Week 9

Man According to Western Philosophers

• Plato - For him, the human being is primarily a spirit or a soul. The body was nothing
but a prison-house into which her/his real self has been locked on account of some
crime committed in the fore-life. In his imagery of the two steeds and the cave, he
denounced the “body”. He calls for the human being to ever rise above the
limitations and the oppressiveness of the body and try, as far, as possible to be
those pure spirits that they were meant to be. They were to learn how to rise from
mere “opinions” about changeable things of this world to the contemplation of
the perfect and unchanging ideal forms in that world shining with light, our true
home and natural state which we had forfeited due to that original fault.

• Charles Darwin - Man in the rudest state in which he now exists is the most
dominant animal that has ever appeared on this earth. He has spread more widely
than any other highly organized form: and all others have yielded before him. He
manifestly owes this immense superiority to his intellectual faculties, to his social
habits, which lead him to aid and defend his fellows, and to his corporeal structure.

• Aristotle - Aristotle defined human beings as rational animals. When one takes a
closer look at the surviving texts, however, it is surprisingly hard to find such a
definition. Of course, Aristotle repeatedly stresses that he regards rationality as the
crucial differentiating characteristic of human beings, but he nowhere defines the
essence of what it is to be human in these terms. What is more, Aristotle’s abundant
remarks about human nature are scattered throughout his texts, and he offers no
systematic treatise on human beings.

• David Hume - Hume’s view that human persons are "nothing but a bundle of
different perceptions" to find out which one of the two possible interpretations of
this view, the mentalistic or the physicalistic, is the more probable and freer from
serious difficulties.

• Socrates - He defined “Man is a being who thinks and wills”. Man for him should
discover truth, truth about good life, for it is knowing the good life that man can
act correctly.

• Thales - Man has 80% water in his brain and 70% water in his body, or a “man has
a water stuff”.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person – Second Quarter

Week 10
Man According to Oriental Philosophers

• Confucius - believed that man is essentially a social being and that society is built
around the individual. A man is born, grows, learns, and lives within a society and,
to a large extent, is molded into who he is by these processes. Society is nothing
more than the interactions of men, because society is a product of the individuals
who compose it.

• Lao Tzu - “Superior Man”, in Taoist philosophy, adheres, to the principles that are
set in place by nature. In Taoist society, one can never be at peace with oneself
unless he or she is at peace with nature. Thus, the superior man has found a way
to achieve both of these standards, and often does so by adhering to a set of
principles that are set forth for those in search of becoming the superior man by
Taoist teacher.

• Buddha - Man's position, according to Buddhism, is supreme. Man is his own master
and there is no higher being or power that sits in judgment over his destiny. If the
Buddha is to be called a "savior" at all, it is only in the sense that he discovered
and showed the path to liberation, to Nirvana, the path we are invited to follow
ourselves.

• Judaism - In Genesis 1:26, 27; 5:1; and 9:6 two terms occur, “image” and “likeness,”
that seem to indicate clearly the biblical understanding of essential human nature:
humans are created in the image and likeness of God. Yet the texts in which these
terms are used are not entirely unambiguous; the idea they point to does not
appear elsewhere in Scriptures, and the concept is not too prominent in the
rabbinic interpretations. What the image and likeness of God, or the divine image,
refers to in the biblical texts is not made explicit, and, in light of the fact that the
texts are dominated by psychosomatic conceptions of the nature of humanity
(i.e., involving both soul and body), it is not possible to escape entirely the
implication of “bodily” similarity.

• Hinduism - Hindus believe that human beings can create good or bad
consequences for their actions and might reap the rewards of action in this life, in
a future human rebirth or reap the rewards of action in a heavenly or hell realm in
which the self is reborn for a period of time.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person – Second Quarter

Week 11
Man According to Filipino Philosophy

Man is understood according to concept of LOOB: An expression to Filipino Personhood

INTELLECTUAL
• Isaloob (to bear something on mind)
• Pagkakaloob (Judgement or decision)
• Loob saklawin (to comprehend or understand)
• Saloobin (attitude)
• Saloob/an (suspicion, to suspect or distrust

MORAL
• Lakas ng loob (Courage, Valor)
• May loob (Brave)
• Tigas ng Loob (Hardiness in Valor
• Utang na Loob (Debt of Gratitude)

PHYSICAL
Physiology teaches that the brain is really the center of emotions but the heart serves as
the symbol of love and sorrow.
• The NOSE (Mataas ang ilong) - having reference to Pride
• The TONGUE (Kaututang Dila)
• The LIVER something causes one’s liver to: contract indicates fear, enlarge indicates
elation

FILIPINO VALUES
1. Bayanihan System or spirit of kinship and camaraderie.
A Filipino community spirit and cooperation wherein a group of individuals extends a
helping hand without expecting any remuneration. It is characterized by communal work
towards one goal exemplified in carrying a nipa house or pushing a passenger Jeepney.
Note: Remuneration means kapalit na pera.

