PHILOSOPHY

(Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person)

LESSON 5: FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN PERSON

Most Essential Learning Competencies:

 Evaluate and exercise prudence in choices
 Realize that:
 choices have consequences
 some things are given up while others are obtained in making choices
 Show situations that demonstrate freedom of choice and the consequences of their choices

To be free is a part of humanity’s authenticity. Understanding freedom is part of humanity’s transcendence.

Freedom consists of going beyond situations such as physical or economic.

WHAT IS FREEDOM?

Freedom or liberty is a social and political concept which has great significance in how people
participate in society. The concept of freedom has emerged as an important philosophical issue in the 18th
century Europe during the age of enlightenment. Enlightenment thinkers believed that early man existed in a
“natural state” and had absolute freedom. However, the establishment of societies required people to surrender
some of their freedom in order to live in harmony with others and ensure the survival of society · In establishing
a society, people entered into a “social contract which defined the freedoms that they will be enjoying as
members of a society and the state·
Freedom in a political and social context means the freedom of an individual from oppression,
compulsion, or coercion from other persons, an authority figure, or from society itself. Political freedom
consists of two types of liberties: Positive liberty refers to a person taking control of his or her own life and
fulfilling one’s potential. Negative liberty is freedom from external restraint, barriers, and other interferences
from other people.

POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES ON HUMAN LINBERTY

LIBERALISM upholds the preservation of individual rights and stresses the role of the government in
protecting the civil liberties.
LIBERTARIANISM believes that the individual, not the government, is the best judge in upholding and
exercising rights.
SOCIALISM considers freedom as the freedom to acquire economic resources and the ability to work and act
according to one’s desires.

Freedom also entails the recognition of certain rights and entitlements of persons. NATURAL RIGHTS
refer to rights which are innate in the person such as right to life. These rights are considered universal and
inalienable. LEGAL RIGHTS are rights that are based on society’s customs and laws and are enacted by
legislation enforced by the government. The enjoyment of these rights is based on citizenship.

THEOLOGICAL VIEWS define freedom as freedom from sin and living a life of righteousness. Christians
define freedom in context of living in accordance with the will of God.

WHAT MAKES US FREE? HOW DOES FREEDOM SHAPE OUR EXPERIENCE?

FREEDOM in its simplest sense is the freedom to make choices in life. Philosophers relate human
freedom to the concept of human agency, which refers to the capacity of a person to act and exert control
over his or her behavior. HUMAN FREEDOM is expressed in two ways: Freewill the capacity to choose
from alternative courses of action or decision; and Free action the freedom to perform an action without any
obstacles or hindrances.

PERSPECTIVE REGARDING THE NATURE OF FREE WILL AND HOW IT INFLUENCE HUMAN
ACTION

The faculties model refers to free will as the use of our mental faculties. It assumes that we have free
will due to our intellect and that each human action is based on rationality and sound judgments. The
hierarchical model argues that freewill is based on human wants and desires. An individual is faced with
various wants and desires that need to be met. A person exercises freewill when he or she identifies one desire
as acceptable and decides to act on it. The reason responsive view believes that man has free will because he
or she is able to entertain reasons not to enact a certain decision and act upon them when the need arises. For
example, a person decides to cross the street but sees a car rapidly approaching. He or she exercises free will by
choosing not to cross the street and allow the speeding car to pass.

WHAT CAN PREVENT US FROM EXERCISING FREEDOM?

1. Constraints on free action include external obstacles such as prohibitions, laws, and other social controls
imposed by society
2. Disability or sickness, or coercion by another person
3. Weather, accidents, or poverty
4. Manipulation and brainwashing

DETERMINISM VS. FREE WILL

Determinism believes that every event in the world is brought about by underlying causes or factors. If
man is free indeed, how can he exercise his free will and action in a world where events are already determined
by outside forces? (Example a person with terminal illness).
Marxism believe that society imposes certain controls on people, and that a person’s social group
largely influences how he or she thinks or acts. This view believes that man is essentially constrained by
society.
Theologians discuss free will against the concept of omniscient God. Most theologians agree that God,
despite being all-knowing, grants us the ability to choose our actions. God’s grace however enables us to be
guided toward welfare, growth and salvation.

