II.

Modifiers of Hum an Ac t s

Objectives:

At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:

1.Familiarize the different modifiers of the Human

Acts,
2.To value the significance of these modifiers in the
human acts: that may lessen or add more
responsibility in every action,
3.Learn how to apply in life its significant principles.
Modifiers of Human
Acts
Knowledge
Freedom
Voluntarines
s

They are factors that may diminish one’s culpability.

They are also known as obstacles affecting the voluntariness of human
acts
A. Ignorance
is merely the lack of knowledge of a person capable of knowing a certain thing or things.
Two Kinds of Ignorance:
A. Inv incib le Ignora nce
(unconquerable) is the type of ignorance that cannot be cleared up or dispelled or
knowledge that is lacking cannot be acquired.
Applications:
1.It may be impossible for the individual to remove his/ her ignorance because
he/ she has no way of suspecting that he/ she is ignorant.

Example:
A driver who does not know the speed limit along the highway will accelerate at
a speed above the limit, invincibly ignorant of his/ her violation.

2. Although one may realize that knowledge at a certain point should be

acquired, it is morally impossible for him/ her to obtain the knowledge (lack of
means of dispelling the ignorance).
 Example:

1.Dr. Makabuhay is seriously ill, knows that he should take some medicine or
apply different methods of treatment. He does all he can to learn what he
should do, but with no success. His ignorance about the proper remedy is
invincible.

2.A Negrito who has been living all his life in the mountains, and who happens to
come to Manila for the first time, and violates traffic laws, could not be held
responsible for violating the law

B. V incib le Ignora nce

Ignorance which can and should be dispelled. Vincible ignorance can be cleared
up if one is diligent enough
Example:
A manila resident who violates traffic laws due to his/ her act because his/ her
ignorance is vincible
There are Three Kinds of Vincible Ignorance
1. Simple Vincible Ignorance
2. Crass or Supine Ignorance
3. Affected Vincible ignorance
1. Simple vincible ignorance
when one uses some, but not enough diligence in an effort to remove
ignorance
Example:
One doubts whether his/ her definition of a certain term is right or wrong.
He/ she asks a classmate but his/ her classmate is also in doubt about it.
He/ she can get rid of his/ her doubt if he/ she goes to the library and check the
meaning in the dictionary, but he/ she does not take the trouble of going to the
library.
Principle:
If one performs an objectively wrong action whose wrongness one is
unaware of because of simple ignorance, the action is culpable.
However, the culpability is lessened by the presence of that ignorance
2. Crass or Supine
Which though not directly willed, could and should be cleared up, but left
wholly
undisturbed. It is caused by mere lack of effort
Example:
Dr. Masipag discovers in his patient certain symptoms which he does not
recognize. Because of his laziness-though, he can easily consult his
medical books and fellow physicians-Dr. Masipag makes no attempt to
ascertain the nature of the disease indicated by those symptoms. He is
guilty of crass supine ignorance regarding the nature of the disease and
 3. Affected Vincible Ignorance
Is deliberately fostered in order to avoid any obligation that knowledge
might bring to light.
It is not only the lack of knowledge but the deliberate unwillingness of the
person to dispel his ignorance
Example:
1.A Catholic wonders whether today is a day of abstinence or not. So that
he/ she may not know for sure if it is a day of abstinence and he obliged to
abstain from the meat he/ she deliberately repositions his/ her Catholic
calendar so that it faces the wall.
2.A student is doubtful whether their class in religious Education will have a
long quiz today or not. In order that he/ she may not know the schedule,
he/ she hides her notebook in religious education and his/ her diary where
his/ her daily school activities are listed. This is done so that he/ she can use
the excuse that he/ she does not know that there is a quiz.
Principle:
Affected Ignorance in regard to a matter of serious importance is gravely
culpable.

