Philo Lesson 5

LESSON 5
FREEDOM
OF THE
HUMAN PERSON
Objectives
1. To realize the consequences of one’s
actions;
2. To show situations that demonstrate
freedom of choice;
3. To evaluate and exercise prudence in
one’s choice.
LESSON 5
HUMAN
INTRODUCTI
ON
This lesson highlights
freedom from the
intellectual, political,
spiritual and
economic aspect.
FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN

KNOWLED
GAUG
GE
KNOWLEDGE
GAUGE
What is human
freedom?
KNOWLEDGE
GAUGE
Are we capable to
realize the
consequences of
our actions?
In what way?
KNOWLEDGE
GAUGE
Can you give
examples of
situations that
demonstrate our
freedom of choice?
KNOWLEDGE
GAUGE
How do you
evaluate your
choices?
KNOWLEDGE
GAUGE
Can we exercise
prudence in our
choices?
In what way?
CONSEQUE
REALIZE THAT ALL ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES
THE POWER OF VOLITION
Reason can legislate,

but only through will
can its legislation be
translated into action.
ARISTOTLE
The imperative
quality of a judgment
of practical intellect is
meaningless, apart
from will.
ARISTOTLE
The task of practical intellect

is to guide will be
enlightening it.
Will, in fact is to be
understood wholly in terms of
intellect.
If there were no intellect,
ARISTOTLE there will be no will.
This is obvious
from the way in
which will is
rationally
ARISTOTLE dominated.
and this is
borne out
by:
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.
The inner
awareness of
an aptitude to
do right and
wrong;
The common
testimony of
all human
beings;
The reward
and
punishment of
rulers;
The general
employment of
praise and
blame.
Moral acts which are always particular

acts are in our power and we are
responsible for them.
Character or habit is no excuse

for immoral conduct.
Attending class is a student’s

responsibility.
Should the student cut class, then

he/she is responsible for the
consequences of his actions.
As a result, he/she must be held responsible

for any accident or failure in grades that
will befall on him/her.
The student may regret what he/she had done, but all the
regrets in the world will not call it back.
The happiness of every human being’s soul is in his own
hand, to preserve and develop,
or to cast away.
ACTION For Aristotle, human

beings are rational.
Reason is a divine
WILL REASON characteristic. Human
have the spark of the
divine.
INTELLECTUAL
FREEDOM
If there were no
ACTION intellect, there would
be no will.
WILL REASON Reason can legislate,
but only through will
can its legislation be
INTELLECTUAL
turned into actions.
FREEDOM
Our will is an
ACTION instrument
of free choice.
WILL REASON Reason, will and
action drives with
INTELLECTUAL each other.
FREEDOM
LOVE IS FREEDOM
Of all the creations of

God, human beings have
the unique power to
change themselves and the
things around them for the
ST. THOMAS better.
AQUINAS
LOVE IS FREEDOM
Our spirituality separate

us from animals;
it delineates moral
dimension of our
fulfillment in an action.
ST. THOMAS
AQUINAS
LOVE IS FREEDOM
Our spirituality separate

us from animals;
it delineates moral
dimension
Through our spirituality, of our
we have conscience,
whether we choose to be good
fulfillment oraction.
in an evil
ST. THOMAS
becomes our responsibility.
AQUINAS
Human being has supernatural, transcendental

destiny.
This means that he can rise above his ordinary
being or self to a highest
being or self.
In line with the idea of

St. Thomas Aquinas
that in the plan of God, human beings have to
develop and perfect himself by doing his daily
task.
If a human being perseveringly lives a

righteous and virtues life, he transcend his
mortal state of life and soar to an immortal
state of life.
The power of CHANGE

however cannot be done alone,
but is achieved through
cooperation with God.
Aquinas gives a fourfold

classification of law:
The last three all depend on the first,

1. Eternal Law
but in different ways.
2. Natural Law
Were we to arrange them in a
hierarchy, eternal would be at the top,
3. Human Law
then natural, then human. Divine law is
not in conflict with natural law, but it
ST. THOMAS 4. Divine Law
reaches human beings by a different
route, revelation.
AQUINAS
ETERNAL LAW
Eternal law is identical to the mind of God as seen by God himself.

