MORALITY OF HUMAN ACTS AND MORAL ACCOUNTABILITY

HUMAN ACTS

– actions that proceed from insight into the nature and purpose of

one’s doing and from consent and free will (Peschke,1985).

- Actions done by a person in certain situations which are

essentially the result of his/her conscious knowledge, freedom

and voluntariness or consent.

- Conscious, voluntary, and deliberate → You can be morally judged.

ACTS OF MAN

– are those that humans share with animals whose actions and movements from purely sensual nature.

-physiological processes such as beating of the heart, breathing,

respiration and etc.

- Automatic or involuntary → Usually no moral judgment.

THE ACT MUST BE DELIBERATE

- actions must be performed by a conscious agent who is very aware of what she/he is doing and its consequences – good or evil.

THE ACT MUST BE PERFORMED IN FREEDOM

-actions must be done by an agent who is acting freely with his or her own volition and powers. Free from any force beyond his/her control or from any powerful influence from outside.

THE ACT MUST BE DONE VOLUNTARILY

-actions must be performed by an agent who decides wilfully to perform an act.

the act must be deliberate

the act must be performed in freedom

the act must be done voluntarily

3 BASIC ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACTS:

THE ACT ITSELF OR THE OBJECT OF THE ACT

-refers to the action that is done or performed by an agent, the “WHAT” the person does.

ACT THAT IS INHERENTLY EVIL

Some acts are inherently evil, these are actions by themselves are evil, no amount of good intentions or favourable circumstance can alter their evilness

ACT THAT IS GOOD

On the other hand, some acts are inherently good regardless of the intention and circumstances that surround them – however in some instances these acts may have differ in degree of goodness.

THE MOTIVE OR THE INTENTION

-refers to the purpose that for the sake which something is done. - It is the “WHY” the person does what he does.

The act itself or the object of the act

The motive or the intention

(2) MAJOR DETERMINANTS OF THE MORALITY AND HUMAN ACTS

THE CIRCUMSTANCE

- refers to the situation surrounding the performance of action.

- These are various conditions outside that influences the act.

simple definition: a fact or condition connected with or relevant to an event or action.

Mitigating circumstances

Aggravating circumstances

Justifying circumstances

Specifying circumstances

4 TYPES OF CIRCUMSTANCES THAT AFFECT

THE MORALITY OF THE ACT

IGNORANCE

- It is the absence of necessary knowledge which a person in a given situation performing the act ought to have.

INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE

- a kind of ignorance which an individual lacks the necessary

means to correct or solve it, thus an unconquerable type.

- This is when you couldn’t have known. (You’re not at fault because the truth wasn’t available to you, or you had no reasonable way to figure it out.)

- You’re not morally at fault for the act itself.

EX:

• Cultural norm you never questioned: A kid raised in a remote village where stealing from outsiders is taught as survival. No one ever told him otherwise, and he’s never encountered a different view. If he steals from a traveler, his ignorance is invincible.

• The ignorance of someone who lost something and has tried all humanly possible ways to find it is having an invincible kind of ignorance. A waiter in a restaurant might be totally unaware that the food he is serving to the costumers contains harmful bacteria.

VINCIBLE IGNORANCE

- a conquerable type of ignorance.

- It can be remedied through efforts on the part of the actor.

- This is when you should have known or could have known if you tried. (The ignorance is your fault because you were lazy, careless, or willfully avoided the truth.)

- You’re still responsible.

EX:

• Ignoring the speed limit sign: You drive 80 in a 40 zone because you “didn’t see” the last three signs. Unless you were blindfolded, that’s invulnerable—you had reasonable means to know.

• The ignorance of a student, for instance regarding a

  particular assignment that he or she missed because of

  having absent in class is vincible. Since he or she can

  easily ask from his or her classmates about it through a

  simple act of texting or asking and etc. Hence, the

  student here can be considered at fault of his or her

  ignorance.

INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE RENDERS AN ACT INVOLUNTARY

- A person cannot be held morally responsible or liable if he or she is not aware of his or her ignorance.

For example, a student who is not aware of the money he or she has paid for his or her tuition is actually counterfeit money, cannot be held for committing an act of deception.

VINCIBLE IGNORANCE DOES NOT DESTROY BUT

LESSENS THE VOLUNTARINESS AND THE

CORRESPONDING ACCOUNTABILITY OVER THE ACT

- a person who becomes aware of the state of ignorance, he or she is in moral obligation to correct it by employing enough diligence in finding the information required to make one’s ignorance disappear.

For example, A girl was given a project for her final clearance. She didn’t know what the mechanics for the project are. He didn’t ask her instructor or her classmates of what to do that’s why she failed her subject.

AFFECTED OR PRETENDED IGNORANCE DOES NOT

EXCUSE A PERSON FROM HIS OR HER BAD ACTIONS; ON

THE CONTRARY IT ACTUALLY INCREASES THEIR MALICE.

-happens when a person really wants to be ignorant so that she or he can eventually escape any accountability arising from the wrongfulness of the act later on.

For example, a student who intentionally misses a committee meeting in order not to be given any task he or she suspects to be assigned to her or him, hence to avoid any responsibility.

PASSION

It is understood as strong feelings, desires, affections, emotions or tendencies that includes fear, love, hatred, despair, horror, anger, and etc.

Antecedent

Consequent

2 TYPES OF PASSION

ANTECEDENT

- are those that precede the act; it happens that the agent is emotionally or passionately aroused to perform an act.

- The feeling hits before you fully think.

- It reduces how free/deliberate the act is.

- Less voluntary = less moral responsibility + = "emotion first, decision second"

EX:

Situation: At your dad’s funeral, you lash out and yell at your sister over who got his watch. Later you regret it.
Why it’s antecedent: Grief clouded judgment. You didn’t fully consent to being cruel — the emotion hijacked you.

CONSEQUENT

- are the direct results of the will which fully consents to them instead of subordinating them to its control.

- Here, the person allows himself to be completely controlled by his passions.

- You already decided with reason, and then you choose to stir up emotion to do it harder. Doesn’t lessen responsibility sometimes increases it.

EX:

Situation: You find out your ex is dating someone new. You decide to spread a false rumor to sabotage them. You feed your jealousy by stalking their Instagram daily to stay mad enough to follow through.
Why it’s consequent: The passion was chosen and nurtured. It makes the malice worse, not excused.

“Crimes of passion”

are voluntary but when passions interfere with the freedom of the will, one’s accountability is diminished.

FEAR

It is the disturbance of the mind of a person who is confronted by an impending danger or harm to himself or loved ones.

Acts done “with” fear are voluntary

- since the person acting with fear is acting in spite of his/her fear, thus still very much in control of his/her conduct. Therefore the person concerned remains morally responsible of his/her, whether good or bad, right or wrong.

Acts done “because of” intense fear or panic are

simply involuntary.

- A person when acting out extreme fear is not morally accountable of his/her action or conduct.

- A good example is cashier who hands the money to a robber who is poking a gun on his/her head is acting out of intense fear and panic and thus doing something involuntarily and without his/her content.

- Such action exempts the person from any moral or even legal

responsibility.

VIOLENCE

- refers to any physical force exerted on a person by another free agent for the purposes of compelling the said person to act against his will.

- Any act where great and brutal force is inflicted to a person constitute violence.

- It means external physical force used against you that makes you do something without true consent.

- This includes acts such as torture, mutilation and the etc.

HABIT

- is a “constant and easy way of doing things acquired by the repetition of the same act” (Panizo, 1964)

- Also, habit is the readiness, born of frequently repeated acts, for acting in a certain manner.

Ignorance

Passion

Fear

Violence

Habit

(5) MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS