INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Understand the concept of man as the

only moral “acting” being.
2. Differentiate Human Act from Act of Man
3. Explain the important elements of Human
Act
4. Analyze the impediments of a Human Act
5. Identify the important factors in the
analysis of Human Act
6. Perform/conduct a moral action
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
 MAN: THE ONLY ACTING
BEING/AGENT OF MORALITY
  INTELLECT/mind WILL
PURPOSE “to know” “to choose”

FUNCTION “to think” “to do”

GOAL “truth” “good”

ULTIMATE GOAL “wisdom” “virtue” – good habit

POINTS TO PONDER
To “will” something, one has to “know” beforehand.
Man cannot choose or act unless he knows which is a “better” good
When a person chooses to act accordingly to what he knows right – He acts freely.
Only man is capable of acting free – HUMAN ACTS
But the intellect does not always determine the will
MAN: THE ONLY ACTING BEING
• Man, alone is the only acting being. Animals do not act; they only move. Animals
only move because they are dictated according to their instinct.
• The word “action” is only proper to man on the bases of intellect, knowledge,
freedom, voluntariness and responsibility.

•In order to capture a panoramic view of the basic differences between man and
animals, study the diagram.
•Animal - knowledge: Senses Man- knowledge: senses and intellect
Appetency: Instinct Appetency: Instinct and Will
 HUMAN ACTS vs ACTS OF MAN
1. Human Acts – actions done consciously/knowingly/deliberately and freely by the agent/or by man
•ESSENTIAL QUALITIES/CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACTS

1. Knowledge of the act

2. Freedom
3. Voluntariness

2. Acts of Man – actions beyond one’s consciousness; not dependent on the intellect and the will
•ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF ACTS OF MAN

1. Done without knowledge

2. Without consent
3. Involuntary
• Ex. Unconscious, involuntary, semi-deliberate, spontaneous actions
• Acts of man can become human acts when he employs his intellect and will in performing the act.
(circumstance) An act that is not proper to man as a rational being is called Act of Man Example eating, hearing, tasting,
smelling, etc. When a human being does such acts, they are called acts of man but not human acts.

ACTS NOT MORALLY ACCOUNTABLE

1. Acts of persons asleep or under hypnosis
2. Reflex actions where the will has no time to intervene
3. Acts performed under serious physical violence
 MAN: THE ONLY ACTING BEING
•WHEN IS ACT FREELY DONE?

1. Under the control of the will – it is the power tending toward, choosing, adhering to and taking pleasure in
a GOOD known by the INTELLECT – voluntary
2. We do things because we want to, we own the decision or action
3. We face the consequence of our actions/decisions – we face it with full responsibility

• NATURE OF FREEDOM
1. Proceeds from the intellect and will
2. Based on reason which the will followed
3. When man makes decision, he is free
4. Man is accountable for what he is doing because he is CONSCIOUS of what he is doing, why he is doing
and how he is doing.
• DECISION results in ACTION ----CONSEQUENCES ----faced it with sense of responsibility

•As a rational and free.

•MAN knows that there are ACTIONS considered as right and wrong, good, or bad,
actions
•MAN knows that there are ACTIONS that he is obligated to and not obligated to do,
•MAN knows that he must be responsible for his actions, knowing that wrong actions
are punishable and right actions are rewardable.
 MORAL DETERMINANTS OF HUMAN ACTS
1. OBJECT OF THE ACT
- Substance/nature of the act
- Good which the will deliberately directs itself
- OBJECT specifies the act of the will
- What was performed by the moral agent?
- An object of the act is Good when it is in conformity with reason or when it fulfills the demand of reason.
Otherwise, the object of the act is evil
2. INTENTION/END IN VIEW
- Motive of the agent – factor which agent acts; either morally good or evil
- Purpose for which a human agent performs the act
- Concerned with the goal of the activity
- It aims at the good anticipated from the action undertaken
- Good intention doesn’t make an intrinsically disordered act right, sometimes.
- The end does not justify the means -
3. CIRCUMSTANCE
- Refers to the events, occasions or conditions that make the act concrete
- Modify acts either by increasing or diminishing of the moral goodness or evilness of an act/responsibility of the
agent
- Lighten/or aggravate the weight of moral accountability of the performer
 Modifiers of a Human Act:
(Impediments)
1. Ignorance – is the absence of knowledge needed by man in the performance of an
act
2. Concupiscence or Passion – is the natural inclination of the sense of appetite towards
what is consciously perceived as a sensuous evil
3. Fear – is the apprehension of an impending danger and prompts the agent to shrink
from threatening evil
4. Violence – is the exercise of an outside physical force upon a resisting person to
compel him to act against his will
5. Habit – is a firm and stable behavior pattern of acting with ease and readiness as a
result of acts frequently repeated
 Analysis of Human Acts

• Involves the act itself and the end of the act

• The act involve the questions:
o What did the moral agent do? (ACT)
o Who did the act? (MORAL AGENT)
o Who benefits the act? (RECEPIENT)
o Where did the act perform? (PLACE)
o When did the act happen? (TIME)
o How did the act perform? (MANNER)
o What’s the end view/goal of the moral agent? (END/INTENTION)
HUMAN ACT OR ACT OF MAN?
HUMAN ACT OR ACT OF MAN?
HUMAN ACT OR ACT OF MAN?
HUMAN ACT OR ACT OF MAN?
HUMAN ACT OR ACT OF MAN?
HUMAN ACT OR ACT OF MAN?
HUMAN ACT OR ACT OF MAN-
HUMAN ACT OR ACT OF MAN?
HUMAN ACT OR ACT OF MAN?
HUMAN ACT OR ACT OF MAN?
 MORAL, AMORAL, IMMORAL
(evaluative terms)

• Moral – proper, conventional, good

conduct/action
• Immoral – improper, not accepted,
evil action/act
• Amoral – neither moral nor immoral
past present future
PASS FAIL
• Yawning – amoral act=act of man
THANK YOU