DAVAO CENTRAL COLLEGE, INC.
Juan dela Cruz Street, Toril, Davao City
Landline No. (082) 291 1882
Accredited by ACSCU-ACI
GE ETH1
Week 3: Modifiers of Human Acts
Learning outcome: At the end of this topic, the students will
be able to:
1. Explain the modifiers of human acts and provide an ample
example.
Concept Digest
Modifiers of Human Acts
Modifiers of human acts are the factors and conditions that
affect man’s inner disposition (nature or inclination) towards
certain actions. As the term modifiers implies, they influence
specifically the mental and/or emotional state of a person
concerned to the point that the voluntariness involved in an
act is either increased or diminished.
The modifiers:
1. Ignorance 2. Concupiscence 3. Fear 4. Violence 5. Habit
I. Ignorance
Ignorance is the absence of necessary knowledge which a person
in a given situation, who is perfecting a certain act, ought
to have. Ignorance therefore is a negative thing for it is a
negation of knowledge.
Ignorance is either vincible or invincible.
Under the classification of vincible ignorance is the affected
type of ignorance.
a. Vincible ignorance- can easily be remedied through ordinary
diligence and reasonable efforts on the part of the person
who is in this personal mental state. This specific type of
ignorance is therefore conquerable since it is correctable.
Example:
The ignorance of a student, regarding a particular
assignment that he/she missed because of having been absent
in a class is vincible ignorance, because, he/she can easily
Page 1 of 4
DAVAO CENTRAL COLLEGE, INC.
Juan dela Cruz Street, Toril, Davao City
Landline No. (082) 291 1882
Accredited by ACSCU-ACI
ask from his/her classmates about it through a simple act of
texting. Hence, the student here, can be considered “at
fault” of his/her ignorance.
b. Affected type of ignorance- this is the kind of ignorance
which an individual keeps by positive efforts in order to
escape blame and accountability.
Example:
A student refuses or simply ignores to read a school memo
well posted in bulletin boards precisely so that he or she
ma be exempted from what it requires, which the students
finds burdensome.
c. Invincible ignorance- is the kind of ignorance which an
individual may have without being aware of it, or having
knowledge of it, simply lacks the necessary means to correct
and solve it. This type of ignorance is unconquerable, and
thus not correctible.
Example:
The ignorance of someone who lost something and has tried
all humanly possible ways to find it is having an invincible
kind of ignorance.
Sometimes, it may happen that a person performs a certain
act without realizing certain facts. For example, a waiter
in a restaurant might be totally aware that the food he is
serving to the customers contains harmful bacteria.
II. Concupiscence or Passion
Passion or concupiscence is understood as a strong or powerful
feeling or emotion. It refers more specifically to those
bodily appetites or tendencies as experienced and expressed in
such feelings as fear, love, hatred, despair, horror, sadness,
anger, grief and the like. Moreover, passion or concupiscence
is either an inclination towards desire objects, or, a
tendency away from undesirable or harmful things. It includes
both positive and negative emotions.
Page 2 of 4
DAVAO CENTRAL COLLEGE, INC.
Juan dela Cruz Street, Toril, Davao City
Landline No. (082) 291 1882
Accredited by ACSCU-ACI
Passions are either antecedent or consequent.
a. Antecedent- the concupiscence or passion is considered
antecedent when it spontaneously arises without being
stimulated by and prior to any act of the will.
Example:
1. The anger evoked by a classmate’s offensive remark
2. The joy felt upon receiving the yes from the woman of your
dreams
b. Consequent- when the concupiscence or passion is stimulated
or when it is deliberately retained and or fueled, it becomes
consequent. It is consequent in so far as it happens after a
certain act of the will.
III. Fear
Fear is defined as the disturbance of the mind of a person who
is confronted by an impending danger or harm to himself or
loved ones.
IV. Violence
Generally, violence refers to “any physical force exerted on a
person by another free agent for the purpose of compelling the
said person to act against his will. Any act where great and
brutal force is inflicted to a person constitutes violence.
This includes acts such as torture, mutilation and the like.
Take note: Violence can only force the body; the will can only
be affected indirectly. Hence if the will does not command the
body to duly resist the violence, in edict it concurs to
agrees in the act done under violence.
Example:
The person who was force to sign on the illegal document but
did not offer resistance by tucking his hands or throwing the
pen away, in effect had agreed on the signing of said
document.
V. Habit
Habit is a constant and easy of doing things acquired by the
repetition of the same act.
Page 3 of 4
DAVAO CENTRAL COLLEGE, INC.
Juan dela Cruz Street, Toril, Davao City
Landline No. (082) 291 1882
Accredited by ACSCU-ACI
Example:
When somebody keeps in telling falsehood, he develops the
habit of lying. Once this habit has been ingrained (embedded)
in his beth, then it will be difficult for him to tell the
truth. Who confronted, he will more likely die than tell the
truth. The same can be said of telling the truth. ice it has
become his habit after month or years of frequent repetition,
it will become natural for man to tell the truth in any given
situation.
References:
Fernandez, Ambong, Grumo, Emmanuel and Reambonanzjo, Eric.
2012. Ethics Basic Concepts, Theories & Cases. Davao City: MS
LOPEZ Printing & Publishing.
Atacador, Rey, et, al. 2015. Intoduction to ETHICS with Social
Philosophy and Values Information. Malabon City. Mute
Publishing House, Inc.
Page 4 of 4