What is Freedom? What is the essence of freedom?

- The ability to make choices and perform those choices.

- The ability to be what we want and to decide and create oneself.

Two concepts that will help us fully understand freedom:

1. Freedom itself

“Freedom is generally defined as having the ability to act or change without

constraint-Wikipedia” Someone or something is “free” if he/it can do or change anything
effortlessly and responsibly. A person or an animal has the freedom to do things that will
not, in theory, or practice, be prevented by other forces. But freedom has its particular
limitations beyond himself because he is bound by consequences of his actions either to
promote goodness or destruction to himself or other persons.

2. Free will
Free will is the ability to choose different courses of action without restrictions. If
we exercise our free will, we get to decide on things that will lead to results, either good
or bad, beneficial or not. The actions that we do depend on the values we uphold and the
acceptance and expectations of the community we live in, including family members and
friends that we care about.

To be precise, free will is our ability to choose things according to our moral
reasoning, which can also be related to our previous lesson on self-determination or the
ability to select on what is right and wrong, that a person’s action determines what kind
of person he or she becomes.
 KINDS OF FREEDOM

1. 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 want to
go.

2. 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.

3. 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. A person becomes freer when he or

she uses freedom well but becomes less free when he or she uses it in a wicked way. Humans

have a natural inclination for what is right and moral, and when a person uses his or her freedom

to do acts that violates human dignity and goodness, he or she dehumanizes himself or herself
and effectively negates human freedom.

There are significant factors to consider in the exercise of freedom. These are Prudence and Self-
reflection.

• Prudence 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. Hence, we should
practice self-reflection on every decision we make.

• Self-reflection allows each person to analyze his life both in small and big details in terms of the
decisions, actions and choices he make Browning, G (2009). It is a deeper form of learning
where if practiced with higher sense of wise judgement and keen perception, the experiences
 he makes are more meaningful and serve as guide for improved and informed decisions,
actions and choices.

Intersubjectivity refers to the shared awareness and understanding among persons.

It is made possible by the awareness of the self and the other.
A good way to think of intersubjectivity is to imagine how one relates to their family and
friends. Maybe one of the family member enjoyed playing volleyball. He took one of the
members of the family with him when he practiced, and he always had a good time. Growing
up, he decided to join the school volleyball team. If that member of the family had not played
volleyball with him growing up, he may not have grown to like the sport. The experience with
volleyball can be called intersubjective because it was influenced by another person.

“I” –is the subject

“It” – is a person treated as an object
Depicts separateness,disconnectedness, and
detachment.

“I” –is the subject

“Thou” –is another subject
it is a relationship of mutual
and reciprocal connection.

A deeper level of interaction between the self and the other, on the other hand, is the
awareness of the self as being seen by others.
This self-consciousness is considered by philosophers as a defining
characteristic of the self-other relationship.
The way we act with other people is often influenced by our ideas
of how these people see us.These actions are referred to as “seeming”, where an individual
presents himself or herself in a certain way when dealing with others.

Interpersonal Relationships
An interpersonal relationship refers to the association, connection, interaction and bond
between two or more people. There are many different types of relationships. This section
focuses on four types of relationships: Family relationships, Friendships,
Acquaintanceships and Romantic relationships.

Maintain strong interpersonal

1. BE OPEN- People need to open up to you, but you also have to be willing to let
others in and share details about your experiences, emotions, and opinions.
2. MAINTAIN BOUNDARIES- A boundary can be defined as what you are willing to
accept in a relationship. These boundaries represent your values, expectations, and
limitations.

3. LISTENING- Listening is a great way to learn more about the other person. It
also allows you to offer support and emotional validation, which can go a long way
toward making the other person value you as a friend and confidant.

Tips for Active Listening

Don’t interrupt
Avoid voicing opinions or judgments
Maintain good eye contact
Ask open-ended questions
Paraphrase what the other person has said

4. SHOW RESPECT--When showing respect in interpersonal relationships,

you should:

 Avoid disparaging the things they enjoy

 Keep the commitments you’ve made to them
 Show up on time
 Be mindful of their feelings
 Listen to them, even when you disagree

5. BE EMPATHY- Empathy involves being able to put yourself in another person’s

shoes and feel what they feel. It means you see things from their perspective and
feel their pain as if it was your own.

Why Relationships Matter

Research has found that interpersonal relationships can have a number of important benefits for physical
and psychological health. 

 Combating loneliness
 Increasing resilience to stress
 Decreasing the risk of depression and suicide
 Lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease
 Improving longevity

When you have strong interpersonal relationships, you may feel more motivated to engage in behaviors
that are good for your health.
 Relationships that we experienced in our lives depend on the level of our
experience. For example, when we were yet a child, we always depended on our family.
As we grow older, we start to go with people in the community, from there; we began to
relate ourselves with our opposite sex. In our doing such, we exercise our freedom to do
what we want to do. We are capable of establishing society by way of our different
relationships with other people such as friendships, alliances or associates sharing
common interests and territory.

