Freedom of

Human Person
INTRODUCTION

This lesson will

highlight freedom from
the intellectual,
political, spiritual, and
economic aspects. To be
free is a part of
humanity’s
authenticity.

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 What is Freedom?
Freedom or Liberty is a social and political concept
which has great significance in how people participate in
society. Freedom in a political and social context means
freedom of an individual from oppression, compulsion, or
coercion from other persons, an authority figure, or from
society itself.

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 Two types of Political freedom

Positive Liberty Negative Liberty

Refers to a person taking control Freedom from external restraint,
of his or her own life and barriers, and other interferences
fulfilling one’s potential. from other people.

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 Liberalism
Upholds the preservation of individual rights and stresses the role of the
government in protecting these civil liberties.

Libertarianism
Believes that the individual, not the government, is the best judge in
upholding and exercising rights.

Socialism
Considers freedom as the freedom to acquire economic resources and the
ability to work and act according to one’s desires.

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 Rights
Natural rights
Refer to rights which are innate
in the person such as the right to
life. These rights are considered
universal and inalienable.
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Legal rights
Rights that are based on society’s
customs and laws, and are
enacted by legislation and
enforced by a government. The
enjoyment of these rights are
based on citizenship.
 What makes us free?
How does freedom shape our experience?
Freedom, in its simplest sense, is the freedom to make
choices in life. Philosophers relate human freedom to the
concept of human agency, which refers to the capacity of
a person to act and exert control over his or her behavior.

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 Two ways to express Human freedom

Free will Free Action

The capacity to choose from The freedom to perform an
alternative courses of action or action without any obstacles or
decision. hindrances.

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 The Faculties
Model
The Faculties model refers to free will as the use
of our mental faculties. It assumes that we have
free will due to our intellect and that each human
action is based on rationality and sound
judgment

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The Hierarchical
Model
The hierarchical model argues that free will is
based on human wants and desires. A person
exercises free will when he or she identifies one
desire as acceptable and decides to act on it.

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The Reasons-responsive
View
The reasons-responsive view believes that man
has free will because he or she is able to entertain
reasons not to enact a certain decision and act
upon them when the need arises.

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 1.
Realization that “All
Actions Have
Consequences”

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 Aristotle
The Power of Volition
Aristotle thinks that Volition – the irrational part of
the soul, – is the principle of movement. The Volition is
a manifestation of what is moving itself in and through
itself, i.e. a manifestation of the Absolute material
entelechy.

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 Thomas Aquinas
Love is Freedom
In all creatures of God, human beings have the unique power to
change themselves and the things around them for the better. A human
being, therefore, has a supernatural, transcendental destiny. This mean
that he can rise above his ordinary being of self. The power of change,
however,cannot be done by human being alone, but it is achieved
through cooperation with God. Change should promote not just any
purely private advantage, but the good of the community.

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 Fourfold Classification of Law
Eternal Law
It is the Divine Wisdom of
God which oversees the
common good and governs
everything. Eternal law is
God’s plan to lead all
creation towards God’s
eternal salvific plan to be
holy and blameless before
Him through Jesus Christ.
Human Law
It is the interpretation of
natural law in different
contexts.
Natural Law
It is “the rational creature’s
participation in the eternal
law”. It is a foundation for
moral and civil law
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Divine Law
It is the historical laws of
Scripture given to us
through God’s self-
revelation. Divine law is
divided into the Old Law
and the New Law, which
correspond to the Old and
New Testaments of the
Bible.
 Thomas Aquinas
Spiritual Freedom
As humans, we are both material and spiritual. We
have a conscience because of our spirituality. God is
Love and Love is our destiny.

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 Jean Paul Sartre
Individual Freedom
For Sartre, existence precedes essence, freedom is
absolute, and existence is freedom. It has been made clear
that Sartre does not believe that any essence or substance
can be attributed to individuals prior to their existence.
Sartre writes that freedom means “by oneself to determine
oneself to wish.

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 Thomas Hobbes
Theory of Social contract
Hobbes is famous for his early and elaborate
development of what has come to be known as “social
contract theory”, the method of justifying political
principles or arrangements by appeal to the agreement that
would be made among suitably situated rational, free, and
equal persons.

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 Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The Social Contract
The Social Contract, with its famous opening sentence
'Man is born free, and he is everywhere in chains', stated
instead that people could only experience true freedom if they
lived in a civil society that ensured the rights and well-being of
its citizens. Being part of such a society involved submitting to
the general will – a force that transcended individuals and
aimed to uphold the common good.

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 2.
Evaluating and
Exercising Prudence in
Choices

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 Our Environment has the notch to influence our lives, our
choices.
Prudence is that virtue that leads us to discern these choices,
we practice it with our intellect infused by the guidance of faith
and opted not to transgress our conscience and that of others.
With prudence, we discern what choices are right and wrong.
It helps us to identify the best course of action, in our life and
choose the right way to pursue it.

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 “
To evaluate and exercise prudence in choices
means to be careful before completely making
up one’s mind about an important decision. This
is in order to avoid making a big mistake that
could your result in an unmanageable problem.
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 3.
Consequences
of our Choices

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 Choices shape our lives. Our lives that we live in
today are a result of the consequences of our choices.
Some of them are easy and others are extremely
difficult. Sometimes a choice might be too hard, so
we simply decide not to choose. While this may feel
like you have dodged a bullet, deciding not to choose
is a choice too.

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 Thanks!
Any questions?

Yo

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