MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS:

MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS

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Certain factors which may affect any of the three constituents of human acts. These factors may diminish ones
culpability Also known as obstacles affecting the voluntariness of human acts
A. IGNORANCE:
A. IGNORANCE Lack or absence of knowledge in a person capable of knowing a certain thing or things
(A.) Invincible ignorance:
(A.) Invincible ignorance The type of ignorance which cannot be dispelled by ordinary diligence.
Causes of invincible ignorance:
Causes of invincible ignorance It may be impossible for the individual to remove his ignorance because he has
no way of suspecting that he is ignorant. (a waiter who is not aware of the poison on the food that he serves)
Causes of invincible ignorance:
Causes of invincible ignorance 2. Although one may realize that knowledge at a certain point should be
acquired it is morally impossible for him to obtain the knowledge ( An aeta who lives in the mountains all his life
and happens to come to Manila for the first time and violated the traffic laws)
Causes of invincible ignorance:
Causes of invincible ignorance 2. Although one may realize that knowledge at a certain point should be
acquired it is morally impossible for him to obtain the knowledge ( A doctor who is assigned to cure an
impossible disease)
PRINCIPLE FOR INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE:
PRINCIPLE FOR INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE No objectively wrong act is culpable if it is performed in invincible
ignorance in as much as the element of knowledge is not due to the fault of the agent.
(B.) Vincible ignorance:
(B.) Vincible ignorance The type of ignorance which can and should be dispelled. The agent could know and
should know Can be cleared up if one is diligent enough A manila resident who violates traffic laws due to his
ignorance of such laws is still responsible
KINDS OF VINCIBLE IGNORANCE:
KINDS OF VINCIBLE IGNORANCE SIMPLE VINCIBLE IGNORANCE - when one uses some, but not enough
diligence in an effort to remove ignorance One is doubtful whether classes are suspended, asks his classmate
who is also doubtful, then decides not to go to class, is culpable of not coming to class if there are no
suspension
KINDS OF VINCIBLE IGNORANCE:
KINDS OF VINCIBLE IGNORANCE PRINCIPLE FOR SIMPLE VINCIBLE IGNORANCE - If one performs an
objectively wrong act whose wrongness one is unaware of because of simple ignorance, the action is culpable.
However, the culpability is lessened by the presence of that ignorance
KINDS OF VINCIBLE IGNORANCE:
KINDS OF VINCIBLE IGNORANCE CRASS OR SUPINE IGNORANCE - a kind of ignorance which though not
directly willed, could and should be cleared up, but left wholly undisturbed because of lack of effort. -A doctor
discovers that his patient has symptoms which he does not recognize, because of laziness though he can
consult medical books and fellow physicians- he makes no attempts to ascertain the nature of the disease
KINDS OF VINCIBLE IGNORANCE:

