LADY OF LOURDES HOSPITAL AND COLLEGES OF BAYBIGA

#5 General Luis Street, Caybiga, Caloocan City

PHILOSOPHY OF MAN

S.Y 2020-2021
GAS 12

NIMROD V. DELA CRUZ, Ph.D

NAME: ______________________________
YEAR & SECTION: ______________________
DATE: _______________________________

Philosophy (from Greek: philosophia, 'love of wisdom'). is the study of general and fundamental
questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The term was probably coined
by Pythagoras. Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument, and
systematic presentation. Philosophy develops fascination for wisdom which is different from
knowledge. Philosophy is a way of thinking about the world, the universe, and society. It works by asking
very basic questions about the nature of human thought, the nature of the universe, and the connections
between them. The ideas in philosophy are often general and abstract. But this does not mean that
philosophy is not about the real world. Ethics, for example, asks about how to be good in our day-to-day
lives. Metaphysics asks about how the world works and what it is made of. Sometimes people talk about
how they have a ‘personal philosophy’, which means the way a person thinks about the world. This article
is not about people's ’personal philosophies’. This article is about the ideas that have been discussed
by philosophers (people who think and write about ways of thinking) for a long time.
Burke's definition of man states: "Man is the symbol-using (symbol-making, symbol-misusing)
animal, inventor of the negative (or moralized by the negative), separated from his natural condition by
instruments of his own making, goaded by the spirit of hierarchy (or moved by the sense of order), and
rotten with perfection".[2] Essentially, Burke's definition maintains that man is distinct from other creatures
by the virtue of his use of symbols to communicate, his understanding of negation, his separation from
nature by his own techniques, his existence in differing social structures, and his goal to become better than
he presently is. Burke distinguishes man from other animals by drawing an analogy between man and birds.
He argues that unlike birds, which cannot use symbols to communicate, man is able to use language towards
pragmatic ends. To illustrate this point, Burke recalls seeing a bird trapped inside a college classroom. The
windows were open, but the bird kept flying upwards to the ceiling, rather than through the window. If the
bird could use symbols to communicate then one could simply inform the bird of the open windows and it
could fly out to freedom. Its natural instinct to fly up coupled by its inability to use symbols, however,
prevents its escape. Burke, also argues that not only does man use symbols, but concedes that man makes
and misuses symbols as well.

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY:
1. Metaphysics
2. Epistemology
3. Ethics
4. Logic
5. Aesthetics

➢ Metaphysics Is the branch of philosophy responsible for study of existence. Meta – “after” and
Physics – “nature”. Why is Metaphysics important? Metaphysics is the foundation of philosophy.
Without an explanation or an interpretation of the world around us, we would be helpless to deal
with reality. We could not feed ourselves, or act to preserve our lives. The degree to which our
metaphysical worldview is correct is the degree to which we are able to comprehend the world,
and act accordingly. Without this firm foundation, all knowledge becomes suspect. Any flaw in our
view of reality will make it more difficult to live. Metaphysics: is one of the principal works
of Aristotle and the first major work of the branch of philosophy with the same name. The principal
subject is "being qua being," or being insofar as it is being. It examines what can be asserted
because about anything that exists just of its existence and not because of any special qualities it
has. Also covered are different kinds of causation, form and matter, the existence of mathematical
objects, and a prime-mover God.
 ➢ What are the key elements of a rational metaphysics?
Reality is absolute. It has a specific nature independent of our thoughts or feelings. The world
around us is real. It has a specific nature and it must be consistent to that nature. A proper
metaphysical worldview must aim to understand reality correctly. The physical world exists, and
every entity has a specific nature. It acts according to that nature. When different entities interact,
they do so according to the nature of both. Every action has a cause and an effect. Causality is the
means by which change occurs, but the change occurs via a specific nature.

