LESSON 3

THE HUMAN PERSON

IN THE

ENVIRONMENT
Objectives
1.Notice disorder in an environment;
2.Notice things that are not in their proper place
and organize them in an aesthetic way;
3.Show that care for the environment contributes
to health, well-being and sustainable development;
4.Demonstrate the virtues of prudence and
frugality towards environments.
LESSON 3

THE HUMAN
PERSON
ENVIRON in the
presents
This lesson will serve as a guide in making probe
into a distinct frame about gaining valuable
insights regarding the human person in the
environment, to demonstrate the virtues of
prudence and frugality towards our environment
as well as to appreciate the beauty of nature.
 LESSON 4

KNOWLED
GAUG
GE (Initial)
KNOWLEDG
What are the
GAUG
E examples of
E disorders that
are present
in our
environment
nowadays?
KNOWLEDG
GAUG
E How do you
E show your
care for the
environment?
KNOWLEDG Does environment,
GAUG
E health, well being
and sustainable
E development are
related with each
other?
In what way?
KNOWLEDG
How do you
GAUG
E demonstrate the
E virtues of
prudence and
frugality towards
environments?
INTRODUCTI
INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

In both East and West, philosophers were asking questions

about the universe we live in and our place in it.
INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

Eastern sages probed nature’s depths intuitively through

the eyes of spiritual sages while Greek thinkers viewed
nature through cognitive and scientific eyes (Price,2000)
INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

The speculations of the pre-Socratic philosopher represent a

paradigm shift – a change from the mystical explanation of
the origin of the cosmos
to a more rational explanation.
INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

These philosophers were looking for the underlying laws of

nature. They wanted to understand the process of studying
nature itself, not by listening
to stories about gods.
INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

Though not as sophisticated in the 21st century standard, the pre-

Socratic philosophers do represent the first intellectual and
scientific attempt to understand the origins of the universe.
INTRODUCTIO
N Model
Anthropocentric Ecocentric Model
(The Human Person in the Environment) NATURE
HUMAN
WILD
CULTURE
HOLISM
INDIVIDUALISM
NATURE/COSMOS
MIND BODY
CALCULATIVE RELATIONAL
HUMAN OVER/AGAINST ENVIRONMENT
EARTH/WISDOM
GLOBAL/ TECHNOLOGICAL ECOLOGY OVER/ AGAINST HUMANS

Consider this two frameworks (Payne, 2010)

INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

There are different views or concepts on the environment

from which debates or researches can be framed and
reframed.
INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

Based on the anthropocentric model, humans are superior

and central to the universe while in Ecocentric model,
the ecological or relational integrity of the humans provides meaning of our
morals and values.
INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

Ecological positioning occurs in the past, present and future and their
environmental settings with regards to our identification, relation and
attachment in, about,
with or for various nature (Payne, 2009)
INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

Classrooms cannot set aside the importance of aesthetics as

well as the environment that suggest valuing that includes:
INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

Aesthetic appreciation; enjoyment, relaxation, satisfaction,

calm, peace, social interaction, growth towards holism and
self-understanding.
INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

There are times that we witness or experience how nature is

destroyed and thus there are floods, flashfloods and landslides.
INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

Our limited understanding of the environment opens for a need for

philosophical investigation of nature, applying aesthetic and theological
dimensions as well appreciating our philosophical reflections with the
concept of nature itself.
INTRODUCTIO
N
(The Human Person in the Environment)

We have the underlying qualities of a human being as holistic and

transcendental, not only should we value the concepts of other people but
consider carefully the moral, ethical, political, cultural and ecological realities
of where we are situated in.
NOTICE
 NOTICE
The domination of humanity is
DISORDER linked to the domination of
in the UNIVERSE nature based on the
anthropocentric model.
An unfair utilization of the
environment result to ecological
crisis.
From this view, it follows that
human arrogance towards nature
is justifiable in order to satisfy
human interest.
 NOTICE
DISORDER
in the UNIVERSE Sometimes, human
adopts an exploitative
attitude whenever nature
is merely considered as
an instrument of one’s
profit or gain.
 NOTICE
DISORDER
in the UNIVERSE

