Freedom of a Human Person

Freedom- The human capacity to act or not to act as we choose or prefer without any external
compulsion or restraint
- It is intrinsic and essential property of a person
- Important indication of human freedom is the ability to make choices and perform
actions.
Jean Jacques Rosseau – “Man is Born Free, but he is everywhere in Chains”

Kinds of Freedom
 Physical Freedom
- It refers to the absent of physical restraint.
- A person has the freedom of mobility to go where he wants to go.
- He is not impended in his actions by any physical force.
- Example: Travel restrictions, the will to go wherever you want
 Psychological Freedom
- Also called as the Freedom of Choice
- The person is free to perform actions that he consider as the right and
wise.
- A person is also free to act or not to act.
- Example: Choosing what you want to eat,
 Moral Freedom
- Using freedom in a manner that upholds human dignity and goodness.
- Other people can benefit from you
- Example: Donate, Doing charitable works, Conducting outreach activities
 Absolute Freedom
- The capacity to do whatever one wants to do without hindrance and
limitation.
- Disregarding laws
 Negative Freedom
- Refers to the “absence of interference”
- It may come in the form of “physical or verbal coercion”
- One is free, in the negative sense when she does not experience either
forms of coercion.
- Others are being affected by your freedom
  Positive Freedom
- It is a kind of freedom that requires active effort (the effort is exhausted
in the “control or mastery of themselves”) on the person who is said to
be free.
- Rightful actions

Existentialism
Freedom is exercised through Choices
- Freedom should not be conceived as an idea or notion.
- It is something that is exercised through our choices.
- We are the authors of our lives
Soren Kierkegarrd
Freedom as choosing for oneself that leads to personality consolidation
“In choosing, the personality is consolidated”
Jean-Paul Sartre
“Existence precedes Essence”
We are our Choices
Person begins to be somebody only as she begins to be the author of her acts, when she
start making choices for herself.
Freedom, means exercising our capacity to make decisions, choose our life path and
direct our lives through our own steering.

2 Elements of Freedom

 Voluntariness – refers to the ability of a person to act out of his/her own free will and
self-determination.
 Responsibility – refers to the person being accountable for his/her actions and their
consequences.
The Power of Volition (Aristotle)

 Volition – is the faculty or power to use or disgrace one’s will.

 If there were no intellect, there would be no will. The will of humanity is an
instrument of free choice. It is within the power of everyone to be good or bad,
or worthy or worthless.
Freedom is Spirituality and Love (St. Thomas Aquinas)

 Freedom is a manner intellectual being seek universal goodness. It is a condition of the

will arising from our nature being in the kind of world.
 Considered the human being as a moral agent.
 Our spirituality separates us from animals.

Individual Freedom (Jean Paul Satre)

 Freedom means exercising our capacity to make decisions, change our life path and
direct the course of our lives through our own steering.
 Freedom is something that is exercised through our choices.

Theory of Social Contract (Thomas Hobbes, Jean Jacques Rousseau, John Locke)

 They define the freedom of an individual in the context of having a government to rule
them (contract), which is the basis of notion of moral obligation and duty.
 Social Contract - an agreement where individuals sacrifice an amount of their freedom
and submit to higher authority.
 It is a necessity that we must assure for the government and people to work as one.
From this understanding also arises certainty that we have freedom.

Notions of Freedom

 In a non-philosophical discussion of freedom, one may say that to be free is simply to

have the liberty to make a choice from among possible alternatives.
 Politically speaking, freedom is the right and capacity of actions in the society.
 Freedom of the human person is manifested in various ways.
 A person also possesses freedom of thought.

The Act of making Choices

 The concept of weighing the reasons explained when you are choosing, the act involves
not weighing the reasons but giving weight to reasons.
 After you have chosen each alternative, you will realize that some considerations carry
more weight than other.
List of things that you would do if you were granted absolute freedom for a day. You
can list as many as you want (absolute freedom literally means no form of hindrance or
impediment would prevent you from doing what you want. For example, there will be
no laws or any form of corresponding punishment that awaits you once you do what
you intend to do.)

Imagine that all the leaders in the world would put up a global election asking everyone
if they wanted absolute freedom to be granted to everyone. Would you give a yes-vote
or no-vote?