CN: 19
FOLLOSO, Emil Mari C.
7:00AM ± 8:00AM
Modifiers of Human Acts
³The greater the knowledge and freedom, The greater the voluntariness, The greater the moral responsibility.´
- Alfred Panizo
I.
Definition:
1. Modifiers ± a word or phrase that affects the meaning of another, usually
describing it or restricting its meaning. 2. Human Act ± is an act which proceeds from the deliberate freewill of man
having the constituents of human act ± freedom, knowledge, voluntariness ± present at all times or just even one of them. 3. Act of Man ± a human act without any constituents present. 4. Concupiscence ± powerful feeling of physical desire. 5. Advertence ± the action or process of turning the mind or attention.
II.
Summary: 1. Modifiers of human act refer to the degree or intensity of the morality of an
act or may simply mean to ³how good´ or ³how bad´ an act is 2. The goodness and/or badness of an act depend on factors such as ignorance,
concupiscence/passion, fear, force/violence, and habit 3. Ignorance may either be ³invincible´ if a person is incapable of removing
his ignorance or ³vincible´ if it can if he is willing to know. Ignorance may also be divided into three, namely: by law, by facts, and by reality. 4. Concupiscence or passion may be antecedent, an act of man, if it flares up
without the approval of your own will and consequent, a human act, if it is according to your will. 5. Fear, disconcerted state of mind due to the expected danger, may either be
voluntary or involuntary depending on the intensity of fea r 6. Force, violence or compulsion is external physical power making one do
something against his will. 7. Habit simply means a constant way of acting obtained by repeating it.
Responsibility for habitual acts depends on the amount of advertence and in the effort to get rid of the habit. 8. Other modifiers of responsibility or of human act may also include
sleepiness, sickness, pain, alcohol, drugs, and conditions affecting the awareness and self-control of a human being. 9. Each factor affects different constituents of human act: Ignorance affects
knowledge, Passion affects will, Fear opposing the will from intention, Force involves will or voluntariness, and Habit, a voluntary act of doing. 10. Voluntariness mainly affects one¶s mind in acting out. It may be perfect if
he has full knowledge and full consent and imperfect if there is something wanting in the agent¶s knowledge or consent or both.
III.
References: Books 1. Tabotabo, C., Corpuz, R., &
Conduct:
Dela
Cruz, R. (2011). Standards of Human
Ethics for Filipinos. Mindshapers Co., Inc.
2. Fagothey, A. (1967). Rights and Reasons: Ethics in Theory and Practice.
The C. V. Mosby Company.
