Aristotle's Concept of the Soul

Like any other context, we cannot understand the complex idea if we do not
know the basic, so the first thing that I had in mind when I watched the video of our
professor explaining the Aristotle’s concept of soul is that it is important for us to know
what hylomorphism is, what matter and form is, and how does these affect our
understanding on Aristotle’s idea of soul. In the first two minutes in the video, I have
learned that hylomorphism is having two intrinsic principles, the potential or the primary
matter and the substantial form which is the actual one. Not only I have learned that
matter is the stuff that makes up things in the physical universe, and form that gives
matter its shape, I have understood how Aristotle believe that form and matter are
inextricably bound together in one world which one cannot exist without the other, that
means the matter cannot exist without form and of course, form cannot exist without
matter. Aside from the very first introduction about Aristotle’s metaphysics, our
professor was also able to give us a short introduction of the Anima which means on the
soul. It was also clearly discussed in the video what soul is, which for Aristotle, it is
psyche but in Latin, it is translated as anima. By listening to the discussion, I suddenly
remembered our most requested communion song during mass, the Anima Christi
which means soul of Christ. So, going back to the discussion, under the theological
tradition, the soul meant an immaterial detached ruling power within a human that is
immortal and will go back to God after death. So, with this, I have learned that Aristotle
does not think of soul as what the other theologians for him, matter and shape is
combine to create a unity not a duality, thus implying that philosophers can intellectually
abstract out the separate constituents but they are always united in the reality. We can
say that for Aristotle, the soul is the principle of life and that body is the matter and the
soul is the form. Thus, everything that has a life has a soul so human beings are not the
only one who have soul, but also animals and plant who like us have lives. For Aristotle,
the soul is not an exile from a better world ill-housed in a base body but its very essence
is defined by its relationship to an organic structure. Since plant live in order to vegetate,
get nutrition, and reproduce, then it has a nutritive or vegetative soul while for animals
who get nutrition and have the ability to eat, move and feel, it has sensitive soul.
However, humans, being a superior to all God’s creation, have the ability to do
everything that an animal and plant can at the same time having the intellect to think
and reason out and have a will to do certain actions thus giving us the idea that human
beings have rational soul. Also, to give insight on those things mentioned above, I also
believe that plants and animals do have souls like humans do so I have this attitude that
if my pet dies, I will bury him and pray for his soul.
So far, the video discussion is complete and concise thus, helping the students to
understand the lessons without having a face-to-face class. Moreover, because there
are a lot of available resources in the internet, I have researched further about it and
learned that Aristotle’s theoretical concept of soul differs from that of Plato before him
which is his teacher for many years and René Descartes who followed Aristotle’s era. In
conclusion, for him, soul and body are not distinct from each other and they go together
hand in hand to form unity.
St. Thomas Aquinas' Natural Law Theory
 Our professor gave a short discussion of who St. Thomas Aquinas is and his role
on Catholic teachings and doctrines that is still used in the said religion up until now. As
a part of a religious family, I admit that I do have a little bit of background knowledge
about St. Thomas Aquinas but I was still able to learn more as the discussion about him
by our professor goes on. So, here are the point or the things that I have learned from
the video.
Natural Law Theory by St. Thomas Aquinas is based upon the principles and truth that
are inherent to the one created by us. God is good himself, and He created us so we
are also naturally good. He gave us minds to acquire knowledge and understanding, to
assess what is right and what is wrong. Being good is innate within us. We as human
beings possess these intrinsic values, can do good because this governs our reasoning
and behavior. Natural law maintains what is right and wrong within us inherently which
are not created by society or courts. This means that natural law has already been
established since the beginning of time and is constant throughout time and across the
globe because this is based on our human nature because it is given to us by Lord itself
who created us, and not on culture or customs. According to Aquinas, morality is
important for everyone and that being a good person was a vital part of God’s plan for
each of us. In short, we must be good for God’s sake.
For me, in natural law, even if we do not know the bible, our not know God, our
do not have religion, we still have this instinct that shows us the basic goods, and this
instinct allows us to know what is right or wrong. For example, one of the most
controversial topics is abortion. Well, in some countries, abortion is legalized but if we
will base it on the natural law, if you are the one inside the womb, of course, you do not
want to be killed without even fighting for your life, right? Thus, killing someone is
naturally bad and that makes abortion a bad action for this kills an innocent child who
cannot even defend him or herself to the world. As I have learned in our Law 101,
natural laws are legal laws that people tend to follow due to our instinct but not all legal
laws are according to natural laws just like same-sex marriage, divorce, abortion,
cannibalism, and euthanasia which are legalized in other places. As for me, a child who
grew in a catholic family intact with so many doctrines and teachings of the Church, I
was able to learn that people must be good because it is the right thing to do. We are
good by nature, we are good when we are born, it is just that we tend to forget that we
are good when we decided to follow our judgments without looking and applying what
God told us to do. We need to be good because we God’s children, and that is for me
what natural law is.

