Module 2- Lesson 2

The Human Being and his

Environment
(St. Thomas Aquinas)

Prepared by :

Mrs. Marilyn E. Dimaano

1 2

4 5

6
 THE CREATION

1 2 3

LIGHT FIRMAMENT DRY GROUND

Day & Night Sky AND PLANTS
Land & seas

4 5 6

SUN, MOON BIRDS AND LAND ANIMALS

AND STARS SEA ANIMALS AND HUMAN
7 GOD RESTED
 Genesis in Reverse
Man created skyscrapers and
expressways and covered the
earth with steel and concrete.
God created light and
separated the light from the
darkness, calling light "day"
and darkness "night."

Man dump sewage and waste

into the water. The waters
God created an expanse to become dark and murky.
separate the waters and
called it "sky."
 Man cut the trees and build
things for themselves. The forest
God created the dry ground grew thin,
and gathered the waters,
calling the dry ground
"land," and the gathered
waters "seas." On day three,
God also created
vegetation (plants and
trees).

Man trapped animals for

money and shoot them for
God created the sun, moon, sport. The animals become
and the stars to give light to scarce.
the earth and to govern and
separate the day and the
night. These would also serve
as signs to mark seasons,
days, and years.
 Man burn their refuse
(disposable materials) and let
the wind blow away the smoke
God created every living and debris. The air becomes
creature of the seas and dense with smoke and carbon.
every winged bird, blessing
them to multiply and fill the
waters and the sky with life.

God created the animals to Man makes bombs and

fill the earth. On day six, God missiles. The missiles site and
also created man and bomb dumps checkered the
woman (Adam and Eve) in landscape.
his own image to commune
with him. He blessed them
and gave them every
creature and the whole earth
to rule over, care for, and
cultivate.
 Man rested. For man was no
more.

God had finished his work

of creation and so he
rested on the seventh day,
blessing it and making it
holy.
It's necessary to consider God's existence and
nature first when we think about the world and
all creations.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

 St. Thomas Aquinas

- Christianized the philosophy of Aristotle

- Follows the principle nihil in intellectu quin prius
non fuerit in sensu (Nothing in the mind that
does not pass first through the senses)
- Moderate Realist
- Reconciles philosophy and theology
- His doctrinal method, and his disciples'
theories and innovations are regarded as
Thomism.
Five Ways of Proving the Existence
of God

1. Argument from Motion – The First Way

begins with the sense experience of
motion or change in the universe. It is
certain and evident to our senses that in
the world, some things are in motion.
Whatever is moved, is moved by
another. The First Mover is understood by
everyone as God.
Five Ways of Proving the Existence
of God

2. Argument from Causation- The Second

Way is from the nature of the efficient
cause. There cannot be anything in this
world of senses that is caused by itself
since this will be impossible. It is
admissible to have an Efficient Cause or
the First Cause of everything, which is in
itself uncaused.
Five Ways of Proving the Existence
of God

3. Argument from Contingency- The Third

Way is taken from possibility and
necessity. Nothing can cause its own
existence; it follows that there should
be a necessary being― whose
existence is explained by itself― which
accounts for possible beings. This
necessary being is God.
Five Ways of Proving the Existence
of God

4. Argument from Degrees of Perfection-

The Fourth Way is taken from the
gradation of perfection that are to be
found in things. The maximum in any
genus is the cause of all in that genus.
In this case, there must also be
something which is to all beings the
cause of all their being, goodness, and
every other perfection. The most
perfect being and highest goodness is
called God.
Five Ways of Proving the Existence
of God

5. Teleological Argument- The Fifth way is

taken from the governance of the world.
It can be observed in this world that
things act toward a certain end.
However, whatever that lacks
intelligence cannot move toward an
end, unless it is directed by some being
endowed with knowledge and
intelligence, and this being is called God
 The Nature of God

✓ Omnipotent (All- Powerful)

✓ Omniscient (Supreme Intelligence/All
Knowing)
✓ Omnipresent(Present everywhere)
✓ Eternal (Uncaused)
✓ Pure Actuality (Necessary Being)
✓ Summum Bonum (Highest Good)
 God’s Relationship with His
Creatures

God’s purpose in creation is

to communicate His
perfection.
 God’s Relationship with His
Creatures

God’s purpose in creation is to

communicate His perfection. However, the
universe contains both the corruptible and
the incorruptible entities. It is for this reason
that both happiness and pain, life and death,
joy and sadness would exist simultaneously
with one another.

Suffering and death occur not because

God will allow these evils as such but
because of the “privations” inherent and
unavoidable in creatures of different grades
of goodness.
The Nature of the Human Person

God created the human

person in His own image and
likeness
The Nature of the Human Person

God created the human person in His

own image and likeness

so it follows that he is a good being. In this

case, it is necessary that the human person
should be following his nature (as good) in
order to achieve the real purpose of his
existence. Doing evil is not in accordance with
the real nature of the human person. A human
person will know he is doing the right thing if
and when he is following the voice of his
conscience. If he heeds against it, he will fell a
sense of guilt, self-reproach, or remorse.
The Nature of the Human Person

Conscience - the concrete particular

judgment by which, in a given particular
situation, a person knows what he ought
to do.

Synderesis - the intellectual habit or

disposition by which the human person, in
any given situation, is in the possession of
the fundamental principles of morality―
do good and avoid evil.
The moral end of a person is not simply a natural end
towards which man by nature tends. It is the good in
which a person, in his innermost, yearns for and made
manifest to him in synderesis and conscience.
 The Threefold Natural Inclination
of the Human Person

Self- Just Dealings Propagation

Preservation with Others of Species

A human person The capacity of The union

is under a basic the human between both
natural person to reason the husband
obligation to out leads him to and the wife.
protect his life treat others with
and health the same dignity
the reproductive
and respect that
organs
he accords to
himself.
Three Determinants of Moral
Action

Object or the End of an Action (finis

operas)
The object is always the thing that is actually being
done. What you have chosen to do.

