BAGUIO COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Baguio City, Philippines

SUBJECT TITLE : Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person

MODULE TITLE : Consolidation of Modules 1-8
MODULE NO :9
NOMINAL DURATION : 4 Hours –October 12-17, 2020
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson, the students shall be able to:
1. recall all topics discussed in all the modules provided;
2. apply what has been learned; and
3. use these lessons in daily life situations.

PHILOSOPHY - comes from two Greek words “philos” which means love and “sophia” which means wisdom.The
term ‘philosophy’ literally means’ ‘love of wisdom’ or pursuit of knowledge. Hence any branch of study was formerly
called philosophy.
Definitions of Philosophy according to the different Philosophers:
A. “Philosophy is the science and criticism of cognition” (Kant).
B. “Philosophy is the science of knowledge” (Fichte).
C. “Philosophy aims at the knowledge of the eternal, of the essential nature of things” (Plato).
D. “Philosophy is the science which investigates the nature of Being as it is in itself, and the attributes which
belong to it in virtue of its own nature” (Aristotle).
E. “Philosophy is the science of sciences” (Gomte).
F. “Philosophy is the sum total of all scientific knowledge” (Paulsen).
G. “Philosophy is the unification of all knowledge obtained by the special sciences in a consistent whole”
(Wundt).
H. “Philosophy is completely unified knowledge—the generalizations of philosophy comprehending and
consolidating the widest generalizations of science” (Herbert Spencer).
Philosophy and its holistic approach:
-A philosopher’s way of thinking is described as “abstractive” which means it rises from the level of everyday
life to a higher level that gives a bird’s eye view of the whole.
Insight – means “seeing with the mind”
-having a philosophical insight means being able to see with the mind, this means that to be able to think
philosophically, you must learn to look beyond what is immediately before you
- learning to see how a thing is related to everything else is the mark of a holistic perspective
What does it mean to be a philosopher?
There is a difference between asking questions with the intention of making the other person look stupid
or ignorant, and asking questions with the genuine desire to know.
PILOSOPO (Philippine context) – connotes the image of a comical, and sometimes annoying character. It is often
used to describe someone who plays with words, or twists commonsensical reasonings in order to come across as
funny
-sometimes described as KSP ( kulang sa pansin) because of their incessant questioning that gives the impression
that they are desperate for attention
-someone who asks nonsense questions for selfish reasons
-A philosopher is not a pilosopo because he/she does not play with words or twists reasoning just for fun.
-A philosopher is not a pilosopo because he/she does not raise questions with the intention of showing off that
he/she is smart and inquisitive.
-A philosopher asks questions that stem from a genuine confusion, astonishment and wonder.
-A pilosopo is a philosopher if his/her intention in playing with words and overturning usual forms of reasoning is in
order to view things in a different way.
Nature and Functions of Philosophy:
A. Philosophy integrates itself with other disciplines to achieve a comprehensive and coherent worldview.
B. Philosophy analyses the very foundations of other disciplines.
C. Philosophy analyses and criticizes treasured beliefs and traditions.
BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
1. Metaphysics -It is an extension of a fundamental and necessary drive in every human being to know what
is real.
• A metaphysician’s task is to explain that part of our experience which we call unreal in terms of
what we call real.
2. Ethics -It explores the nature of moral virtue and evaluates human actions.
• It is a study of the nature of moral judgments
3. Epistemology-It deals with nature, sources, limitations, and validity of knowledge
4. Logic -Reasoning is the concern of the logician.
● It comes from the Greek word logike, coined by Zeno, the Stoic (c.340–265BC), which means a
treatise on matters pertaining to the human thought

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Baguio City, Philippines

5. Aesthetics
• It is the science of the beautiful in its various manifestations – including the sublime, comic, tragic,
pathetic, and ugly
DOMAINS OF TRUTH
1. Objective domain
2. Social domain
3. Personal domain
TRUTH AND OPINION
Opinion – a statement of judgement of a person about something in the world that are in need of further justification
FALLACIES from the Latin word “fallo” which means “I deceive”, defect in argument, detected by examining the
content of the argument.
Types of Fallacies
1. Argumentum ad Baculum (appeal to force) -used by people who want to win a conflict by issuing threats to
their opponents
2. Argumentum ad Hominem(argument against the person) - attacking the person instead of the argument
3. Argumentum ad misericordiam (appeal to pity) An attempt to win support for an argument or idea by
exploiting his or her opponent’s feelings of pity or guilt
4. Argumentum ad populum (bandwagon fallacy) -“the attempt to win popular assent to a conclusion by
arousing the feelings and enthusiasms of the multitude”
5. Argumentum ad Ignorantiam (argument from ignorance, appeal to ignorance) -assumption that a
proposition is true simply because it has not been proven false, or that it is false because it has not been
proven true.
6. Argumentum ad Verecundiam (appeal to inappropriate authority) -is an appeal made to parties having no
legitimate claim to authority in the matter at hand
7. Equivocation - A logical chain of reasoning of a term or a word several times, but giving the particular word
a different meaning each time
8. Composition- Something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole.
9. Division -Something true of a thing must also be true of all or some of its parts.
10. False cause (post hoc) - Since that event followed this one, that event must have been caused by this one.
11. Hasty generalization - Making an inductive generalization based on insufficient evidence
12. Begging the question (petitio principii)-An argument where the proposition to be proven is assumed
implicitly or explicitly in the premise.

