The actus humanus is the conscious, free action of the human person that proceeds from reason and freedom. It stands in distinction to the actus hominis — an action that issues from the human being but is not carried out consciously and freely (Bexten 2017, pp. 259 ff.).
Actus humanus vs. actus hominis
- Actus humanus: A conscious, free, responsible action (e.g., a moral decision, forgiveness, affirmation)
- Actus hominis: An action that happens in the human being without his consciously carrying it out (e.g., digestion, reflexes)
The distinction goes back to Thomas Aquinas and is central to the understanding of the second dimension of personhood.
Presuppositions of the actus humanus
The actus humanus presupposes:
- Reason — knowledge of what one is doing
- Freedom — the possibility of acting otherwise
- Self-consciousness — knowledge of oneself as the agent
- Intentionality — directedness toward a goal
Actus humanus and person-behavior
The actus humanus is the paradigmatic form of person-behavior. Yet — and this is decisive — personhood does not depend on whether someone performs actus humani. According to agere sequitur esse, acting is a consequence of being, not the reverse. A sleeping human being, an embryo, or a human being with dementia is a person, even when he performs no actus humanus.
Actus humanus and moral responsibility
Only for actus humani does the human being bear responsibility. Virtue as moral perfection refers to the quality of these actions. Karol Wojtyła analyzes the structure of the actus humanus phenomenologically in “The Acting Person.”
Ontological assignment: Personal Act (actus humanus) is (according to the ontology) a subclass of person-behavior.
Sources: Generated by querying the Personhood ontology.
Further sources:
- Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologiae I-II, q. 1, a. 1 (distinction actus humanus / actus hominis). Transl. Fathers of the English Dominican Province. New York: Benziger Bros., 1947.
- Wojtyła, Karol (1969): The Acting Person (Osoba i czyn). Kraków (phenomenological analysis of the actus humanus).