Lesson 1 MENTAL STATES, WHICH HUMAN ARE NOT

FREEDOM OF
ARE.
 THESE MENTAL STATES, IN TURN, GOVERN
HUMAN DECISIONS, ACTIONS AND

THE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR.

SIGMUND FREUD

PERSON
o HE IS CONSIDERED AS THE FATHER
OF THE SCHOOL OF PSYCHOANALYSIS
o HE IS KNOWN FOR HIS CONCEPTS OF
THE THREE APECTS OF HUMAN
PAN-DETERMINISM’S VIEW PERSONALITY AND THE THREE LEVEL
OF MIND
OF FREEDOM AS AN 3 LEVELS OF MIND
a. CONSCIOUS
ILLUSION  IT INCLUDES EVERYTHING
LIKE THOUGHTS,
PAN-DETERMINISM FEELINGS, AND ACTIONS
 the PAN-DETERMINISM IS THE “VIEW WHICH OF WHICH PEOPLE ARE
DISREGARDS THE HUMAN CAPACITY TO TAKE CURRENTLY AWARE OF.
A STAND TOWARD ANY CONDITIONS b. pre-CONSCIOUS
WHATSOEVER”  includes all mental
 IT STATES THAT A HUMAN Person IS NOT activities which are
FREE BECAUSE HIS/HER DECISIONS, ACTIONS, not presently active
AND BEHAVIOUR ARE DETERMINED BY but stored
HIS/HER BIOLOGICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND somewhere in our
SOCIOLOGICAL. memory. it can be
easily accessed when
1. BIOLOGICAL DETRMINISM required.
 REFERS TO THE IDES THAT ALL HUMAN
BEHAVIOUR INNATE, DETRMINED BY c. unconscious
GENES, BRAIN SIZE, OR OTHER BIOLOGICAL  it includes mental
ATTRIBUTES. activity that people
are unaware of.
HUMAN according to him,
o ARE BIOLOGICALLY PRE-DISPOSED TO some of the feelings,
DECIDE, ACT, OR BEHAVE IN A thoughts, urges and
CERTAIN WAY. emotions that our
PAN-DETRMINISM conscious mind wants
o IS THE IDEA THAT HUMAN BEHAVIOUR to hide buried into
IS THE SYMPTOM OF BIOLOGICAL AND unconscious mind,
SOCIAL CONDITIONS. influence some of
2. PSYCHOLOGICAL DETRMINISM our unexplained
behavior.
 ACCORDING TO FREUD, HUMAN ACTION
ARE NOT FREE. HUMAN ACTIONS MAY
freud’s view of the human
APPEAR FREE, BUT THEY ARE NOTHING mind
BUT A MANIFESTATION OF THE VARIOUS
  freud likens his concept of
the mind to an iceberg. the
conscious level is the tip
of the iceberg
 the preconscious is in-
between the two levels, and
the unconscious level is the
seat of the mind, which is
concealed, vast and
powerful.
3. sociological DETRMINISM
 according to b.f. skinner, there is
no autonomous agent in humans
that determines their actions.
human behavior is shaped by
external conditions (the surrounding
environment) and not by the so-
called inner self.
 actions that produce good
consequences are reinforced;
conversely, actions that yield
negative effects have the tendency
not to be repeated.
 positive or negative reinforcement
(reward or punishment mechanism)
is, therefore imperative to shaping
and changing human behavior.
 the best way to shape and change
human behavior is through a
reinforcing environment.
 if human behavior is determined by
its consequences, reinforced if it
has pleasant consequences and not
reinforced if it has unpleasant
consequences, then it is externally
determined.
 if human behavior is environmentally
determined, then it makes no sense
to claim that the person is free.
 for to claim that a person is free
is to posit an autonomous agent.
Burrhus Frederic skinner
o HE IS an American psychologist
and social philosopher.
o he is known for his defense of
behaviorism, a view of claiming
that human behavior is
conditioned.
FREEDOM & RESPONSIBILITY
“You ARE – your life, and nothing
else.”
-Jean paul-sartre-
Jean Paul Sartre
o June 21, 1905 to April 15, 1980
o was a French novelist,
playwright, and philosopher. a
leading figure in 2oth-century
French philosophy.
o he was an exponent of a
philosophy of existence known as
existentialism.
a. definition of freedom and
responsibility
freedom
o the power or right to act, speak,
or think as one wants without
hindrance or restraint.
o the state of being physically
unrestricted and able to move
easily.
responsibility
o a duty or obligation to
satisfactorily perform or
complete a task (assigned by
someone or created by one’s own
promise or circumstances) that
one must fulfill, and which has a
consequent penalty or failure.
b. freedom implies responsibility
 a human person is not only free to
choose his/her actions, but also, to
create meanings in his/her own life.
 because a human person is free,
he/she is responsible not only for
himself/herself, but also, for
others and ultimately for humanity.
  a person is in charge of his/her
own life.
what can you say about these
statements?
o a person is the “master of
his/her fate and the captain of
his/her soul.”
o a person has no excuse; he/she
has to live his/her own life.
proxy is not allowed
o a person is free, but freedom is
not mean to license to do
anything he/she wants.
o a person is free, but he/she
does not exist alone; he/she
coexists with others and his/her
actions surely affects others.
o So, a person is not responsible
for himself/herself, but also,
for others and ultimately for
humanity.
o note: this is a person’s
responsibility, and this
responsibility is huge.
o and the person’s awareness of
this responsibility gives him/her
so much anguish
 anguish - the feeling of
being burdened by his or
her own awareness of
his/her own total
responsibility
c. freedom is doing what is
good as a matter of duty
 as an autonomous rational being, a
person acts freely only if he/she
acts for the sake of duty, which
he/she imposed upon himself/herself
in accordance with the moral laws.
9coplestone, 1994)
o autonomous being – one that
does not have an authority other
than its reason.
 first, there exists a moral law that
governs all human persons in the
world this moral law is universal it
applies that all human persons as
rational beings regardless of space
and time.
 this moral law is also absolute in
the sense that it requires complete
obedience from its subjects.
 second, a human person is a
rational being and, as such, he/she
should be governed by his/her
reason.
 this makes him/her autonomous
being, one who performs actions
based on his/her own will.
 to be autonomous is to be an
authority of oneself. to be
autonomous is to will one’s actions
freely.
 third, a human person acts freely
only if he/she acts for the sake of
his/her duty, which is self-imposed
but in accordance with the moral
law.
 as an autonomous being, a human
person ought to act in accordance
only with the commands he/she
imposes upon himself/herself.
 person has an obligation to obey the
decrees of the moral law.
 human person has two obligations
1. to obey the dictates of
his/her reason.
2. to obey the decrees of moral
law.
d. freedom and responsibility
in concrete situations
 according to iris marion young
(2007), the concept of responsibility
is used in two senses
1. first senses
o to be responsible is to be guilty
or to be at fault for an act
committed, making the agent of
an act deserving or blame
and/or punishment
example:
 Nathalie for example
inflicted harm to aaron. if
Nathalie voluntarily,
knowingly, and willingly
harmed aaron, then he/she
should be held liable to a
punishment.
2. second senses
o to be responsible is to carry out
a task morally or legally
required of a person by virtue
of his/her position, authority, or
power.
example:
 a father is responsible for
his children
 a teacher has a
responsibility to educate
his/her student.
 the president of the
country is responsible for
protecting the lives,
properties, and liberties of
the people under his/her
care.
 necessity for a meaningful
existence.
2. human being is born and
creates himself/herself in
social interaction
o the existence of a human being
is the consequence of social
interaction, particularly two
Lesson 2 unique individuals

