Transcript Truth and Freedom

Truth and Freedom
Free Will
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Free will makes us different
from the animals
Free Will: the gift given to us
by God that allows us to
choose between good and
evil.
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We are the authors of our
choices
Self determination
Doesn’t mean we are the
authors of right and wrong,
we simply get to choose
between them
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Freedom
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True Freedom is expressed in doing
what is good and just.
We were created in God’s image and
likeness
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“Man is rational (possessing intellect
and will) and therefore like God; he is
created with free will and is master
over his acts.” CCC 1730
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Freedom
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American view of Freedom in
our culture
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“Everyone” is free
The ability to do whatever you
want, whenever you want
Want freedom for everyone but
a double standard seems to
apply
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Self-centered
Sometimes we are willing to
impose on others freedom to
further our own
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Freedom
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Law steps in when one person’s
desire to exercise freedom infringes
on the freedom of another
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This is not always the case
Since we have taken out God, we
have no moral compass
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Without God the law is reduced to
simply protect us from each other
Not necessarily leading people to a
moral good
If it doesn’t hurt anyone else then the
law shouldn’t say no
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Freedom
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Without God, the idea of freedom
is reduced to doing whatever you
want
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Freedom exists for its own sake
Does Freedom have a greater
purpose?
What does it really mean to be
free?
Does freedom exist for its own
sake or for something greater?
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Is there a responsibility attached to
that freedom?
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What is Freedom?
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Freedom is the ability to desire
and choose the good
Freedom is “perfected” or truly
experienced when we desire and
choose the good.
True freedom can only be
experienced in the context of our
relationship with God, the one
who designed us
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What is Freedom?
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St. Augustine, Thomas and
Aristotle see freedom as being
ordered toward human
perfection
Freedom leads us to live out
our highest level of human
potential
Freedom exists to leads us to
live out our nature as humans
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The more free you are the
more human you become
What is Freedom?
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God created our nature
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If freedom leads us to live our
nature as humans more fully and
our nature was created by God,
then we must look to God’s law to
understand how to live freedom
fully and thus become more fully
human
Christ fully reveals man to himself
Freedom therefore, if lived, should
lead us toward the Absolute Good
which is God
What is Freedom?
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Freedom is rooted in our rational
nature
We are free when we use our rational
powers (reason and will) toward the
Absolute Good
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Reason: ability to understand the
good
Will: desiring and loving the good
Perfection of freedom is found in a
virtuous life
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Here one chooses the good out of
love for the good
What is Freedom?
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Virtue: habit of doing the good
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External living of the law is not
necessarily virtuous
Virtue exists when one has the
internal desire to do the good
When one chooses the good so
often it becomes a habit…
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…and they love to do the good
One who is virtuous is also free
Why do we have freedom?
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VS 35: we have freedom to seek our
Creator
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God does not want to force himself
on us.
God wants us to freely choose him
Our freedom is ordered toward God
and therefore toward love
Freedom is the basis of morality
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VS 35: there is no morality without
freedom
Why do we have freedom?
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When we freely seek God and
cling to him we are able to
achieve perfection through
him
VS 39: by being moral we
increase our living out of our
likeness to God
we do not have freedom in
order to decide what is right
and wrong
Freedom and the Law
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We often see laws as a
limiting of our freedom
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Mostly we feel this with
Church or moral laws
Most often felt with
regard to sexual
morality
VS 35: God’s law
promotes and protects
freedom
Freedom and Love
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Freedom exists for the sake of
love
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Freedom leads us to choose
the good
God is love and goodness
Therefore, when we live
freedom we are at the same
time choosing and loving God
Freedom and Truth
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Freedom is dependent on truth
Our choices must correspond
with and be informed by truth
Truth is an objective reality
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It is not subjective or defined
by our personal experience or
opinion
Culture does not define truth
Moral relativism is the idea
that morality is relative or
subjective
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What is true/right for you may
not be for me.
