SHS

Introduction to the Philosophy of

the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2
The Consequence of Choosing

1
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in
any work of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the
government agency or office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for
the exploitation of such work for a profit. Such agency or office may, among other
things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand

names, trademarks, etc.) included in this book are owned by their respective
copyright holders. Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek permission to
use these materials from their respective copyright owners. The publisher and
authors do not represent nor claim ownership over them.

Regional Director: Gilbert T. Sadsad

Assistant Regional Director: Ronelo Al K. Firmo
Regional EPS: Sheila C. Bulawan
Division EPS: Presyl A. Bello

Development Team of the Module

Writer: ROMEO A. TUSI – Pawa HS, SDO Legazpi City
Editor: JESSIE MARIE M. MORCOSO – Pawa HS, SDO Legazpi City
Reviewers: ALVIN A. SARIO, PhD – University of Sto Tomas - Legazpi,
JESON D. BALINGBING – Pag-asa NHS, SDO Legazpi City
GERRY A. BAJARO – Oro Site HS, SDO Legazpi City
ROMMEL U. QUIÑONES – Homapon HS, SDO Legazpi City
Illustrator: VIAN GABRIEL SPES B. QUIÑONES – Grade 7, Philippine
Science High School, Goa, Camarines Sur
Cover Art: GERRYMIE FLOREL I. BAJARO – Grade 11, Philippine Science
High School, Goa, Camarines Sur
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

INTRODUCTION
Choices are made every day – from the waking
moment, throughout the day until the moment one’s sleep
arrives. Choosing range from simple choices like whether to
stay in bed or stand, eat breakfast or not, wear a pair of jeans
or a dress, to complex ones, like what strand to take, forego
studies or work. Everyday choices magnified covers your
entire life – the moment you become conscious of the
available options you can choose from. Choices occupy a
significant part in determining our lives. Am I free in my
choices? Can I not choose?
This module presents that individuals are responsible for the choices they
make and the choices they don’t. Furthermore, it seeks to increase the knowledge
that there are consequences that accompany every choice made.

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Realize that: a. Choices have consequences. b. Some

things are given up while others are obtained in making
choices (PPT 11/12-If-3.1)

VOCABULARY
Now, here are some words you have to remember:
CHOICE. The fundamental element of freedom and the
capacity to determine or selecting a decision when there are
two or more possible options.
CONSEQUENCE. The result of a given action.
FREEDOM. the quality or state of being free: The absence of
necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action; liberation from
slavery or restraint or from the power of another : the quality or state
of being exempt or released usually from something burdensome

General Instruction. Please prepare a sheet of paper where you would write your
answers to the quizzes or questions posted.

1
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

PRE-TEST . TRUE OR FALSE: Write A if statement a is TRUE, B if statement b

is TRUE, C if statements a and b are TRUE, and D if statements
a and b are FALSE.
_________1. a. The will have three powers of the human soul,
which can be described as the intellect, the will and passions
or feelings
b. Free will is always coupled with moral responsibility.
_________2. a. The notion of free will is treated as distinct from
several other concepts associated with human agency
b. Incompatibilists are also called libertarians about free will.
_________3. a. Kant’s transcendental freedom is construed as “independence
from everything empirical and so from nature generally.”
b. According to Freire, freedom is a process, a dialectical creation
which he calls liberation
_________4. a. The Church must perform an active role – it must fight oppressive
structures and stand on the side of the oppressed.
.b. Bourgeois ideals such as freedom, equality, and property do not
generate from the natural phenomenon common to all societies, but
from the forms of economic life based on capitalistic modes of
production.
_________5. a. Freire sees freedom as a gift.
b. Choan Seng Song believes that to be a Christian is to be a
vanguard that has the courage to struggle for justice and freedom.

LEARNING ACTIVITY 1
Picture Analysis: In three to five sentences, answer the following questions.