2. Damayan System
Sympathy for people who lost their loved ones. In case of death of a certain member of
community, the whole community sympathizes with the bereaved family. Neighbors,
friends, and relatives of the deceased usually give certain amount of money as their way
of showing sympathy.

3. Familisim or close family relations

A Filipino trait of giving highest importance to family above other thing. A trait wherein
family members should be taken care and supported regardless of whether he/she did
something wrong, a family member must give attention and should not abandoned.

4. Fun-loving trait
A trait makes Filipino unique that even in time of calamities and other challenges in life,
they always have something to be happy about, a reason to celebrate.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person – Second Quarter

5. Hospitality
A Filipino trait of being receptive and generous to guest.

6. Compassion
A Filipino trait of being sympathetic to others even if the person is a stranger. An example
of this is giving alms to beggar. This is observed when we hear Filipinos saying “kawawa
naman or nakakaawa naman”.

7. Flexible
The ability of Filipinos to ride on or adjust to the norms of other groups just to attain smooth
and harmonious relationship.

8. Friendly
A trait found in most Filipinos. They are sincere, loyal, kind, and sociable person.

NEGATIVE FILIPINO VALUES

1. ‘Bahala na’ attitude
A Filipino trait characterized by retreating or withdrawal from certain undertaking and
leaving everything to God to interfere and determine the outcome of his deeds.

2. Colonial Complex or blue-seal mentality

A Filipino value of showing high admiration and preference to foreign produced goods
over local ones.

3. Crab Mentality
A Filipino attitude characterized by an attempt to “pull-down” someone who has
achieved success beyond the others. This is done out of jealousy and insecurity.

4. Euphemism
A Filipino way of substituting a word or phrase that is thought to be offensive or harsh with
a mild and acceptable one to not offend or hurt another person.

5. Filipino Time
It means “always late”, a Filipino attitude of impreciseness towards time.

6. Gaya-gaya attitude
A Filipino attitude of imitating or copying other culture specifically in mode of dressing,
language, fashion or even haircut.

7. Jackpot Mentality
A “get rich quick” mentality of some Filipinos who would rather engage in fast ways of
acquiring money than through hardwork and sacrifice by getting in lottery, joining raffle
draws and others.

8. Kapalaran Values
A Filipino trait of accepting his fate by believing that everything is written in his palm. Such
traits contribute to lack initiative and perseverance among Filipinos.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person – Second Quarter

9. Mañana habit
Delaying or setting aside a certain task assigned on the next day although it can be
today.

10. Ningas-cogon
Being enthusiastic only during the start of new undertaking but ends dismally in
accomplishing nothing. A common practice observed in some politicians who are visible
only during the start of certain endeavor.

11. Oversensitive or balat-sibuyas

Filipinos have the tendency to be irritated easily or hurt upon hearing some criticism.

12. Lack of Sportsmanship

Not accepting defeat in competitions but rather putting the blame either to their
opponents or to the sport officials.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person – Second Quarter

Week 12
Freedom of Human Person

FREEDOM
• Freedom generally, is having the ability to act or change without constraint. Something
is "free" if it can change easily and is not constrained in its present state.
• A person has the freedom to do things that will not, in theory or in practice, be prevented
by other forces.
• Freedom is a social and political concept which has great significance in how people
participate in society.
• The concept of freedom has emerged as an important philosophical issue in the 18th
century Europe during the age of enlightenment. · Enlightenment thinkers believed that
early man existed in a “natural state” and had absolute freedom.

Free will
• The capacity to choose from alternative courses of action or decision.
• Free will is the ability to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, guilt, sin, and other
judgements which apply only to actions that are freely chosen.

