By: Group 1

Freedom of The
Human Person

A B O U T U S :

Certified Sivanatics
F r e e d o m o f
H u m a n P e r s o n

Introduction
This lesson highlights freedom from certain aspects. To be free is a
part of humanity's authenticity. Freedom is part of our
transcendence. For instance, students can be young and poor, but
they can still pursue their dreams. Critical thinking is an
important tool toward freedom and truth.
5.1 Realize that "All Actions Have
Consequences"
 The imperative quality of a judgment of practical intellect is
meaningless, apart from will. Reason can legislate, but only
through will can its legislation be translated into action. The
task of practical intellect is to guide will. Reason can
legislate, but only through will can its legislation be
translated into action. The task of practical intellect is to
guide will by enlightening it. Will, in fact, is to be understood
wholly in terms of intellect. If there were no intellect, there
would be no will. This is obvious from the way in which will

A. ARISTOTLE
is rationally denominated.
The Power Of Volition
The will of humanity is an instrument of
free choice. It is within the power of
everyone to be good or bad, worthy or
worthless.
This is borne out by:
• our inner awareness of an aptitude to do right or wrong;
• the common testimony of all human beings;
• the rewards and punishment of rulers; and
• the general employment of praise and blame.
Moral acts, When the
which are matter is
always
sifted down,
particular
acts, are in the happiness
our power of every human
and we are
being’s soul
responsible
for them. is in his own
Character or hands, to
habit is no
preserve and
excuse for
immoral develop, or to
conduct. cast away.
Aristotle:
Intellectual
Freedom
 St. Thomas Aquinas considers the human being as a
moral agent. We are both the spiritual and body
elements; the spiritual and material. The unity
between both elements indeed helps us to
understand our complexity as human beings. Our
spirituality separates us from animals; it delineates
moral dimension of our fulfillment in an action.
Through our spirituality, we have a conscience.
Whether we choose to be “good” or “evil” becomes
St. Thomas Aquinas
Love is freedom
our responsibility.
 A human being, therefore, has a supernatural,
transcendental destiny. This means that he can rise
above his ordinary being or self to a highest being or
self. This is in line with the idea of St. Thomas that in
the plan of God, a human being has to develop and
perfect himself by doing his daily tasks. Hence, if a
human being perseveringly lives a righteous and
virtuous life, he transcends his mortal state of life and
soars, to an immortal state of life.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Love is freedom
 Perfection by participation here means
that it is a union of humanity with
God. Change should promote not just
any purely private advantage, but the
good of the community.

St. Thomas Aquinas

Love is freedom
Fourfold classification of law:
•Eternal law
•Natural law
•Human law
•Divine law
The natural law, then, in its
ethical sense, applies only to human
beings. The first principle and
precept of the natural law is that
good is to be sought after and evil
avoided (This is the instruct of
self-preservation.) There is
inherent in every human being an
inclination that he shares with all
other beings, namely the desire to
conserve human life and forbids the
contrary.
Since the law looks to the common good
as its end, it is then conceived
primarily with external acts and not
with interior disposition.
 For Aquinas, both natural and human
laws are concerned with ends
determined simply by humanity’s
nature. However, since a human being
is in fact ordained to an end
transcending his nature, it is necessary
that he has a law ordering him to that
end, and this is the divine law, or
revelation.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Love is freedom
It also gives human beings the certitude where human reason unaided
could arrive only at possibilities. It deals with interior
disposition as well as external acts and it ensures the final
punishment of all evildoings. Neither of which is possible for human
law.
This divine law is divided into old (Mosaic) and the new
(Christian) that are related as the immature and imperfect
to the perfect and complete. We have, however, now passed
beyond philosophy, since this rests on reason and experience
alone; the analysis of the divine law is the function of
theology.
For St. Thomas, he follows the same line of thinking, but
points to a higher form of happiness possible to humanity
beyond this life, and that is perfect happiness that
everyone seeks but could be found only in God alone.
For Aristotle, the purpose of a human being is to be happy. To be
one, one has to live a virtuous life. In other words, human beings
have to develop to the full their powers – rational, moral, social,
emotional, and physical here on earth.
St. Thomas wisely and aptly chose and proposed Love rather than Law to bring about the
transformation of humanity. For Love is in consonance with humanity’s free nature, for
Law commands and complete: Love only calls and invites. Thomas emphasizes the freedom
of humanity but chooses love in governing humanity’s life. Since God is Love, then Love
is the guiding principle of humanity toward his self-perception and happiness – his
ultimate destiny.
 Actions
(Good or evil)
St. Thomas Aquinas
Spiritual Freedom

Conscience

God’s
Love

St. Thomas Aquinas establishes the existence of God as a first cause. Of all God’s
creations, human beings have the unique power to change themselves and things around them
for the better. As humans, we are both material and spiritual. We have a conscience
because of our spirituality. God is Love and Love is our destiny
Jean Paul Sartre

