INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN

PERSON - QUARTER 2 ● Life was much simpler before. One begins to comprehend
how technology evolved. From medieval crafts to the
WEEK 1: The Human Person and Freedom Industrial Revolution that was dominated by factors such as
Week 1.1: Realize that “All Actions Have Consequences” revolutionary discoveries in natural sciences, detection, and
Week 1.2: Evaluate and Exercise Prudence in Choices extraction of energy resources, invention of mechanical
devices, availability of investment capital, improved means of
WEEK 2: The Human Person and Freedom transportation, communication, and growing interest taken by
Week 2.1: Choices Have Consequences and some Things are scientific and commercial circles in technology and
Given Up While Others Are Obtained in Making Choices engineering.
Week 2.2: Show Situations that Demonstrate Freedom of Choice
and the Consequences of their Choices Week 4.2:Compare Different Forms of Societies and Individualities
(Agrarian, Industrial, and Virtual)
WEEK 3: Intersubjectivity A. Medieval Period (500-1500 CE)
Week 3.1: Realize that intersubjectivity requires accepting ● Some historians say that the Middle Ages began in AD 476
differences and not to imposing on others when the barbarian Odoacer overthrew Emperor Romulus
Week 3.2: Explain that authentic dialogue means accepting others Augustulus, ending.
even if they are different from themselves ● the Western Roman Empire; still others say about AD 500 or
Week 3.2: Perform activities that demonstrates the talents of even later.
persons with disabilities and those from the underprivileged sectors ● Historians say that the Middle Ages ended with the fall of
of Society Constantinople in 1453, with the discovery of America in
1492; or with the beginning of the Reformation in 1517.
WEEK 4: The Human Person in the Society ● German barbarians sacked and pillaged the declining
Week 4.1: Recognize How Individuals Form Societies and How Western Roman Empire. The invaders, however, lacked the
Individuals Are Transformed by Societies knowledge and skills to carry on Roman achievements in art,
● The information superhighway that we know today gives more literature, and engineering.
focus on computer hardware, software, and systems in terms ● In effect, highly developed systems of Roman law and
of contribution to society as the basic tools enabling fast and government gave way to the rude forms of the barbarians.
efficient transfer of information. ● Thus, the early Medieval Period is sometimes referred to as
● Before, personal computers were mainly used for word the Dark Ages (Solomon & Higgins 1996).
processing. Nowadays, the emergence of portable computers ● It was nonetheless a time of preparation, like working a field
enables many people to transact business anywhere. before planting seeds. For instance, to the Romans, the State
● Researchers suggested, however, that Facebook and other had been more important than the individual.
social media might lead to depression. Most of the time, we ● From the barbarians' ideal of personal rights grew their
post our smiling faces, favorite foods, and perfect vacation. respect for women, their "government by the people, and their
● We look at idealized versions of our online friends leaving us crude but representative law courts where kings and chiefs
feeling less attractive and less secure about our own status. were elected by tribal councils (which also served as court of
We tend to compare how many "likes" our posts generated. laws).
Due to the comparisons, we become more dissatisfied. ● In the reign of Clovis, Christianity began to lift Europe from
● Therefore, studies indicate that our social networking. sites the Dark Ages. Many barbarians had become Christians
may disconnect users rather than connect people (Garcia earlier though mostly hold the Arian belief, a doctrine that
2014). holds the conviction that the Son of God is finite and created
● Do not limit interactions online; establish physical interaction by God the Father and, thus, condemned as heresy by the
with friends and family beyond the digital world where one can Church. Christianity's influence widened when the great
truly find love, acceptance, and self-esteem Charlemagne became King of the Franks who founded
schools in monasteries and churches for both the poor and
According to: nobility.
Soren Kierkegaard ● The way of life in the Middle Ages is called Feudalism, which
● rather than being ourselves, we tend to conform to an image comes from medieval Latin feudum, meaning property or
or idea associated with being a certain type of person. "possession”.
● For example, if we create the people we want to be or the ● Peasants, about nine-tenths of them, are farmers or village
ideal versions of ourselves in our Facebook profiles, then we laborers. All peasants-men, women, and children worked to
conform to a pattern. To the extent that we do see others and support their lord. Many peasants built their villages of huts
ourselves with generalizations; not recognizing existing near the castles of their lords for protection in exchange for
individuals. their services.
● For Kierkegaard, we are reduced to mediocrity. Our modern ● Besides labor, peasants had to pay taxes to their lord, in
age remains an era of increasing dullness, conformity, and money or produce. In addition, they had to give a tithe to the
lack of genuine individuals (Soccio 2007). Church for instance, every tenth egg, wheat, etc.
Aristotle ● Famines were frequent. Plagues cut down the livestock.
● Philosophically, our totality, wholeness, or"complete life," Floods, frosts, and droughts destroyed the crops. Burst of
relies on our social relations. warfare ravaged the countryside as the lords burned each
● He said that friends are two bodies with one soul. other's fields and harvests.
Pope John Paul II/ Karol Wojtyła ● However, with the growth of commerce and towns, feudalism
● Mutual sharing acceptance, and sincerity that Carol as a system of government began to pass. As changes in
encouraged are akin with the outlooks of Karol Wojtyla's business, government, and social customs steadily shaped a
We-You/I-You and Martin Buber's 1-thou relations. new life in Europe, rising interest in artistic and intellectual
● through participation, we share in the humanness of others. achievements reached a peak in the Renaissance- a revival of
Martin Buber classical learning. An interest in beauty and culture was
● the human person attains fulfillment in the realm of the reborn. n the 14th and 15th centuries, leadership in art and
interpersonal, in meeting the other, through a genuine dialog. literature returned to Western Europe.
