Nature of a Human Being

The Human Body is far from perfection

Sense Perception is deceptive. Moreover, rational thinking is still subject to errors and misjudgments

These limitations define us human beings, rationalizing one’s limitations and possibilities does not
equate to being lower than anyone. It just proves that a human person, no one can be on top of
anybody.

Recognizing limitations and possibilities will help us understand that each person in this world is equal in
the sense that we all have our own imperfections and capabilities. True limitations and possibilities of
the human nature are still not fully established. That is why philosophy still question the nature of
human beings.

Physical Limitations

- We do not have super powers nor super human abilities

- Our body is subject to change.
- Some people test their limits some experience the decline of their capabilities as they get older.
- No exact measurement to dictate the real limits of the human body.
- Normal Eye Vision – can see a flame 30 miles away
- We can’t live with food, water, oxygen.
- Needs to rest to regenerate lost energy so that the body can function properly
- Can carry a third of their body weight, the heavier u are the less you can carry
- Can’t tolerate extreme weather conditions (hot or cold)
- Humans do not have special body parts to be on par with animals. (fins, wings, flippers)
- Prone to illness, disease and death

Intellectual Limitations

- Brain – small spongy mass of tissue but is a complex network of neurons. Controls body,
thoughts and feelings, solves problems, experience emotions, store memories and communicate
with others. Even if its powerful it has its own limitations.
- Sense- perception – can be deceptive. Senses are selective, we can only get partial knowledge of
the data that we absorb. Our senses can be wrong at times.
- Prone to information overload, has prejudices and biases, difficulty in processing information.
- Pareidolia - phenomenon, demonstrate how human brains can interpret information with
inherent bias.
- Antonio Damascio – people who lack emotional response have difficulty in creating good
situation over a situation.
- Annual Review of Psychology – fearful people made pessimistic judgements.
- Studies Reveal that stress has a positive effect to the burst of productivity to a person. Long
term stress can disturb this so it can weaken the immune system and can develop chronic
diseases.
- Plato – emotions are the reason why human beings are imperfect. Emotions have negative and
positive impact to the habit of a person. Emotions can range from extreme feelings of love to
 disgust. Expressive or not every person is affected of his or her emotions, this can affect logical
reasoning.

Summary

- Imperfection is part of human beings, when we recognize our limitations we realize that
everyone is equal and no one is above someone else.
- Physical Imperfections involve limitations of senses, dependency on food, water and oxygen.
- Intellectual Imperfections involve sense perception and cognitive functions that may lead to the
confusion and wrong interpretation to data and misjudgment.
- Emotional Imperfections involve the impact of emotions in the daily decisions and activities of
the people.

Transcendence

- Means surpassing the physical experience of going past or beyond others. Reality beyond one’s
consciousness.

Plato

- Plato – two different worlds that exist from one another. Intelligible World - world of forms and
Sensible – Material World. Subjected to change.
- World of Forms is unchanging and infinite – Material is Changeable and Unreliable.
- We cannot be slaves of what we perceive in this world.
- Find truth through philosophizing.

Aristotle

- Similar with Plato, he also believer that aside from the physical objects that we can sense in this
world, these objects are representations of their perfect forms but these representations exist
within them. Some argue that this is the essence of an object that exists within him but cannot
be grasped through one’s sense perception.
- Different from Plato – he believed that there is only one world but the forms exist within the
physical objects, forms are being shared by the objects that reflect their essence.

Augustine

- The soul administers the body life can be perfected by following the eternal laws
- Body and Soul composite. Similar to Plato and Aristotle – he established that the human body is
a reflection of the soul. Soul is superior to the body and Soul rules the body.
- African Theologian known for his interpretation of the Christian thoughts based on the platonic
and neoplatonic teachings. Augustine believed that the relationship of the soul and body is a
positive relationship and not a soul entrapped within the body.
- Freewill - Soul makes the human moral. Grace of God gave humans souls to administer the body
according to its freewill. Human freewill desires to live upright and honorable lives and to attain
the highest wisdom. Possible to make human life to be perfected as long as they are morally
responsible and will follow the eternal law set by God.

Thomas Aquinas
 - Humans are given the gift of intellect or reason. The reason is the only tool of humans to
understand and know God’s knowledge.
- Argued the main difference among human, plants and animals is that humans are given the
function of reason and intelligence. Similar to Augustine, Aquinas believe that God gave the gift
of reason to humans for them to understand the truth of life.
- Cognitive – intellect, know and understand
- Appetitive – Will, understand the good.
- Intellectual Limitations of humans prevent them from knowing and understanding what is Good
in Life.
- Causes them to seek things that give them immediate gratification than good things that can
give long term happiness but would initially precipitate hardships. Humans can only understand
the knowledge of God through reason.

