What is Freedom?

 Psychological Argument
 Ethical Argument
 Argument from Biology
 Freedom is an intrinsic and essential  Argument from Psycho-
property of the person. social
 Freedom is rooted in the human person’s
self-determination and the exercise of REALIZE THAT “ALL ACTIONS HAVE
intellect and free will. CONSEQUENCES”
 Freedom gives us the choice to undertake Realizations:
possible actions; it enables us to come up A. Aristotle – Power of Volition
with new choices. Will - is that faculty of the mind which
selects, at the moment of decision, the strongest
Kinds of Freedom desire from among the various desires present. Will
Physical Freedom – refers to the absence of does not refer to any particular desire, but rather to
any physical restraint. the mechanism for choosing from among one's
Psychological Freedom – it is called desires. Within philosophy the will is important as
freedom of choice. one of the distinct parts of the mind – along with
Moral Freedom – refers to using freedom in reason and understanding. It is considered central to
a manner that upholds human dignity and the field of ethics because of its role in enabling
goodness. deliberate action.
1. Judgment of practical intellect needs will
Element of Freedom: 2. Reason needs will to do an action
1. Voluntariness – refers to the ability of the 3. No intellect no will
human person to act out of his or her own
free will and determination. The will of humanity is an instrument of free
 HUMAN ACTS – with full knowledge and choice. It is within the power of everyone to be
of his own will. good or bad. This is borne out by:
 ACTS OF MAN – without being master 1. Our inner awareness of an aptitude to do
and will; does not concern morals since it is right or wrong.
not voluntary. 2. The common testimony of all human beings.
3. The rewards and punishment of rulers.
MODIFIERS OF HUMAN ACTS: 4. The general employment of praise and
1. Ignorance blame.
2. Fear
3. Passion Moral acts are in power and we are
4. Violence responsible for them. Character or habit is no
5. Habits excuse for immoral conduct.
For Aristotle, a human being is rational.
Reason is a divine characteristic. If there were no
2. Responsibility – refers to the person being intellect, there would be no will. Reason can
accountable for his or her actions and their legislate but can only translate it into action. Our
consequences. will is an instrument of our free choice. REASON,
 Freedom without responsibility WILL, and ACTION drive each other.
 Responsibility without freedom B. St. Thomas Aquinas – Love Is
 Freedom and responsibility aren’t Freedom
given, they are taken. Fourfold Classification of Law:
1. Eternal Law – decree of God that governs
Actions and Consequences all creations.
 All our actions (spoken and
physical) have consequences. 2. Natural Law and Human Law
 Consequences are a result or  Applies only to human beings.
an effect of our actions.  Good is to be sought after and evil
 It is important to practice the avoided (self-preservation).
virtue of prudence before  Conceived primarily with external
performing any actions. acts and with interior dispositions.
 Prudence is an act of making  It fits just those so-called positive
good judgment that allows a laws which are what written and
person to avoid risks. enacted laws should be.
Arguments for and against the
freedom 3. Divine Law
 Arguments from Common  It deals with interior disposition as
Consent well as external acts and it ensures
 the final punishments of all
evildoings. F. Jean- Jacques Rousseau – Theory of
 Rests on reason and experience Social Contract
alone.  Both Hobbes and Rousseau agreed
 Love rather than law to bring about that the state owes its origin to a
the transformation of humanity. social contract freely entered into by
 Love – is in consonance with its members but for Rousseau, his
humanity’s free nature, for law idea is into absolute democracy and
commands and completeness. individualism. Rousseau believes
 St Thomas emphasizes the freedom that a human being is born free and
of humanity but chooses love in good. Now he is in chains and has
governing humanity’s life. Since become bad due to the evil influence
God is love, then Love is the guiding of society, civilization, learning, and
principle of humanity toward his progress. From these come
self-perception and happiness, his dissension, conflict, fraud, and
ultimate destiny. deceit. Human beings lost his
original goodness, his primitive
C. St. Thomas Aquinas – Spiritual tranquility of spirit.
Freedom  In order to restore peace, bring his
 God’s love – conscience to actions freedom back, and as he returned to
(good or evil). his true self, he saw the necessity and
 St. Thomas Aquinas establishes the came to form the state through the
existence of God as a first cause. social contract where everyone
grants his individual rights to the
D. Jean Paul Sartre – Individual Freedom general will.
 Sartre’s Philosophy is considered to