Aristotle, Buber, and Wojtyla ● Amid the turmoil of the Middle Ages, one institution stood for
● stress that the concreteness of our experiences and existence the common good- the Roman Catholic Church. Many
is directly linked to our experience with others. historians say that its spirit and its work comprised the "great
● Thus, if one has meaningful relationships, aside from enjoying civilizing influence of the Middle Ages." By the 13th
one's blessings, then, as Aristotle concurs, he is truly the one century, the Church was the strongest single influence in
who may rightly be termed happy. Europe. Everyone except the Arabs, Jews, and the people in
CELINE ANGEL JORILLA 12 ABM-COMPASSION
 the Byzantine Empire belonged to the Church and felt its ● There is no denying that the advances in science during the
authority (Ramos 2010). 15th to 18th centuries inspired Descartes, Hobbes, Bacon,
● The Middle Ages employed pedagogical methods that and others. Yet, there are other influences on the growth of
caused the intercommunication between the various philosophy.
intellectual centers and the unity of scientific language. ● Among them were the widespread use of money and the
● In all the schools, philosophy was taught in the Latin consequent spread of commercialism and growth of great
language. Philosophical works were written in Latin. cities.
● Down to the end of the 12th century, the seven liberal arts ● The bloody and cruelest years of continuous religious war
Trivium (gramma, thetoric, and dialectic) and Quadrivium from 16th to 17th century required the need for a new kind of
(arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music) formed the social philosophy.
basis of intellectual culture in all scientific cultures. ● Whatever the modern philosophy was supposed to be or do,
● There is another consideration that we must mention, the and whatever it might have to do with science, it had first to
practically unlimited trust in reason's powers of illumination is say something about the terrible state of the world and the
based, first and foremost, on faith. seemingly interminable religious quarreling, intolerance, and
To quote St. Anselm: disorder.
● do not seek insight of reason in order to believe. I believe in ● Modern philosophy itself divides readily into periods;
order to gain insight. Indeed, I also believe this; that /should such division takes into accounts only those movements and
never be able to attain insight if I did not believe. traditions that are widespread and lasting.
● Both faith and reason (fides and ratio) were conjoined
within the forthright, unbending personality of Anselm. At the beginning, there is the philosophy of the 17th
● Anselm, far from deferring to mystery, tries to pave the way for century. Rationalism was the predominant feature of this period.
clearer understanding, to the stronger argument. The development of its philosophy could be traced from the writings
● In the early Middle Ages the dichotomy between faith and of Descartes (born in 1596) to Leibniz (who died in 1716).
reason had not yet taken place. Anselm's line of argument 1. The first period was one of what we may call Naturalism:
rests upon the fact that the nature of the existence of God is ● It belongs almost wholly to the 17th century.
different in principle from the nature of all other existences, ● The philosophy of this first age lived in a world where two
such as that of the island or of the hundred tales. We cannot things seemed clear: first, that nature is full of facts which
make exact analogies between God and any other conform fatally to exact and irreversible law, and second,
phenomenon, for to exist actually belongs to the essence of that human beings live best under a strong, benevolently
God (Johnston 2006). dictatorial civil government.
● The philosophers of this time had left off contemplating the
B. Modern Period (1500-1800) heaven of medieval piety and were disposed to deify nature.
● In particular, the title "modern philosophy" is an attack on They adored the rigidity of geometrical methods; they
and a rejection of the Middle Ages that occupied the loved the study of the new physical science, which had
preceding thousand years (Solomon & Higgins 1996). begun with Galileo.
● It is an attack on the church that ruled those ages and dictated ● Human beings, they conceived as a mechanism (Johnston
its ideas. It is an attack on the very notion of authority itself, 2006). Human emotions, even the loftiest, they delighted in
which was, as we have been, very much at issue during the explaining by very simple and fundamental natural passions,
centuries preceding. In these days of the 17th century, fear is out of place; you may
● The modern period is generally said to begin around 1500. even doubt if you will.
Less than a decade before the arbitrary date Christopher ● Descartes, a representative thinker of the century, begins his
Columbus had landed his ships in the "new world," altering reflection by doubting everything.
not only the geography but the politics of the world forever. ● As for the method of escaping from doubt, which consists in
● Only a decade after, Martin Luther would tack 95 theses to the use of reason and in the study of the facts of experience,
the door of the church at Wittenberg and initiate the nothing else serves.
Reformation, which would cause several centuries of ● For philosophy in this age of the 17th century, the
upheaval in Europe, change the nature of Christian religion, supernatural has only a secondary interest, if it has any
and eventually, change conceptions of human nature. interest at all.
● With the Reformation came not only the rejection of medieval 2. The 18th century has its defining movement, too. The
philosophy but also the establishment of the "Protestant characteristic tendencies of the period are such that it is
ethic" and the beginnings of modern capitalism. frequently called the Age of Empiricism:
● Christopher Columbus: Discovery of America Altering the ● John Locke, Hume, and Berkeley were the main exponents
politics of the world. & Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian of this general point of view.
Man. ● The second age of modern philosophy turned curiously back
to the study of the wondrous inner world of humanity's
Human Being is the Most Interesting in Nature During the soul.
Modem Period ● To deify nature is not enough. Human being is the most
● Leadership in art and literature reached a peak in the interesting in nature, and he is not yet deified. He may be a
Renaissance period. part of nature's mechanism, or he may not; still, if he be a
● The result is the revival of ancient philosophy and mechanism, he is that most paradoxical of things, a knowing
European philosophers turning from supernatural to natural or mechanism.
rational explanations of the world. ● His knowledge itself, what it is, how it comes about, whence
● The Vitruvian man had been one of the most famous icons of he gets it, how it grows, what it signifies, how it can be
this period. defended against skepticism, what it implies, both as to moral
● As God's most perfect creation, harmonic proportions were truth and as to theoretical truth-these problems are foremost
also believed to govern humanity's form. in the interests of the second period of modern thought.
