A particular act or way of acting that you tend to do regularly

habit

Definition of habit

Definition of habit (Entry 2 of 2)

Synonyms & Antonyms for habit

Choose the Right Synonym for habit

habit, practice, usage, custom, wont mean a way of acting fixed through repetition. habit implies a doing unconsciously and often compulsively. had a habit of tapping his fingers practice suggests an act or method followed with regularity and usually through choice. our practice is to honor all major credit cards usage suggests a customary action so generally followed that it has become a social norm. western-style dress is now common usage in international business custom applies to a practice or usage so steadily associated with an individual or group as to have almost the force of unwritten law. the custom of wearing black at funerals wont usually applies to a habitual manner, method, or practice of an individual or group. as was her wont, she slept until noon

The Origin and Etymology of Habit

The word habit most often refers to a usual way of behaving or a tendency that someone has settled into, as in «good eating habits.»

In its oldest sense, however, habit meant «clothing» and had nothing to do with the things a person does in a regular and repeated way. Today, this meaning is preserved only in phrases like «nun’s habit,» «monk’s habit,» and «riding habit» (clothes worn for horseback riding).

Like so many words that appeared in English in the centuries following the Norman Conquest, habit came from French. Indeed, the modern French word for clothes is habits (pronounced \ah-bee\). In English, habit progressed from meaning “clothing” to “clothing for a particular profession or purpose” to “bearing, conduct, behavior.» (The word’s evolution brings to mind the old adage “the clothes make the man,» which asserts that the way we dress reflects our character.)

From “what one wears” to “how one conducts oneself,” habit continued to evolve, referring to appearance (“a man of fleshy habit”) and mental makeup (“a philosophical habit”) before, after several centuries in English, it came to mean repeated activity: “a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition.”

The specific development of habit to refer to drug addiction began in the 19th century, with reference to opium.

Interestingly, even though “clothing” is the oldest meaning of habit in English, it wasn’t the original meaning of the word’s ultimate Latin root, habitus. In Latin, that word’s original meaning was “state of being” or “condition.”

Our most common use of habit today, “acquired mode of behavior,” didn’t exist in Latin—habitus went from meaning “condition” to “how one conducts oneself” to “clothing.” That it was adapted into English in precisely the reverse order is an accident of history; the order of meanings absorbed from one language to another rarely constitutes a logical development. As with all language, meaning is established by usage and force of habit.

Examples of habit in a Sentence

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word ‘habit.’ Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Have something on good authority

to be able to believe a piece of information because you trust the person who told you it:I have it on good authority that she’s getting married.

Tax(тАкс) authority an organization with official responsibility for collecting taxes:If you have more than one property, you must notify the taxauthorities in writing.

Noun Authorization –аthоризЭйшен official permission for something to happen, or the act of giving someone official permission to do something:Medical records cannot be disclosed without authorization from the patient.[+ to infinitive] The authorization to sell the shares arrived too late.

Verb authorize to give official permission for something to happen, or to give someone official permission to do something:Who authorized this expenditure?[+ to infinitive] I authorized my bank to pay her £3,000.

adjective \ noun \ adverb

in or to the central part of a city:downtown Los Angeles \ a downtown address \I work downtown, but I live in the suburbs(сАборбс окрестности). \ The hotel is situated two miles north of downtown.

(MOVEMENT)

in the direction of, or closer to someone or something:She stood up and walked towards him. \ He leaned towards his wife and whispered, «Can we go homesoon? \ «She kept glancing towards the phone. \ The country seems to be drifting towards war. \ There is a trend towards healthier eating among all sectors of thepopulation.

(RELATION)

B2 in relation to something or someone:They’ve always been very friendly towards me.There has been a change in government policy towards energyefficiency.He feels a lot of anger/hostility/antagonism/animosity towards his father.A lot of people think that most newspapers are biased towards oneparticular political party.

(POSITION)

C1 near to, just before, or around a time or place:Our seats were towards the back of the theatre.I often get hungry towards the middle of the morning.We’re getting towards winter and it’s getting dark earlier.

