LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person

(Grade 12 – Quarter 2 – Week 2)

Name : _______________________________ Grade & Section : ______________

School : ______________________________ District : ______________________

FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

COMPETENCIES:
 Show situations that demonstrate freedom of choice and the
consequences of their choices

OBJECTIVES: At the end of the week, you shall have

 identify situations which shows responsible use of freedom,
 compose a poem expressing the meaning of responsible freedom,
 give recommendations on how to exercise freedom more
responsibly in some given situation.

Suggested Activities Reference/

Schedule Resource

(Day 1 / a. KEY CONCEPTS/DISCUSSION

Time)
Please read and understand the key concepts/discussion See
attached in this Learning Activity Sheet. Enclosure
pages 1-4
b. ACTIVITY 1
Write T beside the number of the statement which shows
responsible use of freedom and F if otherwise.

_____1. Instead of spending her excess allowance on a new pair of

shoes, Ana decides to open a bank account and start saving
up for her future.
_____2. Despite the threats made on his life, the witness decided to
come forward and divulge important information regarding
the crime he witnessed.
_____3. A woman used the Internet to humiliate her ex-boyfriend
by spreading lewd photos
_____4. Despite knowing that many of his clients were poor and
desperate, a moneylender continues to impose very high
interest rates on loans.
_____5. A businessman did not accept a high-paying position in an

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 overseas firm and instead decided to start his own business
and spend more time with his family.

(Day 2 / c. ACTIVITY 2
Time)
Compose a poem expressing the meaning of responsible
freedom. It must be composed of 4 stanzas and each stanza
must have 4 lines. It may or may not have rhyme scheme.

(Day 3 / d. ACTIVITY 3
Time)
Analyze the following situations. Give your
recommendations on how the persons involved can
exercise freedom more responsibly.

1. Chloe’s family is well-known for being wealthy and

influential. However, her family faced hard times in the
previous year. Her father’s business closed and they were
forced to sell most of their possessions and live a much
simpler life. Chloe, however, wishes to maintain her image
among her friends. She has resorted to borrowing money
from relatives in order to keep up with her well-off barkadas.

2. Mang Tony’s meat stall has been very profitable these

days. It turns out that he has been tampering with the
weighing scales and has been selling less meat at increased
prices. One time, some meat went stale and he decided to
mix it with the other fresh meat so he could still sell it.

3. Carlo was asked by his teacher to photocopy handouts

and reading materials in their English class. His teacher
unknowingly inserted a copy of the final exam in the stack of
papers she gave to Carlo. When he saw the copy of the final
exam, Carlo quickly took it and placed it in his bag.

4. Maria was very angry when she heard that her friend
Angela was spreading mean gossip about her in school.
When Maria found out that Angela has been pretending to
be rich when in fact her family is now poor, she contacted
her friends and told them about it.

e. SELF-CHECK

Check your answers in Activity 1 through the given answer

key.

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(Day 4-5 / f. ASSESSMENT / REFLECTION
Time)
Elaborate “Freedom is not freedom without
responsibility” by citing the most significant decision that
you have made in your life so far and describing how this
has affected you.

RUBRICS
Criteria Exemplar (20) Satisfactory (18) Developing (15) Beginning (10)
Comprehensiveness Relationship of Relationship of Relationship of Relationship of
freedom and freedom and freedom and freedom and
responsibility is responsibility is responsibility is responsibility is
exemplary satisfactorily slightly elaborated not elaborated
elaborated elaborated through the through the
through the through the significant significant
significant significant decision made. decision made.
decision made. decision made.
Logic Insights are Insights are Insights are Insights are not
validly derived validly derived invalidly derived derived from any
from well- from premises. from premises. premises
established
premises.
Manner of Product is Product is Product has Product is
Presentation grammatically grammatically grammatical grammatically
correct and correct. problems. poor.
fluent.

ANSWER KEY

Activity 1 Activity 2 Activity 3

1. T Answers may vary Answers may vary

2. T
3. F
4. F
5. T

REFERENCES
Corpuz, Brenda B. et al. Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person for Senior
High School. Quezon City, Metro Manila: Lorimar Publishing, Inc., 2016.

