Freedom and Justice

Freedom is having the ability to act in accordance to your will. It means that an
individual can do anything he/she wants and make any kinds of action in a particular
situation given which may cause positive or negative effects. Justice on the other hand,
is “the concept of moral rightness” regulating the freedom of man. Justice excludes no
one for it is objective while freedom is subjective. The existence of freedom gave birth to
justice. Justice keeps freedom in check. Although freedom maintains the rights and
dignity and promotes equality that every person deserves, there must be guidelines, rules,
and regulation in a society to keep order.

You can use your freedom in doing anything. One is to promote something good
not only for yourself alone, but also for everyone in order for the community to prosper.
Another is to express yourself for your well-being. This means that you can express your
emotions in any sorts as long as you don’t hurt someone else. You can’t simply ignore
the fact that there are people around you just because you have freedom to do so. You
should include the people around you in your decision making. Just because you are free
to do things, that doesn’t mean that you can abuse it. Just because you are free to do
something to someone, that doesn’t mean that you can abuse him. You should still take
considerations of your actions and take full responsibility of it. In doing so, justice took
place. Being rejected by someone can be an example. Rejection causes pain, in order to
lessen the pain, you should choose your words nicely. Don’t just go and reject the person
right away with some harsh words. Explain the situation politely first and make the person
understand it clearly. After that, listen to what the person has to say. At the end of the
day, you two can walk home peacefully with both your minds cleared. Without justice, the
world will be in complete chaos. Think about it, if there’s no justice, a man can do anything
he wants, and might end up abusing his freedom. Even if his actions caused disaster, he
can simply say that “I won’t be held responsible for that” because as I’ve said, he can do
anything he want. The world cannot run like that. That’s why justice co-exists with
freedom. Your action defines who you are. What you do is what you become.

In conclusion, never abuse your freedom because of greed or self-interests. You

should consider the people around you and think about the subjectivity of freedom. What
is acceptable to you and your friends might not be acceptable to everyone. In doing so,
you are able to become a mature individual and you can evolve as a free being.
 Freedom and Responsibility

Robert O. Johann, SJ

Freedom is power. Having a great power comes with great responsibility. Being
free means you can do whatever you desire. While being responsible means that you are
willing to make sacrifices such as doing something you don’t want to do, for the greater
good. According to Johann, “responsibility is the other side of freedom”. Why is this so?
Simple, responsibility means: the ability to respond. To respond on your own actions and
decisions.

Freedom means you can choose freely. Anything you do is up to you. This doesn’t
mean that you can actually do everything, there can be limitations. Limitations are set for
the objective demands. You should make sure that what you do is justifiable. Never do
things that are out of the boundaries even though you are free to do so because in the
end you will held responsible for everything you did. One can neither decide nor dictate
what you will act. What a man does can be influenced by several factors but in doing such
is his/her decision alone. Thus, man is responsible for the consequences of his actions,
may it be good or bad. An action taken cannot be undone by any means. With that being
said, man should carefully decide in doing something. You have freedom to speak,
therefore, it is your responsibility to speak properly, making sure that what you say is right.
You have freedom to act, therefore, you should act nicely. Make sure that your actions
won’t hurt any body specially yourself. You are free to do good, therefore, in doing so,
make it sure that you won’t cause trouble to anybody because sometimes, what is good
for you might be the case for everybody. You are free to express yourself in several ways,
your clothing style is one way of expressing yourself, make it sure that what you wear is
appropriate. You are free to choose, choose wisely. Freedom means nothing if you set
aside your responsibilities. Doing something irresponsibly is cowardice.

Learn to adapt in every situation. Always remember that the people around you
are not all the same. They are of different values and beliefs. Some can be more sensitive
than others so you must consider their emotion. Take responsibility for your action and
think before you act.
 Man is Absolutely Free

Jean Paul Sartre

When we talk about absolute freedom, Sartre’s quote is quite famous, “Existence
precedes essence”. To explain this simply, let us site an example. Every device is
invented by someone. The inventor thought about the purpose and the functions of the
device. Therefore, the essence of the device existed first before the device itself is
invented. Similarly, Sartre, an atheist, believed that there is no God because if there was,
God would be the creator and essence would exist even before man existed. Your
existence comes with a mission. A mission to find the meaning and essence of life so as
your purpose in this world. You have complete control over your action as well as your
decisions, just bare in mind that you should be responsible enough and never abuse your
freedom. You weren’t invented like some sort of device that already has its purpose and
essence. You are the one who will find your own purpose and essence. As you are
absolutely free, you can do whatever you want, whenever and where ever you want, and
be who you want to become. Just remember that you are a social being and that you are
not alone and being absolutely free won’t be the case anymore.