(PURPOSE)

C1 for the purpose of buying or achieving something:I’m saving up to buy a car, and Dad has given me somemoney towards it.Would you like to make a contribution (= give some money)towards a present for Linda?The work that students do during the term counts towards theirfinal grade.

noun [C] a lack of something needed:There is a severe shortage of low-cost housing in the city. \ There’s a shortage of food and shelter in the refugee camps. \The long hot summer has led to serious water shortages.

adjective (VERY SERIOUS)

causing very great pain, difficulty, worry, damage, etc.; very serious:a severe chest infection/leg injury/toothache \ This is a school for children with severe learning difficulties. \ In parts of Africa there is a severe food/water shortage. \ There is expected to be a severe frost tonight. \ Severe cutbacks in public spending have been announced. \ The government’s programme to grow cash crops for export is a double-edged sword because it has created a local food shortage.

adjective (NOT KIND)

not kind or sympathetic; harsh:severe criticism \ The headteacher spoke in a severe voice. \The president is currently facing severe criticism.There are severe penalties for failing to declare all your income to the Inland Revenue.

adjective (PLAIN)

› often disapproving completely plain and without decoration:She wore a severe black dress, and plain black shoes.I don’t like these severe modern buildings.

extreme or very difficult:This will be a severe test of our strength.

Hang – хаЭн

verb (ATTACH AT TOP)(FIX AT TOP)

› [I/T] to attach or support something at the top, leaving the other part parts free, or to be held in this way:[I] There was no wind, and the flag hung straight down.[T] I plan to hang this picture in the hall. \ Hang your coat and hat (up) on the rack over there. \ Hang the pheasant/Let the pheasant hang for a few days for theflavour to improve before you cook it.

(KILL)

› [I/T] past tense and past participle hanged to kill someone by fixing a rope around the neck and tying it to something above the person and then causing the body to drop down suddenly:[T] He was sentenced to die and was hanged the next morning.

(STAY)

› [I] to stay in the air:Smoke from the campfires hung in the air.

(TURN)

› [T] infml to turn to the left or right:Hang a left/right at the next corner.

hang your head

› to be ashamed or unhappy:We played a great game – we have no reason to hang our heads.

hang in there said as a way of telling someone to not give up, despite difficulties:Work can get tough in the middle of a term but hang in there and it’ll be OK. \ Hang in there – exams are almost over.

hang on to wait:Hang on – I’ll be with you in a minute!

Hang back

(HOLD) to hold or continue holding onto something:He was driving so fast I had to hang on tight whenever he turned.

hang around with sb to spend time with someone:I got into drugs because I was hanging around with the wrongpeople.

noun [C] (WORD GROUP)

A1 a group of words, usually containing a verb, that expresses a thought in the form of a statement, question,instruction, or exclamation and starts with a capital letterwhen written:He’s very impatient and always interrupts me mid-sentence.Your conclusion is good, but the final sentence is too long andcomplicated.

noun [C] (PUNISHMENT)

B2 a punishment given by a judge in court to a person or organization after they have been found guilty of doing something wrong:He got a heavy/light sentence (= he was severely/not severely punished).The offence carries a jail/prison/life/five-year sentence. \ He was given a non-custodial/suspended sentence.

Pronounce sentence

› (of a judge) to say officially what a punishment will be:The judge will pronounce sentence on the defendant this afternoon.

Verb to decide and say officially what a punishment will be:He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

mainly US clothes of a particular type when they are being sold in a shop:sports apparel

verb (BE LIKELY)

[I] to be likely to behave in a particular way or have a particular characteristic \ to be likely to happen or to have a particularc haracteristic or effect::[+ to infinitive] We tend to get cold winters and warm, dry summers in this part of the country. \ We tend to eat at home. \ Children tend to be like their parents. \ The British traditionally tend not to display much emotion in public. \ Things tend to get lost when you move house.

verb (CARE)

[T] to care for something or someone:He carefully tends his garden all summer.

tend to sb/sth to deal with the problems or needs of a person or thing:Nurses tended to the injured.

a time when all the people involved in a play, dance, etc. practise in order to prepare for a performance:They didn’t have time for (a) rehearsal before the performance. \ He’s a producer with three plays in rehearsal.

Rehearse to practice something, such as music or a speech, or lead a person or group in practicing it, in order to prepare for a public performance:[I] We rehearse all day and do the show that evening.

the loss of rights, property, or money, especially as a result of breaking a legal agreement:He was deep in debt and facing forfeiture of his property.

