Freedom in Human Person

Prof. Ken M. Villamartin, MPA

 • The Power of
Volition
• Man is much a
thought (intellect)
• Is moved by
Volition (and its
desires)
Aristotle’s “Power of • As he is a Volition
(desire) moved by
Volition” thoughts.
Aristotle’s “Power of
Volition”

• Unknown became
well- known for reason,
concept, and the truth
were united.
 ______

Reason
UNITY
Truth Concept
 • Volition became
Rational
(Accordance to
reason)
• Reason became
Willing
(Eagerness)
Aristotle’s proposition
 For Aristotle

• Reason can legislate

(MAKE), but only
through will can its
legislation be translated
into action.
How does one
pursue ones action
at a time?
P 148.00
P 135.00
 • Aristotle said
that
Imagination,
when it starts
movement,
never does so
without
appetite.
Aristotle’s explanation
 BECAUSE…

• will is a form of
an appetite.
 Aristotle’s
Explanation

• Every appetite is
directed towards
an end
 QUESTION!

• Why do you
study?
 QUESTION!

• Why do you have

to do it?
 QUESTION!

• What is it that you

want?
Aristotle’s Explanation

• For the thing at

which appetite aims
is the starting point
of the practical
intellect
 Question!

• What is your
objective?
 Question!

• What drives you

to pursue your
objectives?
Practical Intellect

• It makes its
calculations with
an end in view
Activity: Get a ½ crosswise and answer the
question.

List down what do you want to… in life

be do have
Task of Practical
Intellect

•To guide will by

enlightening it
 Question!
•How do one
propose a project
for a partner
community?
Appetite and
Practical Thought
• Is considered as
producers of
movement for object
of appetite produces
movement
Question!

• What motivates us
towards something?
Can you give an
example
• Thought produces
movement,
because the
object of
appetite is its
beginning.
 Question!

• How can you

provide
someone a
sense of
direction?
 Aristotle’s concept
of Will

• The will of humanity is an

instrument of free choice
• It is within our
discretion to be good or
bad!
 Activity: Get a ¼
sheet of pad paper

• What will you do if you are

torn between 2 options?
• It is shown out by:
• Inner awareness of
an aptitude to do right
or wrong
• Common testimony
of all human beings
• Rewards and
punishment by
leaders
• General employment
of praise and blame
Moral acts are always
particular acts

• Because they are in

our power and we are
responsible for them
 A real life example
• Mr. Cruz decided to eat all
the bulalo despite the
instruction of his parents to
spare some to his siblings.
As soon as his siblings
arrived they were in shock
to see the cauldron empty.
Only to find out Mr. Cruz
snoring in his room with a
very big stomach.
QUESTION!
• What could be the
possible outcome of
Mr. Cruz’s action?
Answer
• Criticisms. In the
first place, there
was an instruction
given.
Aristotle’s proposition on • The purpose of
the purpose of human human being is to be
being happy
What were your
goals and plans
before entering
the Senior High
School?
Holistic Development

• The need to
develop their full
powers- rational,
moral, social,
emotional and
physical is a must
 Issue: Happiness

• When the matter is

sifted down, the
happiness of every
human being’s soul is
in his own hands, to
preserve and developed,
or to cast away.
 Man as a Rational
Being

• For Aristotle, a
human being is a
rational being
Guess what does the picture
presented is all about.
 • The analytical ability
of reason,
methodological
Man as a planning, pragmatic
Rational Being calculation and
expediency.
 Aristotle’s concept
of Will
• Reason, Will, and
Action drives each
other.
 How does the need to discern about one’s
ACTIVITY: Get existence significant? In what way should the
a ½ Crosswise person realize his/her value as a person?
and answer this
question.
Freedom in Human Person

Prof. Ken M. Villamartin, MPA

Aquinas and the Freedom
of the Will

• Love is Freedom
• “The law of divine
love is the standard
for all human action”
Human Nature • Man, is made up of both matter and form.
Matter Unformed or undetermined
QUESTION! How can one become one?
 Form
Constitution of a body.
QUESTION! What makes a thing as a subject?
QUESTION

• How can one

decipher man’s
complexity as a
whole?
 • By discussing the unity between both
Human Nature elements.
 QUESTION!

