Department of Education - Region III

Schools Division Office of Olongapo City

MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

K to 12 BASIC EDUCATION CURRICULA / SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL – CORE SUBJECT

MODULE 7: THE HUMAN PERSON IN SOCIETY

Content: The Human Person in Society
Content Standard: The learner understands the interplay between the individuality of
human beings and their social contexts.
Performance Standard: The learner evaluates the formation of human relationships
and how individuals are shaped by their social contexts.
Learning Competencies:
7.1. Recognize how individuals form societies and how individuals are transformed by
societies.
7.2. Compare different forms of societies and individualities (e.g. Agrarian, industrial and
virtual).

7.3. Explain how human relations are transformed by social systems.

7.4. Evaluate the transformation of human relationships by social systems and how
societies transform individual human beings.
The Society

1
 Department of Education - Region III
Schools Division Office of Olongapo City
MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

WHAT IS SOCIETY?
 Society may be defined as the permanent union of men who are united by modes of
behavior that are demanded by some common end, value, or interest.
 Analyzed semantically, the term denotes a union of one kind or another. Its notion
differs from that of community in that community is a form of society in which men are
more intimately bound by specific ends and natural forces.
 Society itself is not possible, however, unless based upon some common moral and
legal understanding with social laws and controls to sustain it; hence some
characteristics of the community are found also in society.
 A society, or a human society, is a group of people involved with each other through
persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or social
territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural
expectations.
 A conception of “the good” is central to understanding what makes a society just, or
fair, for its members. As we look at how specific philosophers view the relationship of
the individual to society, and what makes a society good, notice that a particular
conception of human nature will underly theories on the relationship between
individuals and their society, be it a local community or a nation.

Man Is Social by Nature by Aristotle

 Aristotle’s view and his picture of human nature is that humans are social, political
creatures in their natural state of nature. Capabilities for speech (communication) and
reason foster a cooperative life with others.
 There is no “pre-social” state of nature; humans by nature are social and expand their
social organization beyond the family. Together, individuals build cities, and the best
interest of the city (or society) is more important than the interests of individuals.
 Aristotle’s view that humans are social by nature stands in contrast to that of other
philosophers who see human nature (often articulated as the “state of nature”) as less
than social, possibly even chaotic.
 The agenda of each philosopher we will meet next is to justify the government bodies
and/or social principles essential for members of a society to enjoy a good, or just, life.

Thomas Hobbes: Man is Self-Centered and Mean

 In Hobbes view, in the state of nature humans are selfish, destructive, unprincipled,
and at war with each other. But because humans are also rational, they realize that
their lives will be better if they cooperate with others and live under the protection of a
Sovereign authority, namely the British monarchy.
 This social contract, according to Hobbes, is about giving up some freedom in
exchange for safety. Political structure is required if there is to be peace and
cooperation.

John Locke: Man Has Natural Rights

 John Locke used the social contract to justify the authority of the state. However, he
thought that the role of the government was to be the ‘servant’ of its citizens and
protect peoples’ natural rights.

2
 Department of Education - Region III
Schools Division Office of Olongapo City
MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

 The right to private property, among those natural rights, is central to Locke’s case for
civil government; property ownership is subject to contention, and the contract expects
civil authority to protect property and other rights of the individual.
 Locke believed that all people have natural rights no matter what the culture or
circumstances. Natural rights constitute a basic moral law; moral requirements are
imbedded in his conception of human nature; every person has these rights, simply by
virtue of being human.
 In Locke’s view, the right to life, liberty, health, and property are inalienable. His ideas
were instrumental in forming the basis of America’s Declaration of Independence,
Constitution, and Bill of Rights.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Man is Compassionate (but Corruptible)

 Rousseau thought society ought to be ordered such that people give up some
individual freedom and rights for collective liberty.
 His view of social contract involved uniting together to express a single collective will.
In this way, the state (or society) acts as a moral person, rather than just a collection of
individuals.
 The general will is the will of a politically unified group of people that defines the
common good, determines right and wrong, and is established by passing laws.
Majority vote democratically confirms general will.

