Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region III
Schools Division Office of Bulacan
FRANCES NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF

THE HUMAN PERSON

Limits of the Human Body and Select

Possibilities for Transcendence
Week 5

ACTIVITY SHEET
NAME:

GRADE AND SECTION:

DATE OF SUBMISSION:
OBJECTIVES
A. Content Standards
The learner understands the human person as an embodied spirit.

B. Performance Standards:

The learner distinguishes his/her own limitations and the possibilities

for his/her transcendence.

MELCs: the learners are to determine that the human body imposes limits and
possibilities for transcendence.

Specific Objectives:
1. To identify the role of entropy, death, and decay as imposing limits
to human beings.
2. To demonstrate a working understanding of certain ontological
arguments present in existentialism, egoism, and absurdism which
provide certain discussions on limits.
3. To provide insights on individual limitations and possible
transcendence through the discussion of such-and-such
ontological arguments.
CONTENT
The human person as an embodied spirit
Keywords: ontology, limitation, meaning, purpose, nihilism, existentialism;
absurdism

Disambiguation:
limitation (n.)- refers to “something that controls how much of something
is possible or allowed”
transcendence (n.)- the state of “going beyond the limits of ordinary
experience”; “far greater than the usual”
ontology [n.] a branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and
relations of being; a particular theory about the nature of being or the kinds
of things that have existence

PROCEDURES:
Preliminary Activities

Pre-Test

Matching Type: Select the letters in the third column which correspond to
the premises in the second column. Write your answers in the first Column.
There are only three choices for all of the items ergo such choices can be
repeated.
1. All values are derived from social A. Nietzsche’s
constructs and there can be no fixed ones Übermensch
among them.
2. For a man to transcend his limitations, B. Stirner’s
he must become the best version of Egoism
himself.
 3. Man could gain the best way to improve C. Camus’s
the quality of his thinking, and in turn, Absurdism
improve the quality of his life and of
others.
4. All values and ideas can be viewed as
mere spooks.
5. In order for man to live in a word devoid
of meaning and purpose, he must strive
to be so free that he defies
purposelessness; and in doing so, he
creates his own purpose.

6. The most essential philosophical question

is asking whether life is worth living or
otherwise.
7. For a man to keep himself unique, he
must focus on himself rather than
pursuing the values and ideals given by
others.
8. Human beings have not yet finished
evolving and for one to evolve, he must
surpass his old self.
9. All values and ideals are human affairs.
Instead of being involved to the affairs of
others, one must be concerned with his
own affairs.
10. The only way to deal with an unfree
world is to become so absolutely free that
your very existence is an act of rebellion.

Review:
Where and when do we use logic?
How does Aristotle’s syllogism work?
What are logical fallacies?

Presenting the new lesson

ACTIVITY: Ponder upon this

1. Motivation
Read the given excerpt and then answer several questions about it
(questions are provided below) which will lead to your initial
understanding of the author’s idea.

“Under the dominion of a cruel master my body is not “free” from torments and
lashes; but it is my bones that moan under the torture, my fibres that quiver
under the blows, and I moan because my body moans. That I sigh and shiver
proves that I have not yet lost myself, that I am still my own. My leg is not “free”
from the master’s stick, but it is my leg and is inseparable. Let him tear it off me
and look and see if he still has my leg! He retains in his hand nothing but the —
corpse of my leg, which is as little my leg as a dead dog is still a dog: a dog has
a pulsating heart, a so-called dead dog has none and is therefore no longer a
dog.”

—Max Stirner, The Ego and its Own

In the excerpt, Max Stirner personifies a slave. Now, let me raise two essential
questions anchored to the slave’s condition:
(1) As a slave, what are the things that he can’t do?
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(2) And in spite of his condition, what can he do?
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ANALYSIS: Reflect on the following questions.

1. What are the limitations of human beings determined according to his

existing conditions?
2. Is it possible for him to break these limits and attain transcendence?
2.1 If so, how?

