5

HUMAN PERSON’S FREEDOM

1. evaluate and exercise prudence in choices

2. realize that:
2.1 choices have consequences
2.2 some things are given up while others are obtained in making choices
3. show situations that demonstrate freedom of choice and the consequences of their choices

Another day, another life to live! Mother nature really needs our help as we are her children living inside.
As we grow in her care, we are also given responsibilities to choose; and we are all accountable for our
choices. So, to be able to respond to these choices, let’s make a great deal with our freedom!

ACTIVITY NO. 1 Analyze the illustration below and give your insight
and reason for your course of action on the given situation.

Situation: In this illustration, you are given a minute to decide. You are holding the lever of the
approaching train on where you want to direct its path. If you shifted the lever to the left, your special
someone would be at stake. However, when you shift it to the right, your family will be run over by the
train. How will you act upon this situation within a given minute?
 Answer the questions briefly.

1. What is your definition of freedom?

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2. Is freedom earned or innate within us? Support your answer.

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Let’s take some notes!

During the course of discussion in the following lesson content, make sure to take significant
handwritten notes following the prescribed note-taking pattern (Cornell Note-Taking Method).

Based on your given definition of what freedom is in your perspective, let us see how other
philosophers view freedom from their perspective.
“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious than to be able to decide.”
Napoleon Bonaparte

“Freedom, in any case, is only possible by constantly struggling for it.”

Albert Einstein

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our
response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Viktor Emil Frankl

“Without freedom, I am a slave in shackles on a ship lost at sea. With freedom I am a captain; I am a
pirate; I am an admiral; I am a scout; I am the eagle soaring overhead; I am the north star guiding a
crew; I am the ship itself; I am whatever I choose to be.”
Richelle E. Goodrich

“When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.”

Charles Evans Hughes

“The history of free men is never really written by chance, but by choice; their choice!”
President Dwight D. Eisenhower

“To be free means to have control.”

Patricia Churchland
What is freedom?
Freedom is a widely applied concept in different branches of philosophy. For the sake of focus,
however, it would be important to clarify what we mean by freedom in this lesson. We begin with the
important distinction between positive and negative freedom according to Isaiah Berlin:
Negative freedom refers to “the absence of interference”. By interference, we mean
something that is intentionally imposed on a person. It may come in the form of “physical coercion”
such as kidnapping or imprisonment, or verbal coercion such as the issuing of threats to another
person. One is free, in the negative sense, when she does not experience either form of coercion.
“I am negatively free ‘to the degree to which no human being interferes with my activity’: to the
extent that I enjoy unimpeded and uncoerced choice” (Pettit, 1997:17). In short, negative freedom is
the absence of coercion interference.
Negative freedom is freedom from any block, coercion or interference.
Positive freedom is not just about the absence of coercion or interference. It is “more than just
being let alone by others.” It is a kind of freedom that requires active effort on the person who is said to
be free. The effort is exhausted in the “control or mastery of themselves” or known to be prudence.
This is freedom from coercion or interference for one to be able to do well. This kind of freedom thus
indicated something about the human person. That is, it seems to suggest “a man divided against
himself” (Pettit:17).
Here we refer to the inner struggle of a person who is pulled in opposing directions of his own
conflicting desires, wants and needs. A person who is deemed to be free in the positive sense is one
who, like a Greek hero, is able to steer the many headed-monster that is within oneself, so that all may
follow a single direction. A concrete example is when I want to attend the barrio fiesta and yet it is
examination time so I need to study for the exams. I am free when I give up the fiesta for the sake of a
more important remote goal. On the other hand, I am not free when deep in my heart I know I should
study for the exams and not be absent and yet I go to the fiesta and enjoy and do not study for the
exams.
A person who is free (possesses positive freedom) has control or mastery of herself and so
has the strength to do what is good. Policies, rules and regulations are there to ensure the good of
every person. Thus, a person who is free is hardly aware of rules and regulations that others think limit
a person’s freedom. A person who is free is not allergic to rules and regulations. Rules and regulations
help her to grow in freedom since freedom is the power or the strength to master herself to do good.
For this lesson, our focus will be on freedom in the positive sense. This kind of freedom has
been the main content of a branch of philosophy called existentialism.
Freedom for existentialists is something concrete. It is not just abstract words. My task, if I want
to be real and authentic, is to take care of this capacity to be free. My task is to define my essence not
to be imprisoned by a predefined essence of a human person. My presence is not predefined.
“Existence precedes essence,” said Sartre.
Freedom means exercising my capacity to make decisions, choose my life path and direct the
course of my life through my own steering. Hence, my task as a human person who wants to be real
and authentic is to take care of my capacity to make choices. Vices, bias, prejudices, anger, hatred,
poverty, ignorance and all other negative things weaken my capacity to choose and do what is good
for me and for others.

Is freedom coming from the inside or from the outside force?

According to Sadhguru, reactivity is enslavement; responsibility is freedom. When we are able

to create ourselves the way we want, we can create our lives the way we want as well. Our outer lives
may not be a hundred percent in our control, but our inner lives always will.
Let us consider a concrete scenario. Your pen falls off a table. If you see you are responsible for
it, you have several choices before you. You could simply bend down and pick it up. If you are unable
to do that, you could ask someone to help. Or you are not inclined to act on it right now, you might pick
it up later. You have a variety of options
Which is freedom? To have choices or to have none?
Responsibility offers you the choice of action. Action has to be judiciously performed,
depending on a careful analysis of resources – strength, capability, energy, age, or situation. Your
ability to act is always limited, but there are no limitations on your ability to respond. Your ability to
respond is the way you are. Only your ability to act is connected with the outside world. The choice
is always before you: to respond consciously to the present situation; or to react compulsively to it. That
is the real freedom.
Direction: In this generation where freedom is misunderstood a lot, your goal is to ask ten (10) people,
who are not enrolled in this subject, about their own definition of freedom. Gather all their responses
and write your own definition of freedom based on what you have learned from the module. Then,
create a digital freedom wall in a photo format or handmade artwork and scan or take a photo of it.

Role Play Skit

Direction: You are expected to create a short scenario/situation, write a script and record that
demonstrates freedom of choice and the consequences of that choice. You may choose any of the
following in presenting your skit;
A. Radio Program (Talk to Papa/Mama)
B. Virtual Talk Show
C. Role Play with any family member
D. Convo with your younger self
(Rubric for scoring is posted in the LMS.)

POWERLINK: https://youtu.be/k5wx9nECPYM
REFERENCE:

Miah, R. 35 Freedom Quotes by Famous People. Accessed on September 20, 2021 at

therichgetsricher.com/35-freedom-quotes-by-famous-people/

Sadhguru, V.J. (2016). Inner Engineering “A Yogi’s Guide to Joy”. Published by Spiegel & Grau, an
imprint of Random House, at New York, United State of America