Immanuel Kant argues that when you make a choice you must act under the idea of freedom.

He explains that “we cannot conceive of a reason which consciously responds to the bdding
2 from the outside with respect to its judgments.”

You may choose to act on desire, but insofar as you take the act to be yours, you think you have
3 made it your maxim to act on this desire.

The point is not that you must believe that you are free, but that you must choose as if you
4 were free.
“I will do this action, in order to get what I desire.”
“I will make it my end to have the things that I desire.”

Kant defines free will “a rational causality that is

effective without being determined by an alien cause,
including the desires and inclination of a person.”

The free will must be entirely self - determining. Yet

because it is a causality, it must act on some law or
other.

S ince the concept of causality entails that of laws it follows

that freedom is by no means lawless. The free will therefore
must have its own laws.
 Without personal freedom, any
choice of action must be between
options laid down by another,
instructing which option to select
for which scenario.
Following instructions 'religiously'
involves no moral decision since it
involves no decision at all.

Taking that further, if doing the “right” thing
rather than a more personally advantageous
“bad” thing ,where the latter carries the
threat of punishment, is also not
demonstrating morality.
To not do the advantageous bad thing
because the benefit is negated by the threat of
brimstone just means one is selecting the
“right” option because it is now in one's self
interest to do so. Not because it is the right
thing to do.
 1. The Morality of Human Acts
“Acting is morally good when the choices of freedom are
in conformity with man’s true good and thus express the
voluntary ordering of the person towards our ultimate
end: God himself.”[1]

The morality of human acts depends on:

— the object chosen;

— the end sought or the intention;

— the circumstances of the action.

“The object, the intention, and the circumstances make

up the ‘sources,’ or constitutive elements, of the morality
of human acts” (Catechism of the Catholic Church,
1750).
 C.W Lewis explained morality by using the
metaphor of flotilla

“Every ship, must be well run on its own, but

each must coordinate with all others so that
they avoid collisions and stay in formation.”
 Moral Objects
The moral value of human acts (whether they
are good or evil) depends above all on the
conformity of the object or act that is willed
with the good of the person according to right
reason.
Circumstances
Circumstances “are secondary elements of a
moral act. They contribute to increasing or
diminishing the moral goodness or evil of
human acts (for example, the amount of a theft).
Responsibility
The exercise of freedom always brings
with it responsibility before God: in
every free act we either accept or reject
God's will.
Intention
Intention is not limited to directing individual
actions, but can guide several actions toward one
and the same purpose; it can orient one's whole
life toward its ultimate end . One and the same
action can also be inspired by several intentions.
Indirect Voluntary Actions
An effect can be said to be “willed indirectly”
when it is not willed either as an end or a means
for anything else, but it is something that
necessarily accompanies the desired action.
Merit
Merit refers in general to the recompense owed
by a community or a society for the action of one
of its members, experienced either as beneficial
or harmful, deserving reward or punishment.