When is an action involuntary

Not-voluntary - through ignorance but that for which one is not pained and sorry afterwards. Perhaps an independent category on the level above done by reason of or through anger or desire appetite , actions which Aristotle says are not rightly called involuntary. Irrational passions are not less human than reason. Sign in. Not registered? Sign up. Publications Pages Publications Pages. Recently viewed 0 Save Search. Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content.

Aristotle's Ethical Theory. Find in Worldcat. Go to page:. It is a serious moral flaw if a man does not understand what stealing is, but it is possible to know that stealing is wrong and still take someone else's property in ignorance. This is the sort of ignorance of particular circumstances that results in an involuntary act for which one is not morally responsible. For an act to be voluntary, one must know: a who the agent is, b what he is doing, c what person or thing is affected, d the means being used, e the result intended by the action, f the manner in which the agent acts.

No one can be ignorant of all these factors, especially the first since every agent knows his own identity, but it is possible to be ignorant of some.

For example, one may not know all the consequences of his act b , he may mistake one person or thing for another c , he may mistake a dangerous weapon for a harmless tool d , he might try to save someone's life by giving him a drink that is actually harmful e , he might strike someone too hard and injure him f.

In all these areas genuine ignorance is possible. In any given situation, obviously, some factors will be more important than others. Since an action is involuntary when performed under constraint or through ignorance, a voluntary action can be defined as one in which the initiative lies with the agent and in which the agent knows the particular circumstances in which his action is performed. Acts due to passion or desire are classified as voluntary, on the grounds that irrational emotions are as much a part of human beings as reason, and that actions which spring from them are as much a man's responsibility as those he performs after a process of intellectual reasoning.

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