TUI UNIVERSITY

Amir Hasan

Module 2 Case Assignment

PHI201: Introduction to Western Philosophy

Dr. Michael S. Garmon

October 31, 2010

 Voluntary vs. Non-Voluntary Behavior

Free will is the basic element of being human. It is the foundation on which

America was founded on, and it is a concept that we defend with our lives. Free will is

also the determining factor on which human behavior can be considered voluntary or

non-voluntary. Behavior can be considered voluntary if a person’s free will is

uninhibited, where as non-voluntary behavior is that where a person’s free will is directly

or indirectly inhibited; behavior can also be mixed.

Voluntary behavior can either be good or evil based on the free will of the

individual. The choice that makes an action voluntary can either be in a split second

before an action, or there can be malice. Behavior that is voluntary is normally thought

as the good behavior, but it can also be evil. Crime is typically voluntary, premeditated

behavior that usually negatively affects other people. Criminals are typically thought of

people that have had a “hard life,” of victims of circumstance, but all criminals that

engage in voluntary behavior that hurts or negatively affects innocent people should be

held accountable for their actions because they have chosen to use their free will to

commit crime. There is a second circumstance that should be considered for voluntary

actions which is if a person if coerced into their behavior such during a robbery if a man

is given the choice to give his wallet, at gun point, to the robber at the choice of loosing

his life and he gives the robber his wallet. The man’s action in this scenario was

voluntary in the moment, but because his free will was coerced his action is not voluntary

and should be considered mixed at best.

Mixed behavior is when a person’s free will is coerced or inhibited. “Sometimes

indeed men are actually praised for deeds of this ‘mixed' class, namely when they submit
to some disgrace or pain as the price of some great and noble object; though if they do so

without any such motive they are blamed, since it is contemptible to submit to a great

disgrace with no advantage or only a trifling one in view. In some cases again, such

submission though not praised is condoned, when a man does something wrong through

fear of penalties that impose too great a strain on human nature, and that no one could

endure. Yet there seem to be some acts which a man cannot be compelled to do, and

rather than do them he ought to submit to the most terrible death: for instance, we think it

ridiculous that Alcmaeon in Euripides' play is compelled by certain threats to murder his

mother! But it is sometimes difficult to decide how far we ought to go in choosing to do

a given act rather than suffer a given penalty, or in enduring a given penalty rather than

commit a given action; and it is still more difficult to abide by our decision when made,

since in most of such dilemmas the penalty threatened is painful and the deed forced

upon us dishonorable, which is why praise and blame are bestowed according as we do or

do not yield to such compulsion.” (Aristotle and Free Will Book 3) These mixed actions

have to be considered on a case by case scenario. For example if a man’s family was

kidnapped and he was told that if he did not commit murder himself then his own family

would be murdered. If he commits murder is it justified if it saves his family? Are the

lives of his family more important than the life that he was ordered to take? The fact of

the matter is that all humans are created equal which means that the man does not have

the authority to make the decision to take another’s life even at the cost of his own

family, and if he does he should be held accountable for those actions. There comes a

point in every person’s life where they have to make hard decisions and where they have

to do the right thing no matter the cost.

 Non-voluntary actions can be broken down into three different categories. First is

actual mental incapacity which a person can not mentally comprehend the action that

he/she has taken. The second is ignorance where as a person does not understand the

outcome of their action, or who’s intention was difference from what the actual outcome

was. For example, on a small scale, of the hot and cold nozzles on a faucet was marked

incorrectly and a person’s intention was to turn on the cold water but in actuality turned

on the hot water and burned himself, this should be considered a non-voluntary action.

The third category is when a person is physically his not in control of his action. This

would be when a person trips and falls into another person. “An act done through

ignorance is in every case not voluntary, but it is involuntary only when it causes the

agent pain and regret: since a man who has acted through ignorance and feels no

compunction at all for what he has done, cannot indeed be said to have acted voluntarily,

as he was not aware of his action, yet cannot be said to have acted involuntarily, as he is

not sorry for it. Acts done through ignorance therefore fall into two classes: if the agent

regrets the act, we think that he has acted involuntarily; if he does not regret it, to mark

the distinction we may call him a ‘non-voluntary' agent--for as the case is different it is

better to give it a special name. Acting through ignorance however seems to be different

from acting in ignorance; for when a man is drunk or in a rage, his actions are not thought

to be done through ignorance but owing to one or other of the conditions mentioned,

though he does act without knowing, and in ignorance.” (Aristotle and Free Will Book 3)

As we live our lives in this modern age we must take into consideration our

behavior and the behavior of others. People jump quickly to conclusions that actions

done against them are always malicious and purposeful. It is essential, if for no other
reason to keep our humanity, that we consider the reason for a person’s action. Because

the reason or circumstance of a person’s action can change it from voluntary to non-

voluntary if their free will is taken from them.

 References

Aristotle and Free Will Book 3. Retrieved October 31, 2010 at:
http://cdad.tuiu.edu/CourseHomeModule.aspx?course=27&term=90&module=2&
page=custom2