KINDS OF VINCIBLE IGNORANCE PRINCIPLE FOR CRASS OR SUPINE IGNORANCE - This type of
ignorance lessens the imputability of an act. Still it makes one gravely culpable if it concerns a matter of grave
importance
KINDS OF VINCIBLE IGNORANCE:
KINDS OF VINCIBLE IGNORANCE 3. AFFECTED IGNORANCE - the kind of ignorance which is deliberately
fostered in order to avoid any obligation that knowledge might bring to light. - it is not only the lack of
knowledge but the unwillingness of the person to dispel his ignorance
KINDS OF VINCIBLE IGNORANCE:
KINDS OF VINCIBLE IGNORANCE 3. PRINCIPLE FOR AFFECTED IGNORANCE - this type of ignorance in
regard to a matter of serious importance is gravely culpable.
PRINCIPLES GOVERNING IGNORANCE:
PRINCIPLES GOVERNING IGNORANCE 1. INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE eliminates moral responsibility or
culpability. 2. VINCIBLE IGNORANCE does not eliminates culpability but lessens it. ignorance of the law
excuses no one When one is invincibly ignorant, the act one does would be without knowledge, without
knowledge, there can be no voluntariness, hence no culpability.
B. FEAR:
B. FEAR a mental agitation of disturbance brought about by the apprehension of some present or imminent
danger. The danger may be real or imaginary, for as long as something apprehended as a danger, it can cause
fear.
Types of fear:
Types of fear 1. GRAVE FEAR aroused by the presence of a danger That is regarded by most people as
serious e.g. death, loss of leg, loss of a loved one) That is judged to be serious by the one concerned SLIGHT
FEAR aroused by a danger that is not serious A grave danger that is not very probable
PRINCIPLES:
PRINCIPLES One acts BECAUSE of fear if it is fear that induces him to act so Being robbed, surrendered the
wallet One acts WITH fear fear merely accompanies ones act but does not cause it. A student fears to be
caught while cheating
PRINCIPLES:
PRINCIPLES Actions that are done because of fear, however great or small, are voluntary, hence, imputable.
Actions done with fear, are simply voluntary, hence imputable.
C. CONCUPISCENCE/PASSION:
C . CONCUPISCENCE/PASSION A movement of the sensitive appetite which is produced by good or evil as
apprehended by the mind. Strong tendencies towards the possession of something good or towards the
avoidance of something evil. Movements of passions are usually called feelings
St. Thomas Aquinas:
St. Thomas Aquinas Passions are in themselves amoral. But if they are subject to the command of will and
reason, then moral good and evil are in them.
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GOOD When ordered by the will to help man and woman in the practice of virtue Sorrow over the death of a
friend is good because it empathizes with the bereaved family Fear of getting drunk is good. BAD when used
by the will to accomplish morally evil actions Using courage to rob a bank Anger is bad when
TYPES OF PASSION:
TYPES OF PASSION ANTECEDENT Arises spontaneously before the will controls the situation Sudden
feelings of joy, hatred, pity, grief, anger, as reactions to news, objects, etc. CONSEQUENT Deliberately

aroused by the will to ensure a more prompt and willing operation Continuously brooding over an insult, attacks
the enemy and kills him
PRINCIPLES:
PRINCIPLES Antecedent passions do not destroy freedom , but lessens freedom and hence the responsibility
of the agent because it tends to blind judgment of the intellect and freedom of the will.
PRINCIPLE:
PRINCIPLE Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness but may increase it because these passions are
deliberately excited.
D. VIOLENCE:
D. VIOLENCE An external force applied by someone on another in order to compel him to perform an action
against his will.
PRINCIPLES :
PRINCIPLES If one resists the violence as much as possible, the evil act to which one is forced is not culpable.
A man forces a young girl to have sex with him. The girl fights back, nevertheless, since the man is stronger
than the girl, he succeeds in doing his evil intention. In this case, the young girl is not responsible for the act.
PRINCIPLES :
PRINCIPLES If one sees that any resistance would be wholly ineffective, there is no obligation to resist. The
reason is one is not obliged to do what is useless. Though a little resistance may be useful to show lack of
consent to the violence being done. A bank cashier and his two bodyguards are held up by ten heavily armed
men.
HABITS:
HABITS Are inclination to perform some particular action acquired by repetition, and characterized by a
decrease power of resistance and an increase facility of performance. Sometimes called second nature;
something deeply embedded in an individual, but ingrained by being acquired not being inborn Repeated
actions performed by the agent.
HABIT:
HABIT VIRTUE Disposes to god VICE Disposes one to evil
HABIT:
HABIT Evil habits do not lessen the imputability of evil actions performed by force of habit if the habit has been
recognized as evil and is freely permitted to continue. Evil habits lessen the imputability of evil actions
performed by force of habit if one is sincerely trying to correct the habit.
1. Modifiers of Human Acts Ignorance Concupiscence Fear Violence HabitsIgnorance in Ignorance in
Ignorance in Antecedent Verbal its Object its Object Concupiscence With Fear Violence Vices its Result
Consequent Physical Virtue Vincible From Fear Law Antecedent Concupiscence Violence Ignorance
Ignorance Sexual Invincible Violence Fact Concomitant Ignorance Ignorance Emotional Violence
Penalty Consequent Ignorance
2. Modifiers of Human ActsIgnorance Concupiscence Fear Violence Habit
3. IgnoranceIgnorance in its Object Ignorance in its Object Ignorance in its Result Law Vincible Ignorance
Antecedent Ignorance Fact Invincible Ignorance Concomitant Ignorance Penalty Consequent Ignorance
4. Invincible Ignorance Vincible Ignorance does notdestroys the voluntariness of destroy the
voluntariness of an act. an act. Ignorance Affected Ignorance, in one Vincible Ignorance lessens way
lessens, and in anotherthe voluntariness of an act. way increase voluntariness.