It can be called law because God stands to the universe which he creates as a
ruler does to a community which he rules.
When God's reason is considered as it is understood by God Himself, i.e. in its
unchanging, eternal nature, it is eternal law.
DIVINE LAW
Divine law is derived from eternal law as it
appears historically to humans, especially through
revelation, i.e., when it appears to human beings as
divine commands.
Divine law is divided into the Old Law
and the New Law.
The Old and New Law roughly corresponding to
the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. When
he speaks of the Old Law, Thomas is thinking
mainly of the Ten Commandments.
When he speaks of the New Law, the teachings of
Jesus.
DIVINE LAW
OLD LAW
commands conduct externally
reaches humans through their capacity for fear
Law promised earthly rewards
(social peace and its benefits)
NEW LAW
commands internal conduct
reaches humans by the example of divine love
promises heavenly reward
HUMAN LAW
Laws, devised by human reason adapted to

particular geographical, historical and social
circumstances.
HUMAN LAW
Law is directed to the common good, and human law is no exception.

The promotion of virtue is necessary for the common good, and human laws are instruments
in the promotion of virtue. Aristotle already pointed out that most people are kept from
crime by fear of the law. Thomas accepts this judgment, suggesting that by coercion even
men who are evilly disposed may be led in the direction of virtue.
NATURAL LAW
in philosophy, a system of right or justice held to be

common to all humans and derived from nature rather
than from the rules of society,
or positive law.
NATURAL LAW
Natural law is introduced in all things partake somewhat of the

eternal law, insofar as, namely, from its being imprinted upon
them, they derive their respective inclinations to their proper
acts and ends.
NATURAL LAW
Now among all others, the rational creature is subject to divine providence in a more
excellent way, insofar as it partakes of a share of providence, by being provident for
itself and for others.
Wherefore it has a share of the eternal reason, whereby it has a natural inclination to
its proper act and end, and this participation of the eternal law in the rational
creature is called the natural law.
According to him, the

purpose of a human being is
to be happy.
To be one, one has to live a
virtuous life.
Human beings have to
develop to the full their
powers-rational, moral,
social, emotional and
ARISTOTLE physical here on earth.
For him, 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.
ST. THOMAS
AQUINAS
ACTIONS St. Thomas Aquinas

(Good or Evil) establishes the existence of
God as a first cause.
CONSCIENCE
Of all God’s creation,
human beings have the
GOD’S unique power to change
LOVE themselves and things
around them for the better.
SPIRITUAL FREEDOM
ACTIONS As humans, we are both

(Good or Evil)
material and spiritual.
CONSCIENCE We have a conscience
because of our
GOD’S spirituality.
LOVE God is Love and Love is
our destiny.
SPIRITUAL FREEDOM
His philosophy is
considered
to be a
representative of
existentialism.
JEAN PAUL
SARTRE
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 guidepost along the
road of life.
The human person builds the
road to the destiny of his/ her
JEAN PAUL choosing; he/she is the creator.
SARTRE
Sartre’s existentialism stems from this principle: existence precedes essence.
1. The person first, exists, encounters himself and surges up in

the world then defines himself afterward. The person is
nothing else but that what he makes of himself.
2. The person is provided with a supreme opportunity to give

meaning to one’s life. In the course of giving meaning to one’s
life, one fills the world with meaning.
3. 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.
4. The person is what one has

done and is doing.
5. The human person who tries to escape obligations and strive

to be en-soi (i.e. excuse such as “I was born this way” or “I
grew up in a bad environment”) is acting on bad faith
(mauvais foi)
Sartre emphasize the

importance of free
individual choice,
regardless of the power of
the people to influence
and coerce our desires,
beliefs and decisions.
JEAN PAUL
SARTRE
To be human, to be
conscious, is to be
free to imagine,
free to choose, and
be responsible for
JEAN PAUL one’s life.
SARTRE
He is an English materialist
and political philosopher
who advocated absolute
sovereignty as the only
kind of government that
could resolve problems
caused by the selfishness
of human beings.
THOMAS (1588-1679)
HOBBES
SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY
A 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
THOMAS best preserved.
HOBBES
Given our desire to get out of the state of nature, and

thereby preserve our lives, Hobbes concludes that we
should
seek peace.
This becomes his FIRST LAW OF NATURE.