St. Thomas Aquinas' Cardinal Virtues

At the beginning of the video, it was clearly stated that the St. Thomas Aquinas’
cardinal virtues are combination of Aristotelian eudaimonism and Christian theology.
Based on the video, there are two kinds of virtue. First is the natural virtue. These are
the things we work for or acquired by practice, repeating good acts like power to be
honest. As far as I have learned in the video, there are 4 major cardinal virtues under
natural virtue according to St. Thomas Aquinas. These are the following: prudence,
temperance, justice and fortitude. The Catholic Church Catechism teaches that
prudence guides the judgement of our conscience in discerning and reflecting our true
good and in applying moral principles to particular circumstances. Saint Thomas
Aquinas described prudence as right reason in action that helps individuals manage
well their lives so as to do good and avoid evil, prudence is the guide and measure for
all the moral virtues. The virtue of temperance moderates the attraction of pleasures
and provides balance in the use of created goods thus allow us to exercise self-control
and keep our worldly passions within the limits of what is good and honorable, rather
than being a slave to them, and involves the balanced use of the many goods given us
so that their use remains ordered and at the service of the development of a good, well-
rounded and complete person. Next is justice which is the virtue that consists in giving
to God and neighbor what is due to each, giving to them what rightly belongs to them
and disposes every human being to respect the rights and freedoms of others and
seeks to establish the peace and harmony that bring together people and allow them to
prosper while living in community. Lastly, fortitude. It is the courage in facing challenges
that life has to offer, provides the ability to persevere in adversity, allow us to remain
strong and constant in our pursuit of what is good and gives us the strength to resist
temptation that would pull us in the wrong direction. The other kind of virtue is the
supernatural virtue that is given by God and infused to our souls like faith, love and
hope. Faith is the first of all virtues since it is the firm belief that God exist, that He is the
creator of all mankind and all He made are beautiful and good. Next is the virtue of
hope. It is the faith that God is the final destination of man. And lastly, love. It is
honoring the Lord by loving the creation that He made, thus including all living things on
earth. This is what I have learned in the discussion video about St. Thomas Aquinas
Cardinal Virtues. At the end of the video, I was reminded about my catholic faith, if I still
practice these kinds of virtues in life and if I am still following the Lord’s will and plan for
me.

Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperatives

We have tackled Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative and these are some of
my reactions and reflection on my learnings about it. As far I as remember, according to
Immanuel Kant, morality and religion is not a good pairing because if we will do certain
actions based on what is right according to our religion, then we will not have common
ground because we do have different beliefs and perspectives as people. Thus, these
categorical imperatives which have these three formulations of maxims allow people to
realized that we can apply our human reason to determine the right or the rational thing
to do which symbolizes our duty as a rational thinker. Act according to the maxim that
you would wish all other rational people to follow as if it were a universal law. Treat
humanity, whether in your person or the person of any other, never simply as a means
but as an end. Act so that the will through its maxims could regard itself and at the same
time as universally lawgiving. These are the categorical imperatives that we have been
fully discussed in our previous lessons in which let me realized that we should treat
humanity for that they are, not as mere tools for our benefits.
For me, this categorical imperative tells us that everything we do must be guided
with rules and principles willingly and wholeheartedly thinking that others will also do the
same thing. This is governed by consistency because this implies that the actions you
do must be willfully done and is according to a maxim or rule that everyone will always
act and do accordingly when they are in a similar situation that you encountering. In my
case, as an active servant leader, I always bear in mind the Golden Rule “Do not do
unto others what you do not want others to do unto you.” Also, let us never treat
someone as a tool for you to achieve what you want because every people deserved to
be treated as a person who has the same capabilities as you do, not as a thing. To treat
someone always as an end and never as a mean requires that other people’s interest,
wants, emotions, thoughts, and needs are taken into consideration when dealing with
them. The keyword here is respect. Let’s respect one another. Let’s treat them the way
we treat ourselves because that is the right thing to do. Every person has the right to be
treated as a human and it is unethical to use someone for the betterment of themselves.
Lastly, the freedom to do a certain action is not just about your free will, but it is about
doing what is right for the sake of everyone that is guided by rules and principles that
apply to every human person. Maxims should not only be a universal law but also, be a
universal lawgiver that everyone should do what is right because it is the right thing to
do. There must be a rule for every human action and that must not be a contradiction,
and because this is universal, it implies that these maxims apply to everyone. In other
words, the last categorical imperative means that everyone should live up to moral
standards because this is the right thing to do. If everyone will live up to moral
standards, the world will become a perfect place to live.

e) On Human Rights