Source: http://www.depedrovcatanduanes.com/files/11-Intro-to-Philo-AS-v1.0.pdf

a. What can you say about the pictures?

b. Have you been in this kind of situation?
c. What are the things that you considered in making choices?

2
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.

Concept Mapping. Making use of the graphic organizer

below, give concepts about freedom.

FREEDOM

LEARNING ACTIVITY 3.
My Time Line. As a Senior High School student, you have made some important
life decisions in the past. Make a timeline of major decisions on your life and below
the line then write down the consequence of those particular decisions.
LIFE DECISIONS
a. a. a.
b. b. b.

12 years old 14 years old 16 years old

CONSEQUENCES
a. a. a.
b. b. b.

3
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

Processing Questions:
1. Are you happy with the decisions you have made and its consequences?
Why?
2. Are you satisfied with the outcome of your decisions? Why?

DEEPENING
A. Philosophical Perspective

Perhaps the three most important concepts in philosophical work on free will
are free will, moral responsibility, and determinism.1
The notion of free will is treated as distinct from several other concepts
associated with human agency. Traditionally “free will” is defined as a kind of power
or ability to make decisions of the sort for which one can be morally responsible.
Important to many discussions of free will is the idea of moral
responsibility. In the context of discussions of free will, moral responsibility is
often understood as a kind of status connected to judgments and/or practices of
moral praise and blame. This meaning is distinct from another; perhaps more
commonly used the sense of responsibility: responsibilities as obligations (for
example, when we talk about what responsibilities a parent have to a child).

Determinism is a third concept that is often important for philosophical

discussions of free will. Something is deterministic if it has only one physically
possible outcome. It is important to bear in mind that a definition of determinism is
just that – a characterization of what things would have to be like if things were
deterministic.

The Problem of Free Will

The problem of free will arises whenever people lead to suspect that their
actions might be determined or necessitated by factors unknown to them which are
beyond their control. Moreover, when people doubted whether their actions are
determined by Fate or by God, by the laws of physics or the laws of logic, by
heredity or environment, by unconscious motives or hidden controllers,
psychological or social conditioning, and so on.

Another illustration, when people believe that there is a conflict between free
will and determinism comes now the idea of responsibility. This is because free will
is also intimately related to notions of accountability, blameworthiness, and
praiseworthiness for actions.

Suppose a young man is on trial for an assault and robbery in which his
victim was beaten to death. Let us say we attend his trial and listen to the evidence

4
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

in the courtroom. At first, our thoughts of the young man are filled with anger and
resentment. His crime was heinous. But as we listen daily to how he came to have
the mean character and perverse motives he did have – a sad story of parental
neglect, child abuse, sexual abuse, bad role models – some of our resentment
against the young man is shifted over to the parents and others who abused and
mistreated him. We begin to feel angry with them as well as with him. (Note how
natural this reaction is.) Yet we aren’t quite ready to shift all of the blame away from
the young man himself. We wonder whether some residual responsibility may not
belong to him. Our questions become: To what extent is he responsible for
becoming the sort of person he now is? Was it all a question of bad parenting,
societal neglect, social conditioning, and the like, or did he have any role to play in
it? 2

The questions are crucial to the concept of free will because they are
questions about what may be called the young man’s ultimate responsibility. We
know for a fact how parenting, society, and upbringing, have influence on what we
become and what we are. The big question is what were these influences entirely
determining or did they “leave anything over” for us to be responsible for?

At the heart of the situation, whether this young man is merely a victim of
bad circumstances or has some responsibility for being what he is. The bigger
question is that, of whether he became the person he is of his own free will or
whether he is determined to be like that.

On the other hand, the people who are convinced that there is a conflict
between free will and determinism are called incompatibilists about free will. They
believe free will and determinism are incompatible. If incompatibilists also believe
that an incompatibilist free will exists, so that determinism is false, they are called
libertarians about free will.

