PHILO FINAL EXAM

HUMAN PERSON AS SEEKER OF TRUTH & GOOD

- Humans have 9 senses:
EXTERNAL INTERNAL
•   Sight •   Imagination
•   Taste •   Consciousness
•   Smell •   Memory
•   Hearing •   Instinct
•   Touch

I.   HUMAN INTELLECT: Power to Know

a.   Operations of the Intellect

Intellect – knowing power/ faculty of humans to think. From the Greek word “nous”

BASIC OPERATIONS:
Simple Apprehension •   Intellectual grasping of an object
•   Neither affirms/denies the existence of an object; merely
conceives its idea
STEPS:
1.   One perceives something (sense perception)
2.   Creates an intellectual image
3.   Creates an idea
Conception – act of forming mental images
Judgment •   Mind appraises reality if true or false
•   Used to analyze/evaluate things
Inference •   Mind engages in reasoning (process where the mind arrives
at a reasoned/inferred judgment)
•   Brings rational/logical conclusions
- reasoning is usually done thru questions

3 conditions so that knowledge can be called as “justified true belief”

BELIEFS
viewed as the way you hold the world/ view of the world
- belief is a proposition that a person accepts the world the way it is
- idea based on inconclusive evidences/assumptions

opinions
- still classified as beliefs: general/personal view on something
*beliefs can be true or false

TRUTH
things by themselves are neither true nor false; they just are or are not
- we make things true/false based on our judgment

TRUTH – assertions/claims we make about things.

3 DEFINITIONS OF TRUTH

1.   Correspondence theory
Truth is the correspondence of the mind with reality
- what exists in the mind must exist in reality for it to be true
“Truth is the conformity of intellect to reality” – St. Thomas Aquinas

2.   Coherence theory
Truth is being consistent to other beliefs which are held to be true
- truth as interconnected belief
- it is true if there is a logical connection between now & past knowledge

3.   Pragmatic theory
Truth is what works out in practice or what leads to satisfactory results.
Pragmatic – practical point of view; “if it works in practice”
- must be able to yield practical & beneficial results for it to be true
- theory is inductive (general – specific) & scientific by nature

JUSTIFICATION
- having good reasons & reliable evidences for believing
justification – providing solid evidences to back up a belief, opinion, claim
A person knows something if she is justified in believing it to be true

KEY IDEAS:
•   Seed of knowledge is BELIEF
•   The direction of our intellect/inclined to acquire is KNOWLEDGE

•   To validate our belief, we need to verify this by supporting it w/ reliable evidences

•   If the belief passes through assessment and it turns out to be true, it is KNOWLEDGE
(justified true belief)

II.   THE HUMAN WILL: Power to Do & Choose

1.   Rationality is having intellect & will 2.   Knowledge is power but also will power

- Aristotle said that humans are rational - we use the human will to do something
animals - will is responsible in moving us to actually do
- human will is inclined to acquire DESIRED something/choose
GOOD
Will’s function: strive for the good the
intellect presents (apparent good)

III.   HUMAN EMOTIONS: Interactions w/ our intellect & will

1.   EMOTIONS & INTELLECT

a.   Emotions are triggered by thoughts

- They are both triggered & programmed by one's thoughts.
- The triggering is straightforward to show.
 “Emotions are not unthinking energies that simply push the person around.
These are caused by one’s thoughts.” – Martha Nussbaum

“Emotions are kindled and entertained by a certain knowledge or form

projected into an image causing human beings to be drawn to it” – St. Thomas Aquinas

b.   Emotions are based on beliefs

- emotion is a response to our understanding of the situation/certain type of judgment

“Emotions are embedded with complex beliefs” – Martha Nussbaum

c.   Emotions are automatic responses to previous judgments

- emotions are automated responses
(it is possible that responses are not proper)

2.   EMOTIONS & WILL

a.   Emotions can drive us to do good/bad deeds

- emotions are bodily reactions to stimuli
- emotions can be considered disturbances in one’s interiority that indicate
harmony/disharmony within the self

b.   We can rise above our emotions

- we are not slaves of our emotions:
(emotions can influence actions but not the final say in what we do)
- humans can rise above feelings & motivations
*Love is not a feeling but an act of WILL (if there’s a will, there’s a way)

IV.   CONCLUSION & INSIGHTS

1.   We have intelligence & will
- each person has natural capabilities & we have the ability to reason & decide freely

2.   Listen to opinions but search for the truth

- truth must prevail over opinions
- statements should be based on objective views as well

