Integrated Montessori Center Taguig

Fort Bonifacio, Taguig

Senior High School

Sy. 2019 - 2020

FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN PERSONS:

ARE HUMAN BEINGS REALLY FREE?

Reyes

Grade 11- Uranium (Stem)

Philosophy of the Human Person: An Introductory text for Senior High School

Sir Joseph

September 13, 2019

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction
II. Body
A. Freedom as an Illusion
B. Humans having Self-Determination
C. Human Person as a Being Condemned to be Free
D. Human Freedom and Divine Foreknowledge
III. Conclusions
IV. Citations

I. INTRODUCTION

Freedom, according to Merriam Webster, is “the quality or state of being free”. Such as the
absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice, having independence, unrestricted use of
actions, and a political right. The term “Freedom” can be interpreted in many ways depending on
what views and perspectives you are looking at. Freedom is a key concept in philosophy where
there are many theoretical views and claims that either support or oppose the definition of it.

Do we really have a freedom of choice? Does God already have plans for us? Is freedom an
illusion? Questions like these arises when talking about freedom, but one of the most frequently
asked question today, especially when politics is involved, is “Are we really free? Do we have
freedom?”. The fact that most philosophers who tackled and explained their view about freedom
are mostly modern philosophers, can prove that freedom is not that easy to define unless
experienced fully. Freedom may be simple in the eyes of many, but if you start philosophizing it,
you will really see that it is deeper than you think.

II. BODY

Everybody practices freedom, even choosing to live and to breathe is freedom. We deliberate and
choose a course of action that will later lead into a consequence. The story of Oedipus is an
example of how we, humans, struggle to make a choice in our life, not knowing if we are free to
make our own paths, or we simply cannot escape our fate like Oedipus. According to the Greek
legend, when Oedipus was born, a prophecy foretold that he would kill his father and marry his
mother. So, his father left baby Oedipus in the wilderness, assuming he would die, and the
prophecy would then not come true. But the baby Oedipus was adopted by a passing stranger took
care of him. Cutting the story short, Oedipus who did everything to avoid the prophecy, did not
succeed. Ironically, his will of avoiding the prophecy to happen, made the prophecy happen. Fate
in this scenario, according to both Aristotle and Sigmund Freud: “Oedipus was not in control of
his actions, but in fact, was acting in a manner that was a part of his fate. Aristotle, found that
Oedipus the King was not only an influential myth but also as a source of what defines true
tragedy.”

According to Ryan Oliver D. Bautista, SDB, MA: Origin of Man’s Freedom

“Freedom is existence, and in it, existence precedes essence.” – Jean Paul Sartre

Ryan Oliver D. Bautista, SDB, MA of Don Bosco College, Laguna, used Jean-Paul Sartre’s vision
of man’s condemnation to recognize and give claims about the Origin of freedom. Wherein
according to his paper: “Freedom coincides at its roots with the nothingness that is at the heart of
man. For man, to be is to choose himself. Nothing comes to him either from without or from within
the self that he can receive or accept.”

4 TYPES OF FREEDOM:

1. Physical freedom - the possibility for a person to go where he/she wants and do what s/he
wants
2. Spiritual freedom - the privilege of being able to express one's thoughts or to live according
to one's outlook
3. National freedom - the authority which enables a person to identify and to live with others
of his/her people
4. State freedom - the ability of a person to live (preferably in his/her own land) under a
government of his/her choosing
OUTLINE OF VIEWS/PERSPECTIVES ABOUT HUMAN FREEDOM

A. FREEDOM AS AN ILLUSION

Pan – Determinism is the “the view which disregards human’s capacity to be free”. It states that
our actions are influenced and determined by our biological, psychological, and sociological
conditions. (Frankl 1973)

1. Biological Determinism

Biological Determinism states that our genetic and biological make-up plays a vital role in
human behavior. Meaning, one’s actions are dominated and influenced by its traits, attitude,
personality, and other biological factors. According to International Encyclopedia of the Social
Sciences, Biological determinism refers to the idea that all human behavior is innate,
determined by genes, brain size, or other biological attributes.

2. Psychological Determinism

Sigmund Freud, the father of the school of psychoanalysis, believes that human actions are
not free. He believes that your choice is predetermined because of the manifestation of
human’s mental state or levels of consciousness, which humans are not aware of. Given this
concept, freedom for Sigmund Freud is an Illusion.