St. Thomas Aquinas’ Concept of Freedom

St. Thomas Aquinas, philosopher, and theologian, put forward the idea that
the human person is an individual whose will is considered a fundamental part of
human nature. He sees the exercise and development of the will as an essential
part of human perfection. This is so because God created us in his image, with
intellect and will.
St. Thomas Aquinas' thoughts about the will are a complex of three powers
of the human soul, which can be described as the intellect (perceptive,
apprehensive, and cognitive), the will (motive, appetitive, conative) and the
passions or feelings (sensitive, emotive). 2

5
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

Eleonore Stump, in her 2003

book Aquinas, compared Aquinas' view of
human freedom with contemporary
accounts of free will. For Aquinas, she
says, freedom is a property of the whole
human being, not a component part of a
person. Secondly, the will is not
independent of the intellect. 3

Thus, the intellect and will are

engaged in a dynamic, complex
interaction, with multiple stages between
an initial perception and cognition by the
intellect to the final action of the will, with
occasional interruptions or overrides by
the passions.4
https://www.google.com.ph/search?biw=1366&bi
h=613&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=St.+Thomas+Aquinas
As a human person, the will is a
fundamental part of our nature that is essentially linked to our rational power. If a
being is to be rational, it follows that it must have a free will:
But man, judging about his course of action by the power
of reason, can also judge about his own decision
inasmuch as he knows the meaning of an end and of a
means to an end, and the relationship of the one with
reference to the other. Thus he is his own cause not only
in moving but in judging. He is therefore endowed with
free choice—that is to say, with free judgment about
acting or not acting.5

Eleonore Stump condenses Aquinas complicated picture of what goes on in

an action to these simplified five stages.6
Five Stages of a Human Act (from perception to action of the will)

1. Intellect apprehends a situation and determines that a particular end is

appropriate (good) for the given circumstances. Will approves a simple
volition for that end (or can reject, change the subject, etc.)
2. Intellect determines that the end can be achieved and it is within the power
of the agent. Will (Intention) to achieve the end through some means.
3. Intellect (Counsel) determines various means to achieve the end.
Will accepts these means (or can ask for more means)
4. Intellect determines the best means for the given circumstances. Will
(Electio or choice) selects the means the intellect proposes as best.
5. The Intellect commands "Do the best means!" The will exercises control
over the body or mind as needed.

6
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

The election (choice) is most often identified with the liberum arbitrium the
free decision or judgment. Aquinas used this term rather than free will (libera
voluntas).

Kant’s Notion of Freedom

Another philosophical thought on
freedom is popularized by Immanuel
Kant. There are many ways in which one
can articulate Kant’s notion of freedom
positively as autonomy and a
distinctively modern notion that applies
to all three critiques. One might say, Kant
has worked out a new notion of freedom
in epistemology (discursive synthesis
and making of judgments), in moral
philosophy (doing one’s duty on the
basis of a non-hypothetical imperative),
and in aesthetics (the free and
harmonious faculties of imagination and
Immanuel Kant 1724 – 1804)
German Philosopher understanding). 7

https://www.google.com.ph/search?biw=1366&
bih=613&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Kant

Perhaps the best and shortest account one could give is to say that in both
the theoretical and the practical realms the notion of transcendental freedom is
construed as “independence from everything empirical and so from nature
generally.” Kant’s notion of transcendental freedom in both the practical and
theoretical realms is characterized by the self’s spontaneous transcendence of the
realm of natural causation and anything that is not actively synthesized by itself in
the domain of sensibility.
For Kant, “man possesses an autonomous and self-regulating will,
uncoerced by extraneous force, adhering only to the voice of reason.” In other
words, the human is truly free if his choice is a product of his own volition. He is
not free at all if his action is restrained by fear, force or coercion. If a man
consented to marry a woman because he was threatened by the family, the man
is not totally free either in his decision or in his action. 8