3.   Stop & Think

- thinking is stoppage of immediate action: gives internal control by uniting observation &
memory, this union is the heart of reflection

“Goal of education is creation of power of self-control” – John Dewey

4.   Critically Think
- enables us to form sound beliefs & judgments
- gives us a “rational & reasonable” emotional life

5.   Reflect on our experiences

 “Experience without reflection is mere occurrence
& only becomes experience when reflected upon” – Gabriel Marcel

2 Ways of Reflection:
PRIMARY SECONDARY
- starts w/ being conscious of what happened - reconstruct the experience while integrating
& analyzing (breaking down) the experience what we have discovered from it

THE HUMAN PERSON AS FREE

- 1 basic characteristic of humans that separate us from other animals is our ability to CHOOSE

I.   FREEDOM AS BASIC ASPECT OF A HUMAN PERSON

- a person is free because 1 is the owner of one’s acts & she owns the source of it
- human nature & freedom are essentially related, FREEDOM IS NOT ABSTRACT
- freedom is not a possession. It loses its character when abused, neglected, denied, betrayed

“Freedom belongs to the realm of being because

freedom is not distinct from us, or a possession” – Gabriel Marcel

II.   Man is condemned to be free – Jean-Paul Sartre

- there is no time wherein we are not free
- existence precedes essence; there is no nature/blueprint for human persons
(there is no established definition of who we are as humans)
- human defines himself thru the free acts he does
- when we exercise freedom, we take full control & assume responsibility for our choices
WE LIVE INAUTHENTICALLY WHEN:
1.   We allow others to choose for us
2.   We live by our excuses

III.   Freedom & Goodness

- freedom is possible because of spiritual power (free will)
- the will never acts without the intellect; they operate simultaneously
DEFECT OF FREEDOM: when we reject the good & choose evil
- the more one does good, the freer he becomes
- there is no true freedom except in the service of what is good & just

IV.   Human Acts: The realm of freedom

- not all actions can be considered free acts; there is a need to distinguish acts
HUMAN ACTS ACTS OF MAN
- acts done with full knowledge and will - involuntary acts
- sinasadya mo gawin 1. natural acts of sense faculties
(digestion, heart beating, blinking)
2. Acts of person who lack use of reason
(mental illnesses, handicapped)
3.Nearly automatic reactions
(reflexes, no time to intervene)
 V.   Levels of Freedom
FUNDAMENTAL - deepest level of freedom
- refers to the property of freedom as composing the “being-ness” of the
person
- the PERSON IS freedom
- this cannot be lost w/o annihilating the person himself
- foundation of human dignity
no person should be considered a means towards an end
PSYCHOLOGICAL - freedom of choice, second level
- capacity of person to choose between & among alternatives
1. to do or not to do; 2) to do things this or that way
MORAL - a person is conscious that he can & actually wants that which he wants
- living in one’s life, writing one’s own biography
- aka INCREASED or GROWTH of freedom
- a person decides & directs her actions to an ideal model
POLITICAL/SOCIAL - external level of freedom
- “human rights”
- society must provide opportunities for persons to realize themselves
freely
- consists in allowing persons to achieve their ideals as they wish &
allowing the ideals to be lived

VI.   Freedom, Responsibility, and Justice

Freedom – what YOU OUGHT TO DO
Responsibility – ability to give an account. I can actually justify my actions as truly responsive to
the objective demands of the situation (Robert Johann)
Justice – giving what is due to the other

“freedom as something to be experienced, and the self is fully free when it is submerged
in the possibilities of the self and the needs of others.” – Gabriel Marcel

VII.   Freedom from & Freedom for

Authentic freedom involves first of all freedom from everything that opposes our true self
becoming with others in community.
à Freedom from – obstacles
Fatalistic Attitude - living a life of chance/fate kaya wala na lang ginawa
- the power to choose may be present but not activated
“Bahala na si Batman!”
Being Controlled by Feelings - actions are dominated by feelings in a particular moment
- impulsive decisions
Ignorance - knowing what we should or not do
(sometimes it is not our fault)
- we always have the duty to overcome this w/ best of ability
Inadvertence - not paying attention/distracted while living
Ex. Car accident because of phone call
Duress - pressure or coercion
Ex. Career/college course due to parents
Inordinate attachments - money & possessions enslave us
 Fear/Panic - “sudden and overwhelming fear in face of danger”
Habit - repeated behavior can lead to habits
- bad habits are vices
- deadly sins (gluttony)

