REVIEWER IN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

UNIT 1 – 4

UNIT 1: DOING PHILOSOPHY

LESSON 1: PARADIGM SHIFT

1. Science and Philosophy – Humans have sense experience (sight, hearing, taste, touch
and smell) but this sense is limited. This sense is not reliable. Philosophy is the one that
can see the HOLISTIC perspective of life.

1.1. Philosophy’s purpose is to have a picture of the whole universe. Philosophy is

reflective.

1.2. Science emphasizes only on a particular aspect of the reality. Science is an

empirical study of the world. It is investigative. Science is important but science cannot
answer everything. Scientific method cannot prove the existence of GOD, even
happiness and how you can be happy.

2. GABRIEL MARCEL’S PRIMARY AND SECONDARY REFLECTION.

Reflect based on our own experiences.

PRIMARY REFLECTION – A person is not sees according to their being but as

something associated with PREDICATES. Predicates refers to your physical appearances
or the persons who are affiliated with you.
Example: Mr. Santos is a handsome math teacher; Thor is the son of Odon.

SECONDARY REFLECTION – Going beyond the usual experience or having a

HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE OF MAN. it looks not on man only through his predicates but
also on his being.
Example: Mr. Santos is a intelligent and kind math teacher; Thor is a brave, strong
kind God.
3. PLATO’S ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE.

The partial perspective exists inside the cave and the holistic perspective exists outside
the cave. TRUTH will set us FREE. TRUTH is FREEDOM. The reality outside the cave can
make us happy, joy and pleasure.

LESSON 2: HUMAN ACTIVITIES AND PHILOSOPHY

“WHAT” is Philosophy?
Philo (Love) + Sophia (Wisdom) = Love for Wisdom by Pythagoras.
Historical Definition of Philosophy according to Pythagoras.
3 groups of people in the Amphitheater and in the Real Life.
Lovers of Gain or Pleasure People who live life with one aim, to
become rich and wealthy
Lovers of Fame People who live life only for the purpose of
becoming famous
Lovers of Spectacle People who live life not to become famous,
rich or wealthy but with one purpose in
mind and that is to understand and reflect
what life is really all about. That is to love
of wisdom.
To love wisdom is to have that desire for truth and purpose in life.
“An unexamined Life is not wort living”. Asses first your life before judging other.
No one can become a true philosopher without first examining one’s life.

Lexical Definition of Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of the ultimate reality, causes and principles underlying
being acquired through the use of human reason alone.
The “HOW” of Philosophy or “HOW” to Philosophize
Ostensive Definition of Philosophy = to show or to point out.
Philosophy is not just textbook Knowledge.
Philosophy = Human Mind and heart.
The important is not the “WHAT” is philosophy rather “HOW” of philosophy.
You cannot learn all things in the textbook, the best knowledge and teacher is the
experiences we have. Those experiences will teach us many things either good or bad.
Wisdom is the active utilization of Knowledge.

What is the starting point of Philosophizing?

WONDER OR AWE. As a child we are already a philosopher. HOW? Because in
our childhood we always ask things. We “WONDER” how life is it. Ano yan? Ano ito?
Bakit ganyan? Bakit ganto? Sino yan? Sino yun? Paano ito? Paano yan?
We always ask our parents, teachers or the people around us. Unfortunately, our sense
of wonder dies out when we grow old, we don’t ask things anymore we just go with the
flow in our life.

THE FOUR DIFFERENT PERIODS IN PHILOSOPHY

Ancient Classical Philosophy – Philosophy flourished in the Greek Civilization. The
following are the known Greek Philosophers:
1. Thales of Miletus
2. Aristotle
3. Plato
4. Socrates
5. Pythagoras

Medieval Philosophy - The very name "medieval" (literally, "the in-between time")
philosophy suggests the tendency of modern thinkers to skip rather directly from
Aristotle to the Renaissance. What seemed to justify that attitude was the tendency of
philosophers during this period to seek orthodoxy as well as truth. Medieval Thinkers
synthesize philosophy with religion. The following are the examples of Philosophers this
era:
1. Augustine of Hippo
2. St. Thomas Aquinas
3. Boethius
4. John Scotus Eriugena
 Modern Philosophy - the development of science and art in which the Catholic
church is beginning to lose power in a Europe that is developing intellectually and
emotionally. the Renaissance period from the late-fourteenth century to the early
seventeenth century (around the time of Descartes) will count as ‘early modern
philosophy, while everything until the twentieth century will count as the modern period.
Here are some examples of philosophers under this era:
1. Niccolò Machiavelli 6. Baruch Spinoza
2. Francis Bacon 7. John Locke
3. Thomas Hobbes 8. David Hume
4. René Descartes 9. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
5. Blaise Pascal 10. Karl Marx