THE SIX TYPES OF SOCIETIES

Have you ever wondered what society was like before your lifetime? Maybe you wonder in what
ways has society transformed in the past few centuries? Human beings have created and lived
in several types of societies throughout history. Sociologists have classified the different types
of societies into six categories, each of which possesses their own unique characteristics:

 Hunting and gathering societies

 Pastoral societies
 Horticultural societies
 Agricultural societies
 Industrial societies
 Post-industrial societies

Earliest Societies

3
 Department of Education - Region III
Schools Division Office of Olongapo City
MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

Hunting and gathering societies are the earliest form of society. The members survive
primarily by hunting, trapping, fishing, and gathering edible plants. The majority of the members'
time is spent looking for and gathering food. A hunting and gathering society has five
characteristics:

 Family is the society's primary institution. Family determines the distribution of food and
how to socialize children.
 These societies are small compared to the others. They generally have less than 50
members.
 Hunting and gathering societies are nomadic, which means that they move constantly
in order to find food and water.
 Members of hunting and gathering societies are mutually dependent upon each other.
 Although there is an equal division of labor among the members of hunting and
gathering societies, there is a division of labor based on sex. Men are typically
responsible for hunting, and women are typically gatherers.

Pastoral societies began around 12,000 years ago. These societies rely on products
obtained through the domestication and breeding of animals for transportation and food.
Pastoral societies are common in areas where crops cannot be supported, for example in North
Africa. Unlike hunting and gathering societies, pastoral societies only have to move when the
land in which the animals graze is no longer usable. Pastoral societies also allow for job
specialization, since not everyone is needed to gather or hunt for food. For example, while some
people breed animals, others are able to produce tools or clothing, which allows for
specialization in these areas.

Developing Societies

Horticultural societies emerged between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago in Latin
America, Asia, and parts of the Middle East. These societies rely on the cultivation of fruits,
vegetables, and plants in order to survive. Horticultural societies are often forced to relocate
when the resources of the land are depleted or when the water supplies decrease.
Also referred to as agrarian societies, agricultural societies rely on the use of technology
in order to cultivate crops in large areas, including wheat, rice, and corn. The technological
advances led to an increase in food supplies, an increase in population, and the development of
trade centers. This period of technological changes is referred to as the Agricultural

4
 Department of Education - Region III
Schools Division Office of Olongapo City
MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

Revolution and began around 8,500 years ago. Agricultural societies developed roughly in this
order:

 Animals are used to pull plows.

 Plowing allows for the cultivation of larger areas of land.
 Soil aeration caused by plowing leads to higher crop yields over longer periods of time.
 High volumes of food production allow people to build permanent homes in a single
location.
 Towns develop, which eventually grow into cities.
 Job specialization increases as high-yield crops allow people to focus on skills and
crafts other than farming.
 Fewer people are involved with food production, and economies diversify as a result.

Advanced Societies

Industrial societies were developed with the Industrial Revolution that started around
1769. The Industrial Revolution began with England's improvement and use of the steam
engine as a way to power machines. Industrial societies rely on advanced energy sources in
order to run machinery. Changes that occurred in industrialized societies include:
 it reinforces the significance of manufacturing in the development of a society.
 an industrial society is one that uses advances in technology to drive a strong
manufacturing industry that will support a large population.
 an industrial society, a considerable portion of its economy is tied to jobs that involve
mechanized labor, like factory farming or auto-assembly plants, which involve a
combination of machines and human employees to produce consumer products.
 In most cases, the objective of an industrial economy is the mass production of
goods, which is the fast and efficient manufacturing of standardized products.

Post-Industrial Societies
A post-industrial society is a stage in a society's development during which the
economy transitions from one that primarily provides goods to one that primarily provides
services.
In other words, the service sector, made up of people such as nurses, teachers,
researchers, social workers, and lawyers, among others, accounts for more of the economic
growth and wealth than the manufacturing sector, which is made up of people such as

5
 Department of Education - Region III
Schools Division Office of Olongapo City
MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

construction workers, textile mill workers, food manufacturers, and production workers. The
economic transformation associated with a post-industrial society subsequently transforms
society as a whole.
Information, services, and advanced technology are more important in post-industrial
societies than manufacturing tangible goods. As the name suggests, a post-industrial society
follows an industrialized society, which focused on mass producing goods with the aide of
machinery.
Post-industrialization can easily be seen in places like Europe and the United States, which
were affected by the Industrial Revolution before other places around the world. The United
States was the first country to have more than fifty percent of its workers employed in service
sector jobs.
 Here are some stages of a post-industrial society:
 Increase of the amount of information technology (computers), often leading to an
Information Age.
 Increase of service sector jobs instead of industrial jobs.
 Extensive use of machinery in manufacturing.
 Information, creativity, and knowledge are seen as the new raw materials of the
economy
New Society
The Virtual Society