7
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

B. Sociological Perspective
Marx’s Notion of Freedom
Human history is a class struggle. At the
heart of the development of history and indeed at
the heart of the real are hard economic laws:
money—product—money. Thus, we are products
of social forces and relations.
Marx posits that human beings could build
positive and co-operative relationships with others
to live together as species-beings
9
(Gattungswesen). Marx tries to justify this claim
with aid of socio-anthropological understanding of
human beings. He says that because “the
individual is the social being, the expression of his https://www.google.com.ph/search?biw=1
366&bih=613&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Marx
life, thus, is an expression and statement of his
social life.”
For him, human beings are essentially social beings; they can achieve their
freedom by positively developing their concrete social relations. Second, Marx
dismisses classical political economists' ahistorical explanation of freedom. He
explains that bourgeois ideals such as freedom, equality, and property do not
generate from the natural phenomenon common to all societies, but from the forms
of economic life based on capitalistic modes of production. 10
Freedom is the right and capacity of people to determine their own actions,
in a community which is able to provide for the full development of human
potentiality. Freedom may be enjoyed by individuals but only in and through the
community.

In capitalism, only those who have money can enjoy real freedom. Those
who have no means of living other than selling their labor power may have
freedoms, but their opportunities are always restricted. In bourgeois society, some
freedoms are considered more important than others.11
There is an unequal distribution of means of production. Thus, working-class
people are alienated from what they produce. Only, the revolution will restore
justice and create a classless society. Thus, everybody is equal to everyone else.
Freire’s Notion of Freedom
“Freedom is acquired by conquest, not by gift.” Freedom will be the result
of praxis — informed action — when a balance between theory and practice is
achieved.

8
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

According to Freire, freedom is a major

imperative of human beings. However, freedom
is not an idealistic formulation in which there are
no external constraints. Freire conceives
freedom in the midst of the physical, economic,
social, political, and cultural circumstances.
Hence, to talk about freedom is to talk also about
its circumstances. 12
In other words, the discussion of Freire's
concept of freedom is accompanied by the
discussion of freedom and its limitations. As a
consequence, freedom is not an ahistorical
Paulo Freire 1921 –1997
concept, isolated from the dynamic development a Brazilian educator who was a leading
advocate of critical pedagogy
of history and culture. Freedom is not acquired
https://www.google.com.ph/search?biw=13
all at once. Freedom is a process, a dialectical 66&bih=613&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Freire
creation which Freire calls liberation. Liberation
is the dialectical method of freedom.

Thus, freedom is a revolutionary, dynamic, and social concept. It is a

historical project to be created, but, at the same time, a reality which is lived at the
moment in which the strategic actions for freedom are put in practice. Freedom is
a historical reality in the permanent search. 13
C. Theological Perspective
Ma. Christina Astorga’s Notion of Freedom
The article of Astorga, Culture, Religion,
and Moral Vision: A Theological Discourse on
the Filipino People Power Revolution of 1986
systematically reflects on the Filipino People
Power Revolution of 1986 under the illumination
of theology. It contends that there can be no
liberation apart from the beliefs and values of a
people, with religion as their deepest source.
The struggle against injustice and oppression
must be united with a people's consciousness of
their cultural rootedness, at the heart of which is Ma. Christina Astorga
Filipino writer and professor
their religion. The dynamics of culture and Department of Theology at the Ateneo
de Manila University (ADMU)
religion and its bearing on moral vision made the https://www.google.com.ph/search?biw=1366
Filipino People Power Revolution possible and &bih=613&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=ma+christina+
Astorga
was the source of its nonviolent spirit. 14

Pierre Marchand, head of the Alfred Nobel Foundation and the Center for
Global Nonviolence, spoke last February 25, 2001, to commemorate the

9
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

anniversary of the People Power Revolution of 1986 the following words at the
awards ceremony: 15
The world salutes the Filipinos for
their courage in overthrowing two
undesirable presidents. You have
given the gift, in a world that only
knows force and violence, of
effecting radical change without
firing a shot. The legacy of people
power would be the Filipino people’s
gift to other peoples of the world.
You were given a national gift. Do
not keep it to yourselves. The world
will never be the same again, if the
spirit of EDSA prevails beyond the
shores of this tiny archipelago. The
15th anniversary of People Power 1
was significant as it came 18 years
after the death of Ninoy Aquino, 30
years after the death of Martin
Luther King, Jr., 50 years after the https://www.google.com.ph/search?biw=1366&bih=613&tbm=isch&s
death of Mahatma Gandhi, 2000 a=1&q=edsa+revol&
years after the death of Christ.