be representative of existentialism.
 For Sartre, the human person is the Intersubjectivity
desire to be God; the desire to exist
as a being which has its ground in  It is the condition of man, a subject, among
itself. There are no guideposts along other men, who are also subjects.
the road of life. The human person  It refers to the shared awareness and
builds the road to destiny of his/her understanding among persons.
choosing; he/she is the creator.  It is made possible by the awareness of the
Sartre’s existentialism stems from self and the other.
this principle: existence precedes
essence.
 Sartre emphasizes the importance of
free individual choice, regardless of Social – refers to the life of a group bound together
the power of other people to by common experiences and reactions.
influence and coerce our desires, Inter-human – refers to the life between and
beliefs and decisions. among persons; it refers to the interpersonal, that is,
a life of dialogue.
E. Thomas Hobbes – Theory of Social Seeming – where an individual presents
Contract himself/herself in a certain way when dealing with
 According to Hobbes the state owes others. Persons take on roles or act out characters
its origin to a social contract freely when dealing with certain people or when in certain
entered into by its members, His first situations.
law of nature is to seek peace. His Seeming vs. Being
second law is to mutually divest  SEEMING - is a way of
ourselves of certain rights so as to approaching the other governed by
achieve peace. The mutual the image one desires to impress
understanding of these rights is others.
called a contract and is the basis of  BEING - proceeds not from an
the notion of moral obligation and image but from what really is.
duty. Hobbes developed his idea in
favor of absolute monarchy. Hobbes Speechifying vs. Personal Making Present
thinks that to end the continuous and  SPEECHIFYING - is hearing
self-destructive condition of warfare, without listening to what one says.
humanity founded the state with its  PERSONAL MAKING PRESENT
sovereign power of control by means - is a process fully opening oneself to
of a mutual consent. the other.
 of intersubjectivity, which is the mutual
Imposition vs. Unfolding recognition of each other as persons. Inter-
 IMPOSITION - it is telling the subjectivity also carries the meaning of a
other how he/she should act and unique relationship between distinct
respond to things. subjects.
 UNFOLDING - seeing the other as
a unique singular individual Characteristics of Meaningful and Genuine
Human Relationships
Dialogue – a deeper and more genuine interaction.
This is an interaction between persons that happens 1. Empathy – ability to share emotions; is an
through speech or use of words, expressions and important aspect of intersubjectivity. This
body language. emotion is driven by a person’s awareness
that the other is a person with thoughts and
I-THOU relationship vs. I-IT relationship feelings. Empathy enables us to experience
another person’s emotions.
 Edmund Husserl (1859-1938)
 I-THOU Relationship  Is most simply stated as the
 refers to the world of interchange of thoughts and
encounter and relationship feelings, both conscious and
where there are persons. It is unconscious between two
a concrete encounter without persons or “subjects” as
any qualification of one facilitated by empathy.
another 2. Availability – willingness of a person to be
 I-IT Relationship present and be at the disposal of another.
 refers to the world of 3. Ethics of Care – is an ethical theory that
experience and sensation emphasizes the moral dimension of
where there are objects. relationships and interactions. This moral
 an individual treats other perspective encourages individuals to help
things, people etc. As an other people, most especially the vulnerable.
object to be used and 4. Alienation – view other people negatively
experienced. and consider human actions as being
influenced by selfish interests; pessimistic
OBSTACLES TO DIALOGUE AND view and often inauthentic or deceptive.
CONTRASTED WITH Considers persons as a mere object or a
means to satisfy personal interests.

Society must be founded on relationships

and bonds established through mutual respect and
recognition of human dignity. If we recognize that
the other person is the same as ourselves, if we
consider him/her as an individual with dignity, as a
person no different from us, then we will be able to
forge ties and build a community of harmony.

How do we as human people relate with others?

 Our ability to engage in meaningful

interactions with other people, our
surroundings and everything around us is
rooted in our capacity for self-awareness and
transcendence
 Interpersonal relations are made possible
when the self becomes aware of the other,
which includes everyone and everything
outside of the self
 The interaction between the self and the
other is related to the philosophical concept