METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING

1. Logic
● Fallacies
- They are defects in an argument which can be detected by examining the contents of the
argument.
2. Existentialism
- emphasizes the importance of free individual choice, regardless of the power of other people to influence
and coerce our desires, beliefs, and decisions.
3. Analytic Tradition
- Language cannot objectively describe truth because language is socially conditioned,
4. Phenomenology
- This is a method for finding and guaranteeing the truth that focuses on careful inspection and description
of phenomena or appearances.

Q2W1.1: FREEDOM OF THEM HUMAN PERSON

POPULAR NOTIONS ABOUT FREEDOM
N1: “To be free means to do anything, regardless of their actions’ consequences.”
N2: “Freedom is the ability to exercise one’s will towards the good.”
N3: “There is no such thing as freedom, that we are governed by natural law.”

What is Freedom?
People associate freedom with one’s ability to do whatever he or she wants to do:
● The ability to be what we want and to decide and create ourselves
● Going beyond situations such as physical or economic
● The ability to make choices and perform them

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

He classified the laws related to consequences of human actions into four: natural, human, Divine, and eternal laws.
FOURFOLD CLASSIFICATION OF LAW
1. The natural law, in its ethical sense, applies only to human beings:
2. Natural and human laws are concerned with ends determined simply by humanity’s nature.
3. Divine law or revelation is a law ordering humans to transcend his nature.
4. Eternal law is the decree of God that governs all creation.

JEAN PAUL SARTRE

- The human person builds the road to the destiny of his/her choosing.
- The person is provided with a supreme opportunity to give meaning to one’s life.
- The human person who tries to escape obligations (i.e., making excuses such as “I was born this way” or “I grew
up in a bad environment”) is acting on bad faith (mauvais foi).
MAUVAIS FOI (BAD FAITH)
- is a form of self-deception in which people deny their own freedom and try to pretend that they are determined by
external circumstances, rather than recognizing and accepting their own responsibility for their existence.

THOMAS HOBBES
Hobbes’ first law of nature is to seek peace, which immediately suggests a second law, which is to divest oneself of
certain rights to achieve peace.

FREE WILL
- Our free will allows us to decide on things we do depending on the situation.
- It is our ability to choose between two different possible courses of action, independently.
Q2W1.2
KINDS OF FREEDOM
1. Physical Freedom
- It refers to the absence of any physical restraint. The person has the freedom of mobility to go where he or she
wants to go.
- He or she is not impeded in his or her actions by any physical force.
2. Psychological Freedom
- Psychological freedom is also called freedom of choice. The person is free to perform actions that he or she
considers right and wise.
3. Moral Freedom
- refers to using freedom in a manner that upholds human dignity and goodness.
- It is the liberty that comes from knowing the truth of God's Word and living in harmony with that truth by the power
of God's Holy Spirit

ELEMENTS OF FREEDOM
1. Voluntariness
- It is the ability of a person to act of his or her own free will and self-determination. A person may decide to do
things or not to do it according to his own free will.
- It also means that even though she/he is not required to do such things, he/she could still do it or take action on it.
2. Responsibility
- Responsibility refers to the person being accountable for his or her action and their consequences.
- Taking responsibility can mean either you take responsibility to your action voluntarily or other people will hold you
responsible.

IMPORTANT FACTORS IN EXERCISING FREEDOM

PRUDENCE
- The ability to govern and discipline oneself with the use of reason; it is having caution and giving good judgments
in making decisions.
SELF-REFLECTION
- This allows us to be more rational in making choices, because sometimes human beings tend to be slaves by their
emotions and moods whenever they act certain things.
OBLIGATION
- is a course of action that someone is required to take, whether legal or moral.
- It exists when there is a choice to do what is morally good and what is morally unacceptable.

Q2W2: INTERSUBJECTIVITY AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP

OTHER-AWARENESS
Building on the foundation of self-awareness, other-awareness involves the skills of observing, recognizing and
understanding the basic wants, expectations, and feelings that other people have.