Intention of the Agent (finis operantis)

Why exactly you have chosen to do the action?
What is your motivation?

Circumstances (circumstantiae)
Circumstances of an Action
• e.g., age, economic status, psychological disorder, etc.
• What was the result of the action? Would it have been
different if it were something else?
Example:

An unemployed father stole bread for his

kids for they are dying from hunger.

Object or the End of an Action (finis operas) -

stole bread
Intention of the Agent (finis operantis) - they
are dying from hunger
Circumstances (circumstantiae)
-unemployed
-let us assume that the unemployed father
stole bread from a baker who badly needs to
raise money for his sick grandparent.
The unemployed father may still go to jail because he
stole bread but the sentence may be less weighty because
of the circumstances.

Remember:
Circumstances are
secondary elements;
not the core of an
action.
No matter how grave
or outlandish they may
become,
circumstances
surrounding an object
can never change an
inherently immoral
object into a good
one. But can only
change/ affect the
responsibility of the
person.
“The end does not
justify the means”
St. Thomas Aquinas
The Moral Principles as Basis of
Human Action

The Principle of Stewardship

This principle declares that the human life comes
from God and no individual is a master of his own
body. As caretakers, human beings have the
duty to take good care of the body of others.
The Moral Principles as Basis of
Human Action

The Principle of Inviolability of Life

This states that life is God’s and has been loaned to us.
No person has the right to take away one’s life as well
as the life of the others as this right only belongs to
God, nor hasten death of another person even if that
person is suffering from an incurable sickness.
The Moral Principles as Basis of
Human Action

The Principle of Double Effect

In a situation wherein doing a particular action
will yield two effects, a good one and an evil one
this principle will be used in trying to resolve the
conflict so as to obtain a better or moral result.
4 Conditions of Double Effect
a. The action directly intended must be good in
itself, or at least morally indifferent;
b. The good effect must follow from the action at
least as immediately as the evil effect;
c. The foreseen evil effect may not be intended
or approved, but merely permitted to occur;
d. There must be a proportionate and sufficient
reason for allowing the evil effect to occur
while performing the action.
The Moral Principles as Basis of
Human Action

The Principle of Totality

This principle states that an individual may be
given the right to cut off, mutilate, or remove any
defective or worn- out non- functioning part of his
body if it is for the general well- being of the whole
body, i.e., saving the whole body from a greater
harm.
The Moral Principles as Basis of
Human Action

The Principle of Sexuality and

Procreation
This principle underscores the two-fold purpose
of sexual union: unitas et procreatio (unity and
procreation) The primary purpose of sex is to
have union between the two bodies both
physically and spiritually.
 RIGHT TO LIFE
The Duty to Keep Healthy and
Rights to Take Care of Oneself
and
Duties RIGHT TO PRIVATE PROPERTY
of a The Duty to Take Care of
One’s Property and Respect
Human the Property of Others
Person
RIGHT TO MARRY
The Duty to Support One’s
Family
 RIGHT TO PHYSICAL REEDOM
Rights OR PERSONAL LIBERTY
and The Duty to Respect Private
Boundaries
Duties
of a
RIGHT TO WORSHIP
Human
Duty for Religious Tolerance
Person
RIGHT TO WORK
Duty to Perform at One’s Best
 Rights of a Human Person
1. The Right to Life- This right is the person’s highest
right among all his rights, thus, whenever this right is
threatened, all other rights will have to give way in
order to uphold this right to life.

2. The Right to Private Property- The right to own some

property in order to live a decent life. However, if
one’s property causes the oppression of others,
then this right becomes usurpation (wrongful or
illegal).

3. The Right to Marry- The right for everyone to marry.

No one is held liable to submit himself to marriage
without the consent of the person involved.
 Rights of a Human Person
4. The Right to Physical Freedom or Personal Liberty-
The right for every person to move around freely or
to go to places where he wants to go. Prisoners
cannot have this right

5. The Right to Worship- The right of a person to

pursue his or her own prerogative faith.

6. The Right to Work- The right which implies a living

wage for every citizen, i.e., to obtain a just
compensation for his work.
The Six Natural Duties of a Human
Person
1. The Duty to Keep Healthy and to Take Care of
Oneself- The duty to develop one’s capacities― the
physical as well as the intellectual and moral.

2. The Duty to Take Care of One’s Property and

Respect the Property of Others- The duty to observe
just dealings with others and to assist those who do
not have anything in order to sustain their life.

3. The Duty to Support One’s Family- The duty to bring

up the children properly and to support the family
in order to obtain a respectable living.
The Six Natural Duties of a Human
Person
4. The Duty to Respect Private Boundaries- This duty
forbids everyone to enter the premises of other
persons without the latter’s consent. This also
includes the duty to recognize the limits one’s
freedom and the privacy of the other person.

5. The Duty for Religious Tolerance- The duty to respect

other’s private relationship with God and thereby
respect the other person’s religion no matter how
absurd and how alien his manner of worship may
be.

6. The Duty to Perform at One’s Best- The duty of a

worker to render an honest day’s work. Both the
employer and the employees should be given
fairness and justice to protect each other’s rights.
End of the Lesson

Thank you

Prepared by :

Mrs. Marilyn E. Dimaano