the
o they together strengthen this
interaction through constant
communication

intersubjective the dimensions

nonrelational self
of a

experience 1. the self in isolation

o human being lives in isolation
when he/she does not recognize
people need people
the existence of other human
beings.
o another form of isolation is
intersubjectivity of when a human being consciously
human beings leaves
situation.
the communicative

o he/she cannot attain full

intersubjectivity of human
beings
 intersubjectivity presupposes a human
being’s connectivity with other human
beings.
 we share the same situations wherein
we can create shared meanings which
are the bases for our collective
actions and beliefs.
1. human being is a social
being
o a human being creates his/her
world to establish relationships
with other created things for
him/her to survive as part of it.
o as social beings, communication
or dialogue among humans is a
consciousness of himself/herself
in isolation
2. the self in the realm of
pretentious
o Buber observes that human being
pretends to be another person
to be accepted by others.
o when a human being relates with
another deception, the content of
such communication is not the
true self but the seeming and
imagined self.
3. the self in the realm of
manipulations
o a human being sees the other
person as a mere “thing or it.”
o he/she does not recognize the
very being of the other.
 o he/she controls the other as an o freedom affects something in
object. the human being if it is
4. the self in the realm of expressed in a dialogical context
o human freedom can only find its
selfishness true meaning in relation to the
o the “l” is the center of the freedom of another human being.
relationship and sees only itself
as the basis of truth and of 4. truth and dialogue: making
social existence. present
o selfishness blinds a person from o truth about one’s self-being is
seeing the other as a source of always relational, and it is
unique world, values and meaning unveiled through dialogical
that can possibly enrich his/her situations or communicative
being. manifestation
the human being as being-in- o he/she makes present the truth
of his/her self-being and his/her
dialogue own world
1. self-consciousness and meaningful life is realized in a constant dialogue
dialogue with other persons
o self-consciousness begins with
the consciousness of another’s
consciousness communicating each
other in a vocative situation or
in a dialogue
o the continuous dialogue between
“l’s” self-consciousness leads to
the establishment of unity of
consciousness that pervades in
the dialogue
2. selfhood and dialogue
o human being’s selfhood is its
inviduality, self-being, self-
realization, and well-being.
o every experience or event that
unfolds in the dialogical situation
becomes a tangible expression of
self. dialogue fosters selfhood.
3. freedom and dialogue
unfolding of the self
o freedom is a human aspect that
he/she becomes conscious of
himself/herself
 natural desire to leave behind
themselves.”
o man and woman  marriage 
family  other families 
village  single community 
state
state
 it is the self-sufficing
community of people
existing for the sake of
good life.
2. second argument
o humans have the capacity for
Lesson 3
speech
o animals are able to express their
homo socius experience of pain and pleasure
through various bodily movement.

“Humans are
o only humans have the capacity to
use language to articulate and
communicate their thoughts.

social beings” 3. third argument

“humans are political by nature”
humans as political
beings
 humans have natural desire to live in
communities for the sake of self-
preservation, common protection, and
good life.
 political society (state) is formed out
of the natural evolution of
communities not a product of human
conventions.
three reasons/ arguments
according to Aristotle
1. first argument
o men and women have both
natural desires to propagate
their species for they “have a
o “… the state is by nature
clearly prior to the existence of
the family of the individual…,”
o Aristotle states that an organ
of a body cannot exist with a
body. the body is the whole of
which the organ is a part.
o the individual cannot exist
without a state. the state is a
whole of which the individual is a
part.
in conclusion
 humans are rational beings
 they have rational because they have
the capacity to reason out.
 rationality implies responsibility.
 reason dictates that humans should
live together as one society
Plato's Idea of a Just
Society
Plato’s idea of human nature
