
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.”
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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 doctor’s 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
3rd.
.
Vincible Ignorance does not destroy
voluntariness, but it does lessen the
voluntariness and responsibility of an act.
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 somebody’s 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)
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Love
Desire
Delight
Hope
Bravery
Anger
Hatred
Sadness
Despair
Fear
Horror
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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
ones’s 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
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