Astorga adds that culture, religion, and moral vision constitute the place for
theologizing for the Filipino People Power Revolution of 1986. This means that
culture intersecting with religion is the shaping of moral vision that offers rich
material for theological reflection. She demonstrates how the dynamic relationship
between culture and religion and their
bearing on moral vision as manifested in the
Filipino nonviolent struggle for justice and
freedom. Thus, the quest for justice and
freedom is embedded in the hearts and
minds of the Filipino people that the people
are shaped by its religiosity.

Gustavo Gutierrez’s Notion of Freedom

Gustavo Gutierrez popularized the
notion liberation theology. His theology is
characterized by a strong emphasis on
praxis (practice). In theologizing he does not
mean the “classical tasks”, such as “wisdom”
and “rational knowledge”, but he includes
https://www.google.com.ph/search?biw=13
one more perspective – “theology as a 66&bih=613&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Gustavo+
critical reflection on Christian praxis in the Gutierrez

light of the Word.”

10
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

He criticizes the idea of the Church that silently overlooks wrongdoings by

dictatorial regimes or other oppressive structures in the “temporal sphere” because
it leads to legitimacy. Thus, the Church must perform an active role – it must fight
these structures and stand on the side of the oppressed.
When explaining the term liberation, Gutierrez starts by distinguishing what
liberation is not. It should not be equated with the term development, used in
economics or politics. Development is synonymous with reformism and
modernization, with “timid measures” and is counterproductive in the long run,
because it only postpones real transformation. Liberation is something deeper,
something more genuine; not only an imitation of subtly oppressive advanced
industrial societies but a new quality. 16

For Gutierrez, an active role of the Church in liberation is closely linked with
the idea of liberation and salvation. Unlike in the past, when most attention was
paid to the “quantitative” dimension of salvation (“salvation of the pagans”, or the
number of people saved), today we are faced with the “qualitative” dimension of
salvation – what should people (Christians and non-Christians alike) do to be
saved? The idea of extra ecclesiam nulla salus (outside the church there is no
salvation) or only belonging to the Church no longer provides an answer as the
emphasis is moved to everyday praxis.
The big question is, what does it mean for a man to be free? Gutierrez puts
forward that freedom is not perceived as a state, an attribute, or a thing, but as “a
relation and nothing else”.
You love your neighbor and because of that love one cannot tolerate when
the neighbor is in a dreadful situation. Total liberation from all sorts is not completed
if there still are people who are suffering from unjust oppression. The suffering of
others is a matter of concern for everybody.

Every Christian from all walks of life not only should but must take part in
the process of liberation, because there is a “radical incompatibility of evangelical
demands with an unjust and alienating society”.

According to Choan Seng Song, a professor of Theology and Asian Culture

at the Pacific School of Religion, “to be a Christian is to be a vanguard that has the
courage to struggle for justice and freedom.” Furthermore, he said, “oppressing
the powerless and the defenseless is political barbarism”.
On the other hand, Pope Francis, in his visit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during
the World Youth Day on July 26, 2013, he challenged everyone and said: 17
"I want the Church to go out into the streets; I want us to defend
ourselves against all worldliness, opposition to progress, from that
which is comfortable, from that which is clericalism, from all that
which means being closed up in ourselves. Parishes, schools,
institutions are made in order to come out - if they do not do this, they
11
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

become a non-governmental organization, and the Church must not

be an NGO."
"I think that, at this time, this global civilization has gone
beyond its limits; it has gone beyond its limits because it has created
such a cult of money that we are in the presence of a philosophy and
a practice of exclusion of the two poles of life which are the promises
of the populace.
"In the Argentine people, I ask the elderly with all my heart: do
not disappoint in your role as the cultural reserve of our people, a
reserve that transmits justice; that transmits history; that transmits
values; that transmits the memory of the people.