ABSTRACTION

Three philosophical snippets leading to possible human transcendence: a

brief discussion

The French philosopher Albert Camus argued that everything that dies is
devoid of meaning. Basically, he means that anything that is temporary cannot
hold any objective meaning or purpose. From this, human limitation—
specifically our limited time on earth given our biological features—becomes an
argument for the utter meaninglessness of life. In this learning activity sheet, we
shall have a brief discussion on the following:

(1) Nietzsche’s Übermensch

(2) Stirner’s Egoism
(3) Camus’ The Confrontation of the Absurd

A quick note: it will be easier if you do readings or watch video lectures (there
are many online sources for our topic) about the so-and-so thinkers in advance
so you may understand their ideas further. And now, let’s start with Friedrich
Nietzsche.

Friedrich Nietzsche
(1844-1900)
Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the heterologous
thinkers of his time. He is a nihilist by default (so
he says).He is famous (especially to edgy
millennials and Gen-Z) for his line, “God is dead.”
He advocated for the advancement of Science and
the Arts. He had gone insane before his death.
It is worth noting that, his ideas were blatantly
misinterpreted by the Nazis causing some extremely undesirable results.
Nietzsche’s Übermensch in a nutshell (and probably an oversimplification):

(1) Übermensch is roughly translated as Superman. It is more accurate to

say that Übermensch signifies the Overman.
(2) The premise of the Übermensch is that human beings have not yet
finished evolving.
(3) That said, the next step to human evolution—our possible
transcendence—is to become the “best version of ourselves” (de Botton et
al., n.d.).
(4) Nietzsche was referring to man gaining the best way to improve the
quality of his thinking, and in turn, improve the quality of his life and of
others.
(5) Being the Übermensch must mean you will become the best of what you
are now.

Max Stirner
also Johann Kaspar Schmidt (1806 – 1856
We could say that Max Stirner is the individualist
anarchist/egoist that we need but we don’t deserve. A
metaphysical nihilist according to Camus (1956). He is
known for trolling Marx and Engels for their ideals. The
guy is basically an intellectual troll, to put it mildly.
All things are nothing to him, but the self. But more
than these humorous descriptions, Max Stirner
attacked the idealization of reality formed through
certain values during the time that people thought
such-and-such values were fixed. In other words,
Stirner argued that our values stem from the motives
of people to further their own cause rather than present universal or absolute
values. Now, if that is the case, shouldn’t we make our own values ourselves?

Max Stirner’s Egoism in a nutshell (probably an oversimplification):

(1) Thoughts, mindsets; concepts—all of which are abstractions we must

understand.
(2) One must not get fixated in particular values, morals, and ideologies
because these are “idealized realities” (Camus, 1956)—social constructs
tend to govern man instead of the other way around. All of which are mere
“spooks”, as he puts it.
(3) In the process, man may lose his individuality.
(4) To retain one’s individuality, man must focus on himself rather than
pursuing values and ideals.
(5) All ideals, after all are human affairs. Instead of being involved to the
affairs of others, you must be concerned with your own affairs.

Albert Camus
(1913- 1960)

Albert Camus is the French absurdist who would prefer

soccer over writing. He wrote novels, plays, and short
stories about the absurdity of life. Life being absurd
amounts to it being illogical and pointless. Camus provides
an essential question in his work The Myth of Sisyphus: Is
life worth living or not? The argument goes like: if a rational
 being gets to exist in an irrational universe, should he pursue living?
Albert Camus’ confrontation of the absurd in a nutshell (probably an
oversimplification):
(1) Camus sees that life is inherently meaningless and absurd.
(2) Absurdity refers to the idea of existence being purposeless, random,
chaotic and irrational (Morner and Rausch, 1993).
(3) Now, to face the absurd we must find purpose in a purposeless universe.
(4) In order to do that, we must strive to be so free that we defy this absurdity;
and in doing so, we create our own purpose.
(5) Albert Camus challenges us on what we should do next once we find out
that life is absurd.

