INTRODUCTION

TO THE
PHILOSOPHY OF
THE HUMAN
PERSON
Quarter 1 – Module 1:1
DOING PHILOSOPHY

2
Lesson

1 What is Philosophy?
More than 2500 years ago a sage in South Asia named Gautama Buddha declared
that “Life is suffering.” This is the first of his Four Noble Truths. And indeed if you look
at your life you will see that it is a series of challenges that you have to overcome if
you want to survive. It feels like you are competing in a race in which you are required
to successfully jump hurdles in order to win. And each challenge in life is really a
question or a bunch of questions that you have to answer. If you are not feeling well
for example you might ask, Why am I feeling this way (cause)? How can I overcome it
(process)? How it will affect my life and the people around me (consequence)?
Philosophy, our subject matter for this course, is really all about questions and
answers. And since by now you already asked and answered hundreds of questions
your life experienced already prepared you to take our philosophical journey starting
now.

I. The Nature and Functions of Philosophy

DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY
Traditionally philosophy is defined as love of wisdom because it came from two Greek
words philos (love) and Sophia (wisdom). You might find it strange to connect love to philosophy.
You might think of philosophy as a purely intellectual discipline which has nothing to do
with love. You might believe love is romance, poetry, intense passion in which you are
willing to lay down your life. But you will see that philosophy can also be pursued passionately.
In fact some people like Socrates died for truth. It is this centrality of love to philosophy that we
call people who engages in philosophy as philosophers (lovers of wisdom).
ORIGIN OF PHILOSOPHY
Greece is the birthplace of philosophy in the West. To be more precise
it is the ancient Greek city of Miletus in the Western coast of what is now
Turkey that gave birth to philosophy. It is in this city that the first philosopher
in the West, Thales, lived. Thales is the Father of Philosophy in the
Western civilization. He lived between 624 and 546 BCE a contemporary
of the Lydian king Croesus and the statesman Solon (Stumpf and Fieser,2008).
What made Thales a philosopher is his desire to know the
ultimate stuff that makes up the different things we perceived. You THALES

see when we look at the world we encounter different things: people, trees, clouds, mountains,
rivers, etc. Now Thales believed that despite the different things we encounter there is
one underlying stuff or substance in which everything is composed. He believes that
there is One in the Many. Thales was the first individual who tried to reduce the
multiplicity in to a unity (Jones,1969).

2
 But his explanation of natural phenomena is devoid of gods and goddesses of the old
religion of Greece. It is completely rational. It represents a departure from the mythological
religion of Greece. Thales approach highlights the difference between religion and
philosophy. Religion rests on faith while philosophy rests on reason.

PHILOSOPHICAL ACTIVITY

Thales greatest contribution to philosophy is not his identification of water as the ultimate stuff
of the universe. His greatest contribution is the problem he posed “What is the ultimate stuff
of the universe?” and his approach in solving that problem. Studying Thales makes us
realize that philosophical activity is characterized by three things:
First in terms of scope philosophy involves the widest generalizations (Rand,
1982). While people concern themselves with shoes and clothes, the latest gossip about their
favorite celebrities, their crushes, philosophers concern themselves with big issues pertaining
to the truth, , the good, the just, the beautiful, and the existence of practically all things.
While scientists concern themselves with scientific knowledge, historians with knowledge
of the past, economists with knowledge of supply and demand, philosophers concern
themselves with the nature of knowledge as such (which embraces all types of knowledge
previously mentioned and more).

Second philosophy is all about fundamentals. A fundamental is the root cause that explains
almost everything in a given context. To understand this imagine that knowledge is like a
building with levels. Now the higher level depends on the lower levels (Peikoff, 1991). If
somehow the lower level crumbles then all the higher levels that rest upon it will collapse. A
fundamental is like the lower floor that supports everything above it. That kind of support is
exactly what philosophy provides. If somehow philosophical ideas like consciousness and
existence disappear then knowledge of any kind will not make any sense because there will be
nothing to know (existence) and no one to know (consciousness).
Third philosophy is driven by the desire to integrate things in to a one coherent whole. As
the celebrated philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel said “The true is the Whole
(Peikoff, 1991).” If you notice Thales wants to reduce the multiplicity of things into a single
stuff. He desires to find the One in the many.

