GE 8 GUIDE QUESTIONS #3: Freedom and Responsibility

Prepare your answers for the Graded Recitation based on the Lecture-Video: Freedom and
Responsibility (You can also refer to the GE 8 Compilation of Readings pages 5 to 6.)

1. Can I do anything I want? Why?

No, we cannot do anything we want because, first we human beings are limited, we are not
perfect we have our faults and flaws. The kind of freedom that we have is also limited. An
imperfect being cannot have a perfect freedom, on the other hand a limited being should
have a limited freedom. Secondly, limitations are part of human life one of which is
physical limitation, we cannot choose something beyond our physical capabilities for
example one cannot choose to be a good singer if he or she cannot recognize a tone
another limitation is brought about by our given situation or circumstances in life we are
always limited by the situation or circumstances we are in.

2. In what way Responsibility serves as a proof that there is Freedom?

Responsibility is proof that there is freedom. Responsibility is born out of the choices that
we make. For example, the father leaves his wife and children because of another woman. We
judge him as an irresponsible father, we all know that the father's responsibility is to take
good care and to provide for his family. So why does the father have this responsibility
towards his family? The answer to that is based on the choice made by the person in the first
place, it was the father's decision to marry his wife and build a family, therefore it follows then
that he has to be responsible over the family. With this we can say that responsibility comes
from the choices we make and it is proof that there is freedom.

3. What do you mean by Jean-Paul Sartre’s first reason/principle about Responsibility and Freedom,
which is: “A person is in-charge of his/her own life”? Cite only one of the principles presented and
expound it.)

According to the philosopher Jean Paul Sartre, because a human person is free, he/she is
responsible not only for himself/herself but also for others and ultimately for humanity. A
person has to think for everything in his/her own life because whatever happens in your life,
you are directly affected by it. For example, a teenager wants do something stupid with the
intention of hurting his or her parents first implication of that teenagers act is his future that
will be directly affect by such action and not the future of his parents secondly the teenager
will directly face and experience whatever consequences brought about by his act of doing
something stupid, of course the parents will be hurt but not as painful as compared to the
possible things that teenager might experience.

4. What do you mean by Jean-Paul Sartre’s second reason/principle about Responsibility and
Freedom, which is: “A person is also responsible for others”? Cite only one of the principles
presented and expound it.)

Responsibility. Being accountable implies maintaining commitments and obligations.

Accepting the consequences of our actions. It implies increasing our ability. When things
go wrong, responsible people don't blame others or make excuses. For example
kindergarten pupils went on a field trip and their teacher is responsible to look out after
them but she choose to take pictures instead of looking out on the children.
Read the situation below:

There was this case that happened to a college student. After taking up his final examinations, the
student immediately went on a vacation, thinking that he already gave his best to be able to pass all
his subjects and eventually be able to graduate. He expected everything was fine and so he went on
a trip, a way of celebrating his success. A week before the graduation ceremony, he went back to
school to get his toga and commencement exercise invitation. Unfortunately, his name was not in the
list of the graduating students. He failed in one subject, and his grade had already been finalized and
no request for reconsideration was entertained. The student was not able to graduate and he had to
go back to school for one semester just for one subject.

5. Does the action of the college student show that he is responsible of himself or his own life, as
expressed in Sartre’s first reason/principle: “A person is in-charge of his/her own life”? In what way?

The student shows no responsibility for himself because he did not think any consequences
on his actions. Yes we are in-charge of our lives but we also need to consider other negative
consequences because our actions affect your future. Therefore, he need to face his
consequences because he did not think of his actions.

For example, you are drained and tired studying nursing school so you’re thinking that you
should rest but you’re still loaded with school works, therefore as a good student you choose
to finish all the works before taking a rest.

6. Does the action of the college student show that he has a sense of responsibility towards others,
as expressed in Sartre’s second reason/principle which is: “A person is also responsible for others”?
In what way?

No, he did not show any sense of responsibility to others because he still choose to get a
vacation and celebrate early instead of reaching out to his school whether he passed the
test or not. He did not consider the result of his actions, he only think the positive side not
knowing he can still fail even though he did his best on the exams.

7. In every action a person makes there will always be consequences. And based on the situation,
what was the consequence of the college student’s act that is, going on a trip to celebrate right after
the final exam? How could this consequence be avoided?

The consequence was he did not graduate because he failed his test. In order to avoid this,
first we need to consider our actions whether it is good for our future, lastly, if other people
will affect negatively by our decision. Therefore, we need to think before doing anything,
ask yourself first if this is the right thing to do, will it affect me or other people’s lives.