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PERSON is the personality of a human being so called “SELF”. Limitation is something that does or may not extend to pass
Refers to a human being granted recognition of certain rights, Possibilities the absence of contradiction or thing that may happen.
protection, responsibilities and dignity above all. Philosopher refers Transcendence is surpassing our limits or going beyond my
to the human person as the totality of an individual, possessing physical being.
awareness, self-determination and capacity to interact with others
and with himself/herself. Personhood refers to the state of being a
person. Lesson III: Freedom and Responsibility
HUMAN NATURE defines as the nature of humans especially the HUMAN ACTIONS VS ACTS OF MAN
fundamental characters and traits of humans. It refers to the
characteristics that distinguish humans from all other creatures. An act that is performed only by a human being and thus is proper
These traits are expected to arise independent of the influence of to man. Not every act that a human being does is a distinctively
culture and society. Examples: Thinking, Feeling and Acting. human act. Some acts that human
beings do are performed also by animals, e.g., vegetative acts and
What is the human person? Self-awareness refers to the person acts of perception and emotion. When a human being does such
having a clear perception of oneself, including his thoughts, acts, they are called acts of man but not human acts.
emotions, identity and actions.
Acts of man are actions shared by humans and other animals while
Self-determination refers to the capability of persons to make human acts refer to the appropriate actions of human beings. What
choices and decisions based on their own preferences, monitor and makes an act performed by a human being distinctively a human
regulate their actions, and be goal-oriental and self-directed. act is that it is voluntary, that is, an act in some way under the
control or direction of the will, which is proper to man. One can
Consequence is the result or effect of an action or condition. therefore identify the human activity with the voluntary act. A
Philosophers believe that a person acts freely and with due regard voluntary act continues either by the will - like an act of love or
for the consequences of his actions. choice - or from another human power that may be motivated by
the will, either by an act of intellect or by the sense of reasoning or
Externality refers to the capability of a person to reach out and emotion; even a gesture commanded by the will can be a voluntary
interact with others and the world. act.
Dignity refers to the innate right to be valued and respected. Aristotle’s Distinction of Voluntary and Involuntary Actions
Philosophers consider all humans as having an inherent worth or Voluntary Actions - these are acts originating from the individual
value. “You’re worthless!” is an insult since it attacks the very performing the act using knowledge about the situations of the act.
notion of a person having value or worth. Classifications of Voluntary Actions
A. Voluntary – actions are performed from will and reason.
Limitations of the Human Person B. Related to Compulsion - it is considered as mixed of
Human persons are naturally deficient beings. This means that we voluntary and involuntary. It is more voluntary if the desire
are not prepared with the best physical aspects among all the and choice has been performed and involuntary if it has
beings. Human persons do not have the natural ability to fly. considered preferences or alternatives. Example: You are asked to
perform a crime and your options are; either you do it and your
Limitations can lead to Possibilities family survives or you don’t do it but they will be murdered.
Transcendence is the ability to change, be dynamic, and 2. Involuntary Actions – are acts done under a) force or coercion
continually redefining one’s self which works withour facticity to and b).
create change. ignorance where the doer failed to understand the effect and feels
sorry
How do limitations lead to transcendence? on the result.
Facticity refers to the things in our life that arealready given. Classifications of Involuntary Actions
EXAMPLE: LIFE. We are free to define who we are and who we A. Under Compulsion – circumstances which are beyond the
are to be. control of the agent and contributes none to the action. Example: A
person was kidnapped, hence impossible to resist.
Transcendence originated from the words Trans, meaning “go
beyond”, and scandare, meaning “climb”. In the example, fulfilling HUMAN FREEDOM AND OBLIGATION
a dream requires transcendence because it opens a state of thinking According to John Mothershead, freedom and obligation are two
and feeling that there is something more in life than just physical indispensable conditions for morality to occur. Freedom is
and material things. Much like Abraham Maslow’s self- understood to be present when one is choosing a course of action,
actualization concepts, transcendence is a state of being and he or she is taking full responsibility for consequence of his
actions. Importantly, this is anchored to the individual’s moral and 2. Martin Buber (1878-1965) – is a Jewish philosopher who
rational capacity to discern what is right and wrong. introduced the “I-Thou” and “I-It” relationships to embody his
philosophy of intersubjectivity. For Buber, we have to treat another
Freedom can be said to be present if the human person is free in person as a subject (a being different from things or objects).
making choices in the realm of morality – that is, in making Persons are not inanimate objects to be used. They have their own
choices with regards to determining what is the right thing to do in mind and free will; thus, we have to respect others as we respect
situations and circumstances in his own life. This can be ourselves. “I” refers to the self and “Thou” or “You” refers to
summarized in our Filipino saying, others. This “I-Thou” relationship is the most meaningful
“Buntot mo, hila mo!” It is taking full responsibility for your relationship in the realm of humanity. The “I” is the same with the
actions and being obliged to do so. Hence, an action is not in the “Thou” and there should be mutual
full extent of morality if a person does something while his or her relationship between them. We can only recognize the self in the
freedom and rationality is altered or modified. context of the other. This is a “person-to-person” relationship,
This event can happen if the person’s environment highly affects “subject-to-subject” relation. We need to accept, respect, be
his judgement. sincere, and have dialogue with the other.