CHOICES

Freedom of the Human Person

(Part 2- Ethics)
 Choices: Freedom comes with great
responsibilities

It is an absolute understanding that all actions have

consequences. Freedom involves choice.
Chance and choosing are incommensurable. If a
person has the capacity to choose, then that
person can be held responsible over the
consequences of his/ her actions.
Freedom is the power to be what you want to
be and the ability to decide and create your
self.
Many of the characteristics that define our
personality are often a product of our
choices.
Freedom gives you the ability to strive to
achieve goal.
Freedom is rooted in the human person’s
self determination and the exercise of
intellect and free will.
A person’s actions determine what kind of
person he/ she becomes.
Freedom entails certain RESPONSIBILITY.
Freedom requires a degree of control
from the person who exercises it (eg:
addiction, impulsive behavior)
To lose control of oneself diminishes
human freedom and dehumanizes the
person.
➢ What makes us free?

➢ How does freedom shape

our experiences?
 2 Elements that define freedom:
1. Voluntariness - refers to the ability of a person to act out
of his/ her own free will and self determination.
Decisions are made out of his/ her own free will
Also means that a person may act even if he/ she is not
required or called to take action.
Voluntary acts are free acts which can be assigned a
corresponding moral value.
Whenever we decide to take action, this results in a
certain consequence.
 2 Elements that define freedom:
2. Responsibility- refers to the person being accountable
for his/ her actions and their consequence.
A person who had no awareness of the effect of his/
her actions can be considered as acting with
diminished freedom.
Another reality that we have to face as we experience/
exercise our freedom is the fact that freedom is
experienced through the act of making choices.
 The Nature of the Choices We Make
THE ACT OF MAKING A CHOICE
Understanding the importance of being prudent in
making choices, you will realize that any deliberate act
of choosing involves evaluating the alternatives.
The concept of weighing the reasons explained that
when you are choosing, the act involves not only
weighing the reasons but giving weight to reasons.
After you have chosen each alternative, you will realize
that some considerations carry more weight than the
others. That is why you choose one alternative and
disregard the other.
 ETHICS
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the
systematic questioning and critical examination of the
underlying principles of morality.
A moral agent is a person who has the ability to discern
right from wrong and to be held accountable for his or
her own actions. Moral agents have a moral
responsibility not to cause unjustified harm.
A moral decision is a choice made based on a person's
ethics, manners, character, and what they believe is
proper behavior. These decisions tend to affect not only
our own well-being, but the well-being of others.
 Intellectual Choice vs. Practical Choice

Intellectual Choice – This is a choice which is deliberately

selected based on a moral standpoint.
They are normative answers about what we ought to do from a
moral system that we uphold and its moral principles.
These normative answers would take into consideration the
behavior which the society will accept.
For example, when you are to decide in a moral
issue, you can try to give intellectual choice as a
normative answer. Here you are simply assuming
because you are not, as it were, facing that
actual moral situation described in the dilemma.
In this case, the answers that you are inclined to
give are prescriptive in this imaginary and
hypothetical situation.
 Intellectual Choice vs. Practical Choice
Practical Choice – a choice which is borne out of
psychological and emotional considerations.
Practical choices are made when confronted with the actual
situation, and usually affected by psychological aspect of the
person embroiled in the moral situation or dilemma. For
instance, psychological and emotional stress and lack of time
to deliberate during an actual moral situation may affect a
person’s moral decision in that situation. A person may be so
engulfed by emotions that he/she may sometimes fail to make
the right choice. Likewise, stress could make a person’s
practical choice inconsistent with his intellectual choice.
 Moral Dilemma
Dilemma - a situation where a person is forced to
choose between two or more conflicting options,
neither of which is acceptable.
When dilemmas involve human actions which have
moral implications, they are called ethical or moral
dilemmas.
Moral dilemmas are situations where persons, who are
called “moral agents” in ethics, are forced to choose
between two or more conflicting options, neither of
which resolves the situation in a morally acceptable
manner.
 Three conditions that must be present in
moral dilemmas:
The person or the agent of a moral action is
obliged to make a decision about which
course of action is best.
There must be different courses of action to
choose from.
No matter what course of action is taken some
moral principles are always compromised.
A military doctor is attending to the needs of the wounded
soldiers in the middle of the war . Unfortunately, two soldiers
urgently need a blood transfusion. However, only one bag
of blood is available at the moment.
To whom shall the doctor administer the blood transfusion?
Evaluate and Exercise Prudence in Choice

When we are exercising our choice, we must always

be cautious and aware of the choices that we make,
as well as the implications of these in the future.
The capacity of an individual to make good choices
comes from his/her accumulated experiences and
values.
Always remember that when we make choices, we
make choices not for ourselves but also for the things
that will affect that choice.
 Choices: Consequences and Sacrifices

We must take into consideration the necessary

sacrifices that we must take for us to grow.
There are times that when we decide, we take risks,
may it be a sacrifice or consequence, and the
tendency of humans to take such daunting tasks comes
from his experiences and values.
In totality, the situation and progress of a person in a
situation falls on the result, that is our goal depends
solely the weighted consequences we must bear and
the sacrifices we must endure.
How can I exercise my freedom in a
responsible and beneficial manner?
Human freedom, though essential is NOT ABSOLUTE
Human freedom should be exercised with control and
a recognition of reasonable limits.
Limiting personal freedom requires sacrifice to certain
self- interests and accept certain realities that are
beyond control.
Our sense of right and wrong guides us on recognizing
and deciding on the limitations to our freedom.
Freedom should also be exercised with regard for
knowledge and truth.
It is necessary to cultivate the intellectual virtue of
PRUDENCE in making sound choice.
In exercising our freedom, we should also recognize
and uphold not only our individual freedom but also the
freedom of others
Freedom should be exercised with due regard for the
welfare of other persons.
The “Given” and the “Chosen”

These “Givens” or pre determined things do not

negate our freedom but give us the opportunities to
exercise our freedom when we determine ourselves.
(Chosen)Use our freedom in a good way so that we
may become better people and better versions of
ourselves.
Recap
Freedom
- Involves choice
- entails responsibility
2 elements that define FREEDOM
- voluntariness
- responsibility
Ethics
- man is a moral agent
- moral decisions and moral dilemmas