Lesson 2 Quarter 2

Freedom and
Responsibility
What is your definition
of Freedom?
Are we free
 Freedom
• Freedom 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 in his or her nature to seek freedom. An important
indication of human freedom is the ability to make choices
and perform actions.
• People associate freedom with one’s ability to do whatever he
or she wants to do
• The human person does not experience that
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 a stimulus or faced with a
certain situation.
• Freedom is also understood as the power to be
what you want to be and the ability to decide and
create something for yourself.
SELF-DETERMINATION
• a person’s actions determine what kind of person
he or she becomes.
• Freedom also requires a degree of control
from the person who exercises it. A person
becomes more free when he or she
exercises control over himself or herself.
 • A person becomes less free when he or
she is no longer in control of himself or
herself and is instead, controlled by other
forces.
Ex:
• Person suffering from addiction
• People who act solely based on their
emotion
 • To lose control of oneself diminishes human
freedom and dehumanizes the person.
• Persons who are denied their freedom by other
individuals, groups, and institutions are also
dehumanized.
Ex: Slavery, a person who is imprisoned and the
person whom he or she wronged.
• Classification of Voluntary Actions
A. Voluntary – actions are performed from will and reason.
B. Related to Compulsion - it is considered as mixed of voluntary
and involuntary. It is more voluntary if the desire and choice has been
performed and involuntary if it has considered preferences or
alternatives. Example: You are asked to perform a crime and your
options are; either you do it and your family survives or you don’t do
it but they will be murdered.
2. Involuntary Actions
are acts done under a) force or coercion and b).
ignorance where the doer failed to understand the effect
and feels sorry on the result.
Classifications of Involuntary Actions
A. Under Compulsion – circumstances which are beyond the
control of the agent and contributes none to the action. Example: A
person was kidnapped, hence impossible to resist.
B. Through Ignorance of Particular Circumstances. Example: a
man steals and ignorant of the law, arrow or gun shot by mistake.
When was the last time
you see yourself
escaping from the
consequences of your
actions
 Agree, Disagree
We have the tendency
to blame others for their
choice of a course of
action.
What do you think
the reason behind the
increasing numbers of
failed relationships
Intellectual &
Practical
Choice
 A. Intellectual Choice
This is a choice which is deliberately selected based
on a moral standpoint. Basically, they are normative
answers about what we ought to do from a moral
system that we uphold and its moral principles.
These normative answers would take into
consideration the behavior which the society will
accept.
 B. Practical Choice
a choice which is borne out of psychological and
emotional considerations. Practical choices are
made when confronted with the actual situation,
and usually affected by psychological aspect of the
person embroiled in the moral situation or dilemma.
3 Types of
Freedom
 • Physical Freedom
refers to the absence of any restraint. This means
that a person has the freedom to go anywhere he or
she wanted to do. On the other hand we cannot go
to two places at a time yet we have the ability to go
to wherever we want to go.
2. Psychological Freedom
is also called freedom of choice. This means
that a person has the will power whether to
act or not to act on what he or she considers
to be right and wise.
 3. Moral Freedom
refers to using freedom in a manner that
upholds human dignity and goodness. A
person becomes more free when he or she
uses freedom well, but he/she becomes less
free when he or she uses it in a bad way.
2 Elements that
define freedom
 • Voluntariness
refers to the ability of a person to act out of his or
her own free will and self-determination. This
means that a person may decide to act or not to act,
and these decisions are made out of his or her own
free will. It also means that a person may act even
if he or she is not required or called to take action.
 2. Responsibility
refers to the person being accountable for his or her
actions and their consequences.
Taking responsibility can either mean a person
voluntarily taking responsibility for his or her own
actions, or being held responsible by other people.
In any situation where a person is forced to do an
action against his or her free will, it follows that he or
she cannot be held responsible for his or her
involuntary actions
Ex. A person who is forced by bank robbers to open
the safety vault in the bank may not be held
responsible for the crime of robbery, since he or she
acted without much voluntariness.
A person who had no awareness of the effect of his or her
actions can be considered as acting with diminished freedom.
Ex. a person who tried to scare his or her friend by jumping out
of a corner wearing a scary mask. The surprised friend decided
to run away but in his or her panic, he or she hit a wall and was
injured. It was not the intention of the person who committed
the prank to get his or her friend hurt, but it happened because
he or she did not fully consider the consequences of his or her
actions.
• Another reality that we have to face as we
exercise our freedom, is the fact that it is
experienced through the act of making choices.
• Having the ability to choose and enact a course of
action does not automatically mean that we
should take action every time. It is also possible
that the choice, not to take action may be an
acceptable and moral choice in a given situation.
• When we make the choice to do a particular
action, we can never go back and redo our
actions and make another choice.
• Therefore it is very important that when
confronted with choices, we exercise caution
and prudence and reflect on our possible
courses of action.
 Self-reflection
is vital in the proper exercise of human
freedom. As persons, we cannot allow
ourselves to be slaves to sudden emotions
and moods in a given situation.
 1 2 3

Human freedom Freedom should also We should also

should be exercised be exercised with recognize and
with control and a regard for uphold not only our
recognition of knowledge and truth. personal freedom,
reasonable limits. but also the freedom
of others.
Which is more ethical option? Justify.