30. The Voluntary in Human Acts

Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript

Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Definition of Voluntary Action #

• Voluntary derives from will (voluntas), understood as reasonable desire
• Requires two elements: (1) an intrinsic principle (source within the agent), and (2) knowledge of the end (understanding of purpose)
• Distinguished from mere external motion or motion caused by external forces
• Distinguished from acts of man (acts proceeding from no power proper to man)

The Problem of External Causation and God’s Motion #

• First Objection: External things (desirable objects) move us; therefore the source is not truly intrinsic
• Thomas’s Response: Not every beginning is a first beginning; external causes can move intrinsic principles without negating their intrinsic character
• External causes move through intrinsic principles (knowing and desiring powers), not by replacing them
• God as First Mover: God moves the will itself, yet this does not contradict the voluntary nature of human acts because God is the source of the will’s intrinsic nature
• The notion of “voluntary” requires intrinsic principle and knowledge, not that the intrinsic principle be entirely independent of external causes

Natural Motion vs. Voluntary Motion #

• Stone moving upward: Source is external (person throwing); beginning is from outside
• Stone moving downward: Source is internal (weight of stone); beginning is from within
• Voluntary motion: Requires not only intrinsic principle but also intrinsic principle directed toward an end through knowledge
• Things lacking knowledge of the end are moved by external movers who know the end and direct them (e.g., tree reproducing itself, animals acting by instinct)

The Genus of Appetitive Motion #

• The intrinsic beginning of a voluntary act is the knowing power and the appetite
• This is the first beginning in the genus of appetitive motion, even though it may be moved by external causes in other genera of motion (physical alteration, local motion, etc.)
• Example: Heavenly body is first mover in the genus of alterable things, but is itself moved by superior mover in local motion

Key Arguments #

Against the Voluntary (Objections Presented) #

1. External causation objection: The desirable (outside us) moves both knowing and desiring powers; therefore source is external, not intrinsic
2. Animal motion precedent: All new motions in animals are preceded by external motion; human acts are new; therefore all human acts originate externally
3. God’s motion: If God moves the will, and we cannot act except through God, then acts are not truly from ourselves

For the Voluntary (Thomas’s Resolutions) #

1. Distinction of beginnings: An intrinsic beginning can be caused by an external beginning without losing its character as intrinsic in its own genus
2. Mediated motion of desire: External things move the appetite, but only through the animal’s own apprehension or natural change; the appetite itself is the intrinsic source of motion
3. God’s causation compatible with voluntary nature: As God causes natural motion through nature (nature being God’s tool), so God causes voluntary motion through the will; the will’s intrinsic nature includes this dependence on God
4. Knowledge requirement: Whatever has knowledge of the end has within itself a beginning not only to act but to act for the sake of that end; whatever lacks knowledge has the beginning from another who knows the end

Important Definitions #

Voluntarium (The Voluntary) #

• An act whose principle is within the agent and proceeds from knowledge of the end
• Requires both intrinsic origin and cognition of purpose
• Distinguished from external motion and from acts lacking knowledge of ends

Involuntarium (The Involuntary) #

• Motion or act whose source is external, or whose agent lacks knowledge of the end
• Result of violence, external alteration, or imposed motion
• Opposed to the voluntary proper

Intrinsic Beginning (Principium Intrinsecum) #

• A source of motion or action from within the thing moved
• In voluntary acts: the knowing power and the appetite
• Can itself be caused by external things without ceasing to be intrinsic

First Beginning in Its Genus (Primum in suo genere) #

• A beginning that is first within a particular class of motion (e.g., appetitive motion), though not first absolutely
• May itself be moved by an external beginning in a different genus of motion

Examples & Illustrations #

External Motion Through Sense Apprehension #

• Lion seeing stag: The stag’s approach (external motion) is presented to the lion’s sense; apprehension moves the desire; the lion is moved toward the stag through its own appetite
• Desire for food on table: Dinner on the table (external) is not a mover that moved, but it moves the person through that person’s own appetite and knowledge

Natural Alteration and Animal Motion #

• Cold or heat affecting animals: Through external alteration of the body (being chilled or heated), the body itself is naturally changed, and consequently the sensitive appetite (a power of the bodily organ) is accidentally moved
• Cat seeking warmth: Cat goes under warm stove when cold; goes to window or cool area when hot; motion from intrinsic appetite but initiated by external physical alteration
• First cat’s behavior: Would seek the old stove with open space underneath rather than tall drawers; motion from intrinsic inclination responding to bodily condition

The Distinction of Genera of Motion #

• External physical motion (e.g., cold chilling a body) is of a different genus than appetitive motion (desire to warm oneself)
• Being cooled and desiring warmth are distinct kinds of motion, both with intrinsic principles in their respective genres

Questions Addressed #

Question 6, Article 1: Is the Voluntary Found in Human Acts? #

• Resolution: Yes, the voluntary is necessarily found in human acts
• Rationale: Things with intrinsic principle and knowledge of end move themselves and thus have voluntary motion; humans have both intrinsic principles (knowing and desiring powers) and knowledge of ends; therefore voluntary motion is found in humans most perfectly
• Against objections: External causation does not negate intrinsic principle; it acts through the intrinsic principle. God’s motion as first mover does not contradict the will’s intrinsic nature but rather establishes it

Structure of Six Questions on Voluntary/Involuntary #

1. Whether voluntary is found in human acts
2. Whether voluntary is found in brute animals (implied by discussion of knowledge requirements)
3. Whether voluntary can exist without any act
4. Whether violence can be imposed upon the will
5. Whether fear/metus causes involuntariness
6. Whether concupiscence causes involuntariness
7. Whether ignorance causes involuntariness

Connections to Broader Thomistic Framework #

Beatitude and Human Acts #

• Beatitude (the last end) is achieved through human acts; therefore understanding voluntary action is foundational to understanding how one arrives at or is impeded from beatitude
• Virtue and vice are the roads to happiness and misery respectively

Nature and Definition #

• Nature (natura) derives from birth (from within), emphasizing intrinsic principle
• Voluntary and natural motion both have intrinsic principles; both are dependent on God as first mover
• This parallels the metaphysical compatibility of nature and dependence on God

Pedagogical Structure #

• This question ends the first part of Summa II-II (Questions 1-5): the doctrine of human beatitude
• Question 6 begins the second part: how human acts lead to or impede beatitude
• The understanding of what makes acts voluntary is prerequisite to examining which acts lead to happiness