Department of Education

Introduction to the
Philosophy of the
Human Person
Freedom of the Human Person
Second Quarter - Week 2

Stephen M. Bueno
Writer
Mariel Eugene L. Luna
Validator
Mark Joseph C. Fernandez David T. Libao
Quality Assurance

Schools Division Office – Muntinlupa City

Student Center for Life Skills Bldg., Centennial Ave., Brgy. Tunasan, Muntinlupa City
(02) 8805-9935 / (02) 8805-9940
 Human beings are unique – we are the only creatures capable to exercise
freedom. But this freedom has moral perspective, however, freedon is meaningful
only if the being that possesses it can evaluate action alternatives in terms of a
norms, and can then choose between these alternatives.

At the end of this module, you should be able to show situations that demonstrate
freedom of choice and the consequences of their choices.

Direction. Identify whether the following statements below is True or False. Write
your answer on a separate piece of paper.
1. Imperfect voluntariness involve a full comprehension in agent’s knowledge
and intention.
2. Voluntariness is the least essential quality of human action.
3. Human action takes place in an embodied situation.
4. Not to choose includes in freedom of action.
5. The distinction between human acts and acts of man is a convention in
moral philosophy.
6. Opinion is included in the quality of determining human action.
7. Free will is also known as freedom of choice.
8. In human action, the agent is also called the doer or the performer.
9. Perfect voluntariness involves limited knowledge and full intention.
10. Knowledge in human act does not includes the foreseeable consequence of
the action.
11. In making a choice, freedom occurs when all the alternatives are chosen.
12. Ignorance is involved when a choice is made under imperfect voluntariness.
13. Human freedom is expressed in the act of imagination and insight.
14. When an act of man is performed the agent is responsible for such act.
15. Situated freedom involves the context of the person & the social world.
 In the previous module, we have learned that self-determination is essential
aspect of human freedom. Human freedom is an important aspect in the full-
development of human person. Although significant in itself, our society which we
live in plays an important variable in the attainment of human freedom.

In this module, we will learn how evaluate and what to consider when making
choices. It also gives us a short background of relationship between morality and
freedom of choice.

Introduction
Human beings are unique – we are the only creatures capable of morality. This
moral perspective, however, is meaningful only if the being that possesses it can
evaluate action alternatives in terms of a normative perspective, and can then choose
between these alternatives. In relation to freedom, it is the freedom of alternative
possibilities: the freedom to do things or not to do them, or – as I shall put it – control
over whatever we do those things or not. It is just this freedom that we think we
possess in relation to much of our action.
Human action can only take place within the context of the concrete embodied
individual and the circumstaces of the world. Viewed in the concrete human, human
action means man choosing a concrete goal among the alternatives made possible
by the situation. In view of this chosen goal he takes up certain means. He sets up
certain course of events, chosen among several possible alternative courses, starting
from himself and his bodily powers and extending to the external world. Thus, man,
within his embodied situation, choses means toward goals. More precisely, man
chooses intermediate goals, which in turn are chosen in view of some ultimate moral
goal, which man in his very being is oriented.

Choosing Deliverately
One of the obvious arguments for the existence of human freedom is the
immediate experience of making decisions, of choosing. In many situations each day
I experience myself confronted with a number of choices and I experience myself
picking one of these alternatives. Every morning, for example, I decide which shirt I
will wear. At dinner time I decide what I will eat. In my leisure time during the day I
experience deciding how to occupy myself.
In each of these situations, I experience a variety of possible things that I can
possibly do. Then there is the experience of actually determining which of those
options is to be chosen. One is chosen and the others rejected. In this experience we
are conscious of our freedom in this process that is made up of possible option and
the choice that is made.
People who are aware of the consequences of what they do and act and live
deliberately are better to realize themselves as creative human beings. In your life
project, you are free to decide what you are about and what meaning it would be of
your existence. These are the things we can focus on examining our choices that we
will make in arriving at the most important decisions in our life. At the end of the
day, we can take a moment to ask ourselves a few questions that will help us become
more deliberate about our existence.

