INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON ∴ Philosophy = Love for/of Wisdom

Common denominator valid = truth

“Wonder to Wander” valid ≠ not true

 inquisitive explorative true ≠ invalid

 curious
4 ERA OF PHILOSOPHY
 know the unknown
 interest ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
 amazed us (beautiful/good)
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
 inexplicable

MODERN PHILOSOPHY
HUMAN PERSON

CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY
“RACE” -given/governed
by ETYMOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY

Species -Human race laws/rights/

 branch of human inquiry and as such it aims at
knowledge and understanding.
-homo sapien sapiens -Human kind responsibilities
 the study of knowledge or “thinking about
-Humanity thinking”
 search for knowledge and truth, especially about
PHILOSOPHY
the nature of man and his behavior and beliefs

 “focus on questions than answers” (Kenerman English Multilingual Dictionary)

 reason
PHILOSOPHY
 uncertainty (possibilities)
 is like being in a dark room and looking for a black
RELIGION
cat.

 faith METAPHYSICS
 answers that can’t be questioned (faith, believe,
survive, hope)  is like being in a dark room and looking for a black
cat that isn’t there.
SCIENCE
THEOLOGY
 facts
 strive for certainty  is like being in a dark room and looking for a black
cat that isn’t there and shouting “I found it”
“YOU” doesn’t know any discipline
SCIENCE
“YOU” is not intellectual/wise
 is like being in a dark room and looking for a black
PHILOSOPHY φιλοσοφία cat using fucking flashlight.

 from two Ancient Greek words: THE VALUE OF PHILOSOPHY

1. φιλο (“philo”) – LOVE  The primary value of philosophy according to

Bertrand Russell is that it loosens the grip of
2. σοφία (“sophia”) – WISDOM
uncritically held opinion and opens the mink of
 liberating range of new possibilities to explore. the sciences that have a definite answer on every
 The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought question in their field
largely in its very uncertainty… WHAT MAKES PHILOSOPHY DIFFERENT FROM
 Philosophy, though unable to tell us with certainty SCIENCE?
what is the true answer to the doubts which it raises,  Uncertainty of philosophy …
is able to suggest many possibilities which enlarge  Strictness and accuracy of the methods and
our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of terminologies of science….
custom.
EPISTEMOLOGY
 An initiation to the activity and process of
philosophical reflection as a search for a synoptic  a branch of philosophy studying the nature and scope
vision of life. of knowledge.
 Topics to be discussed include the human  objectivity of acquiring truth
experiences of embodiment, being in the world with  it focuses on analyzing the nature of knowledge and
others and the environment, freedom, how it relates to notions such as truth, belief and
intersubjectivity, sociality, being unto death. justification.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: AT THE END OF THE
 comes from the Greek word:
COURSE, THE STUDENT SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
1. episteme
1. Reflect on their daily experiences from a holistic
 knowledge (the acquaintance Of
point of view
something
2. Acquire Critical and Analytical Thinking skills
2. logos
3. Apply their critical and analytical thinking skills to
 study
the affairs of daily life
 it addresses the questions
4. Become truthful, environment-friendly and service-
 “what is knowledge?”
oriented
 “how is it acquired?”, and
5. Actively committed to the development of a more
 “what do people know?”
humane society
6. Articulate their own philosophy of life
KNOWLEDGE
BEING A PHILOSOPHICAL
 Having a philosophy, however, does not necessarily  expertise, and skills acquired by a person through
mean that something is automatically philosophical… experience or education; the theoretical or practices
 Being philosophical has something more to do with a of a subject.
certain way of thinking rather than having a code or  what is known in particular field; facts and information
having a point of view/ having a purpose.  awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a
 .: ergo, it is also a body of knowledge or a subject, with fact or situation
it’s own history, credentials, practitioners, and unique
methods following different traditions having its own very 1. PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE

different, specific purpose.