The 3 levels of the mind:

a. Conscious Level

The Unconscious Mind Article by Saul McLeod states, that Freud (1915) described
conscious mind, which consists of all the mental processes of which we are aware, and
this is seen as the tip of the iceberg.

b. Pre-Conscious Level

The Unconscious Mind Article by Saul McLeod states: The preconscious contains
thoughts and feelings that a person is not currently aware of, but which can easily be
brought to consciousness (Freud,1924). It exists just below the level of consciousness,
before the unconscious mind. The preconscious is like a mental waiting room, in which
 thoughts remain until they 'succeed in attracting the eye of the conscious' (Freud, 1924,
p. 306).

c. Unconscious Level

The Unconscious Mind Article by Saul McLeod states: According to Freud (1915),
the unconscious mind is the primary source of human behavior. Like an iceberg, the
most important part of the mind is the part you cannot see.

3. Sociological Determinism

According to B.F skinner (1971), human behavior is shaped by external conditions and not
by the inner- self. Human actions can either have positive or negative reinforcement as
consequences and reasons of pursuing an action. The 4 major social institutions namely:
the family, the school, the church, and the state, have instill us upon their values, morality,
religion, etc. Freedom based in this view, wherein human behavior is environmentally
determined, is an illusion.

B. HUMANS HAVING SELF-DETERMINATION

Victor E. Frankl, an Australian philosopher, says that all persons are biologically,
psychologically, and sociologically determined. Human freedom does not exist in a vacuum.
Freedom does not stop with these 3 conditions, rather all these conditions serve only as the spring
boards of human freedom. (Frankl 1973, 75-76)

1. Against Biological Determinism

For Frankl (1973, 83) “Biological destiny is the material which must be shaped by the free
human spirit.” Even if you lack the capacity to do something because of your biological
conditions, you can still go far beyond what your biological conditions permits you to do.

Claim/Evidence: The life of Nick Vujicic, a man born without arms and legs, but with
his strong will, faith in himself, and determination he was able to transcend his physical
condition in order to succeed in life.
 2. Against Psychological Determinism

Freud is correct that these mental states condition human behavior, however, to condition does
not mean to determine. Plato also said that the reason has the power to govern both our appetite
and emotions. But Immanuel Kant states that humans sometimes act according to their desires
but they have the capacity to choose what is right. This capacity is a proof of human freedom.
Humans have the power to be aware of their consciousness and use this to their advantage
rather than being driven by them.

Claim/Evidence: The life of Regina Paz "Gina" López, a Filipino environmentalist and
philanthropist, who died last Aug 19, 2019. She died because of brain cancer and multiple
organ failure, according to ABS-CBN. She is a proof that Against Psychological
Determinism for she was fully aware of what was happening with her body. And still, she
chose to be aware and used it as an inspiration to push through her advocacies about nature.

3. Against Psychological Determinism

A human person, according to Frankl, is not a mere object or should be compared to any
mechanical being because unlike them, he/she is self-determining. A person has the freedom
to determine his/her own thoughts and actions, and the surroundings are not capable of taking
this capacity away. (Frankl 1963) A person is capable of changing his/her environment because
he/she is free to create or destroy, and no one can take this away from him/her. (Frankl 1963,
206)

Claim/Evidence: The life of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, a South African anti-apartheid

revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist. Nelson Mandela was arrested in 1962
and sentenced to five years' imprisonment with hard labor. He determined his path and was
not driven by his surroundings and environment during his imprisonment. He even later
became a president.

C. HUMAN PERSON AS A BEING CONDEMNED TO BE FREE

1. Essence and Existence
 For Jean Paul Sartre, “Existence comes before essence”, meaning how a person has lived his/her
life – that is his/her own existence. A human person does not have a pre-destined and pre- given
nature. He/she will decide whether He/she use his/her existence to have and essence in life. While
the essence of a human person for Aristotle, is rationality. Wherein rationality defines him/her as
a person and what makes him/her unique that can separate him/her from other people. There is no
universal meaning of life and there is no universal way by which a person should live his/her life.

2. Abandoned to be free

Human beings encounter problems from time to time, may it be petty or not. In times of problems,
we feel abandonment, the state of being thrown into one’s existence with nothing to cling to. We
pray and ask comfort from other people realizing that we have no one to turn to. You are abandoned
to be free according to Sartre (1975). Abandonment is a price of freedom. In this point of life, you
have to choose whether to make a new path or stay where you are. As the poem Invictus goes:
“You are the master of your fate and the captain of your soul”, you are in control of your life.
Meaning, the path of life was not yet made, rather you have the power to create or destroy a path
of your own.

3. Freedom in Despair

Life, according to Sartre, is nothing in the beginning. We create our own fate and our own destiny.
We are free to live what we want to be, but not all things go as how we planned it to be. There are
times that things happen against our will and we are not to be blame because even if we have
freedom, we cannot control the world. According to Sartre: “We have control over our will but we
have no control over the things beyond our will”.