3. Ignorance of the law is lack of knowledge that a particular law exists

4. Ignorance of the fact is lack of realization that one is violating a law
 What are the Principles on
Ignorance
Invincible ignorance
Eliminates responsibility or culpability

Vincible ignorance
Does not eliminate moral responsibility
but lessens it
B. Fear
is a mental agitation of disturbance brought about by the apprehension of some
present or imminent danger.
Two Types of Fear:
1. Grave Fear
Is the type that is aroused by the presence of
danger: That is regarded by most people as
serious.
Example:
Fear of death or loss of a leg

That is judged to be serious by the one

concerned.
Example:
A young girl dreads the thought of receiving a scolding in public, although other
girls make little of such reprimand.
2. Slight Fear
Is the type which is aroused by:
A danger that is not serious
Example:
Fear of losing one’s coin purse

A grave danger that is not very probable

Principle of Fear
1. One acts because of fear if it is the fear that induces him/ her to act so.
Example:
A. A little boy ransacking the refrigerator. Hearing his mother coming, he runs off,
afraid to be caught.
B. Thomas is held up by the robber. The fear of getting killed if he resists makes
Thomas to surrender his wallet.
2. Actions that are performed because of fear, however great the fear may be, are
voluntary (at least conditionally and so, are imputable.
3. One acts with fear if fear merely accompanies one’s act but does not cause it.
Example:
A burglar while robbing a house, experiences the fear of being caught.
Actions that are performed with fear are simply voluntary because the agent chooses to
do the act with or without fear.
 C. Concupiscence
is a movement of the sensitive (irrational) appetite which is produced by good
or evil as apprehended by the mind
are not evil in themselves, they are usually called feelings or emotions: Love,
hatred, joy, grief,
desire, aversion, hope, courage, fear, anger.
Two Types of Concupiscence
1. Antecedent
2. Consequent

1. Antecedent Concupiscence - is the type that arises spontaneously before the

previous judgment of reason and before the will controls the psychological
situation
2. Consequent Concupiscence - is deliberately aroused by the will to ensure a
more prompt and willing operation.

fea Lov Grie

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Aversio
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Desir jo
D. Violence
2 Kinds of Violence
1.Perfect violence is one in which complete resistance is given
2. Imperfect violence occurs when some resistance is shown but not as much as
should be 3 Principles on Violence
2.If one resists the violence as much as possible, such as in the case of perfect violence, the
evil act to which one is forced is in no wise culpable.
Example:
A man forces a young girl to have sex with him. The girls fight back.
Nevertheless, since the man is stronger than the girl, he succeeds in doing his
evil intention.
In this case, the young girl is not responsible for the act.
2.If one does not resist the violence as fully as possible, such as in the case of imperfect violence,
the culpability of the evil act is lessened but not taken away.
Example:
A girl is carried off bodily by two young male acquaintances. The girl resists
somewhat but it was not enough. She could have freed herself from her captors by
screaming or shouting for help. The girl by not offering stronger resistance, which
she knows would be effective, is judged to consent to the evil into which she is
taken. Her guilt however is not as great as it would be if no violence was present.
E. Habits
are inclination to perform some particular action acquired by repetition, and
characterized by a decreased power of resistance and an increased facility of
performance.
Habits are repeated actions.
maybe good or evil as to whether they influence one to do good or evil.
If a Habit disposes to evil, it is a vice; if to good, it is a virtue.

2 Principles on Habit
1.Evil habits do not lessen the imputability of evil actions performed by force of habit if the
habit has been recognized as evil and is freely permitted to continue.
2.Evil habits lessen the imputability of evil actions performed by force of habit if one is
sincerely trying to correct the habit.
Note:
One has still to consider and look at some Modifiers of
the Human Acts that may either increase, lessen, or
completely lose the culpability of the human agent
over individual actions performed by him/ her, which
include ignorance, fear, concupiscence or passion,
violence and habits. With these things in mind, the
person can now answer the question, “Where am I?”