 “knowledge by acquaintance”
 It has something to do about examining, in a systematic
 Personal interest
and disciplined way, point of view…
 Personal encounter
 Philosophical questions ≠ scientific, mathematical, or
 Informal
factual questions… But why?
 What matters most, the answer or the question itself?
2. PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE
 Philosophical questions do not have one, or at least a
standard, answer!!!  “knowledge by doing how to do
 Philosophy has many ways of understanding questions  Systematical way
and may problematize the questions themselves... Unlike
  something’s truth does not require that anyone can
know or prove that it is true.
3. PROPOSITIONAL KNOWLEDGE
 not all truths are established truths

 “known by facts”
TRUTH
 A declarative sentence
 Bearer T?F statement  acclaimed that the proposition is true
 truth is an metaphysical:
VALID KNOWLEDGE
Notion: truth is a matter of how things are; not how they can be
IMAGINATION 60%
shown to be

WISHFUL THINKING 20%

KNOWLEDGE

BELIEF 15%
 is a kind of relationship with truth

ESSENCE 5%  to know something is to have a certain kind of access

of a fact
TRIPARTITE
BELIEF CONDITION
 truth
 belief  belief is a part of knowledge

 justification  belief alone is not knowledge

 doubt
S knows that P if
JUSTIFICATION CONDITION
o P is true;
o S believes that P;  takes time

o S is justified in believing that P
PROPOSITION
 declarative sentence; a bearer of truth/false
 S’s belief that P is justified if and only if believing that
P is the Attitude towards P that best fits S’s evidence
 in order to know a thing, it is not enough to merely
correctly believe it to be true, one must also have a
good reason for doing so.

S
A PERSON IS NOT JUSTIFIED IF THEIR BELIEF IS:

 knower 1. A product of wishful thinking.

 perceive
2. a product of wishful fear/guilt
 the one who perceives
3. a product of guess work
P
4. formed in a working way
 thing, phenomena/situation that we want to perceive
FACTS
TRUE CONDITION
 things that are known by evidences
 most epistemologists have it overwhelming plausible
that what is false cannot be known. TRUE

 one can only things that are true

 always in accordance with the facts

“know – how “

“know – that”
REAL o The faculty which perceives and identifies
things that exist
 actually existing in reality as a thing
o Awareness
 Occurred/occurring
o Is not responsible for creating reality: it is

REALITY completely dependent

 existing in present condition Reality is independent to consciousness but consciousness

can”t create another reality.
 sometimes it is not subjected in human condition.

APPROACHES
SUMMARY

 it deals with the questions like?

 There’s no one, single or universal truth for any
1. what makes reality? “creator” “inventor”
particular manner but each domain will have its own
2. are they mental or material?
set of truths that won’t necessarily comfort with or be
3. what is “being” and what something?
relevant to the truth of other domains
4. is there really nothing?
 In other words, in order to access the truth of a
particular manner, one first identifies the domain of
PLATO’S WORLD
interest.
 An Athenian philosopher during the classical period
AN INTRODUCTION TO PLATO”S WORLD in Ancient Greek
PLATO’S METAPHYSICS, THERE ARE TWO
METAPHYSICS
WORLD

 -study of beyond physical

WORLD OF WORLD OF
 comes from the Greek words: FORMS MATTER
1. META
 Ideal  Imperfect
o “above or beyond”
 Perfect  Visible
o “metacognition”
 Unattainable  Finite
o Transcendental
 Invisible  Mortal
o
 Eternal (immortal)  Lower
2. PHYSICA  Infinite
o “physics/Physical”  higher
o Become the study of that which
transcends physics.
THE FORMS
 metaphysical thought is developed through reasoning
 Sometimes referred to as ideas; ideal forms or
and not empirical thought.
perfect examples, the perfect circle or perfect

METAPHYSICS TACKLES ABOUT: beauty

 Forms are the ultimate reality, and they are eternal
 EXISTENCE and unchanging
o A fact or state of continued existence IDEAL EXISTENCE
o Experiential  Plato is best known for his theory of forms or ideas
o Part of reality (communal) (the same thing)
o “existence exist”  To ask “what is beauty?” is not to find a definition,
but to discover the nature of an abstracts entity

