ETHICS: CHAPTER 2 With these two determinants of morality we can now identify

THE MORALITY OF HUMAN ACTS AND MORAL if our action is moral or immoral.
ACCOUNTABILITY
DEFINITION OF HUMAN ACTS AND ACTS OF MAN THE FOUR PRINCIPLES OF MOTIVES OR INTENTION
HUMAN ACTS (ACTUS HUMANI) 1. AN INDIFFERENT ACT CAN BECOME MORALLY
➢ Are those actions done by a person in a certain situation GOOD OR MORALLY EVIL DEPENDING UPON THE
which are essentially the result of his/her conscious INTENTION OF THE PERSON DOING THE ACT.
knowledge, freedom, and voluntariness. Independent act or Indifferent act – neither good nor evil.
➢ The 3 elements of Human Acts conscious knowledge, o The action can become bad depending on the
freedom, and voluntariness must be present. intention of the doer of the action.
o Conscious knowledge - We are conscious that o Example:
we are doing the action ▪ Speaking/Talking is good or
o Freedom - We are totally free in doing this action bad.depending on the intention of your
o Voluntariness - We voluntarily do the action talking/speaking….to voice your idea or
ACTS OF MAN you destroy someone’s reputation
➢ Are actions which happen in the person “naturally”, even ▪ Talking and Speaking are independent
without his/her awareness of himself/herself while doing actions
them. These actions are done without deliberation, ▪ Not good or bad but will depend on the
reflection, and consent. intention of the action
➢ If one of the elements of human act is missing it can be ▪ If you are trying to malign or destroy
considered as ACTS OF MAN. This includes if 2 or all of the the integrity of a person, the action will be
elements are missing. considered bad.
o Ex. You don’t have knowledge, it means that you ▪ If we commend a person, appreciating
are not conscious of what you are doing, therefore, of what he/she has done, the action will
the action will be considered as ACTS OF MAN. be considered good.
➢ If an action is considered as Acts of Man, therefore you are
not accountable of the action. 2. AN OBJECTIVELY GOOD ACT BECOMES MORALLY
o Ex. Shootings – gunman has medication, or EVIL DUE TO A WRONG OR BAD MOTIVE
mental problems. The gunman will be accountable There are actions that are initially good by the action itself,
if all of the 3 elements of Human Act is present, if for example:
there is missing, he/she can not be accountable of o Helping or praying is good, but it will become evil
the action. depending on the intention (election or curse).
“ALL HUMAN ACTS ARE ACTS OF MAN, BUT NOT ALL o Elections, media are present to announce the
ACTS OF MAN ARE HUMAN ACTS” good deeds of the running officials.
➢ Acts of Man, therefore, are those that humans share with
animals. 3. AN INTRINSICALLY (OBJECTIVELY) MORALLY
o Animals do not know what they are doing, they GOOD ACT CAN RECEIVE ADDED GOODNESS, IF
act by instinct. DONE WITH AN EQUALLY NOBLE INTENTION OR
➢ These things are performed without deliberation and free MOTIVE
will. If we use the action for good intention and motivation, then it
➢ The person here is neither morally responsible nor can be seem more goodness.
accountable for these kinds of actions. o Helping or praying is better when you pray for
1.) The act must be deliberate. peace, give thanks to the Lord for the graces
It must be performed by a conscious agent who is very you received, or glorify Him.
much aware of what he/she is doing and of its consequences, o Praying for COVID to end
good or evil. o Praying for the Russia-Ukraine war to end
2.) The act must be performed in freedom. o Helping during calamities
It must be done by an agent who is acting freely, with
his/her own volition and powers. 4. AN INTRINSICALLY EVUL ACT CAN NEVER BECOME
3.) The act must be done voluntarily. MORALLY GOOD EVEN IF IT IS DONE WITH A GOOD
It must be performed by an agent who decides MOTIVE OR INTENTION
willfully to perform the act. Evil acts will always be considered evil. Even though we
The act, to be truly a voluntary one, must come from the have good intention or motivation, it will always be bad.
core of a person’s being. o Robinhood is stealing to help the poor
o Cheating to pass the board exam
MAJOR DETERMINANTS OF THE MORALITY OF HUMAN o Killing the Drug Lord
ACT THE END SHOULD ALWAYS JUSTIFY THE MEAN….THE
THE ACT ITSELF OR THE OBJECT OF THE ACT MEAN SHOULD ALWAYS JUSTIFY THE END
❖ The action that is done or performed by an agent It is not possible that the end result will be right, because
❖ It is WHAT the person does the mean is not right.