Epistemology the term “epistemology” comes from the Greek words’ “episteme” and “logos”.
“Episteme” can be translated as “knowledge” or “understanding” or “acquaintance”, while “logos”
can be translated as “account” or “argument” or “reason”. Epistemology is the study of our method
of acquiring knowledge. It answers the question “How do we know?” It encompasses the nature of
concepts, the constructing of concepts, the validity of the senses, logical reasoning, as well as
thoughts, ideas, memories, emotions, and all things mental. It is concerned with how our minds are
related to reality, and whether these relationships are valid or invalid.

Why is Epistemology important?

 Epistemology is the explanation of how we think.

 It is required in order to be able to determine the true from the false, by determining a proper
method of evaluation.
 It is needed in order to use and obtain knowledge of the world around us.
 Without it we could not think.
 We would have no reason to believe our thinking was productive or correct, as opposed to random
images flashing before our mind.
 With an incorrect epistemology, we would not be able to distinguish truth from error.
 the consequences are obvious, the degree to which our epistemology is correct is to the degree to
which we could understand reality, and the degree to which could use that knowledge to promote
our lives and goals.
 Flaws in epistemology will make it harder to accomplish anything.

What are the key elements of a proper Epistemology?

 Our senses are valid, and the only way to gain information about the world.
 Reason is our method of gaining knowledge, and acquiring understanding.
 Logic is our method of maintaining consistency within our set of knowledge.
 Objectivity is our means of associating knowledge with reality to determine its validity.
 Concepts are abstracts of specific details of reality, or of other abstraction.
 A proper epistemology is a rational epistemology.

What is ethics?

At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and
lead their lives. Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as
moral philosophy. The term is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit,
character or disposition.
 Ethics covers the following dilemmas:

• how to live a good life

• our rights and responsibilities
• the language of right and wrong
• moral decisions - what is good and bad?

Our concepts of ethics have been derived from religions, philosophies and cultures. They
infuse debates on topics like abortion, human rights and professional conduct. Approaches to
ethics
Philosophers nowadays tend to divide ethical theories into three areas: metaethics, normative
ethics and applied ethics.
• Meta-ethics deals with the nature of moral judgement. It looks at the origins and meaning
of ethical principles.
• Normative ethics is concerned with the content of moral judgements and the criteria for
what is right or wrong.
• Applied ethics looks at controversial topics like war, animal rights and capital punishment

Ethics may refer to a character of a man (decided by) Conduct of a person (leads to) Series of
actions (taken together or considered as) Good or bad, Right or wrong, Moral or Immoral known
as moral judgement (requires) Moral standards (by which we can judge again)

3 Main Branches of ethics:

1. Applied ethics is the philosophical examination, from a moral standpoint, of particular
issues in private and public life which are matters of moral judgment. It is thus the
attempts to use philosophical methods to identify the morally correct course of action in
various fields of everyday life.
2. Normative ethics is the study of ethical action. It is the branch of philosophical
ethics that investigates the set of questions that arise when considering how one ought to
act, morally speaking.
3. Metaethics is a branch of analytic philosophy that explores the status, foundations, and
scope of moral values, properties, and words. Whereas the fields of applied ethics and
normative theory focus on what is moral, metaethics focuses on what morality itself is.

Ethics refers to the whole domain of morality and moral philosophy both areas are connected
by common concerns in different ways through: Values, Virtues, Principles and Practices.

Right Action:
1. A right act is an act that is permissible for you to do. It may be either:
a. An obligatory act – is one that morality requires you to do; it is not permissible for you to
refrain from doing it
b. An optional act – An act not obligatory or wrong to do; not your duty to do or not to do
Wrong Action:
2. A wrong act is one you have an obligation, or a duty, to refrain from doing: It is an act you
ought not to do; it is not permissible to do it.
DIRECTIONS: Answer the following questions. Write legibly on the yellow
paper.

• What happens to soul after death, how does a soul enter into the body
before death?
• Why are we born?
• Why should we live?
• Why are there so many hurdles in life?
• How do we overcome suffering?
• What is the importance of the material life?
• Will the universe exist forever?
• What is beauty?
• Do we have free will?
• Does God exist?
• Does the world around us exist?
• What is a person?
• What is truth?
• What is evil?
• What is the relationship between mind and body?
• What is science?
• What is love?