 CONSCIOUSNESS whose existence we see in everyday

objects/actions.
o Inner self
PLATO WOULD SAY….
 Man is inferior to the ideal from (god/gods/universal PHENOMENOLOGY - “rigorous”
being) because man CANNOT express concepts - strictly adhere to
without attaching them to concrete objects. Man is certain procedures
limited in his capacity in this way.
EDMUND HUSSERL
 Father of Phenomenology” Composes:
 Mathematician turned philosopher  Conscious
 We can see the influence of mathematics on  Perception
the works of Husserl  Intention
 Phenomenology as a method to understand human  Sensation
experiences NATURAL ATTITUDE
 “Phenomenology as a “rigorous science”  Before engaging in phenomenology, one has this so
PHENOMENOLOGY called “natural attitude”
 Study of experiences…its structures, and of  Husserl would say that if we look at a certain
consciousness phenomenon, we have biases, judgement, prior
 Perception, intentional, sensation, bodily movement, knowledge, assumption, etc that we associate on
things, etc. how look at things.
ETYMOLOGICAL DEFINITION  These can effect on how we “clearly” look and go
 PHAINOMENON (phenomenon or appearance back to the phenomenon
of things) WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO BRACKET OUR
 LOGOS (study of) NATURAL ATTITUDE?
th
 Phenomenon in the 18 -19th century is just to be  To avoid misunderstanding
understood as a “mere appearance” of what is real  To go to the purpose/essence of that
simply speaking, there are things that are real yet I event/phenomena
cannot be sense or experienced.  To suspend, to set aside
PHENOMENON
 In the late 19th-20th century phenomenology  “appearance of things”
flourished as a study and also as a historical  “how it appears to me”
movement in contemporary philosophy STEPS OF PHENOMENOLOGICAL METHOD
1. EPOCHE
 The main goal of phenomenology is to “go back to  Literally means ‘bracketing” - a mathematical
the things themselves” concept
 We try to “bracket” our natural attitude towards
 A human person, along with its experience’s is a certain phenomenon
not seen and found as a concept nor a  A way to understand my own
metaphysical and scientific principle biases/assumptions
 Phenomenology as presuppositionless philosophy 2. REDUCTION
 Assumption, biases,  Another mathematical method
judgement  The result of epoche
 This is were we can now see things/phenomena as
 The main goal of phenomenology is to “go back to they really and independent of any
the things themselves” biases/prejudices
 A human person, along with its experience, is not TWO KINDS OF REDUCTION
seen and found as a concept nor a metaphysical 1. EIDETIC REDUCTION
and scientific principle  Greek (eidos) = “essence”
 Emphasis on Epoche and Reduction  One arrives at the essence of an experience by
 starting out with an individual example, then finding 
out what charges can be mode without ceasing to  Through Abstraction- breaking into constituent parts
be what it is or that which cannot change making  Interested with technical and methodological
the object cease to be the thing it is solutions to a problem
 “go back to things themselves  What is outside me/before me?
 Denominator (fixed/constant) SECONDARY REFLECTION
2. PHENOMENOLOGICAL TRANSCENAENTAL REDUCTION  Secondary Reflection
 Simply known as phenomenological reduction  “Recuperates the unity of original
 The result of eidetic reduction is further as the way experience.”
activity of y consciousness  Reciprocal connection between the subject and the
 “Being aware of myself” (and its relationship to the object.
object)  It is possible because of the consciousness being a
On the INTENTIONALITY of CONSCIOUSNESS consciousness of something.
 Consciousness as the consciousness towards  “which is I am”
something (phenomenon)  See the parts in relation of the whole
 An object becomes an object of consciousness if it MAN AS AN EMBODIED BODY
has a human person that is conscious towards an BODY
object, and human person is conscious if it has  Is the extension/part of the spirit. The body is also
something to be conscious about. described to be inferior to the spirit because its
 Yet, we can be conscious of other consciousness imperfect, temporary, tangible, and subjected to
(human person) changes
LEBENSWELTH  INFERIOR - changes, temporal and corruptible
 German: “Life-world” SENSES/SENSATION
 It is the world as immediately or directly experienced  Faculty of perception (brain)
in the subjectivity of everyday life, as sharply  Signifies a conscious awareness
distinguished from the objective “worlds of the which  It is the window of the spirit to the physical world
empty the methods of the mathematical sciences of SPIRIT
nature; although there sciences originate in the life-  Man’s essence/identity. It can be also defined to be
world, they ore not those of everyday life his inner driving force. The spirit is perfect, pure,
 Everyone has a different way of experiencing intangible, and responsible for thinking/reason.
something (recognition of other consciousness)  Senses individuality
 Can lead to empathy with other individuals.  Enliven the body
REFLECTION  Breath
 “engaged in thought, daydreaming, or recollecting or WHO AM I?
remembering an event in our mind.”  an important aspect in answering this question in
 It can never be separated in our lives. the experience of my body
 Reflection is a personal act that is linked to my  If I were asked about myself, my answer
personal experience. inescapably have reference to my body
 Reflection is towards the internal and external ∴Thus, I cannot separate myself from my world
To this body; I am my
 Reflection presupposes “distanciation” from body
experience in order to appropriate it.
GABRIEL MARCEL’S PHILOSOPHICAL I AM MY BODY Material
REFLECTION  Involved
PRIMARY REFLECTION  Revolved
 It breaks unity of experience and is the foundation of  Belonged Collection (experience and
scientific inquiry. perception)

