Human Action: Specificity, Types, and Freedom

Specificity of Human Action

Action is the activity of a conscious, voluntary being; only humans can be considered agents of this type.

• Animal behavior: Animals are more conditioned by their genetic endowment. When animals act, they do not do so spontaneously and freely, but rather execute a genetic program. Many of their actions are automatic.
• Behavior of a computer: This is very similar to that of animals. It is defined by a computer program that determines its responses and actions.
• Human behavior: This behavior is spontaneous and not the repetition of an inherited pattern. The specificity of human behavior is choice; it is a voluntary agency.

Types of Human Action

• Individual Action: An activity produced in a conscious, voluntary way.
• Collective Action: An activity undertaken by various agents, provided they do so cooperatively and pursuing the same goal.
• Social Action: An activity produced by a person or a group of people, but which can only take place and be understood within a social framework.

External Freedom vs. Internal Freedom

• External Freedom: This consists of the absence of external constraints that impede action. It is being able to do what we want without anyone or anything preventing us.
• Internal Freedom: This is freedom of choice or free will. It consists of the ability to decide or want this or that, and this decision is not caused deterministically.

Determinism: The Absence of Freedom

We may believe that the existence of freedom is something of common sense and unquestionable. However, the conviction of freedom is a belief, and we can question it. Determinism is a philosophical concept that states everything is determined and caused inevitably. It denies the existence of freedom and is based on the principle of causality: every event in the world is caused.

Indeterminism

• Determinant factors (causes of action): Human behavior is considered an inevitable consequence of factors that the individual does not control.
• Conditioning factors (reasons for the action): Human behavior is influenced by external factors, but it is not considered solely an outcome of them.