• What makes human

being unique from
the others?
 Aquinas and the
Freedom of the Will

• We have a conscience, telling us what

is good or bad.
Aquinas and • It cannot be done by man alone, but is
achieved through cooperation with God.
the Power of
Change
 • Can you give ways in which

QUESTION
one can show cooperation
with God?
 • Perfection by
participation
is a union of
humanity with
God.

Aquinas and the concept of

Perfection
The fourfold
classification of laws

• Eternal Law
• Natural Law
• Human Law
• Divine Law
 • Governed by final causes or ends which
Eternal Law they naturally seek
 Give a concept
that is an example
of a final cause or
end.
QUESTION
Natural Law
• Apprehending certain general principles
implanted in human nature.
 • The Principle of
Sufficient Reason=
that nothing exist
without a sufficient
reason for its being
and existence

Example of Natural Law

Human Law
Laws that are actually enacted
and put in force in our human
communities
Human Rights Law
 What are the laws that
you know that is being
RECITATION enacted and
implemented in our
country?
 • Laws that are actually derived from
Divine Law eternal law but appears to be historical
especially, through revelations.
 The 10
Commandments
Aquinas and the Freedom
of the Will
• St. Thomas Aquinas,
chose love over law to
bring about the
transformation of the
humanity.
 • What is the difference
between the concept of love
over the concept of law?
• How do they contradict each
QUESTION! other?
• Which is difficult to
comprehend between these
two concepts?
 Aquinas and the Freedom of the Will

•St. Thomas Aquinas

• Love is in agreement with humanity’s free
nature
• Since God is love, then love is the
guiding principle of humanity towards
self-perception and happiness (ultimate
destiny).
Jean Paul Sartre
“The Father of Existentialism”
Jean Paul Sartre: Individual Freedom
• “Man is condemned to be free: because once thrown into the
world, he is responsible for everything he does”
3- MINUTE ACTIVITY:
• List down all the possible things that is
GET A ¼ SHEET OF PAD attributed to man’s responsibility.
PAPER
 Jean Paul Sartre:
Individual Freedom

• The theory of Existentialism stems from

this principle: Existence Precedes
Essence
EXISTENCE
PRECEDES ESSENCE
• EN-SOI
• Something that is
fixed or it is just
as it is
• This describes the
world of external
objects
 RECITATION

• Can you give me a

concept that cannot
be removed nor
something perennial
to everybody.
EXISTENCE PRECEDES
ESSENCE

• Le Pour- Soi
• It is something
dependent for
there is no
absolute, fixed or
eternal
• This describes the
state of humanity
RECITATION

• What are the things that

you know which is not
permanent and is subject
to change.
 • The person, first,
Existence must exists,
precedes encounters himself
and surges up in
essence the world then
defines himself
afterward.
 RECITATION
In what way can a person
prove his own existence?
 • The person is
provided with a
supreme
opportunity to
give meaning
to one’s life.
Existence precedes
essence
 QUESTION
If one day you’ll meet
your end, what is the
most important thing
that you want to
accomplish before that
day happened?
Existence precedes essence
“Freedom is, the very core and the
door to authentic existence.”
QUESTION

How can one show

his true character
or identity?
Existence precedes
essence

• In what one has

done and continue
to strive
 QUESTION

What are things that

motivates you to continue
to pursue life?
Existence • One who tries to escape

precedes
obligations and strives to
be en-soi (Being-in-itself)
is acting in bad faith
(Mauvais Foi).

essence
QUESTION

What is with the word

“OBLIGATION”?
 • To be human:
• To be free to
Jean Paul imagine
Sartre: • To be free to
Individual choose
Freedom • To be responsible
for one’s life
 Prof. Ken M. Freedom in
Villamartin, MPA
Human Person
 Question!
What comes into your mind when
you hear the word “contract”?
THE SOCIAL CONTRACT
THEORY

• A voluntary agreement
which the society is brought
into being and invested with
the right to secure mutual
protection and welfare or
to regulate the relations
among its members
Thomas Hobbes