Verbto lose the right to do or have something because you have broken a rule:If you cancel now, you forfeit your deposit. \ These people have forfeited the right to live in society.

Nounsomething that you have lost the right to do or have because you have broken a rule

Adjectivetaken away from someone as a punishment

carry sth out

to do or complete something, especially that you have said you would do or that you have been told to do:Dr Carter is carrying out research on early Christian art. \ The hospital is carrying out tests to find out what’s wrong with her. \ Our soldiers carried out a successful attack last night. \ It is hoped that the kidnappers will not carry out their threat to kill the hostages. \ Don’t blame me, I’m only carrying out my orders/instructions.

carry sth over to use or do something at a later time than planned:The performance has had to be carried over to/till next week because the repairs to the theatre aren’t finished yet.

carry sth off to succeed in doing or achieving something difficult:I thought he carried off the part of Hamlet with great skill. \ She was nervous about giving a talk to her colleagues, but she carried it off very well.

carry sth through to complete something successfully:It is doubtful whether it will be possible to carry through the education reforms.

Provide провАйд

(SUPPLY)

[T] to give someone something that they need:This booklet provides useful information about local services. \ All meals are provided at no additional cost. \ The author provides no documentary references to support her assertions. \ We have concerns about whether the government will be able to provide viable social services for poorer families /provide poorer families with viable social services. \ Putting more police on patrol doesn’t provide a real solution to the problem of increasing violence.

verb (LAW)

› [+ that] formal (of a law or decision) to say that something must happen if particular conditions exist:Section 17 provides that all decisions must be circulated in writing.

verb (GIVE)

› [T] to give something that is needed or wanted to someone:The company provides medical benefits to all employees.I can provide you with directions to their house.

provide for someone \ somebody to give someone the things needed to live:The men must learn to provide for themselves once they’veleft the halfway house \ He has a wife and two young children to provide for.

Criticism is also a careful discussion of something in order to judge its quality or explain its meaning:[U] art criticism

[ I/T ] It’s a lot easier to criticize (a plan) than to offer useful suggestions.

the particular importance or attention that is given to something:I think we should put as much emphasis on preventing disease as we do on curing it.Schools here put/place/lay great emphasis on written work and grammar. \ Too much emphasis is placed on the desirability of being thin. \

The school puts a lot of emphasis on teaching children to read and write.

You can never place enough emphasis upon the importance of safety.

Words are sometimes italicized for emphasis.

She placed the emphasis on the word ‘soon’.

the extra force that is given to a word or part of a word when it is spoken:The emphasis is on the final syllable.Where do you put the emphasis in the word «controversy»?

resign ризАйн

to give up a job or position by telling your employer that you are leaving:He resigned from the company in order to take a more challengingjob. \ She resigned as director.She resigned the directorship.

noun [C] (ARTICLE)

UK US clipping an article that has been cut from a newspaper or magazine

(DIVIDED PIECE)

Механическое удерживание земляных масс: Механическое удерживание земляных масс на склоне обеспечивают контрфорсными сооружениями различных конструкций.

Организация стока поверхностных вод: Наибольшее количество влаги на земном шаре испаряется с поверхности морей и океанов (88‰).

Synonyms

habit

something that you do often or regularly, often without thinking about it

routine

your usual way of doing things, especially when you do them in a fixed order at the same time

daily life

all the things that happen or that you do regularly

custom

tendency

ritual

something that you do regularly and always in the same way

way of life

if something is a way of life, it is considered to be what people normally do or have

common practice

something that is done a lot and is considered normal

as is someone’s wont

used for saying that someone has a habit of doing a particular thing

proclivity

formal a tendency to want to do a particular thing, especially something bad

a creature of habit

someone who likes to do the same thing at the same time every day

a professional.

someone who always behaves in a particular way

as a matter of routine/course

done as a habit or as the usual way of doing things

be apt to do something

to have a tendency to do something

be wont to do something

to have a habit of doing something

chronic

doing something again and again, especially something harmful that you are unable or unwilling to stop doing