Such for example, quarrying or cutting down age

old trees, etc. could justify our exploitative
attitude towards nature.
 NOTICE
The Ecocentric model in
DISORDER contrast puts the ecosystem
in
HUMANthe UNIVERSE
NATURE
first and assumes that the
WILD
CULTURE
HOLISM
natural world has intrinsic
INDIVIDUALISM NATURE/COSMOS value.
MIND BODY Nature is not valued for the
CALCULATIVE RELATIONAL future survival of human
HUMAN OVER/AGAINST
EARTH/WISDOM
ENVIRONMENT
species per se but is
GLOBAL/
TECHNOLOGICAL
ECOLOGY OVER/
AGAINST HUMANS
invaluable in itself.
 NOTICE
DISORDER Human beings have the
in
HUMANthe UNIVERSE
NATURE responsibility toward the
WILD
CULTURE
HOLISM
land, however because of
INDIVIDUALISM NATURE/COSMOS the anthropocentric
MIND BODY attitude, humanity claims
CALCULATIVE RELATIONAL
HUMAN OVER/AGAINST
EARTH/WISDOM
ownership and authority
ENVIRONMENT

GLOBAL/ ECOLOGY OVER/

over land.
TECHNOLOGICAL AGAINST HUMANS
 NOTICE
DISORDER For the Ecocentric Model,
in
HUMANthe UNIVERSE
NATURE love, respect, admiration and
WILD
CULTURE high regards in nature is
HOLISM
INDIVIDUALISM NATURE/COSMOS
essential.
MIND BODY Land will be considered not
CALCULATIVE RELATIONAL an instrument mode of
HUMAN OVER/AGAINST
ENVIRONMENT EARTH/WISDOM production but will be
GLOBAL/ ECOLOGY OVER/ preserved with integrity,
TECHNOLOGICAL AGAINST HUMANS stability and beauty.
 NOTICE
DISORDER
in the UNIVERSE

War Poverty
Devastation brought
by Yolanda and Ondoy Soil Erosion

Destruction of Property
 Notice Things that Are not in Their
Proper Place and Organize Them in an
AESTHETIC WAY
 ANCIENT
THINKERS He is a pre-Socratic Greek
philosopher and student of
Thales who believed the
universal substance to be
infinity rather than something
resembling ordinary objects.
(611-547 BC)
ANAXIMANDER
 ANCIENT
THINKERS Anaximander employed the term
“boundless” to convey the further
thought that nature is
indeterminate-boundless in the
sense that no boundaries between
warm and cold or the moist and
dry regions are originally present
ANAXIMANDER within it.
 ANCIENT
THINKERS According to his sketch of the
genesis of the world (cosmogony),
the evolution
of the world begins with the
generation of opposites in a certain
region of nature: a portion of the
boundless first differentiates itself
into a cold-moist mass surrounded by
a roughly spherical shell of the
ANAXIMANDER warm-dry.
 ANCIENT
THINKERS Once the warm-dry has been
separated out, surrounding the
cold-moist, it begins to
evaporate the moisture of the
latter and this process forms a
vaporous atmosphere.
ANAXIMANDER
 ANCIENT
THINKERS Eventually, the expanding vapor
or steam burst the enclosing
fiery shells into rings and
rushing outward envelopes
them.
The opposite forces caused an
imbalance that necessitated their
ANAXIMANDER ultimate destruction.
 ANCIENT
THINKERS What appear to us as heavenly
bodies are in reality parts of the
fiery rings that we glimpse through
openings left in their steamy,
vaporous envelopes. The
revolution of the stars, sun and the
moon around the central earth is in
reality the rotation of the vapor-
ANAXIMANDER envelope rings of fire.
 ANCIENT
THINKERS Greek philosopher and
mathematician who proved
the Pythagorean theorem;
considered to be the first
true mathematician.
(circa 580-500 BC)

PYTHAGORAS
 ANCIENT
THINKERS He describe the
universe as living
embodiment of
nature’s order,
harmony and beauty.
PYTHAGORAS
 ANCIENT
THINKERS He sees our relationship with the
universe involving biophilia
(love of other living things) and
cosmophilia
(love of other living beings).
Perhaps, we could consider the
early him as an ecologist.

