CHOICES

Lesson 12
Freedom of the Human Person
(Part 2- Ethics)
Mr. Edward B. Noda Jr.
 Choices: Freedom comes with great
responsibilities

❑ It is an absolute understanding that all actions have

consequences. Freedom involves choice.
❑ Chance and choosing are incommensurable. If a

person has the capacity to choose, then that person

can be held responsible over the consequences of his/
her actions.
❑ Freedom is the power to be what you want to be
and the ability to decide and create your self.
❑ Many of the characteristics that define our
personality are often a product of our choices.
Freedom gives you the ability to strive to achieve
goal.
❖ Freedom is rooted in the human person’s self determination
and the exercise of intellect and free will.
❖ A person’s actions determine what kind of person he/ she

becomes.
❑ Freedom entails certain RESPONSIBILITY
❑ Freedom requires a degree of control from
the person who exercises it (eg: addiction,
impulsive behavior)
❑ To lose control of oneself diminishes human
freedom and dehumanizes the person
What makes us
free?
How does
freedom shape
our experiences?
 2 Elements that define freedom:
1. Voluntariness- refers to the ability of a person to
act out of his/ her own free will and self
determination.

❑ Decisions are made out of his/ her own free will

❑ Also means that a person may act even if he/ she

is not required or called to take action.

❑ Voluntary acts are free acts which can be

assigned a corresponding moral value.

❑ Whenever we decide to take action, this results in

a certain consequence.
 2 Elements that define freedom:
2. Responsibility- refers to the person being
accountable for his/ her actions and their
consequence.
❑ A person who had no awareness of the
effect of his/ her actions can be considered
as acting with diminished freedom.
❑ Another reality that we have to face as we
experience/ exercise our freedom is the fact
that freedom is experienced through the act
of making choices.
The Nature of the Choices We Make
The Act of Making a Choice
Understanding the importance of being prudent in
making choices, you will realize that any deliberate
act of choosing involves evaluating the alternatives.

❑ The concept of weighing the reasons explained that

when you are choosing, the act involves not only
weighing the reasons but giving weight to reasons.

❑ After you have chosen each alternative, you will

realize that some considerations carry more weight
than the others. That is why you choose one
alternative and disregard the other.
 Ethics
❑ Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the systematic
questioning and critical examination of the underlying
principles of morality.
❑ A moral agent is a person who has the ability to discern right
from wrong and to be held accountable for his or her own
actions. Moral agents have a moral responsibility not to cause
unjustified harm.
❑ A moral decision is a choice made based on a person's ethics,
manners, character, and what they believe is proper behavior.
These decisions tend to affect not only our own well-being, but
the well-being of others.
 Intellectual Choice vs. Practical Choice
.Intellectual Choice – This is a choice which is deliberately selected
based on a moral standpoint.
❑ They are normative answers about what we ought to do from a

moral system that we uphold and its moral principles.

❑ These normative answers would take into

consideration the behavior which the society will accept.

For example, when you are to decide in a moral issue, you can try to
give intellectual choice as a normative answer. Here you are simply
assuming because you are not, as it were, facing that actual moral
situation described in the dilemma.
In this case, the answers that you are inclined to give are
prescriptive in this imaginary and hypothetical situation.
 Intellectual Choice vs. Practical Choice
Practical Choice – a choice which is borne out of psychological and
emotional considerations.
❑ Practical choices are made when confronted with the actual
situation, and usually affected by psychological aspect of the person
embroiled in the moral situation or dilemma.
For instance, psychological and emotional stress and lack of time to
deliberate during an actual moral situation may affect a person’s
moral decision in that situation. A person may be so engulfed by
emotions that he may sometimes fail to make the right choice.
Likewise, stress could make a person’s practical choice inconsistent
with his intellectual choice.
1. Was there freedom on your part in facing the situation?
2. What will you do?
3. How will you classify your choice? Is it practical or intellectual?
 Moral Dilemma
❑ Dilemma- a situation where a person is forced to choose
between two or more conflicting options, neither of which is
acceptable.
❑ When dilemmas involve human actions which have moral
implications, they are called ethical or moral dilemmas.
❑ Moral dilemmas are situations where persons, who are called
“moral agents” in ethics, are forced to choose between two or
more conflicting options, neither of which resolves the
situation in a morally acceptable manner.
 Evaluate and Exercise
Prudence in Choice
❑ When we are exercising our choice, we
must always be cautious and aware of the
choices that we make, as well as the
implications of these in the future.
❑ The capacity of an individual to make
good choices comes from his/her
accumulated experiences and values.
❑ Always remember that when we make
choices, we make choices not for ourselves
but also for the things that will affect that
choice.
 Choices: Consequences and Sacrifices
❑ We must take into consideration the necessary
sacrifices that we must take for us to grow.
❑ There are times that when we decide, we take risks,
may it be a sacrifice or consequence, and the
tendency of humans to take such daunting tasks
comes from his experiences and values.
❑ In totality, the situation and progress of a person
in a situation falls on the result, that is our goal
depends solely the weighted consequences we must
bear and the sacrifices we must endure.
How can I exercise
my freedom in a
responsible and
beneficial
manner?
❖ Human freedom, though essential is NOT ABSOLUTE
❖ Human freedom should be exercised with control and a
recognition of reasonable limits.
❖ Limiting personal freedom requires sacrifice to certain self-
interests and accept certain realities that are beyond control.
❖ Our sense of right and wrong guides us on recognizing and
deciding on the limitations to our freedom.
 ❑ Freedom should also be exercised with regard
for knowledge and truth.
❑ It is necessary to cultivate the intellectual virtue
of PRUDENCE in making sound choice.
❑ In exercising our freedom, we should also

recognize and uphold not only our individual

freedom but also the freedom of others
❑ Freedom should be exercised with due regard for
the welfare of other persons.
The “Given” and the “Chosen”

These “givens” or pre determined things do

not negate our freedom but give us the
opportunities to exercise our freedom
when we determine ourselves.
Use our freedom in a good way so that
we may become better people and better
versions of ourselves.
 Recap

Freedom 2 Elements Ethics

• Involves choice that define • Man as a moral
• Entails Freedom agent
responsibility • Voluntariness • Moral decisions
and Moral
• Responsibility dilemmas