The reasonableness of seeking peace immediately suggest the
SECOND LAW OF NATURE, which is that we mutually divest
ourselves of certain rights (such as the right to take another person’s
life) so as to achieve peace.
The a person be willing, when others so too (this is necessary for

peace building) to lay down this right to all things and be
contended with so much liberty against other people, as he
would allow others against himself.
The mutual transferring of these rights is called

a CONTRACT and is the basis of the notion of
moral obligations
and duties.
Hobbes continues by discussing the validity of certain

contracts however, one can’t contract to give up his right to
self-defense
or self preservation since it is his sole motive for entering
any contract.
The rational pursuit of self-preservation is what lead us

to form commonwealth or states: the law of nature give
the conditions for the establishment of society and
government.
These are the rules a reasonable being would observe in

pursuing one’s advantage, if he were conscious of
humanity’s predicament in a condition in which impulse and
passion alone rule.
According to
him, there are
no absolute
values.
THOMAS
HOBBES
In Leviathan, Hobbes
asserts that 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.
Leviathan
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.
Leviathan
Contract 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
Leviathan
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.
Leviathan
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.
Leviathan
Hobbes add that

“Covenant 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.”
Leviathan
“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 compel
human beings to perform
their covenant.”
Leviathan
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 will,
by plurality of voices unto one
will.
Leviathan
The people 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
Leviathan
by fiction.”
Hobbes makes a distinction between a

commonwealth by institution and by acquisition
1. 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 members. The multitude
of human beings subjects themselves
to be chosen sovereign from fear of
one another.
Leviathan

2. 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
Leviathan
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
2. A commonwealth is said to
repudiate the authority of the sovereign:
exist by is
sovereignty acquisition
inalienable.when the
No sovereign
can besovereign power
unjustly put hasorbeen
to death in any way
acquired
punished by by
his force. Here,
subjects. human as
For inasmuch
beings
everyfear for is
subject death orofbonds
author all theof
sovereign’s
that humanactions, to punish
being who holdsthe
sovereign would
overtotheir
be punish
lives another
and for
Leviathan
power
one’s own actions.
liberty.
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 him,
a new era of sentimental piety
JEAN-JACQUES found its beginning.
ROUSSEAU
The “EDSA Revolution” is an example,

though an imperfect one, of what the
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 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 state with its sovereign power of control by means
of a mutual consent. Rousseau believes that a human being is born free and
good. Now, he is
in chains and has become bad due to the evil influences of the 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 his freedom back and

as he returned to his true self, he saw the necessity
and came to form the state through social contract
whereby everyone grants his individual rights
to the general will.
The term ‘Social Contract’ is not an actual

historical event but a philosophical fiction, a
metaphor, and a certain way of looking at the
society of voluntary collection of agreeable
individuals.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights

constituted as an instance of social contract,
however, is not a metaphor but an actual
agreement and actually signed by the people or
their representatives.
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

country but also in Eastern Europe’s Perestroika
(an economic policy adopted in the former
Soviet Union)
Sovereign/ Ruler
(State)
There must be a common
power or government
Freedom which the plurality of
(General Will or Mutual
Transferring of Rights) individuals (citizen)
should confer all their
Citizen powers and strength into
(Individual Rights)
(freedom) one will (ruler).
POLITICAL FREEDOM
(Hobbes and Rousseau)
PRUDENCE IN
United States
psychologist and
a leading
proponent of
behaviorism
Burrhus
Frederic Skinner (1904-1990)
For him, the environment

selects which is similar with
natural selection. We must
take into account what the
environment does to an
organism not only before,
but also after it responds.
Burrhus
Frederic Skinner
Skinner maintains that behavior is

shaped and maintained by its
consequences. Behavior that operates
upon the environment to produce
consequences (operant conditioning)
can be studied by arranging
environments in which specific
consequences are contingent upon it.
The result is practical; the
Burrhus environment can be manipulated.
Frederic Skinner
He coined the term

Operant Conditioning;
it means roughly changing of
behavior by the use of
reinforcement which is given
after the desired response.
Skinner identified three types of
responses or operant that can
Burrhus follow behavior.
Frederic Skinner
NEUTRAL OPERANTS
responses from the environment that neither increase nor
decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated.
REINFORCES
Responses from the environment that increase the
probability of a behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can
be either positive or negative.
PUNISHERS
Responses from the environment that decrease the
likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Punishment
Burrhus weakens behavior.
Frederic Skinner
For example, if when you were

younger you tried smoking at
school, and the chief
consequence was that you got in
with the crowd you always
wanted to hang out with, you
would have been positively
reinforced (i.e. rewarded) and
would be likely to repeat the
Burrhus behavior.
Frederic Skinner
If, however, the main

consequence was that you were
caught, caned, suspended from
school and your parents
became involved you would
most certainly have been
punished, and you would
consequently be much less
Burrhus likely to smoke now.
Frederic Skinner
MAKING
CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES
United States writer