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
Since philosophy’s concern is vast, we have to divide it into different branches. Each branch
will focus on a specific area of philosophy. To understand the branches of philosophy let
us return to the three central philosophical questions we explored earlier.
First the question, Where am I? By the time we reached adulthood we believe we know
the answer to this question. In fact we believed that the answer is obvious that we don’t bother
to look closely at the question itself. Where am I? Well let’s say I’m in Manila. You don’t
need philosophy to answer that one. But if you ask a series of where questions (Where is
Manila? Where is the Philippines? etc.) which at first seems childish you eventually end up with
the universe. And here we have to stop asking the where question (Where is the universe is an
absurd question. The universe does not exist in a place). What kind of place is the
universe? Is it governed by laws? If so what laws? The study of the universe as a whole is
the province of metaphysics. Metaphysics is further subdivided into ontology which studies

3
existence as such and philosophical anthropology which deals with the fundamental and essential
characteristics of human nature (Gotthelf and Salmieri,
2015).

The second question, How do I know it? concerns the nature of human knowledge
and the way to obtain it. How do we obtain knowledge? Do we obtain knowledge by revelation,
intuition, instinct or reason? Can we achieve certainty or are we doomed to suffer perpetual
doubt? Is knowledge based on the things we perceive or from something else? This is the
concern of epistemology which can be defined as the “branch of philosophy that studies the
nature and means of human knowledge.” We need epistemology to guide us in knowing
since we make mistakes from time to time.
The first two branches of philosophy, metaphysics and epistemology, are called cognitive
branches. These branches provide a description of being (existence) and knowing. They are the
foundations of understanding any philosophical system.
The next three branches of philosophy (ethics, politics and aesthetics) can be classified as
the normative branches of philosophy because they are concerned with the standard of the
good. If the cognitive branches are concerned with what “is” the normative branches are concerned
with what “ought” to be.
The most basic normative branch of philosophy is ethics or morality (I used this two
concepts interchangeably). It is concerned with the last of the three questions central to
philosophy: What should I do? Ethics can be regarded as the technology of philosophy (I owe
this analogy to the philosopher Ayn Rand) because it tells us how human beings ought to
function as a human being. But in order to describe how human beings ought to act we must
first know what a human being is. These last is provided by metaphysics and epistemology.
(This is especially true of philosophical anthropology a sub-branch of metaphysics which
studies the metaphysical nature of man (see discussion above). Metaphysics and epistemology
are the foundations of ethics.
What then is ethics or morality? According to Ayn Rand ethics or morality is a branch of
philosophy that provides a human being with a “code of values to guide man’s choices and
actions - the choices and actions that determine the course of his life (Rand, 1964).” It is
concerned with the values man ought to pursue, the interrelationships of those values and the
means to obtain them (virtue).
The last two normative branches of philosophy, politics and aesthetics, are derived from
ethics. Ethics is concerned with the good for human being as a human being. If we
apply ethics in a social context then it becomes politics. The concern therefore of ethics is
broader than politics. It studies the “good” for human beings in any setting (whether society is
present or not). An individual who is alone in an island still has to follow ethical principles if
he wishes to survive (Peikoff,
1991).
So what then is politics? Again following Rand’s definition politics is a branch of philosophy
“which defines the principles of a proper social system.” According to Rand “proper” means
proper for human beings which presupposes that one knows what a human being is. Since
knowledge about human being is provided by the cognitive branches of philosophy, the
foundation of politics ultimately rests on metaphysics and epistemology.
The last of the normative branch, aesthetics studies the nature of art. It is concerned with
the nature and the objective judgement of beauty.

4
II. Philosophical Tools and Processes

Philosophy as a science is also a systematized body of knowledge but unlike other sciences
which employs observation and experimentation to prove their theories, philosophy uses reason
to arrive at a certain knowledge or truth. At the onset Greek philosophers gave us a hint on
how to use our
intellect to understand realities around us. The tools that they
frequently utilized are the following:
1. Philosophical Questions. Philosophy was born because
of ignorance. If one is ignorant, he asks questions and if
he keeps on questioning the more knowledge he acquires.
Once a person stops questioning, he cease to become a
philosopher. In our daily struggles, one needs to ask questions
simple, serious and deep questions that we have to grapple with.
A philosopher is like a child who has an inquisitive
mind who never stops asking questions and finding answers.
SOCRATES