❖ This is “The Substance of the Moral Act”. The mean should always be good to have a good end.
❖ We as the doer of the action o But, there will be instances where we have good
mean but the end will end up bad. This is called as
THE MOTIVE OR THE INTENTION the Principle of Double Effect.
❖ The motive is the purpose or intention of which something is
done. THE CIRCUMSTANCES
❖ It is the reason behind our acting. ➢ The moral goodness or badness of an act is determined
❖ It answers the question, “Why the person does what he not only by the object or act itself, plus the motive or intention
does?” of the moral agent, but also on the circumstances or
o In answering the question, we will know the situation surrounding the performance of the action.
intention or motivation. ➢ Circumstances refer to the various conditions outside of
❖ One normally performs an act as a means to achieve and the act. They are not, strictly speaking, part and parcel of the
end or goal. act itself.
➢ Circumstances are conditions that influence, to a lesser ➢ You cannot be punished with murder since in the first place
or greater degree, the moral quality of the human act. you are innocent, did not know the aggressor, and did not
➢ In chapter 4, there are 3 determinants. However, in ethics have any intentions of killing the aggressor.
or in this chapter, we have only 2 determinants which are
the act itself and the motive or the intention. The third 4. SPECIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES
determinant added for the chapter 4 is the circumstances. ➢ It gives a new and distinct species of moral good or evil of
➢ Ethics in general do not consider circumstances as the act.
determinants of the morality of human action. ➢ The moral quality of the act of murder changes if the
➢ Circumstances refers to the surrounding when we murderer is wife of the victim, or if the murderer and the
consummated the action. victim are one and the same.
➢ Where we did the action ➢ The circumstances which served as a reason for it, render it
o The site where we commit the action, where we kill worthy of approval or condemnation.
people for example. ➢ This is more complicated
o Where we punch someone, where the situation is ➢ The victim and murderer are one, normally they are two
located. different persons
o Ex. SOCO, the shows job represents the o Domestic violence in squatter area – bully
circumstances. There are Caution line on the husband, battered wife.
scene of the crime that limits us from going into the ▪ For how many years, the wife was
circumstances. battered. She got full by the husband and
➢ Circumstances gives a line where we should not be in. kill him.
➢ Through circumstances, we can determine if the degree of o Bullying in school campus
our actions increase or decrease.
➢ Circumstances is useful especially when the suspect is at SEVEN KINDS OF CIRCUMSTANCES
large. These circumstances will affect the morality of human action.
➢ By knowing the circumstances we will know if the case
FOUR TYPES OF CIRCUMSTANCES is homicide or murder.
1. MITIGATING OR EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
➢ It diminishes the degree of moral good or evil in an act. 1. WHO
o Ex. You are in the bar, then a stranger hits on you, ➢ The person who does or receives the action.
you did not like it. You got in a fight with the person ➢ Who is the victim?
and defended yourself. Along the way, you Status, position, education, age, illiterate, out of school
accidentally hit the person with a glass bottle, then youth, gangster
he/she died.
o In defending yourself, you kill the person, this is 2. WHERE
called as mitigating or extenuating ➢ Is the setting of an action, every act is done in a particular
circumstances. place
o You went to the police station to report the incident. Is the act done inside the house, street, way going home, etc.
Instead of being filled with murder, the severity of
the action will be lessened since you have no intent 3. BY WHAT MEANS
on doing the action ➢ Intentional or accident?