Methods of Philosophizing
• Philosophizing is to think or express oneself in a philosophical manner.
• discusses a matter from a philosophical standpoint
Gabriel Marcel (1960) clarifies that philosophy is not like the sciences that have a clear method at arriving at truths.
Philosophy is different. The method is not something that you can simply detach from the person philosophizing.
APPROACHES TO THE SEARCH AND UNDERSTANDING OF TRUTH.
1. Rene Descartes and Western modern thinking (1596-1650), French philosopher says that only the mind,
not the body can arrive at clear and distinct ideas which cannot be doubted.
What this method has shown is that the search for truth leads to a detachment from the material
world outside one’s minds and a focus on the inner world of consciousness and thinking. This is why modern
thinking is characterized by objective and detached calculation.
2. The Way of the Tao - Central to this difference is the Taoist theory of the YIN and YANG which permeates
almost all areas of Chinese life. YIN and YANG refers to the two polarities of an entity- the bottom and the
top, the inside and the outside. YIN represents rest, darkness, the ground below or earth while YANG is the
opposite
Phenomenology: On Consciousness
• A method for finding and guaranteeing the truth that focuses on careful inspection and description of
phenomena or appearances.
• It comes from the Greek word phainómenon meaning “appearance.”
• It is the scientific study of the essential structures of consciousness.
Postmodernism: On Cultures
• Postmodernism is not a philosophy
• Postmodernists believe that humanity should come at truth beyond the rational to the nonrational
elements of human nature, including the spiritual.
Analytic Tradition - Analytic philosophy is the conviction that to some significant degree, philosophical problems,
puzzles, and errors are rooted in language and can be solved or avoided by a sound understanding of language and
careful attention to its workings.
The Human Person as an Embodied Spirit

