Academy of St.

Joseph
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Introduction to Philosophy of Human Nature
Maverick Jann M. Esteban

ETHICS
DEFINITION
Ethics is the practical science of the morality of human conduct.
a.) Ethics is a science. A science is a relatively complete and systematically arranged
body of connected data together with the causes or reasons by which these data are
known to be true. Ethics squares with this definition, for it is a complete and
systematically arranged body of data which relate to the morality of human conduct;
and it presents the reasons which show these data to be true. Ethics is therefore a
science.
b.) Ethics is a practical science. If the data of a science directly imply rules or directions
for thought or action, the science is called practical. If the data of a science enrich the
mind without directly implying rules or directions, the science is called speculative. A
speculative science presents truths that are acted upon. A speculative science enlarges
our knowledge and enhances our cultural equipment; a practical science gives us
knowledge with definite guidance. Now the science of Ethics presents data which
directly imply and indicate directions for human conduct. Ethics is therefore a practical
science.
c.) Ethics is a science of human conduct. By human conduct we mean only such human
activity as deliberate and free. A deliberate and free act, an act performed and
advertence and motive, an act determined (i.e., chosen and given existence) by the free
will, is called human act. Ethics treats human acts: ethics is therefore a science of human
conduct.
d.) Ethics is the science of morality of human conduct. Human conduct is free, knowing,
deliberate human activity. Such activity is either in agreement or disagreement with the
dictates of reason. Now the relation (agreement or disagreement) of human activity
with the dictates of reason is called morality. Ethics studies human activity to determine
what it must be to stand in harmony with the dictates of reason. Hence, ethics deals
with the morality of human conduct.

HUMAN ACTS
DEFINITION
A human act is an act which proceeds from the deliberate free will of man.
 In a wide sense, the term human act means any sort of activity, internal or
external, bodily or spiritual, performed by a human being. Ethics, however, employs
the term in a stricter sense, and calls human acts only those acts that are proper to man
as man. Now man is an animal, and he has many activities in common with brutes.
Thus, man feels, hears, sees, employs the senses of taste and smell, is influence by
bodily tendencies or appetites. But man is more than animal; he is rational, that is to
say, he has understanding and free will. Hence it is only the act that proceeds from the
knowing and freely willing human being that has the full character of a human act.
Such an act alone is proper to man as man. And therefore Ethics understands by
human acts only those acts that proceed from a deliberate and freely willing human
being.
Man’s animal acts of sensation and appetition (i.e., bodily tendencies), as well as
acts that man performs without advertence and the exercise of free choice, are called
acts of man. Thus such acts are affected in sleep, in delirium, in the state of
unconsciousness; acts done abstractedly or with complete inadvertence; acts performed
in infancy; acts due to infirmity of mind or weakness of senility—all these are acts of
man.
It is to be noticed that acts which are in themselves acts of man may sometimes
become human acts by advertence and consent of the human agent. Thus, if I hear
words of blasphemy as I walk along the street, my act of hearing is an act of man; by the
act become a human act if I deliberately pay attention and listen. Again, my eyes may
fall upon an indecent sight, or upon a page of obscene reading material is an act of man;
but it becomes a human act the moment I deliberately consent to look or to read.

CLASSIFICATION OF HUMAN ACTS

Human acts may be classified under the following heads: i) Their complete or
adequate cause; and ii) Their relation to the dictates of reason.

A.) The Adequate Cause of Human Acts

While all human acts have their source in man’s free rational nature, there are
some acts that begin and are perfect in the will itself, and the rest begin in the will and
are perfect by other faculties under control of the will. Thus, some human acts find
their adequate cause in the will alone and these are called Elicited Acts. Other human
acts do not find their adequate cause in the simple will-act, but are perfected by action
of mental or bodily powers under the control of the will, or, so to speak, under orders
from the will; and these acts are called Commanded Acts.
To illustrate: I intend to go to my room and study. My intention is a simple will-
act, begun and completed in the will. It is therefore an Elicited Act; but to carry out the
intention, Commended Acts, of body and mind, must be exercised. Thus, I walk to my
room, turn on the light, sit at my desk, take down a book, turn to the lesson, bend my
eyes upon the page. All these bodily acts are (if done advertently) Commanded Acts.
Under the head of Adequate Cause, we therefore consider two (2) types: i.)
Elicited Acts; and ii.) Commanded Acts.
i.) Elicited Acts are the following:
a.) Wish
The simple love of anything; the first tendency of the will towards a thing,
whether this thing be realizable or not. Every human act begins with the wish to act.
Wish is exemplified in the will-act which enables one truthfully to say: “I wish it would
rain;” “I do long to see you;” “I wish to go to Europe next summer.”
b.) Intention
The purposive tendency of the will towards a thing regarded as realizable,
whether the thing is actually done or not. We find intention expressed in the following
sentences: “I am going to Europe next summer.”
c.) Consent
The acceptance by the will of the means necessary to carry out intention.
Consent is a further intention of doing what is necessary to realize the first or main
intention. Thus, if I intend to go to Europe I consent to the necessary preparations for
the journey. I cannot really intend a thing honestly unless I consent to the means of
carrying it out or realizing it. Here we see justification to the ancient saying: “He that
wills (intends) a thing, wills (consents to) the means required to accomplish it.”
d.) Election
The selection by the will of the precise means to be employed (consented to) in
carrying out an intention. Thus, while I may go to Europe either by ship or by plane, I
cannot go by both simultaneously, but must elect or select one of the means. By election
I choose to go by plane on a certain day.
e.) Use
The employment by the will of powers to carry out its intention by means
elected. Thus, if I intend to go to a neighbouring town, and elect to walk, I exercise the
will-act use by putting my body in motion true, the movement itself is a commanded act,
but the commanding, the putting to employment of bodily action is elicited will-act of
use.
f.) Fruition
The enjoyment of a thing willed and done; the will’s act of satisfaction in
intention fulfilled.

ii.) Commanded Acts

a.) Internal
 Acts done by internal mental powers under command of the will. Ex., effort to
remember; conscious reasoning; efforts to control anger; deliberate use of the
imagination in visualizing a scene.
b.) External
Acts affected by bodily powers under command of the will. Ex., deliberate
walking, eating, speaking. Such acts are very often acts of man, but they become
human acts when done with advertence and intention
c.) Mixed
Acts that involve the employment of bodily powers and mental powers. Ex.,
studying which involves the use of intellect and the use of the eyes in reading.

B.) The Relation of Human Acts to the Dictates of Reason

Human acts are either in agreement or in disagreement with the dictates of
reason, and this relation (agreement or disagreement) with reason constitutes their
morality. On the score of their morality, or relation to reason, human acts are:

i.) GOOD/MORAL
When the acts done are in harmony with the dictates of right reason.
ii.) EVIL/IMMORAL
When they are in opposition to theses dictates.
iii.) INDIFFERENT/AMORAL
When they stand in no positive relation to the dictates of reason. Indifferent
human acts exist in theory, and not as a matter of practical experience. A human act
that is indifferent in itself becomes good or evil according to the circumstances which
affect its performance, especially the end of the agent (doer of the action).