Lesson 12- Choices Handouts PDF

CHOICES Lesson 12 Freedom of the Human Person (Part 2- Ethics) Mr. Edward B. Noda Jr.  Choices: Freedom comes with great responsibilities ❑ It is an absolute understanding that all actions have consequences. Freedom involves choice. ❑ Chance and choosing are inc...

CHOICES Lesson 12 Freedom of the Human Person (Part 2- Ethics) Mr. Edward B. Noda Jr.  Choices: Freedom comes with great responsibilities ❑ It is an absolute understanding that all actions have consequences. Freedom involves choice. ❑ Chance and choosing are incommensurable. If a person has the capacity to choose, then that person can be held responsible over the consequences of his/ her actions. ❑ Freedom is the power to be what you want to be and the ability to decide and create your self. ❑ Many of the characteristics that define our personality are often a product of our choices. Freedom gives you the ability to strive to achieve goal. ❖ Freedom is rooted in the human person’s self determination and the exercise of intellect and free will. ❖ A person’s actions determine what kind of person he/ she becomes. ❑ Freedom entails certain RESPONSIBILITY ❑ Freedom requires a degree of control from the person who exercises it (eg: addiction, impulsive behavior) ❑ To lose control of oneself diminishes human freedom and dehumanizes the person What makes us free? How does freedom shape our experiences?  2 Elements that define freedom: 1. Voluntariness- refers to the ability of a person to act out of his/ her own free will and self determination. ❑ Decisions are made out of his/ her own free will ❑ Also means that a person may act even if he/ she is not required or called to take action. ❑ Voluntary acts are free acts which can be assigned a corresponding moral value. ❑ Whenever we decide to take action, this results in a certain consequence.  2 Elements that define freedom: 2. Responsibility- refers to the person being accountable for his/ her actions and their consequence. ❑ A person who had no awareness of the effect of his/ her actions can be considered as acting with diminished freedom. ❑ Another reality that we have to face as we experience/ exercise our freedom is the fact that freedom is experienced through the act of making choices. The Nature of the Choices We Make The Act of Making a Choice Understanding the importance of being prudent in making choices, you will realize that any deliberate act of choosing involves evaluating the alternatives. ❑ The concept of weighing the reasons explained that when you are choosing, the act involves not only weighing the reasons but giving weight to reasons. ❑ After you have chosen each alternative, you will realize that some considerations carry more weight than the others. That is why you choose one alternative and disregard the other.  Ethics ❑ Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the systematic questioning and critical examination of the underlying principles of morality. ❑ A moral agent is a person who has the ability to discern right from wrong and to be held accountable for his or her own actions. Moral agents have a moral responsibility not to cause unjustified harm. ❑ A moral decision is a choice made based on a person's ethics, manners, character, and what they believe is proper behavior. These decisions tend to affect not only our own well-being, but the well-being of others.  Intellectual Choice vs. Practical Choice.Intellectual Choice – This is a choice which is deliberately selected based on a moral standpoint. ❑ They are normative answers about what we ought to do from a moral system that we uphold and its moral principles. ❑ These normative answers would take into consideration the behavior which the society will accept. For example, when you are to decide in a moral issue, you can try to give intellectual choice as a normative answer. Here you are simply assuming because you are not, as it were, facing that actual moral situation described in the dilemma. In this case, the answers that you are inclined to give are prescriptive in this imaginary and hypothetical situation.  Intellectual Choice vs. Practical Choice Practical Choice – a choice which is borne out of psychological and emotional considerations. ❑ Practical choices are made when confronted with the actual situation, and usually affected by psychological aspect of the person embroiled in the moral situation or dilemma. For instance, 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 may be so engulfed by emotions that he may sometimes fail to make the right choice. Likewise, stress could make a person’s practical choice inconsistent with his intellectual choice. 1. Was there freedom on your part in facing the situation? 2. What will you do? 3. How will you classify your choice? Is it practical or intellectual?  Moral Dilemma ❑ Dilemma- a situation where a person is forced to choose between two or more conflicting options, neither of which is acceptable. ❑ When dilemmas involve human actions which have moral implications, they are called ethical or moral dilemmas. ❑ Moral dilemmas are 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.  Evaluate and Exercise Prudence in Choice ❑ When we are exercising our choice, we must always be cautious and aware of the choices that we make, as well as the implications of these in the future. ❑ The capacity of an individual to make good choices comes from his/her accumulated experiences and values. ❑ Always remember that when we make choices, we make choices not for ourselves but also for the things that will affect that choice.  Choices: Consequences and Sacrifices ❑ We must take into consideration the necessary sacrifices that we must take for us to grow. ❑ There are times that when we decide, we take risks, may it be a sacrifice or consequence, and the tendency of humans to take such daunting tasks comes from his experiences and values. ❑ In totality, the situation and progress of a person in a situation falls on the result, that is our goal depends solely the weighted consequences we must bear and the sacrifices we must endure. How can I exercise my freedom in a responsible and beneficial manner? ❖ Human freedom, though essential is NOT ABSOLUTE ❖ Human freedom should be exercised with control and a recognition of reasonable limits. ❖ Limiting personal freedom requires sacrifice to certain self- interests and accept certain realities that are beyond control. ❖ Our sense of right and wrong guides us on recognizing and deciding on the limitations to our freedom.  ❑ Freedom should also be exercised with regard for knowledge and truth. ❑ It is necessary to cultivate the intellectual virtue of PRUDENCE in making sound choice. ❑ In exercising our freedom, we should also recognize and uphold not only our individual freedom but also the freedom of others ❑ Freedom should be exercised with due regard for the welfare of other persons. The “Given” and the “Chosen” These “givens” or pre determined things do not negate our freedom but give us the opportunities to exercise our freedom when we determine ourselves. Use our freedom in a good way so that we may become better people and better versions of ourselves.  Recap Freedom 2 Elements Ethics Involves choice that define Man as a moral Entails Freedom agent responsibility Voluntariness Moral decisions and Moral Responsibility dilemmas