IGNORANCE y Ignorance of the law excuses no one .

This implies that one should not act in the state of ignorance and that one who has dome a wrong may not claim ignorance as defense. Ignorance is the absence of knowledge which a person ought to possess. A lawyer is expected to know his law... the doctor, his medicine Ignorance is either vincible or invincible. Vincible ignorance is the kind of ignorance that can easily be reminded through ordinary diligence and reasonable efforts. The ignorance of a visitor regarding a particular address in a certain place is vincible since he can easily ask for information from a policeman pedestrian Invincible ignorance is the type which a person possesses without being aware of it or having awareness of it, lacks the means to rectify it.

1. Invincible ignorance renders an act involuntary. A person cannot be held morally liable if he is not aware of his state of ignorance.

A waiter who is not aware that the food he is serving has been poisoned cannot be held for murder. y Vincible ignorance does not destroy, but lessens the voluntariness and the corresponding accountability over the act. A person who becomes aware of the state of ignorance he is in has the moral obligation to rectify it by exercising reasonable diligence in seeking the needed information. To act with vincible ignorance is to act imprudently.

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PASSION y Passions or concupiscence are either tendencies towards desirable object or tendencies away from undesirable or harmful things. The former are called positive emotions; the latter, negative emotions. The positive emotions include love, desire, delight, hope and bravery. The negative emotions include hatred, horror, sadness, despair and fear and anger. Passions are psychic responses. As such, they are neither moral or immoral.

y y The ignorance regarding missing objects and persons is often invincible . Sometimes, too, a person acts without realizing certain facts. Thus, a cook might be unaware that the food he is serving is contaminated. Affected ignorance, is the type by which a person keeps by positive efforts in order to escape responsibility or blame. PRINCIPLE:

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However, man is bound to regulate his emotions and submit them to the control of reason. Passions are either antecedent or consequent. Antecedent are those that precede an act. It may happen that a person is emotionally aroused to perform an act. Antecedent passions predispose a person to act. PRINCIPLES:

Consequent passions do not lessen voluntariness, but may even increase accountability. This is because consequent passions are the direct results of the will which fully consents to them instead of subordinating them to its control.

FEAR y Fear is the disturbance of the mind of a person who is confronted by am impending danger or harm to himself or loved ones. Distinctions is made however between an act done with fear and an act done out or because of fear. Certain actions which by nature are dangerous or risky are done with varying degree of fear. Climbing a cliff, flying an airplane through a storm, diving for pearls, or arresting a notorious killer- are examples of act performed with fear. In these cases, fear is a normal response to danger. Such actions are voluntary, because the doer is in full control of his faculties and acts inspite of fear. But acts done out of fear are entirely different. The child reads his book out of fear of the mother; the employee volunteers to work overtime out of fear being fired by the boss. ; a friend stops smoking out of fear of contracting cancer. Acts done because of intense fear or panic are involuntary. Panic completely

Antecedent passions do not always destroy voluntariness, but they diminish accountability for the resultant act. Antecedent passions weaken the will power of a person without, however, completely obstructing his freedom. Thus the so called, crimes of passions are voluntary. But insofar as passions interfere with the freedom of the will, one s accountability is diminished. Consequent passions are those that are intentionally aroused and kept. Consequent passions, therefore are said to be voluntary in cause, the result of the will playing the strings of emotions. Thus a young man may deliberately arouse himself sexually by reading pornographic magazines. Or a victim of injustice may intentionally nurse his resentment towards his tormentor. PRINCIPLE:

obscures the mind. In this mental state, a person is not expected to think sensibly. VIOLENCE y Violence refers to any physical force exerted on a person by another free agent for the purpose of compelling said person to act against his will. Bodily torture, maltreatment, isolation and mutilation are examples of violence against persons. PRINCIPLES y External actions are commanded actions, performed by a person subjected to violence, to which reasonable resistance has been offered are involuntary and are not accountable. Elicited acts or those done by the will alone are not subject to violence and are therefore voluntary. The will insofar as it is a spiritual faculty is not within the reach of violence.

Actions done by force of habit are voluntary in cause, unless a reasonable effort is made to counteract the habitual inclination. Habits are either good or bad. We speak here of bad habits which lead to immoral actions. Habits are voluntary in cause, because they are the result of previously willed acts done repeatedly as a matter of act.

HABITS y Habit as defined by Glenn, is lasting readiness and facility, born of frequently repeated acts, for acting in a certain manner. Habits are acquired inclinations towards something to be done. They assume the role of a second a second nature, moving one has them to perform certain acts with relative ease. PRINCIPLE