OF
Moral Act
Objectives
• Discuss the three bases of moral
accountability
• Give examples of modifiers of human
act
OF MORAL
ACCOUNTABILITY
" When i perform a free act -- one which able to do
or not to do, as i choose -- the act is evidently
imputable to me: if the thing is blame worthy, the
blame belongs to me: if it is praiseworthy, i am
entitled to praise. Every human act therefore, since it
is a free act, is imputable to him who performs it. “
-Fr. Coppins (2017)
Bases of moral
accountability
KNOWLEDGE - Human act must be done knowingly
FREEDOM - Human act must be done freely
VOLUNTARINESS - Human act must be done voluntarily
( intentional or negligent )
Knowledge
• Human act must be done
knowingly
• You are in the possession of
normal mind; you are not
insane or totally ignorant,
sleep walking due to
sonambulism.
Knowledge
• A moral act requires that the
individual is aware of what
they are doing and its potential
consequences. This implies
possessing a normal mind, free
from insanity or total ignorance.
Knowledge
• Genuine knowledge
necessitates a clear and
unimpaired mental state,
unaffected by mental
conditions or ignorance
Freedom
• Human act must be done
freely
• The individual has the power
to choose to act or not to act.
This freedom should not be
impaired by irresistible force
or uncontrollable fear
Voluntariness
• Human act must be done
voluntarily
• the act is either intentional or
negligent.
Voluntariness
Intentional Negligent
An act is voluntarily An act is negligent when
intended when it is it is done voluntarily but
done with the aim, without care or
purpose or goal of precautions in avoiding
attaining a result. the happening of a
foreseeable event
Modifiers of human act
Ignorance Passion Fear Violence
Modifiers of human act
• Modifiers of human act are factors that
either increase or decrease
accountability.
• These are analogous to exempting ,
mitigating on , aggravating and
justifying circumstance in criminal law
Modifiers of human act
" They affect the mental or emotional stage
of a person to the extent that the
voluntariness involved in an act is either
increased or decreased ".
Ignorance
• Is the absence of
knowledge
• Traditional ethics
classifies them as
vincible, invincible ,
affected , and supine or
gross ignorance.
Ignorance
Ignorance, whether of the law or of the facts , either
vincible or invincible. when it cannot be overcome by the
due ammount of diligence, it is invincible; otherwise, it is
vincible. the latter is said to be gross or supine when
scarcely an effort has been made to remove it; and if a
person deliberately avoids enlightenment in order to sin
more freely, his ignorance is affected.
Passion
• Refers to positive
emotions like love, desire,
delight, hope, and bravery
and negative emotions like
hatred, horro, sadness,
despair, fear and anger.
Passion
• Ancedent passions those that precede the act, do not
always destroy voluntariness, but they diminish
accountability for the resultant act.
• In criminal law, the commission of a criminal act “with
passion and obfuscation” meabs the perpetrator is blinded
by his emotions lessening his accountability from maximum
to medium or from medium to maximum.
Fear
• Is the disturbance of the mind of
a person due to an impending
danger or haerm to himself or
loved ones. acts done with fer is
voluntarily, but acts done
because of intense or
uncontrollable fear or panic are
involuntarily
Violence
• Refers to any physical force exerted
on a person by another free agent
for the purpose of compelling said
person to act against his will.
• Actions performed by person
subjected to violence or irresistible
force are involuntarilyband not
accountable.
Moral accountability for what could have be
It is termed as a sin of omission . Whatever one
fails to do but which should have been done is
also imputable to him. This refer to failure act
despite knowledge of being free, therefore
different from negligence or lack of foresight. It is
intentionally not doing same thing when one
should have done it
It failing to act as a good
• Withholding an
Samaritan when one should information could
have acted as such. Pilate have prevented a
disaster .
had the case of Jesus Christ
investigated and found Him • Damaging
innocent. He could have set consequences could
have been avoided
Jesus free but he did not.
