• Why is it that human beings, and

not animals are only able to act

morally
• Define a human action.
• Is freedom limited?
• What’s the difference between
freedom and licentiousness?
• Does grace diminish freedom?
Freedom and the Catechism
Generic Definition: ‘the ability to do what one likes’

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1731)

• “Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to
act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform
deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. By free
will, one shapes one’s own will.”
Freedom for Thought...

•Think of any commitments or promises you have made that

impact or influence you future...

Its Not Easy being Freesy!

• There is difficulty in living freely • Sometimes living
free feels like a burden WHY?

Freedom with Responsibilities

• Our freedom has the capacity to turn away and even
alienate us from God, ourselves and others. This is what
we call SIN.
• Circumstantial Freedom is the liberty to
accomplish an action without interference from
obstacles
• Metaphysical Freedom is the power to choose
among genuine alternatives
• Genuine alternatives: acting independently of
prior casual factors.
Freedom with Responsibilities
• Freedom comes with responsibilities:
• Freedom involves the core of human existence (The story of Adam and Eve)
• Freedom can go contrary to its own source and destroy itself – freedom’s reach is
infinite
But How do we explain the human ability to initiate an action caused be exercising
freedom?
• The core of an action may lie in the intention of the agent - This is not
observable (promises and commitments). Is There Freedom?
• Some philosophers say freedom does not exist (no scientific evidence). They
think everything can be explained by a physical or chemical process...that’s the
concept of Naturalism
• How do we explain?
What is Naturalism?
• Naturalism would suggest that everything can be explained by physical, biological,
psychological, social, and/or environmental processes
• It also understands the material universe as unified and interconnected
• Everything has a physical cause and a human agent just tends to be a more complex
physical cause

Humans and Naturalism

• Humans are part of the evolutionary process and we are simply a part of the material
universe (we are not anything more) • Everything, including humans are connected by cause
and effect

Science
• Science rules here! Everything must be explained by experimentation
• If something is true, then it must be proven with concrete evidence
• Libertarianism is a family of views in political philosophy.
Libertarians strongly value individual freedom and
see this as justifying strong protections for
individual freedom

• Insist that justice poses stringent limits to coercion. While

people can be justifiably forced to do certain things (most
obviously, to refrain from violating the rights of others)
they cannot be coerced to serve the overall good of
society, or even their own personal good.
Determinism is the philosophical view
that all events are determined
completely by previously existing
causes.

Determinism should not be confused

with self-determination of human actions
by reasons, motives, and desires.
Determinism is about interactions which
affect our cognitive processes in our life.
 •
• It the belief that free will and determinism
are compatible ideas, and that it is possible to
believe in both without being logically
inconsistent.
• Because free will is typically taken to be a
necessary condition of moral responsibility,
compatibilism is sometimes expressed in
terms of a compatibility between moral
responsibility and determinism.
• We are determined and we have moral
responsibility: circumstantial freedom is all
we need to be morally responsible.
St. Thomas
• Freedom is a faculty proceeding
from reason and will, uniting to
make the act of choice
• Free will is not the originating force
but presupposes intelligence and
will
• This is rooted in natural inclinations
to goodness and truth
Natural Inclinations:
• In Thomas, freedom is rooted in the
natural spontaneity toward the good
and the true
• The ultimate end, perfection of the
good, (and Beatitude) formed the basis
of Thomass moral theory.
• That desire could never be extinguished
• The important point, this desire for
happiness is the foundation of natural
spontaneity and freedom
William Ockham:
• Freedom is radically indifferent to the
opposites in front of it, good or evil.
• The will becomes redefined It is no
longer an attraction to the good
exercised in love or desire
• It is radical indifference
• It becomes characterized not by loving
but by obeying and commanding.
Inclinations and Ockham:
• One is always free to refuse happiness
• One can choose to despise even
existence
• This places inclinations below freedom
• Harmony between nature and freedom
destroyed
• Freedom is now described as
indifferent to nature
The breakdown of Morality
• Loss of the relationship between freedom and nature-enjoying
good, truth, etc.
• Loss of sense of happiness as first desire of human nature
• Habitus, virtue, would be opposed to freedom does not
grow
• Final end as a result of pattern of action, banished
individual acts are not united
Reason and Freedom
• In Ockham, reason does not influence
freedom or determine choice
• Freedom would have to affirm itself
against reason voluntarism
• The power to say no in Thomas is
recognized, but the freedom to reject
Beatitude is a weakness
• Indeterminate freedom, power to say no to
reason is essential to freedom