Janna G.

Matillano Grade 12- Mendeleev

INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
WEEK NO. 1 WORK SHEET NO. 1 QUARTER First Quarter

TOPIC HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE AND PARTIAL POINT OF VIEW

CONTENT STANDARD The learner understands the meaning and process of doing philosophy
PERFORMANCE The learner reflects on a concrete experience in a philosophical way
STANDARD
LEARNING COMPETENCY The learners will able to:
1. distinguish a holistic perspective from a partial point of view;
2. realize the value of doing philosophy in obtaining a broad perspective on
life; and
3. do a philosophical reflection on a concrete situation from a holistic
perspective.

ACTIVITY 1: 

Read the poem written by John Godfrey Saxe’s on the classic Indian legend of the Six Blind Men and the Elephant

Blind Men and the Elephant – A Poem by John Here is John Godfrey Saxe’s (1816-1887) version
Godfrey Saxe of Blind Men and the Elephant:
To me 'tis mighty clear, Indostan
It was six men of Indostan, The Fifth, who This wonder of an Disputed loud and
To learning much inclined, chanced to touch the Elephant long,
Who went to see the ear, Is very like a spear!" Each in his own
Elephant Said- "E'en the opinion
(Though all of them were blindest man The Third approach'd the Exceeding stiff and
blind), Can tell what this animal, strong,
That each by observation resembles most; And happening to take Though each was
Might satisfy his mind. Deny the fact who The squirming trunk within partly in the right,
can, his hands, And all were in the
The First approach'd the This marvel of an Thus boldly up and spake: wrong!
Elephant, Elephant "I see," -quoth he- "the
And happening to fall Is very like a fan!" Elephant MORAL,
Against his broad and Is very like a snake!" So, oft in theologic
sturdy side, The Sixth no sooner wars
At once began to bawl: had begun The Fourth reached out an The disputants, I
"God bless me! but the About the beast to eager hand, ween,
Elephant grope, And felt about the knee: Rail on in utter
Is very like a wall!" Then, seizing on the "What most this wondrous ignorance
swinging tail beast is like Of what each other
The Second, feeling of the That fell within his Is mighty plain," -quoth mean;
tusk, scope, he,- And prate about an
Cried, -"Ho! what have we "I see," -quoth he,- "'Tis clear enough the Elephant
here "the Elephant Elephant Not one of them has
So very round and smooth Is very like a rope!" Is very like a tree!" seen!
and sharp? And so these men of
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Answer the following questions on the space provided.

1. Did anyone among the blind men give the correct answer? Why or why not?

In my opinion, no one among the blind men gave the correct answer. For the reason
that since all of them are blind, they misunderstood an elephant by describing its body
parts of each blind man. Although they are right in a way of describing an elephant and
not in the thought that they have seen the elephant by their touch perception. They are
to touch the elephant to create their own version of how the animal looked in reality.
They misjudged the elephant the elephants as something based only on their
perspective.

2. In the context of the elephant story, what do you think is a holistic perspective? What is
a partial point of view?

As far as I’m concerned, holistic perspective means you are not only looking at
something or someone in one way, that it’s best if you take a look at all angles to grasp
the bigger picture or idea. A blind man touched each body parts such as tusk, trunk,
leg ears and tail.

3. What is the importance of a holistic perspective as pointed out by the poet John
Godfrey Saxe?

In John Godfrey Saxe’s poem, he is trying to imply that we need to look and
understand at something holistically for deeper understanding. Humans have a
tendency to claim absolute truth based on their limited, subjective experience as they
ignore other people’s which may be equally true. If being holistic is done, arguments
will never be an option for happening.

4. In the last stanza, John Godfrey Saxe related the legend to the religious wars during
his time. What do you think is John Godfrey Saxe trying to say in this poem?

In the last stanza of the Blind Men and the Elephant, it states the moral lesson of the
poem that each blind man has a partial perspective on the neutral truth, but that does
not mean objective truth is not there. In fact, truth is not relative at all. To sum up, truth
is relative to one’s own perspective, and because truth is relative, we should respect
the opinions of others.
READING: Philosophy and Holistic Perspective
 A philosopher’s way of thinking is abstractive. The first
philosophers noted in history hail from the ancient Greek
civilization. What makes this civilization so special for philosophy?
If today we have airplanes, satellites, or spaceships that would
allow us to see the world from a holistic point of view, these great
thinkers in the past used their minds “to see the whole.” 
 The ancient Greek philosophers asked these questions: “What
makes us all connected to each other? What makes us one?
What underlies everything that exists?”
 Philosophers had insight. Insight means “seeing with the mind.”
 Thales is the first noted philosopher in western history. He was a
thinker who loved to gaze at the stars. By sensing harmony in the
movements of the heavenly bodies, he deduced the relationship
of things in the universe. He said that everything is related to each
other because everything contains water.
 To understand philosophy is to engage in it. This entails opening
ourselves up to the experience of questioning our own
established beliefs, of looking with the mind beyond what we see
with our senses.
 If philosophy has a “basic requirement” before one can engage in
it, that would be courage to break open our partial perspective for
us to have a glimpse of broader truth.
 With a holistic perspective we can see the connectedness of parts
to see a meaningful whole. Having a glimpse of the whole allows
us to see the meaning of the activities that we do every day.
ACTIVITY 2: 
1. Can everyone be a philosopher? Explain your answer.