Freedom and Human Acts

In relation with morality, freedom means basically freedom of action. This is
more precisely, first freedom of choice of the means, second, freedom of intermediate
goals, thirdly, freedom to follow or not man’s necessary ultimate end, which whether
he chooses it or not.
Human action lends itself to the basic distinction, made by traditional moral
philosophy, between what are properly speaking human acts and acts of man.
Human acts are voluntary acts, acts that man knowingly and willingly does. They
are acts he does freely and for which he/she is responsible. On the other hand, acts
of man are acts proceeding from man, but due to lack of knowledge or lack of consent
and control, they are involuntary acts. They are not properly speaking human acts,
and thus not imputable to man. For instance, a student knowingly and freely chose
to cheat during the examination is perfectly a human act; an act commited due to
infirmity of mind or weakness of senility are acts of man. This can be a useful guide
in addressing the merit of choices, it is important first to consider whether the action
of the doer is considered a human act or act of man.

Determinants of Making a Choice

In order that an action to be human, it must possess three essential qualities:
it must be knowing, free and voluntary. These are fundamental moral experiences in
which we can evaluate our choices.

1. KNOWLEDGE
This refers to the knowledge in intellect of what one is about and what this
means. Accordingly, no human act is possible without knowledge. It cannot choose
unless it “see” to choose afforded by intellectual knowledge. In ethics, knowledge in
relation to moral acts means then the consciousness of the subject of what he is
doing, of the end he desires to accomplish, the forseeable consequence of the act, as
well as the different means he uses to perform an act. For instance, I cannot go to
the island of Boracay unless I know that there is such an island. Furthermore,
included in this knowledge is a clear intention, and the expected consequences of
going to that island.
2. FREEDOM OF WILL
The choice we make is determined by our willingness, such an act is called
free. Thus, every human act must be free. In other words, freedom is essential
element of human act. Knowledge and freedom is intrinsically connected, thus a
comprehensive and clear knowledge of one’s intention predisposes the will to act
freely and without restraint. Freedom of the will works when we are able to choose
for ourselves our course of action in accordance with what our rational judgment has
finally decided to take from various alternative.
 According to Robert Johann and Piet Fransen, the concept of free will is merely
freedom of choice. For them, freedom of choice is the right to choose one or the other
of alternative. For instance, in choosing one’s course to take in college, to be able to
said that it is free, any constraint or influence from making a choice of the agent is
absent. (cruz)

3. VOLUNTARINESS
Voluntariness is the condition or account of which an act proceeds with a
previous knowdedge of the goal. It is the essential quality of human act for it to be
present, there must ordinarily be both knowledge and freedom in the agent.
Voluntariness of human act can be perfect or imperfect. Perfect voluntariness
is present in human act when the agent (i.e., the doer, performer, actor) fully knows
and fully intends the act. Imperfect voluntariness is present where there is some
defect in agent’s knowledge, intention or in both. For example, to choose deliberately
to lie is perfectly voluntary act; while a lie in which I exaggerate the full of the story
is imperfectly involuntary.

PICK A CHOICE: This activity will make you aware with the choices you make in
life. The following choices sets the appropriate elements in determining the decision
that you will make.

Direction: Rate the following choice as:

A Choice which involves knowledge
B Choice which involves freedom of the will
C Choice which involves voluntariness

___ 1. You donate money for a cause that you have been saving for such event.
___ 2. You are determined to graduate in high school with honors.
___ 3. You decide to go to El Nido, Palawan.
___ 4. I want to be successful in my career after 10 years from now.
___ 5. I decided to take up nursing in college because of the opportunity it offers in
the future.
___ 6. You would like to take a course Engineering after graduating in High School.
___ 7. You do a good deed that you are actually enjoying.
___ 8. I would like to be an artist although my parents wanted me to be an engineer.
___ 9. You want to finish your assignment tonight.
___10. You study hard and pass your examination.
Guide Questions:
1. What statements above appeals to you the most? Why?
2. If you will make a decision, what decision would affect your life in the future?
Why? What are the elements involve?
3. What elements (i.e., knowedge, freedom of will, & voluntariness) do you think
usually affect in the choices you will make at the moment or in the future?
Why?