HOW CAN WE EFFECTIVELY EXERCISE FREEDOM IN OUR LIFE?

1. Moral responsibility (refers to a person’s status of deserving a praise and reward or blame and punishment for
an action.) Christian doctrine establishes that all good, moral actions will result in rewards such as blessings and
salvation, while evil deeds merit punishment both in this world and in the afterlife
2. Control and regulation are necessary in the responsible exercise of freedom
3. Our interactions with other people in society adopting the concept of social contract.

REALIZE THAT “ALL ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES”

A. ARISTOLE – THE POWER OF VOLITION

Volition- the faculty or power of using one's will. "Without conscious volition she backed into her
office". If there were no intellect, there would be no will. The will of humanity is an instrument of free choice.
It is within the power of everyone to be good or bad, worthy or worthless. This is borne out by: “our inner
awareness of an aptitude to do right or wrong, the common testimony of all human beings, the rewards and
punishments of rulers and the general enjoyment of praise and blame. Moral acts are in our power and we are
responsible for them. Character or habit is no excuse for immoral conduct. For Aristotle, a human being is
rational. Reason is a divine characteristic. Humans have the spark of the divine. If there were no intellect, there
would be no will. Reason can legislate, but only through will can its legislation be turned into action. Our will is
an instrument of free choice. Reason, will and action drives each other

B. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS – LOVE IS FREEDOM

Of all creatures of God human beings have the unique power to change themselves and the things
around them for the better. St. Thomas Aquinas considers man as a moral agent. Through our spirituality, we
have a conscience. Whether we choose to be good or evil becomes our responsibility · Human beings therefore
has a supernatural transcendental destiny. If a human being perseveringly lives a righteous and virtuous life, he
transcends his mortal state of life and soars to an immortal state of life. Perfection can only be done in
cooperation with God.
Human beings have the unique power to change themselves and the things around them for the better.
Human beings are moral agent: both spiritual and material. Through our spirituality, whether we choose to be
“good” or “evil” becomes our responsibility. Human beings has a supernatural, transcendental destiny. If a
human being perseveringly lives a righteous and virtuous life, he transcend his mortal state of life and soars to
an immortal state of life. The power of change, however, can only be done by human beings through
cooperation with God. Perfection by participation means that it is a union of humanity with God.

Aquinas’ 4-fold classification of laws

1. Natural law- in its ethical sense, applies only to human beings. The first principle and precept of natural law
is that good is to be sought after and evil avoided. A person should not be judged through his actions
alone but also through his sincerity behind his acts. Natural and human laws are concerned with ends
determined simply by humanity’s nature.
2. Human law
3. Divine law- or revelation is a law ordering humans to transcend his nature.
It gives human beings the certitude where human reason unaided could arrive only at
possibilities.
It deals with interior disposition as well as external acts.
It ensures that final punishment of all evildoings.
4. Eternal law is the decree of God that governs all creation. It is “that Law which is the Supreme Reason and
cannot be understood to be otherwise than unchangeable and eternal.”

For St. Thomas, the purpose of a human beings is to be happy, same as Aristotle, but points to a higher
form of happiness possible to humanity beyond this life, the perfect happiness that everyone seeks but could be
found only with God. St. Thomas wisely chose and proposed Love rather than law to bring about the
transformation of humanity. For love is in consonance with humanity’s free nature, for Law commands and
complete; love only calls and invites St. Thomas emphasizes the freedom of humanity but chooses love in
governing humanity’s life. Since God is love, then Love is the guiding principle of humanity toward his self-
perception and happiness – his ultimate destiny.