Socializing and interacting with your surroundings can be a great help for you in
finding your purpose. Your surrounding can be a bit of a drag because not everyone will
understand the things you do and you can’t please everyone. Thus, you should choose
and decide wisely in any ways possible before doing anything. People will brand you base
on your actions. What you do is what you become because your action reflects your
identity. If you love to study, everyone will look at you as someone who enjoys learning
new knowledge and a genius. When you buy books to read, regardless the kind of that
book, you are considered a book worm. If you tend to always look at the bright side of life,
you are an optimist, if you always brag about how life is giving you a hard time and that
you can’t take it anymore, then you are a pessimist and a crybaby. What everyone says
about you can be true but just because they say so, doesn’t mean that it’s entirely true.
The one who can actually say if all those were true or not, is you because you know
yourself better than anyone else. This is the benefit of interacting and socializing.

To some it all up, absolute freedom means doing what makes you happy. Since
you are a social being, expect that there will be a hindrance, especially your surroundings,
in doing what you want. Even so, never disregard other’s opinion about yourself because
it can help you and guide you in growing and in finding your purpose.
 Freedom and the Person

Gabriel Marcel

Base on Marcel’s point of view, man’s freedom can be affected by the things
around him. What he valued the most can greatly affect him while the things that matter
less won’t bother him at all. In life, man has to grow and mature. Thus, man should not
lock himself off the world. He must go out and interact with his surroundings in order for
him to gain experience. These two falls on Marcel’s philosophical view point about
freedom and the person which is categorized to “having” and “being”. “Having pertains to
things, external to me, and therefore autonomous.” This lines by Marcel shows the
relation between you and the things around you that can or cannot affect you and your
freedom. On the other hand, Marcel stated that “being” pertains to persons, open to
others, able to participate, creative, non-conceptualizable, a plentitude. Basically, it
involves interaction with your surroundings.

The idea of “having” is not limited only to the things you can touch like clothes,
watch, gadgets, etc., it also pertains to the ideas, culture, norms, law, and anything
external to you. As a free man, you can value things differently base on your own
standards. Make it sure that what you value the most can bring the best in you and never
overlook petty things because even the smaller ones can bring big impact to you. The
things that are irrelevant for your development can be disregarded especially the things
that can ruin your reputation. The struggles which you encounter in life is quite valuable
because you can learn from it and you can use it in the future. You can’t actually grow as
an individual alone, that’s why you need to socialize with your surroundings. What you
already know is just a fraction of the knowledge in this world. You are not the only one
searching for answers. Someone solved similar problems in different approach and not
everyone see things similarly as how you look at it. What is important to you might not be
important to them. They could care less about the thing which you value the most. This
is because freedom is not distinct to you. Everyone has their own freedom and they can
do things their own way. Share your ideas with others and welcome other’s ideas. This
way both parties can learn from each other.

Choose who you mingle with and it is important to choose the right one because
the person who’s closest to you is likely to have great influence on you. One can bring
the best in you and the other brings the worst. Be open to new ideas. Do not cling on the
ideas you already know because there can always be a better one.
 Man is Absolutely Determined

B, F. Skinner

Skinner believes that man’s behavior is influenced by external forces and stimuli.
He categorized this into three: (a) genetic, biological, and physical structures; (b)
environmental structures like culture, national, and ecclesiastical (church), and; (c)
external forces and demands.

Genetics, biological, and physical structures determine man’s behavior in such a

way wherein a child when born will carry the genetic codes of his parents without having
the privilege to decide for himself. The parent’s traits are carried on the genetic codes
therefore the child will be born and grow like his parents. Thus, the child’s behavior is
predetermined with his genetic makeup such as hereditary traits. Physical structure such
as abnormalities on the other hand, can be influenced by the mother’s activities when
she’s pregnant. As the mother carries the child in her womb, what she does affects the
capabilities and the development of her child. Environmental structures like culture,
national and ecclesiastical (church) determine man’s behavior through its set of
guidelines such as norms, rules and/or law, and beliefs. Certain culture has their certain
norms, each country has several rules particular to them, and every religion has their own
beliefs. Lastly external forces and demands determine man’s behavior through acting as
a pushing force for man to do certain action.

