Lesson 4 Moral Freedom and Responsibility

ETHICS COURSE
MORAL FREEDOM &

RESPONSIBILITY
LESSON 4
HOW DO YOU DEFINE
BEING FREE?
WHAT ARE THE FACTORS
THAT INDICATE THAT YOU
ARE FREE?
DO YOU FEEL FREE RIGHT
NOW?
DO YOU DO THINGS
BECAUSE YOU WANT TO?
OR BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO?
ARE YOU STUDYING
ETHICS BECAUSE YOU
WANT TO?
OR BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO?
ETHICS COURSE
MORAL FREEDOM &

RESPONSIBILITY
LESSON 4
WHAT IS MORAL
FREEDOM?
THERE IS A MISCONCEPTION...
For some people, they say that freedom is

doing what a person wants. It is the ability to
choose good over evil.
Glenn G. Pajares, Ph.D, D.A

TRUE FREEDOM IS THE
ABILITY TO CHOOSE THE
GOOD ONLY AND TO
REJECT EVIL.
FREEDOM IS OUR CAPACITY TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT AND NOT
WHAT IS WRONG.
YOU ARE The moment you do evil, you are enslaved by
evil. Hence, you cannot escape the
NEVER FREE accountability and culpability of your action, the

punishment, and the consequences of the evil
WHEN YOU DO deeds. That is why, when people do evil, they are
never free.
EVIL. Besides, doing a moral act requires two very
important faculties; the WILL and the INTELLECT.

This is a spiritual faculty of a rational being,
the rational animal (man.) The goal of the will
is to choose or possess the good. The will
cannot possess or choose the good if the
intellect does not know the good.
WILL
INTELLECT The goal of the intellect and the object of

intellect is to know the good as Truth. So, it is
the intellect tells the will that this is the good
thing or the good entity to be chosen.
Without the intellect, the will is blind thus, it

will be misled. The intellect has to inform the
will for the will to choose the good.
WE CHOOSE GOOD
SIMPLY BECAUSE IT IS THE RIGHT THING.
EVIL HAS TO BE REJECTED

BECAUSE BY ITSELF, EVIL CANNOT BE THE OBJECT OF THE
INTELLECT AND THE WILL.
Why do we commit evil?
WHY DO WE We commit evil because of our human nature.
We have an imperfect and broken human
COMMIT EVIL? nature.
In the eyes of faith, we have a frail human

nature because of the sin of our first parents.
So we have to admit that because of our
ignorance, we are not able to truly discern the
real good.
Most of the time, we choose the apparent

good, the lesser good than the good itself or
the higher goods. So that explains why human
beings err or make mistakes or commit evil and
sin.
Is it possible to perfect
ourselves?
With the help of God's grace and of course
mans natural capacity to do good, the
human being can actually perfect himself.
So it is not impossible to do. It is something
that can be achieved thru education, habit
or constant practice, and grace of God.
With these elements, man can actually

become holy, sacred, and virtuous.
SO THAT IS WHAT
FREEDOM IS...
Freedom is the ability of the will with the help of
the intellect to choose the good and the good
only.
Choosing evil is not freedom because evil will

enslave us. It will chain and bind us.
The consequences of evil will always hunt us. The

shame, the guilt, and the punishment of sin will not
make us free.
WHAT IS
?
Responsibility can be
equated with freedom.
Because our responsibility as
rational beings, with the
capacity to know the good
and choose good-- is to do
good.
Doing evil is a failure of
responsibility. It is a failure of
will and reason to choose
what is right, what is
supposed to be chosen.
That makes rational beings

different from other
organisms because it has the
capacity to discern and
choose what is right.
Four Kinds of Responsibility
1. Role Responsibility – the duties have one
for doing things which come with occupying
certain role in society.
2. Causal Responsibility – what cause
something to happen.
3. Liability Responsibility – who is liable for
something is happening.
4. Capacity Responsibility – the capacity of
a person to be held liability responsible for
their actions.
FREEDOM AND REASON
REASON AND FREEDOM WE ALWAYS HAVE REASONS WHY WE
DO THINGS AND WHY WE DO THE THINGS WE DO.
HUMAN ACTIONS DO NOT HAPPEN SIMPLY BY INSTINCTS.

HUMAN ACTIONS DO NOT HAPPEN SIMPLY BY CHANCE OR
NECESSITY.
WHAT IF I WAS
ONLY COERCED?
WHAT IF I WAS
THREATENED?
WHAT IF IT WAS
AN ORDER?
Are you really being forced
to do something against
your will or are you
willingly allowing them to
make you do something
against your will?
Realization:
Therefore, at the end of

the day, you always find
yourself free in the face of
any situation.
JEAN-PAUL SARTRE 'existence précède l'essence.
(Existence precedes essence)
It means that every human being is

solely responsible for their actions
because we choose who we are,
Humans are born as "nothing" and
then become who they are through
their choices and actions.
"Freedom is existence, and in it
JEAN-PAUL SARTRE
existence precedes essence."
This means that what we do, how we

act in our life, determines our
apparent "qualities."
is not that someone tells the truth

because she is honest, but rather she
defines herself as honest by telling
the truth again and again.
1 2 3
THE FIRST KIND OF SECOND, IS THIRDLY, THERE IS

FREEDOM IS “FREEDOM TO,” “FREEDOM TO BE,” A
“FREEDOM FROM,” A FREEDOM TO DO FREEDOM, NOT JUST TO
A FREEDOM FROM THE WHAT WE DO WHAT WE WANT,
CONSTRAINTS OF WANT TO DO. BUT A FREEDOM TO BE
SOCIETY. WHO WE WERE MEANT
TO BE.
ETHICS COURSE
DO YOU THINK MAN'S

FREEDOM IS ABSOLUTE?
LESSON 4
ETHICS COURSE
EVERYTHING IS A
CHOICE.
LESSON 4

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ETHICS COURSE

MORAL FREEDOM &

MORAL FREEDOM &

For some people, they say that freedom is

Glenn G. Pajares, Ph.D, D.A

NEVER FREE accountability and culpability of your action, the

Glenn G. Pajares, Ph.D, D.A

INTELLECT The goal of the intellect and the object of

Without the intellect, the will is blind thus, it

EVIL HAS TO BE REJECTED

In the eyes of faith, we have a frail human

Most of the time, we choose the apparent

With these elements, man can actually

Choosing evil is not freedom because evil will

The consequences of evil will always hunt us. The

That makes rational beings

HUMAN ACTIONS DO NOT HAPPEN SIMPLY BY INSTINCTS.

Therefore, at the end of

It means that every human being is

This means that what we do, how we

is not that someone tells the truth

THE FIRST KIND OF SECOND, IS THIRDLY, THERE IS

DO YOU THINK MAN'S

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