C. JEAN PAUL SARTRE- INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM

Sartre’s existentialism stems from this principle: existence precedes essence. The person first exists,
encounters himself and surges up in the world then defines himself afterward. The person is nothing else but
what he makes of himself. The person is provided with a supreme opportunity to give meaning to one’s life. In
the course of giving meaning to ones’ life, one fills the world with meaning.
Freedom is, therefore, the very core and the door to authentic existence. Authentic existence is realized
only in deeds that are committed alone in absolute freedom and responsibility and which, therefore, the
character of true creation. The person is what one has and is doing. On the other hand, the human person who
tries to escape obligation and strives to be en soi (on swa or in itself) is acting on bad faith (mauvise foi = movis
fwa).
Sartre emphasizes the importance of free individual choice, regardless of the power of other people to influence
and coerce our desires, beliefs and decisions. To be human, to be conscious, is to be free to imagine, free to
choose and be responsible for ones’ life.

E. THOMAS HOBBES – THEORY OF SOCIAL CONTRACT

A Law of Nature (Lex Naturaliis) is a precept or general rule established by reason, by which a person is
forbidden to do that which is destructive of his life or takes away the means of preserving the same; and to omit
that by which he thinks it may be best preserved. Hobbes conclude that in order to preserve our lives:
1. We should seek peace (firsts law of nature)
2. Mutually divest ourselves of certain rights (CONTRACT)
3. That person be willing when others so too
4. To lay down this right to all things
5. And be contented with so much liberty against other people, as he would allow other people against himself.

In Leviathan Hobbes asserts: “The fundamental law of nature seeks peace and follows it, while at the
same time, by the sum of natural right, we should defend ourselves by all means that we can. The third natural
law of nature is that human beings perform their covenant made. It is necessary that there should be a common
power of or government backed by force and able to punish. This means that the plurality of individual should
confer all their power and strength upon one human being (appoint one man) thereby a commonwealth is
created.

Commonwealth (a political community founded for the common good) by institution and by
acquisition.
1. A commonwealth is said to exist by institution when it has been established through the covenant of every
member of a multitude with every other member. The multitude of human beings subjects themselves to a
chosen sovereign from fear of one another.
2. A commonwealth is said to exist by acquisition when the sovereign power has been acquired by force. ·
Sovereign (a supreme ruler, especially a monarch) is inalienable. One of the prerogatives of a sovereign is to
judge what doctrines are fit to be taught. The power of the sovereign being to all intents and purposes unlimited,
brings forth the question of freedom to be possessed by the subjects.

F. JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU (vs. Thomas Hobbes)

One of the most famous and influential philosophers of the French Enlightenment in the 18th century. In
his book The Social Contract he elaborated his theory of human nature. According to Hobbes and Rousseau,
the state owes its origin to a social contract freely entered into by its members. The differed in their
interpretation: Hobbes developed his idea in favor of absolute monarchy, while Rousseau, interpreted the idea
of absolute democracy and individualism. Both have one thing in common, human beings have to form a
community or civil community to protect themselves from one another because the nature of human beings is to
wage war against one another, and since by nature, humanity tends toward SELF-PRESERVATION, then it
follows that they have to come to a free mutual agreement to protect themselves.
Hobbes think that to end continuous and self-destructive conditions of warfare, humanity founded the
state with it sovereign power of control by means of mutual consent. On the other hand, Rousseau believes that
a human being is born free and good. Now, he is in chains, and has become bad due to evil influences of
society, civilization and progress. Hence from these come dissension, conflict, fraud and deceit. Therefore, a
human being lost his original goodness, his primitive tranquillity of spirit. Everyone should grant his individual
rights to the general will – The Social Contract.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights constituted as an instance of Social Contract is an agreement and
actually signed by the people or their representatives - Sovereign ruler - Freedom (general or mutual –
transferring of rights - Citizens (individual rights) · There must be common power or government which the
plurality of individuals (citizens) should confer all their powers and strength into (freedom) one will (ruler).
 ACTIVITIES

A. What can you say about the pictures below? Have you been in this kind of situation? What are the things that
you considered in making choices?

B. As a Grade 12 student, you have made some important life decisions in the past. Make a time- line of major
decisions in your life and below the line then write down the consequences of those particular decisions.

Life Decisions

12 years old 16 years old 18 years old

Consequences

C. What is the message of the picture?