Love of Self

- Love is the tendency towards what is good. We love self when we value our person,
recognize the goodness in us and the tremendous powers for personal improvement
- Self-love defined as "love of self" or "regard for one's own happiness or advantage has
both been conceptualized as a basic human necessity and as a moral flaw, akin to vanity
and selfishness, synonymous with amour propre, conceit, conceitedness, egotism, et al.
However, throughout the centuries self-love has adopted a more positive connotation
through pride parades, Self Respect Movement, self-love protests, the Hippie era, the new
age feminist movement as well as the increase in mental health awareness that promotes
self-love as intrinsic to self-help and support groups working to prevent substance abuse
and suicide.
Love and selfishness
- It is true that loving our selves means being concerned with what we are, what we want to
have and accomplish. But our preoccupation with ourselves must be regulated by our
concern for others.
- Selfishness is withdrawing to ourselves, putting ourselves and above all others. Love
thrives on justice on what is honest and beautiful. Selfishness is the overflowing of greed
and pride. A selfish person sees only himself. He is a narcissist who adores himself.
- The concept of “man for others” is not a novelty. We find ourselves in the self of another.
The commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself” tells both the why and the how we
need to care for others.
Ethics of Self-perfection
- It is the duty of every person to actualize his potentials. In the biological sense, it means
growing up healthy and strong. In the moral sense, it means molding our character.
Natural law, which is the law of our human nature, requires us to grow and develop
physically, intellectually and spiritually.
The process of moral maturation demands sacrifices as one must prefer what is good and avoid
what is evil. Moral character is shaped by discipline and hard work in the manner iron is
pounded into a tool by fire and hammer. Apolinario Mabini in his Verdadero Decalogo exhorts:
“Cultivate the special talents which God has given you life, working and studying hard to the
best of your ability, without separating yourself from the path of goodness”.
Buddha admonishes: “Whatever individuals do, whether they remain in the world as artisans,
merchants, and officers of the kind, or retire from the world and devote themselves to a life of
religious meditation, let them put their whole heart into their task let them be diligent and
energetic, and if they are like the lotus, which although it grows in the water, yet remains
untouched by the water, if they struggle in life without cherishing envy or hatred, they live in the
world not a life of self but a life of truth then surely joy, peach, and bliss will dwell in their
minds.
Duties towards the self
- Man is made up of body and soul. It is the duty of a person to preserve his self and
cultivate all of potentials- biological, intellect, and moral. Loving oneself means fulfilling
these duties:
1. Biological Duties:
The biological duties include those pertaining to the preservation of life. This means we
should take care of our bodily functions and health. It is the duty to everyone to take
nourishment, observe personal hygiene, and perform such tasks that contribute to one’s physical
well-being.
2. Intellectual Duties:
It is the duty of everyone to overcome ignorance by learning a skill or acquiring
knowledge. Once needs not be a scholar, but he must be knowledgeable at least of that thing
pertaining to his livelihood and citizenship. Knowledge promotes self-reliance, rendering a
person useful to himself and to others. However the ignorant is a burden to himself and to society
3. Moral Duties:
Moral duties are those pertaining to the development of attitude and character. A person
must develop a positive outlook in life and conduct his affairs honestly. The cultivation of moral
values marks the good and decent person.
Heroes and Saints
Heroes and Saints are role models of what we ought to be as persons. Heroes and saints
are not born, but made. They nurtured those attitudes and habits that set them apart from ordinary
men, they shaped their character and decided their destiny.
Basic Rights of the Person
Correlative to our natural duties are the rights necessary to our protection and perfection.
Loving oneself presuppose the following rights (1) the right to life (2) the right to private
property and (3) the right to education.

1. The Right to Life

The right to life is the most basic and fundamental. It is the foundation of all human
rights. The 1987 Constitution expressly guarantees this right, imposing on the state the
primordial duty of safeguarding life against any violation or abuse.
The right to life secures us not only from physical harm but provides for the promotion of our
economic, cultural and spiritual growth.
The right to life is an inalienable right. We may not give up our life, nor one may take it away
arbitrarily. The Law of self –preservation is a natural law. Yet, there are other values much
higher than life itself. For these values, we may risk our life. Risking one’s life is not the same
committing suicide, like jumping from a tower because life becomes unbearable. It means that
one may risk life in taking on dangerous jobs, in defending the country in times of war, or in
defending truth or religious faith. One may risk life in resisting evil, such as when refusing to be
intimidated into doing what is morally wrong.