(come) rain or shine

used for saying that something always happens or someone always does something in spite of bad weather or difficult conditions

compulsion

a very strong feeling of wanting to do something, especially a feeling that you cannot control

compulsive

used about people who have a habit they cannot control

confirmed

customary

err towards in favour of something

formal to have a slight preference for or tendency towards one thing over another

mainly journalism used for referring to what someone or something usually does or has

fixture

good old

used before the name of someone or something that always does what you want or expect

go through

habit

something that you often do without intending to or without realizing that you are doing it, which can annoy other people

habit-forming

hard to stop doing because of being very enjoyable

habitual

usually or often done by someone

habitual

have a history of something

to be well known for doing something because you have often done it in the past

have a nasty habit/way of doing something

used for talking about people or things that often behave or surprise you in an unpleasant way

have a trick of doing something

to have a habit of doing a particular thing

have a way of doing something

institution

often humorous someone or something that has been in a particular job or place for such a long time that you cannot remember a time when they were not there

inveterate

knack

informal British often humorous used when someone often does the wrong thing

make a career out of (doing) something

to do something regularly, often something wrong or silly, so that you get a reputation for it

make it a rule to do something

to always try to do something

meat and drink to someone

something that someone enjoys doing or can do very easily, usually because they do it often

nail-biter

someone who has the habit of biting their fingernails

never fail to do something

used for emphasizing that someone or something always does something that you expect them to do

not make a habit of doing something/not be in the habit of doing something

used for saying that you do not usually do something that you have just done

old habits die hard

used for saying that it is difficult to change a way of behaving that someone has had for many years

ritualised

ritualistic

always happening or done in a particular way

ritualized

always happening or done in the same, often formal, way

serial

doing something or happening several times in the same way

staple diet

the things that someone uses or receives most regularly

stock

a stock answer is one that someone always gives when they are asked a particular question

stock-in-trade

something that someone very often says or does, especially as part of their job

take to

to start doing something as a habit

take up

to start doing something regularly as a habit, job, or interest

there someone goes again

used when someone has just said or done the same annoying thing that they have often said or done before

trademark

something that you wear, do, or say that is typical of you

trust someone (to do something)

used for saying that someone has done something that you think is typical of them, especially something that annoys you

unaccustomed to something

not used to something, or not in the habit of doing something

up to your old/usual tricks

to be doing the same annoying or bad things that you usually do

you can’t teach an old dog new tricks

used for saying that it is very difficult to make someone do something in a new way when they have been doing it their own way for a long time

Human Act

An act that is performed only by a human being and thus is proper to man. Not every act that a human being does is a distinctively human act. Some acts that human beings do are performed also by animals, e.g., vegetative acts and acts of perception and of emotion. When a human being does such acts, they are called acts of man but not human acts. Acts of man, therefore, are acts shared in common by man and other animals, whereas human acts are proper to human beings. What makes an act performed by a human being distinctively a human act is that it is voluntary in character, that is, an act in some way under the control or direction of the will, which is proper to man. One can therefore identify the human act with the voluntary act. A voluntary act proceeds either from the will itself — for example, an act of love or of choice — or from some other human power that can in some way be moved by the will, whether an act of the intellect, of sense cognition, or of emotion; even an act of some bodily member as commanded by the will can be a voluntary act.

A moral analysis of the human act analyzes the human act in relation to the good that is sought and insofar as all acts are moved to their ends by the will. A psychological consideration of the human act distinguishes the internal and external principles of the human act, treats the notion of human freedom, and analyzes the human act into its component parts. This article deals with the human act primarily in its psychological aspect, which a moral analysis must presuppose.

INTERNAL PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN ACTS

The internal principles of human acts include the intellect, the will, and the sense appetites, and the habits — both virtues and vices — with which these powers, or faculties, are endowed (see faculties of the soul).

Intellect. As a power of the human soul, the intel lect is the principle of all intellectual acts of knowing. The human intellect is either speculative or practical, a difference deriving from the end to which knowledge is ordered (see cognition speculative-practical). If the end in view is the consideration of truth itself, the intellect is speculative in its mode of knowing. Thus through acts of understanding and reasoning man arrives at scientific knowledge, when possible, or at something less than truth and certainty — opinion, for example. If the end in view is operation or action of some kind, then the intellect is practical in its knowing, as in the making of works of art or in judgments of prudence in regard to actions one is to perform. And just as in speculative knowing ordered to arriving at truth where there are first principles grasped by the special habit of understanding, from which true and necessary conclusions follow, so in practical knowing there are the primary practical principles grasped by the special habit of synderesis, enabling man to know the common precepts in regard to good and evil action.

