Summary of Introduction to the Philosophy of the

Human Person

The book Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person is

written by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, PhD. The book is focused on
introducing the philosophy of us humans to grade 11 students and to
develop ones philosophy. The very first chapter of the book tells us the
meaning of philosophy, the branches of philosophy, the philosophical
frames of the eastern and western thought, the Filipino thought, the
concept of abundance, and our own philosophical reflections. The summary
the whole of the whole chapter is that it is to our benefit if we pursue philo
and that philo is for the better of all mankind for the reason being is that it
teaches us to accept diversity or uniqueness of others. The second chapter
is all about methods of philosophizing. The chapter talks about the
phenology. Phenology is the scientific study of the essential structures of
consciousness. We may know the truth (as one of the main focuses of
philo) by using the method. Another way of philosophizing is Existentialism.
It is all about ones search for truth is based on ones attitude or outlook in
life. Existentialism is how an individuals perception affect the way he/she
can see the truth in life. The postmodernism is quite difficult to
understand. The Analytic Tradition focuses on language and logic of an
individual. Logic and Critical Thinking: Tools in Reasoning is also a way for
finding the truth. Logic is centered in the analysis and construction of
arguments. Critical Thinking is all about distinguishing facts and opinions or
personal feelings. In using Logic and Critical Thinking, there are 2 main
types of reasoning, first is the inductive reasoning, and second is the
Deductive Reasoning. Next is Fallacies, and types of Fallacies. A Fallacy is a
defect in reasoning. This may lead to coming up with false conclusion and
worse, distorting the truth. The types of fallacies are Appeal to pity,
Appeal to ignorance, Equivocation, Composition, Division, Against the
Person, Appeal to force, Appeal to the people, False Cause, Hasty
Generalization, and Begging the question. Chapter 3 is focused on The
Human Person as the Embodied Spirit. The chapter focuses mainly on
transcendence, the three main beliefs on transcendence, Hinduism,
Buddhism, and Christianity. Hinduism is focused on search for self-
knowledge and going through endless rebirths until an individual reaches
the state of moksha which is controlled by the law of karma. Buddhism is
focused on The Law of Salvation or Dharma. Dharma is a simple
presentation of the gospel; of inner cultivation of right spiritual attitudes,
coupled a self-imposed discipline whereby doily desires would be
channeled in the right direction. In the simplest form, the teachings of
Buddha has been set forth traditionally in the Four Noble Truths leading to
the Eightfold Path to perfect character or arthaship, which in turn gave
assurance of entrance into the Nirvana at death. The way to salvation is
through following the teachings of the Buddha, and then one can enter the
Nirvana or the enlightened wisdom. In the book, it talks about Christianity
in the words of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. For St. Augustine
his view of philosophy is amor sapiential, the love of wisdom, its aim is to
produce happiness. Contrary to what we know as philosophy, his philo is
substantially existent as the Divine Logos. His philo is rooted on the love
God, same with Aquinas and Anselms. For St. Thomas Aquinas, human
beings have the power to change themselves and things for the better. He
said that we humans have a spirit and body elements. Our spirituality
separates us from animals in terms of morality. Through our spirituality, we
have conscience. We can choose between good and evil, but our choices
are our responsibility. Also discussed in this chapter is our evaluation of
own limitations and the possibilities of for our Transcendence. This part
tells us about what factors affect our way in transcending, this are, first,
Forgiveness, second, The beauty of Nature, third, Vulnerability, fourth,
Failure, firth, Loneliness, sixth and last, Love. Forgiveness is letting go of
the mistakes of others, letting go of the anger and bitterness. The beauty
of Nature is seeing the perfection in every single flower; we must
appreciate beauty as it is. Vulnerability is part of being a human, we all
have weaknesses and we should know to accept the help of others. Failure
is acceptance of challenges, lack of effort, and wrong doings, we are to
confront them in order to transcend. Loneliness is not always bad,
sometimes we must learn to be alone and to realize the importance of
things because it is impossible to live in a world that one is always happy
and that everything will never change. Last is Love, Love is openness to
risks, if we love, we are ready for fears, commitments, pain and sacrificing
for the one we love. Chapters 1-3