Individual Freedom
Sartre’s philosophy is considered to be a representative of existentialism
(Falikowski, 2004). For Sartre, the human person is the desire to be God: the
desire to exist as a being which has its sufficient ground in itself (en suicausa).
There are no guideposts along the road of life. The human person builds the road to
the destiny of his/her choosing; he/she is the creator (Srathern, 1998).
Sartre’s existentialism stems from this principle: existence
precedes essence
• The person, first of all exists, encounters himself,
surges up in the world and defines himself afterwards. The
person is nothing else but that what he makes of himself.
Sartre’s existentialism stems from this principle: existence
precedes essence
• Freedom is therefore the very core and the door to
authentic existence. Authentic existence is realized only in
deeds that are committed alone, in absolute freedom and
responsibility and which therefore the character of true
creation.
Sartre’s existentialism stems from this principle: existence
precedes essence
• The person is what one has done and is doing, not what
he/she dreams, hopes and expects.
Sartre’s existentialism stems from this principle: existence
precedes essence
• On the other hand, the human person who tries to
escape obligations and strives to be en-soi, (i.e., excuses
such as “I was born this way” or “I grew up in a bad
environment”) is acting on bad faith (mauvaisfoi).
Sartre emphasizes the importance of free individual choice, regardless of the power of
other people to influence and coerce our desires, beliefs, and decisions. To be human,
to be conscious, is to be free to imagine, free to choose, and be responsible for
one's life
 Thomas Hobbes

A Law of Nature
(lexnaturalis) is a
precept, or general
rule, found out by
reason, by which a
person is forbidden to
do that which is
destructive of his
life, or takes away
the means of
preserving the same;
and to omit that by
which he thinks it may
be best preserved.

Theory of Social Contract

 Thomas Hobbes

Peace

Theory of Social Contract

. The reasonableness of seeking peace, indicated by the first law, immediately
suggests a second law of nature, which is that we mutually divest ourselves of certain
rights so as to achieve peace. That a person be willing, when others so too, to lay
down this right to all things; and be contented with so much liberty against other
people, as he would allow other people against himself.
The mutual transferring of these rights is called a contract and is the basis of the
notion of moral obligation and duty.
 Thomas Hobbes

Hobbes continues by
discussing the
validity of certain
contracts. However,
one cannot contract
to give up his
right to self-
defense or self-
preservation since
it is his sole
motive for entering
any contract.

Theory of Social Contract

The rational pursuit of self-preservation is what leads humanity to form commonwealths
or states; the laws of nature give the conditions for the establishment of society and
government. They are the rules a reasonable being would observe in pursuing his own
advantage, if he were conscious of humanity’s predicament in a condition in which
impulse and passion alone rule and if he himself were not governed simply by momentary
impulse and by prejudice arising from passion. The State itself is the resultant of
the interplay of forces; and the human reason, displayed in the conduct expressed by
these rules, is one of the determining forces.
The laws of nature can be said to represent axioms and
postulates that render this deduction possible.
They answer the question:
:What are the conditions under which the transition
from the natural state of war to the state of human
beings living in organized societies becomes
intelligible?
These systems are rooted from human nature and are not God-given
laws. Nor do they state absolute values for, according to
Hobbes, there are no absolute values (Sorell, 1996).
In Leviathan, Hobbes asserts:
“ the fundamental law of nature seeks peace and follows it, while at
the same time, by the sum of natural right, we should defend
ourselves by all means that we can.

It follows from this that there are “some rights that no human being
can be understood by words, or other signs, to have abandoned or
transferred.” Contracts made in the state of nature are not generally
binding, for, if one fears that you will violate your part of the
bargain, then no true agreement can be reached. No contracts can be
made with animals since animals cannot understand an agreement.”
The third law of nature is that human beings perform their
covenant made. Without this law of nature, covenants are in
vain and but empty words; and the right of all human beings
to all things remaining, we are still in the condition of
war. Further, this law is the fountain of justice. When
there has been no covenant, no action can be unjust.
However, when a covenant has been made, to break it is unjust. Hobbes
adds:

“that covenants of mutual trust are invalid when there is fear of

non-performance on either part, and that in the natural condition of
war this fear is always present. It follows therefore that, there are
no valid covenants, and hence no justice and injustice until the
commonwealth is established; that is, until a coercive power has been
established which will compel human beings to perform their
covenants.”
 Thomas Hobbes

Hobbes
maintains that
human beings
seek self-
preservation
and security;
however, they
are unable to
attain this
end in the
natural
condition of
war.

