FREEDOM OF HUMAN NATURE

INTRODUCTION

 To be free is a part of humanity’s authenticity. (genuine)

 Understanding freedom is part of our transcendence.
 Freedom consists of going beyond situations such as physical or economic.
 Being free is not right but privilege.

ARISTOTLE – human beings are rational

- TSoPAA
- Student of plato, teacher of alexander the great
- First university in Athens – Lyceum
- Writings cover many subjects: physics, metaphysics: ontology, theology, universal science, princples of philo,
poetry, theatre, government, politics, logic
- All knowledge comes to human beings from and through sensation

“THE POWER OF VOLITION”

Volition – power to make your own decisions or choices, purpose of striving

 The imperative quality of a judgment of practical intellect is meaningless apart from will.
o Will – desire or wish, faculty of mind that is alleged to stimulate motivation of purposeful activity
 No intellect = no will
o Will of humanity is an instrument of free choice
 reason-will-action
o three factors: reason (the moving cause), will (means by which it produces movement),
action(movement)
o being rational – desire, will is an instrument of free choice – actions
 To “will” something, one has “to know” beforehand.
o Man cannot choose or act unless he knows which is “better” good.
o When a person chooses to act according to what he knows is right – he acts freely (Human Acts)

“Human Acts vs Acts of Human”

 Human acts – actions done with will and knowledge (intentional, free)
 Acts of man – actions done under the circumstances of ignorance, fear, violence and habits (w/o proper use of
reason)

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

- From noble family from naples

- Joined the Dominican order against his family’s wishes
- Was canonized and became a saint in 1323
o Resisting the temptation of a prostitute and the discovery of Herring at night were the miracles used to
justify his sainthood
- Known as the greates Christian medieval theologian-philosopher
- Works: Summa Theologica, Summa Contra Gentiles
“SPIRITUAL FREEDOM and LOVE IS FREEDOM”

 Of all creatures of God, human beings have the unique power to change themselves and the things around them
for the better.
 Human being as a moral agent
 Whether we choose to be “good” or “evil” becomes our responsibility.
 If a human being perseveringly lives a righteous and virtuous life, he transcends his moral state of life and soars to
an immortal state of life.
 Fourfold classification of law: eternal law, natural law, human law and divine law.
o Eternal law – divine reason and wisdom comprise an eternal law
 A law governing the whole creation, a law not made but eternally existing and therefore
unknowable to humans entirely, yet the source of all true law on earth.
 Comes from God and is unchanging.
o Natural law – the practical reflection or sharing in “eternal reason” that provides humans with objective,
changeless, universal rules or general principles of action for ethical and political life.
 Eternal law that can be known to humans
o Human law – true law that is derived from natural law. A rule of state that is at odds with natural law is
no law at all.
 Human positive law is the laws made by the state
o Divine law – the revealed truths such as the Ten Commandments that supplements and corrects human
fallibility and frailty.
 Divine positive law is the part of eternal law revealed through the scriptures.

“LOVE IS FREEDOM”

 We are both a spiritual and material elements

 God is love and love is our destiny.
 “The law of divine love is the standard for all human actions.”
o Love should be the standard of all human actions
 Each human act is considered right and virtuous when it conforms to the standard of divine love.