Abella, Roberto D. Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person. Quezon City,
Metro Manila: C & E Publishing, Inc., 2016

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 FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

The Exercise of Responsible Freedom

The exercise of freedom is a social act. It is not simply about the assertion of
one’s preferences – live and let-live – but it is the assertion of one’s preferences with a
view to the consequences this has on oneself and on others. A responsible exercise of
freedom takes the following questions in mind: Am I aware of the consequences of my
choices as soon as I act on them? Will I be able to answer to the grievances of those
who will be hurt by these consequences? Will I be able to face people with a dignified
and resolved stance when I am chastised, criticized for my choice? Will I be prepared
to give a reasonable answer to their questions? If I have not even thought of the
consequences of the choice I make, then I am being reckless. If I run away from the
consequences and refuse to face people in the aftermath of those consequences, then I
have failed in consolidating my personality. In other words, I remain to be nothing. I
have not taken the important bold step of presenting myself before others in this act of
existential self-choice. If I refuse to give a reasonable answer to the questions
regarding my choices, then I am nothing more than an oversized, selfish 3-year-old
who only wants to get his way with things.

Responsibility comes from two words: response and ability. Responsibility

therefore is the ability to respond. Respond to what? To a need or to a call for help, for
understanding, for love, for forgiveness.

The presence of another as a witness to my actions is what gives it meaning to

my freedom. Freedom is not freedom unless there is another who recognizes it. I may
be free to do everything I want when I am alone in another planet, but if there is no
one to recognize it, what is the point of asserting it?

The recognizing gaze of another exerts a gentle pressure on me to solidify my

choices into a lifelong commitment of acting on it. Studies have shown the
effectiveness of making promises of conversion when it is done before a witnessing
body. When you proclaim to the world that you will stop smoking, taking drugs or
your addiction to gaming, it helps to know that there are people who are witnessing
this humble act of conversion you are making. They witness how you attempt to strip
of your old identity, take on a renewed and fresh start. Whenever you are reminded of
your witnesses, it becomes more difficult for you to simply go back to your old ways.
The same study has shown that those who make this promise of conversion in private,
such as through silent whispers to oneself, are more likely to go back to their old
habits.

Finally, the exercise of freedom is an embodied action. As we have learned

before, existentialists go beyond idealism. Freedom is not just an idea we talk about. It
is something we enact. Because it is we, our embodied selves, who enact it, the action
becomes visible to others. We recall in our lesson of the person as embodied spirits
that human action is visible action because of our bodies. Love is visible action

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through our bodies (hugging, giving a helping hand). Freedom as visible through the
action of our bodies thus makes it difficult for the actor to simply escape facing the
consequences of his actions. There is a visible person who is the source of actions that
creates consequences. The body makes it possible for an action to point back to the
actor, the cause of the effect. Someone who does want to be held responsible for his
actions would do those actions in the dark. A criminal plans his crime well so as not
to leave traces of himself as responsible for the crime. A basher in online social media
would use an anonymous account or hide his face behind someone else’s name. a
corrupt official would use dummy accounts in the bank in order to make his stolen
money from people’s pockets untraceable to him. All these acts are acts of cowardice.
For the existentialists like Kierkegaard and Sartre, cowardice is the opposite of
freedom.

The points above show that freedom can only be genuine when one takes
responsibility for it. It is responsible when it is done socially, declared in broad
daylight before witnesses. It is responsible when one commits oneself to fulfilling it
before witnesses. It is responsible when one is prepared to defend it with good
reasons.

Exercising one’s Freedom in a Responsible and Beneficial Manner

You may have heard the saying: “Your freedom ends where my freedom begins.”
This simple statement points to the fact that human freedom, though essential, is not
absolute. Human freedom should be exercised with control and recognition of
reasonable limits. We set limits to our own freedom and learn to moderate or control
our thoughts, emotions, and actions depending on the situation. A person can even
choose to limit his or her own freedom or even surrender it entirely if it will result in
greater benefits.

A person may choose not to enter the jeepney first despite being first in line to
give way to an elderly woman. A young professional may choose not to speak up in a
meeting regarding serious concerns about the worker, but instead directly confront
the person concerned in private. You may be very angry at your teacher for scolding
you in front of the entire class but you refrained from answering back at him or her
since it will be considered a disrespectful act. Citizens may be angry about corruption
in the government but they do not go to the streets and engage in violence just to
express their anger. Instead, they find other more reasonable and lawful means to
express it.

Limiting our personal freedom requires us to sacrifice certain self-interests and

accept certain realities that are beyond our control. You may have the freedom to
pursue a degree in medicine but, realizing that your parents do not have the means to
send you to medical school, you decide to take a less expensive course. Our sense of
right and wrong guides us in recognizing and deciding on the limitations to our
freedom.

