288 FEEDOM CHARACTERIZES PROPERLY HUMAN ACTS

YOUCAT Lesson 288

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

288  Is man responsible for everything he does?

Man is responsible for everything he does consciously and voluntarily.  [1734-1737, 1745-1746]

Photo: …..Brothers Don C. (pointing) and Bill Bragg consider the uplifted and tilted bedrock forming the opposite bank of a small Upper Peninsula Michigan stream. …..288

No one can be held (fully) responsible for something he did under coercion, out of fear, ignorance, under the influence of drugs or the power of bad habits.  The more a person knows about the good and practices the good, the more he moves away from the slavery of sin (Romans 6:17; 1 Corinthians 7:22).  God desires that such free persons should (be able to) take responsibility for themselves, for their environment, and for the whole earth.  But all of God’s merciful love is also for those who are not free; every day he offers them an opportunity to allow themselves to be set free for freedom.

“The good man is free, even if he is a slave.  The evil man is a slave, even if he is a king.”  St. Augustine (354-430)

“The way to the goal begins on the day when you assume full responsibility for your actions.”  Dante Alighieri (1265-1321, Italian poet, author of the Divine Comedy)

1734-1737, 1745-1746

MAN'S FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

 …….1734    Freedom makes man responsible for his acts to the extent that they are voluntary. Progress in virtue, knowledge of the good, and self-discipline enhance the mastery of the will over its acts. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition 

…….1735    Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors. –CCC

…….1736    Every act directly willed is imputable to its author: 

Thus the Lord asked Eve after the sin in the garden: "What is this that you have done?" (Genesis 3:13.)²⁹ He asked Cain the same question.( Compare Gen 4:10.)³⁰ The prophet Nathan questioned David in the same way after he committed adultery with the wife of Uriah and had him murdered.( Compare 2 Samuel 12:7-15.)³¹

An action can be indirectly voluntary when it results from negligence regarding something one should have known or done: for example, an accident arising from ignorance of traffic laws. –CCC

…….1737    An effect can be tolerated without being willed by its agent; for instance, a mother's exhaustion from tending her sick child. A bad effect is not imputable if it was not willed either as an end or as a means of an action, e.g., a death a person incurs in aiding someone in danger. For a bad effect to be imputable it must be foreseeable and the agent must have the possibility of avoiding it, as in the case of manslaughter caused by a drunken driver. –CCC

…….1738    Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other this duty of respect. The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order.( Compare Dignitatis Humanae 2 §7)³²

IN BRIEF

…….1745   Freedom characterizes properly human acts. It makes the human being responsible for acts of which he is the voluntary agent. His deliberate acts properly belong to him. –CCC

…….1746   The imputability or responsibility for an action can be diminished or nullified by ignorance, duress, fear, and other psychological or social factors. --CCC