Lesson 5

Freedom of the
human person

By Group 4
 Introduction
This lesson will highlight freedom from the
intellectual, political, spiritual and economic
aspects. To be free is a part of humanity’s
authenticity. In one way, understanding freedom
is part of our transcendence. Freedom consists of
going beyond situations such as physical or
economic. For instance, Filipino students may be
young and poor, but they can still pursue their
dreams of becoming a professionals.

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aristotle
The Power of Volition
The imperative quality of a judgment of practical
intellect is meaningless apart from will. Reason can
legislative but only through will can its legislation
be translated into action. For others, reason is
limited to thoughts that could be realized into
actual action and behavior. 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 was no intellect, there would be
no will.

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Thomas Aquinas
Love is Freedom
Of all creatures of God, human beings have the unique power
to change themselves and the things around them for the
better. Humans are the only creatures on earth endowed with
the capacity to reshape their physical environment and
civilization according to their thoughts, plans and beliefs.
All other creatures on earth merely follow their natural
instinct and maintain their natural place in the world.
Thomas Aquinas considered a human being as a moral agent.
Thomas Aquinas Spiritual Freedom

“
Thomas Aquinas establish the existence of
God as a first cause. Of all God’s creation,
human beings have the unique power to
change themselves and things around
them for the better. As humans, we are
Actions
(good or evil)

Conscience

both material and spiritual. We have a God’s

conscience because of our spirituality. Love
God is love and love is our destiny.

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 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 sui causa). There
are no Guideposts along the road of life. The human person
builds the road to the destiny of his choosing; he is the creator
(Srathern, 1998).

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 Thomas Hobbes
Theory of Social Contract
Law of nature (lex naturalis) is a precept or
general rule established 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.
Hobbes defines contract as "the mutual
transferring of right." In the state of nature,
everyone has the right to everything - there are
no limits to the right of natural liberty. The social
contract is the agreement by which individuals
mutually transfer their natural right.
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 Jean-Jacques Rousseau
According to Rousseau, the state owes its origin to a
social contract freely entered into by its members;
the EDSA Revolution is an example, though an
imperfect one. While Rousseau interpreted the idea
in terms of absolute democracy and individualism,
hobbes developed his idea in favor of absolute
monarchy

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 End.
Any questions?