The END of HUMAN ACT

Prof. Fernandino J. Pancho

What is the purpose of human life? Where are we going? What is our destiny and what is the

way to attain it?

“No Man can be normal unless he has an aim in life, proper to

his human nature.”

“A Man without any aim or good purpose is either permanently

insane or in the state of desperation.”

Nature of the END

An END is that towards which an action tends.

– Every human activity tends towards the direction of an end (purpose, aim, goal, mission, master plan of an action)

– Any human act, with knowledge of the mind and consent of the will, pursues an end which is good for the whole human being.

End is distinguish into:

Proximate End – is an immediate end on account of which an action is immediately performed.

Intermediate End – is a subordinate end sought for the attainment of another end.

End is distinguish into:

Ultimate End – is an end on account of which other ends or means are sought.

Absolute Last End – is the end for the sake of which all other things are desired, and which is not itself desired for the sake of anything else. (St. Thomas)

Example: A Student who study hard in his/her lessons.....what are his/her end?

Pass the exam and have good grades (proximate end)

Please himsel/herself/parents/professor; scholar, famous in school...etc. (intermediate end)

To grauduate with flying honors (Bachelor’s Degree)

(ultimate end) To get a good and fine job

(absolute last end)

Other classifications

End of the action – it is the intrinsic purpose of the action.

End of the agent – it is the good or purpose that an agent has in mind.

Principles

Every agent that performs an action acts for the sake of the end or purpose to be attained.

– Human life is in fact made of a continuous series of means related to cetain ends ---- proximate and intermediate --- or related to the ultimate and absolute last end of life.

Principles

Every agent acts for an ultimate or absolute last end.

– This is the origin of all human movements and the first cause of all human actions.

– Without this ultimate end in mind there will be no action.

– If there were no last end, nothing would be desired nor would any action have its term nor would the intention of the agent be at rest. (St. Thomas)

Principles

Every agent has the power of moving for an end which is suitable or good for him.

– Every agent acts for a Good (St. Thomas)• The Good is that which satisfies the appetite; the

object of our striving; the thing which can confer perfection and satisfaction to ourselves, especially our human faculties (Intellect and will).

Why we pursue the GOOD?

Why we think for our own good or the good of others?

The reason is......

No human being wants to be....

Nature of Happiness

Happiness – is a state made perfect by the aggregation of all good things.

– From the first to the last moment of our existence, life revolves around one desire --- the DESIRE to be HAPPY.

– All men have happiness as their object.– The way to happiness must indeed be difficult

since it is seldom discovered. (Spinoza)

How......we search....our HAPPINESS?

There is a state where one possess all the good things in this world. (Imperfect Happiness)

Example:– Wealth– Health of the Body– Luxuries of Life– Glory, prestige, honor, social glamor, fame

Are the goods of the world gives us Perfect Happiness?

All the goods in this world are only give us Imperfect Happiness

External goods are necessary but will not give us the very essence of happiness, the ultimate happiness.

External goods serve as instrument only to make us temporarily happy.

How......we search....for HAPPINESS?

There is a state where one possess the ultimate good which nothing more can be desired. (Perfect Happiness)– The ultimate achievement of an intellectual

nature (St. Thomas)

Christian point of view

GOD alone can offer man the unlimited perfection and the infinite good which will fulfill the human desire for happiness and ultimate satisfaction.

GOD is the ultimate end of man.

St. Augustine

“Following after God is the desire of happiness; to reach God is

happiness itself.... For whoever possesses God is happy”

St. Thomas

For perfect happiness, the intellect and the will needs to reach the very essence of the First Cause. (Perfect Knowledge & Supreme Good)

The final perfection of the human intellect and will is by union with God, who is the first principle both of the creation of the soul and of its enlightenment.

Now, Hu & Wat myks u....

Be HAPPY and be BLESSING of HAPPINESS

to EVERYONE.

Thank you & God Bless!