Activity 2: Freedom

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person

Name: Cueto, Erika Moira D. Date: 11/10/21

Section: ABM 11-A Activity No: 1

Freedom can indeed be a unique and different concept for each one of us. It describes our power
or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Some of us believe
that money, democracy, and political independence is freedom. In line with our topic the human
person and his freedom.

Direction: You are tasked to watch the film “The Purge” directed by James DeMonaco, the
movie was released in 2013 and tells a story of a society in which there is one day every year
when the rules of government are voided, and people are free to do whatever they want without
legal repercussions. Answer the following questions below, you will be graded based on the
given rubric. There is no limit of number of sentences.

1. Pick 1 scene in the film that demonstrates absolute freedom and elaborate it.
- Absolute Freedom refers to the act of doing what you want, how you want and
whenever you want, however, its difficult to achieve absolute freedom to the kind of society we
have. Through the film, The Purge, we were able to get a grasp of what absolute freedom is
about. For me, the scene that demonstrates absolute freedom the most in the movie is when the
sadistic gang of masked killers breaks into the Sandin Family’s house and disarmed the security
system. From there on, they started hunting down the Sandins and the man that Charlie took in.
The group also started wrecking havoc in the mansion, vandalizing everything they see. Like
what I’ve stated, In The Purge, absolute freedom is very utilized. Here, murder is seen as the
primary expression of one’s freedom despite the ability to commit any crime. That’s why, even
though it’s apparent that these sadistic killers are only exploiting the mandated event, no one can
really sue them as that’s what the annual Purge is all about. I perceive this event as an excuse to
rape, kill, loot, and destroy as much as they can over the course of a single night — and where
the Haves can prey upon the Have Nots with impunity.

2. If you have the same freedom as the characters in “The Purge, would you do the same
thing? Why Yes/No
- Proceed to murdering someone? Commit crimes? I will definitely not resort to these things.
Why? Because it’s morally wrong. I can go on with my life with a little hatred to my father and
her girlfriend for all the horrible things that they’ve done to me and my sister but I can never kill
him or his woman. It will just complicate things and my conscience will probably hunt me
forever. Plus, I’m against to the idea of an annual purge. I wouldn’t kill anyone just to blow off
some steam or stress within me and i also don’t have any intention to exploit the poor.

4. Based on the film how does moral responsibility influence the exercise of freedom?
- As seen in the film, moral responsibility played a very significant part in exercising freedom. If
you truly evaluate all the events in the film, you can actually come to a conclusion that freedom
is a pre-requisite for moral obligation because you can only be held accountable for an action if
you had the free will to act on it. Moral obligation is deeply intertwined with ethics. This notion
can be seen in the film many times such as that time when an ultimatum was given to James
Sandins. If he doesn’t deliver the man to the sadistic killers, they will kill the whole family
including the man. That’s where moral responsibility comes in. The Sandins family, particularly
James, has faced a dilemma with a clock ticking on the background. Can they sacrifice the life of
a complete stranger in order to save their lives and deal with the moral responsibility that comes
after it, or attempt to stand their ground and fight for their lives until the 12-hour purge expires.
Obviously, they chose not to hand over an innocent man as their conscience and morality
couldn’t take it, however, James Sandins died as a consequence of this decision.