Introduction To The Philosophy of The Human Person 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE
PHILOSOPHY OF THE
HUMAN PERSON 1
UNIT 1, LESSON 1 – PARADIGM SHIFT
SCIENCE: empirical study of the world; investigative, BUT:
- cannot answer everything in this world
- looks at reality partially
- cannot solve a basic moral or political problem
METHOD OF RELIGION: receiving of revelation from God
METHOD OF PHILOSOPHY: The armchair is the principal piece of apparatus of a philosopher;

for the philosopher is strictly an armchair thinker.
- Philosophers need conversation
- Philosophy is reflective
SCIENCE RELIGION PHILOSOPHY

Investigative Accepts and Believes Reflective
How is matter transformed Did God created the Why must change be based
into energy in atomic universe? upon permanence?
explosions?
PHILOSOPHY is not more knowledge you get, but more understanding.
ETYMOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY: Greek words: PHILO (love) + SOPHIA (wisdom)

= love of wisdom
HISTORICAL DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY:

MERCHANTS/BUSINESSMEN: lovers of gain or pleasure
ATHLETES AND POLITICIANS: lovers of fame
AUDIENCE/VIEWERS/OBSERVERS: lovers of Spectacle
THREE TYPES OF PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE:

1. The one who wants to be rich.
2. The one who wants to be famous.
3. The one who wants to understand and reflect what life is really all about
SOCRATIC MOTTO: “An unexamined life is not worth living”
LEXICAL DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY: Using a standard dictionary, it is defined as

something like this: “Philosophy is the study of the ultimate reality, causes and principles
underlying being acquired through the use of human reason alone”
OSTENSIVE DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY: Ostensive comes from the Latin word ostendere,
which means to show or to point out. One defines a term by pointing it or by showing it out.
PHILOSOPHY IS NOT JUST A TEXTBOOK KNOWLEDGE: Philosophy is basically an attitude, an

activity of the human mind and heart. Wisdom is the active utilization of knowledge.
WHAT IS THE STARTING POINT OF PHILOSOPHIZING?
1. WONDER OR AWE: The most important thing in philosophy is that we are able to reflect
on our human activities.
2. ACT OF QUESTIONING: Asking questions by recognizing and being aware of our own
activities will lead us to deliberate reflection.
THE FOUR DIFFERENT PERIODS IN PHILOSOPHY:
1. ANCIENT CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHY - Cosmo-centric (Thales)
2. MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY - Theocentric (Thomas Aquinas)
3. MODERN PHILOSOPHY - Scientific and Rationalistic (Descartes)
4. CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY - Anthropocentric (Jean Paul Sartre)
MAJOR BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY:

EPISTEMOLOGY (knowledge & truth) METAPHYSICS (reality & being)
LOGIC (argumentation & reason) AXIOLOGY (aesthetics & ethics)
1. PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION:
a. Is there a God?
b. What reasons are there to believe in God?
c. Can we prove or disprove God's existence?
2. EPISTEMOLOGY OR THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE:

a. What is knowledge?
b. Can we know?
c. What is it to know?
d. How can we know?
3. ETHICS OR MORAL PHILOSOPHY:

a. Are we free?
b. Are our actions already determined? Do we have free will?
c. What is right? What is wrong?
4. PHILOSOPHY OF ART OR AESTHETICS:

a. What is beauty?
5. RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY OR PHILOSOPHY OF MAN OR PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY:

a. What is man? Who is man?
b. Is man only his body or is man his soul?
c. What is a good life? What is happiness?
d. Does life make sense?
e. What is the meaning of life?
UNIT 1, LESSON 2 AND 3 - THE VALUE OF PHILOSOPHY AND

PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION
THE VALUE OF PHILOSOPHY:
1. Philosophy encourages us to examine our lives.
2. Philosophy helps us to challenge our views and beliefs in order to achieve the truth.
3. Philosophy helps us to analyze our daily experiences in life by reflecting on it.
MARCELIAN'S PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION:

PRIMARY REFLECTION: Dissolving the unity, analyzing the real meaning or function of the
object.
- It sees persons not according to their being but as something associated with predicates.
Human is defined according to one’s own name, student number or even address and etc.
SECONDARY REFLECTION: Put all things into unity, synthesizing the object and giving it a
more personal meaning.
- It looks not on man only through his predicates, but on his whole being, the totality of his
being a person.
THE HUSSERLIAN PHENOMENOLOGICAL METHOD:
EPOCHE: The removal or bracketing of the biases we have with the object.
A. What is the natural attitude towards the object or experience?
B. What are the biases and prejudices towards the object or experience?
C. An example of this is “Love is a blind, love is a many splendored thing”
EIDETIC REDUCTION: “eidos” means “essence”

A. What is the essence of the object?
B. What is the actual definition of the object or experience?
C. Love is the giving of oneself to another person, be it conjugal, or parental
TRANSCENDENTAL REDUCTION: “my” very own experience of the phenomenon

A. What is “my” own experience of the object or experience?
B. What are my personal understanding towards the object or phenomenon?
C. “MY” own experience of love, like love for one’s parents.
UNIT 2, LESSON 1 - TRUTH VERSUS OPINION & DETERMINING

