2. OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson you should be
able to:
Define freedom and explain the freedom
of the human person.
Prove that all actions and choices have
consequences.
Evaluate and exercise prudence in choice
Realize that some things are given up
while others are obtained in making
choices
Show situations that demonstrate
freedom of choice and the consequences
3. Imagine you won a big
contest, and you were
asked to choose just
one of the following
prizes:
4. A luxury car with a non-transferable
contract.
A 4-year college educational
scholarship at any school in the
Philippines.
A one-month all-expense paid to
three European countries.
• Which prize will you
choose?
• What factors made you
come up with that
decision?
Let us find out the
answers !
5. In the previous example, you
were asked to choose just one
prize.
Seemingly all of them are
great prizes.
However if you will weigh the
pros and cons of each, you will
easily realize that one maybe
Learn about it!
6. Status symbol, but there is high cost
of maintenance and the burden of
Gasoline
Luxury Car
European Trip
Fun but impractical
4-yr Scholarship
Best choice. It is long term and
useful.
7. In choosing which prize to get,
you have already exercised your
freedom to make decisions.
HOWEVER,
It is important to realize that the
choices you make have
corresponding consequences.
8. The power or right to
act, speak, or think as
you want without
hindrance or restraint is
called FREEDOM.
9. The ability to
exercise one’s freedom
is called FREEDOM OF
CHOICE.
By law, all human beings
are entitled to make decisions
for themselves in whatever
way they choose to.
10. The only exception to this rule is
when one’s absolute choice harms or
delimits the self and others.
Freedom of choice also includes the
way one acts towards another.
All forms of actions, therefore, are
brought about by a person’s decision to
accomplish them.
All decisions, big or small, have
corresponding consequences which
may be good or bad
11. Two concepts of
FREEDOM
(Isaiah Berlin)
NEGATIVE FREEDOM
-Freedom from interference or
restrictions
- Freedom from control by others
POSITIVE FREEDOM
- Freedom to control oneself
- to be one’s own master
-Man is positively free only when the
higher self is in command
12. FREEDOM AND
CONSCIOUS SELF
- AWARENESS
SELF-AWARENESS
- knowledge of one’s own
existence and one’s
environment.
“knowing that you know”
-Determines whether a particular
being is free or not.
- It is what separates us from
13. SELF -
AWARENESS
Due to self awareness
• We are aware that we are aware
of something
• We are able to judge if our
choices are good or bad,
advantageous or
disadvantageous.
14. SELF -
AWARENESS
Without self awareness
• We would not recognize the value
of our decisions
• We will be consigned to an
existence that is fully determined
by our environment
• We would not feel remorse for our
failures.
• We would not hope for future
ambitions.
15. SELF -
AWARENESS
Importance to Human Freedom
• Self awareness gives us the
capacity to imagine
possibilities and alternatives
to our present conditions
• These possibilities and
alternatives are the reasons
why we have choices to make.
16. FREEDOM
and
AUTONOMY
AUTONOMY
Autos – self Nomos - law
• The ability to choose in accordance with
one’s own motivation.
• the capacity to be one's own person, to live
one's life according to reasons and motives
that are taken as one's own and not the
product of manipulative or distorting
external forces.
• To be autonomous is to have the FREEDOM
to act in accordance with one’s own values,
beliefs and principles
17. FREEDOM
and
LIMITATION
S
NATURAL LIMITATIONS
• Being Human, Growing old, Diseases,
Death, Form of your body, Our
existence,
INTERPERSONAL LIMITATIONS
• Parents, Family, Personality, Friends,
Body Type, Height, Skin color,
SOCIO-HISTORICAL EVENTS
• Time of Birth, Language,Culture,
Society, Religious beliefs, Technology
Things you can no longer
change
19. Of course our freedom is
limited.
FIRST, we are limited by our own
human abilities and the physical
laws to which we are subjected.
We cannot fly like a bird,
regardless of how hard we try.
20. Second, some actions are
explicitly prohibited, or
sometimes mandated, by the
laws to which we are
subjected.
As a Filipino citizen, I have to pay
my taxes; I cannot commit murder in
21. Now, it is worth asking:
How are these limits?
Is it an exercise of freedom,
properly speaking, to indulge
into fantasies like flying like a
bird, or to murder someone?
Or is it delusional or beyond
the realm of freedom proper?
22. If I know what is possible
and what is not possible;
what is within my power to
control and what is out of it;
then I can adjust my mind to
that, and make decisions that
shall never be met with
contradiction.
23. FREEDOM
ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY
Your freedom affects others.
Your decisions affect other people’s
lives!
In making decisions and exercising
freedom of choice, determine the
adverse effects (short-term or long-
term) beforehand.
Exercise Prudence in your
24. SUMMARY
• Self-awareness provides us with
AUTONOMY and RESPONSIBILITY
• Our past and other external forces
in our environment influence our
behavior but they cannot fully
determine our choices.
• Our choices and decisions are
based on our own motivations.
• We are accountable for our own
choices in life.
25. SUMMARY
• Genuine freedom involves our
responsibility towards others.
• Being Free requires prudence
in our choices
• To develop prudence is to
develop our ability to carefully
consider the short and long
term consequences of our
actions.