Freedom for – beyond being liberated from all obstacles is growing as full persons & children of
God, sharing in the life of Christ, Liberator, through His Spirit. Freedom found in authentic love

Goal of personal freedom – to be set free from slavery to corruption & share in the glorious
freedom of the children of God

Ministries of the Maryknoll sisters

Civil & Human Rights, Economic Development, Education, Environment, Peace

HUMAN PERSON IN DIALOGUE: Social Nature

“an unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

1.   Existence is co-existence
- humans are relational in dialogue w/ other selves
“humans are not some disconnected, completely self-standing being.”
“To exist is to co-exist”– Gabriel Marcel

- There can be no “I” except in relationship with another self

- When we establish relations, our consciousness becomes more aware of itself
- We distinguish our self with others

2.   Existence is Dialogical: I-Thou

- accepting the wholeness of the other. Recognize & affirm the other as an “other”
- you may not agree with values or views but respect as an equal subject
- relationship that exists between & among subjects is called INTERSUBJECTIVITY
- we do not only express interiority but also unveil the truth of our self
I-it is a relationship between subject & object; control & manipulation

3.   Human persons and Society

State of nature – condition in which we are in before the existence of a political society
Social Contract – agreement or consent to form & obey a gov’t to achieve peace & defense
ARISTOTLE “Humans, outside the state, are either beasts or gods”
State of Nature of Humans: political & social
Political Society: is formed out of natural evolution

-it is in the state that human survival is found

-forming a society is natural because that is where our rational nature is
developed
- we live together in a society to feel the “good life”

Reason – dictates humans should form a society

THOMAS HOBBES “The condition of man… is a condition of war of everyone against everyone”
 State of Nature of Humans: survival & constant struggle
Political Society: is artificial (LEVIATHAN)
Social Contract: Form a system of government for peace & order Surrender
all rights to the government

- homo homini lupus est (man is a wolf to a man)

- there is war because humans are selfish, distrustful & in competition
- existence of political community is artificial
- we have only one right: right to self-preservation

Leviathan:
Monster (state) & Wolfish beings (humans)
* a strong political society w/ absolute power is necessary to keep people in
fear but this is for the good of the people
NICCOLÓ “It is better to be feared than loved, if you can’t be both”
MACHIAVELLI State of Nature of Humans: Acquisitive & desirous, susceptible to envy fear
and deception, easily imitates others
Prince is his
famous book - a leader should be strong as a lion and cunning as a fox
- vigilant, ruthless, prompt
- does total injury

- people should either be well treated or crushed

indecisive leaders who follow a neutral path are ruined
JOHN LOCKE “All mankind… being equal & independent, no one ought to harm another in
his life, health, liberty, or possessions”

State of Nature of Humans: There is a natural law that governs the actions of
the people that is why we are all bestowed with God-given rights:
a.   Life
b.   Liberty
c.   Health
d.   Possessions
3 imperfections in the state of nature of humans:
a.   Natural law is too broad
b.   No impartial judge who is empowered to decide on controversies
c.   There is no common power to enforce what is right. Therefore, there
is a need to obligate people to obey laws
Solutions:
a.   Enact written laws (legislative)
b.   Settle actual controversies among people (judicial)
c.   Enforce written laws (executive)

Social Contract: citizens freely give their consent to be ruled by a

government (DEMOCRATIC)
- tyrannical government is illegitimate because not freely given consent &
ought to be revolted against
JEAN JACQUES “Mean are born free, yet everywhere men are in chains”
ROUSSEAU State of Nature of Humans: Noble ape-like savage & free

- humans have no ability for rational thinking

- not moral but harmless & passionate
- social but not selfish
- incapable of causing war or peace; humans are free

- NO society to define what is wrong, just or unjust

- NOT beholden to anyone or any institution, not even to family
ONLY NATURAL SOCIETY IS FAMILY

- humans were corrupted by institutionalization of private property

- political society was established purposely to protect the properties of the
have and the powerful
- private properties & riches were institutionalized & all sorts of rules were
created to legitimize it = resulted into inequalities = deprived of freedom

Social Contract: establish a political society that recognizes human freedom

Purposes of political society:
1.   Defend & protect the life & goods of each member
2.   Protect & promote people’s liberty
In order to those, people should be united with the “general will”

- moral freedom is only possible in a political society legitimately established

by the people who freely give their individual consent & who themselves to
be bound by the general will