Socrates went further not just asking questions for himself but poses questions to people
which is the beginning of series of questions and responses from participants. This
philosophical questioning can be best described from an excerpt from Plato’s apology of Socrates
below:
“…But let us examine each one of the parts of this charge. Now he asserts that I do
injustice by corrupting the young. But I, men of Athens, assert that Meletus does injustice, in
that he jest in a serious matter, easily bringing human beings into trial, pretending to be serious
and concerned about things for which he never cared at all. That this is so, I will try to display
to you as well. Now come here, Meletus, tell; do you not regard it as most important how the
youth will be the best possible?” (Plato’s apology of Socrates, 24C)
His method is called dialectics. The Socratic Method, also known as method of elenchus,
elenctic method, or Socratic debate, is a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue
between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking
and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions. (Google.com/search) Aristotle said
that it was the pre- Socratic philosopher Zeno of Elea who invented dialectic, of which
the dialogues of Plato are the examples of the Socratic dialectical method. According to Kant,
however, the ancient Greeks used the word "dialectic" to signify the logic of false appearance
or semblance. Dialectics is a term used to describe a method of philosophical argument that
involves some sort of contradictory process between opposing sides. As a dialectical method,
it is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject
but wishing to establish the truth through reasoned arguments.
18th century philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel expounded dialectics which later
influenced Karl Marx, the father of communism.
2. Logical Reasoning. In philosophy reasoning is the process of thinking about
something in a logical way in order to form a conclusion or judgement. It has

5
 been the method institutionalized by the triumvirate Greek philosophers specially Aristotle.
Philosophy is about answering questions. Reasoning is the method we use in doing philosophy.
However, although it is necessary for any competent engagement with philosophy, it is
not the end all and be all of philosophy. All branches of philosophy employ reasoning in
explaining their arguments. For example the concept of right or wrong which is the domain
of Ethics based their arguments in human reason alone in contrast with theology which is
dependent from the Bible as the source of its moral teachings. Reasoning however is the
domain of one branch of philosophy which is Epistemology. One type of logical reasoning is
the deductive reasoning:
Example: Premise 1: All human beings are mortal
Premise 2: But the President of the Philippines is a human being

Conclusion: Therefore, the President of the Philippines is mortal. Here we

are taught to arrive at a certain truth or knowledge in a logical process. In
contrast, Inductive reasoning begins with a particular to universal argument.

Example: Premise: Student A, B, C, D, E, F….. are wearing School ID.

Conclusion: Therefore, All students are wearing ID
The above examples show the logical process wherein by reasoning one arrives at a certain truth
or knowledge. Logic starts with the origin of ideas, terms, propositions or premises, syllogism,
etc. These terms are the basic structure of argument. Unfortunately, this branch of philosophy
is equivalent to one-subject requirement in any course in the tertiary level.

III. Philosophical Reflection

In the midst of our present crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, consistently, the government
kept on reminding us the ‘essentials’ of things and concerns that are necessary during the
quarantine period whether under ECQ, GCQ, or MECQ. In our case, we changed our
competencies and emphasized the most essential ones. This is the essence of philosophy. It tries
to separate the essences of things versus accidentals and necessary versus contingent. It is concern
of what is the substance and ultimate causes of things.
When we venture into philosophizing we see the greater perspective of all things
and see the ultimate purpose or reasons for our existence. Most of us are so engross with
individual trees and we miss the whole forest as the saying goes. We are always predispose to
attend to the details of the problem rather than look at the situation as a whole. This is true
in our understanding of the objects, events, realities and situations around us. Reflection
is the process that would aide in understanding the holistic point of view of what is going on
around us.
Reflection is an activity that requires a person to examine his or her thoughts, feelings
and actions and learn from experience. (Abella, 2016). . Philosophers always search for the
essence of things and the ultimate reasons for our existence.