“A man is a wolf to
another man”
 Activity! Get a ½ crosswise

What will you do if you’ve entered a deal and

then you immediately found out that your
counterpart violated the agreement?
 • “War of all
Natural State against all”
Question!
• What do you think is
the reason as to
why there is a need
to have a state?
 A World of Anarchy
“People would only act in their personal best interest.”
Question

What do you think is

the main purpose of
forming a state?
 • “Morality is non-
Natural State existent, and
every individual
lives in fear.”
Question
What do you think is
the motivating factor
of the word “FEAR”?
 VIOLENCE
Which is rooted in the Human Nature alone
 The Laws of Nature
• It aims to answer this
question: What are the
conditions under which the
transition from the natural
state of war to the state of
human beings living in
organized societies become
intelligible?
Thomas Hobbes
Assertion on the
Laws of Nature in
his book
Leviathan
“These laws are contrary to humanity’s
natural passions. Therefore, it is
necessary that there should be a
common power or government backed
by force and able to punish”
Question!

What does Hobbes

would like to propose?
It is all about duty of
obedience towards the
sovereign
• Every subject is
author of all the
sovereign’s actions, to
punish the
sovereign would be
to punish another
for one’s own action.
 Activity! At the back
of your ½ crosswise

• Do you agree that

man by nature is
bad? Prove your
answer in less than
5 sentences.
 Jean Jacques
Rosseau’s
The Social Contract
“The beginning of
a New Era of
sentimental piety”
He proposed his own
view of Human
Nature
“Man by nature is good,
what makes him corrupt
is the advent of property
which created inequality
brought by its
competition”
The State owes
its origin to a
social contract
which was
freely entered
into by its
members
1986 People
Power I
Question sir!
Do you regard
EDSA 1 as a
revolution?
NO!
Is there a change?
32 years after that event why is it that these
problems continue to prevail?
Well then sir may we know your NOTION
of a revolution?
It is calling for CHANGE
Graded Individual Recitation
• May I know your idea or notion of change?
Positive Change

• There is prosperity that strives among

individuals
Negative Change

• There is the presence of denial or refusal

towards self-preservation and the lack of
enthusiasm
Question: How can we say that
there is a need for a revolution?
There must be a revolutionary
situation therefore, it needs an
immediate action!
BUT…
NOT EVERY
REVOLUTIONAR
Y SITUATION
LEADS TO
REVOLUTION
- Vladimir Lenin
So therefore there must be unity!
Both of them have their own interpretation of the
Social Contract Theory
Hobbes is in
favor of
Absolute
Monarchy
Rosseau is in
favor on
Democracy or
Individualism
But both of them agreed the need to form a state
Conclusion

• In order to restore peace, the need to return

man’s freedom is a must, so as to return to
his real self
• Social Contract is more of an actual
agreement signed by the people or their
representatives
Activity: Get a ½ Crosswise
• Are you a slave of something (e.g.: Technology)?
Why or why not? Be true to yourself please.
Activity: At the back of your ½ Crosswise
• How can you be so sure that a person is
free? Give some proof that would solidify
your explanation.
 Freedom of Human Person
Prof. Ken M. Villamartin, MPA
Evaluate and Exercise
Prudence in Choices
Prof. Ken M. Villamartin, MPA
Burrus Frederick
Skinner
Operant
Conditioning
Behavior that
operates upon the
environment to
produce its
consequences
For Stephen
Yelon (1996)

• There should be a
balance in our
relationship with
others and the
environment.
Can an Individual
be free?
 •Struggle for freedom
is not due to a will to
According to be free but rather to
B.F Skinner escape from hostile
features of the
environment.
Is there such thing
as feeling of
freedom?
 • For Skinner it
becomes unreliable
The Feeling of the moment the
Freedom would- be controllers
turn to non-aversive
measures
Question!

