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?