 The virtual society transcends cities, states, nations, and continents, and represents an
evolutionary as opposed to a revolutionary movement. Although information technology
(IT) is the main enabling force of the virtual society, other components are also at work,
namely, economic, political, cultural, and social forces.
 The finite level forces include global economies, policies, and politics, enlightened and
diversified population, and the information technology infrastructure. These forces
continue to create the necessary conditions for the eventual realization of the virtual
society.
 Current virtual workplace arrangements and practices of virtuality include telework (at
the individual level), virtual teams (at the group level), virtual corporations (at the
organizational level), and virtual communities (at the community level).

6
 Department of Education - Region III
Schools Division Office of Olongapo City
MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

 Other arrangements and practices continue to evolve. Once a critical mass of these
virtual activities and practices permeates all levels of society, the outcome will be the
virtual society. The economic, social, political, and technological forces unleashed by
the information society are inevitably leading to the virtual society.
Society may be viewed as a system of interrelated mutually dependent parts which cooperate
to preserve a recognizable whole and to satisfy some purposes or goal. Social system may be
described as an arrangement of social interactions based on shared norms and values.
Individuals constitute it and each has place and function to perform within it.
Meaning of Social System:
It is Talcott Parsons who has given the concept of ‘system’ current in modern sociology.
Social system refers to’ an orderly arrangement, an inter relationships of parts. In the
arrangement, every part has a fixed place and definite role to play. The parts are bound by
interaction. System signifies, thus, patterned relationship among constituent parts of a structure
which is based on functional relations and which makes these parts active and binds them into
reality.
It consists in mutual inter action and interrelation of individuals and of the structure
formed by their relations. It is not time bound. It is different from an aggregate of people and
community. According to Lapiere, “The term society refers not to group of people, but to
the complex pattern of the norms of inter action that arises among and between them.”
Applying these conclusions to society, social system may be described as an
arrangement of social interactions based on shared norms and values. Individuals constitute it,
and each has place and function to perform within it. In the process, one influences the other;
groups are formed and they gain influence, numerous subgroups come into existence.
But all of these are coherent. They function as a whole. Neither individual, nor the group
can function in isolation. They are bound in oneness, by norms and values, culture and shared
behaviour. The pattern that thus comes into existence becomes the social system.
A social system may be defined, after Parsons, a plurality of social actors who are
engaged in more or less stable interaction “according to shared cultural norms and meanings”
Individuals constitute the basic interaction units. But the interacting units may be groups or
organization of individuals within the system.
Elements of Social System:
The elements of social system are described as under:
1. Faiths and Knowledge: The faiths and knowledge bring about the uniformity in the
behaviors. They act as controlling agency of different types of human societies. The faiths or the
faith is the result of the prevalent customs and beliefs. They enjoy the force of the individual are
guided towards a particular direction.

7
 Department of Education - Region III
Schools Division Office of Olongapo City
MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

2. Sentiment: Man does not live by reason alone. Sentiments – filial, social, notional etc.
have played immense role in investing society with continuity. It is directly linked with the culture
of the people.
3. End Goal or object: Man is born social and dependent. He has to meet his
requirements and fulfill his obligations. Man, and society exist between needs and satisfactions,
end and goal. These determine the nature of social system. They provided the pathway of
progress, and the receding horizons.
4. Ideals and Norms: The society lays down certain norms and ideals for keeping the
social system intact and for determining the various functions of different units. These norms
prescribe the rules and regulations on the basis of which individuals or persons may acquire
their cultural goals and aims.
In other words, ideals and norms are responsible for an ideal structure or system of the
society. Due to them the human behavior does not become deviant and they act according to
the norms of the society. This leads to organization and stability. These norms and ideals
include folkways, customs, traditions, fashions, morality, religion, etc.
5. Status-Role: Every individual in society is functional. He goes by status-role relation.
It may come to the individual by virtue of his birth, sex, caste, or age. One may achieve it on the
basis of service rendered.
6. Role: Like the status, society has prescribed different roles to different individuals.
Sometimes we find that there is a role attached to every status. Role is the external expression
of the status. While discharging certain jobs or doing certain things, every individual keeps in his
mind his status. This thing leads to social integration, organization and unity in the social
system. In fact, statuses and roles go together. It is not possible to separate them completely
from one another.
7. Power: Conflict is a part of social system, and order is its aim. It is implicit, therefore,
that some should be invested with the power to punish the guilty and reward those who set an
example. The authority exercising power will differ from group to group; while the authority of
father may be supreme in the family, in the state it is that of the ruler.
8. Sanction: It implies confirmation by the superior in authority, of the acts done be the
subordinate or the imposition of penalty for the infringement of the command. The acts done or
not done according to norms may bring reward and punishment.
Characteristics of Social System:

