THE MORAL AGENT AND HUMAN ACT the deliberate free will instinctive, such as

of man. physiological in nature.

The Human Person as a Moral Agent
are actions done acts that are performed
"Moral" comes from the Latin "mores" referring to intentionally, free, and by men without being
society's patterns, standards, rules of doing things. deliberate of a person. master of them
"Agent" comes from Latin "agere" to act. through his intellect
and will, therefore acts
A moral agent is a person who has the ability to of man are involuntary
discern right from wrong and to be held accountable actions.
for his or her own actions. Traditionally, moral actions that a man
agency is assigned only to those who can be held properly master for he
responsible for their actions. does them with full
knowledge and of his
A moral agent is one who performs an act in
own will.
accordance with moral standards.

A moral agent is “a being who is capable of those

ELEMENTS OF HUMAN ACTS
actions that have moral quality and which can be
properly denominated good or evil in a moral 1. Intellect/knowledge – In one way or another,
sense.” (Edwards, 1754) knowledge is necessary for responsible human
activity.
“Morality is for persons.” (Haring, 1971)
2. Freedom – a person is not responsible for an act
ACT OF MAN VERSUS HUMAN ACT
over which he has no control, unless he deliberately
HUMAN ACTS surrenders such control by running into conditions
and circumstances which rob him of liberty. Thus, in
Says Fr. Coppens, (2017) "human acts are those of one way or another, freedom is necessary for every
which a man is master, which he has the power of human act.
doing or not doing as he pleases. "
3. Voluntariness – of the three elements of human
- Human acts are actions that are under the acts, it is voluntariness that requires the presence of
deliberate control of an individual. the two other elements (knowledge and freedom).
This means that the voluntary act is synonymous
In the words of Panizo, (1964) "human acts are
with human act. A human act is a willed act. It
those acts which proceed from man as a rational
proceeds from the will, following the knowledge and
being. "
judgment of the mind or intellect.
In other words, human acts are the acts of a moral
DETERMINANTS OF THE MORALITY OF HUMAN ACT
agent.
a) the object of the act,
ACT OF MAN
b) the end, or purpose,
"actions committed by unconscious and insane
persons, infants, or by those who are physically c) its circumstances.
forced to do something, are not considered as
human acts but acts of man." Likewise, "actions In the book of Rev. Coppens, S.J. says that to know
which merely happen in the body or through the whether an individual human act is morally good,
body without the awareness of the mind or the three things are considered. According to the
control of the will are not human acts but merely received axiom: "Bonum ex integra causa, malum ex
acts of man." quocumque defectu“- "A thing to be good must be
wholly so; it is not vitiated by any defect.”
Human acts Acts of Man
acts that are proper to acts that are proper to A. The object of an act is the thing done. In reality, it
man as man. animal but being is not distinct from the act itself, for we cannot act
shared by man. without doing something, and that thing that is done
acts that proceeds from acts that are is the object of the act.
e.g. eating, praising, listening, praying, etc. e.g. Thus, to praise God is good in itself, but, if in so
acting the intention would be to play the hypocrite,
The act or object may be viewed as containing a the act is morally bad.
further specification.
For example, a mayor permitted quarrying in his
e. g., going to church, praising God, eating meat. hometown for the sake of development. In reality
Now, an act thus specified may, when considered in however, the mayor intends to use the generated
itself, be good, bad, or indifferent; “money” to finance his/her campaign for a higher
position.
Thus, to praise God is good in itself, to blaspheme is
bad in itself, and to eat meat is in itself an indifferent Example, rendering free service to a neighbor with
act. the intention of boasting about it. Or helping a
neighbor inspired by love of God. The first instance is
But for an individual human act to be good, its immoral, while the second is moral.
object, whether considered in itself or as further
specified, must be free from all defect; it must be On the other hand, a good end, though ever so
good, or at least indifferent. elevated, cannot justify a bad act; in other words,
we are never allowed to do evil that good may result
“The object of the act is the act itself.” The following from there.
are instances: using the name of God with
reverence; sincerely invoking God's name (the evil e.g. Robin Hood robbed the rich and distributed the
object is using the name of God in vain), honoring money to the poor.
one's parent, going to Mass on days of obligation, The guiding rule is the end does not justify the
saving human life, respecting other's rights and means.
property, having pure acts and thoughts, being true
to marital commitments, telling the truth, etc. It may Nota Bene:
not be materialized.
• Intention or motive - this is usually called the
For an individual act to be morally good, the object, subjective element of a moral act because the
or what we are doing, must be objectively good. intention for doing the act lies within us. Two things
Some acts, irrespective of the motive or intention for should be noted here:
doing it, are always wrong because they go against a
fundamental or basic human good that ought never • A good intention can never make an intrinsically
to be compromised, e.g., the direct killing of an evil act good. For example, the killing of an unborn
innocent person, torture or rape. “Such acts are child to protect the mother’s reputation is always
called intrinsically evil acts, meaning that they are seriously wrong. Hence, the saying: “The end does
wrong in themselves, apart from the reason they are not justify the means.”
done or the circumstances surrounding them.” (USC • A bad intention can turn a good deed into an evil
p. 311) one, e.g., giving money to a charitable organization
B. The end, or purpose intended by the agent is the for the sole purpose of being recognized and
second determinant of an act's morality. praised.

The end here spoken of is not the end of the work, C. The circumstances of time, place and persons
for that pertains to the object, but the end of the have their part in determining the morality of an
workman or agent. individual act.

The end, or purpose is the intention of the acting It answers the question, who committed the act?
subject, or what inspires the acting subject. When was the act committed? How was the act
committed? With whom?
No matter how good the object of an act may be, if
the end intended is bad, the act is thereby vitiated, The moral character of an act may be so affected by
spoiled or impaired. attendant circumstances, that an act good in itself
may be evil when accompanied by certain
circumstances;
For instance, it is good to give drink to the thirsty,
but if the thirsty man is morally weak, and the drink
is intoxicating, the act may be evil.

The circumstances, including the consequences,

refer to the time, place, person, and conditions
surrounding the moral act. They either increase or
diminish the moral goodness or evil of human acts.

Circumstances surrounding the act. Circumstances

can and do contribute to increasing or diminishing
goodness or evil of the act, e.g., how much money In summary, for an act to be morally good, all three
was stolen. determinants: the act (what I do or at least
indifferent), the intention (why I do it), and the
Circumstances can also lessen or increase a person’s circumstances surrounding the act, must be good.
blameworthiness for a particular act.

There is a difference between missing Mass on

Sunday because one is lazy and missing Mass
because the nearest church is 60 or 100 miles away.

A morally good act requires the goodness of the

object, of the end, and of the circumstances
together. An evil end corrupts the action, even if the
object is good in itself.