(born in Russia) noted
for her polemical
novels and political
conservativism (1905-
1982)
Ayn Rand
For her, she believes that

thinking is volitional. A
person has a freedom to
think or not. Though for
Rand, the majority belongs
to the passive supporters of
the status quo who choose
Ayn Rand not to think.
Individualism as she
espoused is lined in
family dependency
because easterners
believe that the
individual needs the
community and vice
Ayn Rand versa.
Example: The Filipino and Chinese

stress the human relationships that
emphasize that the person is not
necessarily an independent entity.
In Filipinos’ loob for instance, the
individual is the captain of his own
ship on a sea that is not entirely
devoid of uncertainties. Loob
touches the daily human aspects of
the Filipinos.
Ayn Rand
FREEDOM OF
CHOICE AND ITS
SITUATIONS: FREEDOM OF CHOICE AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR CHOICES
LET US REMEMBER
THAT…..
FREEDOM CONSEQUENCES
OF OF
CHOICE CHOICE
CITE YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

KNOWLED
GAUG
GE
KNOWLEDGE
GAUGE
What is human
freedom?
KNOWLEDGE
GAUGE
Are we capable to
realize the
consequences of
our actions?
In what way?
KNOWLEDGE
GAUGE
Can you give
examples of
situations that
demonstrate our
freedom of choice?
KNOWLEDGE
GAUGE
How do you
evaluate your
choices?
KNOWLEDGE
GAUGE
Can we exercise
prudence in our
choices?
In what way?
References and Materials Used
Books
• Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
by: Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Ph.D. (Published and
Distributed by REX Book Store, Manila, Philippines)
Other Sources
• people.wku.edu
• wikipedia.org
• britannica.com
• WordWeb
• simplypsychology
References and Materials Used
Graphics
• Minions (Illumination Entertainment)
• Images from google.com
No Copyright Infringement
Chapter VIII, Sec. 185 (a)

of Republic Act no. 8293
(Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines)
The purpose and character of the use, including whether

such use is of a commercial nature or is for non-profit
educational purposes.

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LESSON 5

FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN

THE POWER OF VOLITION

Reason can legislate,

THE POWER OF VOLITION

THE POWER OF VOLITION

The task of practical intellect

THE POWER OF VOLITION

Moral acts which are always particular

Character or habit is no excuse

Attending class is a student’s

Should the student cut class, then

As a result, he/she must be held responsible

ACTION For Aristotle, human

Of all the creations of

Our spirituality separate

Our spirituality separate

Human being has supernatural, transcendental

In line with the idea of

If a human being perseveringly lives a

The power of CHANGE

Aquinas gives a fourfold

The last three all depend on the first,

Eternal law is identical to the mind of God as seen by God himself.

Laws, devised by human reason adapted to

Law is directed to the common good, and human law is no exception.

in philosophy, a system of right or justice held to be

Natural law is introduced in all things partake somewhat of the

According to him, the

For him, he follows the same

ACTIONS St. Thomas Aquinas

ACTIONS As humans, we are both

For Sartre, the human person is

1. The person first, exists, encounters himself and surges up in

2. The person is provided with a supreme opportunity to give

3. Freedom is therefore the very core and the door to authentic

4. The person is what one has

5. The human person who tries to escape obligations and strive

Sartre emphasize the

SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

Given our desire to get out of the state of nature, and

This becomes his FIRST LAW OF NATURE.

The a person be willing, when others so too (this is necessary for

The mutual transferring of these rights is called

Hobbes continues by discussing the validity of certain

The rational pursuit of self-preservation is what lead us

These are the rules a reasonable being would observe in

It follows from this that

Contract made in the state of

The THIRD LAW

Further, this law is the

Hobbes add that

“It follows, therefore that

It is necessary that there should be

The people must appoint one

Hobbes makes a distinction between a

1. A commonwealth is said to exist

Hobbes makes a distinction between a

Hobbes makes a distinction between a

Rousseau is one of the most

The “EDSA Revolution” is an example,

According to Hobbes and Rousseau, the state owes its origin to