Why did Skinner regard

it as unreliable?
Control becomes necessary in the issue of freedom
 “Liberty
consists in
doing what
one desires”
- John Stuart
Mill
Issue:
Controllability
• Modification of the
conditions of
which a person’s
behavior is a
function must be
done.
The Proposal of B.F
Skinner
• Make the social
environment free as
possible of
unpleasant stimuli
 Question
What does it calls for?
 We have to be open to life
Life is full
of
Learn to accept and live with it
paradoxes

Learn contradiction is not the same as living

in contradiction
 Spirituality of Imperfection

We learn to accept that life and our

environment is filled with both good and
evil.
 Schooten & Looren de Jong
2012
Creation of a static environment or a
controlled environment is not applicable
in the real world
 Theory of • Rewards and
Freedom has punishment should not
negative and be the basis for control
positive views over our lives
 • Environment plays a significant
part in our lives because this is
where we develop and hone
our personal foundations
• We are responsible for who we
Conclusions are and what we have
• But what makes us different is
that we are responsible for
everything that is attributed to
us
 • What is the difference
between freedom and
independence?
• Despite our own defects,
Oral Research
are we free?
Presentation
• To what extent does the
environment affect our
choices? Give your own
examples.
 Choices have
Consequences and
Some Things Are
Given Up while
Others are Obtained in
Making Choices
Prof Ken M. Villamartin, MPA
 “The mind was so
The 20th significant that the need
Century was the
rise of
to mold it without the
Individualism intervention of the
government is a must.”
 • The belief that the
The 20th individual is the tool for
Century was the economic progress
rise of especially countries
Individualism leaning towards
CAPITALISM advocated.
 Ayn Rand

• Known for developing

the Philosophical
System “Objectivism”
The 20th Century was the rise
of Individualism

• She also believed that

thinking is volitional,
therefore man is free
to think or not
 Activity get a whole
intermediate pad: Do
you agree with this
statement of Rand?
• The majority belongs to
the passive supporters
of the status quo who
choose not to think
Explain your answer in
not less than 8
sentences.
Individual Rights
according to Rand

• They are not merely

numbers for it was
said to be universal
Individual Rights
according to Rand
• Rejects collectivism
because of the use
of Brute Force
 • It must go hand in hand
with responsibility

Individual Rights according

to Rand
Individual Rights
according to Rand

• Capitalism is the
only system that can
uphold and protect
Human Rights
Individual Rights
according to Rand
• Its principles
represents an
extension of morality
into the social
system.
Rights according to Rand

To gain

To keep

To use

To dispose of material values

 Most developed
countries have disposed
their toxic wastes to
developing countries
Canada’s trash export to the Philippines
Rand’s proposal
about • It is in lined in family dependency

Individualism
 • The need to fulfill reason
is not just our priority but
For us
also the heard and
Filipinos personal involvement as
well.
Easterners believed
that every individual
needs the
community
Initiative and
Responsibility

• A group-oriented
approach may hinder
the individual’s initiative
and responsibility due to
too much dependency
The Filipino concept
of loob
• The basis of
Christian value of
sensitivity to the
needs of others and
gratitude
The Filipino concept
of loob

• It is similar to the
aspiration for harmony
with others, God and
nature.
Individualism is Self-
Sufficiency
• The potential of an
individual should be
able to grow so as
to be aware of his
uniqueness thereby
recognizing his
worth and dignity
Individualism is an
affirmation of identity

• To be a free
individual is to be
responsible not only
for one’s self but for
all
Terms that show sharing one’s self to others

Kagandahang Loob

Kabutihang Loob

Kalooban
The freedom starts from within

Some examples: Kagandahang- Loob, Kabutihang- Loob

Loob= put in touch with his fellow beings and Kalooban
The Filipino Ethics
• It has an internal code
and sanction other than
legalistic and moral
philosophies which are
negative
• It stresses duties over rights
• He looks himself as
the one who feels, wills,
thins, acts as a total
whole
• A Filipino is conscious
of his freedom, proud
of his human dignity
and sensitive to the
violation of these two
 • What do you think is the reason
Activity: At the why an individual should be
disciplined from within rather than
back of your 1 fear from authority
whole, answer the • Why is it that it is a responsibility of
following an individual to grow intellectually?
question • How does our responsibility to be a
free individual, involves everybody?