Thus, Albert Camus encourages us to be as free as we want to be or we ought to

be, because that’s how we can deal with our existing conditions.
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that
your very existence is an act of rebellion.” —Albert Camus

In sum, man’s limitation does not lie in his body and mind alone, but in
his setting and default conditions. His random existence in an environment
which is either favorable or unfavorable. Social constructs (knowledge, morality,
and idealized realities) tend to limit him, thus these constructs further him to
achieve a possible transcendence. In order for man to transcend, he must do
something about the latter limitation to his transcendence.
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ACTIVITY A: Discussing the premises of select thoughts

By answering the questions in the first column, you will—by default—provide a brief
take on the philosophies of the given thinkers. Write your answers in the second column.
What do you think is
Nietzsche trying to
teach?

How about Stirner?

What is he trying to
point out?

What is the
difference between
the Übermensch
and egoism?

What is your
understanding of
absurdism?

How should we deal

about life and our
limitations according
to Camus?
 Criteria for each answer:
Content Soundness of the Total
argument
5 5 10
ACTIVITY B: Philosophical Meme

Choose a thinker—one whom speaks to you the most—among the three that we have
discussed. Create a meme which represents the chosen thinker’s idea or philosophy.
You may draw the meme and write the needed text (it doesn’t matter if your drawing is
not that good, this isn’t an art class and I won’t grade you for your drawing, but I will
surely grade you based on the content and relevance of your meme) or edit one on the
internet and print it.

Criteria
Content Unity & Coherence Relevance
5 5 5

ACTIVITY C: Essay Writing

Among the three philosophies that we have discussed, which one appeals to you the
most? Why?
Criteria
Content Unity & Coherence Relevance
5 5 5
Post-test
Matching Type: Select the letters in the third column which correspond to
the premises in the second column. Write your answers in the first Column.
There are only three choices for all of the items ergo such choices can be
repeated.
1. All values are derived from social D. Nietzsche’s
constructs and there can be no fixed ones Übermensch
among them.
2. For a man to transcend his limitations, E. Stirner’s
he must become the best version of Egoism
himself.
3. Man could gain the best way to improve F. Camus’s
the quality of his thinking, and in turn, Absurdism
improve the quality of his life and of
others.
4. All values and ideas can be viewed as
mere spooks.
5. In order for man to live in a word devoid
of meaning and purpose, he must strive
to be so free that he defies
purposelessness; and in doing so, he
creates his own purpose.

6. The most essential philosophical question

is asking whether life is worth living or
otherwise.
7. For a man to keep himself unique, he
must focus on himself rather than
pursuing the values and ideals given by
others.
8. Human beings have not yet finished
evolving and for one to evolve, he must
surpass his old self.
9. All values and ideals are human affairs.
Instead of being involved to the affairs of
others, one must be concerned with his
own affairs.
10. The only way to deal with an unfree
world is to become so absolutely free that
your very existence is an act of rebellion.

Enrichment Activity
One serious human limitation is that human life is frail and short. Given this
condition, knowing that you will die—sooner or later—is it still worth the
trouble to pursue the probability of your own transcendence?
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References:

Camus, A., (1956) The Rebel: An Essay on Man, New York, USA, Vintage Books.

Camus, A., (1955; 1983; 2018) The Myth of Sisyphus, USA, Vintage Books.

Kenny, A., (2007) A New History of Western Philosophy: Volume 4, Philosophy in the
Modern World, New York, Oxford University Press.

Nietzsche, F., (Reprinted 2003), Thus Spoke Zarathustra, England, Penguin Classics.

Stirner, M., (Reprinted 2000) The Ego and Its Own: Edited by David Leopold, Edinburg
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Stirner, M., (Reprinted 2017) The Unique and Its Property: A New Translation with
Introduction by Wolfi Landstreicher, Baltimore, Underworld Amusements.

Velasquez, M., (1994) Philosophy: A Text with Readings, Fifth Edition, United States of
America, Wadsworth Inc.