2nd MT Philo Reviewer • Teaches people to go beyond and to attain their true

self
LESSON 3: HUMAN AS EMBODIED SPIRIT
• Recognize your own limitations and possibilities.
BUDDHISM
• Evaluate own limitations and the possibilities for their
transcendence. • BUDDHISM: (nirvana) He has perfect knowledge,
• Recognize how the human body imposes limits and perfect peace, and perfect wisdom.
possibilities for transcendence. • Nirvana - enlightened wisdom, concept of heaven ng
• Distinguish the limitations and possibilities for Buddhism
transcendence. • Consuming love for all creatures. One who attained
enlightenment is a non-attachment. This means that as
one attains wisdom, one desires nothing for himself
Transcendence
but always works for the well-being and liberation of
• exceeding usual limits; surpassing.
his fellow humans.
• Extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary
• Preparation for entering the Nirvana (enlightened
experience.
wisdom)
• Being beyond the limits of all possible experience and
• detaching ourself from the world to attain peace
knowledge.
CHRISTIANITY
Embodied Spirit
• For Augustine, Christianity, as presenting the full
• means that the body is not separate from the soul, just
revelation of the true God is the only true and full
as the soul is not separate from the body.
philosophy. "Man is a rational substance consisted of
soul and body."
ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE • For St. Thomas Aquinas, Human beings have the
• The allegory of the cave is the idea of the human’s unique power to change themselves and things for the
limitations
better. Our spirituality separates us from animals.
• It gives us an idea that our memory is just
• Humans are both spiritual and bodily elements
assumptions (pede siyang magbago throughout ng
panahon) (Spiritual and material).
• What we know when it is not or when we are done • Through our spirituality, we have a CONSIENCE
questioning all the questions. (Whether good or evil is our responsibility).
• Truth may be coherent - if there is a fact as evidence. • Idea of heaven – Christianity
• Truth may be correspondent to the experience of the • Our goal is to reach heaven – pagsunod sa 10
matter. commandments
• Truth may also be pragmatic especially whenever it • Religious and spiritual
serves its purpose. —-----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------- • We just survive life and not live it. Do not stop on just
3 MAIN SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHIES what you know, go beyond.
• Hinduism
• Buddhism LESSON 4: THE HUMAN PERSON IN
• Christianity
THEIR ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY
HINDUISM
• is the discipline that studies the moral relationships of
• Endless series of births
human
• Soul is temporarily encased in his body
• Humanity's basic goal in life is liberation (moksha) of • beings with the environment and its non-human
spirit (jiva) contents. Philosophers believe that the human person
• Continuous cycle (samsara) • has the ability to change the environment to suit his
• Good life: soul goes upward the scale purposes. It will enable them to become aware of their
• Bad life: body of an animal relationship and its related issues in our society and
• No end unless true self-hood is attained their impact on the lives of human persons.
• Tayo ay kaluluwa sa isang katawan. – finite and
perfect ang ating soul. philosophical questions already brought up from
• Hinduism – liberation for the spirit. Makawala ang Athens, Greece.
Espiritu. You will go upward pag namatay ka. • “What is the world made of?”
• Incarnation ang paniniwala ng Hinduism. • “How did the world come into being?”
• “How can we explain the process of change?”
PARADIGM SHIFT
• the speculation of the pre-Socratic philosophers
represented in this
• a change from mythical explanation of the origins of
the cosmos to a more rational explanation.
(Price 2000)
• Eastern sages probed nature’s depths intuitively
through the eyes of spiritual sages which Greek
thinkers viewed nature through cognitive and scientific
eyes.
• These thinkers were looking for the underlying laws
of nature. They wanted to understand the processes of
nature by studying nature itself, not by listening to the
stories about the gods.
Payne (2010) - there are (2) frameworks
where humans can be related.
(1) Anthropocentric Model
humans are superior and central to the universe; thus, it
is human-centered.
(2) Ecocentric Model
• the ecological or relational integrity of the humans
that provides meaning of our morals and values and it
is nature centered.
• Devoted to preserving the totality of Earth’s
biodiversity and the functioning of its life – supporting
system.
QUESTION: How do humans regard the
environment? Explain. In what ways are your answer
positive or negative?
• Our limited understanding of our environment opens
for a need for philosophical investigation of nature,
applying aesthetic and theological dimensions as well as
appreciating our philosophical reflections with the
concept of nature itself.
• Not only should we value the concepts of other
people but to consider carefully, the moral, ethical,
political, cultural and ecological realities of where we
are situated in.
4.1. NOTICE DISORDER IN THE UNIVERSE
• The domination of humanity is linked to the
domination of nature based on the anthropocentric
model.