Direction. Show what you have learned by answering the following questions below:
A. Check your Knowledge
Using your own words define:
1. Human acts

2. Acts of man
3. Knowledge
4. Freedom of will
5. Perfect voluntariness
B. Check your Understanding
1. What is the fundamental options in your life? Explain.

2. Why are fundamental options important? Explain.

3. What is the distinction between the fundamental option and object of choice?
Explain.

FREEDOM CHALLENGE
This activity takes the form of a questionnaire. All you have to do is say for
each scenario how responsible you think the person for their actions. “Not
responsible at all” means they deserve no praise or blame for their actions;
“Completely responsible” means they should receive all the credit or blame for what
they did.
Direction: Put a check to correspond to your answer.
0 - Not responsible at all
1 - Partly responsible
2 – Largely responsible
3 – Completely responsible

0 1 2 3
1 A windsurfer not paying complete attention hits a dinghy,
knocking a child overboard, who drowns.
2 You study hard and pass your exams.
3 A drab-looking man who has had little luck in his working life
and is jealous of those who seem to have it easy doesn’t defend a
very successful and handsome colleague against an untrue
accusation.
4 You fall asleep at the wheel and come off the road, hitting only a
tree and causing minor damage.
5 You notice your bank has incorrectly credited your account, but
you don’t let them know the mistake.
6 Someone from a poor, uneducated background works hard and
eventually becomes a college professor.
7 A proud colleague failed to own up to a mistake, leaving someone
else to get the blame.
8 You see a child trapped in a burning building and you rush in
and save it.
9 Driving at 35 mph in a 30-mph zone, you run over and kill a
child.
10 You give a ticket to something you really want to see to a sick
stranger who has no other means of seeing it.
11 An on-duty traffic police officers runs into a busy road to pull a
child to safety.
12 A naturally gregarious person, given to leadership, and who has
worked with the disabled in the past, volunteers to take a group
of disabled people on an outing.
13 A mechanic hurries a safety check, leading to a break failure but
no accident.
14 You do a good deed that you actually quite enjoy doing.
15 A retired Second World War veteran on a state pension receives
an overpayment of benefits and keeps the money.
16 Someone donates money they have been saving for a treat to a
disaster.
17 An overworked doctor who has been treating victims of a terrorist
attack misprescribes a drug, leading to the death of a patient.
18 A bystander leaps into rough seas to save a child from drowning.
19 A sporty person volunteers to help on a sports day for children
with special needs.
20 One of your character weaknesses leads you to make decision
that gets someone else in trouble.
21 An ATM gives someone too much money and they don’t try to
return it.
22 A child wins the school prize for effort.
23 A single mother donates what for her is a large sum of money to
a charity for the relief of famine after seeing a television program
about starvation.
24 A volunteer classroom assistant lets some children out of his
sight in a national park with grizzly bears roaming. The children
are found safe.
Source: Adapted in Julian Baggini (2007)

How to Score
Follow the instruction step by step:
1. Fill in the grid opposite, giving a score determined by the answer you gave for
each question. So, for example, if you answered “Partly responsible” for
question 9, write in “1” in the blank space next to 9 (row a, column A).

2. Add up each set of four numbers in columns A,B,C,D, entering them into
boxes D,E,F,G,H and I.
3. Then, in J write the sum D + E + F, and in K write the sum of G + H + I.
4. Add up J and K and enter it in the “Grand total” box.

