PHILO NOTES - 2QTR EXAM
Lesson 12: FREEDOM
Nature of Freedom
● To be free is part of humanity’s authenticity.
● Freedom is based on the principle of self-ownership which flowed from the fact that
man is an embodied spirit.
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Freedom is what makes man to be man.
All actions have consequences.
What is Freedom?
● It is not that “power to do whatever we like.”
● Definition: to be free from something - oppression, compulsion or coercion; it is an
absence of resistance
● It simply means that man determines himself, and there is no force outside himself that
can determine him in his choice.
● "Freedom is the property of the human will whereby man determines himself in his acts
towards the end." St. Thomas Aquinas
Two Types of Freedom
1. Inner Freedom
2. Exterior Freedom
Inner Freedom
● It is something that is inalienable, cannot be lost nor taken away from any person.
● It is freedom to want or not to want (freedom of exercise); can also be freedom to want
this or that (freedom of specification)
Exterior Freedom
● Operations of man that are performed externally, which can be curtailed by forces
outside man.
● It can be limited by prison, confinement, sickness. Ex. Political freedom, professional
freedom and academic freedom
Two Kinds of Freedom
1. Physical Freedom
2. Moral Freedom
Physical Freedom
● Absence of physical restraint.
Ex. When a prisoner is released from prison, he is physically free, since he is no longer
restrained by the prison walls.
Moral Freedom
● Absence of moral restraint, of an obligation, of a law. In a democratic country like the
Philippines, we are morally free to criticize the government.
HUMAN WILL: ITS EXISTENCE, NATURE AND OBJECT
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The WILL, is that faculty of the mind which intentionally selects, at the moment of
decision, the strongest desire from among the various desires present.
Nature of will
1. The will is dependent on the intellect. If there were no intellect, there would be no will.
Our will is rationally dominated.
2. The will is an instrument of free choice. It is within the power of everyone to be good or
bad, worthy or worthless.
Will and Intellect
● Intelligence specifies the choice, but it does not determine it. It presents things to the will,
and the will chooses.
● I can only want something that I know. There is no intellectual "appetite" without previous
intellectual "knowledge".
● In order to will, I must know.
Human Acts vs Acts of Man
Human Acts - these are actions of man that he does willfully. He does these things using his
free will and his intellect.
Acts of Man - These are actions that a man does involuntarily and without using his free will.
Ex. Senses and normal functioning of body
Freedom of Choice vs Determinism
Determinism
● The philosophical doctrine that all events including human actions, are ultimately
determined by causes external to the will.
● Some philosophers have taken determinism to imply that individual human beings have
no free will and cannot be held morally responsible for their actions.
Implication of Determinism
● The logical consequence of determinism is that man is stripped of his moral
responsibility: his guilt is transferred to some other source. Thus, in the final analysis,
they are all forms of ESCAPISM.
● Those who deny freedom of choice live in a society which does not accept responsibility.
Since moral order are built on the assumption that man is free, and thereby responsible,
the acceptance of determinism would spell the collapse of society.
Prudence
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Prudence is a cardinal virtue that can direct how we use other virtues like justice,
fortitude and temperance.
Being prudent means making wise decisions based in managing your practical affairs
in a shrewd and discreet manner.
Being careful about your choices, stopping and thinking before acting.
LESSON 13: INTERSUBJECTIVITY
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Intersubjectivity requires accepting differences and not imposing on others.
Authentic dialogue means accepting others even if they are different from
themselves.
MAN IN RELATION TO OTHERS
● Humans have the natural and universal tendency to relate, establish attachments and
seek closer relationships with other people.
● The individual is primarily aware of himself, and it is through this perspective of one’s
self that defines how he or she perceives and relates to reality.
▪Two major philosophical branches that discussed extensively the concept of interpersonal
relationship:
1.Existentialism
2.Phenomenology
EXISTENTIALISM
● is a philosophical movement that is concerned with finding one’s self and the meaning
of life through free will, choice and personal responsibility.
PHENOMENOLOGY
● is a philosophical movement that inquires into the meaning of our experiences as we live
them.
THE SELF AND THE OTHER
• In consideration with interpersonal relationship, two realities are being presented:
● Awareness of an individual as a distinct being (SELF)
● Awareness of other individuals apart from the self (THE OTHER)
The interaction between the self and the other is related to the concept of intersubjectivity.
Intersubjectivity is the sharing of awareness and understanding among persons.
PHILOSOPHERS ON INTERSUBJECTIVITY
● Karol Wojtyla
● Martin Buber
POINTS
● Both philosophers were influenced by their religious background.
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They believed in the notion of concrete experience/existence of the human person.
They think that one must not lose sight of one’s self in concrete experience.
Both refused to regard the human person as a composite of some kind of dimension,
such as animality and rationality.
THE SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF SELF
“Man is both a subject and an object.”
● By introducing these two opposites, Wojtyla brings forward two philosophical ways of
understanding man: cosmological and personalistic ways
● According to Wojtyla, the human person is the one who exists and acts (meaning, he is
consciously acting, has a will and has self determination)
Participation explains the essence of the human person. Through it, the person is able to fulfill
himself. The person is oriented toward relation and sharing in the communal life for the common
good.
Buber’s I and Thou is about the human person as a subject, who is a being different from things
or from objects.
Lesson 16:THE HUMAN PERSONS AS ORIENTED TOWARDS THEIR IMPENDING DEATH
MEDICAL PERSPECTIVE
● End of one’s existence
● These common definitions of death ultimately depend upon the experience of a person.
RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE
● To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ
● We must "be away from the body and at home with the Lord”
● In that "departure" which is death the soul is separated from the body.
● It will be reunited with the body on the day of resurrection of the dead.
DANTE ALIGHIERI - Divine Comedy - Purgatory
● The Aesthetic is the realm of sensory experience and pleasures.
● The Ethical life serves the purpose of allowing diverse people to coexist in harmony and
causes individuals to act for the good of society
● Kierkegaard considers the Religious life to be the highest plane of existence. He also
believes that almost no one lives a truly religious life.
● An Overman is one who has reached the bondage of the human condition and
experience a liberated state. This person wills their own destiny, creates their own
values, and dances with the game of life to the tune of their own spirit