Duties of Man Towards His Soul

a) Duties of the Intellect

Man is bound to use his faculties for the achievement of his last end; this is the law of nature; for this purpose were faculties given, as is evident from their nature and function. Hence, man has the duty of exercising his intellect and of perfecting it. Now the intellect is perfected by knowledge of truth. Some truths must be known if man is to achieve his last end as a rational being, and some truths are not of this necessary character. Thus we distinguish necessary knowledge, and free or non-necessary knowledge. Man must, of necessity, know the truths that relate to the last end and the means of achieving it. Man did not establish this last end; he is not free to change it. The end is there to be achieved; man exists to achieve it: hence it is distinctly “up to man” to discover this last end and the means of reaching it. Now, the last end of man is God; and the means of reaching God and eternal happiness in the possession of God are morally-good human acts. Therefore, man must know God, and must know what makes human acts morally good, and he must know how he himself is to maintain such goodness in his acts. This is the body of necessary knowledge that man is bound to acquire. Hence, man must know God and the basic prescriptions of the natural law, and his intellect must be equipped with the virtues of wisdom and prudence. Further, man must know the special duties of his state of life and the bearing these have upon his actions towards others—for all this is required by the general ethic in the matter, viz., “man must know what makes human acts morally good, and how to maintain such goodness in his own acts.” Matters of free knowledge, matters in which, absolutely considered, man has no natural obligation, are history, science, letters, and “book-learning” in general. Still, reason counsels (but does not command) the acquiring of such knowledge, for it is rational to perfect one’s faculties in every possible way. Thus, all studies of a speculative or practical nature which have no direct bearing upon the achievement of man’s end, are matters of free knowledge. Excessive devotion to such studies, however, a devotion that would divert man from acquiring the essential and necessary knowledge which is pertinent to the achieving of his last end, is forbidden by the natural law. In all this we are speaking absolutely, i. e., without taking conditions or related considerations into account. When such considerations are brought to bear, we see that certain matters of free-knowledge become obligatory. Thus, a boy who would refuse to learn his letters or to go to school would violate the natural law which requires obedience to parents. Again, a man who would refuse to learn a trade, business, profession, or even the manner of performing acts of common labor, would violate the natural law which requires him to take ordinary care of bodily life and health in himself and in his dependents, and hence to have some means of gaining a livelihood.

b) Duties of the Will

As the intellect is perfected by the knowledge of truth, so the will is perfected by the quest of that which is good. Now the foremost good is the good of the last end. This good is, objectively, God; and subjectively it is eternal happiness in God. Hence the first obligation of the will is to tend towards the achieving of happiness in the possession of God, and therefore the will must tend towards or love God as the Supreme Good. To attain the last end, the will must follow the rule of right reason, and must acquire a readiness in this matter. Such readiness is acquired in the moral virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. These virtues are necessary to keep the will prompt in its choice of good, and in its repression of the sudden impulses of inordinate passion which would thwart the achievement of the limitless good and happiness.

Summary of the Article

In this very brief Article we have learned some important matters. We have seen that the rational science of Ethics makes clear the fact that man has great duties with regard to himself. Thus, man “owes it to himself”—and strictly owes—to know God, the duties imposed by the natural law, and the duties of his state in life. Further, man must, as science proves, tend constantly and diligently towards Almighty God and eternal happiness, and to this end he must cultivate the virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Let the student pause upon this matter and realize fully that he is learning a scientific thing. He is not being told mere pious truisms; he is not being exhorted with platitudes. Let him-know that such matters as the love of God, the cardinal virtues, the study of religion, and the things that pertain to God, are requirements of rational nature. And let him be prepared, as every Catholic above others should be prepared, instantly to resent the suggestion that there is anything soft or sentimental in living one’s life religiously. We are living in an age that delights in saying that it is a very wise age, that it is concerned with the big, vital things of life! Well, the big, vital things of life are not matters of business, or industry, or rapid transportation, or skimming through the clouds, or radio and television, or anything glorified in newspapers and magazine articles. The one big, vital thing of life is God and the attainment of God. And this is not the dictum-of a book of devotions, it is the reasoned conclusion of science!

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