- to be morally free is human’s greatest achievement, only possible inside a

political society
SOCIETY EXISTS - it is common to all that we need each other to achieve peace & defense
FOR THE A political community exists to achieve a goal: full growth of each member
INDIVIDUAL and inclination towards what is good

3.   Society as the source of meaning

a.   Society influences our GOALS
b.   ‘’ enriches us with RELATIONSHIPS
c.   ‘’ offers us with VALUES
d.   ‘’ gives us ROLES
e.   ‘’ motivates us to overcome CHALLENGES

HUMAN PERSON AND DEATH

Philosophers on Death
SOCRATES 3 arguments for the existence of the soul
- knowing oneself a.   Cyclical
is a condition to - something “larger” was once “smaller”
solve the pressing - everything that dies must come back to life again
problem on death
- to find meaning, - if the 2 opposite processes don’t balance each other, everything would be
one must be in the same state
happy by living a
virtuous life b.   Recollection
Our sense of knowledge came from something/someone else; before sense
perception
- our souls existed before we were born

c.   Affinity
There are 2 existences:
1.   Visible world we perceive w/ senses
Human, mortal, composite, dynamic

2.   Invisible world of forms

Only accessible with our mind, divine, deathless

- the soul is more of like the 2nd world

- with philosophical training, it will make its way in the world. But if not, it will
stay bound to world upon death

d.   Final argument
- nothing can become opposite while still being itself
Ex. Fire can’t be snow
“soul” will never admit “death”
the soul is indestructible
PLATO - contemplation of the mind is the only way to free himself from his time-
space confinement in order to ascend to the heaven of ideas
- contemplation is not passive thinking but doing good in life
- we must quit the body to see the truth
- soul must behold things in themselves then we shall attain the wisdom we
desire
- knowledge can be attained after death
if the soul has the company of the body, it can’t have pure knowledge
ARISTOTLE - to find meaning, one must realize one’s potential
- everything in nature seeks actuality & potentiality
- all things have strived towards their end: plant aims to be a tree; kid to an
adult

ENTELECHY – potentiality to be changing: Greek word for “to become its

essence”

- all things are in motion & changing that is moved by an external force (God)
- objects move toward their divine origin & perfection or to the unmoved
mover, God, - pure w/ actuality & potentiality

- to live a happy life, think about the unmoved mover

 KARL JASPER - one comes to grief & becomes aware of the phenomenon of one’s existence
when he is at his lowest state of life: sickness, death, guilt, unemployment
GABRIEL MARCEL - finding meaning thru a reflective process: “what am I?”
- this question can’t be answered on a human level
- one has to turn to the “Absolute-Thou” the Transcendent Thou
- I am what I am because of God
HEIDEGGER - being is time and time finite: time comes to an end with our death
- it is essential that we constantly project our lives onto the horizon of death
“being-towards death”
- if being is finite, authentic human life can only be found by confronting
finitude & making meaning out of the fact of our death
“to philosophize is to learn how to die”
- morality is that in relation to which we shape our selfhood

5 Characteristics of Heidegger’s Conception of Being towards death

Death is CERTAIN - possibility that will surely happen; whether u like it or not
- our possibilities may not happen but death will
Death is INDEFINITE - we don’t know when it’ll happen
- death is impending but something that can happen any moment
Death is ones “own - there is no proxy to death
most” POSSIBILITY - no one else can die for you
Death is not to be - we can’t erase the fact of death
OUTSTRIPPED - we can’t choose to die; death chooses us
Death is NON- - we die alone and when we die, we separate from other existences
RELATIONAL - in meeting our own death, we cannot be w/ someone else

inauthentic & authentic attitude

AUTHENTIC
Awareness of the impending death can lead
us to live to its fullest
INAUTHENTIC
- absorption in the world of entities &
immersion in the world of the “they”
*being absorbed is to be preoccupied w/
daily affairs in the world that we don’t
reflect anymore that we will die
*this attitude is evading the fact that our
existence is limited: we don’t live forever

-we experience angst(anxiety) in

recognition of death. This is cognitive.

