Freedom and Human Action

1. Action

Action is a process where an individual intentionally performs a behavior involving physical movement or decision-making, driven by beliefs and desires. This choice impacts oneself or the environment.

Criteria of Action

• Physical Movement: Action must involve some form of physical activity.
• Beliefs and Desires: Action is guided by beliefs and desires. The rationality of an action depends on whether it leads to the satisfaction of those desires.

2. Categories of Human Action

A. Right Action

Right Act: According to Bentham (1907), an action is right if it maximizes good.

Types of Right Action

• Obligatory Act: An action one is morally bound to perform (Sidgwick, 1907).
• Supererogatory Act: Heroic or meritorious actions that are not required but commendable.

B. Wrong Action

Wrong Act: An action that is morally forbidden.

• Morally Forbidden Act: One is obligated not to perform these actions.

3. Philosophical Insights on Human Action

Aristotle

Power of Decision: Humans possess will and intellect. Practical intellect guides the will to translate reasoning into action.

Thomas Aquinas

Love and Freedom: Freedom allows humans to love intentionally and choose actions not driven by instinct, but by will. For example, helping a friend out of love, not compulsion.

Jean-Paul Sartre

Freedom and Responsibility: Human existence is defined by exercising freedom and responsibility in both individual and social contexts.

Martin Heidegger

Authentic Existence: True human existence is attained by living authentically, which involves:

• Freeing oneself from inauthentic living.
• Projecting one’s possibilities and making oneself.
• Facing emotions like dread, care, and guilt.
• Listening to conscience and accepting death as an inevitable possibility.

4. Choices and Consequences

Søren Kierkegaard

In life, every person faces decisions between “either” and “or,” and these choices actualize one’s personality and existence. Kierkegaard emphasizes that authentic existence is connected to God.

5. Method of Decision-Making by Michael Pennock

1. Search: Begin by searching for the facts in moral cases.
2. Think: Reflect deeply on the facts, considering:
   • Alternatives: There may be multiple ways to approach a problem.
   • Consequences: Evaluate the foreseen and unforeseen consequences of actions.
3. Others: Consider how others feel and seek their counsel.
4. Pray: For Christians, prayer is a way to discern God's will in decision-making.

6. Freedom and Morality

• Freedom: A natural right that stems from man's capacity to think and make decisions.
• Morality: The rightness or wrongness of an act (Agapay, 1991).

Human Acts vs Acts of Man

• Human Acts: Actions done with conscious awareness and control of will.
• Acts of Man: Instinctive, involuntary actions not controlled by will.

7. Classification of Human Acts

• Moral Action: Conforms to moral norms.
• Immoral Action: Does not conform to moral norms.
• Amoral Action: Neutral in relation to morality.

8. Principles on Responsibility by Alfredo Panizo

One is morally responsible for evil effects directly caused by their actions, even if unintended.

• An action with double effects (one good, one evil) is permissible if:
  • The action itself is good or morally indifferent.
  • The good effect does not result from the evil effect.
  • The motive is aimed at the good effect.
  • The evil effect is incidental and not intended.
  • The good effect outweighs the evil.

9. Determinants of Morality

• Object: What the action accomplishes.
• Motive: The purpose behind the action.
• Circumstances: Factors like who, what, where, when, and why.

10. Different Approaches in Morality

• Thomistic Approach: Focuses on object, intention, and circumstances.
• Consequentialist Approach: Morality is determined by outcomes (Bentham, Mill, Sidgwick).
• Deontological Approach: Morality is based on duty, not consequences (Immanuel Kant).
• Virtue Ethics: Advocates moderation and the "Golden Mean" (Plato, Aristotle, Confucius).