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Baguio City, Philippines

1. Human Limitations – We have our limitations because we are EMBODIED BEINGS. Human existence is an
embodied existence. Many things that are related to our existence as persons are related to our bodies –
age, sex, race, relationship etc.
2. The Body as Transcendence According to Thomas Merton (1948), there is no other way to find who we are
than by finding in ourselves the divine image.
• We have to struggle to regain spontaneous and vital awareness of our own spirituality.
• Transcendental and transcendence convey the basic ground concept from the words’ literal meaning
(from Latin), of climbing or going beyond, with varying connotations in its different historical and cultural
stages
Own Limitations and the Possibilities for their Transcendence
*Forgiveness *Beauty and Nature *Vulnerability *Failure *Loneliness *Love
The Human Person as an Embodied Spirit: Ancient and Contemporary Thought
A. Ancient Greek Philosophy: Plato and Aristotle -Plato (428-348 B.C.) - Views that man has an immortal soul
and a mortal perishable body. The soul has a tripartite nature consisting of: a) a soul or an immortal rational
“part” which existed before it became part of the body b) a courageous or “spirited” part c) an appetitive
part
B. Medieval Christian Philosophy: St. Augustine - St. Augustine (354-430) says that man consists of soul and
body, “a soul in possession of a body” which does not constitute two persons but one man. “The human
soul is an immaterial principle” which “animates (gives life to) the body” (Augustine, 1995; 259).
C. The modern Period and the Primacy of the Mind Over Body -With Descartes, the division between the
body and soul became ever more pronounced. This is especially through his formulation of the concepts
res cogitans [thinking thing] and res extensa [extended thing].The former refers to the soul, the latter refers
to the body. As the terms indicate, the body is viewed simply as an extension or a machine of a mind.
D. Phenomenology -Edmund Husserl’s “back to the things themselves.’’
Gabriel Marcel, describes this experience as living in a broken world, described through the metaphor of a
broken watch.
a) The body as an object - For Marcel, we do not just say “I have a body,” but also “I am my body.”
b) The body as a subject- to lose our bodies, literally, is to die.
E. Integrated Unity of Body and Spirit in the Asian Culture  Merleau-Ponty’s groundbreaking insight on the
intertwined union of body and spirit is not a groundbreaking for Asians, as especially shown in ancient Taoist
thought, which is continually integrated with Chinese medicine. The mind and spirit are realms beyond
science’s grasp.
F. The Human Person as an Embodied Spirit: Three Main Spiritual Philosophies
1. Hinduism - At the heart of Hinduism lies the idea of human beings’ quest for absolute truth, so that one’s
soul and the Brahman or Atman (Absolute Soul) might become one. • Human beings have dual nature: the
spiritual and immortal essence (soul) which is considered real; and the empirical life and character.
law of Karma (action) to the world of matter, which it can escape only after spiritual progress through an
endless series of births. • Humanity’s basic goal in life is the liberation (moksha) of spirit (jiva). • cycle
(samsara) where the body goes through a transmigratory series of birth and death, even though the spirit
is neither born nor dies.
2. Buddhism - Gautama’s life was devoted to sharing his “Dharma” or Law of Salvation – a simple presentation
of the gospel of inner cultivation of right spiritual attitudes, coupled with a self-imposed discipline whereby
bodily desires would be channeled in the right directions.  Eradication of desire may be accomplished only
by following the
Eightfold Path of earnest endeavor.
¬ right belief in and acceptance of the “Fourfold Truth”;
¬ right aspiration for one’s self and for others;
¬ right speech that harms no one;
¬ right conduct, motivated by goodwill toward all human beings;
¬ right means of livelihood, or earning one’s living by honorable means;
¬ right endeavor, or effort to direct one’s energies toward wise ends;
¬ right mindfulness in choosing topics for thought; and
¬ right meditation, or concentration to the point of complete absorption in mystic ecstasy
3. Christianity • In the beginning, Christians do not see the need to prove God’s existence.
For Augustine, Christianity, as presenting the full revelation of the true God, is the only full and
true philosophy. • Knowledge of God begins with faith and is made perfect by understanding. • Faith
supplements and enlightens reason that it may proceed to ever richer and fuller understanding. • There are
three levels of existence which has been established, not by turning outward through sensation to the
external world, but by turning inward to the soul itself: a. mere being; b. living being; and c. rational being.

The Human Person in the Environment

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 BAGUIO COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
Baguio City, Philippines

I. Approaches to Understanding the Relationship of the Human Person with the Environment
A. Cosmos-centric Approach-this approach to understanding our relationship to the environment shows that
human beings are a microcosm of the cosmos (micro – small + cosmos –universe). It means that the universe is
reflected in us; we are a small version of the universe.
B. Theocentric Approach-Theo (God) - centric approach refers to an understanding coming from a religious
interpretation. The creation story tells us of how God entrusted the earth to man and woman by giving them the
role of STEWARDS OF CREATION.
C. Anthropocentric Approach-Anthropos(man) + centric. This approach puts the human person in dominion
over the earth, deemphasizing the role of God. It started with the rise of experimental sciences, with the
experimenter seen as “intervening” with nature
The Meaning of Freedom
1. Freedom is synonymous to liberty or independence
2. Freedom is associated with freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom to make a choice from
possible alternatives, freedom to decide their own courses of actions in society, a right which all human
beings possess.
3. Freedom or liberty is a social and political concept which has great significance in how people participate in
society.
4. The concept of freedom has emerged as an important philosophical issue in 18th century Europe during
the age of enlightenment.
5. Freedom in a political and social context means the freedom of an individual from oppression, compulsion,
or coercion from other persons, an authority figure, or from society itself.
6. Freedom also entails the recognition of certain rights and entitlements of persons.
7. Theological views define freedom as freedom from sin and living a life of righteousness.
8. Freedom in its simplest sense is the freedom to make choices in life. Philosophers relate human freedom
to the concept of human

HUMAN FREEDOM is expressed in two ways:

