HUMAN ACTS

AND ACTS OF
MAN
INTRODUCTION
Christian moral life is simply the call to
become loving persons in imitation of
Jesus Christ.
All aspects of the human person and all his
actions are under the scrutiny of Christian
morality.
Let us investigate the concept and nature of
man’s actions, both the so-called human
acts and acts of man.
 CONCEPT AND NATURE OF
HUMAN ACTS
Human Acts (actus humanus)- are actions that
proceed from insight into the nature and purpose
of one’s doing and from the consent of free will.

A human act is any thought, word, deed,

desire, or omission which comes from a person
acting with full knowledge of what he is doing,
who is free to act or to refrain from action, and
who gives full assent to his will to act.
Some examples of human acts are:
 Acts of thinking
 Loving
 Reading books
 Studying
 Praying and
 Reciting in class

And other acts performed by a person using his

knowledge, freedom and voluntariness.
CONCEPT AND NATURE OF ACTS OF
MAN
Acts of Man (actus hominis)- are performed without
interventions of the intellect and free will. They
comprise all spontaneous biological and sensual
processes, like nutrition, breathing, sensual
impressions; all acts performed without the use of
reason by people such as lunatics, the drunk, and
those who are asleep.
Acts of man therefore, are indeliberate,
involuntary, not free, not under one’s control and
beyond the mind and the will.
Some examples of acts of man are:
Dreaming
Sleep walking
Sleep talking
Wet dreams
Breathing
Heart beating
 REALIZATION OF THE MORAL
VALUE OF HUMAN ACTS
The formal object of Christian morality is
the moral value of the human act in relation
to a person’s supernatural end, that is his
ultimate union with God in heaven.
The human act is "the person in act”.
Although it never exhausts the capacities of
the self in a given instance.
 MORALITY OF THE HUMAN
ACTS
Traditionally, moral theology lists three
sources of the morality of human acts: object,
circumstances, and intention.
A human act is good if these three elements
are in harmony with the moral norm. On the
other hand, a human act is morally evil if only
one of these elements offends the norm of
morality.
Object/ Act Itself
The object is generally regarded as the
primary source for the judgment on the
morality of an act. The most important
aspect of an action seems to be the
immediate effect which the action inevitably
brings about in the objective order,
independent of the intention of the agent and
other circumstances.
 Catholic moral handbooks universally
hold that the object of a human act can be
morally good, evil, or indifferent.

Pope John Paul II emphasizes “that the

morality of the human act depends
primarily and fundamentally on the
“object” rationally chosen by the deliberate
will”( VS,78)
 For us to further
understand, here are some acts
:

Theft – the object of theft is

always appropriation of
another person’s goods
against his/her will whether
the purpose is personal
enrichment or alleviation of
extreme needs.
Abortion – The object of
an abortion is always the
forcible removal of the
nonviable human being
form from a woman's
womb whether its to
avoid public shame or for
medical reasons .
Adultery – The object of
an act of adultery is not
only physiological
happening of intercourse
but also the assumption of
marriage rights by partners
who are not married to
each other and the
encroachment on the rights
of the third person.
Circumstances
- conditions outside the act ( not part of the
act ) that influences or affect the act  by
increasingly or lessening  its voluntariness
or freedom and thus affecting  the morality 
of the act. 
THESE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE;
1. The Person (Who)
2. The Place (Where) 
3. The Time (When)
4. The Manner ( How ) 
5. Conditions Of The Agent ( Why )
6. The Thing Itself ( What )
7. The Means By ( By What Means) 
1. CIRCUMSTANCES OF PERSON
-refers to the doer  (agent)  of the act  and to
the receiver or the person to whom act is
done .
A.  A good act can become  better or a bad act
become worst by the reason of the doer.
B. A good act can become better  or a bad act
can become  worse  by the reason of the person
to whom the act is done .
 CIRCUMSTANCES OF PERSON A
(GIVING AIDE)

An act of giving aid to the orphan is good, but if it is

done by a Metro Aide ( who is poor himself/herself) the
act becomes meritorious that if its done by a business
man who earns millions of pesos a week.
 CIRCUMSTANCES OF PERSON A
(ABORTION)

