Module 4

The Dignity of Man

Dignity – (Latin – Dignus = Worth) the state or quality

of being worthy of esteem or honor
Esteem – to have great regard for
Honor – high regard or great respect given, received
or enjoyed
Human Dignity - Image of God
Human beings are created in the image of God
and, therefore, are endowed with dignity. This
inherent dignity carries with it certain basic rights
and responsibilities, which are exercised within a
social framework
CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN PERSON

 Transcendent
Human person is capable to go beyond
oneself, can know the purpose of his life and
the one who designed that purpose
 Embodied spirit
Intertwining of physical and spiritual in
the person, that man is composed of body and
soul
 Sexual being
 Relational

Human person has the ability to relate

with other people since we are social beings
 Historical

Human person makes history and is

effected or shaped by it.
 Equal

Each of us is unique and with equal

dignity
 Free
MAN’S PERSONAL OFFICE

Here we are to talk about man’s duty

towards his soul and body.
Duties of Man Towards is SOUL

Faculties of the Soul

a. Intellect
b. Will

Intellect
It must be exercised to know the ultimate
truth and his final end and how to achieve it.
 LIE
The Offence Against the Duty of Truthfulness

Lie/Lying – a disagreement between what one

says and what one knows
Three Types of Lies:
 Jocose Lie
 Officious lie
 Pernicious Lie
Jocose Lie
- a fallacious statement made for fun and
understood, or easily understandable as a joke
- this lie does not square with the definition
of lie, it is not a serious statement
Officious lie
It is a lie of excuse or convenience. It is
cowardly refusal to meet the issues of life
Pernicious Lie
It is the lie meant to do mischief or injury, the
worst of lies.
Bad Effects of Lie
 Injury to right reason, to our neighbor
It is an injury to right reason; to our
neighbor because you deprive him of
information he ought to know. He has the
right not to be deceived.
 Injury to Society
It is an injury to society, for society
cannot exist without mutual faith and
reliance among its members, and if lie be
permissible such faith and confidence become
an utter impossibility.
The Difference Between Lying
and Concealment of Truth

- To lie is to give false information

- To conceal is to refrain from giving
information
Conclusion

It is never lawful to tell a lie, no matter what

great good would come of it; for a lie is
intrinsically evil.
It is licit to conceal the truth when the
hearer has no right to know the truth and
when there is a sufficient reason for the
concealment.
DUTIES OF THE WILL

The will is perfected by the quest of that

which is good.
The object of the will is good, therefore
the will is perfected by the quest of that
which is good (happiness with God).
Offense Against the Duty of
Goodness
a) Scandal – gossip or the utterance of gossip
that emphasizes true or false details
damaging to another’s reputation
b) Servitude – the condition of a slave: state of
subjection to an owner or master.
Other Goods of the Soul
a. Good Name
- it is the reputation one bears among others
for uprightness and honesty, it is the
immediate jewel of the soul.

Injuries to Good Name:

a) Suspicious Judgment
b) Calumny – a false charge or misinterpretation
intended to blacken one’s reputation.
c) Detraction – the uttering of material (as false
or slanderous charges) that is likely to damage
the reputation of another.
b. Honor
- it is the natural or official dignity of a person
which rightfully calls for esteem, respect, or
consideration on the part of others.
Injuries to Honor:
a) Mockery – insulting or contemptuous action
or speech.
b) Derision – a scorn to belittle someone.
c) Contempt – the condition of having no
respect, concern or regard for
something/someone.
Freedom

Freedom – the power to choose the means

while safeguarding its final end
Freedom from – freedom from everything that coerces a
person
Coerce – to restrain or constrain by force

Two Obstacles to this Kind of Freedom:

I - Interior Obstacles
A - Ignorance – the absence of intellectual knowledge in
man
Two Types of Ignorance
 Negative – an absence of knowledge that is not
necessary to be known
 Positive – an absence of the knowledge that ought to be
present
 B -Disordered Passion (emotion/reason)
Ex: Fears, personality defect, bad habits,
psycho-disturbance

II - Exterior Obstacles
A - Biological – inherited handicaps, defects
B - Social Pressure – economic, political,
cultural
Freedom for – growing as full persons and as
children of God
Freedom of – the children of God
- the goal of this process and task of personal
freedom is to be set free from slavery to
corruption and share in the glorious freedom of
the children of God
Characteristics of Freedom
 Freedom is always relational in so far as one
cannot just do whatever he wants if it could
already harm others. This is authentically
realized when one is other-centered.
 Freedom is related to being a person: dignity
of being in the image of God.
 Freedom is related to become one’s
authentic in relation to God.
 Freedom is directed to salvation
 Freedom is a task and a process
 Freedom is always value oriented, always
directed to the good.
 Freedom is free from obstacles, impediments.
Duties of Man Towards His Body
RESPECT FOR LIFE
Human Life is Sacred
Human life is sacred because it begins by the
creative act of God; it is capable of knowing
and loving God; it has been redeemed by the
Passion and death of the Son of God, and is
destined to possess God for all eternity. As
such, it forbids unjust killing and any harm to
the integrity of our own body and soul and
those of our neighbor.
Man’s Positive Duties with Regard
to Life

Man does not own his body, God owns it.

