CABAHUG, RAVEN MIKAELA AB INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

PEÑAMANTE, PHILIP MARLOUIE BS ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING – 1 A

TTH 9:20– 10:50 F312 SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Philosophy 1000: Bridging Course

Application Paper: Experience of My Body

I. PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION

Fr. Moga in his article asked the philosophical question “What is the Body?”. One can
infer in his article that giving distinct duality of man is unsatisfactory and unacceptable, treating
the body as secondary and unimportant, dependent for its existence upon the soul possess a
problem. Moga tells us that traditional philosophers analyzes man in terms of body (material) and
the soul (spiritual). The body and the soul are acted by the man in unity so it must be conceived
that the body is as important to the soul. In his article he tries to correct this misconception by
viewing that it is necessary to find a way to think about the man’s bodiliness which does not destroy
both the unity of man’s life as well as the nobility of the body. The body is not just secondary and
dependent to the soul. Thus Moga invites us to resolve this misunderstanding in a contemporary
approach by understanding the relationship between the body and soul, that in reality there is union
or unified totality within the purpose of each diverse element.

II. CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS (PRIMARY REFLECTION)

In Moga’s article he answers the philosophical question “What is the body?” in an

objective analysis when a person views his or her body either as an object or instrument. One
can infer from his article that a person may live its selfhood as a separate subject. There is an
awareness or self-consciousness that the body as an object exists apart from the other objects around
it. These objects can be studied and can be known. The consciousness of the self uncovers the
human body either as an object or instrument. The self can be aware of the body as an object of the
self-body sensation. The body now becomes an external object which can be observable. The body
uncovered as an instrument projects that when the body is experienced and the one responsible for
the activity in which a certain act has been performed or achieved. Therefore gives proof that there
is separation between one’s self and the body from Moga’s article that a person may live its
selfhood as a separate subject.

The objective analysis answer was considered objective due to the factor that the concept
in this answer is that in this experience of self in understanding one’s body the subject I
experiences the self as existing in a particular place, independent and immediately aware of its own
private or intimate experience. The experience of the body knows at a distance from the objects it
confronts to. The body is felt as an outside entity of the self. Separation was observed between the
activities that the body does as a separate subject when the body views itself as an object or
instrument. The distinction is within the activities outside of it which is either an external sensation
or the one who performs to achieve a certain task. There is an immediate awareness of its own
private experience and it knows that there is a barrier or distance that the body confronts. Therefore
the objective analysis shows that there is a distinct distance between the experience of selfhood and
the body in the experiences of the self as a separate subject.

III. PHENOMENOLOGICAL METHOD (SECONDARY REFLECTION)

In Moga’s article he answers the philosophical question “What is the body?” in a

subjective analysis is when the person has the awareness that one has for one’s body ans as
one involved as an immersed self. When the body is immersed in a certain situation the
experiences it confronts becomes the nature of the body. Moga supports this by stating that there is
a need, to understand the body for one to know one's self and that it is one's opening to the world.
Moga tries to recapture the awareness that we have of our bodies as we are involved as an immersed
self, to understand the body further. When the body is the necessity for one's selfhood, he means
that there is no self without the body because one cannot think of oneself as an existing such as an
immersed self without the presence of one's body. The body as an embodied would give us the
realization that the body is essential in all the necessary human activities, for without the body one
will not be able to express himself. The body is one's opening to the world, because it is through
one's body that one exists, and lives in a particular world and actively lives in along with the
elements of bodily immersion: withinness, a sense of we, a point of view, a sense of I, as an attitude
and presence of the past. As the body immerses with these elements more worlds of experiences
are encountered. Therefore, Moga tries to recover the awareness the body experiences for further
understanding as we are involved in our immersed self to the worlds around us that makes our life
more abundant..

The subjective analysis answer was considered subjective due to the factor that the concept
in this answer implicitly shows how the body immerses and gets involved to the various worlds
(family, friendship, hobbies, job, politics, religion and more) that surrounds it. The meanings, the
activities and values from the experiences of the various worlds the body immerses and the body
are linked with each other. There is no particular point, private self and close situation as to how
body is interpreted. They show relationship when involvement and immersion of the body to worlds
works and so contributes to the progress of life which later on will result s a realizations of being a
part of such world. Through the body in this article, we are given an avenue for new worlds because
the body exists in a various specific worlds and actively lives in it. We make use of the bodily
elements of the immersion of the body which through this our life becomes bountiful of experiences
and it becomes meaningful. Therefore the richer the number of worlds and involvement one
commits with one’s body thus make one’s life more felt and enriched.

REFERENCE:
Moga, Michael. 1989. “Experience of My Body”. Invitation to Wonder: An
Introduction to Philosophical Thought, edited by Marco Pineda, Sherjan C. Maybanting
& Niceforo Solis. 128-141.Davao City, Phils.: CSL Printing Press.