LESSON 4 THE HUMAN PERSON IN THE ENVIRONMENT

Objectives

AT THE END OF THE LESSON, THE STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO:

1. Probe into a distinct frame about gaining
valuable insights regarding the human
person in the environment.
2. Demonstrate the virtues of prudence and
frugality toward his/her environment.
3. Appreciate the beauty of nature.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
KEY QUESTIONS

•What is the relationship of man with his environment?

•How can human beings live harmoniously with their

environment?

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
What A Wonderful World Lyrics (Louis Armstrong)

I see trees of green, red roses too

I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
But they're really saying I love you.

I hear babies cry, and I watched them grow

They'll learn much more than I'll ever know 
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.
Yes, I think to myself what a wonderful world.
 
Interactive Work

1.Search for Louis Armstrong’s song What a Wonderful world.

Listen and sing the song together. You can watch video clips as
guide.
A.How did the song regard environment? How did the song see
the human person in the environment?
B.What is the tone of the song?
C.Which lyrics serve as most meaningful? Why?
2. Hold each others’ hands and share with the persons in
your right and left your vision or how do you imagine the world
be.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
INTRODUCTION
Philosophical questions brought up around 600 B.C.E. in the
Western Ionian seaport town of Miletus, Greece.
•What is the world made of?
•How did the world come into
being?
•How can we explain the
process of change?

•Because Iona was a meeting place between East and West,

Greek philosophy may have Oriental as well as Egyptian and
Babylonian influences.
((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
THE ENVIRONMENT

•Philosophers in both East and West were asking questions

about the universe we live in and our place in it.
•Eastern sages probed nature’s depths intuitively through the
eyes of spiritual sages.
•Greek thinkers viewed nature through cognitive and scientific
eyes.
•Pre-Socratic philosophers represent the first intellectual and
scientific attempt to understand the origins of the universe.
 A change from the mythical explanation of the origins of
the cosmos to a more rational explanation.
((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
• The pre-Socratic philosophers do represent the first
intellectual and scientific attempt to understand the origin of
the universe.
• There are different views or concepts on nature or the
environment from which debates or researches can be
framed and reframed.
 Anthropocentric model – humans are superior and central
to the universe. Human
Culture
Individualism
Mind
Calculative
Human over/against environment
Global/technological

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
  Ecocentric model – the ecological or relational integrity of
the humans provides meaning of our morals and values.
Nature
Wild
Holism
Mature/Cosmos
Body
Relational
Earth/Wisdom
Ecology over/against humans

• 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.
((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
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 results to
ecological crisis.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
• Researches exposed the environmental consequence of
international politico-economic specialization for specific
countries and global regions as well as the implications for both
abuses of natural resources and of the generation of waste and
emissions.
• Numerous concepts and indicators have been used to understand
environmental impact such as carbon footprint (CF).
• Studies reveal that the higher the income, there is a substantial
change in consumption patterns, which resulted to higher CF.
Below is an example of a household chart in North America and
average composition vis-à-vis CF:
1. Construction 5. Mobility
2. Shelter 6. Manufactured goods
3. Food 7. Services
4. Clothing 8. Trade
((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
• The Ecocentric model, in contrast, 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 in itself.
• Human made changes threaten the health of nature.
• Unlike changes in the evolutionary process, human
interventions have swift and even, violent effect on nature.
• The damage is not inevitable but a consequence of human
choices, thus, humanity needs to develop an “ecological
conscience” based on individual responsibility.
• The right to live and blossom should not just be for human
beings but must be valid to all forms of life because humans
are dependent to other forms of life.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
• The 2007 United Nation’s Declaration grants the Indigenous
people “the right to conservation, restoration, and protection
of the total environment and the productive capacity of their
lands, territories, and resources, as well as the assistance for
this purpose from States and through international
cooperation.”
• The relationship of the
indigenous people with the
environment is, thus,
spiritually and materially
strengthened.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
Destruction of Property:

Devastation brought by Yolanda and Ondoy

War in Marawi Poverty

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
Soil Erosion Linked to Food Supply
PUTTING ORDER INTO DISORDER
A. Ancient Thinkers
•Early Greek philosophers, the Milesians, regarded Nature as
spatially without boundaries, that is, as infinite or indefinite in
extent.
•Anaximander employed the term “boundless” to
mean that Nature is indeterminate―in the sense
that no boundaries between the warm and cold
or the moist and dry regions are originally present
within it.
•Evolution of the world begins with the generation of opposites in
a certain region of Nature that eventually burst and formed the
universe.
((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
• Pythagoras described the universe as living
embodiment of nature’s order, harmony,
and beauty and our relationship with it in
terms of biophilia (love of other living things)
and cosmophilia (love of other living beings).
• Chinese cosmic conception,
conception on the other
hand, is based on the assumption that all
that happens in the universe is a continuous
whole like a chain of natural consequences.
• The universe does not proceed onward but
revolves without beginning or end.
• Happiness lies in his conformity with nature
or tao.
((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
B. Modern Thinkers

