LORD IMMANUEL INSTITUTE FOUNDATION, INC.

(Formerly: Lobo International Institute Foundation, Inc.)

Jose Rizal St., Población, Lobo, Batangas
www.lordimmanuel.com
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13

Subject: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person Grade: Grade 11 ABM Quarter 2 Week 1 &2

Topic: Freedom of the Human Person

Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson, learners should be able to:
• Realize that “all actions have consequences”
• Evaluate and exercise prudence in choices.
• Realize that:
➢ Choices have consequences.
➢ Some things are given up while other are obtained in making choices.
• Show situations that demonstrate freedom of choice.

INTRODUCTION
This lesson highlights freedom from the intellectual, political, spiritual and economic aspects. To be free is 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.

“When was the time you felt most free?”

“When was the time you felt un-free?”
“Human beings have a deep desire to be free, but freedom is an often abused term. “
What truly is freedom?

I. Realize that “all actions have consequences”

A. Aristotle
The Power of Volition
The imperative quality of judgement of practical intellect is meaningless, apart from will. Reason can legislate,
but only thorough will can its legislation be translated into action. The will of humanity is an instrument of free
choice. It is within the power of everyone or 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;
➢ 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.
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 actions. Our will is an instrument of free choice.

Aristotle: Intellectual Freedom

WILL ACTION REASON
 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.
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.

Aquinas gives a fourfold classification of law:

• Eternal law – is the decree of God that governs all creation
• Natural law – is the human “participation in the eternal law and is discovered by reason
• Human law – concerned with ends determine simply by humanity’s nature
• Divine law – ordained to an end transcending his nature, it is necessary that he has a law ordering him to that end
Spiritual Freedom – St. Thomas Aquinas establishes the existence of God as a first cause. As humans, we are both
material and spiritual. We have conscience because of our spirituality. God is Love and Love is our destiny.

Actions
(Good or evil)
St. Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Freedom

Conscience

God’s Love

C. Jean Paul Sartre

Individual Freedom
Sartre’s philosophy is considered to be a representative of existentialism. Sartre’s existentialism stems from this
principle: existence precedes essence. The person, first, exists, encounters himself and surges up in the world then
defined himself afterward. The person is nothing else but that what he makes of himself. The person is provided
with a supreme opportunity to give meaning to one’s life. Freedom is, therefore, the very core and the door to
authentic existence. The person is what one has done and is doing. On the other hand, the human person who tries
to escape obligations and strives to being-in-itself ( i.e. excuses, such as “I was born this way” or “I grew up in a
bad environment”) is acting on bad faith.

D. Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Theory of Social Contract
A Law of Nature (lex naturalis) is a percept 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 preserved. The mutual transferring of these rights is called a contract and is the basis of
the notion of moral obligation and duty. The rational pursuit of self-preservation is what leads us to form
commonwealths or states; the law of nature gives the conditions for the establishment of society and government.
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 there are “some rights that no human being
can be understood by words or other signs to have abandoned or transferred”. 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.

Rousseau is one of the most famous and influential philosophers of the French Enlightenment in the 18 th century.
In his book The Social Contract, he elaborated his theory of human nature. 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 his members. The two philosophers differed in
their interpretations. Hobbes developed his idea in favour of absolute monarchy, while Rousseau interpreted the
idea in terms of absolute democracy and individualism.
 Sovereign/Ruler (State)

Freedom (General will or

mutual transferring of
rights)
Citizens (Individual Rights)

II. Evaluate and Exercise Prudence in Choices

Prudence
➢ The ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason
➢ Sagacity or shrewdness in the management of affairs
➢ Skill and good judgement in the use of resources
➢ Caution or circumspection as to danger or risk

For BF Skinner, the environment selects which is similar with natural selection. We must take into account that what
the environment does to an organism not only before but also after it responds.
Operant Conditioning is the behavior that operates upon the environment to produce consequences.

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 characteristics of the human organism,
the chief effect of which is the avoidance of or escape from “aversive” (causing strong dislike or disinclination) features
of the environment The feeling of freedom, according to Skinner becomes 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 skill-ful parent learns to reward a child for good behavior rather than punish him for bad.

III. Choices have consequences and some things are given up while others are obtained in making choices.

“People make choices all the time. We can choose to be positive or negative, to create or complain, to take
responsibility or avoid responsibility. Each choice does, of course, have consequences, with both pluses and minuses.
People also choose how they use their feelings. We can choose our attitudes, actions and what they want to achieve.
The things we do as a result can affect both us and other people.”

Philosophy of Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged

“My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as heroic being, with his own
happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest
activity, and reason as his only absolute.”
Objectivism is optimistic, holding that the universe is open to human achievement and
happiness and that each person has within him the ability to live rich, fulfilling,
independent life.
 Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, play-right and screenwriter. She is known for her two
best-selling novels. The Fountain head and Atlas Shrugged, and for developing a philosophical system she called
Objectivism (to deal with things external to the mind rather than with thoughts or feelings).

