Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
Ministry of Basic, Higher and technical Education
Division of Lanao del Sur II
BALINDONG PACALNA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Raya, Tugaya, Lanao del Sur

Introduction to the
Philosophy of the
Human Person

Quarter 1- Module 5-Week 1

Freedom of the Human Person

NAME:
School: Balindong-Pacalna National High School Grade Level: Grade 12
Teacher: Hanan U. Walidoden Learning Area: Introduction to the Philosophy
Teaching Date: Quarter: 1st Quarter-Week1- 2 days
Teachers’ Contact Number: 09466359492

Module 5 – Wk. 1: Freedom of the Human Person

I. WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

At the end of this module, the learners will be able to:
• understand the true essence of freedom;
• exercise prudence in making choices;
• rationalize that:
a. choices have consequences;
b. some things are given up while others are obtained in making
choices, and
• show situations that demonstrate freedom of choice and its
consequences.
 Intro. To Philo. - Quarter 1, Module 5, Wk. 1-DAY 1-A

ACTIVITY 1 “Draw Me A Picture”

Draw the picture asked and answer the guide questions.
1. Draw a picture of a bird inside a cage.

1. In relation to freedom what do you think does your drawing means?

2. What do you think is the difference if the bird is inside the cage and if it is outside?
 DAY 1-A Lesson 1: Definition of Freedom and It’s Kind

What is Freedom?
➢ The ability to make choices and perform those choices.
➢ The ability to be what we want and to decide and create oneself.

Two concepts that will help us fully understand freedom:

1. Freedom itself
➢ According to Merriam Dictionary, it is the quality or state of being free. It is our
capacity to choose of what we wanted and an inner awareness of what is right
and wrong that is traced to our free will according to Aristotle. It is also an
intrinsic and an essential property of a human person which basically means, it
is a part of our human nature.

Example:
Think of yourself as a student, your teacher told you to study your lessons for
the day for you will have a long quiz the next meeting. However, as you reached home
you find yourself having a good time doing Facebook and online chatting with your
friends. Using your freedom, you can either choose to follow your teacher’s advice to
study your lessons for your quiz the next morning or continue doing the thing which you
find enjoyable.

2. Free will
Our free will allows us to decide on things we do depending on the situation. It
is our ability to choose between two different possible courses of action, independently.
Simply put it, free will is our ability to choose things according to our moral reasoning.

To sum it all, our freedom then could trace down in a person’s exercise of his
rationality/intellect and free will. Simply that individual actions as it is freely chosen by
an individual it then defines who and what kind of person one is. We all are free to
choose, to be good person and act on it accordingly or be a bad person and act in a
bad way. As our actions and choices reflects us doing what is good and acting on it is
what makes you a good person while on the other hand doing the negative will also
give a negative impression to an individual. This has been tackled on the previous
lesson that self-determination or the ability to choose on what is right and wrong, that a
person’s action determines what kind of person he or she becomes.

KINDS OF FREEDOM

1. Physical Freedom

Physical freedom refers to the absence of any physical restraint. The person has
the freedom of mobility to go where he or she wants to go. He or she is not impeded in
his or her actions by any physical force. Granted that the person has natural limitations,
physical freedom allows him or her to act and move in determined manner. You cannot
be everywhere at once, but your freedom allows you to move one place to another and
to go whenever you want to go.

2. Psychological Freedom

Psychological freedom is also called freedom of choice. The person is free to

perform actions that he or she considers right and wise. A person is also free to act or not
to act. Psychological freedom is innate and cannot be denied to a person. No outside
force or influence can compel a person to take action against his or her will.

3. Moral Freedom

Moral freedom refers to using freedom in a manner that upholds human dignity
and goodness. Freedom is not an object that a person may use in whatever way he or she
pleases. A person must use his or her freedom to grow as a person. A person becomes
freer when he or she uses freedom well, but becomes less free when he or she uses it in
a bad way. Humans have a natural inclination for what is true and good, and when a
person uses his or her freedom to do acts that violates human dignity and goodness, he
or she dehumanizes himself or herself and effectively negates human freedom.
 DAY 1-B Lesson 2: Elements of Freedom

There are two elements that define freedom:

1. Voluntariness
It is the ability of a person to act of his or her own free will and self-
determination. A person may decide to do things or not to do it according to his own
free will. It also means that even though she/he is not required to do such things he/she
could still do it or take action on it.

Voluntary acts are free acts which can be assigned a corresponding moral
value. One must always remember that in every action we make, in every choice we
make there is an equivalent consequence. These consequences affect not just the
individual who does the decision but also other people in their surroundings. With that,
one must always accept the consequences that results from his or her decisions or
actions and take responsibility for them.

2. Responsibility
Responsibility refers to the person being accountable for his or her action and
their consequences. Taking responsibility can mean either you take responsibility to
your action voluntarily or other people will hold you responsible. For example, if you
made a bad action it’s either you take responsibility of it or other people will hold you
responsible for it.
 Example of voluntariness and responsibility:

Michael invited Ken to a party club. At the club, Ken was very surprised to see his
former classmates and some acquaintances. \It was very lively, people were dancing, singing
and others were drinking and smoking. But, there is something that caught Ken’s attention, a
group of people in the corner doing something unusual. And to his surprise, Michael was one
of them. He came near to them and Michael immediately offer him a methamphetamine
(shabu). At first, he refused knowing that the use of it is illegal. However, with the persistent
effort of Michael, Ken tried it. Unexpectedly, police officers came to raid the club. Ken was
abducted.

Based on this situation, voluntariness was manifested by Ken’s personal acceptance of

the illegal drug because he uses his own freewill. Responsibility comes with Ken’s choice of
action. Meaning, he had to accept his fate to be in the prison cell as a consequence of his
freewill.

There are important factors to consider in the exercise of freedom. These are Prudence
and Self-reflection.

Prudence is the ability to govern and discipline oneself with the use of reason; it is
having caution and giving good judgments in making decisions.

Because once we made a decision there is no turning back, there is no rewind,

so we should always reflect first on the possible outcomes of the choices that we are
going to make. Self-reflection is very important in exercising freedom.

Self-reflection allows us to be more rational in making choices, because sometimes

human beings tend to be slaves by their emotions and moods whenever they act
certain things. As free beings, exercising our freedom responsibly is very important.
Thus, it requires us to reflect on the actions that we are going to make by
considering its possible effects and the benefits it has to the people affected by it.
 DAY 2 Lesson 3: Exercising Freedom in a
Responsible and Beneficial Manner

❖ Freedom should be exercised with control and reasonable limits

As humans, we enjoy freedom, but we need to understand that it is not
absolute. Meaning, we should exercise our freedom with control and reasonable
limits.

Examples:

1. A student may be first in line in a grocery store but chooses to give way to
an elderly woman next to her.
2. You may be very upset to a friend for losing a thing she borrowed but
refuses to confront her because you already know that she already feels bad of
herself for the thing she had done.
3. You may be very angry with your teacher for scolding you in front of the
entire class, but you refrained from answering back at him/her since it will be
considered as disrespectful act.

Giving limits to our personal freedom simply means sacrificing certain self-
interest and accept that there are things beyond our control. Our ability to think and
know what is right and what is wrong serves as guide in recognizing and deciding
the limitations of our freedom.

❖ Freedom should be exercised with regard for knowledge and truth

As a rational being, it is natural for us to think before we act. We use our

freedom to acquire knowledge, which in turn are useful in making right and sound
decisions essential in dealing with our life situations.
 Example:
To correctly answer a multiple-choice item in an examination, a student has to
study his/her lessons. Otherwise, he/she cannot answer the test.

We should also be equipped with the ability to acquire information and truthful
knowledge because it will aid us in making wise and informed choices.

Example:
In casting our votes during SSG election, we will not vote to a candidate
because of she/he is attractive or appealing but because she/he is
knowledgeable on the important school issues.

❖ Freedom should be exercised to uphold the freedom of others

Freedom is recognized and guaranteed right for all persons. Meaning, freedom
should be enjoyed by all. But it is important to remember that freedom should be
exercised not as a tool to restrict the freedom of others, but as a means to enable
others to fully enjoy their own freedom.

Example:

A teacher doing his/her class discussion under the Narra tree instead of having
it inside the classroom.

You shared your hard-earned money to cater the needs of your friend who is in
dire needs of it for the realization of his/her school project.
 DepEd Learning Activity Sheets (LAS)
Intro. To Philo. - Quarter 1, Module 5, Wk. 1-DAY 2
QUIZ

Name of Learner: Score:

Grade Level: Date:

ACTIVITY 1 “Next to?”

Reflect in yourself the given actions below and give possible consequences on the
given actions.

ACTION CONSEQUENCES
A student studying his/her lessons

A driver observing traffic lights

A person taking illegal drugs