Modifiers

of human act are also called

obstacles of human act that affects or
prevents a clear knowledge of the object
of the act. Or impair the coming about of
a human act in its roots by diminishing or
preventing the consent of free will.

These

obstacles may increase, decrease,

or totally inhibit human behavior from
moral responsibility or liability.

Ito ang nagtuturing or nagpapabago

ng gawaing pantao.
Nababawasan ang pagkakusa ng
ginawa.

Ignorance
Error
Inattention

Passion
Fear
Violence
Habit

Defined as lacking of a
required knowledge which
human being should have
of his moral duties.

Classified into:
Invincible Ignorance
Vincible Ignorance
Suppine/crash
Affective

Invincible Ignorance that ignorance

which a man is not able to dispel by such
ordinary diligence and reasonable efforts.
It is also characterized as
antecedent ignorance,
because it preceeds any
voluntary act and is not
willed by any consent of the
will.
Ex. When you are in a foreign country.
The speed limit in Poland is
written in Polish/Polski.

Vincible Ignorance - the knowledge CAN

be acquired by ordinary effort, but was
not acquired because of negligence or
intentionally not acquired.
Crass/Suppine when hardly effort has

been used to dispel ignorance.

Ex. A nurse who has strong doubts about the medicine

administered to a patient upon doctors orders and yet

does not consult a doctor when it could be easily done.

Affected/Pretended
Ignorance occurs when a
person positively wants to
be ignorant in order to plead
innocent to a charge of guilt.
Ex. A student who does not want

to read the bulletin board/the

student manual, for he suspects
that
a
certain
regulation
posted/written
there
in
is
opposed to his plans.

Invincible ignorance makes an act

involuntary.

1st.

An act which proceeds from this ignorance is not voluntary, it is not

therefore a human act and consequently, it is not imputable to the
agent.
2nd

.Vincible Ignorance does not destroy

voluntariness, but it does lessen the
voluntariness and responsibility of an act.

3rd.

Affected ignorance does not excuse a

person from his bad actions; on the
contrary, it actually increases their
malice or their moral responsibility.

Error is the state of holding

incorrect beliefs or opinions, or
the fact of acting wrongly or
misguidedly.

It is an incorrect, unwise, or unfortunate act or

decision caused by bad judgment or a lack of
information or care.

Or a belief or opinion that is contrary to fact or

to established doctrine.
It is a result of poor judgment or lack of care.
Its origin may lie in deficient education, the influence of
bad company, the reading of misleading books and
papers, etc.

Aberratio Ictus there is mistake in

the blow.
Means the offender intending to cause injury to one

person actually inflicts it to another.

Error in Personae there is mistake in

the identity of the person.

Praeter Intentionem there is mistake

in the intended result of the act.
Means the injurious result is greater than what was

intended.

Man is to overcome the errors which

hold him under their sway in personal
search for truth, to escape the negative
influence of those forces which
misguide him, and reach views based
on sound reasons.

For false convictions bring with them

false attitudes to life.

It is a failure to take proper

care or give enough attention
to something.

Is an actual, momentary
privation of knowledge.

Inattention of a person may

result to his contributory
negligence to an act, thus,
he/she can be partially liable.
Example
Using a cell phone while driving

and meets an accident

Texting while walking

Passions are strong tendencies towards the

possession of something good or towards the
avoidance of something evil.

The
object
of
somebodys
intense interest or enthusiasm or
overpowering emotions or a
sudden outburst of emotion.
Passions are neither good nor evil,
but indiferrent (without bias or preference
for one person, group, or thing rather than
another)

Love
Desire
Delight
Hope
Bravery
Anger
Hatred
Sadness
Despair
Fear
Horror

Passions are provided by nature for self-preservation

of the individual and the human race.

A person without them would be with no capacity for

self-defence, growth, improvement and devotion.

Passions may be called good when ordered by the

rational will to help man in the practice of virtue, or in
the attainment of that which is morally good.

Passions may be called bad when used by the rational

will to accomplish morally evil actions or when it not
controlled by reason. A person should be a master of
his/her passions and not a slave of it.

Antecedent Passions it arises spontaneously

before the judgement of reason and before the
will can control the psychological situation.
Example:
When a delicious food is served at the table, it

spontaneosly causes appetite and the desire to it.