1. Freewill = the capacity to choose from alternative courses of action or decision; and
2. Free action = the freedom to perform an action without any obstacles or hindrances
Negative freedom – refers to “absence of interference” (something that is intentionally imposed on a person)
Positive freedom - more than just being let along by others, it requires active effort on the part of the person who
is said to be free and this effort is exhausted in the “mastery or control of themselves”
Existentialism: Freedom is Exercised through Choices
⎯ freedom should not only be conceived as an idea or notion
⎯ freedom is something that is exercised though our choices
Freedom as choosing for Oneself that Leads to Personality Consolidation
❖ Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish Philosopher, one of the main precursors of this movement
- Freedom is related to our capacity to choose. According to him, in choosing, the “personality is consolidated”
❖ Jean-Paul Sartre argues that there is no essence that precedes existence. Essence can be understood as a
pre-given nature of a person
Determinism - believes that every event in the world is brought about by underlying causes or factors. It asserts that
human beings live in an ordered universe and all phenomena occur with seemingly law-like regularity.
● usually construed as something that rules out free will because it claims that humans do not have a choice as
their future has already been predetermined
● If man is free indeed, how can he exercise his free will and action in a world where events are already
determined by outside forces? (example a person with terminal illness)
Marxism -believe that society imposes certain controls on people, and that a person’s social group largely influences
how he or she thinks or acts.
● This view believes that man is essentially constrained by society.
● Theologians discuss free will against the concept of omniscient God. Most theologians agree that God, despite
being all-knowing, grants us the ability to choose our actions. God’s grace however enables us to be guided
toward welfare, growth and salvation.
Free will- asserts that there are things in the universe which do not have antecedent causes
● the will acts independently from causes, rejecting the concept of determinism
human free will manifests the context of one’s desires, reasons, aspirations and motivations and, in turn invokes
his/her power to choose
Realize that “All Actions Have Consequences”
A. Aristotle – The Power of Volition - the faculty or power of using one's will, the power to make your own choices
or decisions. If there were no intellect, there would be no will.

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Baguio City, Philippines

B. St. Thomas Aquinas – Love is Freedom -Of all creatures of God human beings have the unique power to change
themselves and the things around them for the better. 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
Aquinas’ 4-fold classification of laws
1. Eternal law – the decree of God that governs all creation
2. Natural law – is the human “participation” in the eternal law and is discovered by reason
3. Human law
4. Divine law or revelation – - law ordering humans to their transcending end
C. St. Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Freedom -establishes the existence of God as a first cause
D. Jean Paul Sartre: Individual Freedom
-Sartre’s existentialism stems from this principle: existence precedes essence
- Sartre emphasizes the importance of free individual choice, regardless of the power of other people to
influence and coerce our desires, beliefs and decisions. To be human, to be conscious, is to be free to imagine, free
to choose and be responsible for one's' life
E. 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.
- the fundamental law of nature seeks peace and follows it. While at the same time, by the sum of natural
light, we should defend ourselves by all means that we can.
F. Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Social Contract -Human being is born free and good but because of the evil influence of
society, civilization, learning and progress, human beings are in chains and have become bad. He has lost its original
goodness, his primitive tranquility of spirit.
Choices Have Consequences and Some Things are Given Up While Others are Obtained in Making Choices
For Ayn Rand (1996):
● Individual mind is the tool for economic progress vis-à-vis laissez-faire capitalism. Since the mind is
important, the sector that molds it should not be controlled by the government
● He rejects collectivism of individual rights as espoused by Hobbes and Rousseau
● The principle of individual rights represented the extension of morality into the social system
● He cited the right to gain, to keep, to use, and to dispose of material values
● His individualism is lined in family dependency - the individual needs the community and vice versa
● FILIPINOS’ LOOB – the basis of Christian value of sensitivity to the needs of others and gratitude
● Individualism should not be seen as selfishness but an affirmation of a truly human self that is the supreme
of human living. To be a free individual is to be responsible not only for one’s self but also for all, the
individual becomes a free and creative person who asserts one’s uniqueness
Show Situations that Demonstrate Freedom of Choice and the Consequences of their Choices
-still according to Rand, individual freedom should be aligned to economic freedom.
-the Filipino “sakop” or harmony can be a helping value to the full development of the Filipino if it opens up to
embrace the Philippine society.
- “kalooban”, “magandang kalooban” – is not passive but plays an active role in economic development. A leader
with “magandang kalooban” treats every individual worker as persons and not as objects.
-individualism reinforces kasarinlan (self-sufficiency) which promotes entrepreneurship minimizing foreign
control of Filipinos.
-individualism prioritizes countryside development, a self-help concept which discourages dependence on
government
-individualism should be tied with social responsibility and should not just be “tayo-tayo” or “kami-kami”.
Our own individuality should interact with the individuality of others
- “loob” does not only develop the self of an individual but the welfare of others
-individualism can only progress to real change if it springs from the innermost depth of kalooban and not
just pakitang tao (outward appearance’s sake)
-individualism manifests changes within and outside the person

REFERENCES:
CORPUZ, B. et. al. (2016). Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person. Lorimar Publishing, Inc., Quezon City. Philippines.
MABOLOC, C. (2016). Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person. The Inteligente Publishing Inc.,Quezon City, Philippines.
RAMOS, C. (2016) Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, Rex Book Store, Manila, Philippines

Prepared by:
Ms. Necie M. Agana, Mrs. Angelita F. Corpuz, Mrs. Loida C. Nadiahan & Ms. Samantha Quiambao

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