Our ability to engage in meaningful interactions with other people, our surroundings, and everything around us is rooted in
our capacity for self-awareness and transcendence.

Interpersonal relations are made possible when the self becomes aware of the other, which includes everyone and
everything outside of the self.

WHAT IS INTERSUBJECTIVITY?
- It is most simply stated as the interchange of thoughts and feelings, both conscious and unconscious, between
two persons or “subjects”, as facilitated by empathy.
 - To better understand intersubjectivity, it is necessary first to define the term subjectivity. It is the perception or
experience of reality from within one’s own perspective (both conscious and unconscious) and necessarily limited
by the boundary or horizon of one’s own worldview.

- As a compounded term, the prefix “inter” refers to “between” or “among” and subjectivity refers to a subject’s
first-person perspective of experience of the World.
SIGNIFICANCE OF INTERSUBJECTIVITY
- Refers to the characteristics of the human person to engage in a very intimate and personal relationship with
others who are different from him or her, but who are also like him or her.
- Allows the individual to receive others in his or her life and relate with them.
Example: relationships; romantic, friendly, casual
- the experience of shared or “common” knowledge and shared emotions such as grief, joy, and love
The topic of intersubjectivity, also known as “other-awareness”, is interesting in several respects:
1. we want to know what it takes to experience the other as the other;
2. how the experience of the other may be needed for the development of self-awareness and to experience the
objective world.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
- a strong bond between two or more people
- gives us a sense of purpose and direction
- teaches us who we are
-
From a very young age, the people around us form key aspects of our personalities and value systems. They are also a key
component to our overall physical and mental well-being.

- There is a strong link between relationships and emotional health. That is why it is vital to surround yourself with
people who give you joy, support, and comfort.

FORMS OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP

● Individuals working together in the same organization
● People working in the same team
● Relationship between a man and a woman (love, marriage)
● Relationship with immediate family members and relatives
● Relationship of a child with his parents
● Relationship between friends

THE MUST-HAVES
- Individuals in an interpersonal relationship must share common goals and objectives. They should have more or
less similar interests and think on the same lines. It is always better if individuals come from similar backgrounds.
- Individuals must be attached to each other for a healthy interpersonal relationship. Transparency plays a pivotal
role in interpersonal relationship. It is important for an individual to be honest and transparent.
- Individuals in an interpersonal relationship must respect each other’s views and opinions. A sense of trust is
important.

COMPONENTS OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP

DIALOGUE
- Humans strive to achieve deeper and more substantial interactions and relations with other people. This deeper
and more genuine interaction is called a dialogue.
- Communication plays a pivotal role in all types of relationships whether it is personal or professional because
feelings must be expressed and reciprocated in relationships.
EMPATHY
- It is the ability to emotionally understand what other people feel, see things from their point of view, and imagine
yourself in their place.
- When you see another person suffering, you might be able to instantly envision yourself in the other person's place
and feel sympathy for what they are going through.

SIGNS OF EMPATHY
● You are good at really listening to what others have to say.
● People often tell you about their problems.
● You are good at picking up on how other people are feeling.
● You often think about how other people feel.
● Other people come to you for advice.
● You often feel overwhelmed by tragic events.
● You try to help others who are suffering.
● You are good at telling when people are not being honest.
● You sometimes feel drained or overwhelmed in social situations.
● You care deeply about other people.

AVAILABILITY
- the willingness of a person to be present and be at the disposal of another
- The recognition of our shared humanity and dignity is what drives us to extend assistance and help with concern
towards others, especially towards individuals or groups that experience hardships and discrimination.

RECIPROCITY
The social norm of reciprocity is the expectation that people will respond to each other in similar ways:
- responding to gifts and kindnesses from others with similar benevolence of their own
- responding to harmful, hurtful acts from others with either indifference or some form of retaliation.
- The social norm of reciprocity often takes different forms in different areas of social life, or in different societies. All
of them, however, are distinct from related ideas such as gratitude, the Golden Rule, or mutual goodwill.
- An underlying norm of reciprocity is by itself a powerful engine for motivating, creating, sustaining, and regulating
the cooperative behavior required for self-sustaining social organizations, controlling the damage done by the
unscrupulous, and contributing to social system stability.

