Human Act vs Act of Man

1. Human Act
ETHICS:THESCIENCEOFHUMANCONDUCT
Human Act
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2. A. Definition of the Human Act
A human act is an ACT WHICH PROCEEDS FROM THE
DELIBERATE FREE WILL OF MAN.
Ethics employs the term in a stricter sense, and calls
HUMAN only those acts that are proper to man as man.
Man is more than animal: he is rational, i.e., he has
understanding and free will.

3. A. Definition of the Human Act
Man’s animal acts of sensation ( use of the senses ) and appetition
(bodily tendencies) , as well as acts performs indeliberately or without
advertence and the exercise of free choice are called ACT OF MAN
Acts of man maybe sometimes become a human acts by the
advertence and consent of the human agent (agent is meant the one
who does or performs an act).
If I hear words of blasphemy as I walk along the street, my act of
hearing is an act of man; but the act becomes a human act if I
deliberately pay attention and listen.

4. A. Definition of the Human Act
Ethics is not concerned with acts of man, but only with human acts.
Human acts are…
1. Moral act
2. Responsible – worthy of praise or blame; reward or punishment
3. Forms a habit (repeating again and again)
4. Character (perfection of habit)

5. B. Classification of Human Acts
Human acts may be classified under the
following:
1. THEIR COMPLETE OR ADEQUATE
CAUSE;
2. THEIR RELATION TO THE DICTATES OF
REASON

6. B. 1. Adequate Cause of Human Act
Human acts have their source in man’s free rational nature, there are
some act that BEGIN AND ARE PERFECTED in the will itself, and the
rest BEGIN IN THE WILL AND ARE PERFECTED BY OTHER FACULTIES
under control of the will.
1. Elicited acts – some human acts find their adequate cause in the
will alone.
2. Commanded acts – do not find their adequate cause in the simple
will-act, but are perfected by the action of or bodily powers under
the control of the will (under orders from the will).

7. B. 1. 1. Elicited Acts
1. Wish – the simple love of anything; the first tendency of the will
towards a thing, whether this things be realizable or not.
2. Intention – the purposive tendency of the will towards a thing regarded
as realizable, whether the thing is actually done or not.
3. Consent – the acceptance by the will of the means necessary to carry
out intention. It is a further intention of doing what is necessary to
realize the first or main purpose.
4. Election – the selection by the will of the precise means to be
employed in carrying out an intention.
5. Use – the employment by the will of powers (body, mind or both) to
carry out its intention by the means elected.
6. Fruition – the enjoyment of a thing willed and done; the will’s act of
satisfaction in intention fulfilled.

8. B. 1. 2. Commanded Acts
1. Internal – acts done by the internal mental powers under
command of the will. (effort to remember; effort to control anger)
2. External – acts effected by bodily powers under command of the
will. (deliberate walking, eating, writing)
3. Mixed – acts that involve the employment of bodily powers and
mental powers. (Study – use of intellect (internal) and use of eyes
in reading the lesson (external))

9. B. 2. The Relation of Human Acts to Reason
Human acts are either IN AGREEMENT
or IN DISAGREEMENT with the dictates
of reason, and this relation with reason
constitutes their MORALITY.

10. B. 2. The Relation of Human Acts to Reason
Human acts are …
1. Good – when they are in harmony with the
dictates of right reason
2. Evil – when they are in opposition to the dictates
3. Indifferent – when they stand in no positive
relation to the dictates of reason.

11. C. Constituents of the Human Acts
In order that an act be HUMAN it must
posses three essential qualities: it must
be KNOWING, FREE AND VOLUNTARY.

12. C. Constituents of the Human Acts
1. Knowledge – A human act proceeds from the deliberate will; it
requires deliberation (advertence or knowledge in the intellect of
what one is about and what this means)
2. Freedom – A human act is an act determined (elicited or
commanded) by the will and by nothing else (under control of the
will or free act: every human act must be free)
3. Voluntariness – came from the Latin word VOLUNTAS or will.
Human act must have voluntariness or will-act. There must be
knowledge and freedom in the agent.

13. 1. Give 10 examples of Human Act and 10 examples Acts of Man.
2. Differentiate Elicited and Commanded Acts. Give at least 1
examples each.
3. What is your understanding of this famous dictum…
“ A man is what his human acts make him”