The Human Act

THE HUMAN ACT: Not everything a human does is a human act. We are subject to the laws of physics, as any material thing. We take in nourishment and grow, like any living thing. We have senses and appetites, like any other animal. All the voluntary acts, all act of the will in daily life are free. When faced with limited goods, we are free to choose them or not to choose them. The human act is the FREE, DELIBERATE ACT. The act of man as man. THREE ELEMENTS OF THE HUMAN ACT: A/ motion of the will (otherwise known as VOLITION) B/ intellectual knowledge of the purpose of the act C/freedom. If any of these elements is missing, no human acts have taken place.

THE OBJECTS OF THE HUMAN ACT : In every human act something is chosen, and this is referred to as the OBJECT of the human act. The OBJECTS of the Human Act are either DIRECT or INDIRECT The DIRECT OBJECT of the Human act is that which immediately terminates the will act. It may be internal, as in an act of loving a friend or hating an enemy, or external as when the will commands some other bodily power to do something. The physical act of the body is the COMMANDED ACT. The ACT OF THE WILL is the INTERNAL DECISION. The truly human act is ALWAYS AND ONLY the INNER ACT OF THE WILL. It alone is free. The INDIRECT OBJECT OF THE WILL is something not intended but foreseen as following from what we directly intend. If an act has a result that could not have been foreseen by us, that result is not VOLUNTARY. The indirect object of the will is called voluntary in cause, for it is willed only because that which causes it has been willed.

KINDS OF HUMAN ACTS: a/ THE PERFECT VOLUNTARY ACT - full knowledge and consent b/ THE IMPERFECT VOLUNTARY ACT - semi-deliberate, in which there is incomplete deliberation or consent. Man is responsible for his human acts. We are not responsible for that which merely happens within us, but only for what we deliberately cause to happen. II. The MODIFICATION OF THE HUMAN ACT The voluntary nature of our human acts depends on knowledge and free consent. The following factors affect either knowledge or free consent and so diminish the human act. 1/IGNORANCE 2/PASSION 3/FEAR 4/HABIT 5/VIOLENCE IGNORANCE: 1. a. INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE - a person does not something, and he could not have reasonably been expected to know it under the circumstances. If a person is invincibly ignorant of a fact, he is not responsible. b. VINCIBLE IGNORANCE - a person has not made adequate effort under the circumstance to find out necessary information. c. CRASS IGNORANCE - a person has not made ANY effort to find out the truth.

In the legal world, IGNORANCE OF THE LAW does not diminish responsibility before the courts. Lawmen consider it the duty of everyone to know the law. IGNORANCE of FACT may excuse one before a court of law. PASSION: The passions help us toward what is good for us, and away from what may harm us. These are love, hatred, grief, desire, aversion, hope, despair, anger, fear, and courage. FEAR: Fear is the shrinking of the appetite from some evil that is difficult to avoid. Actions taken on account of fear are voluntary and so are IMPUTABLE (we are responsible for them). Fear of some great evil may excuse people from immediate compliance to human law, but not in cases where this would involve some violation of the Natural Law. For example, lawyers, doctors and priests have a grave obligation to keep secrets told to them in confidence. HABIT: Habit can diminish responsibility for an act, but this must be discussed later when we discuss virtues and vices. VIOLENCE: Violence can affect our external acts (commanded acts), but not our internal acts of the will. Three considerations: 1/ Under threat of violence we must always withhold internal consent. 2/ Where violence is IRRESISTIBLE, neither the moral nor the positive law holds us responsible for the external act. 3/ Where the violence is not IRRESISTIBLE, we must resist to some extent, in inverse proportion to the violence.