4. Life in Action

According to Sartre, we are what our actions are. In our journey in life, we plan and commit
ourselves, but we still don’t get what we want. But, as Sartre claims: It is in our ability to create
and to recreate ourselves where our worth lies. We must have engagement, perseverance, and
commitment in everything that we want, who knows maybe this time, things will happen according
to your plan.
D. HUMAN FREEDOM AND DIVINE FOREKNOWLEDGE

If God exists and he knew already what you will be in the future, doesn’t that contradict our
freedom of choice? If God had the foreknowledge of the choices we will make even before we
were born, doesn’t that make us unfree?

According to the Center for Philosophy of Religion, some think the best way to handle this threat
to freedom is to hold that future claims aren't true yet and so can't be known in advance or that
God refrains from foreknowing to make room for freedom or even that God is outside of time all
together. According to Alvin Carl Plantinga, an American analytic philosopher who works
primarily in the fields of philosophy of religion, epistemology, and logic, we all have the
capabilities to do whatever we want. We can choose whatever we want. And with this, God knew
that we will only pick one specific path. God believed we would choose this path because he saw
already where we put our commitment most. Therefore, the threat of God’s foreknowledge is
removed and no longer pose a threat from having our free will.

III. CONCLUSIONS
We human beings are free and no one can take that away from us. From what I researched, I
agree most with these 3: Humans having Self-Determination, Human Person as a Being
Condemned to be Free, and Human Freedom and Divine Foreknowledge. I do not believe that
freedom is an Illusion. Freedom is a choice that everyone makes every minute of the day. The
reason why humans tend to think that they are not free is because of the consequences. There are
some people who think that freedom is a license that can enable you to do everything you want.
Yes, we are free but as said in my research, we cannot control the world.

I also believe that we can go beyond our biological, psychological, and sociological conditions. I
agree with Victor E. Frankl belief with freedom. Jean Paul Sartre’s vision is very relatable in every
sense. When I was reading his view on freedom, it was like reading my life and it answered the
questions why I had to choose this decision. Sartre’s view, really made an impact to me which
made me realize, that if we are not free, then our lives would be so much easier because our lives
are already programmed and pre-determined. And lastly, I believe in Human Freedom and Divine
Foreknowledge wherein we have capacity to do anything as long as you have the commitment and
perseverance. God’s foreknowledge does not conflict with our free will. Remember that God gave
us freewill, but he also gave us intellect. He gave humanity freedom for he knows and trusts that
we will use our intellect to choose the better things. As the saying goes in the University of the
Philippines: “Huwag matakot, makibaka”, freedom is choosing to go beyond our fears and
expectations in life.

IV. CITATIONS & REFERENCES

Books:
Camiloza et al., (2016). Philosophy of the human person. Quezon Avenue, Quezon City,
Philippines: PHOENIX PUBLISHING HOUSE

Readings/Papers:

Bautista, R.O. (2014). Jean-Paul Sartre’s vision of man’s condemnation to responsible

freedom. Don Bosco College, Canlubang, Laguna: University of Santo Tomas Graduate
School Volume 1

McLeod, S.(2009). Unconscious Mind. Available at

https://www.simplypsychology.org/unconscious-mind.html

Internet/Articles/Videos:

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, Sept 6). Oedipus Greek Mythology.
Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Oedipus-Greek-mythology

Study moose authors. (2016, Jul 09). Oedipus – A Freud and Aristole View. Retrieved
from https://studymoose.com/oedipus-a-freud-and-aristole-view-essay

Crash Course Philosophy. (2016, August 15). Determinism vs Free Will: Crash Course
Philosophy #24. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=vCGtkDzELAI
Jewish Agency. Definition and types of freedom. Retrieved from
http://archive.jewishagency.org/educator-and-family-perspectives/content/24250

Gale, T. (2008). Biological-determinism. International Encyclopedia of the Social

Sciences

Retrieved from https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/biology-and-

genetics/biology-general/biological-determinism

Roggers, K. (2019). Nelson Mandela's Imprisonment. World History Project

Retrieved from https://worldhistoryproject.org/1962/10/nelson-mandelas-imprisonment

Merriam-Webster. Meaning of Freedom. Meriam-Webster

Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freedom

Center for Philosophy of Religion. (2018, Feb 9). Human Freedom and Divine
Foreknowledge. Center for Philosophy of Religion

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6IDtae6nJc

ABS-CBN News. (2019, August 19) . Gina Lopez dies at 65. ABS-CBN News

Retrieved from https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/08/19/19/gina-lopez-dies-at-65