LEARNER’S PACKET (LeaP)

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Learning Area INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

12 Quarter
Learning Days
FIRST QUARTER
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY
Week No.
Date Covered
5
OCTOBER 11-15
I. LESSON TITLE FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY
5.1 Evaluate and exercise prudence in choices
5.2 Realize that:
II. MOST ESSENTIAL
a. Choices have consequences.
LEARNING
b. Some things are given up while others are obtained in making choices
COMPETENCIES (MELCs)
5.3 Show situations that demonstrate freedom of choice and the consequences of their
choices
III. CORE CONTENT The learner understands the human person’s freedom
IV. LEARNING PHASES AND LEARNING ACTIVITITES
I. Introduction
Recall three decisions you have made recently. Then, analyze them. What are the good things they produced for you and
your community and what are the negative effects do they caused to yourself and others? Write your answer on the
space provided

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 D. Development

HUMAN ACTIONS VS ACTS OF MAN

An act that is performed only by a human being and thus is proper to man. Not every act that a human being does is a
distinctively human act. Some acts that human beings do are performed also by animals, e.g., vegetative acts and acts
of perception and emotion. When a human being does such acts, they are called acts of man but not human acts. Acts
of man are actions shared by humans and other animals while human acts refer to the appropriate actions of human
beings. What makes an act performed by a human being distinctively a human act is that it is voluntary, that is, an act in
some way under the control or direction of the will, which is proper to man. One can therefore identify the human activity
with the voluntary act. A voluntary act continues either by the will - like an act of love or choice - or from another human
power that may be motivated by the will, either by an act of intellect or by the sense of reasoning or emotion; even a
gesture commanded by the will can be a voluntary act.

Aristotle’s Distinction of Voluntary and Involuntary Actions

Voluntary Actions - these are acts originating from the individual performing the act using knowledge about the situations
of the act.

1. Classifications of Voluntary Actions

A. Voluntary – actions are performed from will and reason.

B. Related to Compulsion - it is considered as mixed of voluntary and involuntary. It is more voluntary if the desire and
choice has been performed and involuntary if it has
considered preferences or alternatives. Example: You are asked to perform a crime and your options are; either you do it
and your family survives or you don’t do it but they
will be murdered.

2. Involuntary Actions – are acts done under a) force or coercion and b). ignorance where the doer failed to understand
the effect and feels sorry on the result.

Classifications of Involuntary Actions

A. Under Compulsion – circumstances which are beyond the control of the agent and contributes none to the action.
Example: A person was kidnapped, hence impossible to resist.

B. Through Ignorance of Particular Circumstances.

Example: a man steals and ignorant of the law, arrow or gun shot by mistake.

HUMAN FREEDOM AND OBLIGATION

According to John Mothershead, freedom and obligation are two indispensable conditions for morality to occur. Freedom
is understood to be present when one is choosing a course of action, and he or she is taking full responsibility for
consequence of his actions. Importantly, this is anchored to the individual’s moral and rational capacity to discern what is
right and wrong.

In several meta-ethical traditions obligation usually follows or arrives from freedom. Freedom can be said to be present if
the human person is free in making choices in the realm of morality – that is, in making choices with regards to determining
what is the right thing to do in situations and circumstances in his own life. This can be summarized in our Filipino saying,
“Buntot mo, hila mo!” It is taking full responsibility for your actions and being obliged to do so. Hence, an action is not in the
full extent of morality if a person does something while his or her freedom and rationality is altered or modified. This event
can happen if the person’s environment highly affects his judgement.

When was the last time you see yourself escaping from the consequences of your actions? When was the last time you
hide from the problems brought about by your irresponsible actions? We have the tendency to blame others for their
choice of a course of action. At present times, several marriages – most especially in the Philippines – are being brought to
different courts of law to be annulled. What is the main reason for this? Atty. Jim Lopez in one of his books says that most of
the marriages which are tried in civil courts are sagas of unending throwing of blame and accusations between two
lovers. Which can be simply be solved had one of the parties make himself accountable for a problem which sit between
them

INTELLECTUAL CHOICE VS PRACTICAL CHOICE

A. Intellectual Choice – This is a choice which is deliberately selected based on a moral standpoint. Basically, 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.

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B. Practical Choice – a choice which is borne out of psychological and emotional considerations. Unlike the previously
discussed type of choice, 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.
E. Engagement
Learning Task No 5.A.
Find the differences and similarities, if any, between Human Acts and Acts of Man. Write your answer on the space
provided.

Involuntary
Voluntary

Learning Task No 5. B. List down five Human Acts and Acts of Man you have done this week. Write your answer on the
space provided

Human Acts Acts of Man

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

4. 4.

5. 5.

A. Assimilation
SOLVE THE TROLLEY PROBLEM. There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks, there are
five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the
train yard, next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. However, you notice that
there is one person on the sidetrack. You have two options:

1. Do nothing and allow the trolley to kill the five people on

the main track.
2. Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the sidetrack
where it will kill one person.

Which is the more ethical option? Or, more simply: What is

the right thing to do?
Justify your answer using the lesson above. Write your
answer on the space provided

Was there freedom on your part in facing the situation?

1. What are your considerations for saying that your choice is the right thing?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Following the concept of Intellectual choice, will your decision be the same? Why or why not?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Following the concept of Practical choice, will your decision be the same? Why or why not?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Was your decision a choice based on your understanding or based on some reference?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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 V. ASSESSMENT

True or False. Write the word True if the statement is correct and write the word False if the statement conveys otherwise.
Write your answer on the space provided

________1. Human actions are always conceived intellectually.

________2. According to Aristotle, Acts of man are actions which are deliberately done.

________3. Freedom and obligation are two distinct philosophical concepts.

________4. A person is totally responsible for an action even if he acted with an impaired conscience.

________5. A choice is made from freedom if the person totally knows the kind of choice he makes even though unsure

with the consequences.

________6. Intellectual choice usually refers to answers for hypothetical moral issues.

________7. Practical choice usually pertains to choices for an actual moral dilemma.

________8. Freedom is present in the Acts of Man.

________9. Involuntary actions are excused from moral examination.

________10. Without freedom, obligation does not exist.

VI. REFLECTION
The learners, in their notebook, journal or portfolio will write their personal insights about the lesson using the prompts
below.

I understand that _________________________________________________________________________________________________.

I realized that______________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Checked By:
HANELLE T. EVANGELISTA
Prepared By:
MARIA JOSEFINA A. ABOT Noted By:
DR. NERISSA R. DALUMPINES

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