Social system has certain characteristics. These characteristics are as follows:

1. System is connected with the plurality of Individual actors: It means that a
system or social system cannot be borne as a result of the activity of one individual. It is the
result of the activities of various individuals. For system, or social system, interaction of several
individuals has to be there.

8
 Department of Education - Region III
Schools Division Office of Olongapo City
MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

2. Aim and Object: Human interactions or activities of the individual actors should not
be aimless or without object. These activities have to be according to certain aims and objects.
The expression of different social relations borne as a result of human interaction.
3. Order and Pattern amongst various Constituent Units: Mere coming together of
various constituent units that from social system does not necessarily create a social system. It
has to be according to a pattern, arrangement and order. The underlined unity amongst various
constituent units brings about ‘social system’.
4. Functional Relationship is the Basis of Unity: We have already seen different
constituent units have a unity in order to form a system. This unity is based on functional
relations. As a result of functional relationships between different constituent units an integrated
whole is created and this is known as social system.
5. Physical or Environmental Aspect of Social System: It means that every social
system is connected with a definite geographical area or place, time, society etc. In other words,
it means that social system is not the same at different times, at different place and under
different circumstances. This characteristic of the social system again points out towards its
dynamic or changeable nature.
6. Linked with Cultural System: Social system is also linked with cultural system. It
means that cultural system brings about unity amongst different members of the society on the
basis of cultures, traditions, religions etc.
7. Expressed and implied Aims and Objects: Social system is also linked with
expressed and implied aims. In other words, it means that social system is the coming together
of different individual actors who are motivated by their aims and objectives and their needs.
8. Characteristics of Adjustment: Social system has the characteristic of adjustment. It
is a dynamic phenomenon which is influenced by the changes caused in the social form. We
have also seen that the social system is influenced by the aims, objects and the needs of the
society. It means that the social system shall be relevant only if it changes itself according to the
changed objects and needs. It has been seen that change takes place in the social system due
to human needs, environment and historical conditions and phenomena.
9. Order, Pattern and Balance: Social system has the characteristics of pattern, order
and balance. Social system is not an integrated whole but putting together of different units.
This coming together does not take place in a random and haphazard manner. There is an
order am’ balance.
It is so because different units of the society do not work as independent units but they
do not exist in a vacuum but in a socio-cultural pattern. In the pattern different units have
different functions and roles. It means that there is a pattern and order in the social system.
Types of Social System:
Parsons presents a classification of four major types in terms of pattern variable. These are as
follows:

9
 Department of Education - Region III
Schools Division Office of Olongapo City
MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