● Leonardo da Vinci illustrated Vitruvius' principle that a ● Gradually, attention is turned more and more from the outer
well-built human with hands and feet extended fits perfectly world to the mind of human being.
into a circle and a square. ● The first period had been one of naturalism; the second is
● Experimentation, observation and application of mathematics one of a sort of a new humanism (Johnston 2006).
in the natural sciences set standards for philosophic inquiry. ● Reflection Is now more an inner study, an analysis of the
● Discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton mind, than an examination of the business of physical
influenced the thinking of philosophers. science.
● Nonetheless, we should not overemphasize the triumphs of ● Human reason is still the trusted instrument, but it soon turns
modern science in the history of modern philosophy (Johnston its criticism upon itself. It distinguishes prejudices from
2006). axioms, fears dogmatism, scrutinizes the pieces of evidence
CELINE ANGEL JORILLA 12 ABM-COMPASSION
 of faith, suspects, or at best has consciously to defend, even ● Globalization, in the sense of adoption and acceptance of
the apparently irresistible authority of conscience. some standards in the various aspects of life, had its
3. Near the end of the century, Immanuel Kant, whose philosophy embryonic beginnings in the West in the fifteenth century as
is generally known as Critical Idealism, brought up his an accompaniment to the new ideas of the Renaissance and
philosophic thoughts with the more general problem of then the Enlightenment.
knowledge. ● The introduction of new inventions in science eventually led to
● He thought that humanity's nature is the real creator of the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century, and since
humanity's world. It is not the external world, as such, that is then, Western society has taken off on a journey through the
the deepest truth for us at all; it is the inner structure of the endless world of science to bring society into the developed
human spirit that merely expresses itself in the visible nature conditions that can be seen today.
about us. Herewith begins the third period of modern ● Initially, the word "industry" and the period in which its use
philosophy. changes is the period that we call the Industrial Revolution.
● Also, during this period, the consequences of the Copernican ● The Industrial Revolution is a movement in which machines
revolution were many. Galileo, convinced of the correctness changed people's way of life as well as their methods of
of this new way of seeing the world, invented the telescope. manufacture. Industry, before this period, was a name for
From then on, the development of modern astronomy was particular human attributes: skill, assiduity, perseverance, and
assured (Johnston 2006). However, it is not these diligence. The use of the term still survives.
consequences that are of greatest interest here. Rather, it is ● In the last decades of the eighteenth century, industry came to
the attitude of mind that is evident, and the effect that it must mean a collective work for our manufacturing and
have upon thinking in general. productive institutions, and for their general activities.
● This Copernican innovation may not be so impressive, but Industrious, usually attributed to persons, is joined in the
considered in its setting, its significance is great. As one of a nineteenth century by industrial, which describes the
number of steps in the same general direction, it represents a institutions. The rapid growth of these institutions is seen as
questioning attitude toward the activities of nature, and a creating a new system, which in the 1830s is called
spirit of rebellion against things accepted solely on the basis Industrialism.
of authority and tradition. It represents a search for new ● Industrial Revolution came gradually in a short span of time.
standards of truth and acceptance, and the beginnings of a This relatively sudden change in humanity's way of life
science that is to stand unaided upon the foundations of its deserves to be called a revolution.
own. ● The Industrial Revolution grew more powerful each year due
● The effect is almost inevitable: this critical, searching, to new inventions and manufacturing processes that
rebellious spirit which crops out in the scientific mind is bound added to the efficiency of machines. In part, this is the
to have its counterpart in the philosophic one. The new acknowledgment of a series of very important technical
development in science, though exhibits open-mindedness, changes and of their transforming effects on methods of
does not cease to be dogmatic in its way. It is critical of the production. It is also, however, an acknowledgment of the
old, sure of itself as the old had ever been. effect of these changes on society as a whole which is
● The conviction that the truth is attained and reality lays bare, similarly transformed (Germain 2000).
that the old is wrong while the new is right, seems to
characterize all the innovators of science at this time. It was Significant changes that brought about the Industrial Revolution
responsible for their troubles, for difficulties (i.e., hindered were (Germain 2000):
publications), and in some cases, for imprisonment and death. ● the invention of machines in lieu of doing the work of hand
However, it may have been responsible, too, for progress they tools;
made and the success they had. ● the use of steam, and other kinds of power vis-a-vis the
● Copernicus stands as an example of a science in the throes of muscles of human beings and of animals;
revolution, critical and yet self-assured and dogmatic, opening ● and the embracing of factory system.
up new visions of the world of nature, and leaving the thinking
world in general to assimilate these changes and make of ● As technology advanced, more and more automatic machines
them the best it can. were invented to handle the jobs with little supervision by
● By the beginning of the modern age, the rapid growth of the human beings.
increasingly cosmopolitan cities of Europe, with their global ● The abstract thought of mathematicians, coupled with the
reach, their extensive colonies and their national and development of ingenious electronic technology, created not
international rivalries, required a new kind of philosophy, only a new industry, but also a catalyst to help quicken the
intensely self-questioning but arrogant as well (Solomon & tempo and reshape the structure of industrial society.