“I am responsible for my actions” 18

A human person is always free to act and to choose yet he is responsible
for the consequences of his actions and choices particularly if the action done is
deliberate or willful. Why is it so? Because most of the time, a human person does
not act aimlessly. He acts with knowledge and will. He first thinks of the impending
action and the succeeding actions and their consequences. All our actions (spoken
and physical) have consequences. Some are good (positive) and some bad
(negative).

Therefore, he is accountable for them. This is a concrete manifestation of

justice. Any consequence of an action or choice cannot be imputed or charged to
anyone who did not perform such action. If a student pursues a certain career but
did not bring him any success in life, he cannot blame his failure to the career itself
or to anyone or do anything but solely himself.

APPLICATION
Practice Task 1. Situational Analysis: “What Would You
Have Done?” Analyze the situations using the ICED format.
It is useful for identifying one’s alternatives and how to select
the best one when faced with a difficult choice. The format is
as follows:

• Identify the problem: spell out what the problem is and

talk about why it is a problem.
• Create a list of possible ways that a person could handle the problem.
• Evaluate how constructive each alternative is (how much will the alternative
help versus harm the person; how much will the alternative help versus
harm other people in the person’s life?)
• Decide among the alternatives which one will bring the most help and least
harm.”

12
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

“What Would You Have Done?”

Identify the
problem

Create
constructive
alternatives

Evaluate the
alternatives

Decide on the best

alternative to do.
Source: http://www.aces.edu/teens/pdf/mod7.pdf
Situation 1. Jeff and his friends are at the mall. Some guys from another high
school that Jeff and his friends don’t like are there. Some of Jeff’s friends want to
get into it with these other guys. One of the guys from the other high school is
dating Jeff’s ex-girlfriend – Jeff doesn’t really like that, but he’s not sure whether
he wants to get into a fight. What are Jeff’s options and what should he do?

Situation 2. Ana has been feeling depressed lately. Nothing seems to be going
right in her life. She is always fighting with her mom, her boyfriend is treating her
bad and she thinks he is going to break up with her, she doesn’t have any close
girlfriends to talk to, and her grades at school have been slipping. Ana is starting
to think that killing herself might be the answer. What are Ana’s options and what
should she do?

Situation 3. Gie has been smoking a little weed with her friends lately and likes
getting high. Her parents have no idea what she is doing, its fun, and so far
everything is going fine with school and in her social life. This weekend she and
some friends are going to a party where there will be plenty of weed and, she has
heard there will be crack there too. She is trying to decide if she will try some. Just
trying it once is no big deal – right? What are Gie’s options and what should she
do?

Situation 4. Jen’s friends try to talk Monica into going with them to get a tattoo.
Monica’s friends say it will be cool; everyone in the group can get a tattoo. Monica
is considering it, but is concerned about her parents’ reaction and whether she
really wants a tattoo. She does like the idea of doing something that connects her
with her friends.

Practice Task 2. Perspective. Using one of the perspectives in freedom, explain

the picture in the next page.