• An unfair or unjust utilization of the environment
result to ecological crisis.
• it follows that human arrogance towards nature is
justifiable in order to satisfy human interests.
• humans adopt an exploitative attitude whenever
nature is merely considered an instrument for one’s
profit or gain.
• example: quarrying or cutting down age-old trees
could justify our exploitative attitude toward nature.
• Numerous concepts and indicators have been used to
understand environmental impact such as the carbon
footprint (CF).
CARBON FOOTPRINT
• a very important means to understand the impact of a
person's behavior on global warming.
• This is why someone who effectively wants to
contribute to stopping global warming, at least on an
individual scale, needs to measure and keep track of
their personal carbon footprint.
has eight categories:
(1) Construction
(2) Shelter
(3) Food
(4) Clothing
(5) Mobility
(6) Manufactured goods
(7) Services
(8) Trade
—-----------------------------------------------------------------
ECOCENTRIC MODEL
• puts the ecosystem first and assumes that the natural
world has intrinsic value.
• Nature is not valued for the future survival of human
species per se, but is invaluable (priceless) in itself.
• humans have a responsibility toward the land.
However, because of the anthropocentric attitude,
humanity claims ownership or authority over land.
• in the ecocentric model, land will be considered not
an instrumental mode of production but will be
preserved with integrity, stability and beauty.
• Accordingly, humanity needs to develop an
“Ecological conscience” based on individual
responsibility.
• Ecologists challenge us to adopt a lifestyle that
involves simple living that honors the right of all life
forms to live, flourish and create a rich diversity of
human and nonhuman life.
• For ecologists, the right to live and blossom should
not just be for human beings but must be
valid to all forms of life.
• This belief stems from an awareness of our
dependence to other forms of life, not a master-slave
relationship.
4.2 NOTICE THINGS THAT ARE NOT IN
THEIR PROPER PLACE AND ORGANIZING
THEM IN AESTHETIC WAY
A. ANCIENT THINKERS
(1) Anaximander
• a pre-Socratic philosopher and scientist said about
the creation-Destruction.
• According to him - the sketch of the genesis of the
world (cosmogony), the evolution of the world begins
with the generation of opposites in certain region
Nature.
• Nature is indeterminate-boundless in the sense that
no boundaries between the warm and cold or the moist
and dry regions are originally present within. It is itself,
the origin.
(2) Pythagoras
• according to pytograd - universe is a living
embodiment of nature’s order, harmony and beauty.
A. Biophilia
• love of other living things
• He sees our relationship with the universe as
involving biophilia
B. Cosmophilia
• love of other living beings
• It suggests the human possess an innate tendency to
seek connection with nature and other forms of life and
cosmophilia
• The human tendency to affiliate with the holism of
nature and our vivid experience of connection with
harmony and beauty of the universe – overwhelming
admiration feeling of someone towards the universe,
B. MODERN THINKERS
(1) Immanuel Kent
• beauty is ultimately a symbol of morality (goodness).
• believes that the orderliness of nature and the
harmony of nature with our faculties guides us toward a
deeper religious perspective.
(2) Herbert Marcuse
• said about the power of humans over nature.
• There could be change if we will change our attitude
towards our perception of the environment.
(3) George Herbert Mead
• tackled about our duties and responsibilities.
• We are not only citizens but react and our reaction to
it, change it.
4.3. CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
ADVOCATES HEALTH, WELL-BEING, AND
SUSTAINABILITY
• Show that care for the environment contributes to
health, well-being and sustainable development
• theories to show care for the environment aside
from the ecocentric model:
(1) deep ecology
(2) social ecology
(3) ecofeminism
A. DEEP ECOLOGY
• It is an ecological philosophy developed by
Norwegian asserting that all life forms have an equal
right to exist, and human needs and desires have no
priority over those of another organism.
• Believes that living environment should be respected
and regarded as having rights to flourish, independent of
its utility to humans.
• Deep ecologists encourage humanity to shift away
from anthropocentrism to ecocentrism.
B. SOCIAL ECOLOGY
• founded by Murray Bookchin
• states that ecological crisis is a result of the
authoritarian social structures.
• Destroying nature is a reflection wherein few people
overpower others while exploiting the environment for
profit or self-interest.
• Social ecologists call for small scale societies which
recognize that humanity is linked with the wellbeing of
the natural world in which human life depends.
C. ECOFEMINISM
• branch of feminism that examines the connections
between women and nature.
• coined by Francoise d’Eaubonne
• a philosophical idea that combines feminism
and ecology concerns, emphasizing that both suffer
from their treatment by a male dominated society.
• Comes from the idea that women and nature have
significant connection, since women most often have a
close association with nature in many societies due to
the nature of their traditional roles.