Theory of Social Contract

 Thomas Hobbes

The laws of nature

are unable to
achieve the desired
end by themselves
alone; that is,
unless there is
coercive power able
to enforce their
observance by
sanctions. For
these laws, though
dictates of reason,
are contrary to
humanity’s natural
passions

Theory of Social Contract

Therefore, it is necessary that there should be a common power or government backed by
force and able to punish. This means that the plurality of individuals should confer
all their power and strength upon one human being or upon one assembly of human
beings, which may reduce all their wills, by plurality of voices, unto one will.
That is to say, they must appoint one man (or woman), or assembly of human beings, to
bear their person, a person being defined as “he whose words or actions of another
human being, or of any other thing, to whom they are attributed, whether truly or by
fiction.”Hobbes makes a distinction between a commonwealth by institution and by
acquisition.
A. A commonwealth is said to exist by institution when it has been established through
the covenant of every member of a multitude with every other member. The
multitude of human beings subjects themselves to a chosen sovereign from fear of
one another.
B. A commonwealth is said to exist by acquisition when the sovereign power has been
acquired by force. Here, human beings fear for death or bonds of that human being
who holds power over their lives and liberty.
 Neither of these commonwealths affects the
sovereignty. The subjects of a sovereign
cannot either change the form of government or
repudiate the authority of the sovereign:
sovereignty is inalienable (Sorell, 1996).
No sovereign can be unjustly put to death or in any way punished by his subjects. For,
inasmuch as every subject is author of all the sovereign’s actions, to punish the
sovereign would be to punish another for one’s own actions.
One of the prerogatives of the sovereign enumerated by Hobbes is judging
what doctrines are fit to be taught. Thus, the power of the sovereign being,
to all intents and purposes unlimited, brings forth the question of freedom
(if any) to be possessed by the subjects or ought to be possessed by them. A
point of greater importance is that subjects are absolved from their duty of
obedience to the sovereign, not only if the latter has relinquished his
sovereignty, but also if he has, indeed the will to retain his power but
cannot in fact protect his subjects any longer.
If the sovereign is conquered in war and surrenders to the victor, his
subjects become the subjects of the latter. If the commonwealth is torn
asunder by internal discord and the sovereign no longer possesses effective
power, the subjects return to the state of nature, and a new sovereign can
be set up.
 Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Rousseau is one of
the most famous and
influential
philosophers of the
French Enlightenment
in the 18th century.
In his book The
Social Contract, he
elaborated his
theory of human
nature. In Rousseau,
a new era of
sentimental piety
found its beginning.
The “Edsa Revolution” is an example, though an imperfect one, of what the
theory of Social Contract is all about. According to Hobbes and Rousseau, the
state owes its origin to a social contract freely entered into by its members.
The two philosophers differed in their interpretations. Hobbes developed his
idea in favor of absolute monarchy, while Rousseau interpreted the idea in
terms of absolute democracy and individualism.
Both have one thing in common, that is, human beings have to form a community
or civil community to protect themselves from one another, because the nature
of human beings is to wage war against one another, and since by nature,
humanity tends toward self-preservation, then it follows that they have to
come to a free mutual agreement to protect themselves.
Hobbes thinks that to end the continuous and self-destructive condition of
warfare, humanity founded the state with its sovereign power of control by
means of a mutual consent.
On the other hand, Rousseau believes that a human being is born free and good.
Now he is in chains and has become bad due to the evil influence of society,
civilization, learning, and progress. Hence, from these come dissension,
conflict, fraud, and deceit. Therefore, a human being lost his original
goodness, his primitive tranquility of spirit.
In order to restore peace, bring back to him his freedom,
and return to his true self, he saw the necessity and came
to form the state through the social contract whereby
everyone grants his individual rights to the general will.
The term of Social Contract is not an actual historical
event. It is a philosophical fiction, a metaphor, and a
certain way of looking at a society of voluntary collection
of agreeable individuals.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights constituted, as an
instance of a social contract, however, is not a metaphor,
but an actual agreement and actually “signed” by the people
or their representatives (Solomon and Higgins, 1996). The
“1986 Edsa Revolution” was not a bloody one. People gathered
in Edsa to voice their disenchantment peacefully and through
mutual effort, successfully ousted Marcos. This had inspired
changes not only in our own country but also in Eastern
Europe’s Perestroika.
Hobbes and Rousseau
Political Freedom
Sovereign/Ruler
(State)

Freedom
(General will or mutual
transferring of rights)

Citizens
(Individual rights)

There must be a common power or government which plurality of individuals (citizens)

should confer all their powers and strength into (freedom) one will (ruler).
5.2 Evaluate and Exercise Prudence
in Choices
What do we mean when we say
Prudence?
•Prudence is an act of making good judgement
that allows a person to avoid risks.

It is important to be prudent at all times to prevent harm that a

decision may cause.
For B.F. Skinner, the environment selects which is
similar with natural selection. We must take in to
account what the environment does to an organism not only
before, but also after it responds. Skinner maintains
that behavior is shaped and maintained by its
consequences.
For Yelon (1996) accepted that behavioral psychology is at
fault for having overanalyzed the words “reward” and
“punishment”.

There should be a balance in our relationship with others

and environment.
The question of freedom arises. Can an individual be
free? According to Skinner, our struggle for freedom is
not due to a will to be free as for Aristotle or Sartre,
but to certain behavioral processes characteristic of the
human organism, the chief effect of which is the
avoidance of or escape from “aversive” features of the
environment.

The feeling of freedom, according to Skinner becomes an

unreliable guide as soon as would-be controllers turn to
non-aversive measures, as they are likely to do to avoid
the problems raised when the controller escapes or
attacks. For example, a skillful parent learns to reward
a child for good behavior rather than punish him for bad.
Control becomes necessary in the issue of freedom.