Will and Sense Appetites. The will, as intellectual appetite, is a power directed to some object under the aspect of universal good. Because the good so understood is the object of the will, it moves the will as an end, and in this sense the will presupposes the intellect, which thus moves the will to its appropriate end; the intellect, in other words, moves the will as specifying the act of the will. The will, on the other hand, moves the intellect in the manner in which one thing moves another as an agent. Since each power is directed to a good suitable to it and since the object of the will is the universal good, the good of the intellect, to know the true, falls within the scope of the will. Although the will tends to objects as universal, it tends also to singular things existing outside the mind by tending to them under a universal aspect. One person loves another, for example, because of the latter’s virtuous character, which is a good realized in this person. The desiring of a good in this way, and in general the desiring of an immaterial or spiritual good, distinguishes the will as rational appetite from sense appetite.

The sense appetite is related to sense cognition as the will is related to intellectual knowing, each appetite tending to a good as apprehended. But since sense cognition cannot apprehend the good as universal, the sense appetite cannot be directed to the common notion of the good. Hence the will and the sense appetite can be basically contrasted as desire for a universal good and desire for a particular good. There are two fundamentally different aspects of the particular good that differentiate the sense appetite, or emotion, into two main parts: the concupiscible and the irascible. The concupiscible appetite is concerned with a particular good as pleasing and suitable; the irascible appetite is concerned with repelling and combating harmful aspects of objects that prevent the attaining of a particular good.

Habit. In addition to the various human powers, habits are also internal principles of human acts. A habit can be understood initially as a disposing of a power to act in a determinate way. In virtue of the intellectual and appetitive powers man has, he is able to do a variety of acts, but without the disposing influence of habit upon his powers of acting, most of his distinctively human acts would be done haphazardly. A habit therefore develops and strengthens a human power, enabling the power to operate more effectively and with more facility.

Accordingly, a habit can be defined as a firm disposition of a power to act regularly in a determinate way. So understood, a habit is then seen to be a perfection. Man’s powers of themselves are largely indeterminate with regard to their objects. The engendering of habits, acquired by repeated acts of a certain kind, dispose and determine powers more readily and more determinately to their objects. Hence a habit, far from being merely mechanical in operation and somehow alien to good human action, actually enters into the performing of human acts so intrinsically that it may be regarded as a second nature; habit makes its distinctive act a kind of natural act just as a power is the first source of a natural act. For this reason, in addition to a habit’s producing uniformity in operation and enabling an act to be done more quickly and effectively, a habit makes human action pleasurable in operation. The meaning of habit as developed here restricts habit to the intellectual and appetitive human powers.

Virtue and Vice. The notion of habit as bettering human action is not in conflict with the division of habit into good and bad, that is, into virtue and vice. Any habit permits man to operate better than he otherwise would, but whether a habit is good or bad is a moral consideration, distinct from the psychological point showing how any habit develops a power more fully. In general terms, the distinction between virtue as a good habit and vice as a bad habit turns on whether the habit produces acts conducive to promoting man’s moral good or evil. Acts of virtue are those that are suitable to human nature; that is, they are acts habitually performed according to the rule of reason. Acts of vice are opposed to human nature inasmuch as they are habitually opposed to the direction of reason.

Virtue may then be defined somewhat as St. Augustine phrased it: virtue is a good habit of the mind, by which one lives righteously and of which no one can make bad use. In a somewhat more specific way, virtue can be defined also as a habit inclining one to choose the relative mean between the extremes of excess and defect. Vice, as the contrary habit, would incline one to choose either of the extremes, both morally evil.

These definitions apply primarily to moral virtue, the primary meaning of virtue. However, human virtue is divided analogously into moral and intellectual. This division follows upon the fact that there are two principles of human action, the intellect and the appetite. Any virtue perfects one of these two powers. Good habits of thinking perfect the human intellect either in its speculative dimension with the intellectual virtues of understanding, science, and wisdom, or in its practical dimension with the virtues of art and prudence, although the latter virtue is also moral to the extent that it requires right appetite for its good operation. Good habits of desiring perfect the appetite, either the will by means of the cardinal virtue of justice or the sense appetite by means of the cardinal virtue of fortitude for the irascible appetite and temperance for the concupiscible appetite. The fourth cardinal virtue, prudence, as has been noted, is both intellectual and moral. There will be corresponding vices for each of these virtues by way of contrary habits.

