Module 7:

The Human Person in the Environment

Quarter : First Quarter

Content Standard : The learner understands the interplay between
humans and their environments
Performance Standard : The learner is able to demonstrate the virtues of
prudence and frugality towards his/her environment
Competencies (MELC) : Notice things that are not in their proper place and
organize them in an aesthetic way
Duration : 1 week
Learning Outcomes : Present a slogan that validates the virtues of
prudence and frugality in understanding the interplay
between humans and their environments

What I Know

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Underline the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter
on a separate sheet of paper.

1. He employed the term "boundless" to convey the further thought that

nature is indeterminate – boundless in the sense that no boundaries
between the warm and cold or the moist and dry regions were originally
present within it.
a. Thales b. Anaximander c. Anaximenes d. Pythagoras

2. There are different views on nature or environment from which debates or researches
can be framed and reframed. Based on this particular model, humans are superior
and central to the universe.
a. anthropocentric b. egocentric c. Ecocentric d. Exocentric

3. Another ancient philosopher described the universe as living embodiment

of nature's order, harmony, and beauty.
a. Thales b. Anaximander c. Anaximenes d. Pythagoras
4. This environmental model puts the ecosystem first and assumes that the natural
world has intrinsic value.
a. anthropocentric b. egocentric c. Ecocentric d. Exocentric

5. He sees our relationship with the universe involving “love of other living
things” and “love of other living beings”. Perhaps, we could consider him
as an ecologist.
a. Thales b. Anaximander c. Anaximenes d. Pythagoras

6. It means “love of other living things.”

a. biophilia b. anorexia c. cosmophilia d. hemopenia

7. It means “love of other living beings.”

a. biophilia b. anorexia c. cosmophilia d. hemopenia

8. This cosmic conception is based on the assumption that all that

happens in the universe is a continuous whole like a chain of natural
consequences. a. Chinese b. Greek c. American d. European

9. For this environmental model, love, respect, admiration for nature, and high regard for
its value is essential.
a. anthropocentric b. egocentric c. Ecocentric d. Exocentric

10. “All events in the universe follow a transitional process due to the
primeval pair, the yang and the yin.”
a. Chinese b. Greek c. American d. European

11. This being has been establishing civilization in different conditions and context of
environment. a. Plants b. Animals c. Brutes d. Humans

12. “The universe does not proceed onward but revolves without beginning or
end. There is nothing new under the sun; the "new" is a repetition of the
old.” a. Chinese b. Greek c. American d. European

13. He expresses that beauty is ultimately a symbol of morality.

a. Mead b. Anaximander c. Kant d. Karol Wojtyla

14. According to him, the environment enables human being “to exist and act together
with others”.
a. Karol Wojtyla b. Payne c. Kant d. Herbert Mead

15. According to him, we must ignore any practical motives or inclinations

that we have and instead contemplate the object without being
distracted by our desires.
a. Karol Wojtyla b. Anaximander c. Kant d. Pythagoras
 What I Need to Know

"What is the world made of?", "How did the world come into being?",
and "How can we explain the process of change?" were philosophical
questions already brought up approximately 600 B.C.E. in the Western Ionian
seaport town of Miletus across the Aegean Sea from Athens, Greece. Because
Ionia was a meeting place between the East and West, Greek philosophy may
have Oriental as well as Egyptian and Babylonian influences. In both East
and West, philosophers 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, while Greek thinkers viewed nature through
cognitive and scientific eyes (Price 2000).

Activity: Search for Louis Armstrong’s song What a Wonderful World. Listen and
sing the song (together with family). You can watch the video clips as guide.

After singing, discuss:

a. How did the song regard the environment? How did the song see the
human person in the environment?
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b. What is the tone of the song?

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c. Which lyrics serve as most meaningful? Why?

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Lesson
Notice Disorder in the Universe
1

What’s In

The domination of humanity is linked to the domination of nature

based on the anthropocentric model. An unfair or unjust utilization of the
environment result to ecological crisis. From this view, it follows that human
arrogance toward nature is justifiable in order to satisfy human interests.
Sometimes, humans adopt an exploitative attitude whenever nature is merely
considered as an instrument for one's profit or gain. For example, quarrying
or cutting down age old trees could justify our exploitative attitude toward
nature.
 Current researches by Zimmerman (1994), Elgin (2009), and Pettman
(2012) to name a few, exposed the environmental consequence of international
politico-economic specialization for specific countries and global regions.