Freedom and Truth
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Objective Truth
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There are some things that by nature are
simply good or evil; eg. murder, stealing
Culturally we tend to allow the person to
determine if the act is good or evil
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We also allow the intentions of the action to
determine the good or evil of the act
Christ tells us: “you will know the truth and
the truth will make you free”
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Implies that when we act in accordance
with truth we experience real freedom!
Freedom and Truth
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VS 32: JPII notices that in our
society we have decided to forego
truth leaving each person with to
judge actions by their own
“individual truths”
The Church seeks to remind us
that God is the origin of truth
Christ tells us that he is the way
the TRUTH and the life
Natural law
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This objective truth we recognize is called
Natural Law
Natural Law: the eternal law (God’s law)
written on the heart of every man
VS 43: God provides for man differently than
the animals
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He gives laws within our heart to help us
choose how to use our free will
Natural law helps us to act proper to our nature
The more we follow natural law the more
human we become
Natural Law
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By nature of being human we know that certain
things are simply wrong
Natural law has two basic characteristics:
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Universality: it applies to everyone in every
culture and in every historical context
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because it is a part of our rational human nature
Immutability: it does not change
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just like the Creator who is the source of natural
law, it is unchanging
Natural Law
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Natural law is what human reason can
discover about human nature and its
moral obligations independent of God’s
gift of Revelation
Because of original sin we have a
weakened intellect that makes it hard
to discern natural law
God provided some help
 10 Commandments
 Christ came to reveal fullness of
the law
 Love God and to love your
neighbor
Natural Law
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CCC 1959 Natural law is the
foundation on which we build
the structure of moral rules to
guide our choices
It provides the basis for civil
law
The idea of “inalienable rights
endowed by our creator” is an
expression of our
understanding of natural law
and objective truth
Natural law and conscience
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VS 54: Relationship between our
freedom and God’s law is lived deep
within; in the moral conscience
Our conscience detects the law
given to him from above and
recognizes the need to be obedient
to it.
Obedience to this conscience is the
dignity of man and the judge of man
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This is why we experience guilt when
we don’t do what is right
Natural law and conscience
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VS 57: conscience confronts man with
the law and becomes the “witness for
man”
CCC 1777: conscience calls us to do
good and avoid evil
Since the natural law is God’s law
written on our heart the conscience in
a certain sense sees to it that we
abide by the natural law.
The conscience is the witness to our
faithfulness or unfaithfulness to the
natural law
Conscience
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Conscience: the interior
voice of a human being,
within whose heart the inner
law of God is inscribed.
Moral conscience is a
judgment of practical
reason about the moral
quality of a human action. It
moves the person to do
good and avoid evil.
Conscience
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Three aspects of conscience:
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Particular judgment
General knowledge
Inner sanctuary
Particular Judgment: (VS 59)
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It is a moral judgment of a a particular
act or choice before, during or after it is
done
Judges a concrete case as either good
or evil
Conscience
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General Knowledge: (CCC 1780)
 Perception or awareness of moral
principles in general
 To have an understanding of objective
truth
 Tells us what ought to be done based
on natural reason
Inner sanctuary:
 The place in our heart where God
speaks to us
 VS 58: God’s messenger which
commands us to do right
 Where we have dialogue with God or
become aware of the objective truth
Conscience and Truth
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Conscience is rooted in truth
Objective truth informs our
conscience in the natural law
We must therefore, seek truth in
order to make good judgments of
conscience
Conscience in Latin is cum scientia
which means “with knowledge”
The knowledge the conscience seeks
is deeper understanding of truth
given in the Gospels
Bellwork
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11/16/09
For man, when perfected is the best of
animals, but , when separated from law and
justice, is the worst of all…Wherefore, if he has
not virtue, he is the most unholy and the most
savage of animals. - Aristotle
What are the 3 elements of conscience?
