truth and freedom
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Truth and Freedom. Free Will. 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. We are the authors of our choices Self determination - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Truth and Freedom
Free Will 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. 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 True Freedom is expressed in doing
what is good and just. We were created in God’s image and
likeness “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 American view of Freedom in
our culture “Everyone” is free The ability to do whatever you
want, whenever you want Want freedom for everyone but
a double standard seems to apply
Self-centered Sometimes we are willing to
impose on others freedom to further our own
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Freedom Law steps in when one person’s
desire to exercise freedom infringes on the freedom of another This is not always the case
Since we have taken out God, we have no moral compass 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 no4
Freedom Without God, the idea of freedom
is reduced to doing whatever you want 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? Is there a responsibility attached to
that freedom?
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What is Freedom? 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? 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 The more free you are the more
human you become
What is Freedom? God created our nature
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? Freedom is rooted in our rational
nature We are free when we use our rational
powers (reason and will) toward the Absolute Good Reason: ability to understand the
good Will: desiring and loving the good
Perfection of freedom is found in a virtuous life Here one chooses the good out of
love for the good
What is Freedom? Virtue: habit of doing the good
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…
…and they love to do the good One who is virtuous is also free
Why do we have freedom? VS 35: we have freedom to seek our
Creator 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
VS 35: there is no morality without freedom
Why do we have freedom? 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 We often see laws as a
limiting of our freedom 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 Freedom exists for the sake of
love 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 Freedom is dependent on truth Our choices must correspond
with and be informed by truth Truth is an objective reality
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
What is true/right for you may not be for me.
Freedom and Truth Objective Truth
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
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”
Implies that when we act in accordance with truth we experience real freedom!
Freedom and Truth 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 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 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 By nature of being human we know that certain
things are simply wrong Natural law has two basic characteristics:
Universality: it applies to everyone in every culture and in every historical context
because it is a part of our rational human nature Immutability: it does not change
just like the Creator who is the source of natural law, it is unchanging
Natural Law 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 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 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 This is why we experience guilt when
we don’t do what is right
Natural law and conscience 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 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 Three aspects of conscience:
Particular judgment General knowledge Inner sanctuary
Particular Judgment: (VS 59) 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 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 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 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 Our conscience is a fallible guide
It is subject to error We are obligated to follow our
conscience 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 (1)True conscience: one that correctly
deduces an act is lawful based on Truth
Forming your conscience (2)Erroneous conscience: one that decides
from false principles, considered as true, that something is lawful or unlawful. 2 forms of erroneous conscience 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 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? It is an act that is freely chosen It is a behavior that has been deliberately
chosen 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 As the author of the act chosen you morally
define yourself Based on your moral choices you make
yourself a certain kind of person 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 There are three criteria for evaluation
1. Object chosen2. “End” or intention3. Circumstances of action
(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 “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
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” The reason for the action - the motive or goal of
the action 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
You are not permitted to do evil so that good can result!!!!!
3. Circumstances Circumstances are secondary in evaluating
morality 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
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 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 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 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?
1. Ignorance of effect: 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
2. Inadvertence Cause something other than what you expect What you expect doesn’t happen. You are responsible
What are some things that diminish Moral Culpability?3. Fear
You are responsible but not fully You are not truly deliberating a choice
4. Duress 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?1. Mental defect:
Can’t always see effect of choices May not have full freedom
2. Mental illness: Compulsive or obsessive behaviors Very rare and specific cases
What can void a person moral culpability?3. Habit:
Forming a habit of doing evil - vice - may later be outside of your control Eg. addictiono Did you knowingly acquire the vice?o Did you make effort to overcome vice?o How do you feel about your behavior?