INTRODUCTION TO

PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN
PERSON

DOING PHILOSOPHY
Lesson 1
 What comes to your mind when you
encounter the word “philosophy”?
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 MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
ETYMOLOGICAL MEANING

PHILOS + SOPHIA

PHILOS or PHILEIM (To Love or Desire)

SOPHIA (Wisdom)

LOVER OF WISDOM
 LOVER OF WISDOM

Pythagoras, a Greek
mathematician (580-500BC),
coined the term Philosophia
(love of wisdom).
 WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
Philosophy is the sum of all
men’s belief and views about
the world which guide their
actions (Ariola 1989).
Philosophy is a rational critical thinking
of a more or less systematic kind about
the conduct of life (Ethics), general
nature of the world (Cosmology) and
justification of beliefs (Epistemology).
(Encyclopedia America 2013)
 Philosophy is the science of all things by
their ultimate principles and causes, as
known by natural reason alone. Philosophy
is the only science that investigates all
things in their ultimate causes, views and
principles through reason alone (Pinion).
 Ancient Greek Philosophers

 Pythagoras (570 BCE to 495 BCE)- A mathematician and scientist, he was

credited with formulating the Pythagorean theorem. He proposes
transmigration as the ultimate end of existence.

 Democritus (460 BCE to 370 BCE)- He devoted himself to the study of the
causes of natural phenomena. Origin of Atom theory.

 Diogenes of Sinope (412 BCE to 323 BCE)- He was a known advocate of

living a simple and virtuous life. Cynicism – Virtuous life.

 Epicurus (341 BCE to 270 BCE)- He believed that philosophy could enable
man to live a life of happiness. Epicureanism – pleasure as ultimate goal.
 Ancient Greek Philosophers
Socrates (470 BCE to 399 BCE)- He was considered
the foremost philosophers of ancient times. He was
credited with formulating the Socratic method- means
of examining a topic by devising a series of questions
that let the learner examine and analyze his knowledge
and views regarding the topic.
 Ancient Greek Philosophers
Plato (427 BCE to 347 BCE)- A student of Socrates, he wrote down his
mentor’s teaching and incorporated some of his own ideas into them.
Plato’s most significant ideas included his Theory of Forms, which
proposes that everything that exist is based on an idea or template than
can only be perceived in the mind. Plato is also known for his dialectic-
a method of inquiry where two opposing ideas are discussed in an
attempt to arrive at new knowledge. Plato’s lasting contribution to
learning was his founding of the Academy, an institution of higher
learning.
 Ancient Greek Philosophers
Aristotle (384 BCE to 322 BCE)- He attended the
Academy, and was the prominent student of Plato. For
him, all ideas and views are based on perception and our
reality is based on what we can sense and perceive. His
studies in logic led to the formulation of a formal process
of analyzing reasoning which give rise to deductive
reasoning-the process by which specific statements are
analyzed to reach a conclusion or generalization
 Branches of Philosophy
 Aesthetics is the branch of Philosophy which deals with the
appreciation and meaning of beauty and what makes things
“beautiful”.
 Logic is branch of philosophy which deals with correct reasoning.
 Epistemology discusses the nature of Truth, knowledge and
knowing.
 Ethics is the branch which deals with moral questions and
dilemmas.
 Political Philosophy studies governments and deals with questions
of justice, power and the rights and obligations of citizens.
 Branches of Philosophy
 Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy which deals with questions
regarding reality and existence.
 Existentialism- A philosophical theory which emphasizes the
existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent
determining their own development through acts of the will.
 Phenomenology- it is a Philosophy of experience. Its method is
descriptive analysis of the life world experience of the individual
capable of experiencing.
 Philosophy of the Human Person-is an area in philosophy that
attempts to understand the human person from a philosophical
perspective.
 MEANING OF “PERSON”
The term “person” can be
defined in many ways based on
one’s purpose may it be in
Law, Grammar or even
Religion.
In Law, the term person may refer
to a corporation, organization,
partnership, association or other
entity construed to be governed
by a particular law.
 In grammar, a person is any of the three
groups of pronouns with corresponding
verbal inflections that distinguish the
speaker (First person), the individual
addressed (Second person) and the
individual or thing spoken of (third person)
e.g. I am speaking in front of the Gr. 11
students about Philosophy

I (First person)
Gr. 12 HUMMS (Second person)
Philosophy (Third person)
 In Philosophy, a person is a
being that has certain capacities
or attributes. Its is a composite
of characteristics that make up
an individual a “self”.
 Etymologically, the term person is derived
from the Latin word persona or Greek word
prosopon which refers to masks worn by
actors on stage.

The various masks represented the various

“personae” in the stage play.
 The plural persons is often used in
philosophy and law whereas the word
persons or “people” is often used in
sociology and government to refer to
an entire nation or ethnic group.
 MEANING OF “HUMAN”
Human is defined as a rational being endowed
with composite characteristics (physical,
mental, moral, spiritual, and emotional) as
distinct from lower animals.
Human person is used together to distinguish it
from other kinds of persons such as corporate
person, ecclesiastical person, in grammar, etc.
 MEANING OF “PHILOSOPHY OF
HUMAN PERSON”
The Philosophy of Human Person
is the love or desire of a rational
being endowed with wisdom. It is
one’s desire to know who and
what a human person is.
The focal point of study is the
human person, the meaning of
his existence, his destiny, his
relation to others, society and
the world.
 Philosophy of Human Person is a
course that deals with the study of
human person as an embodied being,
immersed in society, the world and
the environment and oriented
towards death
The human person’s life existence is fulfilled
in various relationships;
his relationship to himself (intrapersonal),
relationship to others (interpersonal),
relationship to society, relationship to the
world and environment and his impending
death.
Karl Raimund Popper theorized that human
person concurrently exists in three distinct
worlds: a) the physical world of nature –
properly belongs to natural/physical
sciences, b) the internal world of ideas,
thought and emotions, c) social world of
inter-subjectivity.
 Philosophy of Human Person also
includes investigations into such
person’s internal world of ideas,
thoughts and emotions as well as such
person’s social world of inter-
subjectivity.
THE PERSPECTIVES OF PHILOSOPHY
OF HUMAN NATURE
Two types of perspective in
the study of philosophy:
a) Partial Perspective,
b) Holistic Perspective
 PARTIAL PERSPECTIVE
–the focus of philosophy is the human
person in relation to self; his intellect and
free will as a unique individual
(psychology) limited in his capacity to do
good (ethics) and to know (epistemology)
and his place in society (political
philosophy)
 HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE
– the human person is seen as a whole
or seen in its entire functioning
system, not as a collection of parts-this
is, their functioning cannot be fully
understood solely in terms of their
component parts.