6
Its trajectory is to see the bigger picture about everything. This process is called philosophical
reflection. According to Gabriel Marcel, philosophical reflection is the act of giving time to think
about the meaning and purpose of life. He mentioned two types, namely: Primary Reflection-
which is the ability to think logically. The ability of the mind to construct and evaluate
arguments. It examines its object by abstraction, by analytically breaking it down into its
constituent parts. It is concerned with definitions, essences and technical solutions to
problems. The second type is Secondary reflection. According to Marcel this type of reflection
enables us to look deeper into our experiences and see the bigger picture of reality. It integrates
the fragmented and compartmentalized experience into a whole. It is the idea that various systems
(e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of
parts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holism In effect we see the broader perspective of life.
Reflection is not exclusive for philosophy in fact it is employed in any endeavour,
research or disciplines. In research it is called methodological approach. Moral theology
employs the STOP sign as guidepost of moral decision making. S= Search out the facts.
It is necessary that all means should be exhausted to better understand the issue. T=Think,
reflect and analyse the facts, its negative or positive effects, advantages or disadvantages.
O= How it affects Others. We should always consider others in every decision that we make.
Every action that we take has always a social dimension. It affects ourselves, others and
community where we belong. Lastly P= stands for Pray. We are human beings with limitations.
If our best effort are not enough, then there is no way but look up for divine or God for
enlightenment and guidance. Praying is a unique tool of theology which is in the realm
of faith but philosophy’s reasoning helps in undergoing a theological reflection as St.
Anselm said, “its faith seeking understanding.” St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the great
theologian of the church quoted in latin the relationship between philosophy and theology;
‘philosophia ancilla theologiae’ or philosophy is the handmaid of theology the former is there
to serve theology. Reason is also important in theology not just faith. Whether in philosophy,
sociology or other sciences, reflection is very useful in understanding our daily experiences to
broaden our perspective of life.

In order to reflect philosophically we need to use a framework. A framework is a conceptual

map consisting of our views and beliefs which affects the way we view the world (Abella
2016). The framework were going to used is called AQAL. It is an acronym that stands for All
Quadrants All Levels first formulated by an American philosopher/psychologist Ken Wilber.
Wilber first introduced AQAL to the world in his book Sex, Ecology, Spirituality.

According to Wilber everything can be analysed using a vertical line.

7
 The line above divides space into two sides: left and right. The left side represents
the interior, subjective, aspect of everything. The right side represents the exterior, objective,
aspect of everything. The interior (or “loob” in Filipino) if applied to human beings, includes
one’s values, dreams, ideas, emotions, beliefs. It basically consists of one’s inner life. It cannot
be seen or measured but can be experienced directly. The exterior side of everything are the
things that we can see, measure and touch. They include the physical objects around us including
our own bodies.
A simple example of this inside/outside distinction is when a person smiles at you. You
see the big smile so it is the exterior aspect of an event. But at the same time there is a
subjective meaning behind that smile: let’s say the person is happy. This is the interior, subjective,
aspect of the event. So you see two strands are interwoven behind any human event: the
objective and the subjective, the interior and the exterior.
Another basic distinction was introduced by Ken Wilber using a horizontal line that divides
space into above and below:

Above the line represents what is singular, individual, one. The space below represents
what is plural, collective, many. For example you are an individual but you belong in a family,
community, class (all instances of the collective).
An interesting thing happen when we combine the two lines.

We created what Wilber calls the quadrants. According to Wilber quadrants are
“the inside and outside of the individual and collective (Wilber 2006).”

8
 There are many ways to describe the quadrants. We can use the simple location of
each of the quadrant. So the interior of the individual is the upper left quadrant (UL), the
exterior of the individual is the upper right quadrant (UR), the interior of the collective is
the lower left quadrant (LL) and the exterior of the collective is the lower right quadrant
(LR).

We can also use pronouns to label the quadrants as shown below:

Quadrants expressed in language

But what we are interested is when we apply this to human beings. The inside of the
individual becomes the mind, the outside of the individual becomes the body, the inside of the
collective becomes culture and the outside of the collective becomes society.

Quadrants as applied to human beings

9
 Now when we reflect on the nature of any concrete issue like poverty, corruption,
prostitution, global warming we can just put the issue at the center of the quadrant and analyzed
its mental, physical, cultural and social components. This is looking at an issue from an all
quadrant, multiple and holistic perspective.

Multiple Perspectives

Let’s take for example the issue of poverty. How do we reflect on the issue using the
AQAL framework? Well we know that poverty has a psychological aspect (UL quadrant) to it.
It affects the way we think, feel and even what we value. But it does not stop there. Poverty
also affects bodies (UR quadrant). It affects our nutrition, our medication and immune system.
Some children have stunted growth due to poverty. And who could deny that poverty also affects
the culture such as arts, religion and even the way we dress. Religious feast such as the
procession of the Black Nazarene is in part motivated by poverty. And of course it is obvious
that poverty has an economic, political and even technological components (all parts of the social
LR quadrant).

