of the human act.
They either “affect the act by increasing or lessening its voluntariness or freedom, and thus, affecting the morality of the act”
Circumstances
Four Types of Circumstances that Affect the Morality of the Act
- Mitigating or extenuating circumstances
- Aggravating circumstances
- Justifying circumstances
- Specifying circumstances
diminish the degree of moral good or evil in an act.
To kill an innocent person is murder. However, suppose a person commits murder for the first time or without any premeditation and later admits his/her guilt, then these circumstances lessen the severity of the act and its punishment.
Mitigating or extenuating circumstances
increase the degree of moral good or evil in an act without adding a new and distinct species of moral good or evil.
The same act of murder can be made worse if it is carried out at night and with the use of superior arms by a known recidivist.
Aggravating circumstances
show adequate reason for some acts. done.
A person charged with murder can vindicate himself/herself if he/she can prove that he/she killed a superior aggressor and that he/she did so in defense of his/her own life.
Justifying circumstances
/give a new and distinct species of moral good or evil of the act.
The moral quality of the act of murder changes if the murderer is wife of the victim, or if the murderer and the victim are one and the same.
Evidently, therefore, not only the nature of the act itself, but also the circumstances which served as a reason for it, render it worthy of approval or condemnation.
Specifying circumstances
7 specific kinds of circumstances that provide practical answers to particular questions action.
WHO
WHERE
BY WHAT MEANS
WHY
TO WHOM
HOW
WHEN of the act
- is the subject or the person who does or receives the action.
Every act has a doer and a receiver. The one who performs it and the one to whom the action is done.
WHO
It would matter what is the particular status or level (age, education, position, etc.) of the person who performs or receives the act.
Is the person a priest, a minor, a widow, government official, a professional, illiterate, lunatic, disabled, hired killer, military officer, senile, etc?
WHO
/ is the setting of an action.
Every act is done in a particular place. The place where the act is committed by someone affects to a considerable degree its morality. But place here is not only confined to a particular geographical location where the act happened but also includes the nature of the place.
WHERE
Here we can ask the question: “Is the act done inside the church or a place of worship, in a public place, inside the privacy of one’s room, in the presence of children, in the classroom, in the boarding house or dormitory, in the hospital or clinic, etc.?”
WHERE
- Although one’s intention may be morally good, if the means of attaining the end are illicit or unlawful, one’s acts are immoral. “The end does not justify the means.”
BY WHAT MEANS
Are the means of carrying the act through the use of force, compulsion, threats, coercion, intimidation, embarrassing words, lewd remarks, vulgar statements, insensitive comments?
Are the ways
employed in achieving one’s end or goal through the use of deception, lies, half-truths, etc.?
BY WHAT MEANS
is the intention or the motive that moves the agent to an action.
(This one, as a matter of systematic presentation, was already dealt with above, as the second major determinant of morality.)
WHY
- answers the question as to the way or manner the act was carried or performed. This circumstance also involves different conditions or modalities such as voluntariness, consent, violence, fear, ignorance.
It can also include the particular
weapon/equipment/tools/gadgets/etc. that the person used or employed in the performance of the act.
HOW
Was the action performed in “cold blood,” “in a painful manner.” “in a very brutal way (as in torture),” “maliciously,”
“ etc.? Or
was it done gracefully/kindly/calmly/peacefully, privately/etc.? Was it done by the use of a kitchen knife or a gun? Was the act done through the employment of minors, illiterate and the innocent, etc.?
HOW
- is the time of the action performed. Every act is done at a particular and specific time. The element of time is also important and even vital as to the moral assessment and judgment of the human act.
WHEN
Was the act performed in broad daylight or was it done during nighttime? Was it committed when the victim (recipient of the act) was in the act of praying or while asleep and unaware? Was the action done during the celebration of the Holy Mass or done during the Lenten season (Good Friday)? Was the act performed at a holy time such as the observance of a sacred feast such as during Ramadan?
WHEN
refers to the recipient of the action, or the person to whom the act is done,
TO WHOM
Principles Governing Circumstances
- Circumstances may either increase or decrease the wrongfulness of an evil act.
- Circumstances may either increase or decrease the merits of a good act.
- Circumstances may exempt temporarily someone from doing a required act.
- Circumstances do not prove the guilt of a person, The presence of a person when a crime is committed does not prove he is the criminal when a crime is committed.
