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Supplemental Materials for Philosophy 100: Philosophy of Man

Prepared by JOHN C. MIRASOL, MMEM

I. The Beginnings of Philosophizing

The following are different situations or circumstances that call for Philosophical Inquiry:
A. State of wonder: For Plato the poet and the philosopher are alike in that both begin their
work from wonder.

B. Doubt can also impel man to ask philosophical questions. Descartes’ philosophy for
instance started from doubting the existence of everything, including his very own existence. This
doubt led him to come up with his formula: Cogito ergo sum (I think therefore I exist).

C. Philosophizing begins during those when an individual experiences an inner restlessness

which drives him/her to look for fullness. This feeling is called Metaphysical Uneasiness by the
French philosopher Gabriel Marcel, and Angst by the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.

D. Search for one’s identity: Philosophical questions ultimately can be reduced to the
question of: Who am I?

E. Limit situations. These are inescapable, unavoidable circumstances or realities which

cannot be changed but only acknowledged. Examples are failures or death of a loved one. We
may not be able to control or change these situations but we can control our response to them
through reflection. According to the Existentialists, these limit situations provide opportunities and
challenges for us to make life meaningful.

F. In an article entitled Philosophy in a Crisis Situation (Corazon Cruz, Philosophy of Man pp

37-42), Ramon Reyes explains that there are three roles of philosophy that can help us take stock
of and deal with limit situations in life. These are:

1. Krisis: This is the role or function of philosophy wherein both the negative and the
positive aspects of a given situation are analyzed. Example: the death of loved one is a
negative experience as it is an irreplaceable loss of someone who is a part of one’s life;
yet it is also positive in the sense that that the loss can be seen as a returning home and
an end to suffering.

2. Poesis: In this function, the person uses language in order to put into words ideas or
insights – that were previously left unsaid – regarding certain limit situations. Example: An
experience of rejection and unreciprocated love is undeniably painful for the lover. Yet it
can also be a test of how authentic one’s love is for the loved one. With this realization
comes the need to put unto words one’s insight on the heart rending event. One can
therefore verbalize this by coming up with the following: There are times when to love is
not to cling on but to let go…

3. Phronesis: At this level, one makes an analysis of a present situation (problem) by

looking at the past, looking for factors that could have contributed in bringing about the
present dilemma. Once this is done, one begins to ask what can be done today in order to
avoid encountering the same problem(s) in the future.

II. Philosophical Approaches to the Study of the Human Person

A. Ancient (Greeks) – Cosmocentric approach. From the root word cosmos meaning universe. The point
of reference of this approach is the cosmos.
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 PRE-SOCRATICS – These philosophers were natural scientists who were primarily concerned with
the question of what the universe is made of. Their philosophy revolved on the question: What is
the primary element of everything? In other words, they were trying to look for the basic stuff of life.

Thales – Having noted that everything is moist, he concluded that the basic element is water. If
water evaporates, it becomes either mist or air, and if frozen could become earth.

Anaximander – The primary element is something that is indeterminate, infinite, eternal and
ageless out of which everything in the world developed. Furthermore, man could have evolved
from the animals. This is because while other animals quickly find nourishment for themselves,
man alone needs a lengthy period of suckling, so that had he been originally as he is now, he could
never have survived (Corazon Cruz, Philosophy of Man p. 49).

Anaximenes – The basic stuff of life is air.

Heraclitus – It is fire. And since everything is subject to change, the only reality is ceaseless
change.

Empedocles – The basic particles of life are: earth, air, fire, water. Refuting Heraclitus’ theory on
change, he clarifies that changes are not real because change is only brought about by changes in
the positions of the basic particles of things.

Pythagoras – The basic element of life is enumerability because all things – including ideas – can
be delineated from one another and therefore can be counted.

Anaxagoras – All things are made up of indivisible particles.

Leucippus and Democritus (Atomists) – All things are made up of imperceptible, indestructible,
indivisible and uncreated atoms.

So who is the Human Person for them? Man is simply a part of the universe, a microcosm –
a small universe. So, like the universe, man is made up of matter (body) and form (soul) and he must
strive to maintain the balance and unity of the universe.
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Three Great (Greek) Philosophers – As far as these three thinkers were concerned, the question of
what things are made out of has already been answered by the pre-Socratics. Hence, although they
were also using the cosmocentric approach, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle shifted their concentration
on the question of how man must live his life in society.

 Socrates – Knowledge is virtue. This means that knowledge leads to ethical actions. These are the
knowledge that a person must possess:
a) Know thyself (self knowledge) – a person must know his weaknesses and his strengths so that he
will know his role in society, and live his life in accordance to this role.
b) Know what is right – a person must be taught what is right and proper so that he will also do
what is right and avoid what is evil.

So who is the Human Person? Man has a body which comes from the world of matter,
and reason which comes from the Universal Reason.

Plato – Virtue is knowledge. For him, the sources of knowledge that will lead man to live an
ethical life are virtues. Hence it is necessary that virtues be taught to the person. These are the virtues
of wisdom (the ability to distinguish right from wrong), courage, justice, and temperance (self-
control).
a) Real/true knowledge is not attainable through sense perception. This is because knowledge that
is based on sense perception alone is simply based on appearances which are subject to change.
To have true knowledge is to see beyond sense perception, that is, to base one’s knowledge on a
reality that is unchanging. Where is this reality that is constantly permanent to be found? The
answer to this is found in Plato’s allegory of the cave.
b) The allegory of the cave illustrates Plato’s theory that there are two worlds (two dimensions of
reality), namely the world of matter (the sensible world) and the ideal world (world of ideas).
Since we have grown up and live in the sensible world, we are conditioned to believe in what we
see, hear, smell, and touch as real. This, however, is a false assumption according to Plato
because the sensible world is just a shadow or a reflection of the ideal world wherein we find the
forms. These forms constitute reality and not the beings which reflect these forms imperfectly.
Example: The form circularity is found only in the world of ideas. What we find in the sensible
world on the other hand are circular objects. Or take the form beauty. Perfect beauty is found
only in the world of ideas. This is reflected in the world of matter as beautiful objects/beings.

The Human Person for Plato reflects the duality of the world. He has a body that comes from the
material world. He also has a soul (reason) that comes from the world of ideas. This is the reason
why man is constantly being torn between two tendencies: due to his body man has the tendency to
seek physical pleasures; due to his soul on the other hand, man seeks for something that is beyond
physical (eternal) which is manifested by the desire to do Good. The goal of human life therefore
is for man to continuously purify himself by restraining his passions.
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Aristotle
a) He refuted Plato’s theory that true knowledge cannot be attained through sense
perception. For him, true knowledge can actually be attained through the senses. This is because
for him reality is consist not only of form or essence – that property that makes an object distinct
from other objects – but of matter as well which is made up of fire, earth, air, water and an
unknown element.
b) Matter is in a continuous process of developing or becoming (from potential to
actual).
c) He also refuted Anaximander’s theory of evolution by saying that each species
reproduce true to their type.
d) There is a first cause which is the source of all changes but is unchangeable itself –
God!

The human Person has a soul that accounts for his essence. It is this soul that makes man capable of
reasoning. That is why Aristotle calls man as a Rational Animal. He also has a body that is made of
matter. The goal of human life is happiness through moderation and avoidance of extremes.