Contemporary Philosophy - The term ‘contemporary philosophy’ refers to the

current era of philosophy, generally dealing with philosophers from the late nineteenth
century through to the twenty-first. The idea of Analytical and Continental Philosophy
was born. The following below are known philosophers of this era:
1. Leo Tolstoy 6. Thomas Kuhn
2. Charles Sanders Peirce 7. Thomas Nagel
3. Friedrich Nietzsche 8. David Chalmers
4. Gottlob Frege 9. Giuseppe Peano
5. Jean-Paul Sartre 10. Edmund Husserl

LESSON 3: THE VALUE OF PHILOSOPHY

Everyday life is precisely what philosophy is for.

The real value of philosophy starts with the act of asking questions.
Improving your thinking leads to improve your life and makes better decision.

What is the value of Philosophy?

It examines our lives and becoming aware of what we believe, we can challenge
our beliefs and change them.
Act of Questioning is the starting point of philosophy. Developing our critical thinking.
Philosophy disturbs our mind into searching for the truth.
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics would tell us about the true meaning of Happiness.
LESSON 4: THE PHILOSOPICAL REFLECTION
I. THE MARCELIAN PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION
PRIMARY REFLECTION
OBJECT OR EXPERIENCE
( Objective )
Dissolving the unity,
analyzing the object.
LIFE Biological functioning of the
organs, breathing, beating
of the heart
HOUSE Structure, design of the
house, size of the house
BALL PEN A writing material, brand,
color, shape
RAIN A natural phenomenon
LOVE It is reduced to chemical
reactions within the brain
WHO AM I? Name, address, height and
weight
II. THE HUSSERLIAN PHENOMELOGICAL METHOD
METHOD MEANING
EPOCHE Removal or bracketing of
the biases we have with the
object
EIDETIC REDUCTION Essence or Value
TRANSCENDENTAL Own experience of the
REDUCTION phenomenon
SECONDARY REFLECTION
( Subjective )
Put all things into unity,
synthesizing the object.
Having a “life” having
friends and loved ones.
Being with them and
enjoying their company.
It is not only considered as
a house, but a home in
which family love and
bonding is present
A gift from my father,
having a sentimental value
A blessing from God for a
farmer
Love as an experience of
giving oneself to another
person
The innermost core of my
being and personhood
EXAMPLE
Love is a blind, love is a
many splendored thing
What is the value or
essence of Love to you?
What is your experience in
Love?
UNIT 2: METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING
LESSON 1: TRUTH VERSUS OPINION

Truth is connected with the pursuit of knowledge.

Truth – “TO KNOW” is to have the truth
*To know something is to doubt – even though you really know the truth and you
have evidences by your knowledge still you doubt yourself.
*Truth is dependent on the person – different perspective of an individual. In the
eye of other people this thing is right but in your eyes it is wrong.
*Truth is what works – Ideas or thoughts of ours which bear practical fruit in
action that truth consists in the things which work.
*Truth is what corresponds from the mind with the reality – simple problem of
telling the truth everyone except the pathological liar is able to know quite
directly whether his own words faithfully express what he thinks.
REALITY consists of existences. And those existences are things to be apprehended or
known.
REALITY consists of the facts about which I am trying to make the propositions. And the
positions are true if they correspond with the facts.

Is truth eternal or does it changes?

Opinion versus knowledge

Knowledge consists in having the truth and knowing that you have it, because you know
why what you think is true is true. Opinion consists in not being sure that you have the
truth, not being sure whether what you say is true or false.
Opinion can be true or false. Opinions can be right or wrong.
Knowledge can’t be false, knowledge can’t be wrong.
If something is knowledge, it’s impossible for it to be false knowledge or wrong
knowledge.

