PHILO CHAPTER 5- Freedom in the Context of Morality

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FREEDOM Ethics
- Generally implies immunity from - From Geek “Ethikos” translated by
necessitation or restraining influences Cicero into Latin as “Moralis”

KINDS OF FREEDOM Morality

1. Freedom from Physical Restraint
Freedom from the shackling influence of an
extrinsic agent imposed upon the body
2. Freedom of Independence
It is the immunity from all kinds of law
- From the root word “mores”- the
customs of a particular group of
people.
- It concerns with the distinction
between good and evil and are usually
taken to refer about what people ought
to do and not to do.

3. Freedom of Choice KINDS OF ACTION

It is the immunity from internal restraint
(CHOICE is the act by which a rational agent 1. Act of Man
voluntarily determines its own action by - Action that man performs
means of a free judgment. indeliberately or instinctively

4. Freedom of Exercise 2. Human Act

It is the liberty to choose or not to choose, to - Action that proceeds from the
act or not to act. deliberate free will of man which
require rationality
5. Freedom of Specification
It is the liberty to choose on thing over CONSTITUENTS OF THE HUMAN ACT
another.
1. Knowledge
The nature of the will impels it toward its - Human proceeds from the
proper object, the good, but when it comes to deliberate will
the means to be adopted to obtain the good,
the will is free to choose one course of action 2. Freedom
over the other. - An act determined by the will
and nothing else
AUTHENTIC FREEDOM
Doing what we OUGHT TO DO 3. Voluntariness
Doing what is RIGHT - willed human act must be
Doing what is GOOD and JUST voluntary; it must be a will-act.

THE REALM OF MORALITY

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Hart hart <33
PHILO CHAPTER 5- Freedom in the Context of Morality
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DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY
NOTIONS OF HUMAN FREEDOM
1. Objects
- The human act performed the
deed done.
2. End of the Agent
- The intention of the agent (doer)
wishes to achieve by his act.
3. Circumstances
- Conditions that affect and act
and may affect it
7 CIRCUMSTANCES
1. Who (Person)
2. What (quantity /quality)
3. Where (place)
4. With what ally (means/ instruments)
5. In what condition (manner)
6. When (time)
7. Why (end of the agent)
PRINCIPLES
1. A good act becomes better when
performed with good intention
2. A good act becomes evil when
performed with an evil end
3. An evil act can never (putol ppt ni sir)
END OF HUMAN ACT
- Man does not act aimlessly
- Man’s very action is done for a
purpose
- The purpose of human act is important
because it defines the nature of an act
and reveals the moral judgment of the
doer.
Purpose or goal of an act
1. End of an act- termination or
completion of an activity
2. End of the doer- the reason (putol ppt
ni sir)
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Hart hart <33
ARISTOTELIAN VIRTUE -ETHICS
● Every human action must led to some
good.
● All of us are in agreement that
HAPPINESS (EUDAMONIA) is our
ultimate end
● And yet, we are in disagreement as to
what makes us HAPPY
● His approach is TELEOLOGICAL
meaning, “in terms of the end, or aim,
or telos.”
● To acquire virtues, one must habitually
practice in the community.
● He describes virtue, as practices in the
community, through education and
through laws which propose positive
actions.
● The telos of the human being is to
attain happiness, by habitual practicing
of the virtues
THOMISTIC CONCEPT
● “Essence precedes existence”
● Good is interchangeable to being in
other words, being is good.
● All bebings are good insofar as they
exist.
● Good is that which perfects nature
● Actual good (God)
● Potential good (Possible beings)
● In trying to attain his perfection, man
desires the good in different degrees.
● Different kinds of goods according to
how man desires it:
1. Honorable good (Good desired
for itself)
2. Useful good (good desired for
the sake of something else)
3. Enjoyable good (good desired
for the enjoyment it gives)
● Apparent good vs. real good
● Ultimate good vs. subordinate good
● Good is what man desires
PHILO CHAPTER 5- Freedom in the Context of Morality
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● Before we make choices, we have to
discern whether the attraction towards
something is truly directed towards our
perfection
● Human freedom during the modern
period- modern ethics focus on the
human action itself. The action itself
must be good, in order to attain a good
end.
IMMANUEL KANT
● Moral theory based on DUTY as the
principle of one’s action called
deontology
● DEONTOLOGY is sometimes
describes as DUTY-BASED ETHICS
or OBLIGATION-BASED ETHICS or
RULE-BASED ETHICS because
RULES bind you to your action.
● CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE implies
that we must base our actions on that
which we recognize as applicable to all
● We exercise our freedom by making
choices based on one’s imperative
duty to treat others as an end in itself
not merely a means to an end.
JEAN-PAUL SARTRE
● “Existence precedes essence”
(existentialist)
● Existentialism a philosophical thinking
that deals with human not merely as a
thinking subject, but the acting feeling,
living human individual
● One must reject the existence of
human nature and be open to the idea
of true human freedom.
● The recognition of responsibility
creates a feeling of nausea.
● Human freedom is facticity and the
consequences of this thinking implies
man has both RESPONSIBILITY and
DIGNITY of his actions.
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Hart hart <33
● Freedom for him, means having the
ability to choose because of his
consciousness of a thing.
● One must exist first- “being in the
world”-and defines himself afterwards.
FRIEDRICH NIEZSTCHE
● Nietzchean nihilism and ethics of
action
● Life sometimes becomes too
mechanical and routinary-root of
meaningless existence.
● Nihilism- the meaninglessness of life,
goalless, aimless an aftershock of all
dead Gods.
● Nihilism- a transitional period to
become superman.
● To be superman is to become a
master of will.
● He must take courage in everything in
order to discover meaning in his
human existence.
● Nihilism is part of life but only a
transitory-not an end in itself; but an
endless overcoming of the self to find
the surplus meaning of life.
● Nihilism triumphs when there is too
much ressentiment (negativities) that
one conjures an out-of-this-world will
● In order that man may find the true
meaning of his existence; it is essential
to depend solely on his capability to
act according to the dictates of his will.
● To trust our own capacity to create
values- to become the author of our
own life’s history.
● Superman- a man who is willing to
accept any challenges brought about
life.
● He needs to be accountable for his
mistakes- willing to take the
consequence and tend not to put
blame on others
PHILO CHAPTER 5- Freedom in the Context of Morality
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ALASDAIR MACINTYRE
● The present context- absence of
meaningful moral choices
● Emotivism- absence of meaningful
moral choices.
● All moral judgements are nothing but
expressions of preferences,
expressions of attitude or feeling,
insofar as they are moral or evaluative
in character
● Many individuals insist their own ideas
on a particular subject-leading to
relativism.
● They tend to express their preference
and force those how disagree with this
line of thought to make them agree
and share this particular preference.
● Each individual will now try to use
others for the pursuit of their self-
interest leads us to a manipulative
social relations, dealing with other
human beings as merely as means for
an end.
● To avoid disagreement is to adopt
communitarian perspective on
aristotelian moral theory: abandon any
reliance on a metaphysical biology.
● To avoid disagreement is to adopt
communitarian perspective on
aristotelian moral theory: characterize
the human telos in terms of a quest
undertaken within a tradition
● Any tradition must being with certain
beliefs or shared values practiced by
some people in the community.
● The actual practices and tradition are
founded on account of virtues.
● Virtues derive from a conception of the
good.

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Hart hart <33