In addition to moral and intellectual virtues, theological virtues also are principles of human acts. The need of such virtues for man arises from the fact that man’s happiness, the goal of all his actions, is twofold: a happiness proportionate to human nature and obtainable by means of natural principles including the moral and intellectual virtues; a happiness surpassing human nature and obtainable by and through God’s power alone. Since the natural virtues cannot suffice to direct man to supernatural happiness, man has need for additional principles of action in order to be directed to attaining supernatural happiness. Such principles are the theological virtues, which are infused by God, in which respect they are not wholly intrinsic principles of human action. These theological virtues are faith, hope, and charity.

EXTERNAL PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN ACTS

Among the internal principles of human acts, virtue is the primary means of directing man to the good of human happiness. Other means by which he is ordered to leading the good life are law and grace, both of which may be referred to as extrinsic principles of human action.

Law. As is evident from experience, the common good is the end or purpose of all law, and without an understanding of what the common good properly is, the nature and function of law in directing human acts cannot be appreciated. A common good is clearly distinct from a private good, the latter being the good of one person only, to the exclusion of its being possessed by any other. A common good is distinct also from a collective good, which, though possessed by all of a group, is not really participated in by the members of the group; as divided up, a collective good becomes respectively private goods of the members, as in the manner in which a man’s estate is divided up among his inheritors.

A true common good is universal, not singular or collective, and is distributive in character, being communicable to many without becoming anyone’s private good. Moreover, each person participates in the whole common good, not merely in a part of it, nor can any one person possess it wholly. The distinctive common good to which human law is ordered is the civil, or political, common good of peace and order. Such direction of human acts by law is clearly indispensable for human development and perfection.

Civil Law. The classic definition of law is based on the foregoing notion of the common good: law is a certain ordination of reason for the common good, promulgated by one who has care of the community. This common definition of law applies proportionately or analogously to the different kinds of law. According to man’s mode of knowing, civil, or human positive, law primarily realizes the common definition of law. Hence law is first understood to be an ordinance of reason by one who has authority to direct the political society and its members to the common civil good, a happiness consisting primarily in peace and order. Civil law directly concerns the external acts of human beings, presupposing the interior principles and acts. Although civil law therefore does not directly aim to make men virtuous in their actions, it does command certain acts that dispose men to become virtuous and forbid other acts that lead to vice and tend to make life in society impossible.

Natural Law. Every civil law, insofar as it aims at the common good and is accordingly a just law, carries an obligation to be obeyed. Yet this obligation rests on more than civil law itself. It derives from a law more fundamental than civil law and its political sanction, viz, what is called natural law. This is the «unwritten law» that, in its most common precepts, is fundamentally the same for all. The natural law expresses, in universal form primarily, the fundamental inclinations of human nature formulated by reason in a judgment naturally made, that is, with little or no discursive reasoning. Such law, then, is natural on two scores: (1) it is not law made by reason so much as discovered by reason; and (2) all men thus naturally know the most universal precepts expressed in natural law. Natural law, so understood, is clearly a fundamental principle for directing human acts. (see natu ral law.)

Eternal Law. One other kind of law must still be mentioned: eternal law. It is even more fundamental than natural law, being the law in which even natural law participates. Eternal law refers to the idea of the government of things that exists in the mind of God; it is the plan of God’s wisdom by which all action and motion of the universe is directed. It directs the universe as a whole to the common good of God Himself. This is not the law given through revelation (see law, divine positive). The knowledge about eternal law can be arrived at by reason alone, though usually indirectly. Eternal law is therefore the ultimate source of all law and the ultimate directive principle of all acts and motions of creatures to their proper ends.