13
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

https://www.google.com.ph/search?tbm=isch&q=domino+effect&chips=q:domino+effect

Practice Task 3. Given the following actions on the left column, identify the
possible consequences and write them on the right column.
ACTION CONSEQUENCE/S
a student studying his or her lesson
a driver observing traffic lights
athletes practicing in the gym
a person taking illegal drugs
a student practicing conservation of
natural resources
a student coming to school late
a social media user posting her friend’s
nude picture
a high school student joining a sorority
a mayor using public funds for his
campaign
a taxi driver returning a found bag with a
million of cash

POST-TEST
TRUE OR FALSE: Write A if statement a is TRUE, B if only
statement b is TRUE, C if statements a and b are TRUE, D if
statements a and b are FALSE.
_________1. a. The notion of free will is treated as distinct
from several other concepts associated with human agency
b. In the discussions of free will, it is always coupled with the
idea of moral responsibility.
_________2. a. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, the will have three powers of
the human soul, which can be described as the intellect, the will and
passions or feelings. b. Incompatibilists are also called libertarians
about free will.
_________3. a. Kant’s transcendental freedom is construed as “independence
from everything empirical and so from nature generally.”

14
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

b. Marx explains that bourgeois ideals such as freedom, equality, and

property do not generate from the natural phenomenon common to
all societies, but from the forms of economic life based on capitalistic
modes of production.
_________4. a. According to Freire, freedom is a gift.
b. According to Freire, freedom is a process, a dialectical creation
which he calls liberation.
_________5. a. According to Gutierrez, the Church must perform an active role –
it must fight oppressive structures and stand on the side of the
oppressed.
b. According to Choan Seng Song, to be a Christian is to be a
vanguard that has the courage to struggle for justice and freedom.

15
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

ANSWER KEY:
PreTest: 1. C 2. C 3. C 4. C 5. B

Learning Activity 1-3: Answers may vary.

Practice Task 1-3: Answers may vary

Post Test: 1. C 2. C. 3. C 4. B 5. C

REFERENCES:
1
John Martin Fischer, Four Views on Free Will, Blackwell Publishing, 2007.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9973.2009.01564.x
2Robert O. Doyle, Information Philosopher,

http://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/philosophers/aquinas/
Retrieved 30 September 2017
3Ibid.
4Ibid.
5St. Thomas Aquinas, On Truth, trans. Robert W. Schmidt, S.J. (Chicago: Nenry

Regnery Co., 1954), q. 24, a. 1c.

6Robert O. Doyle, Information Philosopher
7https://www.academia.edu/8945096/Epistemic_Freedom_in_Kant_and_Husserl

Retrieved 30 September 2017

8 Unpublished Work, Prof. Paulino, Human Freedom Article, Aquinas University
9https://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers-2004/Kim.pdf Retrieved 30 September 2017
10Ibid.
11https://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/f/r.htm Retrieved 30 September 2017
12Ordóñez, Jacinto, "Paulo Freire's Concept of Freedom: A Philosophical

Analysis" 1981 http://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/2208/ Retrieved 30 September

2017
13Ibid.
14Ma. Christina A. Astorga, Culture, Religion, and Moral Vision: A Theological

Discourse on the Filipino People Power Revolution of 1986

16
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 2 The Consequence of Choosing

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/004056390606700305 Retrieved 30
September 2017
15Ibid.
16Pavel Chalupníček, Divine and Human Freedom in the Work of Gustavo

Gutierrez, January 2010 http://kie.vse.cz/wp-

content/uploads/2009/11/WP_2_2010.pdf Retrieved 30 September 2017
17http://saltandlighttv.org/blogfeed/getpost.php?id=49936 Retrieved 30

September 2017
18Unpublished Work, Prof. Paulino, Human Freedom Article, Aquinas University

SUGGESTED READINGS:
St. Thomas Aquinas, On Truth, trans. Robert W. Schmidt, S.J. (Chicago: Nenry
Regnery Co., 1954), q. 24, a. 1c.
Rickert, Kevin G. (2011) The divine will and human freedom: A Thomistic
analysis. http://www.hprweb.com/2011/04/the-divine-will-and-human-freedom-a-
thomistic-analysis/
Picorino, P. (2000) An Introduction to Philosophy (Online Textbook)
http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/INTRO_TEXT/CONTENTS.ht
m

17