(1) A human person possesses characteristics like freedom that allow them to direct their own development and self-fulfillment. Freedom is the capacity to act or not act by one's own choice without compulsion. (2) There are philosophical insights on freedom, including that it is a gift inherent to humans, complementary to reason by requiring practical rationality, and absolute though still existing within restrictions. Freedom also demands responsibility for one's choices and their consequences. (3) Culture influences moral development by defining norms, setting boundaries, generating identity and moral character, and identifying authorities through shared experiences, beliefs, values, and norms transmitted across generations.

1. Learning Plan: Human Freedom and Culture
A human person is endowed with characteristics that are material, spiritual, rational, and
free. A human person os a being with inborn properties that he or she uses to direct his or
her own development towards self-fulfilment. Freedom is one of the inborn properties and
it is the human capacity to act and or not to act as he or she chose to prefer, without any
external compulsion or restraint. Human act, in contrast to acts of man, are actions that
proceed from insight into the nature and purpose of one's doing and from consent of free
will. According to Immanuel Kant, to act freely is to act autonomously. To act autonomously
is to act according to a law "I give myself". To have proper understanding of this context,
only the "motive of duty" - acting according to the law I give to myself confers a moral
worth ta an action. Other motives, though commendable in some respect cannot give an
action with moral worth to an action. Other motives, though commendable in some respect,
cannot give an action with moral worth. In simple terms, freedom is very essential in the
course of human actions in which man is entirely knowledgeable, conscious, and free to
choose on what course of actions her or she is going to make and willingly and freely to
act in. The motive of duty emphasizes the function of reason to determine right action from
wring action in the context of duty.
There are philosophical insights on freedom. (1) Freedom is a gift. It is an inherent gift -
a right to every human being. Technically human beings are not robots whose actions are
directly controlled by the controller or programmer. Free actions are significant because
they help to make us who we are as human being. A human being is a discerning being who
freely makes significant choices. For Gabriel Marcel freedom is a gift given to us by God. (2)
Freedom is complementary to reason. As I usually express freedom is blind or absent
when reason is also absent. For Aristotle, every human being must exercise practical
rationality in order to determine how to purse his or her ultimate end. Self-direction rather
than bare spontaneity is the crucial and significant characteristics of a free person. (3)
Freedom is absolute. This particular insight simple says that there I no half way or mid-way
of true - genuine freedom. According to Jean Paul Sartre, true freedom is one-absolute
freedom. Every human being is absolutely free. But for Sartre, human freedom is beyond
the freedom of human restrictions. In fact, for him, a jailed person can still be free. A jailed
person can still be free to think, to changes,, and to become a better person. In other words,
a person is free to redefine himself or herself and is also free to make significant choices.
(4) Freedom Demands responsibility. In connection to what Sartre had sad that freedom is
absolute, he further said that there is a corresponding responsibility to freedom. Every
human being is free to make significant choices and these choices also have consequences
to it. These consequences to freedom are something which the person must endure and be
held responsible. According to Lao Tzu, and ancient Chinese philosopher, a person should
choose to act which would result to harmony. In other words, the concept of freedom is put

2. into context of owning the consequences of one's exercise of freedom. Responsibility,
therefor, becomes a moral quality that serves as a voluntary check and balance of one's
freedom.
In view of essay on morality and culture, Mary Douglas pointed out that there exists little
communication between anthropologists wiring on morals and the western moral
philosophers. The two conversations are in parallel: the philosophers were talking about
the rational foundation of ethics; and the anthropologists were talking about interaction
between moral ideas and coal institutions. The itchy bitchy skirmishes begin when the
anthropologists turn to the investigation of the morality of a culture while the philosopher
try to account for the role of culture in the formation of morality. But before anything else,
let new ask, what is culture? Culture is derived from the Latin word "cultura" or "cultus"
which means care or cultivation. It simply implies means that we as social beings are
naturally drawn to participate and be part in a particular culture. Our inborn talents cannot
be developed without the people. We need the be accepted by our peers. We need
protection from danger. The people around us in a particular social context provide us with
the need opportunities so that we can translate our potentialities into realities. Our
achievements or accomplishments do not only achieve self-actualization but these also
make us contribution member of the community of society. According to Edward B. Taylor,
and anthropologists, "culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, law,
art, moral custom, and other capabilities and habits acquired as a member of society. It
simply means of a "way of life" a totality of the humanly created word, from material
culture and cultivated landscapes, social institutions - either political - religious - economic,
to the knowledge and meaning that human have created and learned in a society.
There five basic elements of culture. Different culture and sub-cultures have all these five
elements. The five elements are Symbols, Language, Beliefs, Values, and Norms. Symbols
can be anything that a group of people find meaningful. Examples for this are the Ankh,
Djed, Was Scepter, Scarab, Tjet, Wadjet of the ancient Egyptian culture. Language is a
system of communication used by a particular country or community. It is a complex
convention symbol that enabled human beings to communicate with each other through
spoken works or writing. Examples for this are Bisaya, Tagalog, Spanish, and English
languages. Beliefs are assumptions of convictions held to be true by an individual or a
group of people. These assumptions could be events people, or things. Examples of these
are the different religious beliefs, folk stories, and superstitions beliefs. Values are
culturally acceptable standards of behaviour. It denotes the degree of importance of some
tings or action, with the aim of determining what actions are best to do or what way is best
to live or to describe the significance of different actions. Examples for these are the respect
for elders, close family ties, highly religious, and others. Norms or shall we say cultural
norm are the social rules and customs embedded in everyday life of the people. These

3. simple refers to the culture's folkways and mores. Examples of these are the customary
roles and functions of mother or women and father or husband in a particular society, and
talking about "sex" may be an obscenity to other couture bit not to some.
Let us now focus on the influence of culture in moral development. We know for a fact that
culture is a complex of phenomenon. It contains nearly all aspects of shared human
experiences. It has been with us since the dawn of human existence. It is a social
environment is which a person is born and where in he or she lives together with other
persons. We have to bear it in mind that culture is a person's social heritage that has been
passed from one generation to the next through a relationship that binds the society
together. It is greatly emphasized that culture is rooted from the collective human
experience. So, it is logical to say that culture is always transmitted, shared and acquired
through learning. It satisfies the human need and tend towards the participation of the
member of the society. Its one function is to mold and establish ad social identity that
brings people as wee to the knowledge of common objective which member would try to
achieve. In this effect, culture plays a vital role in the development of the human person
including his or her moral behaviour. These are the points on how culture influences moral
development of the people. (1) Culture is always social and communal by which the
relationship of the people towards one another and their experiences as a people are the
culture's meadow. (2) Culture defines the normative principals and behaviour of the
society. (3) Culture sets boundaries and limitations as they live and relate with one
another. (4) Culture helps in generating the character and identity of its people including
their moral character. (5) Culture identifies the authorities or the governing individuals or
groups
Performance Tasks
As you have read the text discussions above, tell me what you think about this matter.
1.) What is human act in your own understanding?
2.) What is human freedom in your own understanding?
3.) Why is human freedom essential to a human being?

4. 4.) Explain the statement "human freedom is complementary to reason"?
5.) Explain the statement, "human freedom demands responsibility"?
6.) Explain the meaning of culture and five elements of culture?
7.) How does culture shape the moral behaviour of a person?