Higgins 1996). ● Countless generations of technological achievements have
● Enthusiasm for the new science ushered in a deep-seated been compressed into little more than half a century. Great jet
philosophical trend, whose adherents stressed the importance airliners and space trips to the moon hardly seem to belong in
of universally compelling science for philosophy. This attitude the same millennium. Changes have been so sweeping that
in Descartes and in all others who have taken it implied the some observers of the contemporary scene now proclaim the
expectation that the new scientific philosophy would soon gain advent of a new kind of society in which the production of
acceptance as the universally valid truth, and each of these material goods through the expenditure of mechanical energy
philosophers consequently prided himself on being the no longer serves as the basis for the technological system.
cornerstone and founder of the true scientific philosophy. ● Instead, they see the central functions required for human
● Here was the starting point for the rationalistic intolerance that existence or amenities audited and controlled by information
is so widespread in the modern world: the dogmatic transmitted by energy in its electronic form.
presumptuousness of reason made for an attitude of ● The importance of media communication in such a society is
self-assurance (Johnston 2006). paramount, and the computer as a tireless process of energy
is a vital link. In the nineteenth century, the dream of
C. Globalization and Technological Innovations automatically powered machines had become a reality.
● Globalization is not a one-way process, but comprises the ● Approximately 100 years passed between Babbage's
multilateral interactions among global systems, local conception and the development of the first fully automatic
practices, transnational trends, and personal lifestyles. computer. The uses of electronic computers in these systems
● At various instances, this interlocking of the global, the local have begun to amplify the computer age to the point where
and the personal can be smooth or rough for communities and new types of industrial and social phenomena may be
individuals who respond favorably or adversely to it. appearing.
● Also, globalization makes local knowledge no longer ● Everywhere, the computer is assuming an increasingly central
purely local. The process of globalization, however, had place in scientific research and data processing is becoming
already begun long before the twenty-first century. all-important.
CELINE ANGEL JORILLA 12 ABM-COMPASSION
 ● The Google's current mission is to fulfill a search engine that ● This section deals with how human relations are transformed
is Artificial Intelligence complete or one that is smarter than by social systems specifically, on knowledge, laws,
people (Carr 2009). economics, and technology.
● Artificial Intelligence (Al) is a branch of computer science or
"the study and design of intelligent agents" where an A. New Knowledge
intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment ● "Know thyself" is the main idea of Socrates of good living.
and takes actions that maximize its chances of success. John ● Socrates lived around 469 BC in Greece.
McCarthy coined the term in 1955, defines it as "the science ● His saying, "Knowledge is virtue; ignorance is vice" is a
and engineering of making intelligent machines. summation of what he wants to teach about how human
● Messages and data can travel in a big office through the use beings should live a good life.
of local and wide area network. The emergence of notebooks ● Ignorance, as opposite of knowledge, is the source of evil.
or portable computers enables business and learning to occur Humanity commits evil because people do not know any
in an airplane or anywhere. Further, software programs can better.
be used to make connections among online databases. A ● The origins of the modern age may be seen in the
person may buy an album at the iTunes Music Store and give phenomenal growth of knowledge that can be traced to the
comments on a music blog, which can be tagged in other revival of Greek Science.
sites. Sophisticated algorithms can be identified with precision ● At first slowly, and with a rapid quickening of pace after the
by just analyzing two databases that could successfully point fifteenth century, humanity has met with increasing success
out 60 percent of the users who mentioned the music (Carr in understanding the secrets of nature and applying this
2009). new knowledge to human affairs.
● Using data-mining algorithms, identities of users can be ● In the twentieth century, this expansion has been so rapid that
discovered having serious repercussions for the users. The local knowledge no longer remains purely local and
supercomputers, or those that perform at or near the currently accepted systems of knowledge in specialized fields have
highest operational rate for computers, are usually used for been overturned within a single generation.
scientific and engineering applications that must handle very ● This process of intellectual growth is continuing without any
large databases or do a great amount of computation (or slackening of pace, and changes in our understanding in the
both). years ahead may well be greater than those that we have
● At present, developing countries lack the technological seen in our own lifetime (Nye & Welch 2013).
strength to utilize their resources better. Residents of poor
countries will definitely have improved conditions if granted B. Policy Making
with appropriate technology. Those in the world of science ● Plato's Dialogues in the Republic has overshadowed all his
and technology should not exploit or subordinate people but other Dialogues in fame, for it undoubtedly brought out the
must fully enroll science and technology in preserving and many-sidedness of his genius no other Dialogue of his can
improving lives. aspire to do. It is for that very reason that it has been looked
● Globalization, as facilitated by technology, can be beneficial if upon as a masterpiece in world literature.
it will lead to improved society and intellectual growth; but can ● The Republic, as its name implies, is a book on politics;
be divisive if it will erode local cultures and national however, it was found difficult to define justice in an
sovereignty. individual without studying the broader perspective of the
● As technology is exploited, it becomes easier for those State. So, it is in its origin, ethical.
already wealthy to maintain their advantage. In contrast, those ● The art of government leads on to the topic of education.
who lack the advantage may be less successful in shaping a However, the book also became important for Eugenics and
new global landscape more favorable to their purpose. for Pedagogics because of its refreshing discussion of
Technology most certainly leads to globalization but in the poetics and aesthetics. Finally, due to his Idea of Good, the
emerging global society, economy, and culture, does not Republic became a great book on metaphysics as well.
encompass all equally (Ramos 2003). ● The nominal purpose of the Republic is to define
"justice."
WEEK 5: The Human Person in the Society ● Plato begins by deciding that the citizens are to be divided
Week 5.1: Explain How Human Relations Are Transformed by into three classes: (1) the common people (artisan class);
Social Systems (2) the soldiers (warriors); and (3) the guardians (rulers).
