THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF HUMAN LIFE PHL 5 Christian Ethics Prepared by: E. M. JAMILLA UST INSTITUTE OF RELIGION
THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF HUMAN LIFE PURPOSE is that for which an action is done. All our actions, provided they are human acts, have a purpose or end or objective. There is no human act without a purpose. Every human act has happiness for a purpose or objective. All men strive to be happy. Therefore, the over-all purpose of human life is happiness.
The concept of good and evil, from the moral point of view, is determined from man s relationship to his end or purpose, that is to say, we consider man as man. GOOD AND HAPPINESS Good is that which all men desire. - Aristotle The concepts of good and evil are most fundamental in Ethics for that is what Ethics is all about: to determine what is morally good or evil for man.
Any action that leads an individual to his end as man is morally good. Any action that separates or prevents an individual from his end as man is morally evil. Thus, it will be impossible to define the notion of what is morally good or evil without making reference to man s end as MAN.
INTELLECT AND FREE WILL Man is created imperfect. He is endowed with power and potencies or faculties through the exercise of which he grows and develops until he reaches a progressive state of perfection he did not have when he was born. It is towards this perfection that man dedicates his life. The intellect and free will are two spiritual faculties of man. Through his intellect, man discovers the Truth. Through his will, man tends towards that which the intellect presents as Good.
The intellect of man seeks the truth and will not stop until it possesses truth without error. The will of man is always inclined toward the good. Anything that is good and known as such by man, will attract his desires.
Things attract man differently because they are: useful - it renders service and facilitates work pleasant - it makes you feel good befitting his condition - it promotes healthy and vigorous life
What is now the ultimate purpose or end of man? Is it possible that HAPPINESS is the ultimate purpose of man? Could it be that HAPPINESS is the same as the GOOD that all man desires?
According to Aristotle, it is that for the sake of which everything else is desired and which is not desired for the sake of anything else. But, what is happiness? Happiness to be considered the ultimate purpose or end of man must be self-sufficient to satisfy man s aspiration. As Aristotle also says: that which when isolated makes life desirable and lacking in nothing.
Happiness even isolated makes life desirable.
It will be easy to understand that whatever happiness consists in, it will have to be something that satisfies man s total needs and aspirations, especially the needs of his superior qualities: the INTELLECT and the FREE WILL.
From what has been said it will follow that the Supreme Good being correlative of Perfect Happiness must meet several criteria among which are the most important: 1. Happiness being the last and Supreme Good must be desired for its own sake. 2. Happiness being proper to man, the Supreme good must be something that fits man as man. 3. The Supreme Good must be capable of permanent possessions.
Requirements of Lasting Happiness What can satisfy man s craving for happiness must be total, permanent, lasting and eternal. True happiness must have no admixture of pain, misery or unhappiness. So man s ultimate happiness does not consists in the possession of money, power, popularity or good looks. What can make man happy lies in the satisfaction of his capacities of man.
What makes man distinctly man are his faculties of intellect and free will, and hence man s satisfaction lies in knowing the ULTIMATE TRUTH and doing the SUPREME GOOD.
There is only one total and ultimate truth, and that is God or the Supreme Being. There is only one total and highest good, and that is God or the Supreme Being. It is only in God where we can find such perfection. He is the Perfect Truth and Supreme Goodness who alone can fully satisfy man s aspirations for knowledge and goodness.
If we therefore search ourselves deeply for the satisfaction of our deepest human desires, we would find that only the Creator can satisfy His creatures. Hence, God or the Supreme Being is the ultimate purpose of human life He alone can make man completely happy. God or the Supreme Being is the beginning as well as the end of human existence, truly the Alpha and the Omega.
It is therefore imperative for us to seek and know the TRUTH, for it is only in knowing the truth where we can strive to do the GOOD which eventually will lead us to GOD our ultimate purpose and end, the source and summit of infinite HAPPINESS.
And the truth shall set you free. - John 8:32 Jesus said, I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE - John 14:6