What your grand total means:

72 - You think we all have absolute free will at all times.
60-71 - You ascribe to human beings a very high degree of free will over their actions.
49-59 - You are more than willing to accept that human beings do not always act
entirely freely.
30-44 - You don’t think human beings act completely of their own free will much of
the time.
1-29 - You think this talk of free will is largely nonsense.
0 - You’re an out-and-out determinist.

How free do you really think we are?

The overall score you have already calculated gives you a general indication of
how much you ascribe responsibility to individuals for their actions. This result
probably won’t surprise you: you’ll already know if you tend to excuse people or hold
them to account. But the other scores enable you to see if there are any variations
within this general world view. To help make this clearer, it is useful to write the
scores for D-K into the last column on the grid on the next page.

Directions: Read the sentence carefully and choose the best answer. Please write it
on the space provided.
1. It is an act that is deliberately and knowingly performed by one having the
use of reason.
A. Acts of man B. Human acts C. Acts of God D. Human behavior

2. People in Bgy. Tunasan, choose to move to the evacuation center when

typhoon Ompong landed in Luzon area.
A. Acts of man B. Human acts C. Acts of God D. Human behavior

3. Which of the following types of voluntariness involves a defect in agent’s

knowledge and intention or both?
A. Perfect voluntariness B. Simple Voluntariness
B. Imperfect voluntariness D. Conditional Voluntariness

4. Which of the following actions in which the agent is not responsible?

A. human acts C. acts of man
B. acts of God D. free will

5. Which of the following is the essential quality of human act?

A. knowledge C. freedom
B. intention D. voluntariness

6. Which of the following terms has the same meaning with the word ‘free will’?
A. freedom of choice C. free to roam
B. freedom of autonomy D. free spirit

7. Which of the following choices consist the elements of human acts or

choices?
I. knowledge II. freedom III. voluntariness IV. goal
A. I, II, IV C. I, IV
B. II, III, IV D. I, II, III

8. Which of the following best describes the concept of situated freedom?

A. Freedom takes place within the context of the person & the social world.
B. Freedom always involves the deliberate choice of the agent.
C. Freedom occurs when one chooses and the others are rejected.
D. Freedom always entail responsibility of the agent.

9. In human act, the agent is also considered as:

A. actor B. doer C. performer D. all of the choices
10. Which of the following elements of human actions is involve when an agent
foresee the consequence of his/her act?
A. free will B. voluntariness C. knowledge D. purpose

11. Which of the following is the essential element of human act?

A. freedom B. intention C. circumstances D. reason

12. What is involve in perfect voluntariness of an action?

A. full knowledge & full responsibility C. full intention & responsibility
B. full knowledge & full intention D. all of the choices

13. Which of the following branch of philosophy is the distinction between

human acts and act of man is provided?
A. epistemology B. metaphysics C. ethics D. axiology

14. Which of the following statement is TRUE about the expression of human
freedom?
I. When one chooses and the others rejected.
II. Whether to choose or not to choose.
III. When one is making a decision.
IV. When a choice involves an act of man
A. II, III C. I, II, IV
B. I, II, III D. I, III, IV

15. What is to be considered when evaluating a person’s choices?

A. freedom of expression C. freedom of action
B. degree of responsibility D. deliberateness of choice

References
Baggini, Julian. (2007). Do you think what you think you think? New YorK: Plume.

Cruz, Corazon, L. (1995). Contemporary ethics. 3rd edition. Mandaluyong City:

National Book Store Inc.

Glenn, Paul J. (1965). Ethics: a class manual in moral philosophy. Mandaluyong

City: National Book Store, Inc.

Moga, Michael D. S.J. (1993). Toward authentic morality: an ethics textbook for the
Philippines. Mandaluyong City: National Book Store, Inc.

Moga, Michael D. S.J. (2012). What makes man truly human: a philosophy of man
and society. Makati City: St. Pauls.

Reyes, Ramon C. (1989). Ground and norm of morality: ethics for college students.
Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila Univesrity Press.