God alone has the right to dispose it and its life
and health. Like all true goods that man may
posses, life and health, and all that pertains
directly to these goods, are to be used for the
achievement of man’s last end.
 Therefore, absolutely speaking, man is
bound to exercise ordinary care for the
conservation of life and heath.
Thus he is obliged to maintain the integrity
and perfection of his members, to take such
nourishment as is required for the proper
development or maintenance of bodily life, to
observe the requirements of reason in matters
of cleanliness and proper dress, to keep the
senses strictly under control of reason, and to
cultivate the virtues, particularly temperance
and fortitude, which give one readiness in
keeping the appetites of the flesh under due
and proper control.
Man’s Negative Duties with
regard to Life and Health
Man’s negative duties with regard to bodily life and
health oblige him to avoid the following offense
against life:

1. Deliberate Abortion- the direct killing of an unborn

child. It is an extremely grievous form of murder
because aside from destroying the life of an
innocent, defenseless victim, it also deprives that
soul of God’s grace for all eternity. The Church
imposes excommunication on all those who have
helped procure an accomplished abortion.
2. Euthanasia- also known as “mercy killing” and
is the deliberate termination of the lives of
the hopelessly ill, the aged, and social misfits
who are considered as a burden to society. It
is never permissible, since it is always either
willful murder or suicide.
3. Murder- the direct and deliberate taking of an
innocent person’s life.
4. Suicide- the deliberate taking of one’s own life upon
one’s own authority
Suicide can never, under any
circumstances, be permitted. It is an injury done to
God, to society and to the person committing it.
It is injury to God, for it usurps the right of
God, who alone is the master of life and death.
It is an injury to society, for man is an
integral part of society and is bound to promote its
welfare; and suicide, by removing himself from
society destroys its integrity and moreover sets a
horrible example to others, an example which would
mean extinction of society, were all to follow it.
Finally, suicide is an injury to the person
who commits it, for such a person acts against the
plain dictates of nature, and halts the achievement of
perfection that might have been his.
5. Direct Sterilization (Vasectomy for men and Tubal
ligation for women)
6. Anger- A desire for revenge
7. Deliberate Hatred- It is contrary to charity when one
deliberately wishes someone evil or when one
deliberately desires someone grave harm.
8. Revenge
9. Drunkenness- the abuse for alcohol
10. Drug Addiction- the use of prohibited drugs is a sin
because of its pernicious effects on one’s life and
health, as well as the grave crimes to which it leads
11. Reckless Driving- One endangers oneself or others’
safety on the road, at sea or in the air for love of
speed.
The Principle of Self
Defense
It is lawful to defend one’s life
against unjust attack even at the cost
of the life of the aggressor, provided
there is nothing inordinate in the time
or the manner in which the fatal
defensive act is performed

 The attack must be unjust

It must come from the private
authority of the attacker, or of other
private citizens, and not from justly
constituted civil authority.
 Attack must be of a serious nature
A man set upon by an enemy, who evidently
intends merely to strike him, is justified in
repelling force with force, but not in killing his
aggressor.
 There must be nothing inordinate in time at which the
fatal act of defense is performed

If you know that a man has a plan to kill you, you

are not justified in killing him before he has an
opportunity to attack you. Such an act would be a plain
homicide nor may you kill one who has murderously
attacked you, after you have escaped from danger.
Such an Act would be one of vengeance, and would also
be homicide.
It is plain, then, that the act of self-defense which
involves the taking of an aggressor’s life must be
performed at the moment of the attack or during its
continuance, and neither before nor after the attack
itself.
JUST WAR

A war is considered just when it is

declared by the proper authority in defense
of a nation’s right in a grave matter, when it
is undertaken only as a last resort after all
the possible methods of settling the dispute
have been tried, and when the war is waged,
using no more destructive means than are
necessary to achieve an early and just peace.
DEATH PENALTY
Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and
responsibility have been fully determined, the
traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude
recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only
possible way of effectively defending human lives
against the unjust aggressor. However, if non-lethal
means are sufficient to defend and protect the
people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit
itself to such means, as these are more in keeping
with the concrete conditions of the common good and
more in conformity with the dignity of the human
person.
Today, in fact, cases in which the execution of the
offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not
practically non-existent.