identity
 world of matter
 The spirit can only escape from its embodiment in
death
2. ARISTOTLE
 He believed that the spirit and the body are unified
with each other.
 There is an interrelation between the spirit and body
 I am a human person because I have an understanding  He opposed the idea of his teacher, namely Plato
and mind of the human person  He consider man as a “rational animal”
I AM MORE THAN MY 3. RENE DESCARTES
BODY  Father of modern philosophy
 “thinking one”  He considered body as an uncertain thing and the
thing that is certain is the spirit/mind that doubts.
 On one hand, I recognize an intimate relation of my self  One can doubt anything and the only thing that can’t
with any body.. doubt one’s act is doubting
And thus truly say:  He considers man as a thinking being (res cogitans)
I AM MY BODY and not bodily (res extensa)
THE VALUING
 On the other hand, I also know that I cannot reduce my I am, I exist—That is certain.
whole humanity to my body. I am also a spirit who has But for how long?
intellect and will, and my body is on something I have For as long as I am THINKING.
POV: Soul I am, then, In the strict sense “only

∴I HAVE MY BODY a thing that thinks”

 You feel/experience, hunger, thirst,

That is, I am a MIND; or
heat/cold it is because you have a
intelligence intellect or reason.
body
But for all that I am a thing which is
real and which truly exist.
PARADOX OF EMBODIED EXISTENCE
But what kind of a thing?
 The body as a source of limitation and possibility
That is “ A THINKING THING”
 Limitation - “Given” to us on a permanent
basis
“COGITO ERGO SUM”
 Transcendence - opens possibilities to new
 I think, therefore I am….. existing”
things
 “ we complain that we cannot be everything we want
 Mind Separate substances
to be…”
 Body
 “this paradox teaches us to be thankful that we “something” that exist without the
cannot be everything, because trying to be so would occurrence/intervention of other
end up us to create our own unique identity creatures.
“DUALISM”
 Limits enables us to create our own unique identity
 TWO KINDS OF REALITY

