Ethics as defined earlier is the art and science that deals with the morality of human acts.
Human Act – act that proceeds from the deliberate free will of man.
Acts of Man – acts that do not proceed from the deliberate free
will of man.
These are sometimes
instinctive.
Types of Human Acts In Relation To Reason
1. Good – in harmony with the dictates of right reason
2. Evil - in opposition to the dictates of reason
3.
Indifferent
– when it stands in no positive relation to the dictates
Elements of Human Acts
1.
Knowledge
Ex .I cannot desire to go to KIRIBATI unless
I know it
2.
Freedom
No restrictions – free to choose
Ex. desired to marry her boyfriend
3.
Voluntariness
– Latin voluntas – will
- a will act. Not by force
Ex. volunteered to marry him.
Modifiers of Human Acts
• Ignorance is the absence of intellectual knowledge in man.
• Concupiscence refers to the bodily appetites or tendencies like: love, hatred, joy, grief, passion, daring, fear and anger
• Fear – Shrinking back of the mind from danger
• Violence – external force applied by a free cause which vitiates man’s free will.
•
Habit
– born of frequently repeated acts.
Norms of Human Act
•
Law
is derived from the Latin word “ lex ” . St. Thomas Aquinas (1225- 1274), the
author of Summa Theologiae defined law as an ordinance of reason promulgated
for the common good by the one who has charge of the society.
Types of Law
1. According to author
a.
Divine – God
Church – ecclesiastical
b.
Human laws
State – civil
2. According to duration
·
eternal
·
temporal
3. According to manner of promulgation of physical – govern creatures and beings
a.
Natural Law
2. Natural
– moral law
c.
Positive law – enacted by positive acts of
legislators
4.
According
to prescription
a. Affirmative – prescribes an act to be done
b.
Negative – prohibits the doing of an action
5. According to effect of violation
• Moral
– violation is fault of sin
• penal
– violation is punishable but has no sin
• Missed
– violation is punishable and sinful
2. Conscience – practical
judgement of reason upon which an individual act is considered good which is to
be performed or evil which to be avoided.
State of conscience
·
correct or true-certain
·
erroneous
·
doubtful