Chapter-2-notes.pdf - PHILOSOPHY 200: ETHICS I. MORALITY OF...

PHILOSOPHY 200: ETHICS
I. MORALITY OF HUMAN ACT AND MORAL ACCOUNTABILITY
Definition of Human Act
refers to “actions that proceeds from insight into the nature and purpose of
one’s doing and from the consent of free will”(Peschke 1985:247). This actions are done
with KNOWLEDGE, FREEDOM AND CONSENT. Paul Glenn defines Human acts as
“an act that proceeds from the deliberate freewill of man”. Here, the person decides and
thinks for himself or herself. How can we distinguish Human acts from Acts of Man? Acts
of man are actions that comes “naturally” even without one’s awareness while doing the
action. These actions (act of man) are done without deliberation, reflection and consent.
Thus, Acts of man are the ones we share with animals, for example, breathing, beating
of the heart, etc.
Thus, it can be rightful to say that all human acts are acts of man but not all acts
of man are human acts.
Basic Elements of Human act
1. The Act must be deliberate . It must be performed by a conscious agent who is
very much aware of what she/he is doing and of its consequences. Thus, children
who are below the age of reason, the insane, people under the heavy influence of
drugs and alcohol are said to be incapable of acting knowingly and with sufficient
knowledge.
2. The Act must be performed in freedom . It must be done by an agent who is
acting freely, with his/her own freewill. An action taken against freewill cannot be
considered as free and voluntary action. The person performing the action must
be free from any force beyond his/her control, or from any powerful influence from
outside.
3. The Act must be done voluntarily. It must be performed by an agent who decides
willfully to perform the act. The act, to be truly voluntary, must come from the core
of persons being.

Major Determinants of the Morality of Human Acts
1. The Act itself – refers to that action that is done or performed by an agent or
simply what the person does. It answers to the question, WHAT the person does.
From this standpoint there are action that can be considered, taken as they are,
as OBECTIVELY GOOD, OBJECTIVELY BAD ACTIONS. By their very nature,
rape, killing, torture, cheating, etc. are objectively bad actions. While respect,