From my point of view, everyone qualifies as a philosopher by virtue of if anyone who

has the inclination and the means to play along in the game can become a philosopher.
Likewise, a person who offers views or theories on profound questions in ethics,
metaphysics, logic, and other related fields makes someone a philosopher.

2. The story of the elephant and the blind men can be an analogy of everyday experiences.
Recall an experience where you had disagreements with friends or family over
something. Was the disagreement resolved? If yes, how? If not, how can a more holistic
perspective help in the resolution?

Recently, my mother and I had a big fight about something personal, she kicked me out
of the house and I lived at my friend’s for almost a week. The moment my mother
contacted me and said sorry for the painful words she siad, my heart automatically
understands her emotion that she was just carried away that’s why she said something
awful to me. We should all apply in having a holistic perspective on something due to the
fact that it helps us understand the meaning and interrelation of a concept. In addition,
having a holistic view helps us become better individuals being holistic means that you
do not jump into conclusions of particular situations .

3. How does this quote relate to understanding holistic perspective?

“My philosophy comes from a world view that looks at the world as one. It’s a holistic
view that sees the world as interconnected and interdependent and integrated in so
many different ways…” -Dennis Kucinich

We are now a global community, a smaller world than we used to be. Mankind’s
advancements have put us in touch with every corner of the globe both physically and
virtually. It indicates that seeing the world in a holistic view connects us people in the
world to understand each other in many different ways or simply having a holistic
perspective of living life in this world.

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:

Distinguish holistic perspective from a partial point of view. Give concrete
examples.
Holism refers to the belief that all of a system's properties cannot be correctly
understood, explained, or determined by its component components alone, but
that the system as a whole determines how the parts operate or work in a
meaningful way. Jensen DG. Maebog, a Filipino philosophy professor, argues in
one of his lectures that the principle of holism asserts that the whole is greater
than the sum of its parts. A holistic approach considers each component part
and how it interacts with others to form a unified whole. He explains that holism
promotes emphasis on the big picture, the whole picture, rather than finer details
or specific features. It explains that focusing just on certain aspects leads to the
loss of the entire picture—for example, knowing only the individual trees but not
the entire forest. A holistic perspective asserts that a limited viewpoint does not
own the monopoly of truth, as The Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant
demonstrates. Instead, it asserts that, while one's personal perspective on a
subject may be correct, it is not always so, because other people's perspectives
on the same subject may also be correct.
A partial view, on the other hand, concentrates on only a few parts of the entire,
ignoring or dismissing the total. A partial point of view also tends to treat the
perceiving person as the source of truth, as Prof. Jensen DG. Maebog explains.
A partial viewpoint is based on one or more component elements of a larger
whole, resulting in an incomplete perspective. Unlike the partial point of view,
however, holism broadens one's understanding of reality by including additional
possible causal agents or factors that are fundamentally relevant to an
occurrence. In the middle of so many explanatory frameworks and theories, a
holistic approach fosters suspense.

JOURNAL ENTRY:
Doing philosophy is looking at reality from a holistic perspective and not from a
partial point of view. Write a 1-page journal entry about an experience where
you applied holistic perspective/approach and how did it help you.
 When you think about the big picture, you already applied holistic
approach. Specifically, having a holistic perspective starts when I identified an
obstacle then I took a step back to understand the whole situation. Generally
speaking, I had an interpersonal problem which was getting pregnant at this
young age. Responding to other people can be tough, but what I realized is that
to solve my problem holistically, I started by looking for the root cause of conflict.
It was definitely my fault, every words my family utter makes sense and every
judgements of other people made me anxious although I accepted it. It might not
be what you think- and a superficial solution might not fix it.
I was stuck on a single way of looking at a problem or solution and
unwilling to think about it differently. To solve it, being functional fluid is having
the holistic solution by considering that there might be a solution I haven’t
thought of yet. Even though I always feel alone most of the time, all I think is that
my heart is fulfilled with lots of love from Jesus Christ and to my baby boy who
everyone thinks that it’s my disgrace, but truly he’s a blessing from God for me.
Life is content. I have a greater understanding of who I am. I am well
aware that I am not exactly what those pessimistic people have described. Now
I have more self-assurance. I can do anything that is beneficial because my
experience made me capable and thought me a lot. Simply wait and see,
reaching for my success doesn’t end here.
Thinking holistically helped me a lot in surviving the community I surround.
Undoubtedly, applying a holistic perspective in your life gives a great impact and
benefits you most emotionally and mentally. To conclude with, no matter how
hard your problems hit you, always think holistically and rest assured, your life
will flow accordingly and soon you will thank that experience for it thought you a
lot.