Choices: Freedom comes with great responsibilities Understanding the importance of being prudent in making

choices, you will realize that any deliberate act of choosing

❑ It is an absolute understanding that all actions have
involves evaluating the alternatives.
consequences. Freedom involves choice.
❑ The concept of explained that when you are choosing,
❑ Chance and choosing are incommensurable. If a person the act involves not only weighing the reasons but
has the capacity to choose, then that person can be held giving weight to reasons.
responsible over the consequences of his/ her actions.
❑ After you have chosen each alternative, you will realize
❑ Freedom is the power to be what you want to be that some considerations carry more weight than the
others. That is why you choose one alternative and
and the ability to decide and create your self. disregard the other.
❑ Many of the characteristics that define our

personality are often a product of our choices. Freedom gives

you the ability to strive to achieve goal.

Freedom is rooted in the human person’s self determination

and the exercise of intellect and free will.

A person’s actions determine what kind of person he/ she

becomes.

❑ Freedom entails certain RESPONSIBILITY

❑ Freedom requires a degree of control from the person

who exercises it (eg: addiction, impulsive behavior)

❑ To lose control of oneself diminishes human

freedom and dehumanizes the person

2 Elements that define freedom:

1. Voluntariness- refers to the ability of a person

to act out of his/ her own free will and self
determination.

Decisions are made out of his/ her own free will

Also means that a person may act even if he/ she is not required
or called to take action.

Voluntary acts are free acts which can be assigned a

corresponding moral value.

Whenever we decide to take action, this results in a certain PRACTICAL driven by practical considerations—often immediate,
consequence. functional, or financially motivated

2. Responsibility- refers to the person being accountable INTELLECTUAL that reflect intellectual pursuits, values, or long-
for his/ her actions and their consequence. term goals.
INTELLECTUAL CHOICE
❑ A person who had no awareness of the
An intellectual choice is guided by reasoning, analysis, and ethical
effect of his/ her actions can be considered as
considerations. It often involves deep thinking and reflection on
acting with diminished freedom.
principles, values, and the broader implications of the decision.
❑ Another reality that we have to face as we Characteristics:
experience/ exercise our freedom is the fact Focuses on theories, philosophies, and moral implications. May
that freedom is experienced through the act of involve complex dilemmas and a search for meaning. Can
making choices. prioritize ideals over immediate outcomes.

The Act of Making a Choice

MORAL DILEMMA
✓Dilemma -a situation where a person is forced to choose "The origin of all conflict between me and my fellow- men is that
between two or more conflicting options, neither of which is I do not say what I mean and I don't do what I say”. -
acceptable. MARTIN BUBER
✓When dilemmas involve human actions which have moral
“To yield to seeming is man's essential cowardice, to resist it is
implications, they are called ethical or moral dilemmas.
his essential courage”. - MARTIN BUBER
✓Moral dilemmas are situations where persons, who are called
"moral agents" in ethics, are forced to choose between two or Being
more conflicting options, neither of which resolves the situation
in a morally acceptable manner ✓It proceeds not from an image, but from what one really is.

✓It is an acceptance of the other in the way that it is also an

INTERSUBJECTIVITY acceptance of the self as it is.
✓coined by Edmund Husserl
✓highlights the key term "acceptance" "Man wishes to be confirmed in his being by man, and wishes to
✓Interchange of thoughts and feelings between two persons or have a presence in the being of the other...Secretly and bashfully
subjects as facilitated by empathy he watches for a YES which allows him to be and which can come
to him only from one human person to another."
MARTIN BUBER
an Austrian-born Israeli Jewish philosopher best known for his - MARTIN BUBER
philosophy of dialogue. 2. Speechifying

“The world is not comprehensible, but it is embraceable: through ✓It refers to one's talking past another.
the embracing of one of its beings." -MARTIN BUBER
✓It is hearing without listening to what one says.
DIALOGUE
Personal making present
✓It is a deep and genuine relationship between persons.
✓It is the process of fully opening oneself to the other.
✓It happens when two persons truly acknowledge each other's
3. Imposition
presence and treat each other as equals.
✓It constitutes holding one's own opinion, values, attitudes and
Ich-Es (I-It) relationship
oneself without regard for those of another.
✓It refers to the world of experience and sensation where there
✓It is telling the other how he or she should act, behave and
are objects. The beings do not actually meet. Instead, the "I"
respond to things.
confronts and qualifies an idea, or conceptualization, of the
being in its presence and treats that being as an object. Unfolding