Free action
• The freedom to perform an action without any obstacles or hindrances. (This has
something to do with the execution of what you will)
• The first concept of free action construes free action as willing action. This is the idea we
meet in Locke, that to act freely is to act as you want to.

TYPES OF FREEDOM
• Internal Freedom -is the greatest personal intimacy and secretiveness, indeed it is the
hidden core of our being and unknowable by others,

• Self-Freedom - practice of self- control, restraint, and balance to achieve the admired
master- slave relationship of soul over body.

• External Freedom - this refers to the normal and common freedoms expected in daily life,
in most countries, throughout history.

• Political Freedom - has to do with establishing certain rights of action and limits to
government power that help to guarantee the practice of those rights.

• Collective Freedom - based on an ideology of collective unity that prescribes distinct

social and moral values and objectives for all.

• Spiritual Freedom - in this purest from this type of freedom comes from striving for a
complete identification with God to arrive at a condition of soul that transcends the
confusion and disharmony of the self and the material world.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person – Second Quarter

THEOLOGICAL VIEWS
• Aristotle – The Power of Volition
Volition = the faculty or power of using one's will. “Without conscious volition she backed
into her office". If there were no intellect, there would be no will · the will of humanity is
an instrument of free choice.

• St. Thomas Aquinas – Love is Freedom

St. Thomas Aquinas considers man as a moral agent. Through our spirituality, we have a
conscience. Whether we choose to be good or evil becomes our responsibility.

• St. Thomas Aquinas – Spiritual Freedom

God is love and love is our destiny.

• Ean Paul Sartre – Individual Freedom

The person first exists, encounters himself and surges up in the world then defines himself
afterward. The person is nothing else but what he makes of himself.

• Thomas Hobbes – Theory of Social Contract

A Law of Nature is a precept or general rule established by reason, by which a person is
forbidden to do that which is destructive of his life or takes away the means of preserving
the same; and to omit that by which he thinks it may be best preserved. *Note: There is
an agreement between the people and the society.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person – Second Quarter

Week 13
Man and His Environment

How does philosophy define man’s relationship with the environment?

Environmental Philosophy is the branch of philosophy that is concerned with the natural
environment and humanity’s place within it. The major issues tackled by environmental
philosophers are humanity’s role in the natural world, the interaction between nature and
human activities, and humanity’s response to environmental challenges.

Anthropocentrism is the belief that humans are the central and most significant species
on the planet. This view believes that humans are considered the primary cause that
drives changes in the environment.

Deep Ecology sees the natural world as being maintain by the interrelationship among
living organism and that every living thing on the planet is dependent on each other by
survival.

Gaia Hypothesis suggests that non-organic elements in the planet play a significant role
in maintaining balance in the environment as they interact with living organisms to
regulate the various systems that enable life to continue thriving on earth. *Note: Gaia –
the Goddess of Earth.

How do philosophical views influence environment action?

Environmental ethics merged in the 1970s and advocated human responsibility and
action regarding environmental issue. This ethical view emphasizes key ideas that
combine philosophical, pragmatic, and theological perspective.
*Note: Example of environmental ethics is ‘is it still right to procreate or have children
despite the scarcity of resources?’

Environmental Justice refers to the fair distribution of environmental benefits, as well as

the burden of meeting environmental challenges.

Environmental Aesthetics discuss natural beauty in the context of maintaining order and
balance in the environment. *Note: Appreciating beauty

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person – Second Quarter

Week 14
Intersubjectivity

Intersubjectivity, a term originally coined by the philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859–1938),

is most simply stated as the interchange of thoughts and feelings, both conscious and
unconscious, between two persons or “subjects,” as facilitated by empathy.

Intersubjectivity argues that each thought community shares social experiences that are
different from the social experiences of other thought communities, creating differing
beliefs among people who subscribe to different thought communities.

Guide Question:
1. How do we learn to appreciate each other’s differences?
2. How can we strive for understanding and more fully embrace diversity?

Acceptance of differences and embracing diversity

The Beauty of Diversity
• The human race is extraordinarily diverse in so many ways. Gender, ethnicity, race,
class, religion, nationality, sexuality, philosophy, lifestyle. The areas in which we
differ are endless.

The Problem
• The diversity of our existence is beautiful, but people today are still entangled in a
predicament, one that has plagued mankind since the beginning of time.
Discrimination on the basis of difference.

The Solution
• Prejudice and unfair assumptions are the enemy of everyone.