Self- pity Malnutrition

POVERTY

Collective aspiration for a Inflation

better life

10
 W1 Q1 PHILO ACTIVITY 1 (20PTS)
Direction: Choose the letter that corresponds to your answer from the statements below.
_1.It is an activity that requires a person to examine his or her thoughts, feelings and
actions and learn from experience.
A. reflection C. wondering
B. questioning D. reasoning
__ 2. What is the science and art of correct thinking?
A. Ethics C. Metaphysics
B. Aesthetics D. Logic
_3. The type of philosophical reflection which trains the mind to think logically. It
is also the ability of the mind to construct and evaluate arguments
A. Secondary reflection C. Primary reflection
B. Tertiary reflection D. all of the above
_4. One of the triumvirate Greek philosophers who pioneered a method of argument
called dialectic.
A. Plato C. Pythagoras
B Socrates D. Aristotle
_5. This is the process of thinking about something in a logical way in order to form a
conclusion or judgement.
A. reasoning C. intuition
B. proposition D. reflection
_6. It is a term used to describe a method of philosophical argument that involves some
sort of contradictory process between opposing sides.
A. deductive C. Inductive
B. dialectic D. reflective
_7. It is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as
wholes, not merely as a collection of parts.
A. holism C. existentialism
B. idealism D. rationalism
__ 8. According to Gabriel Marcel this type of reflection enables us to look deeper
into our experiences and see the bigger picture of reality.
A. Secondary reflection C. Primary reflection
B. Tertiary reflection D. all of the above
_9. The western philosophical tradition originated in _.
A. Greece C. India
B. China D. Egypt
__ _10. What is the branch of Philosophy that studies the nature and means of human
knowledge?
A. Metaphysics C. Politics
B. Ethics D. Epistemology

11
Direction: Choose the letter that corresponds to your answer from the statements below.
1.It is an activity that requires a person to examine his or her thoughts, feelings
and actions and learn from experience.
A. reflection C. wondering
B. questioning D. reasoning
_2.What is the science and art of correct thinking?
A. Ethics C. Metaphysics
B. Aesthetics D. Logic
__ 3. The type of philosophical reflection which trains the mind to think logically.
Also it is the ability of the mind to construct and evaluate arguments
A. Secondary reflection C. Primary reflection
B. Tertiary reflection D. all of the above
__ 4. One of the triumvirate Greek philosophers who pioneered a method of argument
called dialectic.
A. Plato C. Pythagoras
B. Socrates D. Aristotle
__ 5. It is considered as the process of thinking about something in a logical way in
order to form a conclusion or judgement.
A. reasoning C. argument
B. Proposition D. Reflection
6. In our daily lives we encounter events, situations or issues that we need to ponder and
think deeply. This activity which requires a person to examine his or her thoughts, feelings
and actions and learn from experience is related to the concept of:
A. philosophical reflection C. philosophical wondering
B. philosophical questioning D. philosophical reasoning
7. Imagine that you are in Boracay walking with Thales. He is convincing you that the
only reality is water. Would you believe in him?
A. No, because I had my own belief.
B. Yes, because Thales belongs to the school of monists which believes that only one
kind of stuff exists.
C. Either yes or no, I will have my own investigation that is based on the
data and reason presented.
D. Neither yes nor no until it is proven true.
__ 8. According to Gabriel Marcel this type of reflection enables us to look deeper
into our experiences and see the bigger picture of reality.
A. Secondary reflection C. Primary reflection
B. Tertiary reflection D. all of the above

9. Identify which statement describes the difference between holism and partial
thinking.
A. Holism is a perspective that looks at the “big picture” while partial thinking
focuses on the specific aspect of the situation.
B. Holism is a perspective that looks at the specific aspects of the
situation while partial thinking looks at the big picture.
C. Holism requires us to focus on a certain aspect of the problem while
partial thinking requires us to have an open mindset.
D. All of the above
12
10. According to the importance of studying philosophy, what can it offer us?
A. Know the different philosophers and their philosophies in life?
B. See the downs and lows in the development and history of philosophy. C.
Survey the achievements of the different philosophers in various
periods of history.
D. Enhances our minds, understand what we encounter every day, and value
our judgement.