➢ To kill an innocent person is homicide or murder. Is there any use of force, compulsion, threats, coercion,
➢ Circumstances lessen the severity of the act and its Intimidation, embarrassing words, lewd remarks, vulgar
punishment. statements, insensitive comments?

2. AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES 4. WHY

➢ It increases the degree of moral good or evil ➢ Is the intention or the motive that moves the agent to an
➢ The same act of murder can be made worse if it is carried action. (#2 Determinants of the Morality of Human Act)
out at night and with the use of superior arms by a known It answers the question “WHY the person does what he does?”
recidivist.
➢ We have intention or motivation on killing the person 5. HOW
o You kill an officemate, you planned before doing so ➢ By what means
there is an intention, then the case will be ➢ This circumstance also involves different conditions or
aggravated. modalities such as voluntariness, consent, violence, fear,
o Traffic incident, where the guard was run through ignorance.
by a car, the driver will be filled with frustrated ➢ It also includes the particular
murder since he has the knowledge that the guard weapon/equipment/tools/gadgets/etc. that the person
might be run through but still proceeds on doing so. used or employed in the performance of the act.
He has an intention to kill the guard. ➢ Was the action performed in:
o “cold blood”
3. JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES o “In a painful manner”
➢ It shows adequate reason for some acts done. o “In a very brutal way (as in torture)”
➢ A person charged with murder can vindicate himself/herself o “Maliciously”
if he/she can prove that he/she killed a superior aggressor 6. WHEN
and that he/she did so in defense of his/her own life. (Hold ➢ Every act is done at a particular and specific time. The
up, robbery) element of time is also important and even vital as to the
➢ In this situation, there is an aggressor and a victim. moral assessment and judgement of the human act.
o Aggressor – holdupper, snatcher, etc. Was the act performed in broad daylight or was it done
o Victim – us during nighttime? Was it committed when the victim was in
o In the situation, you have defended yourself from the act of praying or while asleep and unaware?
the aggressor. On the way, you killed the
aggressor.
 7. TO WHOM food. Waiter has no control over the food
➢ Refers to the recipient of the action, or the person to whom served from the kitchen.
the act is done. (refer to #1 – THE WHO) o School – student and parent
▪ Parent will lend the student money for the
tuition. Students’ lineup to pay for the
PRINCIPLE GOVERNING CIRCUMSTANCES tuition. Upon paying, it turns out that one
1. Circumstances may either increase or decrease the of the 1000-peso bill was fake. The
wrongfulness of an evil act. student will not be liable it’s the parent,
2. Circumstances may either increase or decrease the merits since the money does not come from the
of a good act. student.
3. Circumstances may exempt temporarily someone from
doing a required act. 1.3 AFFECTED VINCIBLE IGNORANCE
4. Circumstances do not prove the guilt of a person. The ➢ This is the kind of ignorance which an individual keeps by
presence of a person when a crime is committed does not positive efforts in order to escape blame and
prove he is the criminal when a crime is committed. accountability.
o Student ignores the text of the class president
MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS o “Paatik-atik” scenarios
➢ These modifiers, accordingly, “Affect human acts in the o Skipping pe practice since you have promised to
essential qualities of knowledge, freedom, voluntariness, and attend a dinner date with boyfriend/girlfriend. The
so make them less perfectly human” (Glenn 1965: 25) next day, you tell the president that you are not
➢ We should be wary of the modifiers, because sometimes aware of the said practice since you did not check
in our homes, schools, and in the community, where we are your messages.
in it is possible to be applied. o Escaping the blame
➢ When we will be accountable as MedTech
➢ When the 3 elements of human act are complete PRINCIPLES GOVERNING IGNORANCE
(Knowledge, Freedom, and Voluntariness) A. INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE RENDERS AN ACT
➢ When can Voluntariness be emitted? If there is missing INVOLUNTARY
element, it will be considered as acts of man. So, we are not ➢ A person cannot be held morally responsible of liable if
liable for our actions. he or she is not aware of the state of his or her ignorance.