LESSON 2: DETERMING TRUTH FROM OPINION

Truth is based on facts. It can be proven with evidence and tested with observation.
Truth is agreed with the reality. To identify the truth in arguments, they must be based
on statistics and questions like: WHO (Names), WHAT (Events), WHEN (Time), and
WHERE (Places).
TRUTH can be EMPIRICAL truth and NECESSARY truth
EMPIRICAL truth – evidence of reality.
POSTERIORI – truth can be known after the experience
PRIORI – known before the experience
TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHTS BASED ON EPISTEMOLOGY:
RATIONALISM EMPIRICISM
Necessary Truth Empirical Truth
A-Priori A-Posteriori
Knowledge is based on reason. Knowledge is based on experience.
Existence of innate ideas Tabula Rasa
Rene Descartes John Locke
Baruch Spinoza George Berkeley
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz David Hume
Immanuel Kant John Stuart Mill
G.W.F Hegel Bertrand Russel

Opinion is kind of Judgement

( maybe, perhaps, best, always, probably, least, most, possibly or should” adjectives
and adverbs in opinion.
ADVERTISEMENTS are opinions.

LESSON 3: PHILOSOPHICAL METHODS

Socratic Method: This is where in two interlocutors took turns in questioning and
answering. Truth is arrived at by means of this dialectical method of asking and
responding, gradually eliminating the questionable.

Methodic Doubt: Accept them nothing more than what was presented to the mind
so clearly and distinctly that could have no occasion to doubt it.
To achieve truth you must doubt our senses since our senses are fallible and unreliable,
and avoid perceptual illusion.
The methodic doubt is derived from the idea of doubting a belief. It is not a feeling but
rather it is a rational insight
Example Given:
THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
THEIST’S PROOF ATHEIST’S PROOF
Stated in the bible Not all the statements in the bible are true
Experiences God in a vision Mere hallucination
Miracle of the Red Sea Geophysical quirk, not a miracle
Delicate order of nature Product of natural selection
The existence of the World It just happened
The victory of the good over evil ( World Superiority of Allied forces and a few lucky
War 2 scenario ) turning points.
LESSON 4: EVALUATING OPINIONS

Asking “why” is being critical thinker and seeking reasons to defend a position.
Open-minded and seriously considers points of view of other than his own.
We don’t just accept opinions we must analyze and evaluate them first. Seek evidences
to support it or reasons to take it.

First thing to know is to know the issue or problem.

Second, one must know what are the main points made a person to support a claim.
Third, one has to find out if there are relationship between the claim and the main points
or if the evidences strongly support the claim.

We have our own opinions but sadly it is always come from our personal bias.

UNIT 3: THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EMBODIED SPIRIT

LESSON 1: MY OWN LIMITATIONS AND POSSIBILITIES

( Activity. )

LESSON 2: WHAT MAKES MAN LIMITED AND POSSIBLE

According to Aristotle, Man is a rational animal because we feel pain and pleasure and
sense of experience.
Plants and animal do not have the capacity to think only us HUMANS.
Man is considered as a subject. An individual being. All real beings are individuals;
general entities or concepts exist only in the mind.
We are free to choose whatever we want to choose in spite of our limitations and
weaknesses.
This is what we call as self-awareness.
Self-awareness is the capacity to recognize of our own limitations and possibilities.

LESSON 3: THE HUMAN BODY

Dualistic definition of Man by Plato and St. Augustine is the negative concept of man.
Man according to Plato is composed of BODY and SOUL.
Our SOUL is imprisoned to our BODY, and the only way to achieve freedom is through
death. The BODY is seen evil but our SOUL seen goodness.

THE BODY AS FINITE: What makes the body as limited?

MAN as a SPATIAL BEING – The body cannot occur in two places at the same particular
time. EXAMPLE – At 1:30pm you are sitting in your classroom listening to the teacher
then you cannot be seen anywhere in that time.
MAN as a TEMPORAL BEING
Time exists in all persons. If you have a lunch meeting in Manila in 2pm still all the
people in the Philippines and other neighboring countries is still 2pm.
EXISTENCE begins in BIRTH and end in DEATH.
We are not immortals. We cannot leave for a thousand of years.

THE BODY AS BOTH INTERMEDIARY AND INTERSUBJECTIVE

THE BODY as an OBSTACLE
Our body became an obstacle because of our limitations ( Physical, Emotional, Mental
and Spiritual.
Hindi tayo ROBOT.Marupok din tayo, Napapagod din tayo, Nasasaktan din tayo, at
nagkakasakit din tayo. We have our Limitations. We cannot work 24 in a day. We are
not machines. We are living organisms that have limitations.

THE BODY as a BRIDGE

Our body serves as a MEDIUM towards the world or reality.
The body acts as a bridge between you and the world or reality.

