A moral act must be our own act; must spring from our own will. If we act mechanically, these is no moral content in our act. Such action would be moral, If we think it proper to act like a machine and do so. For, in doing so, we use our discrimination. We should bear in mind the distinction between acting mechanically and acting intentionally. It may be moral of a king to pardon a culprit. But the messenger carrying out the order of pardon plays only a mechanical part in the king’s moral act. But if the messenger were to carry out the king’s order considering it to be his duty, his action would be a moral one. How can a man understand morality who does not use his own intelligence and power of thought, but let’s himself be swept along like a log of wood by a current? Sometimes a. man defies convention and acts on his own with a view to absolute good.
Which of the following statements is the nearest definition of moral action, according to the writer?
The passage defines a moral act as one that "must be our own act; must spring from our own will." It emphasizes the importance of using one's "discrimination" and "own intelligence and power of thought," distinguishing it from mechanical action. Therefore, a moral action is fundamentally an action based on an individual's sense of discretion and independent judgment.
Option 1 (A): The passage explicitly states that if one acts mechanically, there is no moral content in the act. It uses the example of a messenger carrying out an order mechanically to illustrate that such an action lacks moral value unless it is performed intentionally, considering it a duty, which involves discretion.
Option 3 (C): The passage focuses on the internal source of a moral act-one's own will, intelligence, and discrimination. It does not define moral action by external attributes like "cleverness" or mere "clarity of purpose." The emphasis is on the independent thought and volition behind the action, not its strategic or intellectual sharpness.
Option 4 (D): The passage links morality to the use of "own intelligence and power of thought" and the exercise of "discrimination," contrasting it with being passively "swept along like a log of wood." It does not connect moral action to religious understanding or ritualistic practices; rather, it highlights individual reasoning and autonomous will as its foundation.