PYTHAGORAS
 ANCIENT
Chinese Cosmic
THINKERS
Conception It is based on the
assumption that all that
happens in the universe is
a continuous whole like a
chain of natural
consequences.
 ANCIENT
Chinese Cosmic
THINKERS
Conception All events in the
universe follows a
transitional process
due to the primeval
pair, the yang and the
yin.
 ANCIENT
Chinese Cosmic
THINKERS
Conception
The universe does
not proceed onward
but revolves without
beginning or end.
 ANCIENT
Chinese Cosmic
THINKERS
Conception
Human beings’
happiness lies in the
conformity with
tao (nature); the wise,
therefore conforms with
tao and is happy.
 MODERN
THINKERS
He is an influential
German idealist
philosopher (1724-
1804)
IMMANUEL KANT
 MODERN
THINKERS In his third critique
(Critique of Judgment)
he express that beauty
is ultimately a symbol of morality.
According to him,
we must ignore any practical
motives or inclination that we have
and instead contemplate the object
without being distracted by our
IMMANUEL KANT desires.
 MODERN
THINKERS For instance, one should not be
tempted to plunge into the water in
a seascape portrait. In a sense,
therefore, the stance that we take
forward the beautiful object is
similar to that which we take toward
other human being when we are
properly respectful of their dignity.

IMMANUEL KANT
 MODERN
THINKERS The beautiful encourage us to believe that
nature and humanity are part of an even
bigger design. Kant believes that the
orderliness of nature and the harmony of
nature with our faculties guide us toward a
deeper religious perspective. This vision
of the world is not limited to knowledge
and freedom or even to faith, in the
ordinary sense of the term. It is a sense of
cosmic harmony.
IMMANUEL KANT
 MODERN
THINKERS

Understanding our relationship with the

environment can also refer to the human
beings with ecology and nature.
 MODERN
THINKERS

For Herbert Marcuse, humanity had dominated nature.

There can only be change if we will change our
attitude towards our perception of the environment.
 MODERN
THINKERS

Moreover, for George Herbert Mead as human beings, we do

not have only the rights but duties. We are not only citizen of
the community but how we react to the community and in
our reaction to it, change it.
Show that Care for the Environment Contributes to
HEALTH, WELL BEING AND
SUSTAINABLE
 CARE FOR THE
ENVIRONMENT

DEEP ECOLOGY
For this theory, ecological crisis is an outcome of anthropocentrism.
Controlling the attitude of humankind is extended to nature when in fact,
humanity is part of nature.
Deep ecologist encourage humanity to shift to Ecocentrism.
 CARE FOR THE
ENVIRONMENT

SOCIAL ECOLOGY
For this theory, ecological crisis results from authoritarian social structures. Destroying
nature is a reflection wherein few people overpower others while exploiting the
environment for profit and self-interest. Social Ecologist call for small scale societies,
which recognize that humanity is linked with the well-being of the natural
world in which human life depends.
 CARE FOR THE
ENVIRONMENT

ECOFEMINISM
For theory argues that ecological crisis is a consequence of male dominance. In this
view, whatever is superior is entitled to inferior.
Male traits as in the anthropocentric model as superior as opposed to female traits as
in the ecocentric model. Domination works by forcing the other to conform to what is
superior.
 Demonstrate the Virtues
of Prudence and Frugality towards
ENVIRONMENT
 CARE FOR THE
ERICHENVIRONMENT
FROMM, in line with this area proposed a new society that should
encourage the emergence of a new human being that will foster prudence and
modernization or frugality towards the environment. The following are the functions
of the society.