Individualism according to Ayn Rand individual mind is the tool for economic progress vis-à-vis laissez faire
capitalism. Since the mind is important, the sector that molds it should not be controlled by the government. Similar with
Aristotle, Rand 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 not to think.
Rands also rejects collectivism (the practice or principle of giving a group priority over each individual in it) because of
its brute force even though human beings have rights there should also be responsibility. Individual right were upheld in
capitalism. Rand also support the theory of individualism. Individualism is lined with family dependency because
Easterners believe that the individual needs the community and vice versa.
“Wala ang komunidad kung walang individual at di kakayanin ng isang individual na mabuhay ng magisa kung
kayat kaylangan niya ng komunidad.”
Filipino’s loob is the basis of Christian value of sensitivity to the needs of others and gratitude. Filipino’s loob shows that
the individual is the captain of his own ship. It is an interpersonal or the ability to get along with others. The discipline and
responsibility should be developed within your-self not by the fear from the authority and can be mold through education.
“Give and take” is the manifestation of utang na loob or debt gratitude.
The concept of Rand’s free individual and Filipino’s view of the free human being may have differences but may
overcome. The potential of the Filipino should be able to grow so that he will be aware of his uniqueness. Individualism
should not be seen as selfishness but an affirmation of a truly human self that is the supreme value of human being.
“Kabutihang loob, kabutihang loob, and kaloooban are terms sharing of one’s self to others. Filipino generally
believes in the innate of goodness of the human being.”
➢ To be free individual is to be responsible not only for one’s self but also for all.
➢ To grow intellectually is a responsibility of an individual.
➢ The individual should be disciplined from within rather than fear from the authority.

IV. Show situations that demonstrate freedom of choice and the consequences of their choices
Every choice carries a consequence. For better or worse, each choice is the unavoidable consequence of its
predecessor. There are not exceptions. If you can accept that a bad choice carries the seed of its own
punishment, why not accept the fact that a good choice yields desirable fruit?
The price of greatness is responsibility.
With each choice comes a consequence, no amount of rationalizing or complaining will alter the consequence.
If you pick up one end of a stick (choice), you also pick up the other end of the stick (consequence of that
choice). There is a human desire to be miraculously delivered from the consequences of an action. We tend to
seek a rescue from consequences with little or no effort on our part. This tendency can easily be seen
manifested by those who have incurred large amounts of debt and then seek to be delivered from the bondage
and obligation of repayment through bankruptcy, or those who seek deliverance from a disease of choice by
taking a pill to treat the symptoms instead of changing the behavior that causes the symptoms. We should seek
to change our actions because we cannot choose the consequences. We must accept responsibility.
Through a responsible use of our freedom to choose our path in life and by making the right choices (instead of
sometimes the easy or convenient choice), we will help ourselves to succeed. Make a bad choice; you’ll get a
negative consequence. Make the right decisions and in the long run you’ll prosper.

The Power of Choice

The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. – J. Martin Kohe
There is great power in being able to make choices in our life. We have the choice of what kind of life we’ll live,
and what type of person we want to be. We aren’t just a result of how our parents treated us or a product of our
environment. We are a result of the choices we make every day.

There are so many choices that we can make.

We can choose if we’ll reflect our environment, or if we affect our environment.
We can choose to be happy, or not.
We can choose how we react to hard times in our life, with positivity or negativity.
We can choose to take responsibility for our actions, or blame others for our failures.
We can choose to be a victor or take on the role of a victim.
What choices are you making in your life? Are they the ones that result in positive consequences?
Change Your Life by Being Responsible
By being responsible for our own lives, and being accountable for the decisions we’ve made we can change our
lives for the better. We can make the choice to be happy, and make a decision to react positively to all of life’s situations.
We can take control and be a victor and not a victim. So what choices are you making today?

Activity 1: Check your Knowledge

Direction: Read and provide a brief answer to each questions. Write your answer on a piece of a yellow paper.
1. When was the time you felt most free? (5 points)
2. When was the time you felt un-free? (5 points)
3. After answering the first two questions, how will you define now freedom? (5 points)
4. Remembering Edsa Revolution; do you think this helps lot of Filipinos to be free? Why? (5 points)
5. How can Filipino values such as “utang na loob” promote or hinder freedom? (5 points)
6. Think one of your behavior, how will you apply the theory of B.F. Skinner, operant conditioning? (5 points)
Activity 2: Apply What You Know
1. Create slogans regarding freedom.
2. Choose the best slogans.
3. Write in it a piece of bond paper.
4. You are free to make/create your design.

CRITERIA 4 3 2 1
Craft-manship The slogan is The slogan is The slogan is The slogan is
exceptionally attractive in terms of acceptably attractive distractively messy.
attractive in terms of neatness. Good though it may be a bit
neatness. Well- construction. messy.
constructed.
Creativity Slogan is Slogan is creative and Slogan is creative and The slogan does not
exceptionally a good amount of some thought was put reflect any degree of
creative. thought was put into into decorating it. creativity
decorating it.
Originality Exceptional use of Good use of new Average use of new No use of new ideas
new ideas and ideas originally to ideas and originally to and originally to
originally to create create slogan. create log. create slogan.
slogan.

References:
Ramos, Christine Carmela R. Phd, Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person @2016, Rex Book Store, Inc.
https://www.biblemoneymatters.com/choices-have-consequences-change-your-life-one-decision-at-a-time/
https://mcmarjhay.wordpress.com/2017/09/06/choices-have-consequences-and-some-things-are-given-up-while-others-
are-obtained-in-making-choices/

Prepared by:
Helen R. Gonzales, LPT
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Teacher (0945-662-5360)