You are free to do anything that would make you happy but there can be instances
where you have to sacrifice your happiness because of these external forces and stimuli.
Man would rather choose an action that is acceptable to the society over something that
is deviant even though he wanted to do it so badly in order for him to maintain good
relation and reputation. A student can be a good example for this. There are times when
a student want to do things that he/she enjoys like going out and have a nice vacation,
play video games, or just go shopping but because of the demands, he/she has to set
these things aside and be a responsible student.

Carefully choose the group where you want to be based on your preferences not
on the other’s because it can determine your behavior. Be a good person and a good
role model because not only that you can influence the people around you, but also your
traits will be pass on to your kids and this will determine their behavior.
 Phenomenology of Freedom

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Choices are influenced by how "free" one is, with that being said the level of
freedom varies depending on the situation and to the person’s cognitive ability. A two
years old can do anything he wants because he’s still young and unaware of what his
action may cause. An adult on the other hand, are limited to do things because of certain
reasons like not being fit to the moral standards set for adults in the society. Also, a person
with mental disorder has different level of freedom regardless his/her age. Although
he/she does something shameful, the society will let him be because of his/her mental
disorder. Thus, freedom is limited with what society set to be morally upright and what
they deem is immoral.

Constraints and restrictions are laid even before you do anything. These will hold
you back but the one who forbids you in doing things is you yourself. You are free until
you think you are not. You decide and carefully choose the right action before you do so
because you consider those restrictions and you want to meet the moral standards set by
the society. You want to be a wildlife photographer but your father wants you to be an
engineer. The thing is, you are afraid of your father and so, you enrolled in an engineering
school and abandon your dreams because you don’t want to disappoint him. Another
example can be when you are at the cinema. You wanted to watch frozen 2 so bad but
your mates said that it’s a show for 10 years old, and so, for you not to be teased by your
mates, you decided not to watch it went along with what movie they want to watch. These
examples show that you let the society take authority over you.

Freedom is just but a philosophical concept that ironically constraints and restricts
us. For me, no one is really free, because if we are free, then there shouldn’t be rationally
good or bad. Though we are free in a sense that we have our own way of thinking, we
can decide for our own selves, we have free-will to do whatever we think would be the
best for us, but still, we can’t do everything since there are written and unwritten laws that
restricts us, we are forbidden to do certain things which is contrary to the definition of
freedom. Despite all this, the greatest enemy you’ll be facing is yourself because of you
the limitations you have within you. It can be physical, mental, and/or spiritual.
 Freedom of Choice and Fundamental Option
Piet Fransen & Joey Cruz,SJ

Freedom doesn’t only mean that one can do what he pleases. It is also an
opportunity to choose between different set of alternatives. In your everyday life, you
make tons of choices, consciously and unconsciously. That’s how life works. Choices are
made base on how you ought the outcome of the situation would be. Your freedom comes
into play in times like this. Whenever you encounter any situation at any point of time, you
can freely choose what to do. Some situation can be quite similar to what you already
encountered in the past and so you can compare and contrast. Regardless, think about
the benefits and the drawbacks of any actions you would take and choose the best one.
Do this so that you can safely execute the action without any hesitation because you
actually know what you are doing and why you are doing it.

If you go to Jollibee, the lady in uniform at the counter will give you the freedom to
choose among the menu. She will ask what you want rather than giving you food right
away without considering your preferences. Regardless if you are a loyal costumer or it
is your first time eating in such place, you would choose base on what you want to eat at
the moment. Your appetite will influence your decision. The next day, you returned, and
other than choosing base on your appetite, you also now base on what you experienced
last time. If you liked the food from last time, you won’t hesitate to order it again.
Otherwise, you might end up not ordering it again, or maybe you won’t even return to
Jollibee anymore because of such experience. You reflect on the situation before you
choose in order to pleasure yourself. That’s how blessed human beings are. The choices
you make can be influenced by the things within you and outside of you. One of which is
your self-interest and how you value things. If you love to eat burgers, then you will choose
burger king over Greenwich pizza. If you want to relax yourself in such way that no one
will disturb you, then you will choose the SPA over the mall. Another thing is that when
you encountered quite similar things, you tend to reflect on the situation base on what
happened from last time. If what happened from last time was good enough for you, you’ll
end up doing the same thing without any changes nor improvements. But if you want for
what will happen to better then you too should do better than last time.

Every situation requires action and any action has different outcomes. It can either
be good or bad. Be prepared for the consequences of your actions because you’ll take
responsibility of it. Think before you act for it can either ruin you or hone you as an
individual. Don’t act selfishly. Consider the people around you especially their feelings
and emotions. Anything you do can affect anyone in any ways.