PLATO DESCARTES
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS PARADOX
1. MATERIAL “res extensa”
I HAVE MY BODY OR I AM MY BODY???
 Body  Body
1. PLATO
 Earth  Extension
 He said that the spirit came from the world of ideas
and is imprisoned on one’s body down below in the 2. IMMATERIAL “res cogitans”
  Supreme being myself and the world, I refer to two meanings.
 Soul  On one hand, because of my body, an encounter
 Cognitive
 spirit and agreement occur between myself and the
 Thinking one
world. Through my body, my subjectivity is opened
to the world and the world is opened to me.
 On the other hand, because also of my body, I
experience the world as separate from me. I am
hidden from the world, and the world is hidden from
4. MARCELIAN REFLECTION
me.
PRIMARY REFLECTION
THE BODY IN INTERSUBJECTIVITY
 is when we look at a particular thing objectively (ob-
 My body is not only an intermediary between me
jectum – thrown in front).
and the world but also between me and others.
 In this kind of reflection, I place myself outside the
 Through my body, I show myself to others and the
thing I am investigating. It has nothing to do with me
others, through their body, show themselves to me.
nor do I have anything to do with it.
 Yet, it is also though my body that I hide myself from
 In this manner, the body studied in primary
them, and they hide themselves from me.
reflection is no longer my body but “a body”.
 Dahil sa aking panlabas na anyo, nakakapiling ko
 “A body is an objective idea apart from me; I have
ang iba, ngunit dahil rin dito kaya’t nawawalay ako
nothing to do with it nor does it have anything to do
sa kanila.
with me.”
THE VALUE OF MY BODY
SECONDARY REFLECTION
 As the appearance and expression of my
 is when I recognize that I am part of the thing I am
subjectivity, my body has a unique value and
investigating, and therefore my discussion
dignity. It directs me not only to the world and to
is subjective (“thrown beneath”).
others but also to God.
 I have something to do with it and it has something
NATURE
to do with me. Because I participate in the thing, I
 Environment/surrounding
cannot tear it apart into clear and fixed ideas.
 Source of life
 In using secondary reflection, I discover that what
 Home (habitat)
exists is not “a body” but “my body” – my body that
 Innocent
is uniquely mine.
 Prone to destruction
5. MAURICE MELEAU-PONTY
 Fragile
 What shows up for us in experience is
 It can heal itself but it takes time.
fundamentally constituted in our bodies
DWELLERS
 Embodiment points on which our bodies allow us to
 People/animal lived in a specified/certain place
inhabit the world and thus form cultural habits of
 Responsibility
living it.
 Accepting and treating the earth as our home..
 For both Marcel and Merleau-Ponty, the body is
 “Stewards” of creation
neither an object that is apart from the investigating
STEWARDS
subject nor completely subjective thing without any
 A person who looks after the other
relationship to the world.
 shepherds
THE BODY AS INTERMEDIARY
 Since the industrial revolution, science and
 I experience myself as being-in-the-world through
technology gave us dominion over the rest of nature
my body. My body acts the intermediary between
ERAZIM KOHÁK on being “dwellers”
the self or subject and the world.
“what is distinctly human about us is our ability to
 Intermediary connotes two meanings: as a bridge
perceive the moral law in the vital order of nature,
and as wall
subordinating greed to love… however, we have
 When I say my body is the intermediary between
 guided our dealing with the world less and less by motivated by the desires of dominion.
considerations and more and more by considerations  Transforms nature into a warehouse of resources
of short term utility gratification of greed.” that continually needs to be catalogued, refined, and
“for human, it is precisely culture, in its most basic appropriated to supply humanity’s ever growing
senses of cultivation, of care and respect, not demand for convenience and control.
bestiality, that can be the way to reclaim our place in  Calculative thinking presents us with a dangerously
nature, as beings capable of seeing our place in narrow view on the world/nature having the purpose
nature from a moral point of view that we can cease of production and consumption.
being marauders and can become dwellers in the  It threatens our innate capacity to think outside the
earth” box… therefore we are facing the “crisis of
BESTIALITY homelessness” that stems out from our
 Savage/cruel “thoughtlessness”
MARAUDERS  We are challenged to cultivate and conserve nature
 Someone who roams around looking for things to not merely for the sake of future generations of
steal human beings but also for the sake of the future
HOMELESSNESS welfare of every member of the earth’s community
 People who do not have a plane to stay. of beings.
ANTHROPOCENTRIC MODEL MEDITATIVE THINKING
 Valuing nature because of materials/physical  We liberate ourselves from the things and gadgets
benefits it can provide for humans that allows us to dictate the peace and content of
 Nature as a means our lives
 Nature as a utility  Bring us back to a thoughtful relationship with
 Man-centered technology and nature
ECOCENTRIC MODEL  Meditative thinking brings us back to a thoughtful
 Valuing nature for its own sake relationship with technology and nature.
 Implement the preservation of nature  We are going back to our innate capacity to think
 Nature-centered outside the box…
MARTIN HEIDEGGER  Therefore we are beings that are “thoughtful” to
 After his service being a rector of a school during other beings as well.
the Nazi regime, he went to the woods in Bavaria  If calculative thinking frames nature as resource and
and lived there on the final stages of his life where modern technology as means of procurement,
he wrote “Memorial address (1959) meditative thinking seeks to allow nature to unveil
MEMORIAL ADDRESS itself for what it truly is-our dwelling place.
 Heidegger lived in a world of “atomic age” 1. All non-human have value and should preserved
 “crisis of homelessness” from human 2. Preservation is essential
thoughtlessness 3. Maintain order/balanced in nature
 Modern technology turns nature as a “gigantic IN A NUTSHELL…
gasoline station” to the eyes of industry. We must also extend our capacity of reasoning to our
 Human are driven, to the momentum of fellow beings in the environment, we should guide
science and technology, this having them towards care and sustainability by our actions.
“calculative thinking”
CALCULATIVE THINKING “Think outside the box” regarding environmental
 Motivated by desire of dominion issues…
 We control and demand nature and its resources
 Partake
 Calculative thinking is a way of thinking that is