1. IGNORANCE IS THE ABSENCE OF NECESSARY B. VINCIBLE IGNORANCE

KNOWLEDGE WHICH A PERSON IN A GIVEN ➢ Does not destroy, but lessens the voluntariness and the
SITUATION, WHO IS PERFORMING A CERTAIN ACT, corresponding accountability over the act.
OUGHT TO HAVE. IGNORANCE THEREFORE IS A ➢ A person who becomes aware and conscious of the state
NEGATIVE THING FOR IT IS A NEGATION OF of ignorance he or she is in the moral obligation to correct
KNOWLEDGE. it by employing enough diligence in finding the information
Ignorance – absence of knowledge required to make one’s ignorance disappear.
1.1 VINCIBLE IGNORANCE “To act with vincible ignorance is to act imprudently.”
➢ Can easily be remedied through ordinary diligence and
reasonable efforts on the part of the person who is in this C. AFFECTED OR PRETENDED IGNORANCE
particular mental state. This specific type of ignorance is ➢ Does not excuse a person from his/her bad actions; on the
therefore conquerable since it is correctible. contrary it actually increases their malice.
o Medical practitioner/Medical technologist – the ➢ This specific kind of ignorance happens when a person really
specimen given by the patient has poor integrity wants and chooses to be ignorant so that he/she can
and we are in doubt of the results. However, we eventually escape any accountability arising from the
proceeded with it and presented a result. Whatever wrongfulness of the act later on.
the consequences are we are liable for it. This can
be correctible through repeat collection. 2. PASSION OR CONCUPISCENCE
o Nurse – addressed the wrong patient because ➢ Passion or concupiscence is a strong or powerful feeling
he/she did not double check the patient’s identity. or emotion.
o Absent Student – it is our responsibility to catch o Positive emotions – Love, Desire, Delight, Hope,
up to our missed lessons. and Bravery
➢ Because it is correctible, so whatever the consequences, o Negative emotions – Hatred, Despair, Horror,
we are liable for it. Sadness, Anger, Grief, and The Like.
➢ Persons as we are we have positive and negative
1.2 INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE emotions.
➢ Is the kind of ignorance which an individual may have
without being aware of it, or, having knowledge of it, simply ACCORDING TO ST. THOMAS AQUINAS,
lacks the necessary means to correct and solve it. In themselves passions are indifferent; they are not
➢ Cannot be corrected evil…inasmuch as they are the movements of the irrational
➢ We are not liable of our action appetite, have no moral good or evil in themselves, but if they are
➢ This type of ignorance is unconquerable, and thus not subject to the reason and will, then moral good and evil are in
correctible them. God has endowed the human person with these appetites
➢ Uncontrollable situation, therefore we cannot correct the which pervade his/her whole sensitive life. They are instruments
action, therefore, we are not liable for the action. and means for self-preservation of the individual and the human
o Restaurant – waiter and chef race. Every person needs them for self-defense, growth, and
▪ Waiter manages order, you had diarrhea improvement. The Saints and Christ Himself expressed their
after eating from the restaurant, you passions (As cited in Salibay 2008: 40).
cannot charge the waiter since the chef • Indifferent – can be positive or negative depending
was the one who cooked. The waiter is on the action’s result.
not liable for the action. Unless the waiter o Jesus at the Synagogue – throwing of bread
has the intention to put something on the at the market.
 PRINCIPLES GOVERNING FEAR
PASSIONS ARE EITHER CLASSIFIED AS 1. ACTS DONE “WITH” FEAR
ANTECEDENT OR CONSEQUENT ➢ Are voluntary, this is so since the person acting with fear is
1. ANTECEDENT acting in spite of his/her fear, and this, still very much in
➢ Are those that precede an act. It may happen that a person control of his/her conduct. Therefore the person concerned
is emotionally aroused to perform an act. remains morally responsible of his/her action, whether
➢ Action then and there where your emotions aroused. good or bad, right or wrong.
o In the classroom ➢ Example:
▪ Pat and Eugene are in a relationship. o Cheating
After class, they went to eat. Pat declared ▪ You did not prepare for the test, on the
that she will be going since she will study, day of the exam you are in fear of failing
Eugene was left behind since he went to the test, you cheat.