Our relationships with other people caused us to survive. We survive because of

our parents, our friends, our neighbours, our schoolmates and, workmates. The
education we have starts from our home. Our parents taught us everything - from
talking, reading and writing, values, good manners and right conduct; simple household
chores. This education will continue when we go to school. When we finish our
education, we are already equipped with abilities, skills and knowledge for us to become
productive members of the society. Therefore, society helps us grow as a better person.
As members of the society, we learn, we interact, we exercise our freedom and we
follow common beliefs, traditions and norms or standards.

Norms are set of traits and behaviours that society considers good and
acceptable. The society expects us to behave the way it is used to. When we do not
obey to the established norms, then we experience punishments for not doing so.
Moreover, laws are made to provide us proper guidelines to sustain peace and order.
Violation of the law means punishment. On the other hand, folkways are traditional in
nature and do not result in punishment if not followed.

The person and society are inseparable. One cannot exist without the other. It is
a two-way relationship that binds both the person and the society for growth and
development. We have our own individual assigned social roles in the society.

Social roles are set of connected behaviours expected to a certain person.

Individuals with common or similar roles are grouped together to form social groups
and eventually the different social groups would become social institutions that
include our family, school, government among others.
 TYPES OF SOCIETIES CHARACTERISTICS
This form of society is recognized as the
earliest and the simplest; basically small and
composed mostly of families. They are
nomadic, meaning, they kept on transferring
from one place to another to look for food, thus,
they do not have permanent houses. Men are
HUNTING AND GATHERING tasked to hunt large animals while women are
SOCIETY tasked in the collection of vegetables and other
crops.
This form of society is characterized by the
raising (alaga) of animals to supply their food
especially in the regions of the world where
PASTORAL SOCIETY vegetable growing is not possible. They also
engage in buying and selling of goods with
other groups.
This form of society engages in the growing of
plants, fruits and vegetables. In this society,
there is enough food supply. Some members of
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY the society also engage in making crafts and
buying and selling of goods.

This form of society grows rice and other crops.

They also began to farm and raise animals for
food. They lived permanently and improved the
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY technology for farming. Money became a form
of exchange for goods and services.

It is a form of society in which the ruler or lord

owned all the land while the farmers or laborers
FEUDAL SOCIETY
farmed it.

This society used machineries in the production

of goods and services. Through innovations
and technological advances, daily activities
INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY become easier and the lives of the people
become better.
 Also known as the virtual (computer) society,
people use technology and the Internet to
communicate, to engage in business and
access different information that can be if used
to deal with daily activities.
POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

 Society was brought about by the human desire to relate with others. Society is
considered a product of deliberate actions by individuals who come together in
pursuit of a common goal.

 It greatly influences the individual, as it determines to a certain extent a person’s

identity. Society makes possible the emergence of certain individualities, which
are the result of a person’s interaction with other members of society.

 Society is also rooted in the concepts of the common good and general welfare,
which refers to social conditions that enable persons and groups to fulfil their
goals and achieve well-being.

 Societies are of different types and their types depend on their level of
development. These include hunting and gathering society, pastoral society,
horticultural society, agrarian or agricultural society, feudal society, industrial
society and post-industrial society.

 For the society to exist in unity and harmony, there is the need of the presence of
norms, laws, folkways, social system, social role, social groups of social classes,
social institutions and social values.

 Society provides opportunities for its members to grow and achieve well-being.
Through its various institutions, society endeavours to develop well-adjusted and
productive members that can make significant contributions to society. In turn,
individuals uphold the common good and work to bring about positive changes in
society.
. Death is commonly understood as the end of bodily functions. It also refers to the
separation of body and spirit. Everything that exists in this universe comes to an end
and we humans are not exempted. The acceptance of being a temporary individual in
this world gives us a clearer vision on how to live life to the fullest and understand the
meaning of our existence. We have the freedom to choose a well-lived life; doing good
and doing what is right.
Kinds of Good
1. Noble good is one which is pursued for its own sake, example is love and
friendship.

2. Useful good is found only from what it can provide, example, money is good as
it can buy you something.

3. Pleasurable good is good so long as it provides some form of pleasure, though

it does not have to be physical.

Whatever the source of our happiness right now, let us see to it that it is
real and meaningful.
Suffering is generally viewed as a state of feeling discomfort or pain. It can come in
the form of physical suffering when one experiences bodily pain, example, injury or it
may be a mental suffering when it involves our minds and emotions, such as depression
or loneliness. Humans as we are, we normally experience pain and we often view it as
necessary to help as grow and become a strong person and find the deepest meaning
of our lives.

 Human is temporary. Nothing is forever.

 We have to exercise our freedom in a positive way.
 We should always remember to do good rather than bad.
 Real happiness can be found in a more lasting and important things.
 Suffering takes place when we feel pain. It can be experienced physically or
mentally. It is generally viewed as an undesirable condition, and that we naturally
seek pleasure and avoid pain. Humans as we are, we normally experience pain
and we often view it as necessary to help as grow and become a strong person
and find the deepest meaning of our lives.
 We experience both happiness and suffering. These two are not really meant to
be extreme opposites, for they can also enrich one another.
 As intersubjective beings who have a tendency to form bonds with others, it is
only natural that the meaning of life can be found when we open ourselves to
others. This means that although we will eventually die, we have an opportunity
to enrich our lives as well as the lives of others.