FREEDOM OF THE

HUMAN PERSON
 WHAT IS FREEDOM?
Freedom is an intrinsic and essential property of
the person. This means that the human person
by nature is a free being and that it is his or her
nature to seek freedom. An important indication
of human freedom is the ability to make choices
and perform actions. Our freedom act to set us
apart from other beings.
 Your mother may ask you to clean your room one day
and you will follow her instruction. The following week,
however, you may decide not to clean your room when
told because you feel lazy. The week after, you may
decide to clean your room without ever being told.
These varied actions indicate that you are exercising
your freedom.
Look at the situation below. Samuel is carrying a heavy load of
books along the hallway when hesuddenly loses his balance and
drops all the books.
Imagine that you are one of his classmates who witnessed this. Which
among the situations pictured will be your most truthful reaction?
  Kinds of Freedom

Physical Freedom
Psychological Freedom
Moral Freedom
  Physical Freedom
Physical freedom refers to the absence of any
physical restraint. The person has the freedom of
mobility to go where he or she wants to go. He or she
is not impeded in his or her actions by any physical
force. Granted that the person has natural
limitations, physical freedom enables him or her to
act and move in determined manner. You cannot be
everywhere at once, but your freedom allows you to
move one place to another and to go whenever you
  Psychological Freedom
Psychological freedom is also called freedom
of choice. The person is free to perform actions
that he or she considers right and wise. A person
is also free to act or not to act. Psychological
freedom is innate and cannot be denied to a
person. No outside force or influence can
compel a person to take action against his or her
will.
 Psychological Freedom
Example:

1. Freedom to choose your friends

2. Freedom to choose your partner
3. Freedom to choose your course in college
4. Freedom to be what you want to be
  Moral freedom
Moral freedom refers to using freedom in a manner that
upholds human dignity and goodness. Freedom is not an
object that a person may use in whatever way he or she
pleases. A person must use his or her freedom to grow as a
person.
  Moral Freedom
Example:

1. Doing charitable works

2. Participating on outreach activities
3. Participating volunteer works
4. Being sensitive to the needs of other
 Two Elements That Define Human Freedom

 1. Voluntariness
 It refers to the ability of the person to act out of his
or her own free will and self-determination. A person
may decide to do things or not to do it according to
his own free will.
Let us analyze the following scenario and figure out how voluntarines
was expressed in the situation.
Freddy was on vacation in a resort prior to graduating
senior high school. He was relaxing on the poolside
when he noticed two kids playing near the pool without
their parents. He did not mind them since he knows
there is an on-standby lifeguard in the area. After a
short while Freddy heard a splash. When he looked, he
saw both kids struggling to grasp for air desperately
wailing their hands on the air to call for help. He
immediately got up and headed for the Lifeguard tower
but to his dismay, no one was there. Freddy knows he is
not an expert swimmer, but he decides to rescue the
children himself. He successfully secured both to the
side of the pool.
 Reflect on the actions and choices that were made in that
situation.
 Why did the children play near the pool unsupervised?
 Why was the Lifeguard not there?
 Why did Freddy save them?
 Did Freddy have to save the two children whom he did not know at the
expense of his own life?
 One can argue that he does not have the responsibility to save them
since he is not a lifeguard. If he did that, what would be the result of
his action?
 Would it be possible for other people to be heroic just like he did?
 What can you say about Freddy’s actions?
 What do you think will be the result of his actions?
 Whenever we decide to act, this results in a certain
consequence. All human actions have consequences, and this
affect not only the person who commits the action, but also
other people in our surroundings. As a free being, the person
must accept the consequences of his or her actions to take
responsibility for them.
 Two Elements That Define Human Freedom
 
2. Responsibility
 It refers to the person being accountable for his or
her actions and their consequences. Taking
responsibility can mean either you take responsibility
to your doing voluntarily or other people will hold you
responsible. For example, if you made a bad action
it’s either you take responsibility of it or other people
will hold you accountable for it.
 Example of voluntariness and responsibility:
Mira wanted to earn extra income to support her studies. That is why she joined
an online business that offer to sell beauty products and vitamins. At first, Mira was
making enough money to support her school needs like fare and food for one week.
Her demands grew bigger, So, she wanted to earn more by recruiting members to
join that company she knew nothing of its origin. Later, she found out that this
company was a hoax and several classmates she enlisted and even teachers she
enticed to buy warned her that her products have harmful effects to a person’s
kidney and liver. Still, she continued selling because she needed the money badly
without considering the health of her customers. One day, Mira was apprehended
by the NBI, Narcotics officers for selling counterfeit products.
This situation tells us about volunteerism on the part of Mira who at first
aspires for extra income to support her schooling by engaging in an online business
which is not bad. But when she learned about the company/s fraudulent and
counterfeit products, she has the responsibility to leave the company and report it
to the authorities.
 Voluntariness and responsibility go hand-in-hand in determining a
person’s freedom. We can now reflect on our actions to better
understand them and guide us toward making the best possible
decision.
We can therefore begin to examine our actions, habits and
behaviour by asking ourselves the following questions:
 What should I do?
 Why should I do it?
 What will happen if I do it?
 How will my actions or behaviour affect myself, others and my
surroundings?
There are two significant factors to consider in
exercising the freedom that we have:
Prudence
It is the ability to govern and discipline oneself
with the use of reason; it is having caution and
giving good judgments in making decisions.
Making hard choices is an exercise of freedom.
But freedom should also be based on truthful
knowledge and wise reasoning.
There are two significant factors to consider in
exercising the freedom that we have:

Self-reflection
It allows each person to analyze his life both in
small and big details in terms of the decisions,
actions and choices he make.
 When we make the choice to do a particular action, we can
never go back and redo our actions and make another choice.
Real life is not a movie where we can stop and get a second take
on the situation. Therefore, it is very important that when
confronted with choices, we exercise caution and prudence and
reflect on our possible courses of action.