Ethics Lesson 5

Freedom and Moral Responsibility

 Freedom
- Freedom comes in various meanings such as the power or right to act, speak or think as one
wants without hindrance or restraint; “We do have some freedom of choice.”
- Politically, freedom is coined as liberty but relatively the same, is understood as the absence
of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government. In a sense, people enjoy
independence, self-government, self-determination, self-rule, home rule, sovereignty, non-
alignment and autonomy which they translated into democracy.
 Immanuel Kant
- “Freedom is the source of all value, other valuable things derive their value from the value of
freedom.”
- All animals have the faculty of using their powers according to will. But this will is not free. It
is necessitated through the incitement of stimuli and the actions of animals involve a bruta
necessitas [dumb necessities]. If the will of all beings were so bound to sensuous impulse
the world would possess no value.
- The inherent value of the world, the summum bonum [highest good] is freedom in accordance
with a will which is not necessitated to action. Freedom is thus the inner value of the world.
 Saint Augustine
- Meanwhile, Saint Augustine showed that human is free physically, yet bound to obey the law.
It is therefore clear that there is difference between like to do and ought to do. Humans are
naturally free to do what they are bound to do without depriving them to do what they want
to do. However, human beings are duty-bound what they ought to do as expected from them
to do.
 Mikhail Gorbachev
- Gorbachev (1988) in his time asserted that the principle of freedom is a must. Refusal to
recognize this principle will have serious consequences to the issue of world peace.
 Freedom and Freewill
- Human enjoys certain autonomy due to the gift of freewill that makes human the master of
his actions, the one who designs his own life & destiny.
- Freedom is essential in a nation. The right to freedom could be considered as the right of all
rights - it is the source of all other rights.
 Emerita Quito
- No ethics is likewise possible without human freedom.
- Human beings are only accountable to these acts and make them responsible provided the
same are done freely, whether to do or not to do, upon which morality becomes useful and
meaningful.
 Concept of Reward and Punishment
- If humans are designed to follow actions that are imposed on them to follow, then they are
not responsible for their actions.
- The concepts of reward and punishment would be irrelevant. Retribution is the serve only if
humans have the choice to do or not to do unintended action.
- Morality is the right of human to choose to do good than evil.
 Requisites for Morality
- “Morality was based on reason alone, and once we understood it, we would see that acting
morality is the same as acting rationally.” - Immanuel Kant
- This also suggest the passions, feelings and emotions are to be guided by reason in order
to act soundly and morally. So, morality cannot simply be postulated by neither personal
interest, intense desire to be happy, nor emotions to influence our choices - but REASON.
- A mere knowledge of morality will not make you mad moral. It includes application of these
principles.