TRUTH FROM OPINION
TRUTH: connected with the pursuit of knowledge. Because the very meaning of the phrase
“to know” is to have in one’s mind the truth about the object one is trying to know. To know
is to have the truth.
HOW TO THINK ABOUT THE TRUTH BY MORTIMER ADLER:

1. To know something is to doubt (Skepticism)
2. Truth is dependent on the person (Relativism)
3. Truth is what works (Pragmaticism)
4. Truth is what corresponds from the mind with the reality (Realism)
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; Baruch Spinoza; Gottfried John Locke; George Berkeley; David Hume;
Wilhelm von Leibniz; Immanuel Kant; G.W.F. John Stuart Mill; Bertrand Russell
Hegel
OPINION: It is a kind of judgment that is based on someone’s viewpoint.
- It is a statement that holds an element of personal belief.
- It is not based on evidence.
- It is not always true but rather it may or may not be true and mostly used in an argument.
INDICATORS TO DETERMINE OPINION:

1. Statements opener such as: like for example, I think, I believe, I feel, in my own opinion
2. Adverbs and Adjectives such as: Ugly, Always, Disgusting, Probably, Maybe, Least,
Perhaps, Most, Best, Possibly
KNOWLEDGE: consists in having the truth and knowing that you have it, because you know
why what you think is true is true; can’t be false or wrong
OPINION: consists in not being sure that you have the truth, not being sure whether what
you say is true or false; can be true or false and right or wrong
UNIT 2, LESSON 2 - THE PHILOSOPHICAL METHODS & EVALUATING

OPINIONS
1. 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.
2. METHODIC DOUBT: According to Rene Descartes, the first rule is to accept nothing as
true which I do not clearly recognize to be so; that is to say, carefully to avoid precipitation
and prejudice in my judgments, and to accept in them nothing more than what was
presented to my mind so clearly and distinctly that I could have no occasion. To achieve the
truth, we must doubt our senses since our senses are fallible and unreliable, that is, we
must avoid our perceptual illusion. The objective of Descartes is certainty, and this can be
possible through the method of doubt. The opposite of truth is uncertainty. That is why
truth is related with certainty. This is what we mean by the skepticism of Descartes. The
Methodic doubt is derived from the idea of doubting a belief. It is not a feeling but rather it
is a rational insight.
EVALUATING OPINIONS:
1. AUTHORITY AND SOURCE:
- Who is the information's source?
- What are his/her credentials, background, and reputation?
- Is she an expert on the subject?
- What is the source of the assertion?
- Is the source trustworthy?
2. RELEVANCE AND RELIABILITY:
- How trustworthy is the person making the claim?
- How long has he or she spent studying the issue?
- How extensive is his/her knowledge of the subject?
- Is there any unsupported generalization in the claim?
- Is the information supplied actually relevant to the conclusion?
3. CONTEXT AND PURPOSE:
- What is the author's or source's main and secondary objective?
- What are the target readers or audiences?
- Is the message meant to convince or persuade, or is it simply propaganda?
- What is the context in which the opinion is expressed?
4. PRECONCEPTION AND BIAS:
- Is the person taking a position biased in favor of or against the issue?
- Is she biased, preferential, or prejudiced in favor of or against a particular issue?
- Is the language used provocative or emotional?
- Are proofs provided, or is the foundation merely a preconceived notion?
5. HASTY GENERALIZATION AND ASSUMPTION:
- Is there an effort made by the source to prove or support the opinion?
- Is it possible to obtain genuine documents?
- Is the information a single point of view or a collection of numerous relevant points of
view?
- Is there enough evidence to support the conclusion?
- Are all of the significant variables taken into account?

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INTRODUCTION TO THE

METHOD OF RELIGION: receiving of revelation from God

METHOD OF PHILOSOPHY: The armchair is the principal piece of apparatus of a philosopher;

SCIENCE RELIGION PHILOSOPHY

PHILOSOPHY is not more knowledge you get, but more understanding.

ETYMOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY: Greek words: PHILO (love) + SOPHIA (wisdom)

HISTORICAL DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY:

THREE TYPES OF PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE:

SOCRATIC MOTTO: “An unexamined life is not worth living”

LEXICAL DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY: Using a standard dictionary, it is defined as

PHILOSOPHY IS NOT JUST A TEXTBOOK KNOWLEDGE: Philosophy is basically an attitude, an

WHAT IS THE STARTING POINT OF PHILOSOPHIZING?

MAJOR BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY:

2. EPISTEMOLOGY OR THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE:

3. ETHICS OR MORAL PHILOSOPHY:

4. PHILOSOPHY OF ART OR AESTHETICS:

5. RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY OR PHILOSOPHY OF MAN OR PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY:

UNIT 1, LESSON 2 AND 3 - THE VALUE OF PHILOSOPHY AND

MARCELIAN'S PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION:

EIDETIC REDUCTION: “eidos” means “essence”

TRANSCENDENTAL REDUCTION: “my” very own experience of the phenomenon

UNIT 2, LESSON 1 - TRUTH VERSUS OPINION & DETERMINING

HOW TO THINK ABOUT THE TRUTH BY MORTIMER ADLER:

INDICATORS TO DETERMINE OPINION:

UNIT 2, LESSON 2 - THE PHILOSOPHICAL METHODS & EVALUATING

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