Net Central. ▪ 3 elements are present, you know there
▪ Upon Pat’s arrival in the classroom, Pat is a test, you have freedom to avoid
and Deomar suddenly became study, and you have let yourself do the
emotionally aroused resulting to intimate action.
actions. o Stealing
▪ Eugene left Net Central and went to go ▪ Paying for tuition
back in the classroom and saw Pat and • Your mother gave you money
Deomar. to pay for your tuition. You did
▪ Eugene’s reaction towards Pat and not fall in line in the cashier
Deomar’s action is jealousy. since the line was long. Instead,
▪ It was best to calm his self, then talk to you went to party using all the
Pat later. given money by your parent.
▪ Alternatively, people do not act calmly The next day you are in fear
towards the situation because of temper. that you have not paid for the
A quarrel will happen. tuition, so you steal from others
o In the said action, one, two, or three of the elements to pay.
of Human act were not there since feelings just
aroused. 2. ACTS DONE “BECAUSE OF” INTENSE FEAR OR
o In Eugene’s case, he has no liability on the action. PANIC
o Officemate situation ➢ Are simply involuntary. A person when acting out of
▪ Same scenario but instead they are extreme fear is not morally accountable of his/her action or
officemates, sexual act was done in the conduct.
home of Pat and Eugene. The gravity of o A good example is a cashier who hands the
the action increases. money to a robber who is poking a gun on his/her
▪ If ever Eugene, has killed Deomar, he is head is acting out of intense fear and panic, and
not liable since one, two, or three of the this, doing something involuntarily and without
elements of Human act can be missing. his/her consent. You are not accountable of the
▪ If Eugene, did not killed Deomar but action.
instead planned on killing him for o Marry my daughter, if you do not marry her, I will
revenge. He will be liable. This is what we kill you. You did not marry the daughter voluntarily
called consequent. There is intention, since you were threatened.
motivation, and circumstances (planning ➢ No liability since there is no voluntariness, it is
when, where how he will kill them). involuntary.
▪ Three elements of Human act are
present. 4. VIOLENCE
PRINCIPLE GOVERNING ANTECEDENT PASSIONS ➢ Refers to any physical force exerted on a person &
➢ Do not always destroy voluntariness but they diminish another free agent for the purpose of compelling said
accountability for the resultant act. person to against his will.
o Aggressor and the victim – holdup and victim,
2. CONSEQUENT you defended yourself and killed the aggressor.
➢ Are those that are intentionally aroused and kept. o In cases where the victim gives complete
PRINCIPLE GOVERNING CONSEQUENT PASSION resistance, the violence is classified as perfect
➢ Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness, but may violence.
even increase accountability. o However, if the victim offers insufficient resistance,
➢ Here the person concerned who willfully acts following the violence classified as imperfect violence.
his/her passion, allows himself/herself to be completely o You have no liability when you are defending your
controlled by it and hence, is considered morally responsible life.
for it.

3. FEAR 5. HABIT
➢ Fear is defined as “The disturbance of the mind of a ➢ Habit, is a “constant and easy way of doing things
person who is confronted by an impending danger or acquired by the repetition of the same act” (Panizo
harm to himself or loved ones” (Agapay2008: 36-37) 1964:37)
➢ Here, it is treated as a “Special Kind” of Passion, and
hence also treated as another distinct modifier of Human Act PRINCIPLES GOVERNING HABIT
since it is a kind of a test of one’s mental character. ➢ When a person will simply let his/her habit take control of
➢ Two kinds: Acts done with fear and Acts done because of his/her action without doing anything about it whatsoever,
intense fear or panic. then we can say that he/she is morally accountable of
his/her action by allowing the habit to determine his/her
conduct.
➢ When a person decides to fight his habit, and for as long
as the effort towards this purpose continues, actions resulting
from such habit may be regarded as acts of man and not
accountable.
o Drinking habit, alcohol controls your action.
o When you fight against the habit, you will not be
liable for the action.