Grace. As a principle of human action, grace differs from virtue not only as an external principle differs from an internal one, but also in that grace is infused directly into the human soul itself, whereas virtue is realized in some power of the soul. Grace differs from law in that, though both are external principles, law directs man by instruction and command, whereas grace supernaturally elevates him so that he can participate in the divine life, receive assistance in doing so, and attain the happiness that is eternal life. Hence sanctifying or habitual grace is a supernatural quality of the soul by which man participates in the divine nature and is thereby enabled to perform acts meriting supernatural happiness. It is clear that such a principle directing human action is absolutely necessary for all human beings if they are to obtain eternal life.

HUMAN FREEDOM

A discussion of the internal and external principles of the human act is logically followed by a consideration of the human act itself. Prior to an analysis of the human act into its component parts, however, it is convenient to treat how and in what way the human act is free. At the beginning of this article, the human act was identified with the voluntary act, an act proceeding either immediately from the will or from some power or act in some way under the control and direction of the will. (For a consideration of the voluntary act especially in its moral dimension, see voluntarity.)

It is now necessary to distinguish between a voluntary act and a free act; for although every free act is necessarily a voluntary act, not every voluntary act is strictly a free act. A free act, most properly speaking, is an act of choice. There are occasions, however, when it makes sense to say that man has no choice and that what he wills to do he must will to do. Such acts are voluntary in that they still proceed from the will as a principle, but they are not free, at least in the usual and proper sense of the term.

Freedom of Exercise. It must be recognized, however, that there are two types of free act, or two kinds of freedom. One type is freedom of exercise. This is the freedom of an agent to act or not to act in an absolute sense; freedom of exercise is thus said to be about contradictory alternatives. In any given situation, a man at all rational can will to act or not. This sort of freedom man as a voluntary agent always has; and as related to the interior act of willing or not willing, the voluntary act and the free act, for all practical purposes, are identifiable.

Freedom of Specification. The other type of freedom is freedom of specification. This is the sort of freedom one usually has in mind when he speaks of man as being a free agent and is what he means by the act of choice. This freedom arises not in terms of the agent as acting or not acting (which is freedom of exercise and is presupposed) but in terms of some object specifying the act to be done by the agent. Freedom of specification, in other words, is the choice of this alternative rather than that alternative or, to put it more precisely, the choice of this means in relation to a desired end. The free act as choice, therefore, is concerned with means properly, not with ends as ends. In this context, one can distinguish voluntary acts that are not free acts strictly. To will an end as an end is not a matter of choice but a matter of simple willing. An act of the will centering precisely on the means is the act of choice. This meaning of freedom, the freedom of specification exercised by choice, is the relevant meaning of human freedom in the discussion here. (see free will; freedom.)

Limitations of Freedom. Many contemporary authors point out that to be fully human in its exercise, the will must be free both philosophically and psychologically. Philosophical freedom is the power, given certain prerequisites of knowledge and motivation, of saying yes or no freely to a proposed action or of choosing freely between two alternative courses. It means that at the time the choice was made, the person could have made the opposite choice even though with difficulty or repugnance. Psychological freedom is a freedom from obstacles and pressures that make the exercise of philosophical freedom difficult. Philosophical freedom is freedom to determine its own choices; psychological freedom is freedom from the obstacles, pressures, and impediments which make choices difficult. In the minds of some contemporaries, the classical tradition in moral theology seemed to take for granted the human person’s freedom as a perfectly autonomous power of decision hindered in the exercise of its sovereignty only accidentally by factors that are rather exceptional. Contemporary authors seem to be less reluctant to admit that freedom of the will can be influenced only in exceptional cases. They tend to see human freedom as «freedom in situation» and they insist that the dialectic between freedom and determinism is essential for every human action.

Many contemporary moralists indicate the presence in all of the human person’s actions of a determinism traceable to three sources — the biological, the social, and the psychological. They point out that recent discoveries of neurosurgery, endocrinology, and the use of drugs have demonstrated the influence of biological factors on the freedom of moral action. The pressure of society can also exert great influence on free activity and pressure groups and pressure factors have enormous determining potential in contemporary society. Finally, studies in depth psychology reveal constant neuroticizing factors under which many people live within the course of their growth and development as human beings.

ANALYSIS OF THE HUMAN ACT

The full grasp of what the free human act is and the role it plays in human action cannot be appreciated without an analysis of the whole human act as it is exercised in the concrete order, involving both the intellect and the will.

