INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF
HUMAN PERSON
CHAPTER 1: Doing Philosophy
PHILOSOPHY It analyzes our most basic
concepts and beliefs. It critically evaluates these
concepts and beliefs. Focusing in human life:
religion, science, art history, and etc.
MAJOR BRANCH OF PHILOSOPHY
1. Ontology study of being
2. Epistemology study of knowing
Philosophers from different nation in Axial Age
1. HOMER
 lived about 2800 years ago
 Greek Poet (Epic Poem; Illiad and
Odyssey)
 Greek concept of human excellence.
He is the one who realizes the total
human potential, who is both a speaker of
words and a doer of deeds. In other words,
noble action and noble mind must merge into
one, and such a person has excellence(arete)
2. THALES
 (c.624-546) a sixth century philosopher
 Nature, basic element is WATER.
 He believes that water, through some
natural process, gave rise to everything
else in the world.
 rejected the belief that God of sea
caused earthquakes.
 believed that the Earth floated on water
and earthquakes caused by the turbulent
waves under the Earth.
3. ANAXIMANDER
 a sixth century Ionian
 rejected Thales' view that WATER was
the original and basic substance.
 suggested Indefinite substance which he
simply called BOUNDLESS.
4. ANAXIMENES
 Ionian philosopher.
 basic primary substance was AIR.
 rejected the belief that rainbows were
the Goddess Iris.
NOTE: These Ionians were called "nature
philosophers" or "matter philosophers".
5. PYTHAGORAS
 (c. 580-507) from Southern Italy.
 he affirmed that the basic nature of
things was in mathematical
relationships.
 he saw music everywhere in the
universe, the "music of the spheres."
6. PARMENIDES
 (c.515-450) a native from Greek city of
Elea in Southern Italy.
 he also challenged the view of the
Ionians that the cause of all things was
one original substance. Instead, he
applied the logic of Mathematics in his
philosophical thinking.
 asserted cosmos-i.e., the eternal,
material universe- is eternal and
unchanging.
7. HERACLITUS
 (c. 544-483) Contemporary of
Parmenides.
 He saw everything in the universe as
FIRE, he believed, was the basic
material in the world and the
fundamentals cause of all change and
motion in the world.
 he believes that in the universe is
always in change.
Dictum: No one can step in the same river twice.
8. DEMOCRITUS
 (c. 460-370) Greece.
 concerned with the world of matter, and
believed that knowledge can be derived
through senses.
 also believed that the world of matter
was made of atoms.
 Atoms were eternal, indivisible, and
invisible to the human eye.
9. SOCRATES
 (c. 469-399) Athens, Greece. One of the
great Philosophers in the history of
Philosophy.
 he believed we should look at human
nature and the human person.
  Goal: Perfect Human Existence: The
man of excellence.
 His method was DIALECTS.
Famous Dictum: The unexamined life is not
worth living.
10. PLATO
 (c. 429-347)
 most important disciple of his master,
Socrates.
 Theory of Ideas.
 he put forward the idea that a higher
world of reality exists.
 he believed that we need to go beyond
the particular instances of truth and
justice in this world. We need to seek
the Truth and Justice that dwell in the
ultimate world of Forms.
11. ARISTOTLE
 (c. 384-322) was another important
influential Greek thinker and
philosopher.
 he was founded by Plato.
 Set up a school, The Lyceum.
 desired to understand the physical
universe.
 Criticism of Plato's Ideas
 Aristotle's view on Ethics.
 Aristotle's view on Politics.
WHAT IS A JUST STATE?
 For Socrates, it was the rational inquiry
of the individual;
 For Plato, it was the rational inquiry of
human society.
*Plato's political theory was formulated in The
Republic. A just state, in his view, had the goal and
aim of improving the moral state of the citizens. It
was not to increase power or material possessions.
GREEK DRAMA
 Like poets and philosophers, dramatists
also shed light on human life and human
values.
 It portrayed the suffering and joys,
weaknesses and strengths, and tragedies
and triumphs of individuals.
Three great Athenian tragedians from Greece were:
Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
12. AESCHYLUS
 (c. 525-456)
 the Greeks only had one character and a
chorus.
 the possibilities for conflict and
dramatic action were limited, and
dialogues between characters were not
possible. These changed because he
sought to portray the clash and conflicts
between human beings.
 he depicts through his plays is the sin of
