Download Chapter 3 – The Law as a Guide to Freedom

Chapter 3 – The Law
as a Guide to Freedom
What is Freedom?
Freedom is the power, rooted
in reason & will, to act or not
to act, to do this or that, & so
to perform deliberate actions
on one’s own responsibility.
CCC (1731)
The Second Vatican Council:
• Only in freedom can man direct
himself toward goodness . . .
Authentic freedom is an exceptional
sign of the divine image in man . . .
Man’s dignity demands that he act
according to a knowing and free
choice.
(The Church in the Modern World, 17)
Determinists
• Deny that humans have the power to
choose
• Believe that every event, action,
&/or decision results from something
independent of the human will.
– Stars control our fate (some religions)
– Personalities are fixed by environment,
upbringing, & education (psychologists
& sociologists)
– Heredity decides ie. genes, brain cells.
(biologists)
What is Freedom?
• Capacity to think & choose (God’s
image)
• Powers of reason and free will
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SELF-DETERMINING
SELF – MAKING: Our choices help form who we are –
CHARACTER CYCLE
FREEDOM
• Essentially means selecting our
own goals in life & then moving
toward them.
Kinds of Freedom
• External
– Freedom from factors outside ourselves that threaten or destroy
our power to exercise choice.
• Example: Freedom from poverty or freedom from tyranny.
Kinds of Freedom
• Internal
– Freedom from interior factors that limit choice.
• Example: Freedom from fear or freedom from addiction.