Ich-es (I-it) Relationship ✓It constitutes finding in the other the disposition toward what
one recognizes as true, good and beautiful.
✓An individual treats other things, people, etc., as objects to be
used and experienced. Essentially, this form of objectivity relates ✓It involves seeing the other as a unique, singular individual
to the world in terms of the self-how an object can serve the capable of freely actualizing himself/herself.
individual's interest.
FREEDOM OF HUMAN PERSON
✓It is in fact a relationship with oneself; it is not a dialogue, but a
HUMAN ACTS
monologue.
Actions that are proper to humans
Ich-du (I-thou) Relationship
Acts that we do with the use of FREE WILL and INTELLECT.
✓It refers to the world of encounters and relationships where
there are persons. It is a concrete encounter without any They are done FREELY, DELIBERATELY and VOLUNTARILY.
qualification or objectification of one another.
Example: Choosing a Belief System, expressing emotions, making
✓It is a dialogue. sacrifices,

“Through the Thou a person becomes I." - MARTIN BUBER DETERMINANTS OF HUMAN ACTS

1. Seeming • KNOWLEDGE - action performed by conscious agent

who is AWARE of its action and its CONSEQUENCES.
✓It is a way of approaching the other governed by the image one
desires to impress on the other. • FREEDOM - must be performed by an agent who is
acting freely, without any external factors affecting its
✓It involves deliberately playing up or hiding aspects of yourself
actions.
to appear more desirable or impressive.
 • VOLUNTARINESS - must be performed by an agent who
decides willfully to perform the act.

ACTS OF MAN

Acts that we do WITHOUT free will and intellect;

The actions are performed without conscious deliberation or

knowledge and with the absence of a free will.

acts of man constitute unconscious and involuntary actions.

Example: Breathing, blinking, or sweating are all acts of man.

ASPECTS OF INTERSUBJECTIVITY

1. EMPATHY

- The ability to share emotions

● This emotion is driven by a person’s awareness that the

other is a person with thoughts and feelings.

● It enables us to experience another person’s emotions,

such as happiness, anger and sadness.

2. AVAILABILITY

- The willingness of a person to be present and be at the disposal

of another.

- Be willing to help the other in need.

- Example: When someone unfamiliar in your place wants to go

to a famous place in your town, he/she may ask directions.
Availability tells that you should help that person since you know
your town better than him or her.

3. ETHICS OF CARE The Human Person in Society

- An ethical theory that emphasizes the moral dimensions of FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN PERSON
relationships and interactions.
FREEDOM- is not ABSOLUTE, it entails RESPONSIBILITY.
- This moral perspective encourages individuals to help other
people, most especially the vulnerable. Freedom gives us the ability to make choices and decision in life.

- The obligation to respond to the needs of other people. The Human Person in the Society plays a vital role in promoting
the universal idea that humans have roles and responsibilities in
Not all human interactions, however, are positive. There are their respective community and in the society as a whole.
those who view other people negatively and consider human
action as being influenced by selfish interests. This pessimistic What is society?
view considers human relationships frustrating and often What drives human beings to establish societies?

▶
inauthentic or deceptive.
The human person by nature is a “social being”.

▶
A person that adopts this negative view is said to be
experiencing alienation. This arises when a person ceases to Throughout a person’s life, he or she experiences a
view the other as a distinct and authentic person, and merely variety of relationships that help shape him or her as a person.

▶
considers the other person as a mere object or a means to satisfy
SOCIETY- an organized group of people whose
personal interests.
members interact frequently and have a common territory and
Even though not all human beings are blessed with complete culture.

▶
physical structure, there are people who are still successful
Society also refers to a companionship or
despite their conditions. These people are:
friendly association with others, an alliance, a community, or a
union.
▶ Philosophers consider society as the product of Social Contract Theory
deliberate actions by individuals who come together in pursuit of
according to Jean Jacques Rousseau
a common goal.
▶ Advocate the concept of “general will”
▶ As individual persons, members of society are
able to transform themselves and attain development through ▶ Based on the assumption that the people have empowered
their interactions within society. In turn, humans are also able to the government to act on their behalf, and that it is considered to
influence society through their actions. be the best judge of what is most beneficial for society.

▶ Society and its various aspects provide support that ensures Social Contract Theory as viewed by John Rawls

▶ Human beings approach social cooperation in a rational

the development of the human person.

▶ Society also provides opportunities to further manner in order to meet their individual self-interests.

▶ Introduced the concept of original position in which he

growth in the coming years.