The study for instance, established that the damage is not inevitable
but a consequence of our choices. Accordingly, humanity needs to develop
an "ecological conscience" based on individual responsibility. Ecologists
challenge us to adopt a lifestyle that involves simple living that honors the
right of all life forms to live, flourish, and create a rich diversity of human
and nonhuman life.

Destruction of Property:

Devastation brought by Yolanda and Ondoy

 War Poverty

Soil Erosion Linked to Food Supply

Activity: Check Your Understanding

1. Based on your own understanding, compare and contrast the

Anthropocentric and Ecocentric Models. Write your answers inside the
circle.

Anthropocentric Model

Ecocentric Model
 What’s More

Guided Learning: Interactive Work

1. In your opinion, how can we protect, conserve, and restore our

environment? You can further assess your answers by planning a
nature walk or a gardening activity.

a. How can you promote the human person in the environment

through nature walk or a gardening activity?
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b. Design: Conceptualize your designs if you will choose gardening. If

you choose nature walk, your teacher must suggest a safe place.
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2. Based on the previous images, what could be improper? Are you

happy with what you see or experience in nature? How will you
organize or improve the environment or world that you belong to?
___________________________________________________________________
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Lesson Notice Things that are not in Their Proper

Place and Organize Them in an
2 Aesthetic Way

What’s New / What is It

A. Ancient Thinkers

Early Greek philosophers, the Milesians, regarded Nature as spatially

without boundaries, that is, as infinite or indefinite in extent. One ancient
thinker, Anaximander, employed the term "boundless" to convey the further
thought that Nature is indeterminate—boundless in the sense that no
boundaries between the warm and cold or the moist and dry regions are
originally present within it (Solomon & Higgins 2010).

Anaximander

Pythagoras

Another ancient philosopher, Pythagoras, described the universe as

living embodiment of nature's order, harmony, and beauty. 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 him
as an ecologist.

The Chinese cosmic 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. All events in the unive rse follow a
transitional process due to the primeval pair, the yang and the yin. The
universe does not proceed onward but revolves without beginning or end.
There is nothing new under the sun; the "new" is a repetition of the old
(Quito 1991). Human being's happiness lies in his conformity with nature or
tao; the wise, therefore, conforms with tao and is happy.

B. Modern Thinkers

Immanuel Kant

In his third critique, Critique of Judgment, Immanuel Kant expresses

that beauty is ultimately a symbol of morality (Kant 1997). According to
Kant, we must ignore any practical motives or inclinations that we have
and instead contemplate the object without being distracted by our
desires (Goldblatt & Brown 2010). 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 beings when we are properly respectful of their
dignity.

Ultimately, 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.

Understanding our relationship with the environment can also refer to the
human beings with ecology and nature. For Herbert Marcuse, humanity had
dominated nature. There can only be change if we will change our attitude towards
our perception of the environment. Moreover, for Mead, as human beings, we do not
have only rights but duties. We are not only citizens of the community but how we
react to this community and in our reaction to it, change it.

Consider this American Indian prayer (Gallagher 1996):

0 great spirit, whose voice I heard in the winds

And whose breath gives life to the world, hear me.
I come to you as one of your many children...
l am small and weak. I need your strength and wisdom.
May I walk in beauty.
Make my hands respect the things you have made,
Make my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may know the things that you have Taught
your children...
The lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock...
Make me strong so that I may not be superior to other people,
But able to fight my greatest enemy; which is myself
Make me every ready to come to you with straight eyes
So that, when life fades as the fading sunset,
I may come to you without shame.
Activity:

Check Your Knowledge

What is the worldview of the Chinese?

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Check Your Understanding

Research about animal rights. In your opinion, do animals deserve
respect? Why or why not?
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What I Have Learned

Guided Learning:

1. Discussion: Compare the importance of nature from the ancient to the

modern era.
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2. Self-review: Evaluate your personal views and attitudes toward nature.
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What I Can Do

1. Visually Guided Learning:

a) Answer how you can organize the following images in a more aesthetic way?
b) Draw and submit to class.
c) Discuss your drawings in class.
 Assessment

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Underline the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter
on a separate sheet of paper.