1. The willingness to
give up all forms of
having, in order to fully
be.
 CARE FOR THE
ERICHENVIRONMENT
FROMM, in line with this area proposed a new society that should
encourage the emergence of a new human being that will foster prudence and
modernization or frugality towards the environment. The following are the functions
of the society.

2. Being fully
present where is
one.
 CARE FOR THE
ERICHENVIRONMENT
FROMM, in line with this area proposed a new society that should
encourage the emergence of a new human being that will foster prudence and
modernization or frugality towards the environment. The following are the functions
of the society.

3. Trying to reduce
greed, hate and
illusion as much as
one is capable.
 CARE FOR THE
ERICHENVIRONMENT
FROMM, in line with this area proposed a new society that should
encourage the emergence of a new human being that will foster prudence and
modernization or frugality towards the environment. The following are the functions
of the society.

4. Making the full growth

of oneself and one’s fellow
beings as the supreme goal
of living.
 CARE FOR THE
ERICHENVIRONMENT
FROMM, in line with this area proposed a new society that should
encourage the emergence of a new human being that will foster prudence and
modernization or frugality towards the environment. The following are the functions
of the society.

5. Not deceiving others,

but also not being deceived
by others; one may be
called innocent,
but not naïve.
 CARE FOR THE
ERICHENVIRONMENT
FROMM, in line with this area proposed a new society that should
encourage the emergence of a new human being that will foster prudence and
modernization or frugality towards the environment. The following are the functions
of the society.

6. Freedom that is not arbitrariness but

the possibility to the 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.
 CARE FOR THE
ERICHENVIRONMENT
FROMM, in line with this area proposed a new society that should
encourage the emergence of a new human being that will foster prudence and
modernization or frugality towards the environment. The following are the functions
of the society.

7. Happiness is the process of ever

growing aliveness, whatever the furthest
points is that fate permits one to reach,
for living as fully as one can is so
satisfactory that the concern for what
one might not attain has little chance to
develop.
 CARE FOR THE
ERICHENVIRONMENT
FROMM, in line with this area proposed a new society that should
encourage the emergence of a new human being that will foster prudence and
modernization or frugality towards the environment. The following are the functions
of the society.

8. Joy that comes from

giving and sharing, not
from hoarding and
exploiting.
 CARE FOR THE
ERICHENVIRONMENT
FROMM, in line with this area proposed a new society that should
encourage the emergence of a new human being that will foster prudence and
modernization or frugality towards the environment. The following are the functions
of the society.

9. Developing one’s capacity

for love, together with one’s
capacity for critical
unsentimental thoughts.
 CARE FOR THE
ERICHENVIRONMENT
FROMM, in line with this area proposed a new society that should
encourage the emergence of a new human being that will foster prudence and
modernization or frugality towards the environment. The following are the functions
of the society.

10. Shedding one’s

narcissism and accepting
that tragic limitations
inherent in human
existence.
 LESSON 4

KNOWLED
GAUG
GE (Final)
KNOWLEDG
What are the
GAUG
E examples of
E disorders that
are present
in our
environment
nowadays?
KNOWLEDG
GAUG
E How do you
E show your
care for the
environment?
KNOWLEDG Does environment,
GAUG
E health, well being
and sustainable
E development are
related with each
other?
In what way?
KNOWLEDG
How do you
GAUG
E demonstrate the
E virtues of
prudence and
frugality towards
environments?
 References and Materials Used
Books
• Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person by:
Christine Carmela R. Ramos, Ph.D. (Published and
Distributed by REX Book Store, Manila, Philippines)
Other Sources
• merriam-webster.com
• en.wikipedia.org
Graphics
• Cars-Disney Pixar
• Images from google.com
 No Copyright Infringement
Chapter VIII, Sec. 185 (a)
of Republic Act no. 8293
(Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines)

The purpose and character of the use, including

whether such use is of a commercial nature or is
for non-profit educational purposes.