Hinduism

- Transcendence is met through being with Atman or Brahma. Life undergoes samsara
- Believes on the duality of human nature, human beings have two natures such as the spiritual
and immortal along with the physical body,
- Main purpose of life is to seek the truth and reach the Brahman or Atman (Absolute Soul)
- Unifying principle and Supreme Reality behind everything in this world.
- Soul Reality and is eternal, infinite, transcendent and all embracing.
- Contains both being and non being, self = atman of all living things.
- Diverse interpretation of their faith.
- Shiva, Vishnu, others inward to reach atman.
- Limitation – Process of Rebirth or Samsara
- Feed on one’s karma which is the effect of a person’s everyday activity.
- Moshka – salvation from samsara, escape from the impermanence of life. Done by being one
with God of Brahman.

Buddhists

- Transcendence is met through enlightenment 4 noble truths and 8 fold path

- Reaching enlightenment, a person must understand the 4 noble truths. Which talks about the
four realities in life. Those who understand the meaning of life must understand these truths.
- Some people think that the 4 noble truths convey a pessimistic view of life; however, the
religion maintains that understanding this will also open the heart and soul of a person to the
absolute truth of life.
- Life is full of sufferings (pain, death, getting old, disease and death)
- Suffering can be caused by craving aversion
- Suffering can be overcome by true happiness and affinity to the world
- The 8th fold path which leads to the end of Suffering
- Right understanding, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration.

The Human Person in the Environment

Environmental Ethical Theories

 - Moral value of actions in relation to the environment. Moral connection between a person and
the environment.

Anthropocentrism

- High consideration on the effects of man.

- Human Centered
- Man’s life is the most important life form and thus deserved the highest moral consideration
- If an environmental system does not take the condition of man to the highest consideration,
then there is disorder in the environment

Biocentrism

- Actions depend on the effects of any life form.

- Life Centered
- All forms of life are of equal worth and thus deserve equal moral consideration
- If an environmental system does not equally consider the condition of other life forms as it
considers that of man, then there is disorder in that environment.

Both of the theories have beneficial points but in the event of contradiction, wherein the consideration
of man’s gains will be disadvantageous to other life forms and vice versa, the examiner of the problem is
faced with the difficult dilemma.

Stewardship

- One way to reconcile the opposition of anthropocentrism and biocentrism is to adopt the idea
of stewardship. By embracing this idea, man conceives himself as primarily responsible for
taking care of the environment. This way man will be sensitive to the other life forms without
taking away his responsibility to himself. For he will not care for himself, there will be no one to
take care of the environment as well. The key to this reconciliation is finding the perfect balance
in addressing the sustainable needs of man and his environment.
- It is essential to remember that man is gifted with rationality, strength and many capabilities
that other organisms lack. The gift is both a gift and responsibility.
- A person owes it to himself or herself to provide the best world for oneself and to other people.
The only way to ensure this is to take good care of the environment and of oneself.

Environmental Ethics

- Is concerned with the relationship of human beings with their environment. It is concerned with
the understanding on how should human being align their actions and behaviors to morally
grounded principles.

Deep Ecology

- Believes that the people need to create a new theoretical or philosophical framework that is
outside the scope of anthropocentrism. It argues that anthropocentric perspectives that are
concerned with pollution and resource depletion are shallow because philosophy that revolves
around the modern industries still destroys the environment.

Ecocentrism
 - Ethical principle that acknowledges the intrinsic value of the natural world that debunks the idea
that the human beings own everything and has authority over it.

Social Ecology

- Understands the interactions of the social, institutional and cultural contexts of the relationship
of the people to the nature. It analyzes the interdependence of social systems from one
another.
- Bookchin’s version of critical theory takes the “outer-physical world” as constituting what he
called “first nature” from which culture “second nature” has evolved.
- Macro system – social conditions, cultural values, national customs, political ideologies,
economy
- Exosystem – local politics, industry social services, mass media, community
- Meso system – interactions in the micro system
- Micro system - family, school, health, services, community, church
- Individual – sex, age, health, etc
- Urie Bronfenbrenner – believed that everyone must consider the entire ecological system to
understand human development.

Ecofeminism

- Holds that ecological crisis is caused by the domination of men over women and of the nature
- They associate anthropocentrism with patriarchy.