FREEDOM OF THE

HUMAN PERSON
GROUP 1
5.1: ALL ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES

• HERMIGUEL CYDRICK GEQUILLO

OBJECTIVES
• TO REALIZE THE CONSEQUENCES OF ONE’S
ACTIONS

• TO SHOW THE SITUATIONS THAT DEMONSTRATE

FREEDOM OF CHOICE
• TO UNDERSTAND THE HUMAN PERSON’S FREEDOM
INTRODUCTION

• Accordingly, freedom is the most sublime of all

human preoccupations. It is the highest good
that all persons struggle to protect.
ARISTOTLE
Born 384 BC
Died 322 BC (aged approx. 62)
Era Ancient philosophy
Region Western philosophy
School Peripatetic school and Aristotelianism
Notable students Alexander the Great

was a Greek philosopher during the Classical period in

Ancient Greece, the founder of the Lyceum and the
Peripatetic school of philosophy and Aristotelian tradition.
Along with his teacher Plato, he has been called the "Father
of Western Philosophy".
ARISTOTLE : THE POWER OF VOLITION

• The imperative quality of a judgement 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 which will is
rationally denominated
ARISTOTLE: THE POWER OF VOLITION

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 rewards and punishment of rulers; and
• The general employment of praise and blame
ARISTOTLE: THE POWER OF VOLITION
• 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 acts. For example a student must attend their class
because this their responsibility, if he/she cuts their class then
they will be responsible for the consequences of their actions. As
a result, he/she must be held responsible for having a failing
grades. The point is the happiness of every human being’s soul is
in his own hands, whether to preserve and develop, or to cast it
away
ARISTOTLE: THE POWER OF VOLITION

As shown in the figure, reason,

will, and action drives each
other.
 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
Thomas Aquinas was an Italian Dominican friar,
Philosopher, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church.
He is an immensely influential philosopher, theologian,
and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism, within which
he is also known as the Doctor Angelicus and the
Doctor Communist.

Born: 1225, Roccasecca, Italy

Died: 7 March 1274, Abbazia di
Fossanova, Fossanova Abbey, Italy
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: LOVE IS FREEDOM

• Of all creatures of God, human beings have the unique power to

change themselves and the things around them to be better. St.
Thomas Aquinas considers the human being as a moral agent. Our
spirituality separates us from animals; it delineates moral dimension
of our fulfillment in an action. Through our spirituality, we have
conscience. Whether we choose to be “good” or “evil” becomes
our responsibility. A human being, therefore has supernatural,
transcendental destiny. This means that he can rise up from his
being of self to a highest being of self.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: LOVE IS FREEDOM
• A human being, therefore has supernatural, transcendental destiny.
This means that he can rise up from his being of self to a highest
being of self. This is in line with the idea of St. Thomas that in the
plan of God, 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. The power of change, however, cannot be
undone by human beings alone, but is achieved 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.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: LOVE IS FREEDOM

Fourfold Classification of Law

•Eternal law
•Natural law
•Human law
•Divine law
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: LOVE IS FREEDOM
• principle of natural law is that good is to be sought after and evil avoided.
Since the law looks to common good as its end, it is then conceived primarily
with external acts and not with interior disposition. A person, thus, should not
be judged through his actions alone but also through his sincerity behind his
acts.
• For Aquinas, both natural and human laws are concerned with ends
determined simply by humanity’s nature. However, since a human being is in
fact, ordained to an end transcending his nature, it is necessary that he has a
law ordering him to that end, and this is the divine law or revelation. It deals
with interior disposition as well as external acts and it ensures the final
punishment of all evildoings. Neither of which is possible for human law. This
divine law is divided into two old(mosaic) and the new(christian) that are
related as the immature and imperfect to the perfect and complete
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: LOVE IS FREEDOM
• Eternal law is the decree of God that governs all creation. It is “that
law which is the Supreme reason cannot be understood to be
otherwise than unchangeable and eternal.
• For Aristotle, the purpose of a human being is to be happy. To be
one, one has to live a virtuous life. In other words, human beings
have to develop to the full their powers ----- rational, moral, social,
emotional, and physical here on earth.
• For St. Thomas, he follows the same line of thinking, but points to a
higher form of happiness possible to humanity beyond this life, and
that is perfect happiness that everyone seek but could be found
only in God alone.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: LOVE IS FREEDOM

• St. Thomas wisely and aptly chose and proposed love

rather than law to bring about the humanity. For love is in
consonance with humanity’s free nature, for law commands
and complete; love only calls and invites. St. Thomas
emphasizes the freedom of humanity but guiding principle
of humanity toward his self-perception and happiness,his
ultimate destiny.
C. St. Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual freedom
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
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 is the creator.
Sartre’s theory stem from this principle:
Existence precedes essence
• The person, first, exists, encounters himself and surges up un 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 re committed alone, in absolute freedom and responsibility and which, therefore the character of true
creation. -

• On the other hand, the human person who tries to escape obligations and strives to be ensoi
(i.e., excuses, such as “I was born this way” or “grew up in a bad environment”) is acting on bad faith (mauval foi)

• Sartre emphasize 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
E. Thomas Hobbes : Theory of Social Contract

A Law of nature (lex naturalist) 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.
F. Jean Jacques Rousseau
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.
In order to restore peace, bring his Sovereign/Ruler
freedom back, and as he returned to (State)
his true self, he saw the necessity and
came to form the state through the
social contract whereby everyone Freedom
(General will or mutual
grants his individuals rights to the transfering of rights)
general will. There must b e a common
power of government which the
plurality of individuals (citizens) should
Citizens
all their power and strength into (Individual Rights)
(freedom) one will (ruler)