Aquinas on Freedom
"Man has free will: otherwise counsels, exhortations, commands, prohibitions, rewards, and punishments would be in vain" (Saint Thomas Aquinas)
Hello, and welcome to the next edition of the Thomistic Tuesday series!
Today, let us consider what Aquinas taught about human freedom.
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" – this phrase is France’s motto, originating during the time of the French Revolution. At the time, it reflected the desire of many French citizens to be free from the monarchy, feudalism, and excessive taxation. Today, it reflects more broadly the desire by many to be free from past societal norms. While this has led to notable positive developments in human history, like the abolition of slavery in the United States or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, other developments, especially philosophical ones, remain contentious. Amongst them are the rise of communism and Marxism, the legalization of abortion, and transgenderism.
What is reflected in all of this is the desire of many in modern society to be “free.”
But what does freedom really mean?
The Catholic Church has responded to this through various declarations. The Catechism defines freedom as “… the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act …and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility” (CCC, 1731). Pope Saint John Paul II once stated, “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”
Aquinas treats this topic in his Summa Theologica. In it, he writes that the presence of laws, rewards, and punishments all proves that we have free will. For us humans, reason guides our free will to choose the good and act on it. Reason can be resisted, but this is not a sort of carte blanche to do whatever we want. When we let our free will be guided by reason, we are truly free, because we would be acting according to our nature.
You can learn more about the Thomistic perspective on hope by watching the Aquinas 101 video on Freedom from the Thomistic Institute.