Ethical Foundation of Human Actions

There are two main groups of ethical theories of human actions viz. deontological approach {based on human action itself} and teleological approach {based on consequences of human actions}.

Comparison of Deontological and Teleological Approach

We have discussed these approaches while discussing the branches of ethics. Here are a few comparative notes on these two approaches:

• While deontological approach is based on the human act itself, the teleological approach is based on the outcome of an act.
• In deontology, assessment of human actions is based on ultimate or absolute standards or criteria or moral principles. In Teleological approach, the assessment of action is based on judgement taken in consideration of the consequences of that action. Thus, rules, laws or regulations don’t help in judging such consequences. In reality, teleological approach is “situation ethics”.
• The individual needs to have a clear understanding of moral principles and rules in deontological theory. Thus, means to an end is important here. In teleological approach, there is no need to have a clear understanding of moral duties. The very correct consequence makes the action ethical { the ends justify the means}. Due to this, teleological approach is called interpretivist theory.
• In Deontological approach, stress is upon duty, obligation, right and wrong. In Teleological approach, the stress is upon good, valuable and desirable outcome.

Practically, neither deontological not teleological approach would solve all ethical issues. In fact both applied together also may not judge the human actions as right or wrong.

Actus Humanus and Actus Hominis

Human actions can be of two types viz. actus humanus {deliberate actions} and actus hominis {undeliberate actions}. Ethics is applicable to only deliberate human actions. They don’t apply to undeliberate human actions or the actions of the animals. The question is – how to arrive at a conclusion that the particular action was deliberate or undeliberate?

According to Thomas Aquinas, there are three basic criteria to apply a litmus test to an action to decide whether it was deliberate or not deliberate. These include:   Involvement of knowledge; Presence of voluntariness; and freely done. If any of these elements is not present, the action is not called deliberate.

Involvement of Knowledge

Knowledge is essential requirement for an action to be human and subject to test of ethics. Absence of knowledge is ignorance. Ignorance may lead to undeliberate actions and diminishes the humanness of an action. The ignorance may be of two kind viz. ignorance of law and ignorance of act. Ignorance of law for a public servant is not expected. For others, action that result in violation of law due to ignorance don’t qualify to be considered as human actions. Although violation of law due to ignorance may lead to punishment, it is considered human action liable for ethical scrutiny.

Presence of voluntariness

To qualify as a human action, an action needs to be done voluntarily. Something done involuntarily does not considered as human action.

Free will

The doer of an action must have his / her free will while carrying out an action to be considered as human action. The thumb rule here is that if a person is doing an action with his free will {has options, can control and cause that action}, it qualifies for ethical scrutiny. If there is no free will, it would be sort of involuntary and will not be considered a human action. This implies that all voluntary actions may not be out of a free will but all free will actions are voluntary action.

There are several ways in which the above three may manifest in human actions due to the complex nature of factors that lead to human actions, it is very difficult to classify an action between Actus Humanus and Actus Hominis. Some examples are as follows:

• One of the powerful emotions leading to human action is “passion“. Passions exerts an influence on humans leading to actions. It includes human instincts such as anger, grief, hatred, greed, love etc. So, one can argue that if there is no passion, there is no element of free will and voluntariness, and thus the actions done without passion may not qualify as human action for ethical scrutiny.
• A sense of fear may influence human action to such an extent that it may destroy its nature of being a human action.
• A force such as physical or emotional coercion or violence, blackmail etc. can lead the actions of doer Actus Hominis.
• Habits, temperament, diseases- mental or physical can also impact the voluntariness of an action.

Thus, there are a variety of factors that may help in deciding if an action is human action for which ethical scrutiny can be applied.