1. For this environmental model, the land will be considered not an instrumental mode of
production but will be preserved with integrity, stability, and beauty. It is incorrect
when it tends otherwise.
a. anthropocentric b. egocentric c. Ecocentric d. Exocentric

2. Who dominated nature based on the anthropocentric model?

a. Plants b. Animals c. Brutes d. Humans

3. Its _____ utilization to the environment resulted to ecological crisis.

a. unjust b. just c. fair d. equal

4. Because of this environmental model, humanity claims ownership or authority over

land.
a. anthropocentric b. egocentric c. Ecocentric d. Exocentric

5. Current researchers exposed the environmental consequence of

international politico-economic specialization for specific countries and
global regions.
a. Zeus, Elgin, & Pettman b. Zimmerman, Elgin, & Pettman
c. Zimmerman, Zeus, & Pettman d. Zimmerman, Elgin, & Zeus

6. It was a meeting place between the East and West in 600 B.C.E., hence,
Greek philosophy may have Oriental as well as Egyptian and Babylonian
influences.
a. Delos Island b. Ithaca c. Acheron River d. Ionia

7. In both East and West, philosophers were asking questions about it

and our place in it.
a. the universe b. the politics c. the economics d. the history

8. According to Price (2000), they viewed nature's depths intuitively through the
eyes of spiritual sages.
a. Eastern Philosophers b. Western Philosophers
c. Northern Philosophers d. Southern Philosophers

9. There are different views on nature or environment from which debates or researches
can be framed and reframed. Based on this particular model, the relational integrity of
the humans, provides the meaning of our morals and values. are superior and central
to the universe.
a. anthropocentric b. egocentric c. Ecocentric d. Exocentric

10. According to Price (2000), they viewed nature through cognitive and
scientific eyes. a. Eastern Philosophers b. Western Philosophers
c. Northern Philosophers d. Southern Philosophers
11. The study established that the damage in our environment is not
inevitable but a consequence of our ____.
a. choices b. skills c. rejection d. indifference

12. Someone needs to develop an "ecological conscience" based on individual

responsibility to preserve the environment.
a. Animal b. Plant c. Man d. Brute

13. He believes that human action “ought to be helpful in the cognitive actualization of the
potentiality” of human being.
a. Herbert Mead b. Payne c. Kant d. Karol Wojtyla

14. According to him, classrooms cannot set aside the importance of aesthetics as well as
the environment that suggests valuing that include: aesthetic appreciation; enjoyment,
relaxation, satisfaction, calm, peace, social interaction, growth toward holism, and self-
understanding.
a. Mead b. Anaximander c. Payne d. Karol Wojtyla

15. They regarded nature as spatially without boundaries, that is, as infinite or
indefinite in extent. a. Eastern Philosophers b. Western Philosophers
c. Northern Philosophers d. Southern Philosophers

References
Elgin, Duane. 2009. The Living Universe. California: Berrett-Koehler
Publishers, Inc.

Goldblatt, David and Brown, Lee. 2010. Aesthetics (3rd ed.) Pearson
education.

Gallagher, Rosemary. 1996. American Indian Prayer. Our Lady of Fatima

News. Leeds. Redemptorist Publications.
Kant, Immanuel. Translated by Mary Gregor. 1997. Practical Reason. New
York. Cambridge University Press.
Pettman, Ralf. (ed.). Globalization: Handbook on international political
economy. London: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Price, Joan. 2000. Philosophy Through the Ages. Australia. Wadsworth.

Quito, Emerita. 1991. The Emerging philosophy of East and West. Manila. De
La Salle University Press.

Ramos, Christine Carmela R. 2016. Introduction to the Philosophy (2nd ed.)

Manila. Rex Bookstore, Inc.

Solomon, Robert and Higgins, Kathleen. 2010. The Big Question. A Short
Introduction to Philosophy. CA. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Zimmerman, Michael. 1994. Contesting Earth’s Future. Radical Ecology

and Postmodernism. California. University of California Press.