Module III

Lesson 4. IMPORTANCE OF FREEDOM

Lesson Objectives:
After studying this lesson on the importance of freedom, you shall
be able to:
1. gain the meaning of the statement "the degree of responsibility
depends on freedom" through an excerpt of the late Senator
Benigno Aquino's oral statement before the Subcommittee of Asian
and Pacific Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington,
D.C.; and
2. illustrate through the same oral statement of the late Senator
Benigno Aquino that "when one makes a decision, it is in a world
already constituted, involving a definite person, place and time.
Terms as Defined in the Given Selection
1. Freedom - the existence of choices or options
2. Freedom's choice or option is enmeshed in a welter of concreteness:
a concrete situation, in a concrete place and a concrete time.
Thoughts to Ponder on, Gleaned from the Given Selection
1. The degree of responsibility depends on freedom.
2. Until freedom is translated into an act, it is a misnomer.
3. When one decides it is always in a world already constituted
involving a definite person, place and time.
4. President Magsaysay, one of the most revered presidents of our
country proved that it is more effective to fight fire with water…to
fight hatred with greater Christian love.
5. But by taking the road of violent revolution, how many lives, other
than mine, will have to be sacrificed?
6. I have decided to pursue my freedom struggle through the path of non-
violence, fully cognizant that this may be the longer and more arduous
road.

1
 7. I refuse to believe that it is necessary for a nation to build its
foundations on the bones of its young.
Special attention must be devoted to freedom because the degree of responsibility
depends on freedom.
The classical concept of freedom is the existence of choice or options.
This means that one who is free has an option to do or not do, to choose this
or that. Where there is only one option, there is no freedom. When one
chooses, one must have at least two options to choose from.
Contemporary researches on freedom, however, while not rejecting the
classical concept, have added fresh dimensions to the topic. Is freedom
merely theoretical, i.e., can it be spoken of only in the abstract? Would it
be freedom if it were only discussed academically without recourse to the
concrete circumstances in which it is always enmeshed. For example, it is
easy to say he would never lie or steal or murder in hypothetical
situations. However, if the person were to be concretely situated like in a
case of a jobless father whose child is dying of hunger, would he not steal
even if he vowed never to? For contemporary thinkers, freedom is not an
abstraction but something concrete and already-being done.
Freedom can be looked at in two ways. It can be discussed in a purely
theoretical manner as one would discourse on extra-terrestrial beings or
on past historical events which are fixed once and for all; or it can be
considered as an act or a continuous process that cannot be arrested or
congealed.
Until freedom is translated into an act, it is a misnomer. If however, freedom is
choice, that choice or option is again enmeshed in a welter of concreteness a concrete
situation, in a concrete place and a concrete time. These concrete considerations can
determine one's choice, rendering the decision unfree. When one decides, it is always in a
world already constituted, involving a definite person, place and time.
Do not the hereditary and physical qualities of a person weigh on a so- called free
decision? If the person were hungry to the point of death, is
any decision that he makes a truly free one? The biblical character Esau sold
his birth right for a mess of porridge because he was dying of hunger.
Similarly, when one is sick or physically tired, his condition for the
moment could weigh so heavily that his freedom is rendered inexistent.
There is physiological or biological determinism. How far can the will
dominate the body's needs and desires or vice versa.
This condition poses a grave ethical question. When the biological
conditions of a person are such that he is necessitated towards an act
which he does not approve of but which is dictated by the physical, is he
still free? Was Esau still free?
Ethics must consider this aspect of freedom which might have been
overlooked in the past. Conditions are such that a modification of
responsibility will have to be made. We are no longer living in a black
and white world where the lines and choices are clear cut. There are now
gray areas which could recast our views on Ethics.
Questions such as the following can be asked. Is a person under the
influence of liquor or drugs considered free? If he is not, are the acts he
performs imputable to him? Is he responsible for those actions committed
under the influence of liquor or drugs?
Evidently, under the influence of liquor or drugs, the acts performed
are acts of man. However, there is a moral consideration to be discussed.
Does the person know that when he is under the influence of liquor he
acts irrationally? Usually he knows because of past events. If therefore a
person drinks in order to perform criminal acts, then he is responsible for
these acts. The same is true for drug takers. Freedom begins from the
intentio of the drinking of liquor or of the taking of drugs. So does
responsibility. Hence, from the above considerations, a person is
considered free and therefore responsible for actions done under the
influence of liquor or drugs.
 Excerpts from the "Oral Statement"
of the late Senator Benigno S. Aquino, Jr.
before the Subcommittee of Asian and Pacific Affairs,
U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., June 23, 1983

It is true, one can fight with fire, but the late Ramon Magsaysay, one
of the most revered presidents of our country, proved that it is more effective
to fight fire with water. Communism may be defeated not by adopting the
brutal methods of the enemy and thereby losing your moral imperative, but
by reinforcing human rights. One can fight hatred with a greater hatred, but
Magsaysay proved that it is more effective to fight hatred with greater
Christian love. "Those who have less in life should have more in law" was
one of his battle-cries.
I have decided to pursue my freedom struggle through the path of non-
violence, fully cognizant that this may be the longer and the more arduous
road. If I have made the wrong decision, only I, and maybe my family, will
suffer. Only I will suffer solitary confinement once again, and possibly
death by firing squad.
But by taking the road of violent revolution, how many lives, other
than mine, will have to be sacrificed? We are already the worst economic
performer in Southeast Asia. Revolution would set us back thirty or even
forty years and we may well end up the basket case in our region.
I have chosen to return to the silence of my solitary confinement
and form there work for a peaceful solution to our problems rather than
come back triumphant to the blare of trumpets and cymbals seeking to
drown the wailing and sad lamentations of mothers whose sons and
daughters have been sacrificed to the gods of revolution. Can the killers
of today be the leaders of tomorrow? Must we destroy in order to build?
I refuse to believe that it is necessary for a nation to build its foundations
on the bones of its young.
Module III
Lesson 4

SELF-PROGRESS CHECK TEST

On the blank before each number, write True if the statement is true;
otherwise write False.

_____ 1. A person forced to do an act under gun point is responsible for

his act.
_____ 2. In some special cases, the hereditary and physical qualities of a
person may affect his free decision.
_____ 3. Under the influence of liquor or drug, the acts performed are
acts of man.
_____ 4. In number 3 therefore, responsibility for the act is absolved.
_____ 5. A person's act under the influence of liquor or drugs is a
human act.
_____ 6. Man must act freely; otherwise he is not responsible for his
actions.
_____ 7. Aware of what might happen to him upon his return to the
Philippines, the late Senator Benigno Aquino's act is a human
act.
_____ 8. The late President Magsaysay ordered the use of brutal
methods against the communists.
_____ 9. The late Senator Benigno Aquino believed that through violent
revolution, many lives will be sacrificed.
_____ 10. Freedom discussed academically is freedom.