The Intrinsic Value of the Human Person

 The Intrinsic Value of the Human Person

<snip>

Apart from Revelation, it is difficult to find a direct proof from natural law for the inviolability, sanctity, and dignity of the human person. This is because what is readily visible is the human person as that which procures pleasure, power, or possessions for society. Many people, seeing only these visible aspects believes that this is the purpose of human life.

True love and reverence [on the other hand] opens the eyes to the intrinsic value of the human person. Pride and concupiscence, on the other hand, causes blindness in this sphere. Many in our society are not esteemed as valuable if they do not produce for society.

However, an indirect rational proof for the intrinsic value of human life can be given. We can do this by looking at the consequences of denying it. We can study communism as it existed in the former Soviet Union. Countless millions were killed, enslaved, or unjustly imprisoned under this regime. It's basic premise was that the human individual was simply a means for the machinery of the state.

The human person was not recognized as having value in his or her own right. The horrors of the Soviet system flowed from this. Much of Nazi Germany was based on the eugenics movements of the early twentieth century. In this, the human person is not an end, in which a reverent distance must be maintained, but a mere means - that is, as something to be improved for the sake of society so that he can be a more efficient instrument for society. Nazi Germany followed this idea by killing all who were "unfit."

When man is seen as a mere means, it begs the question: a means for whom? The answer would always be that he is a means for the strong - that is, a means for those who have the power to impose their will. Justice and goodness can only have a foundation in the recognition of the intrinsic value of the human person. In this, one is given one's due simply because it is one's due based on a fundamental sanctity of human life.


From the Article: http://thetruephilosophy.blogspot.com/2011/04/dynamics-of-good-and-evil.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Argument Against Sex Before Marriage

  Argument Against Sex Before Marriage <snip> God's law against premarital sex can also be seen in the light of natural law. A few decades ago, when a Christian world-view was predominate in our culture, most people adhered to God's law and waited until marriage to have sex. In this day and age, when Christian culture has been largely rejected, most people do not wait until marriage for sex. Much of the rejection of Christian culture has been caused by the academia. Although there can be a valid science of psychology, as psychology is taught today, it claims that all actions are motivated by some sort of personal gain - that we only do good to receive some benefit in return. It is not acknowledged that good can be done simply because it is good. All transcendence is denied with this. This is related to the practice of sex before marriage. In the modern anti-Christian secular humanist world view, one's partner is seen only as a means of procuring pleasure and happiness
Read more

Hell is Organic, not Artificial

  Hell is Organic, not Artificial <snip> Divine justice is also organic and natural, rather than arbitrary and artificial. God does not set such-and-such a standard, and if we fail to live up to this standard He condemns us. It is not like that at all. Hell, rather, is the natural consequence of one's option for evil. When mortal sin is committed, something seriously wrong is chosen for selfish advantage. Taking someone's life because you want his property is an example. More common, is modern idolatry where God and His law are ignored for selfish advantage. This act of choosing a serious evil causes a hideous deformity to appear in the soul. A deformed act of will causes a deformed state of soul. This is a natural cause and effect link. Now the grace of God is completely incompatible with this deformity, so that when this deformity appears God's grace must depart. Mortal sin and God's grace are contradictory so it is impossible for them to be simultaneous. If a s
Read more

Heaven and Hell

  Heaven and Hell <snip> Heaven is the natural result of choosing the will of God over self. When self is emptied (in humility and self giving charity), God has room to enter. When God indwells a soul He brings order to it. A soul with God has peace. When a soul enters eternity in this state, the happiness which is given is infinite. God is an infinitely simple principle who perfectly harmonizes and unites everything in heaven around Him. Happiness is the abiding in harmony and unity. In hell, rather than everything being harmonized, everything acts independently. Each person, and each faculty within each person vies for supremacy. The result is unending conflict and torment. This is the end result of attempting to be one's own god. The forces of liberalism in society, which turns authentic freedom under law into arbitrary license, is creating hell on earth. The attraction of liberalism is an apparent freedom from constraint. However, it is a refusal to act in accordance with
Read more