hubris (pride and arrogance).
13. SOPHOCLES
 (c. 496-406) a Greek poet and dramatist.
 wrote 123 plays.
 the plots in his drama are characterized
by human motivations and choices.
 they show hoe our motives and choices
result in certain consequences. (Cause
and Effect) to be the fulfillment of a
prophecy.
 Sophocles' Oedipus: The Oedipus
Complex
14. EURIPIDES
 (c. 485-406)
 he questioned and challenged traditional
attitudes and practices.
 subjected the problems of human life to
a critical analysis and challenged human
conventions.
 his plays scrutinized the role of the
gods, women's conflicts, the horror
wars, the power of passion, and the
prevalence of human suffering and
weakness.
GREEK HISTORY
 Excluded the Gods when explaining the
work of nature.
 Similarly, the Greeks in the Writing of
history removed mythical elements and
concentrated on human beings and their
actions.
 They wrote about the deeds of the
people. Looking for evidence from
 accurate sources and their answers were  How do we know we know?
based on this evidence. They looked for  What can I know?
the causes behind the human actions and  How can we know?
the events.  Can we be certain of anything?
 If so, how?
15. HERODOTUS
 (c. 484-424) 2 important ways of thinking that philosophers
have emphasized:
 wrote history of Persian Wars Vs. the
• Rationalism
Greeks.
 Stresses the role of the mind in doing
 the theme punishment for the sin of
philosophy,
hubris.
 Holds the view that knowledge is
 he was like the Greek tragedians who
gained primarily through the mind.
derived moral principles from human
• Empiricism
actions and behavior.
 Stresses the role of the senses in doing
16. THUCYDIDES philosophy.
 (c. 460-400)  Holds the view that knowledge comes
 Politics was the main thing in Athens so from through the five senses.
he emphasized the motives and actions
of political leaders and their METAPHYSICS study of reality
governments.  It has to do with the study of reality that is
 he believed that by studying the past, beyond what science normally studies.
one can learn about human behavior. Metaphysics literally means “beyond the
 this can benefit future generations by physical”.
showing them how to behave in a  Issues most discussed by Philosophers are
the existence of God, the nature of soul, and
rational and moral ways.
nature of reality.
17. SOCRATES
WORLDVIEW is not what we look at, but rather
 (c. 469-399) Athens, Greece. One of the
what we look through. It is the lens, the filter, or the
great Philosophers in the history of
grid through which we look at everything. We
Philosophy.
“wear” these lenses in our mind, but we are often
not aware of them.
Major Worldview
CHAPTER 2: Methods of Philosophizing
• Animism
Animism believes that spirits animate
*The Branches and the Methods of Philosophy are
everything.
very closely related. Both are also related to our
• Deism
understanding of the human person.
God created the world but left it to work
according to its own laws.
• Pantheism
Philosophy has five (5) main branches:
Believes that God and the universe are
1. Epistemology
identical and are composed of the same
2. Metaphysics
substance. God equals the universe.
3. Ethics
4. Logic • Naturalism
5. Aesthetic Believes that nature is all that exists, that
Nature is the whole show. Everything else
that exists is a product or by-product of
EPISTEMOLOGY study of knowledge nature.
 How do we know? • Theism
 Theism teaches that there is a personal god
and he has revealed himself through us.

ETHICS study of morality

 deals with moral values such right and
wrong, good or bad. In ethics, we apply
these values to personal and social actions
and decisions.

3 parts of morality
1. Social ethics
2. Individual ethics
3. Purpose
*Summum bonum the greatest good, the highest
value

LOGIC study of reasoning

 A tool that philosophy uses to study and
evaluate philosophical truths.
 Logic includes the uses of good thinking
skills and avoiding logical fallacies.

Kinds of Logic
1. Deductive Logic General to particular.
2. Inductive Logic Particular to the general.

2 kinds of statement
1. Analytical statement the predicate is
contained in the subject
Example: A rainy day is a wet Day
All bachelors are unmarried.
2. Synthetic statement the predicate adds
something to the subject.
Example: Tuesday was a rainy day.
John is a bachelor.

AESTHETICS study of art and beauty

 What is beauty?
 What is art?
 What is the relationship between beauty and
art?