 a human person has a soul
 a soul is composed of three parts
namely: the appetitive, the spirited,
and the rational.
1. the appetitive
o responsible for the person’s need
for nourishment and
reproduction.
o there are times when the
appetite overwhelms the human
person and he/she become
desirous.
2. the spirited
o responsible for the person’s
emotion, passion and will power.
o there are times that the spirit
is dominant in the human person.
he/she becomes competitive and
ambitious and courageous.
3. the rational
o responsible for the person’s
thinking.
o it is the highest and is supposed
to govern both the appetitive
and the spirited parts.
o reason should tame the appetite
and guide the spirit in order to
produce a harmonious
personality.
Plato’s ideal society
 there are three kinds of people who
are individually subject to the chaotic
interactions of the three parts of the
soul.
 just like in the three parts of the
soul, the three kinds of the people are
indispensable in the health of the
society.
 no one should be thrown away;
everyone should be placed where he/she
best fit.
 the first problem is to determine who
among the people belong to the desire-
driven, to the power-driven, and to the
wisdom-seekers.
 the next problem is to determine the
positions of each class of people in
the society.
 third problem is to determine how they
should live as members of the society
given their respective natures and
positions.
 there is no better way to classify
people and to determine their social
position except through education.
 this means that people will occupy their
social positions according to their
educational qualifications.
 this mode of classification of the
people is democratic in the sense that
everyone is given equal opportunity to
hold social positions.
 social positions are merited and not
inherited.
the evolution of
societies
Karl Marx
 societies all over the world have
undergone the process of evolution.
 underlying This evolution of societies
has been the constant struggle between
social classes
four major stages of
evolutions of societies
1. prehistory
o selfless and cooperative beings
o possessing no private property
o people lived by hunting and
gathering
o abundance supply of foods
o no division of labor
o no social classes
o no war
o people live in peace and o the capitalist society is doomed
contentment to collapsed and said to self-
o the prehistoric society was a destruct.
paradise-like (Tannenbaum & 4. communism
Schultz, 2004) o is a political theory that
2. precapitalism advocated the abolition of
agricultural society private property.
period of slavery private property
(ancient)  it is the root cause of all
 masters and slaves evils in the society.
 development of agriculture o all private properties will be
 people started to cultivate confiscated and will be owned in
 gave birth to private common.
property and division of o each will work according to
labor his/her ability but will receive
 birth to social classes according to his/her needs.
 establishment of social o there will be no classes n the
institutions. society
period of serfdom o instead of competition, there will
(medieval) be cooperation.
 lords replaced the masters antagonistic social classes
and serfs replace the 1. the master and the slave
slaves (ancient period
 some changes in the modes 2. the lord and the serfs (medieval
of production (ex. such as period)
the invention of better
tools)
3. the bourgeois and the
proletarians (industrialization)
 compared to the masters,
the lords had lesser power.
 the serfs enjoyed freedom
not enjoyed by the slaves.
3. capitalism
o an economic and political system
in which economic affairs of the
society are managed and
controlled by private individuals.
bourgeoisie (capitalism)
 owners of the means of
production
proletariat (laborers)
o overproduction and oppression
are inherent to capitalism
 CERTAINTY WE CAN SOEAK OF – THAT WE
WILL DIE” (P.181)
 “EVERYONE DIES. IT IS AN ULTIMATE TRUTH,
A TRUTH THAT NO ONE CAN DENY AND NO
ONE CAN DEFY. THE UNFORTUNATE THING
ABOUT THIS TRUTH, HOWEVER, IS THAT, IT
REMAINS TO BE REVEALED” (P.182)
WE ARE CERTAIN ABOUT DEATH
BECAUSE
o HISTORY ATTESTS THAT NO ONE HAD
LIVED IN THE FAR PAST STILLS EXISTS
TODAY.
o SCIENCE TELLS US THAT ANYTHING
THAT COMES ALSO GOES.
o WE HAVE SEEN PEOPLE DIE
THE UNCERTAINTY OF DEATH
DEATH
o THE CESSATION OF ANYTHING
PHYSICAL IN A HUMAN PERSON
o BOHOLONAS OBSERVES “DEATH COMES
TO US WHETHER WE ARE STANDING
OR SITTING” (TIMBREZA, 2008;
P.182)
Lesson 4 o ONE THING UNCERTAIN ABOUT DEATH

