Lesson 7

• Robert Heinlein: 'I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them. If I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am, morally responsible for everything I do.'
• Freedom


  I AM FREE BECAUSE _____.
• If you are to make your own definition of FREEDOM, what will it be?
• Freedom/Liberty


  • Social and political concept which has great significance in how people participate in society
  • Freedom of an individual from oppression, compulsion, or coercion from other persons, an authority figure or from society itself
• Liberty


  • From person taking control of his or her own life and fulfilling one's potential
  • From external restraint, barriers, and other interferences from other people
• Liberalism


  Upholds the preservation of individual rights and stresses the role of the government protecting these civil liberties
• Libertarianism


  Believes that the individual, not the government, is the best judge in upholding and exercising rights
• Socialism


  Considers freedom as a freedom to acquire economic resources and the ability to work and act according to one's desire
• Rights


  • Natural rights
  • Legal rights
• Natural rights


  Rights which are innate in the person
• Legal rights


  Rights based on society's customs and laws and are enacted by legislation and enforced by government
• What makes us free

  • Philosophers relate human freedom to the concept of human agency, which refers to the capacity of a person to act and exert control over his or her behavior
  • Human freedom is expressed in two ways: free will and free action
• Constraints on free actions

  • Prohibitions
  • Laws
  • Other social controls imposed
  • Disability/sickness
  • Coercion exerted by another person
  • Weather, poverty, or accidents
• Constraints on free will

  • Manipulation
  • Brainwashing
  • Coercion against one's will
• Determinism


  A philosophical view that believes that every event in the world is brought about by underlying causes or factors
• How can we effectively exercise freedom in our life

  • Concept of moral responsibility refers to a person's status of deserving praise and reward, or blame and punishment for an action
  • Free will is necessary
  • Control and regulation are necessary elements in the responsible exercise of freedom
  • Our interactions with other people in society is also an important influence in the proper exercise of freedom