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
PRESENTATION FOR THIS AFTERNOON
LEARNING COMPETENCIES:
1. Recognize how individuals form societies and how
individuals are transformed by societies
2. Compare different forms of societies and individualities (e.g.
agrarian, industrial and virtual)
3. Explain how human relations are transformed by social
systems
4. Evaluate the transformation of human relationships by
social systems and how societies transform individual
human beings
LC#1: HOW INDIVIDUALS FORM SOCIETIES

BERGER AND LUCKMAN’S SOCIAL

CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY
• The order in the world is not based
on biological facts but due largely to
human production (Berger and
Luckmann, 1966)
• “While it is possible to say that man
has a nature, it is more significant to
say that man constructs his own
nature, or more simply, that man
produces himself” (Berger and
Luckmann, 1966, p.67)
LC#1: HOW INDIVIDUALS FORM SOCIETIES

BERGER AND LUCKMAN’S SOCIAL

CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY
• “Institutionalization occurs whenever
there is a reciprocal typification of
habitualized actions by types of actors.
Put differently, any such typification is an
institution” (Berger and Luckmann, 1966,
p.72)
• “An institutional world, then, is
experienced as an objective reality. It has
a history that antedates the individual’s
birth and is not accessible to his
biographical recollection” (Berger and
Luckmann, 1966, p.77)
LC#1: HOW INDIVIDUALS FORM SOCIETIES

LOCKE’S SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

• Society precede the establishment
of government, according to Locke
– Governments may dissolve but
societies may establish another
government
• When governments fail to serve
the interest of the society, power
can be withdrawn by the people
• The class will be divided into four
(4) groups. A Spider Graphic
Organizer will be presented. Each
member of the group will
contribute a word that best
describes a society that they
envision.
• SOCIETY- a group of people living in a
definite territory having the government
of their own, sharing same culture,
interdependent and interrelated with one
another.
Elements in defining society
• Group of people
• Living in a definite territory
• Has Government
• Sharing same culture
• Interdependent
• Interrelated
 LC#1: HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE
TRANSFORMED BY SOCIETIES
MILLS (1959) ON BIOGRAPHY
AND HISTORY
• A person is always influenced
by his history and society
 LC#1: HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE
TRANSFORMED BY SOCIETIES
• HEIDEGGER ON THE PERSON
AS THROWN (Gonzalvo,
2016, p. 180)
– The person is thrown into the
socio-cultural world which is
not of his own making
– The person is initially passive
(accepts) and sometimes
becomes active (rejects)
 LC#1: HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE
TRANSFORMED BY SOCIETIES
NIETZSCHE AND SUPERMAN
• Society (morally) enslaves the
individual
– e.g. vow of poverty
• For the person to embark on the
“project” of self
– Overcome the self (Nietzsche)
– Against forces impeding his/her growth and
development
– Superman philosophy
 LC#1: HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE
TRANSFORMED BY SOCIETIES
LOCKE’S TABULA RASA
• The most notable English philosopher”
(Androne, 2014, p. 75)
• Locke sees learning as natural (or
knowledge as not innate) as opposed to
the stances of idealists like Plato
• The human mind is like a blank slate or a
“child is as formless as a blank slate”
(Duschinsky, 2012, p. 509).
– There are therefore rooms for formation or a
human mind is “malleable” enough to be
formed
 LC#1: HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE
TRANSFORMED BY SOCIETIES
B. F. SKINNER-DETERMINISM
- sees free will as an
illusion and believes that
every event and action
has a cause
 ACTIVITY
Philosopher Philosophical claims on the impacts of the Strengths Weaknesses
society to the individual
MILLS -The individual is a product of his / her history
-Only when history is known then can the
biography be discerned

NIETZSCHE -The society enslaves the individual

-Society can be defeated by overcoming the self

LOCKE -Knowledge is not innate

-There are only faculties of learning
-We learn through senses (social world)

MARX -The forces of production shapes the social

system (oppressive) and individual’s poverty
-The oppressive system can be altered
 GROUP ACTIVITY
From the first
activity, illustrate
the transformation
of the society you
envision.
 ASSIGNMENT
Create a picture clip
illustrating your timeline
from childhood to present,
pointing out various changes
you experienced brought
about by cultural or social
behaviour influences.
ASSIGNMENT
LC#1&2: HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE TRANSFORMED
AND CAN TRANSFORM THE SOCIETY
MARX THE PHILOSOPHER
LC#1&2: HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE TRANSFORMED
AND CAN TRANSFORM THE SOCIETY
MARX THE PHILOSOPHER
• Idealistic and materialistic tendencies: Views on labor

View of Unit of Theories / World Notion of

the world analysis concepts Problem change
MARX
LC#1&2: HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE TRANSFORMED
AND CAN TRANSFORM THE SOCIETY

“Philosophers interpreted
the world, the point,
however, is to change it.
-Marx (Thesis on
Feuerbach)
LC#1: HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE TRANSFORMED
AND CAN TRANSFORM THE SOCIETY
MARX THE PHILOSOPHER
View of Unit of Theories / World Notion of
the world analysis concepts Problem change
MARX Conflict / Economy / -Historical Alienation Revolution
struggle production Dialectical /
Materialism overthrow
-Theory of
Surplus Labour

See Althusser, 1963; Hamen, 1973; Antonio, 2003

 ACTIVITY ON LC#1&2
Philosopher Philosophical claims on the impacts of the Strengths Weaknesses
society to the individual
MILLS -The individual is a product of his / her history
-Only when history is known then can the
biography be discerned

NIETZSCHE -The society enslaves the individual

-Society can be defeated by overcoming the self

LOCKE -Knowledge is not innate

-There are only faculties of learning
-We learn through senses (social world)

MARX -The forces of production shapes the social

system (oppressive) and individual’s poverty
-The oppressive system can be altered
 LC# 3 AND 4 ACTIVITY
LC# 3 Explain how human relations are transformed by social
systems
LC# 4 Evaluate the transformation of human relationships by
social systems and how societies transform individual human
beings
1. Do you agree that the changes in the social systems
transformed the individual, according to Marx?
2. Do we still see oppression and poverty today?
3. How are you [or your family] affected by the system
described by Marx?
4. Will human relations improve if the economic
system is modified? How do you imagine it?
 REFERENCES
• Althusser, Louis (1963) For Marx. London: Verso
• Antonio, Robert J. (2003) “Karl Marx,” in George Ritzer (ed.)
The Blackwell Companion to Major Classical Sociological
Theorists. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 93-131
• Androne, M. (2014). Notes on John Locke's views on
education. Procedia-Social And Behavioral Sciences, 137
(International Scientific Conference "Sports, Education,
Culture—Interdisciplinary Approaches in Scientific Research",
2013, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Romania), 74-79.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.05.255
• Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1966). The social construction of
reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. Wrights Lane,
London: Penguin Books Ltd.
 REFERENCES
• Bernardo J.V. (2016). Introduction to the Philosophy of the
Human Person. JFS Publishing Services, Philippines, Pasay City
• Duschinsky, R. (2012). Tabula rasa and human nature.
Philosophy, 87(4), 509. doi:10.1017/S0031819112000393
• Gonzalvo, R. (2016). Philosophy of the Human Person.
Mindshapers, Intramuros: Manila.
• Hammen, Oscar J. (1970) The Young Marx, Reconsidered.
Journal of the History of Ideas 31(1): 109-120
• Mills, C.W. (1959) The Sociological Imagination. Oxford
University Press, Inc.