Introduction to the Philosophy

of the Human Person

Freedom of the Human

Person
Realize that “All Actions Have
Consequences”
LESSON 1
WHAT IS FREEDOM?

WHAT IS THE ESSENCE

OF FREEDOM?
[Link] 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 indication of human freedom is
the ability to make choices and perform actions.
Our freedom to act sets us apart from other
things.
We see some animals behave like human beings
because they seem to perform actions in response to
commands. A well-trained dog can perform certain acts on
command such as “stay here” or “fetch this ball” because it
is conditioned to perform them. Is it the same about human
beings? You just can’t ask a stranger to stay put or fetch this
ball if you toss it because he or she is not conditioned to
obey like a dog.
Also, human persons do not experience the world in the
same way that animals do. Animals act instinctively, meaning,
their actions are more like predetermined responses to certain
stimuli. A person on the other hand, can choose the course of
action to take when given stimulus or faced with a certain
situation. It is that inherent freedom that makes humans very
dynamic creatures and our actions do not necessarily follow a
set pattern or a pre-determined course.
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. Do these actions indicate that you are
exercising your freedom?
2. Freedom is also understood as the power to be what
you want to be and the ability to decide and create for
yourself.
Many of the characteristics that define our personality are often
the products of our choices. Our talents, for instance, are developed to
their fullest only if we choose to dedicate time and effort to improve
them.

Our preferences and views are other aspects of our personality

that we freely adopt. Now, do you have the ability to imagine what
would you be in the future? Does your freedom give you the ability to
strive for that goal?
3. Freedom is rooted in the human person’s self-determination
and the exercise of intellect and will.

This means that a person’s every action is freely

determined. We can freely choose to be a good person and to
act in a good way. A good act makes a person better while its
opposite has a negative impact on him or her.
This is the nature of self-determination: that a person’s
actions determine what kind of person he or she becomes.
4. Freedom also requires a degree of control from the
person who exercises it.

A person becomes freer when he or she exercises control over himself

or herself. On the other hand, a person becomes less free when his or her
actions are controlled by other forces.
A person suffering from addiction is less free because
he or she is overpowered by his or her desires to certain
substances. People who act solely based on their emotions
are also less free because they allow themselves to be
driven by their feelings without any regard for ethical
considerations. People who behave impulsively and
erratically are more similar to animals. To lose control of
oneself diminishes human freedom and dehumanize the
person.
Instructions: Write T if the statement is true, and F if the statement
is false. Use a
separate sheet of paper for your answers.
1. A person does not become freer when he or she exercises
control over himself or herself.
2. A person who is imprisoned is dehumanized because he or she is
denied of his or her freedom due to confinement in prison.
3. It is that inherent freedom that makes humans very dynamic
creatures and our actions do not necessarily follow a set
pattern or a pre-determined course.
I. KINDS
OF
FREEDOM
1. Physical Freedom
- refers to the absence of any physical restraint. Here, the
person has the freedom of mobility to go where he or she
wants to go. With this freedom, will it allow you to act and
move in a determined manner? Will it allow you to move
from one place to another and go to wherever you want to
go? Do persons deprived of liberty (those on prisons
incarcerated for crimes pending or judgment made final)
enjoy physical freedom?
2. 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.
Psychological freedom is innate (inherent to all persons)
which can’t be denied and no outside force or influence can
compel them to take action against their will. To feel
something such as love, hate, contentment, despair, pride,
sorrow, or anger is true to any person’s emotions. Do you
have any right to tell someone to be happy or sad?
3. 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
freedom for him to grow as a person. Humans have a natural
inclination for what is true and good and when a person uses his or
her freedom to do acts that violate human dignity and goodness, he or
she dehumanizes himself or herself and effectively negates human
freedom. When a person uses freedom well, will he become freer? Or
less free, when he or she uses freedom in a bad way?
II. WHAT MAKES YOU FREE? HOW
DOES FREEDOM SHAPE YOUR
EXISTENCE?
Two elements of freedom are:
a. Voluntariness

- which refers to the ability of a person to act out of his or her

own free will and self-determination. This means to act or not
to act, and these decisions are made out of a person’s free will
(his/her choice to do or not do).
Two elements of freedom are:
a. Voluntariness

Is getting pregnant while being a minor or pouring out efforts in

studying first to achieve your goal, a voluntary act? In making a
choice, are you using your freedom?
Now, are you ready for the consequences?
Getting a failing grade for non-submission or experiencing hardships
of being a teen mother to a child can be the consequences. See,
actions are voluntary but do result into positive or negative
consequences!
b. Responsibility or accountability refers to the person being
accountable for his or her actions and their consequences.
Remember, when you decide to take action, this results in a
certain consequence. All human actions have consequences, and
affect not only the person who commits the action, but also other
people around you. Taking responsibility can either mean a
person voluntarily taking responsibility for his or her own actions,
or being held responsible by other people. Will your parents be
happy seeing you heavily pregnant when they toil day and night
to send you to school and see you getting your diploma and goals
in life first?
When you exercise your freedom, you
should recognize and uphold not only
your individual freedom but also the
freedom of others.
Here, freedom should be exercised with due
regard for the welfare of other persons and one’s
freedom should be exercised not as a tool to
restrict the freedom of others, but as a means to
enable others to fully enjoy their own freedom.
You have freedom of speech and expression,
right? But will you use these freedoms by
defaming others or by posting libelous content
on social media to discredit or ridicule others?
[Link]: The Power of Volition

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 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
is rationally denominated.
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 point is the student should not have cut class in the first
instance. When the matter is sifted down, the happiness of every
human being’s soul is in his own hands, to preserve and develop, or to
cast away.
For Aristotle, a human being is
rational. Reason is a divine
characteristic. Humans have the spark
of the divine. If there were no
intellect, there would be no will.
Reason can legislate, but only through
will can its legislation be turned into
action. Our will is an instrument of
free choice. Reason, will, and action
drive each other.
B. St. 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. St. Thomas
Aquinas considers the human being as a moral agent. As discussed in
Chapter Three (modules 5 & 6), we are both the spiritual and body
elements; the spiritual and Aristotle’s Intellectual Freedom 11 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 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.
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.

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.
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. St. 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.
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.
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/her
choosing; he/she is the creator (Srathern 1998).
Sartre's existentialism stems from this principle:
existence precedes essence.

 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.
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 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.