•Immanuel Kant expresses that beauty is

ultimately a symbol of morality.
•We must ignore any practical motives or
inclinations that we have and instead
contemplate the object without being distracted
by our desires.
•The beautiful encourage us to believe that
nature and humanity are part of an even bigger
design – an ultimate goal in which every aspect
of the sensible world has its place in a larger
purpose – that draws our thoughts toward a
supersensible reality.
((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
• Kant believes that the orderliness of nature
and the harmony of nature with our faculties
guide us toward a deeper religious
perspective.
• Understanding our relationship with the
environment can also refer to the human
beings with ecology and nature.
• Herbert Marcuse believes that there can
only be change if we will change our attitude
towards our perception of the environment.
• For George Herbert Mead,
Mead human beings do
not have only rights but duties as well.
• How we react to the community we live in
and our reaction to it, change it.
((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
CARING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
•Theories that show care for the environment aside from the
ecocentric model: deep ecology, social ecology, and ecofeminism.
A. Deep Ecology
•Ecological crisis is an outcome of anthropocentrism.
•Deep ecologists encourage humanity to shift away from
anthropocentrism to ecocentrism.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
B. Social Ecology
•Ecological crisis results from authoritarian social structures.
•Social ecologists call for small-scale societies, which recognize
that humanity is linked with the well-being of the natural world in
which human life depends.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
C. Ecofeminism
•Ecological crisis is a consequence of
male dominance.
•In this view, whatever is “superior” is
entitled to whatever is “inferior.”
•For the ecofeminists, freeing nature
and humanity means removing the
superior vs. inferior in human
relations.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
• The three theories mentioned value
the care, conservation, preservation
of nature, and humanity.
• The search for the meaning of life
must explore not just our own
survival but calls for a new socio-
ecological order.
• Erich Fromm believes that humanity
ought to recognize not only itself
but also the world around it.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
• For Fromm, human beings have
biological urge for survival that turns
into selfishness and laziness as well as
the inherent desire to escape the
prison cell of selfishness to experience
union with others.
• Which of these two contradictory
strivings in human beings will become
dominant is determined by the social
structure currently existing in society.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
PRUDENCE AND FRUGALITY
TOWARDS THE ENVIRONMENT

•Fromm proposed a new society that should

encourage the emergence of a new human
being that will foster prudence and moderation
or frugality toward environment.
•Functions of Fromm’s envisioned society:
1. The willingness to give up all forms of
having, in order to fully be.
2. Being fully present where one is.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
3. Trying to reduce greed, hate, and illusions as much as one is
capable.
4. Making the full growth of oneself and of one’s fellow beings as
the supreme goal of living.
5. Not deceiving others, but also not being deceived by others;
one may be called innocent but not naïve.
6. Freedom that is not arbitrariness but the possibility to be
oneself, not as a bundle of greedy desires, but as a delicately
balanced structure that at any moment is confronted with the
alternatives of growth or decay, life or death.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
 7. Happiness in the process of ever-growing aliveness, whatever
the furthest point is that fate permits one to reach, for living
as fully as one can is so satisfactory that the concern for what
one might or might not attain has little chance to develop.
8. Joy that comes from giving and sharing, not from hoarding
and exploiting.
9. Developing one’s capacity for love, together with one’s
capacity for critical, unsentimental thought.
10. Shedding one’s narcissism and accepting that tragic
limitations inherent in human existence.
• The ideals of Fromm’s society cross all party lines; for protecting
nature needs focused
conservation, action, political will,
and support from industry.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).
ASSIGNMENT:
1.In your observation, how do humans regard the environment?
Explain. In what way/s are your answers positive or negative?
2.In your opinion, how can we protect, conserve, and restore our
environment? Elaborate your answer by planning an activity that
would support it.
3.Compare the importance of nature from the ancient to the
modern era.
4.Write your thoughts regarding the following passage: The
controlling attitude of humankind is extended to nature, when in
fact, humanity is part of nature.
5.What is freedom? Relate Fromm’s view with other philosophers
discussed in previous lessons.

((Source: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, by Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Rex Publishing, 2016, pp. 69-91).