MY BODY CANNOT EXIST APART FROM THE WORLD

Our senses – We cannot see the tree if we don’t have body, we cannot hear the sound of
a relaxing wave in the beach, we cannot taste the meal that our mom cook for us. We
cannot feel the love of your crush IF we don’t have BODY.
The body as a bridge refers to as our interaction toward other subjects.
Interaction to other people or to the society cannot take place if we don’t have a BODY.

LESSON 4: THE STORY OF US

THE STORY OF VUJICIC.

Despite of his limitations he can do the possibilities that he imagined. Being a disabled
he don’t just stop and let his life be just not worth living RATHER he become one of the
known life speaking and his life doesn’t stop he keep continues and do all things
unexpected.
UNIT FOUR: THE HUMAN PERSON IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT
LESSON 1: THE ENVIRONMENT TODAY

Philosophy begins with a sense of wonder and awe, but it will be impossible to wonder
on nature if what we see is only disorder in our environment. We must look on areas of
our surroundings wherein we see an ugly picture of our environment, and transform it
into a place wherein we can see harmony in nature.

POLLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE

All human activities have an effect on the environment.
Threat to our current way of life is the pollution and climate change.
THE EARTH’s ATMOSPHERE
Layer of gases that surround earth and allow us to live and breathe.
All countries work together to protect the atmosphere.
The pollutants released into the atmosphere cause local air pollution.
Daily people’s experience or way of life is pollution.
Climate change is a global problem with grave implications to our environment, social,
economic and political.
LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
It affects our food security, human health, energy security, access to clean water and
raw material, social relations and freedom of choice.
Sudden change in BIODIVERSITY can cause severe floods, droughts, population
declines, and disease outbreaks.

LESSON 2: ENVIRONMENTAL AESTHETIC

Environmental Aesthetic is the field of philosophy that studies the ways in which humans
experience the world through their senses. Appreciation of the world and environment.

BASIC ORIENTATIONS IN ENVIRONMENT AESTHETICS.

COGNITIVE VIEWS
The appreciation of a human or natural environment requires knowledge of what it is
and what is like and why it is as it is.
One must understand the topics such as geology and botany.
NON-COGNITIVE VIEWS
This approach is contrasting the cognitive views and indicates simply that these views
hold that something other than a cognitive component, such as scientific knowledge or
cultural tradition, is the central feature of the aesthetic appreciation of environments.
LESSON 3: STEWARDSHIP
GOD’s VIEW OF HIS CREATION

1. GOD appointed humans as stewards of his Planet – MAN is given a special role of
authority and power over all creation. God has entrusted us as stewards with his
creation, as we work, care for and rule over it.
2. Everything GOD made is good – All things in earth that he made is almost perfect
and value his creations.
3. GOD loves the world he created – He loves the whole world.
4. What GOD made belongs to him, not us – this should give us great humility
regarding our surroundings.
5. GOD told the land and animals to be fruitful and multiply, not just humans – we
should be concerned when unnecessary or for wasteful purposes.
6. Everything was created to glorify GOD – Appreciate GOD’s power, majesty,
holiness, wisdom and love for he created the world.
7. GOD reveals himself through his creation – GOD uses creation to display his own
marvelous qualities and nature.

REDUCE WASTE.
1. BUY LESS – Recycling is good and careful purchasing. Analyze before you buy.
2. CHOOSE REUSABLE OPTIONS – Consider cloth diapers, cloth napkin or old kitchen
towels.
3. BUY IN BULK AND REDUCE PACKAGING – Bulk purchases save both money and
packaging and also saves trips to the store.
4. RECYCLE AND REPURPOSE – Find new purposes for things you no longer need
5. WHEN YOU BUY, BUY QUALITY – Buy things that will not last long. Wag aksayahin
ang pera oras at pagmamahal sa mga bagay na hindi nagtatagal.
6. BUY USED INSTEAD OF NEW – “ukay-ukay” “Second hand”
7. REDUCE JUNK MAIL – Do not receive catalogs that you do not need.
8. COMPOST – Make you soil richer while reducing the amount of waste that needs to
be hauled away from your home.
9. GIVE AWAY YOUR MONEY – A great solution to overconsumption is being
generous.
ELIMINATE TOXIC MATERIAL USAGE
1. USE HEALTHY CLEANING SUPPLIES AND AVOID TOXIC MATERIALS
2. WHEN POSSIBLE, BUY ORGANIC
USE LESS FOSSIL FUEL AND USE MORE RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
1. EAT REAL, LOCAL FOOD
2. CONSERVE ENERGY
3. USE LESS FOSSIL FUEL
4. DO BUILDING REMODELS AND NEW BUILDS RIGHT.