How can we overcome them? The way to overcome our judgments and to realize real
compassion and happiness is to work against them, constantly. Here are a few strategies:

1. Everyone’s Narrative – Consider your own life, and everything that has shaped
your beliefs. Realize that each of the 7 billion people on this planet has their own
narrative. Not one is the same.
2. Where are you coming from? – When you find yourself thinking poorly of someone,
stop and consider what influences have created your negative views of that
individual.
3. Befriend all people – If you know that you tend to avoid befriending certain types
of people, go out of your way to find friends of all kinds.
4. Empathy – When you encounter anyone, try to imagine, understand, and
sympathize with that person’s story, with everything that has made them who they
are.
5. Actively accept – meditate upon embracing other people, with all of the diversity
that comes with them. Don’t allow yourself to define a person based upon one
stereotype about one aspect of their complex identity.
6. Show compassion – Perform random acts of kindness for all types of people. It can
be as simple as a friendly smile or holding open a door.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person – Second Quarter

Week 15
The Human Person in Society

What is Society?
It refers to a large, independent, and organized group of people living in the same
territory and sharing a common culture and heritage.

FORMS OF SOCIETY
• Hunting-and-gathering society
These societies are often described as “primitive” since they utilize the simplest
technology. (Ex. Nomadic tribes such as the San in Africa)

• Agricultural Society
These are those engaged primarily in agricultural activities such as farming, fishing,
and livestock-raising as a primary way of life.

• Industrial Societies
These societies are centered on mechanized production and the exchange of
goods and services.

• Modern Science
These are technologically advanced societies characterized by industry, mass
production, and advanced communication and transportation.

• Virtual Societies
These are not confined by territory and are composed of individuals coming from
various social backgrounds. (Ex. Societies can be found in social media, online
message board, and online games.)

Social Philosophy focuses on studying society and its influence on the human person. It
applies philosophical concepts in a social context and looks into how social interactions
shapes people’s perception, experience, ideas, and values.

How is society is formed?

• Thomas Hobbes - society, therefore, is the means by which men seek to control
their natural tendencies and impose order. Individuals who establish societies
enter into a “social contract” - an agreement where individuals sacrifice some of
their wants and submit to a higher authority.

• John Locke - his social contract is a covenant among individuals to cooperate

and share the burden of upholding the welfare of society. Also, if the authority fails
to uphold its obligation or live up to the ideals of the people, it will be discarded
and replaced with a new one.

• Jean Jacques Rousseau believed that even if the people are the ones who
organized society and established an authority or government, in extreme cases,
the government can impose its will on the people.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person – Second Quarter

Week 16
Human Persons as Oriented Towards their Impending Death

Death
Nothing lasts forever (walang forever). The cycle of being born, growing up and
growing old and dying is a reality. We have limited time here on earth and whether we
like it or not, we are bound to die. Death is real. It is a part of our being. Death is commonly
understood as the end of bodily functions. It also refers to the separation of body and
spirit. Everything that exists in this universe comes to an end and we humans are not
exempted. The acceptance of being a temporary individual in this world gives us a
clearer vision on how to live life to the fullest and understand the meaning of our
existence. We have the freedom to choose a well lived life; doing good and doing what
is right and what makes us happy. Happiness is a state of being (over all physical
condition of a person), not just only an emotion or a decision. We do not choose
happiness because we feel it, we do not choose happiness because we need it, but
happiness is the totality of who we are as human beings. Aside from that, we must also
consider the goods and sources of our happiness.

Kinds of Good
1. Noble good is one which is pursued for its own sake, example is love and friendship.
2. Useful good is found only from what it can provide, example is money and a
3. Pleasurable good is good so long as it provides pleasure. Whatever the source of
our happiness right now, let us see to it that it is real and meaningful.

Why Do We Suffer?
Suffering is generally viewed as a state of feeling discomfort or pain. It can come
in the form of physical suffering when one experiences bodily pain. Example, injury or it
may be a mental suffering when it involves our minds and emotions, such as depression
or loneliness. Humans as we are, we normally experience pain and we often view it as
necessary to help as grow and become a strong person and find the deepest meaning
of our lives.

In life, we experienced both happiness and suffering. Whatever experiences we have,

let’s make it sure that it helps us lived the life worth remembering that we could be a
better version of ourselves. Life is a gift, live it.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person – Second Quarter