1. The Particularistic Ascriptive Type: According to Parsons, this type of social

system tends to be organized around kinship and sociality. The normative patterns of such a
system are traditional and thoroughly dominated by the elements of ascription. This type of
system is mostly represented by preliterate societies in which needs are limited to biological
survival.
2. The Particularistic Achievement Type: There is a significant role of religious ideas
as differentiating element in social life. When these religious ideas are rationally systematized
that possibility of new religious concepts emerge. As a result of this nature of prophecy and
secondly it may depend on non-empirical realm to which the porphyry is connected.
3. The Universalistic Achievement Type: When ethical prophecy and non-empirical
conceptions are combined, a new set of ethical norms arise. It is because the traditional order is
challenged by the ethical prophet in the name of supernatural. Such norms are derived from the
existing relations of social member; therefore, they are universalistic in nature. Besides, they are
related with empirical or non-empirical goals, therefore they are achievement oriented.
4. The Universalistic Ascription Type: Under this social type, elements of value
orientation are dominated by the elements of ascription. Therefore, emphasis is placed on
status of the actor, rather than his performance. In such a system, actor’s achievements are
almost values to a collective goal. Therefore, such a system becomes politicized and
aggressive. An authoritarian State example of this types.
Maintenance of Social System:
A social system is maintained by the various mechanisms of social control. These mechanisms
maintain the equilibrium between the various processes of social interaction.
In brief, these mechanisms may be classified in the following categories:
1. Socialization. It is process by which an individual is adjusted with the conventional
pattern of social behaviors. A child by birth is neither social nor unsocial. But the process of
socialization develops him into a functioning member of society. He adjusts himself with the
social situations conforming with social norms, values and standards.
2. Social control. Like socialization, social control is also a system of measures by
which society molds its members to conform with the approved pattern of social behavior.
According to Parsons, there are two types of elements which exist in every system. These are
integrative and disintegrative and create obstacles in the advancement of integration.
Functions of Social System:
Social system is a functional arrangement. It would not exist if it were not so. Its functional
character ensures social stability and continuity. The functional character of society, Parsons
has discussed in depth. Other sociologists such as Robert F. Bales too have discussed it.
It is generally agreed that the social system has four primary functional problems to attend.
These are:

10
 Department of Education - Region III
Schools Division Office of Olongapo City
MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

1. Adaptation: Adaptability of social system to the changing environment is essential.

No doubt, a social system is the result of geographical environment and a long drawn historical
process which by necessity gives it permanence and rigidity. Yet, that should not make it
wooden and inelastic. It need be a flexible and functional phenomenon. Lack of adaptability,
very often has caused the social system to be challenged. It has caused revolution resulting in
the overhauling of the system.
2. Goal Attainment: Goal attainment and adaptability are deeply interconnected. Both
contribute to the maintenance of social order. Every social system has one or more goals to be
attained through cooperative effort. Perhaps the best example of a societal goal is national
security. Adaptation to the social and nonsocial environment is, of course, necessary if goals
are to be attained. But in addition, human and nonhuman resources must be mobilized in some
effective way, according to the specific nature of tasks.
3. Integration: Social system is essentially an integration system. In the general routine
of life, it is not the society but the group or the subgroup in which one feels more involved and
interested. Society, on the whole does not come into one’s calculations. Yet, we know as
indicated by Durkheim, that individual is the product of society. Emotions, sentiments and
historical forces are so strong that one cannot cut oneself from his moorings.
Cooperation in effort is often demonstrative of integrating. It is the real basis of
integration. “Social control” is the need for standardized reactions to violations in order to protect
the integrity of the system. When there is dispute concerning the interpretation of relational or
regulative norms, or concerning the factual aspects of conflicts of interest, there is need for
agreed-upon social arrangements for settling the dispute. Otherwise the social system would be
subject to progressive splits.
4. Latent Pattern-maintenance: Pattern maintenance and tension management is the
primary function of social system. Every individual and subgroup learn the patterns in the
process of the internalization of norms and values. It is to invest the actors with appropriate
attitude and respect towards norms and institution, that the socialization works.
There may yet be occasions when the components of social system may become
subject of distraction and disturbance. Tension may arise due to internal or external causes and
society may get involved into a critical situation. Just as a family in distress draws upon all its
resources to overcome it, so also society has to overcome it.
This process of ‘overcoming’ is the management of the tension. Society has the
responsibility, like a family, to keep its members functional, to relieve them of anxiety, to
encourage those who would be detrimental to the entire system. The decline of societies has
been very much because the pattern maintenance and tension management mechanism has
often failed.

11
 Department of Education - Region III
Schools Division Office of Olongapo City
MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

Activity: Describe the ways of living of the society in the given type. How do you think you can
best live in that particular era?

Hunting and Gathering Society

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Agricultural Society __________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Industrial Society
__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Virtual Society
__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

12
 Department of Education - Region III
Schools Division Office of Olongapo City
MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Subic Bay Freeport Zone

LEARNING ASSESSMENT

NAME: ________________________________________ Track/Strand: __________________

1. Discuss. How do you think a particular society transforms an individual?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Discuss. How do you think human relations are transformed by social systems?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

3. Discuss. What do you think are the challenges our country, the Philippines needs
to overcome in order to adjust to the so-called, Virtual Society?
.________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Prepared by

LEO C. EUSANTOS, MPsy., LPT.

Professional Teacher

Note: The Learning Assessment part must be submitted together with the given activity
paper.

13