The Social Contract Theory imagined humans as having a “veil of ignorance” –no knowledge

▶
of one’s own characteristics such as gender, race or social status.
During the Age of Enlightenment, social
In this state, humans would naturally seek a just and fair society
philosophers studied the natural laws that govern human
to look out for their own interests.
societies.
▶ Although there are variations on the social contract theory,
▶ Enlightenment philosophers such as
one common feature they all have is that different individuals
Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau enter into a kind of agreement with one another to form a
society

▶ Individual members put aside their self-interest in order to

were among the most prominent social theorist who tackled the
origins of human society.
create a community where they may live in harmony with others.

▶ It is important to note that society is founded on the concept

Social Contract Theory according to Thomas Hobbes

▶ Persons in their natural states are governed by their

of the common good

▶ The common good refers to the social conditions which enable

desires and those often lead to conflict with their fellowmen.

▶ Society is a means by which people seek to

persons and groups to fulfill their goals and achieve well-being.
control their natural tendencies and impose order.
Example: peace within community, clean and safe public spaces,
▶ Individuals who establish societies enter into a “social efficient transport system, and efficient public service
contract”- an agreement where individuals sacrifice an amount
Hunting and Gathering Society

▶ Recognized as the earliest and simplest form of society

of their freedom and submit to a higher authority.

▶ Nomadic
Social Contract Theory according to John Locke

▶ Persons in their natural states are more cooperative and

reasonable, and that society is formed through the consent of ▶ Members are generally treated equally and decisions are
the individuals that organized it (consent of the governed) based on consensus.

▶ Locke’s social contract is a covenant among individuals to Pastoral Society

▶ Characterized by the domestication of animals for food for a

cooperate and share the burden of upholding the welfare of the
society.

▶ People have the rights to overthrow a failed government.

more stable and predictable food supply.

▶ Pastoral societies often produce surplus food and resources.

▶ Leads to the emergence of specialized tasks in the community.

Horticultural Society

▶ Primarily engages in the small- scale cultivation of plants,

fruits, and vegetables and the domestication of animals.

▶ Semi-nomadic

▶ The assignment of tasks and occupations were often based on

gender.

Agrarian or agricultural society

▶ Involves the large-scale and long-term cultivation of crops and ▶ Folkways- are less formal norms that arise from tradition and
domestication of animals. do not result in punishment when violated. (Eg: dress code)

▶ Characterized by improved technology and the use of tools to ▶ Social System- an organized or patterned set of relationships
aid in farming. among individuals and groups that compose a society.

▶ Give rise to a growing population and a more structured social ▶ Social Role- are actions and behaviors expected of a certain
system. individual. (Eg: being a father, son, daughter, teacher, etc.)

Feudal society ▶ Social groups or Social classes- group of individuals who

▶ Based on the ownership of land.

share similar backgrounds or perform similar roles. (Eg: rich,
middle class, poor)
▶ Originated during Medieval Age in Western Europe
▶ Social institutions- groups that perform vital functions in
▶ Members of society are organized based on status society. (family, school, government, religion)

▶ Social relations are characterized by dependence. Society also transforms human relations, which leads to the
transformation of its members.

▶ Social values are actions or ideals that are considered

Industrial society

▶ Based on the use of specialized machinery in the production important by society. (cooperation, obedience to the law,
of goods and services. concern for other, respect for others
▶ “Industrial Revolution” ● Generation Gap- conflict among people of different
▶ Technological advances in this period resulted in improved
ages when discussing certain topics.
trade and commerce. How does society enable me to become a better person?
▶ Work is done in factories ▶ We have the freedom to rise above circumstances and make
▶ Lead to greater inequalities in wealth, power, and influence.
ourselves into something different or better.

▶ Society recognizes the capability of the person to develop,

Post- Industrial society

▶
and provides its members with opportunities to better
Marked by the establishment of societies based on themselves

▶ Persons can also undertake to contribute to society through

knowledge, information, and the sale of services.

▶ Trend has shifted has shifted from industry to the their decisions and actions

▶ Social movement- a large-scale action done by various groups

generation, storage, manipulation, and sale of information

▶ “Virtual Society” and organizations in pursuit of a common goal to bring about

▶
change. (Environmental, Youth, Gender, Clean Governance)
A digital citizen is a person who is knowledgeable and
responsible enough to effectively use different social platforms in
the internet. They often engage in useful topics and issues that
will help build a better society, politics and government.

▶ The person and the society have a very dynamic relationship

in which one cannot exist without the other.

▶ Society influences our development as persons in various

ways.

▶ Society influences the interactions of its members through the

establishment of norms- set of traits and behavior that society
consider acceptable.

▶ When members of a society do not conform to establish

norms, one can experience negative consequences, such as
punishment or social stigma.

▶ Norms are one of the ways that society regulates the behavior
to establish social order.

▶ Laws- more formal and stringent norms that establish and

define acceptable behavior of citizens.