Q2W3: HUMAN PERSON IN SOCIETY

SELF-AWARENESS
- Having self-awareness gives us the power to influence outcomes; helps us become better decision-makers, and
gives us more self-confidence.

HUMAN PERSON IN SOCIETY

Our perceptions on relationships depend on the level of our experience. The same goes with everything.
- When we were yet a child, we always depended on our family.
 As we grow older, we start to go with people in the community.
From there, we began to relate ourselves with our opposite sex.

In doing so, we exercised our freedom to do what we want to do.

We are capable of integrating ourselves to the society by way of different relationships with other people such as
friendships, alliances, or union while sharing common territory.

Our relationships with other people cause us to survive. We survive because of our parents, our friends, and even our
neighbors, may it be in school or in the workplace.

The education we have starts from home. Our parents taught us everything they also learned, starting from talking,
reading and writing, up to values, good manners and right conduct.
- This education will continue when we go to school. When we finish our education, we will be equipped with
abilities, skills, and knowledge for us to become productive members of the society.

TYPES OF SOCIETY
● Societies are classified according to their development and use of technology. For most of human history, people
lived in pre-industrial societies characterized by limited technology and low production of goods
● After the Industrial Revolution, many societies based their economies around mechanized labor, leading to greater
profits and a trend toward greater social mobility.
● At the turn of the new millennium, a new type of society emerged. This postindustrial, or information, society is
built on digital technology and nonmaterial goods.

1. HUNTING AND GATHERING SOCIETY

- They demonstrate the strongest dependence on the environment of the various types of pre-industrial societies.
- These societies were common until several hundred years ago, but today only a few hundred remain in existence
- Hunter-gatherer groups are quickly disappearing as the world’s population explodes

2. PASTORAL SOCIETY
- Unlike hunter-gatherers, pastoral groups were able to breed livestock for food, clothing, and transportation
- Around the time that pastoral societies emerged, specialized occupations began to develop, and societies
commenced trading with local groups.

3. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
- formed in areas where rainfall and other conditions allowed them to grow stable crops.
- Unlike hunter-gatherers, they did not have to abandon their location to follow resources, they were able to start
permanent settlements.
- This created more stability and more material goods and became the basis for the first revolution in human
survival.

4. FEUDAL SOCIETY
- These societies contained a strict hierarchical system of power based around land ownership and protection.
- Power was handed down through family lines, with peasant families serving lords for generations and generations.
 5. INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
- This society used machineries in the production of goods and services.
- Through innovations and technological advances, daily activities become easier and the lives of the people
become better.
- It was during this time that power moved from the hands of the aristocracy and “old money” to business-savvy
newcomers who amassed fortunes in their lifetimes.
- Families like the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts became the new power players and used their influence in
business to control aspects of government as well.

6. POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
- Unlike industrial societies that are rooted in the production of material goods, information societies are based on
the production of information and services.
- Digital technology is the steam engine of information societies, and computer moguls such as Steve Jobs and Bill
Gates.
- Since the economy of information societies is driven by knowledge and not material goods, power lies with those
in charge of storing and distributing Information.
- Social classes are divided by access to education, since without technical skills, people in an information
society lack the means for success.

HOW DOES SOCIETY INFLUENCE OUR DEVELOPMENT AS PERSONS?

- As members of the society, we learn, we interact, we exercise our freedom, and we follow common beliefs,
traditions, and norms or standards.
NORMS
- are a set of traits and behavior that society considers good and acceptable. The society expects us to behave the
way it is used to.
- Moreover, laws are made to provide us proper guidelines to sustain peace and order. Violation of the law means
punishment.
FOLKWAYS
- are traditional in nature and do not result in punishment if not followed.