Freedom of human person

• Intellectual Choice


  A choice which is borne out of rational, logical considerations
• Practical Choice


  A choice which is borne out of psychological and emotional considerations
• Practical choices


  • Made when confronted with the situation
  • Usually affected by psychological aspect of the person embroiled in the moral situation or dilemma
• Psychological and emotional stress and lack of time to deliberate during an actual moral situation


  May affect a person's moral decision in that situation
• A person being so engulfed by emotions


  May sometimes fail to make the right choice
• Stress


  Could make a person's practical choice inconsistent with his intellectual choice
• Moral Dilemma


  A situation where a person is forced to choose between two or more conflicting options, neither of which is acceptable
• Ethical or moral dilemmas


  Moral dilemmas involving human actions which have moral implications
• Moral dilemmas


  • Situations where persons, who are called "moral agents" in ethics, are forced to choose between two or more conflicting options, neither of which resolves the situation in a morally acceptable manner
• Intellectual Choice


  A choice which is borne out of rational, logical considerations
• Practical Choice


  A choice which is borne out of psychological and emotional considerations
• Practical choices


  • Made when confronted with the situation
  • Usually affected by psychological aspect of the person embroiled in the moral situation or dilemma
• Psychological and emotional stress and lack of time to deliberate


  Affect a person's moral decision in that situation
• A person being engulfed by emotions

  May fail to make the right choice
• Stress


  Could make a person's practical choice inconsistent with his intellectual choice
• Moral Dilemma

  A situation where a person is forced to choose between two or more conflicting options, neither of which is acceptable
• Ethical or moral dilemmas


  Moral dilemmas involving human actions which have moral implications
• Moral agents


  Persons forced to choose between two or more conflicting options in moral dilemmas, neither of which resolves the situation in a morally acceptable manner
• Evaluating and exercising prudence in choice


  • Being cautious and aware of the choices made and their implications
  • The capacity to make good choices comes from accumulated experiences and values
• When we make choices, we make choices not for ourselves but also for the things that will affect that choice
• Choices: Consequences and Sacrifices


  • Necessary sacrifices that we must take for us to grow
  • Humans take risks and make sacrifices based on experiences and values
  • The situation and progress of a person depends on the weighted consequences and sacrifices
• Human freedom


  Not absolute, should be exercised with control and recognition of reasonable limits
• Limiting personal freedom


  • Requires sacrifice to certain self-interests and acceptance of certain realities beyond control
  • Our sense of right and wrong guides us on recognizing and deciding on the limitations to our freedom
  • Freedom should be exercised with regard for knowledge and truth
  • Cultivating the intellectual virtue of prudence in making sound choices
• Exercising freedom


  • Should recognize and uphold not only individual freedom but also the freedom of others
  • Should be exercised with due regard for the welfare of other persons
• The "Given" and the "Chosen"


  The "givens" or pre-determined things do not negate our freedom but give us the opportunities to exercise our freedom when we determine ourselves
• Freedom


  • Involves choice
  • Entails responsibility
• Voluntariness


  One of the two elements that define freedom
• Responsibility


  One of the two elements that define freedom
• Ethics


  Man as a moral agent making moral decisions and facing moral dilemmas
• Intersubjectivity


  Shared meanings constructed by people in their interactions with each other
• Intersubjectivity


  • The mutual recognition of each other as persons
  • The shared awareness, and understanding among persons
  • Made possible by the awareness of the self and the other
• Objectification (according to Jean-Paul Sartre)


  The act of capturing a person's freedom to be what he or she wants to be
• Objectification


  Leads to stereotyping or labelling a person based on appearance or actions
• Totalization


  Limiting the other to a set of rational categories, be they racial, sexual or otherwise
• Empathy


  The ability to share emotions and experience another person's emotions, such as happiness, anger, and sadness
• Sympathy is "feeling with", while empathy is "feeling in"
• Seeming


  Actions where an individual presents himself or herself in a certain way when dealing with others
• Most human interactions are not based on deception, as our human nature drives us to uphold dignity and goodness
• Dialogue


  An interaction between persons that happens through speech, expressions, and body language
• Availability


  The willingness of a person to be present and be at disposal of another