freedom of the human person.pptx introduction

philosophy

1. FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN PERSON

2. OBJECTIVES To Realize the consequences of one’s actions To show situation that demonstrate freedom of choice To evaluate and exercise prudence on one’s choices.

3. Learning outcomes This lesson highlights freedom from the intellectual, political, spiritual, and economic aspect. To be free is a 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. For instance, students can be young and poor, but they can still pursue their dreams of becoming a doctor, teacher, or a stage actor. As discussed in the last lesson, critical thinking is an important tool toward freedom and truth.

4. Realize that “ All Actions have consequences” Aristotle 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 is rationally denominated.

5. The will of humanity is an instrument of free choice. It is within the power of everyone to 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 reward and punishment of rulers; and The general employment of praise and blame

6. 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.

7. Example Attending class is a student’s responsibility. Should the student cut the 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 that he/she had done but all the regrets in the world will not call it back. The point is student should not have cut class in the first instance. When the matter is sifted down, the happiness of every human beings his own hands, to preserve and develop, or to cast away.

8. Aristotle: intellectual freedom

9. For Aristotle, 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.

10. St. Thomas Aquinas Love is freedom All creatures of God, human beings have the unique power to change themselves and the thing around them for the better. He consider that the human as moral agent.

11. A human being, therefore, has a supernatural, transcendental destiny. This mean that he can rise above his ordinary being of 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.

12. The power of change, however, cannot be done by human being alone, but is achieved through cooperation with God. Between humanity and God, there is an infinite gap, which God alone can bridge through His power. Perfection by participation here means that it is a union of humanity with God, Change should promote not just any purely private advantage, but the good of the community.

13. FOURFOLD CLASSIFICATION OF LAW by Aquinas 1 . Eternal Law 2. Natural Law 3. Human law 4. Divine Laws

14. Human beings, as rational, have laws that should not only be obeyed but also obeyed voluntarily and with understanding (for instance, in following the traffic rules). The natural law, then in its ethical sense, applies only to human being. The first principle and precept of the natural law is that good is to be sought and evil avoided (this is the instruct of self-preservation). There is inherent in every human being an inclination that he shares with all other being, namely, the desire to conserve human life and forbids the contrary. For instance, if there is fire and its burning heat is felt, then it is but a human tendency to avoid it

15. Since the law looks to the common good as it end, it is then conceived primarily with external acts and not with the interior disposition. A person, thus, should not be judged through his actions alone but also through his sincerity behind his acts. Both natural and human laws are concerned with ends determined simply by humanity’s nature.

16. Eternal Law is a decree of god that governs all creation. It is that law which is Supreme Reason cannot be understood to be otherwise than unchangeable and eternal. Natural law is the human “participation” in the eternal law and is discovered by reason. Natural law is based on “first principles” .

17. St. Thomas Aquinas 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 calls and invites. Aquinas emphasizes the freedom of humanity but chooses love on 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.

18. QUIZ: TRUE or FALSE? Reason can legislate, but only through will can its legislation be translated into action. Actions, in fact, is to be understood wholly in terms of intellect. According to Aristotle, if there were no intellect there would be no will. Aristotle believed that between humanity and God, there is an infinite gap, which God alone can bridge through His power. Eternal, natural, human and divine laws are the fourfold classification of laws by Aquinas.

19. QUIZ: ARISTOTLE or AQUINAS? A person should not be judged through his actions alone but also through his sincerity behind his acts. He wisely and aptly chose and proposed Love rather than law to bring about the transformation of humanity. The power of Volition. Intellectual freedom. Both natural and human laws are concerned with ends determined simply by humanity’s nature.

20. C. St. Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual freedom SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

21. 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.

22. D. Jean Paul Sartre: Individual freedom Sartre’s Philosophy is considered to be representative of existentialism. For him the human person is the desire to be God; the desire to exist as a being has its sufficient ground in itself ( en sui causa). There are no guidepost 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).

23. 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. The person is provided with supreme opportunity to give meaning to one’s life 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. 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 be en-soi (i.e., excuses, such as “I was born this way” or “grew up in a bad environment”) is acting on bad faith ( mauvais foi ) 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.

24. E. Thomas Hobbes: Theory of Social Contract A Law of nature ( lex naturalis ) is a precept 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 best preserved.

25. F. Jean – Jacques Rosseau In his book The Social Contract, the state owes it origin to a social contract freely entered into by its member (ex. EDSA Revolution) The two Philosophers differed in their interpretations. Hobbes developed his idea in favor of absolute monarchy, while Rousseau interpreted the idea in terms of absolute democracy and individualism.

26. In order to restore peace, bring his freedom back, and as he returned to his true self, he saw the necessity and came to form the state through the social contract whereby everyone grants his individual rights to the general will. There must be a common power of government which the plurality of individuals (citizens) should confer all their powers and strength into (freedom) one will (ruler).