An act of abortion is bad but it become worse if

it is done by a nun or a member of a religious
order who accidentally gets pregnant than an
ordinary woman.
CIRCUMSTANCES OF PERSON B
(STEALING)

Stealing is bad , but it is worse if one steals

from beggar than if he/ she steal from a rich
person .
 CIRCUMSTANCES OF PERSON B
(MURDER)

Murder is bad , but it is worse if one kills the

Pope or president of the country than if one
murders an ordinary person .
2. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF
PLACE 

- refers to the particular space  or locality

where the act is done  or performed.
 THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF PLACE
(CREATING SCANDAL)

Creating scandal is bad but it is worse when it

is done inside the church than if it is done outside
the church .
3. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF TIME

- refers to the   exact or definite moment

or hour when the act is performed.
 THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF TIME
(STEALING)

Stealing is bad but it is worse if one steals

during a curfew.
4. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF
MANNER

- refers to the way the agent manages to

do his/her act . It answers the question
"How did the agent do the act.
A young man
having sexual
relationship with a
young woman
who is not his
wife by making
her believe in his
false promise of
marriage.
5. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE
CONDITION OF THE AGENT
- Answers the question , “ In what condition
was the agent when he/she performed the
act” and “ was the agent ignorant or
influenced by fear , habits, emotions, etc. .
Failure to attend
Sunday mass is bad
in itself , but if a
person invincibly
ignorant that it is
Sunday and fails to
attend mass , there
is no sin
committed.
6. CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE THING
ITSELF

Denotes the special quality of the object .

e.g. the money stolen is one million pesos,

the object stolen is a famous religious icon
or relic or the object desecrated is the
statue of Rizal
 CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE THING
ITSELF (STEALING)

Stealing religious item is worse than

stealing a cellphone
7. CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE MEANS

Answers the question “by what

means ?” and “by whose help?”.
For example:
A person robs a bank with the help of the
bank’s security personnel
( an inside job).
INTENTIONS
The last aspect measured by norms of
morality
Refers to the goal which the agent aims to
achieve through his/her act . This is also
the end.
 The agent’s purpose , goal or end-
whether good or bad – has a tremendous
influence or effect on the morality of the
act .
 PRINCIPLE REGARDING THE
INTENTIONS OF THE AGENT
A. An act which is good itself and is done
with the good end becomes doubly good.
B. An act which is bad itself and is done
with bad end becomes doubly bad .
C. An act which is good in itself and is
done with bad intention becomes bad.
D. An act which is bad in itself and done
with good end does not becomes good

E. An indifferent act which is done for

good end becomes good .

F. An indifferent act which is done for bad

end becomes bad.
 RECAP
A. An act is morally good if the act itself
the purpose and the circumstances are
substantially good.

B. If an act itself is intrinsically evil, the act

is not morally allowable regardless of the
intention or circumstance.
C. If an act itself is morally good or at
least indifferent its morality will be judged
by the purpose or circumstance
D. Circumstances may create, mitigate, or
aggravates sin.
E. If all three determinants of the morality
of human acts are morally good , the act is
good . If one element is evil the act is evil.
 INTEGRATION
Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that
by testing you may discern what is the will of
God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Cite 3 things that you are doing in your life

wherein these things are good and acceptable in
the eyes of God and man.
ASSESSMENT
Give your own reflections on each statements
and questions.
1. “ Ignorance of the law excuses no one”.
2. What do you think is the easiest modifier to
overcome and why?
3. If a person acts out of knowledge but without
his will, do you think he is still responsible for
his actions? Why or why not?
 REFERENCES:
 Karl H. Peschke. Christian Ethics, Vol. 1. (Manila:
Logos Publications, 1988), 263-269
 William E. May. An Introduction to Moral Theology,
(Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division,
1994), 146.
 Corazon L. Cruz, Contemporary Ethics, 3rd ed.

(Manila: National Book Store, Inc.,1995).

 Esteban T. Salibay, Jr. Christian Morality in
Contemporary Society.C and E Publishing, Inc.,2008.
 New American Bible