Philo Module 5 Reviewer

Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person
Module 5: The Nature of Freedom way thing are at a time, the way things go thereafter is
fixed as a matter of natural law.
This view suggests that a determinate set of conditions

Lesson 1: Existentialism
can produce only one possible outcome given the fixed
laws of nature.
Existentialism
Through the principle of Universal Causation, every
A philosophical movement known for its inquiry on physical event falling under the laws of nature is caused
human existence. in accordance with these laws.
Existentialism is opposed to the idea that man has a Hence, the idea that every physical event has a cause
fixed nature. Instead, it asserts that to understand logically determines that there may be an explanation
man's nature, one has to go beyond the claims of for an event because it has a necessary cause.
biology, physics, and psychology.
Determinism has a direct implication in human actions.
Remember that a human person is characterized as a The human action as an event that was caused by
consciousness; as a being-for-itself, who has the task of something implies that free choices is impossible
appropriating a goal because the nothingness reveals because the regularity of actions means that the cause
that the being-for-itself is a deficiency, of an action, given a determinate set of conditions, will
result in one possible outcome.
Aside from the concept of nothingness, freedom is
viewed as something that arises from the self- This is the same with choices, as events will imply that
understanding, accompanied by the mood of anxiety. no other choice is possible except for that one choice a
person is determined to choose.
Why anxiety?
In the same context as the notion of nothingness, the

self in threatened and is revealed as vulnerable because CLASSIFICATION OF DETERMINISMS
anxiety pulls the being-for-itself from the projects which
Causal Determinism
it has appropriated itself with.
Incompatible with the notion of freewill because it
undermines free choice if past events will be revealed
Martin Heidegger a German philosopher and as the cause of future actions and not really chosen by
phenomenologist, disclosed that the mood of anxiety the individual as a free agent.
reveals nothing. Anxiety teaches the being-for-itself that
Physical Determinism
it does not coincide with all the self-identification it has
immersed itself into. Claims that since the body is physical, every event
involving the body is determined. According to this
view, given a set of determinate conditions in the brain
Lesson 2: Determinism: Undermining Free and the laws of nature, bodily movements are causally
Choice determined. The state of the brain acts immediately
before a decision is made is what makes a person do a
certain act, and that decision is the only possible
Determinism: Undermining Free Choice outcome at the particular moment when the action is
Determinism opposes the notion of free will. This view being done.
states that the world is governed by (or is under the
sway of) determinism if and only if, given a specified
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Lesson 4: The Nature of the Choices We Make

Lesson 3: The Value of Choices in Relation to
Freedom The Act of Making a Choice
The act of making a choice involves evaluating the

The Value of Choices in Relation to Freedom reasons and giving weight to reasons. One alternative is
chosen because the reasons behind such alternative
Freedom involves choice. It is a man's capacity to do have more weight than the other.
otherwise. As Sartre said, it is through choice that a
man lives an authentic human life. Robert Nozick explains in his 1981 book, Philosophical
Explanations, that making a choice seems to feel like
However, the concept of determinism under cuts the there are various reasons for and against doing the
human action of choosing because an action always has alternative actions or courses of actions one is
one possible outcome. considering, and it seems and feels like one could do
Humanity without the capacity to choose is a pawn to anyone of these alternatives.
whoever or whatever nature allows to happen. Nozick introduced the concept of weighing the reasons.
As implied, when man cannot choose, he tends to He explained that when you are choosing, the act
believe that he cannot be made responsible for the involves not only the reasons but giving weight to
choices he makes because his actions are not from a reasons. After you have chosen each alternative, you
deliberate act of choosing but a causal connection will realize that some considerations carry more weight
between events beyond his control. than the others.
If human beings are determined, life seem to be futile That is why you choose one alternative and discard the
or even absurd, because they live to simply go with the other. What is interesting in this act of making choices is
flow, with what the law of nature dictates. Whatever that the consideration was not previously defined. The
action they choose is not really a choice but is what reasons do not come with precisely given weights; the
nature dictates. decision-making process is not done to discover such
weights but to assign them.
Fatalism - a view that states that one is powerless to do
anything than what he actually wants to do. Nozick further suggests a theory of values in the act of
giving weights. These values are intrinsic, instrumental,
The act of choosing is valuable because it gives the originative, and contributory.
human person the reason to make deliberate actions
out of motives that reveal his autonomy as an
individual. INTRINSIC VALUE - the value it has for itself apart from
If a person has the capacity to choose, then that person or independent of its consequences. If intrinsic value is
can be held responsible over the consequences of his applied for each alternative, you choose this alternative
actions. If the choice lies in his own hands, he would by the weight you give to the alternative because the
take considerable time before acting on something alternative itself is valuable for its own right.
because he knows that if the consequences is not what INSTRUMENTAL VALUE - Instrumental is the function
he intends to happen, he gets the blame. Hence, the and measure of intrinsic value that it leads to. It may be
person becomes prudent with the choices he makes. the sum of intrinsic value of different things it actually
leads to or some measure of the intrinsic values it might
lead to as weighted by probabilities such as the
expected intrinsic values.
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ORIGINATIVE VALUE -Introduces new values to the

world. It may be newly intrinsic values or newly
instrumental values. Through this third value, you may
have all three values combined. That is why a person
with originative value can make a difference in this
world. His or her actions can affect change and different
valuable consequences can happen. However, the
originative value can be denied by causal determination
CONTRIBUTORY VALUE - Focuses on the value

contribution that a human action effect. Most human
beings want their actions to have contributory values.
At the very least, even if the contributory value is not an
original one, the contributory factor helps in
differentiating the existing case without the factors
effected by the contributory value if it did exist.
When you make a choice, the act of choosing is

intentional or purposeful. It is a free choice that you
made among the alternatives, and such choice was
based on the weight of the reasons you put on the
choices.
In the act of giving weights to the alternatives, you may

find that some of these alternatives and their reasons
may have more weight or are more important to you, so
you choose that alternative and act on it.
The reasons you made for those particular alternatives

satisfied the requirements you have set and is,
therefore, satisfactory. Though caused, the act is free of
causal determinism because the reasons are an effect of
a deliberate, autonomous decision-making process.
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Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person

This view suggests that a determinate set of conditions

In the same context as the notion of nothingness, the

Lesson 4: The Nature of the Choices We Make

The act of making a choice involves evaluating the

ORIGINATIVE VALUE -Introduces new values to the

CONTRIBUTORY VALUE - Focuses on the value

When you make a choice, the act of choosing is

In the act of giving weights to the alternatives, you may

The reasons you made for those particular alternatives

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