5. Concupiscence Antecedent Concupiscence Consequent Concupiscence

6. Concupiscence Consequent Antecedent Antecedent Concupiscence, howeverConcupiscence
lessens Concupiscence does not great, does not lessenthe voluntariness of an destroy the
voluntariness the voluntariness of an act. of an act. act.
7. With Fear Actions may be doneFrom Fear
8. FearAn act done from fear, however great, is simply voluntary, although it is regularly also conditionally
involuntary.
9. Verbal ViolenceEmotional Physical Violence Violence Violence Sexual Violence
10. Violence Acts elicited by the will are not subject to violence; external acts caused violence, to which
due resistance is offered, are in no wise imputable to the agent.
11. Vicious Bad Habits VicesHabits Virtue Good Habits Virtuous
12. Habit Habit does not destroyvoluntariness; and acts fromhabit are always voluntary, atleast in cause,
as long as the habit is allowed to endure.
13. MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS Prof. Chris Pelias Institute of Arts and Sciences Far Eastern University
14. Ethics or Moral Philosophy- deals with human activity in as much as the acts are in conformity with the
natural end. The medium of knowledge is reason alone, setting out the data of experience and acquired
knowledge. Derived from Greek word ethos- conscience Ethics excludes positive revelation of the
Old and New Testaments as source of its moral knowledge and guidance. Ethics is concerned with
norms, mores or traditions and principles of behavior insofar as these principles are known by reason.
15. Mans Natural End Once a person reaches maturity, he faces a question for himself: What should I do
with my life? What is my purpose in life? Thus, his actions are all directed to his goal, his purpose, his
end. Human actions are characteristically an action for an end. The principle of human acts is the end,
goal or purpose. If no good (real or apparent) is known by reason, no human act is performed
16. The will is a blind faculty no desire unless the reason shows there is something desirable Nothing
enters the mind without passing first through the senses. Aristotle * mans action is good if it leads him
to his end and bad if it drives him away from his ultimate end. 2 kinds of good Apparent Good Real
Good
17. Attainment of the goal or end- the ultimate end necessitates acts. The ultimate end is a fixed principle
but the various means to attain it is not . Freedom of Choice applies to these means. Morally good acts
are those which are suitable to the attainment of the end. Morally bad acts are those unsuitable to the
attainment of ultimate end.
18. Human Acts - actions that are free and deliberate - those that proceeds from the free and conscious
acts of man - act that is always done for a purpose - an act that after few deliberation is performed
knowledge of the end and consent of the will with
19. - acts that are proper to man as man - acts internal or external,bodily or spiritually performed by a
human being ACTS OF MAN - ACTS THAT MAN PERFORM INDELIBERATELY OR WITHOUT
ADVERTENCE - mans animal act of sensation (use of senses) and appetition ( bodily tendencies)
20. - acts done abstractedly or with complete inadvertence - acts performed in infancy, infirmity mind or the
weakness of senility - acts done in sleep, in delirium, in the state of unconsciousness
21. CONSTITUENTS OR ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACTS KNOWLEDGE _ product of the mind after due
intellection _ proceeds from the deliberate will Kinds of Knowledge Abstract- purely speculative,
knowledge that is not enough for morals _ it will lead to split level christianity or to legalism _ Oftentimes
children and students are guilty of this _ Religion and moral values are learned without appreciating it
22. B. Evaluative knowledge _ knowledge applied or knowledge of appreciation is required _ what is
objectively true must be subjectively true and meaningful for me _ True education aims at the