Component Parts. Presupposing what has been said about the internal and external principles of human action, one may distinguish the component parts or specific acts that make up the complex human act, which is always concerned in some way with ends and means. The list below analyzes the human act in terms of its various steps.

Intellect

Concerning the end
Apprehending an end
Judgment about an end
Concerning the means
Deliberating about means
Judgment about choice
Concerning execution
Command to execute choice
Judgment of end attained

Concerning the end
Willing an end
Intending an end
Concerning the means
Consent to means
Choice of means
Concerning execution
Use of powers to execute
Enjoyment of end attained

This list outlines a fully conscious human action in dealing with a more or less complex practical situation. Not every human act man performs involves all these individual steps, but every human act in the practical order does involve seeking some end, a judgment and choice of means, and a consequent decision to attain to a desired end by carrying out the chosen course of action. It is well to bear in mind also that man does not always proceed in his human action in so orderly a way as the diagram list suggests. Often, indeed, particularly in difficult situations, he vacillates between one act on the part of the practical intellect and a corresponding act on the part of the will. But a knowledge of these various steps within the complex human act is helpful for successfully carrying out human decisions and choices; such knowledge is helpful also when one cannot resolve a practical problem, for he can, with reflection, ascertain where he is in the process and which step is holding him up or preventing him from attaining a resolution.

Interplay of Intellect and Will. The numbering of the steps, evenly divided between the intellect and the will, manifests the intimate connection between the intellect and the will in human action. On the one hand, the intellectual acts specify the acts of the will, for what one wills does depend on what he knows; on the other hand, each act of the will subsequently moves the intellect to a further act of knowing until the will is brought to some rest in an enjoyment of what was initially desired or, if unsuccessful, to a sorrow in not attaining what was initially desired. It should be noted that the human act is outlined here in terms of its intrinsic parts; the role of the emotions and other influences have also to be taken into account. Primarily, however, the human act is constituted of individual acts on the part of the intellect and the will.

This analysis of the human act enables one to understand human freedom better and to see, more precisely, what constitutes the free human act, which is usually spoken of as free will. One can now comprehend that actually a man’s free act is a joint product of intellect and will. It is exercised principally, though not exclusively, in steps seven and eight of the list, the judgment on the part of the intellect that is inseparably allied with the choice of means. The connection between intellect and will is most intimate here. The intellect, in its practical judgment with regard to a means, is a determining cause of the will’s choosing one object rather than another. But this is a determination coming from knowledge; and hence the will, in exercising the act of choice, is still choosing freely what is proposed on the part of the intellect. In a concrete instance facing man in knowing what he should do, his judgment of the choice is made and the will accordingly freely exercises its act of choice. This is positive freedom of specification: freely choosing to do what one knows one should do. Negative freedom consists in one’s being able to reject what he knows he should do. What is involved here also is the judgment of con science, which is still distinct from the practical judgment of the intellect in regard to choice. The latter judgment, as has been seen, is inseparably connected with appetite — with the will in its act of choice. The judgment of conscience, analytically prior to the practical judgment with reference to choice, is wholly an act of the intellect and thus apart from an actual choice to be made here and now; in an act of conscience one judges that an individual act is right to do as falling under a universal judgment or precept that acts of this kind should be done. It is a judgment of conscience, for example, that this debt should be paid, as falling under the universal judgment that debts should be paid. It is not yet the practical judgment with regard to choice and the ensuing act of choice, which takes place here and now, and where freedom of the human act is ultimately and principally located.

The foregoing discussion of the human act, starting with the internal and external principles and extending to the analysis of the human act into its component parts, is primarily psychological in character and treatment. A moral consideration of the human act, analyzing when and how acts are good or bad, presupposes this analysis (see morality).

Meaning of act in English

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act verb ( BEHAVE )

act verb ( DO SOMETHING )

act verb ( HAVE AN EFFECT )

act verb ( PERFORM )

Phrasal verbs

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act noun ( THING DONE )

act noun ( PERFORMANCE )

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act noun ( LAW )

Idioms

act | American Dictionary

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act verb ( DO SOMETHING )

act verb ( PERFORM )

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act noun [C] ( LAW )

act noun [C] ( PERFORM )

act | Business English

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See also

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