The END of HUMAN ACT
Prof. Fernandino J. Pancho
What is the purpose of human life?
Where are we going?
What is our destiny and what is the
way to attain it?
“No Man can be normal unless
he has an aim in life, proper to
his human nature.”
“A Man without any aim or good
purpose is either permanently
insane or in the state of
desperation.”
Nature of the END
 An END is that towards which an action
tends.
– Every human activity tends towards the
direction of an end (purpose, aim, goal,
mission, master plan of an action)
– Any human act, with knowledge of the mind
and consent of the will, pursues an end which is
good for the whole human being.
End is distinguish into:
 Proximate End – is an immediate end on
account of which an action is immediately
performed.
 Intermediate End – is a subordinate end
sought for the attainment of another end.
End is distinguish into:
 Ultimate End – is an end on account of
which other ends or means are sought.
 Absolute Last End – is the end for the sake
of which all other things are desired, and
which is not itself desired for the sake of
anything else. (St. Thomas)
Example: A Student who study hard in
his/her lessons.....what are his/her end?
 Pass the exam and have good grades
(proximate end)
 Please himsel/herself/parents/professor;
scholar, famous in school...etc.
(intermediate end)
 To grauduate with flying honors (Bachelor’s Degree)
(ultimate end)
 To get a good and fine job
(absolute last end)
Other classifications
 End of the action – it is the intrinsic purpose
of the action.
 End of the agent – it is the good or purpose
that an agent has in mind.
Principles
 Every agent that performs an action acts for
the sake of the end or purpose to be
attained.
– Human life is in fact made of a continuous
series of means related to cetain ends ---proximate and intermediate --- or related to the
ultimate and absolute last end of life.
Principles
 Every agent acts for an ultimate or absolute
last end.
– This is the origin of all human movements and
the first cause of all human actions.
– Without this ultimate end in mind there will be
no action.
– If there were no last end, nothing would be
desired nor would any action have its term nor
would the intention of the agent be at rest. (St.
Thomas)
Principles
 Every agent has the power of moving for an
end which is suitable or good for him.
– Every agent acts for a Good (St. Thomas)
• The Good is that which satisfies the appetite; the
object of our striving; the thing which can confer
perfection and satisfaction to ourselves, especially
our human faculties (Intellect and will).
Why we pursue the GOOD?
Why we think for our own
good or the good of others?
The reason is......
No human being wants to be....
Nature of Happiness
 Happiness – is a state made perfect by the
aggregation of all good things.
– From the first to the last moment of our
existence, life revolves around one desire --the DESIRE to be HAPPY.
– All men have happiness as their object.
– The way to happiness must indeed be difficult
since it is seldom discovered. (Spinoza)
How......we search....our HAPPINESS?
 There is a state where one possess all the
good things in this world. (Imperfect
Happiness)
 Example:
–
–
–
–
Wealth
Health of the Body
Luxuries of Life
Glory, prestige, honor, social glamor, fame
Are the goods of the world gives
us Perfect Happiness?
All the goods in this world are
only give us Imperfect Happiness
 External goods are necessary but will not
give us the very essence of happiness, the
ultimate happiness.
 External goods serve as instrument only to
make us temporarily happy.
How......we search....for HAPPINESS?
 There is a state where one possess the
ultimate good which nothing more can be
desired. (Perfect Happiness)
– The ultimate achievement of an intellectual
nature (St. Thomas)
Christian point of view
 GOD alone can offer
man the unlimited
perfection and the
infinite good which will
fulfill the human desire
for happiness and
ultimate satisfaction.
 GOD is the ultimate
end of man.
St. Augustine
“Following after God is the desire
of happiness; to reach God is
happiness itself.... For whoever
possesses God is happy”
St. Thomas
 For perfect happiness, the intellect and the
will needs to reach the very essence of the
First Cause. (Perfect Knowledge &
Supreme Good)
 The final perfection of the human intellect
and will is by union with God, who is the
first principle both of the creation of the
soul and of its enlightenment.
Now, Hu & Wat myks u....
Be HAPPY and
be BLESSING of HAPPINESS
to EVERYONE.
Thank you & God Bless!