Change As a Condition of Modern Life The last, alone, are to have political power. There are to be
● As industry changed, social and political conditions much fewer of them than of the other two classes. In the first
transformed. European farmers and artisans flocked to the instance, they are to be chosen by the legislator; after that,
manufacturing centers and became industrial workers. Cities they will usually succeed by heredity, but in exceptional
grew quickly as the percentage of farmers in the population cases, a promising child may be promoted from one of the
declined. Change from domestic industry to the factory inferior classes; while among the children of guardians a
system meant a loss of interdependence to the worker. The child or young man who is unsatisfactory may be degraded
home laborer could work whenever he pleased although the (Johnston 2006).
need for money drove him to toll for long hours; he could vary ● At present one of the most important consequences of the
the monotony of his task. When an individual becomes a application of this new knowledge to human affairs has been
factory employee, he has to work long hours, leaving his little increased integration of policy making. In the private realm,
farm, and live near the factory, often in a crowded district systems of transportation, communication, business, and
(Heidegger 1997). education have tended to become larger and more
● The revolutionary change in our way of life in modern times, centralized.
which for several centuries was confined principally to the ● Most communications at the national level have become
Western people, has in our lifetime come to affect all of unified, and many are now organized on a worldwide basis.
humanity. For the first time in history, a universal pattern of Similarly, in the public realm, governments have increasingly
modernity is emerging from the wide diversity of traditional tended to accumulate functions formerly performed by the
values and institutions, and peoples of all nations are province, district, tribe or family. Even the most tyrannical of
confronted with the challenge of defining their attitudes toward governments in earlier times did not have the degree of
fundamental changes that are worldwide in scope. This control over individuals that is now normally exercised by
definition of attitudes is more than an academic exercise. The governments in advanced societies.
achievements of human beings in the modern age ● As life has become more complex, the legal system has also
provide unprecedented opportunities for human welfare grown to the point where almost all human activities come in
and fulfillment, but they have also placed in the hands of contact with the law in one form or another. This integration of
humanity instruments of universal destruction (Pettman policy making has brought people within states into an
2012).
CELINE ANGEL JORILLA 12 ABM-COMPASSION
 unprecedentedly closer relationship and has resulted in a among the most destructive in history. It has undermined a
greater complexity of social organization. pattern of rural and family life that brought great satisfaction to
the individual and has led to a population explosion that
C. Economic Sphere threatens to outstrip food production in many countries
● The effects of new knowledge have been partially noticeable (Germain 2000). In exchange for the old, it has created a
in the economic sphere. mass society where privacy, individualism, and quality tend to
● Technical improvements have made possible a be submerged by standards of taste and administrative
mechanization of labor that has resulted in mass production, processes in which the expediency of public affairs is
the rapid growth in per capita productivity, and an increasing frequently the determining factor.
division of labor. ● As industrialization spreads from its seedbed out into societal
● A greater quantity of goods has been produced during the contexts, it carries with it more general societal ramifications.
past century in the entire preceding period of human history. ● The rise of global consciousness, along with higher levels
● The contrast today between the level of living in relatively of material interdependence, increases the probability that
modern centuries and that in traditional societies is very the world will be reproduced as a single system.
marked, indeed. Economic changes will be further discussed ● Television, for instance, because of the minimal skills or effort
in its direct correlation to the social realm (Ramos 2003; Nye required to decode its meaning and because of its virtually
& Welch 2013). universal access, tends to be watched by huge, widespread,
and undifferentiated audiences.
D. Social Realm ● Chinese viewers who are primarily attracted to mass cultural
● Equally important are the changes that have taken place in products such as sitcoms and soap operas can be
the social realm. Traditional societies are typically closed and enlightened where political suppression has been the rule.
rigid in their structure. Moreover, due to the thriving process of science and
● The members of such societies are primarily peasants living technology, we see a universal civilization emerging that
in relatively isolated villages, poor and illiterate, and having would reign from New York to Seoul and from Moscow to
little contact with the central political authorities. The way of Jakarta. We see young white-collar workers in London and
life of the peasants may remain virtually unchanged for Tokyo riding subways to work. They take care of their daily
centuries. assignments with computers and stop to a fast food center for
● Modern knowledge and the technology it has created have a quick bite. In the evening, they watch videos and listen to
had an immense impact on this traditional way of life. CDs.
● In a modern society, two-thirds or more of the population lives ● Technology has made this homogenizing trend of lifestyle
in cities, and literacy is virtually universal. Health has also possible among young people everywhere in the world. They
greatly improved. seem to think, feel, and behave alike. Their sensibilities
● Cosmopolitan criteria of personal association replace the toward cuisine, music, and entertainment seem to be uniform
restraints between peasants, townspeople, and aristocrats (Nye & Welch 2013)
have given way to a more homogenous society in which one's ● Although the world is becoming more and more unified, it is
position depends more on individual achievement than on nor becoming more and more integrated. While it is a
inherited status (Heidegger 1997). single system, it is driven by conflict and there is by no means
● This complex and interrelated series of changes in humanity's universal agreement on what shape the single system should
way of life is generally known as "modernization." take in the future; globalization follows the path of its own
● The view that globalization proceeds along a continuum of inexorable logic.
modernization dominated social scientific thought on global ● We are immersed in a paradoxical situation. On the other
development in the thirty or so years after the Second World hand, the weight of nationalisms or regionalisms contribute to
War (Germain 2000). reinforce the type of individualism that excludes the other, be
● The Western people have been undergoing this process for it the other human being or the other group. In other words,
some five centuries, and people in the least developed events in any part of the world that have consequences for or
regions for less than a century. be referenced against events in other distant parts may not
● Modernization has changed the power relationships among always be positive. Indeed, the world as a system may well be
societies by rapidly strengthening the position of some at the driven by conflicts that are far more intractable than the
expense of others. The process within each of the individual previous disputes between nations (Wills & Hathaway 2013).