formation of the human person with respect to his ultimate goal and simultaneously with respect to the
good of the society of which he is a member and in whose responsibilities as an adult he has to share
23. MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS A. IGNORANCE _ the absence of knowledge _ is the absence of
knowledge that ought to be there ( privative) _ the absence of intellectual knowledge in man ( negative)
_ negation of knowledge
24. Kinds of Ignorance A. Ignorance in its Object - Ignorance of the Law is the ignorance in the
existence of a duty, rule or regulation ex. A young freshman comes to class with fever to take an exam
in chem not knowing that a memo has been passed prohibiting anyone to attend his class with
symptoms manifesting AH1N1
25. 2. Ignorance of Fact ignorance of nature or circumstances of an act as forbidden ex. Pedestrian
violates law not knowing that the underpass is in use already B. Ignorance in its Subject 1. Vincible
Ignorance (Conquerable Ignorance) - ignorance that can be supplanted by knowledge by the use of
ordinary diligence - ignorance is due to lack of proper diligence.
26. Kinds of vincible ignorance 1.1 Simply vincible- some effort has been done but not enough to dispel the
ignorance 1.2 Crass or Supine- result of total or nearly lack of effort to dispel it 1.3 Affected- if positive
effort has been done to retain the ignorance. Past actions cannot be judged with present knowledge
27. 2. Invincible Ignorance- ignorance that ordinary and proper diligence cannot dispel. this is attributable to
2 causes; (a) the person has no realization of his lack of knowledge (b) the person who realizes his
ignorance finds his effort ineffective
28. C. IGNORANCE IN ITS Result 1. Antecedent Ignorance that which precedes all consent of the will
ex. The chef served a poisonous mushroom not knowing that it can cause the death of its customers 2.
concomitant- accompanies an act that would have been performed even if the ignorance did not exist.
ex. A student misses his ethics class but even if he knows, he will still miss it.
29. 3. consequent- that which follows upon the act of the will ex. A doctor suspects that the patients
disease is cancerous but deliberately refrain from making sure, and does not inform him.
30. PRINCIPLES 1. Invincible ignorance destroys the voluntariness of the act 2. Vincible Ignorance does
not destroy the voluntariness of an act 3. Vincible Ignorance lessens the voluntariness 4. Affected
ignorance is one way lessens and in another way increases voluntariness
31. ll. ERROR- state of beleiving what is not true Like ignorance is a privation of right knowledge and true
insight due to false opinions and convictions because of deficient education, influence of bad company,
reading of misleading books and papers, insidous influence of mass Media. Error is positive ignorance.
We all need erasers to our pencils.Principle of error follow Principle of Ignorance lll. Inattention
momentary deprivation of knowledge
32. B. FREEDOM Not the power to do what we like, but the the right of being able to do what we know we
ought to do in relation to our ultimate end. Responsibility- the ability of an individual to give a fitting
response to a human situation that involves human needs. Both freedom and responsibility are
interlinked with each other and as such inseparable There are many things in man that he would like
to do but he cannot do. ex. To stay young forever, to know everything
33. Although his freedom is limited , he is free in his choices His freedom lies on the fact that once he
made a decision no one can make him change his mind When he chooses no power whatsoever can
force him to change his choice(dignity of man) He can be enticed, induced, persuaded but never
forced. His choice is not on his natural end but is free determine himself towards the end and means
to attain it
34. Impairments to Freedom 1. Antecedent or Inculpable Passion- occurs when it springs into action
unstimulated by the will. - always lessens the voluntariness of the act and diminishes responsibility

since it hinders reflection of reason and weakens attention - the stronger is the passion the weaker is
the intellect and will - does not destroys the responsibility of the agent since knowledge and freedom
maybe lessened but he is still the master of his act If passion is so great, as to make control
impossible then the agent is temporarily insane and his act is not human act but acts of man
35. 2. Consequent passion- follows the free determination of the act and is freely admitted and consented
to and deliberately aroused. - the will directly or indirectly stirs them up - however great does not lessen
the voluntariness since it is willed directly or indirectly. ex. Planned revenge or assassination, reading
pornography, singing hymns of praise
36. 3. Fear- shrinking back of the mind because of an impending evil Kinds: a. Acts done with fear or
inspite of fear as when a person climbs a dangerous mountain at night . Fear in this case accompanies
an act whichin itself is voluntary b. Acts done from fear and through fear or because of fear as when a
person threatened with a gun yields his wealth to a thief. c. fear maybe slight or grave according to the
amount of proximity of the impending evil. The danger of death or losing a big amount of property are
cases of grave fear.