WEEK 5: LEARNING MATERIAL Date: March 8-12, 2021

COURSE: GEC 7: GENERAL ETHICS

Lesson 5: Freedom

TOPIC LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Explain freedom as an essential characteristic of ethics;
2. Explain the moral dimension of freedom.
3. Identify other basic foundations of morality.

Freedom as a Foundation of Ethics:

Introduction:

Why do matters of right/wrong and good/bad need a foundation? What difference would a foundation
make?

Let’s consider these comments from someone: “I am going to obey my conscience regardless of whether
it is or it is not grounded in any foundation. I am going to obey it even if some reliable foundation tells me
not to. Even if a god suddenly appears and tells me to do something that my conscience won’t let me do, I
am not doing it.

So, where did this conscience come from? How about if a person’s conscience contradicts the conscience
of another individual?

The comment above leads us to the question of choice, freedom or liberty and decision. It also leads to
the question of end.

Freedom or liberty may be described as the power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without
hindrance or restraint. But this power is not absolute. It has limitations. “Great power comes with great
responsibility.” Imagine the world if there is no limit to freedom and no appeal for responsibility. When
one changes the question from “what do I want to do?” to “what do I ought to do?”, all moral acts
become clearer and point to freedom of choice. There is the invocation for people to use their freedom
in way that they won’t harm anyone including animals, plants and the whole of nature, to not abuse
their freedom and to give limitation to it. The exercise of freedom to act morally liberates us from our
selfish passions and desires. If we are not free in making decisions, then the ethical value of our
decisions are questionable.

Kant points to freedom as the autonomy or self-determination of rational beings. This type of freedom
plays a crucial role in the ethical journey of each individual, of societies and humanity as a whole. Our
everyday choices allow us to pursue our goals that in a way enable us to live well and pursue the kind
of human beings we ought to be. We want to be virtuous by choice, for example, because reason and
experience teaches us that there is no fulfillment in life if we are coerced to live a life that we do not like.
There is no true happiness from slavery within. Human potential and creativity flourishes when there
is liberty.

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Watch” Why Does Morality Need a Foundation?
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Ft6Jn-haV_o

Freedom has a Moral Dimension

1. The moral dimension belongs to the realm of human freedom. The act or conduct that is not the
result of free choice is without moral quality. Morality relates to what we are accountable for.
Freedom is not just about what we 22 can do but also about what we must do. It does not follow
that just because we can do something so we must do it.

2. The moral dimension refers to the concern for the good and happy life. Moral philosophy claims
an essential connection between goodness and happiness. The moral dimension is concerned
with defining ultimate goal of man or what constitutes his happiness. The path to being happy is
the way of goodness.

3. The moral dimension speaks to our sense of moral responsibility. The moral dimension pertains
to what freedom entails – the freedom to commit – and the limits that the freedom of others
imposes on our own. The moral dimension is about developing the skills for sound decision
making based on ethical principles.

Basic Foundations of Morality

1. Harm/Care

This is related to our long evolution as mammals with attachment systems and an ability to feel
(and dislike) the pain of others. This foundation underlies virtues of kindness, gentleness, and
nurturance. This foundation makes us sensitive to signs of suffering and need. In order to
maximize care and minimize harm, we enact laws that protect the vulnerable. We punish people
who are cruel and we care for those in suffering.

2. Fairness/Reciprocity

This is related to the evolutionary process of reciprocal altruism. This foundation generates
ideas of justice, rights, and autonomy. This foundation leads us to seek out people who will be
good collaborators in whatever project we are pursuing. It also leads us to punish people who
cheat the system. People on both the right and the left believe in fairness, but they apply this
foundation in different ways. Haidt explains: “On the left, fairness often implies equality, but on
the right it means proportionality – people should be rewarded in proportion to what they
contribute, even if that guarantees unequal outcomes.”

3. In-group/Loyalty.

This is related to our long history as tribal creatures that are able to form shifting coalitions. This
foundation underlies virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for the group. It is active anytime
people feel that it’s “one for all, and all for one.” We love the people on our team, and loyalty
makes our team more powerful and less susceptible to our failure. Likewise, we have a
corresponding hatred for traitors. Those who betray our “team” for the other side are worse than
those who were already on the other side.

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 4. Authority/Respect

This is shaped by our long primate history of hierarchical social interactions. This foundation
underlies virtues of leadership and followership, including deference to legitimate authority and
respect for traditions. Authority plays a role in our moral considerations because it protects
order and fends off chaos. “Everyone has a stake in supporting the existing order and in holding
people accountable for fulfilling the obligations of their station.”

5. Purity/Sanctity

This is shaped by the psychology of disgust and contamination. This foundation underlies
religious notions of striving to live in an elevated, less carnal, nobler way. It underlies the
widespread idea that the body is a temple which can be desecrated by immoral activities and
contaminants (an idea not unique to religious traditions). No matter the era, humans have
always considered certain things “untouchable” for being dirty and polluted. The flipside is that
we want to protect whatever is hallowed and sacred, whether objects, ideals, or institutions. 6)
The Liberty/Oppression Foundation This foundation builds on Authority/Subversion because
we all recognize there is such a thing as legitimate authority, but we don’t want authoritarians
crossing the line into tyranny. Oppression is hated and liberty desired. It is liberty for the
underdogs and liberty from intrusion.

Concluding reflection on freedom: Whether morality is subjective, objective or a social construct, they
all point to one thing: the individual is a choice-maker. A believer makes a choice; and so with the non-
believer; and members of society make their own choices. The individual’s freedom is essential to any
levels of morality. Hence, human freedom is the primal foundation of morality.

Reflection (Insights

Share your insights by posting it in our fb closed group

LEARNING TASK

1. Write something about freedom of expression in relation to fake news in Philippine mass
media.

2. Watch the video entitled “philosophy of liberty” (HD with voiceover) on youtube.com.
Write down two personal realizations and submit it in the google classroom. Check this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GazZBvHhgQ

Evaluate: ( Note this lesson will be part of the Exam)

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References:

Why Does Morality Need a Foundation? (n.d.)

https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Ft6Jn-haV_o

Moral Foundations Theory (n.d.). https://www-bcf.usc.edu/~jessegra/

papers/GHKMIWD.inpress.MFT.AESP.pdf

Six Moral Foundations of Politics (n.d.)

https://www.thegospelcoalition. org/blogs/trevin-wax/the-6-moral-foundations-of-politics

Note: This module is for instructional purposes only, and it should not be shared or copied by anybody but exclusively for the
Philos 12 and GEC 7 classes of the Instructor who prepared this learning materials.

Prepared class notes materials on Ethics, compiled and prepared by the Instructor.

Prepared by:

MR. ALLAN JOSEPH L. LIPE

Course Facilitator