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 Our society also imposes restrictions on our individual freedom. From
determining the places where we can cross a street to controlling our actions through
laws and regulations, society implements reasonable restrictions to personal freedom
in order to maintain order and harmony and uphold the welfare of the public.

Freedom should also be exercised with regard for knowledge and truth. As
rational beings, it is natural for us to think before we act. We use our freedom to act
and acquire more knowledge, and we use this knowledge in order to come up with
decisions and courses of actions when confronted with difficult situations. To correctly
answer a multiple choice item in an exam, a student should study and prepare
beforehand to know the correct information needed to answer the test. Otherwise, he
or she will be unable to answer the test correctly.

The ability to acquire information and truthful knowledge regarding a particular

situation is very important, since it aids us in making wise and informed choices. For
instance, in voting for officials in your student council elections, some students may
choose to vote for candidates they know and like, or even candidates that they find
attractive or appealing. More discerning students, however, will choose to find out
each candidate’s views on important school issues and cast their vote based on their
judgment of who is the better candidate to address these concerns. A courtroom judge
has the freedom to make any decision on any case. But if he or she wishes to uphold
justice and render proper judgment, he or she must carefully study the facts of the
case in order to arrive at correct conclusions regarding the issues. Truthful knowledge
is also needed for people who wish to invest in business ventures to determine if they
are getting into legitimate transactions or are just being deceived into participating in
a scam.

Determining the proper information needed before we choose the best course of
action is not easy. But it is a necessary step to ensure that our choices, decisions, and
actions are proper, reasonable, and just. If we make a choice and act on false or
incomplete information, we may end up making decisions which will bring harm to
ourselves and others. It is therefore necessary to cultivate the intellectual virtue of
prudence to be our guide in making sound choices.

As human persons, our nature drives us to uphold human dignity and

goodness. In exercising our freedom, we should also recognize and uphold not only
our individual freedom but also the freedom of others. This view has led to the
assertion that freedom is a recognized and guaranteed right for all persons. Many
societies identify certain freedoms that should be enjoyed by all, as these contribute to
the quality of life of the individual and the welfare of the society. These include the
freedom to live and determine one’s identity; freedom from slavery and other
constraints,; freedom of speech; and freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
Freedom should be exercised with due regard for the welfare of other persons and
one’s freedom should be exercised not as a tool to restrict the freedom of others, but
as a means to enable others to fully enjoy their own freedom.

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Freedom, Commitment and the Strengthening of Oneself

David currently has three girlfriends. He is 27-years-old, the age when you are
more or less likely ready to marry and settle down. But David does not want to get
married. He knows that marriage means finally committing to only one person. This
means he has to choose among the three. David ends up answering to three women.
He is a different person to each woman. He is unsure which side of him is the most
genuine among the three selves he presents to different persons.

Most people in our society today would find nothing wrong with David’s actions.
Our machismo world would say that his playboy image would even earn him more
favor. Some might even envy him for having a grand time in his life. In fact, in some
joke books, marriage is even ridiculed as kill joy.

The truth is David is like an empty shell that is all noise deep inside. The truth
is, what appears to be a macho brave move of shirking marriage only masks a deep
seated fear. It is fear of someone who has no solid bearings deep within. It is the fear
of someone who does not know himself.

If someone evades commitment, we say in Filipino, “ayaw nyang

pangatawanan.” Note the word pangatawanan, which means to be responsible. This
word comes from the root katawan, which means “body.” Making a choice and
committing oneself to it is to put oneself out there – body and soul – for the entire
world to see. When we make choices, it is like we are telling the world, “This is who I
am.” The opposite applies. When we refuse to make choices, we are afraid to show
ourselves to the world. But this is a tricky statement. We do not mean to say that
before the choices that we make, there a fixed unchanging self that is waiting to be
shown. Existentialists have already said that we create ourselves in the act of
choosing. Hence, we make a decision form among a set of choices, it is not just a
strong resolve that we are creating. We are creating ourselves!

When the day comes that David finally chooses to commit himself, we say that
he has finally learned to consolidate his diffused self into this one choice. This entails
the painful process of letting go of other possibilities and putting our whole mind and
body to this choice that we made.

The ordinary eye may say, “sayang!” But the reflective philosophical mind, who
understands the true meaning of freedom, now knows that nothing was lost in the
process. In fact, an important thing was gained – oneself as a free and mature being.

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