societies has also been profoundly affected by the point in ● Let us take the predicament of terrorism in the region. In the
time at which modernization has been undertaken and by the Philippines, the capture of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
pressures exerted by the worldwide influence of the early commander Galib Andang (a.ka.Commander Robot)
modernizers. brought good news. Even though the possibility that this
● At the same time, societies have become more bandit group could generate remains, the capture of the
interdependent, and the conduct of their relations has been notorious Robot is a blow well struck. Robot, as one of the
transformed. While many of the traditional forms of most ruthless leaders of this bandit group, has the capacity for
international relations have survived--alliances and war, great horror and does not hesitate flaunting it. Now a captive
conquest and colonization, cultural diffusion and amputee, Robot has become a disposable pawn in the
propaganda; these forms have been infused with new network of terror that men of greater sophistication and more
meanings. profound fanaticism are trying to weave through the breadth
● Moreover, increasing interdependence has led to the and diversity of Southeast Asia.
development of more orderly procedures for regulating ● Unresolved issues about the Special Action Force
relations among societies, such as diplomatic practices, (SAF)-Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) encounter on
conference, and international law. January 25, 2015 further highlight the issue on terrorism in the
● By the late 1980s, globalization refers to both the country. Forty-four elite police commandos are alleged to be
compression of the world and the intensification of the slain by Moro rebels on a mission called Oplan Exodus,
world as a whole; both concrete global interdependence questioning President Benigno Aquino Jr's priorities in fighting
and consciousness of the global whole in the twentieth against terrorists.
century.
● Modernization is seen as part of the universal experience, and E. Technology
in many respects, it is one that holds great hope for the ● The more society is influenced by technology, the more we
welfare of humanity. Yet, it has also been in many respects a need to consider the social, ethical and technological, and
destructive process. It has destroyed traditional patterns scientific aspects of each decision and choice (Germain
of life, which had evolved through the centuries many 2000).
humane values. It has led to the overthrow of empires and ● This will require the capability to consider and evaluate the
states in a series of local and world wars that have been standards employed in the choice and implementation of
CELINE ANGEL JORILLA 12 ABM-COMPASSION
 scientific research and technological development in relation ● In the modern era, this attitude is manifested theoretically in
to the aspirations of the people. scientific development and technological innovation. In other
● The ability to evaluate the products of science and technology words, science and technology are, in fact, in a broader
in relation to culture and value, as well as the aspiration of a sense, the culture itself.
nation, is important and needs to be nurtured and developed
through social and cultural education, for science and F. On (Women's) Friendships
technology is much too important to be left to engineers and ● Women's friendship has a unique quality that may only exist
economists alone. between women.
● Science has greatly influenced the picture we have of human ● There's sexual attraction between a man and a woman
existence and what is essential to humanity. Therefore, the (eros), which is another completely different thing.
difficulty to the period of rapid change challenges us to ● Perhaps, only another woman can really feel in her guts what
discover more about what is fundamental to our existence. it means to be a woman, according to Joy Carol (2006) in her
Heidegger's call for meditative thinking or philosophical book, The Fabric of Friendship.
reflection has a very important role in this connection. ● Women's friendships are special. Girls, and later women, can
● In the present era, humanity does not live according to discuss with each other anything or everything--whether
the natural cycles regulated by natural rhythms anymore dreams, fears, children, boyfriends, or dying. There is a
(Germain 2000). quality of friendship between women offering sympathy,
● Instead, it is governed by a "second nature" that is an learning, validations, and advices.
artificial environment characterized by the results of True Friends
technology. ● True friendships allow each other to be completely
● The modern era is characterized by new inventions that themselves.
sometimes cannot be followed by most people, because ● Acceptance and love give women the courage to try new
technology is not only the copy of the "first nature" but a experience and stretch their wings.
replacement of nature itself. ● Our female friends are extremely important to our emotional
● The advancement of technology, its success in developing and physical health.
itself, is faced with the inability and lack of humanistic ● Carol cites that strong female relationships lead to happiness
knowledge to answer the real problems of masses such as and healthier lives; while recovery from distress or sufferings
poverty, ignorance, and famine, which undermined the becomes easier. On the other hand, people with less or no
position of humanistic science and efforts to develop it. friends at all tend to smoke, become overweight, and not
● Rationalistic and positivistic ideas tend to take over all exercise.
understanding acquired by reflection or even more, from faith. Miss "Not Always Sweet"
● The presence of a relation between the material and ● However, women's envy, competition, recrimination, and
non-material world, the physical and non-physical world, and miscommunication can cause problems to their friendship.
between heaven and earth tends to be denied or found ● Carol cited the often negative portrayal of a best friend:
unacceptable. betrayer.
● It has to be admitted, that in this century, human ● In a certain study, women initially deny their attitude toward
success-whether personal or as species--is measured by other women, such as subjecting them to disrespect.
success in mastering science and technology. ● Women had been considered the inferior gender by
● Modern people also cannot isolate themselves and live cultures and societies that, for Carol, without being aware of
without technology. it, women may have negative attitudes toward themselves and
● More and more cases show that technology has encroached other women.
upon all matters that in the past were considered to be the Mothers
right of God in His creation. Exact science and technology had ● Mothers customarily carry the moral obligations of providing
functioned as the "savior" with the power to set us free. They safe environment for their daughters.
have saved and liberated human beings from ignorance, ● However, mothers are human beings with their own
underdevelopment, and poverty. Although the facts may show insecurities that will have profound effect on their daughter.
a different tendency of how the gap between the rich and For instance, some mothers who were abused will project
the poor has grown bigger, science and technology have themselves to their daughters. Thus, our relationship with our
become the most distinctive symbol of human autonomy. mothers could be profound or disabling.