IN THE FACE
 “WE DO NOT KNOW WHETHER
LIFE CONTINUES AFTER DEATH.
AND SO, WE ASK, DOES THE

OF ULTIMATE
DEATH OF OUR BODY MEAN
THE DEATH OF OUR LIFE? OR
IS THERE A TRUTH TO THE
PROMISE THAT THERE IS LIFE

REALITY AFTER DEATH?”

Death’s Absurdity and

THE PARADOX OF DEATH Meaning
THE CERTAINTY OF DEATH Absurdity
 “WE HAVE NO PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF  “Death is the contradiction of life.
DEATH. BUT WE ARE SURE THAT SOONER OR While we want to exist, death puts an
LATER WE WILL DIE. OUR KNOWLEDGE OF OUR end to this desire”.
DEATH MAY NOT BE EXPERIENTAL, BUT IT IS The Meaning of Death
WITH CERTAINTY – PERHAPS THE ONLY
 Death is a boundary situation that
imposes upon us tasks to be
accomplished.
 Since we have no eternity, we have only
our lifetime within which to make our
lives meaningful by experiencing and
creating values.
 It is our awareness of our impending
death that we tend to value our lives
and the people and things we love. And
we tend to value time
Viktor Frankl
o Believes that life does not
render life meaningless.
o Life becomes meaningful because
of death
Consciousness
Responsibility
 For Frankl: Death is an essential
characteristic of life — it makes life
meaningful.
 Our responsibility lies on the singularity
of our chance to live the uniqueness
of our existence.
 We cannot live forever; hence, we have
to experience and create values.
 Since we are going to die, then we
cannot waste the opportunity while we
are alive.
 Since we are going to die, then we
cannot waste the opportunity to make
sense of life.
 Death is the source of meaning of life.
“DEATH IS CERTAIN AND YET IT BRINGS UNCERTAINTY”
 Buddha believes that fear of death is
caused by one’s ignorance of the true
nature of the self. But unlike
Socrates, Buddha believes in no-self.
Live a Meaningful Life
 Life has a purpose. If death is part of
life, then it must also have a purpose.
– Viktor Frankl
Live a Meaningful Life
 Our awareness of death makes us
celebrate life. It makes us live in the
present moment.
Live Calmly
 “Everything that happens is as normal
and expected as the spring rose or the
summer fruit; this is true of sickness,
and death, slander, intrigue, and all the
other things that delight or trouble
foolish men” - Marcus Aurelius
Live Courageously
 “My awareness of my death own death
makes me realize that my life is my
own and that I have to take care of
it” - Martin Heidegger

Attitudes Towards Death

Know Thyself
 Ignorance gives rise to fear of death”
– Socrates
 “If ignorance is the cause of fear of
death, then wisdom is its antidote” –
Socrates