Forming your conscience
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Our conscience is a fallible guide
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We are obligated to follow our
conscience
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It is subject to error
Therefore, we must align our
conscience with truth to ensure that we
are not sinning
Our conscience can either be (1)true or
(2)erroneous
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(1)True conscience: one that correctly
deduces an act is lawful based on Truth
Forming your conscience
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(2)Erroneous conscience: one that decides
from false principles, considered as true, that
something is lawful or unlawful. 2 forms of
erroneous conscience
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Vincible ignorance: ignorance of truth that can
be overcome by diligence. Results from failure to
find out what is required to be good. A result of
neglect and therefore puts oneself at risk of
committing sin
Invincible ignorance: ignorance that cannot be
overcome by diligence. Ignorance of moral law
because one has no reasonable access to the
truth. One is not culpable of sin.
Applying Morality
Using conscience to inform our actions
Applying morality
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Because we have freedom we
are morally responsible or
culpable for our actions
Culpability: moral
responsibility for one’s actions
Because we have freedom we
can morally evaluate human
acts
What is a Human Act?
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It is an act that is freely chosen
It is a behavior that has been deliberately
chosen
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Deliberated: It was reasoned to by use of intellect
It was chosen: act of will
It has been chosen based on a judgment of
conscience
These acts can be morally evaluated
Human Acts
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As the author of the act chosen you morally
define yourself
Based on your moral choices you make
yourself a certain kind of person
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Eg. By choosing to cheat, you become a
“cheater”; by choosing to lie, you make
yourself a “liar”; choosing to steal - “thief” etc.
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Evaluating morality
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There are three criteria for evaluation
1. Object chosen
2. “End” or intention
3. Circumstances of action
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(1) and (2) are the most important to evaluate
(3) makes the action more or less good or evil
A morally good act requires all three to be good
If one of them is bad it spoils the whole act
Some things are intrinsically evil regardless of
end and circumstance
1. Object Chosen
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“matter” of the human act or the action itself
Object determines morality of an act
Conscience can help us to evaluate if the
object is in itself good or evil
These things are evaluated objectively
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Eg. Prostitution, adultery, abortion = moral evils
Eg. Almsgiving, prayer, fasting = moral goods
If the object is an absolute evil it is an intrinsic
evil and end or circumstances cannot make it
morally good.
2. Intention or “End”
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The reason for the action - the motive or goal of
the action
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This is in the mind of the person doing the action
All intentions of an action must be good
Good intention can reduce the guilt of a morally
bad act but cannot make an intrinsic evil, good
THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS
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You are not permitted to do evil so that good can
result!!!!!
3. Circumstances
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Circumstances are secondary in evaluating
morality
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They can increase or diminish the moral goodness
or evil of an act
Eg. Amount of theft - more stolen the more evil
 Eg. Amount alms given - based on circumstance
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It’s the context, however, context cannot change
moral quality of acts in themselves
They can increase or diminish a persons
culpability or guilt
Morality and Sin
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Choosing an act that violates goodness on any
level is sinful
Depending on the seriousness of the object, end
or circumstances the act may be venial sin or
mortal sin
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The object of venial sin is less serious than mortal
Lots of venial sins do not add up to mortal sin
but they can lead to it
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Venial sin weakens our resistance to mortal sin
We become more likely to participate in mortal sin
What are some things that diminish
Moral Culpability?
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Ignorance of effect:
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Didn’t foresee a negative result of an action
Lack of knowledge of effect
Could you have known the effect?
Could the effect have been avoided
Inadvertence
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Cause something other than what you expect
What you expect doesn’t happen.
You are responsible
What are some things that diminish
Moral Culpability?
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Fear
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You are responsible but not fully
You are not truly deliberating a choice
Duress
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Make choice based on outside influence
The more significant the threat the less
culpable you are
“It is better to suffer evil than to do evil.”
What can void a persons moral
culpability?
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Mental defect:
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Can’t always see effect of choices
May not have full freedom
Mental illness:
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Compulsive or obsessive behaviors
Very rare and specific cases
What can void a person moral
culpability?
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Habit:
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Forming a habit of doing evil - vice - may later
be outside of your control
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Eg. addiction
Did you knowingly acquire the vice?
Did you make effort to overcome vice?
How do you feel about your behavior?