● Human beings have separated themselves from their cosmic ● Looking back, the late author's mother, Chalita, had
relation and other realities. influenced her choices in life. She had significant impact with
● On the other hand, modernization seems to be dominated by regard to the author's service to her local parish and
a materialistic truth as opposed to a non-materialistic one. education. As time passed since her death, the author looks
● Physical needs are prioritized even to the extent of destroying back with eternal gratefulness for her. The author appreciated
our spirituality. It might seem that the condition of civilization is the "bonding" moments that had been significant in terms of
unnecessarily dramatized; however, we have to realize that sharing kindness, openness, and love.The author's sister is
science and technology were developed originally to also a gift as she becomes a partner in friendship amidst her
liberate people, to assist them in solving their problems life's struggles and beliefs.
in life. ● As issues of boundaries and control come up in almost any
● In fact, if they are out of control, they create complexities and relationship, Carol counsels that becoming a martyr or
complications in life that can appear as the destruction of the victim is not a good way to make or keep friends.
environment, isolation and the loss of sensitivity to human Furthermore, she underpins that boundaries should be well
spirituality (Cam 1999). This means that people have lost defined or one ends up as a people-pleaser and inevitably, be
spiritual contact with other people, with their environment, unhappy and disappointed.
surrounding nature, and with anything that has transcendental ● For Carol, “knowing and accepting ourselves are
characteristics. important ingredients in establishing boundaries." The
● Modern technology has sacrificed humanity and world author believes that whatever path we will tread, our choices
together, leading to their destruction. should ultimately be based on our genuine freedom.
● At present, science and technology is not a single
phenomenon. On the other hand, they have become an Week 5.2: Evaluate the Transformation of Human Relationships by
ideology. In particular, technology cannot be taken to mean Social Systems and How Societies Transform Individual Human
only products such as machinery, electronics, or other public Beings
consumer goods. It is also the knowledge and ● Science has greatly influenced the picture we have of human
consciousness and our powers of abstraction. existence and what is essential to humanity. Therefore, the
● Technology is not taken as an object but as our whole attitude difficulty to the period of rapid change challenges us to
toward the human world. discover more about what is fundamental to our existence.
CELINE ANGEL JORILLA 12 ABM-COMPASSION
● Martin Heidegger's call for meditative thinking or their behavior. Because of the imbalance between
philosophical reflection has a very important role in this construction of systems and their control, we are beset with
connection. problems without precedent in human experience.
● At present, humanity does not live according to the ● In the technological era, science and technology are no
natural cycles regulated by natural rhythms anymore but longer understood in terms of what Heidegger defined as
instead, lives in an artificial environment characterized by authentic homeland, a place in which the destiny of a people
the results of technology (Goldin & Reinert 2012). can work itself out within a familiar natural context.
● Despite the advancement of technology, its success in ● In the case of South Korea, traditional practices are fast
developing itself is faced with the inability and lack of disappearing. Old countryside versus new towns and
humanistic knowledge to answer the real problems of suburbs, old traditional lifestyles versus education and
masses such as poverty, ignorance, and famine. television remain in constant opposition. The countryside
● Also, people cannot isolate themselves and live without loses its future as farmers' children move to cities in search of
technology. More and more situations show that technology education, industrial and clerical works, and suburban
has encroached upon all matters that in the past were lifestyle. The young people cities in the Cordillera region,
considered to be the right of God in His creation. influenced by technology, may opt to work in the cities, rather
● Exact science and technology had functioned as the than farm, which may be the same case in South Korea. This
"liberator" with the power to set us free. They have saved means that the more society is influenced by technology, the
and liberated human beings from ignorance, more that we need to consider the social, ethical and
underdevelopment, and poverty. Although the facts may show technological, as well as the scientific aspects of each
a different tendency of how the gap between the rich and the decision and choice.
poor has grown bigger, science and technology have become ● Machines, as Heidegger perceived, are part of a global
the most distinctive symbol of human autonomy. system of production that are no longer owned by anyone or
● The adage, "There is no such thing as free lunch." rings any class, rather, humanity itself is in the service of a
true today. Everything is calculated and evaluated according self-governing technological system. Machines quickly
to the economic securities of someone or others. become obsolete due to progress in science, research, and
● In the pre-technological era, when humanity still felt itself to development.
be a part of the world, instead of its master, people had to ● There is the perpetual cycle of destroying the old and less
adapt to themselves to the natural order as best as they efficient product or service and replacing it with new and
could. more efficient ones. Innovation replaces tradition. The
● Even medieval humanity, to be sure, projected a certain present replaces the past.
order onto the world, but at least, that "order" was believed to ● Another example is the term "development" that can become
have been created and sustained by God--not by humans. an awesome word. For bureaucrats and technocrats,
● In the high-tech age, however, instead of conforming to the "development" can be such an abstract concept.
natural order, people force nature to conform to their needs ● William Howard Taft has been credited with the policy of
and expectations. Whenever nature proves unsatisfactory for "The Philippines for the Filipinos." Constantino (1975),
human purposes, people reframe it as they see fit (Heidegger however, views the slogan as a commercial tactic. This
1997). principle actually promoted welfare, material, spiritual, and
● Albert Borgmann (1992) offered another kind of view. When intellectual life of the people that can create market for
gas-fixed furnace replaced the wood-burning stove, he Western goods, which had become a profitable one for
believed that the change altered the everyday practice of an merchants and manufacturers.
earlier age. ● This principle carried a span for a hundred years later.