Consequent Passions it is deliberately aroused

by the will in order to ensure a more prompt and
willing operation.
Example:
When a person deliberately provoking hatred in his

heart in order to carry out his intentions to murder/kill

another.

Antecedent Passions may completely destroy

freedom, and consequently, moral responsibility.
Example:
A wife, who, out of love for her husband, becomes so jealous

that in a moment of savage rage, kills him and the concubine.

Antecedent Passions lessens freedom and

diminish the responsibility of human actions
because they tend to blind the judgment of the
intellect and block the freedom of the will.
Example:
A man who drinks immoderately shows in his actions more

voluntariness but less freedom than a man who drinks

occasionally only.

Antecedent Passions do not always destroy

freedom, for passions seldom escape the
control of reason.

Consequent Passions do not lessen the

voluntariness of an act but may increase it,
because these kind of passions are
deliberately excited and they are voluntary in
themselves.
Example:
By reading or watching immoral literature in order to intice or

arouse the intellect and the will for another evil act masturbation.

Fear is a disturbance of the mind caused

by the thought of a threatening evil.

It is the apprehension by the mind of an

impending evil.

It is an unpleasant feeling of anxiety or

apprehension caused by the presence or
anticipation of danger.

Acts done with fear or in spite of fear.

When a person climbs a dangearous mountain at night.

Acts done from or through fear or

because of fear.
When a sea captain throws his cargo overboard in a

storm in order to save the ship and the lives of the

passengers.

Fear may be slight or grave according to

the amount or to the proximity of the
impending evil.

Acts done with or in spite of fear are

always voluntary.

Acts done from, through or because

of fear are involuntary.

Fear as a disturbance of the mind

lessens the voluntariness but it does
not destroy it.

Fear considered as an ordinary

passion may increase or diminish the
voluntariness of the human act.

Violence or compulsion - is
the application of external
force on a person by
another for the purpose of
compelling him to do
something against his will.

It consists in the actual application of

physical force to extort something from
a person.

Human act resulting from violence are

involuntary by themselves.
But we are held morally responsible for all acts of the will

itself even when the body is suffering violence.

Example:
The body of a woman can be violated (rape), but her will or
internal consent may remain inviolate or she may internally
consent.

Active resistance should always be offered to an unjust

aggressor. However, if resistance is impossible or if there is a
serious threat to oness life, a person confronted by violence
can always offer intrinsic resistance by witholding consent; that
is enought to save his/her moral integrity.

Habit is a constant and easy

way of doing things acquired by
the repetition of the same act.

It is an established action or
pattern of behavior that is
repeated so often that it
becomes typical of somebody,
although he or she may be
unaware of it.

Synonymous to addiction,
dependency, fixation,
obsession, weakness, custom,
routine, practice, tradition,
convention, pattern.

Habits do not destroy voluntariness, and actions

performed by the force of habits are imputable to man.

If a habit has been contracted absolutely involuntary and

unintentionally, it will lack voluntariness and
responsibility as long as the person concerned remains
ignorance of the existence of such habit.
Example: A habit of foul language during childhood.

If an evil/bad habits has been contracted voluntarily, but

a positive and constant effort is being made to
counteract/resist/deter it, the acts inadvertently
proceeding from the habit are considered involuntary
and not imputable to man.
Example: A person seriously exerts effort to repress a habit of

saying foul words, he/she is no longer responsible for his/her

occasioanlly foul language.

1. Divide into groups of 5

2. Think of one situation for at least five (5) of the
Obstacles/Modifiers of Human Act.
It should show that the responsibility of person changes
because of the modifier.
3. Describe each situation in the class.
Example: A waiter in a restaurant did not issue a receipt to a customer.
He did this because he was told not to do it, and he feared losing his job.
(Modifier is fear).

4. Explain in the class if the person doing the act is morally

responsible.
5. Do not use example already used during class discussion.
6. Present it in the class with visual aide (written in a manila
paper).
7. Each situation is worth 5 points.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Catechism for Filipino Catholics
Ethics or Moral Philosophy, Alfredo
Panizo, O.P.
Christian Ethics, Karl H. Peschke
Encarta Dictionaries