FEATURES OF DEATH
CERTAINTY - death is one-time big time event for a person
- no one has a personal experience though we are certain about it
- it is the most certain that we will face in this world
- it is an everyday event; inescapable
UNCERTAINTY Does life exist after death?
Christians: Heaven or Hell. Atheists: place after death is a useless question
Hindus: reincarnation transformed in a lower/higher creature
ABSURDITY - death is the contradiction of life as wisdom goes
- there will always be an end to the things we enjoy/owned: we won’t stop
until death takes everything away from us (this is absurd)

“death is just a knock away to get everything that we loved” – Albert Camus
“death makes all objects appear more lovely since we start to appreciate
things we did not before” – Jean Paul Sartre
ACTUALIZATION Viktor Frankl – survived Concentration camp during WII; there is a reason for
of MAN’S survival. He said “death does not render life meaningless”
POTENTIALS - life becomes more meaningful in the advent of death
- life situations offer opportunities for man to discover meaning & create
values in the sense of “limited time” before the boundary of death
- since we are aware with this boundary, we make most out of our time
we make most of our potentiality

POSITIVE RESPONSORE TO THE PHENOMENON OF DEATH

1.   Know yourself – antidote for ignorance is knowledge
2.   Live a meaningful life – realize life has a purpose making death more bearable
3.   Live fully in the present – we must not make death fear our lives
4.   Live calmly – stoics. Everything happens for a reason
5.   Live courageously – our knowledge of death leads us to an authentic way of life; our life
is our own responsibility. No matter the suffering, you must continue living

CHRISTIAN VIEW OF DEATH

1.   The whole person dies
- it is not only the body that is touched by death, also our soul
- death is the separation of the soul from the body. Body disintegrates whilst soul exists
- since a person is an embodied spirit, neither his body nor his spirit dies; rather it’s the entire
person and not his body dies
death highlights the mystery of our human existence:
a)   Death is natural, all of us will die. It is the natural end of our human life. It is inevitable
and not a theoretical experience
b)   Death is a consequence of original SIN

2.   Death has been transformed by Christ

2 truths that the death of Jesus has stressed:
a)   Human death is destructive, disintegrating body and soul
b)   Jesus won victory over death by offering his life out of perfect love to the Father
- physical death is given its full meaning by our baptism & rising to a new life every time we take
the Eucharist

3.   Death is the end of our pilgrimage

- he calls us also to himself in death
death is the entry to eternal life
- life is changed, not ended when the body of our earthly dwelling lies in death, we gain an
everlasting dwelling place in heaven
 MYSTERIES OF THE HOLY ROSARY

AVBPF BWPTI ASCC RADAQ

Joyful Luminous Sorrowful Glorious
(Monday & Saturday) (Thursday) (Tuesday & Friday) (Wednesday & Sunday)
Annunciation Baptism of Jesus in Agony of Jesus Resurrection
Jordan River
Visitation Wedding at Cana Scourging at the Pillar Ascension
Birth/Nativity Proclamation of Kingdom Crowing with Thorns Descent of the Holy Spirit
of God
Presentation of Jesus in Transfiguration Carrying of the Cross Assumption of Mary into
the Temple Heaven
Finding of Jesus in the Institution of the Holy Crucifixion & death of Queen ship of Mary
Temple Eucharist Jesus

•   October is the month of the Holy Rosary.

•   Liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is on October 7
It was instituted to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in gratitude for the protection she gives the
Church in answer to the praying of the Rosary by the faithful

*when we meditate the mysteries, we are studying Jesus’ life

Joyful – birth & childhood
Luminous – Lord’s ministry on earth
Sorrowful – crucifixion & death
Glorious – resurrection & gift of the Holy Spirit
*Miriam’s value of solid piety & gospel value of PEACE

APOSTLES CREED
I believe in God the Father, almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His Only
Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day, he
rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father
almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the
holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the
body and life everlasting, Amen.

PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL, THE ARCHANGEL

Holy Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and
snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly
host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the
world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

WE FLY TO YOUR PROTECTION (‘SUB TUUM PRAESIDIUM’)

We fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God. Do not despise our petitions
in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.
ROSARY PRAYER GUIDE

Make the Sign of the Cross

1. Say the "Apostles' Creed."
2. Say the "Our Father."
3. Say three "Hail Mary."
4. Say the "Glory be."
5. Announce the First Mystery; then say the "Our Father."
6. Say ten "Hail Mary," while meditating on the Mystery.
7. Say the "Glory be." Say the “Fatima Prayer”
8. Announce the Second Mystery; then say the "Our Father." Repeat 6,7,8 and continue with
Third, Fourth and Fifth Mysteries in the same manner.

“The holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you’ll be amazed at the
results.” -St. Josemaria Escriva