Santa Monica Institute of Tech.

Andrada Bldg. Poblacion, Iligan City

Module 8
Week 11 & 12
Senior High School
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
1st Semester of A.Y. 2021-2022 Instructor: Ceasar Ian H. Mundala

Intended Learning Outcomes

A. Recognize how individuals form societies and how individuals are transformed by societies
B. Compare different forms of societies and individualities (e.g. agrarian, industrial and virtual)
C. Explain how human relations are transformed by social systems
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D. Evaluate the transformation of human relationships by social systems and how societies transform
individual human beings

Discussion

THE HUMAN PERSON IN SOCIETY

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)
 “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)

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society, power can be withdrawn by the people

Activity: In a Spider Graphic Organizer, fill in words that best describes a

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 society that Berger , Luckman and Lock envisioned.
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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

HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE TRANSFORMED BY SOCIETIES

MILLS (1959) ON BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY

 A person is always influenced by his history and society

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)

NIETZSCHE AND SUPERMAN

 Society (morally) enslaves the individual
 e.g. vow of poverty

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  For the person to embark on the “project” of self
 Overcome the self (Nietzsche)
 Against forces impeding his/her growth and development
 Superman philosophy

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
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“malleable” enough to be formed

B. F. SKINNER-DETERMINISM

- sees free will as an illusion and believes that every event and action has a cause

ACTIVITY

B. From the first activity, illustrate the transformation of the society you envision.

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.

HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE TRANSFORMED AND

CAN TRANSFORM THE SOCIETY

MARX THE PHILOSOPHER

Idealistic and materialistic tendencies: Views on labor

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 “Philosophers interpreted the world, the point, however, is to change it.
-Marx (Thesis on Feuerbach)

MARX THE PHILOSOPHER

View of the w Unit of analysis Theories / concepts World Probl Notion of change

orld em

MARX Conflict / stru Economy / produ -Historical Dialectical  Alienation Revolution / overt

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ggle ction Materialism hrow

-Theory of Surplus La
bour

Philosophical claims on the impacts of the society  Strengths Weaknesses

Philosopher to the individual
MILLS -The individual is a product of his / her history

-Only when history is known then can the biograph
y 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

Assessment

 Explain how human relations are transformed by social systems

 Evaluate the transformation of human relationships by social systems and how societies transform
individual human beings
 Do you agree that the changes in the social systems transformed the individual, according to Marx?
 Do we still see oppression and poverty today?
 How are you [or your family] affected by the system described by Marx?
 Will human relations improve if the economic system is modified? How do you imagine it?
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  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.
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