● In the earlier age, if the home were heated by hearth, some Constantino lamented the persistence of the colonial period
family members would be responsible for different tasks; by glorifying the continuing foreign domination and linguistic
chopping wood, lighting, and tending fire. The whole family imposition at the expense of indigenous culture. This trend, he
would gather around the fire for social interaction without the believes, threatened to lose the sense of Filipino nationhood.
benefit of the radio, television, or phonograph. However, the ● Technological change will still be the hallmark of the
replacement of hearth and wood-burning stoves by electric twenty-first century as rapid development continues in the
furnace irrevocably changed this tradition. Further, electric field of electronics, micro-electronics, lasers, computers, etc.
furnace may be generated by a coal-burning plant. The coal The use of these technologies will facilitate communication
used for which is extracted from monstrous strip mines; the and business worldwide (Pettman 2012).
smoke contributes to the greenhouse effect and acid rain. ● Integration will also mark the development of technology,
● Thus, for Heidegger, new devices cannot always be said with the computer, television, and telecommunications coming
to accomplish the same thing as the devices they replace. together, for instance, into one multi-purpose electronic unit to
● For each of the options that we employ to increase available meet the needs of education, entertainment, and
resources, there is a counterpart solution to discard waste communication. Companies that would create technological
(Pettman 2012; Germain 2000). breakthroughs in the field of agriculture will be the major
● Our situation, unfortunately, is complicated by enormously two gainers in the future world.
factors. First, our great need for resources and sinks cannot ● Unexpected struggles over issues such as nuclear power,
be met in the sparse concentrations and unusable forms in access to experimental treatment, and user participation in
which they occur naturally on the earth. Second, each solution computer design remind us that the technological future is by
is accompanied by costs associated with the creation, no means predetermined. The very existence of these
operation, and maintenance of increasingly large and complex struggles suggests the possibility of a change in the form of
systems. Thus, we select and implement various options for technical rationality.
acquiring, processing, consuming, and disposing of ● They prefigure a general reconstruction of modernity in which
resources. The result is a vicious cycle of challenge and technology gathers a world to itself rather than reducing its
response. natural, human, and social environment to mere resources.
● As society becomes more global, several changes occur. The goal, therefore, is not to return to pre-globalization
Social and technological systems expand, connections conditions, but rather, to define a better way of life, a
become more complex, change spreads more rapidly and viable ideal of abundance, and a free and independent human
effects are experienced at greater distance, faster, cheaper, type, not just to obtain more goods in the prevailing
and farther away than ever. These changes converged in the socio-economic system (Nye & Welch 2013).
Information Age. However, the information revolution ● The aim is to let technology gather a world to itself rather
confronts us with fundamental dilemma. than reduce its natural, human, and social environment to
● Our ability to construct complex, rapidly changing global mere resources.
systems of production and consumption has outdistanced our
ability to monitor, comprehend and predict, yet alone control
CELINE ANGEL JORILLA 12 ABM-COMPASSION
 ● Technology should not be a fate one must choose for or
against, but a challenge to our creativity (e.g., political and
social).
● It would then be possible to create a new science and
technology that would place us in harmony, rather than in
conflict with nature. Nature would be treated as another
subject instead as mere raw material. Human beings would
learn to achieve their aims through realizing nature's inherent
potentialities instead of laying it waste for the sake of power
and profit.
● In this vein, globalization process, vis-à-vis technology,
need not be homogenizing. Rather, it should allow us to
immerse in other cultures that make us "see the world
through fresh eyes" (Goldin & Reinert 2012).
● Respecting our differences means employing them as
vehicles for change. Showing respect for differences also
means moving away from habitually seeking ourselves as
advocates of firmly established positions. It involves learning
to change our minds in response to evidence and argument,
as well as seeing our differences against a larger field of
possibilities, some of which may hold out a far greater
promise than those under which we presently labor.
● Showing respect for our differences involves a
preparedness to explore those differences together in the
spirit of open inquiry and thereby to discover the extent of our
ignorance (Goldin & Reinert 2012).

Summary
● Each inevitably generates a different position and attitude to
the prospect of change in society. Take for instance,
globalization.
● Some commentators extol globalization as a beneficial
process, leading to increased wealth. Others view it as
regretful, eroding national sovereignty, destroying local
culture, and marginalizing much of the world's population
(Goldin & Reinert 2012).
● Analysts equally disagree on the influence of technology.
Some halt it as the primrose path to leisure and prosperity
while others damn it as socially divisive and the road to
environmental hell on earth.
● The one area of agreement seems to be that globalization and
technology will continue to exert a major influence on all our
lives (Germain 2000).
● Many still think politics is the answer; still many blame past
leaders-both are not helpful. Instead, let us follow the path
pioneered by Oseola MacCarty who loved school but was a
poor girl and black in the wrong time at the wrong place,
Mississippi in the early 20th century. By grade six, she had to
stop schooling to care for her widowed aunt. For the next 75
years, her grind became a daily cycle of washing and ironing
clothes for a living. She never married or even drove a car;
her only door to a larger door was her tattered Bible.
● In the 1960s, the University of Southern Mississippi
opened its door to black people. When Oseola decided to
retire then, she reviewed her life. She never grew more than
five feet tall and was only about 100 pounds. She did
something, however, that made her bigger than life. She
bequeathed the rest of her savings to the University to
help deserving African-American students. The amount
staggered officials: a simple washerwoman donated the
equivalent of about ($8 million. She gave almost everything
she had. She wanted to do more for the next generation. She
received the President's Citizen Award from President
Clinton and graced the pages of Time and Newsweek.
● Oseola's struggles and of countless others like her, serve as
inspiration. A daunting task waits as we meet the challenges
of globalization and technology, and more importantly, as we
rethink our existence in this fast changing world.

WEEK 6: The Human Person as Oriented Toward Their

CELINE ANGEL JORILLA 12 ABM-COMPASSION