The Human Person in their
Environment
Guide Questions
1. What is sustainable
development?
2. What is the difference between
intrinsic and instrumental
value?
3. How does this difference affect
one’s views on the attribution
of moral consideration?
4. What are different views on the
attribution of moral
consideration?
5. Which view is the most
holistic?
6. What are the different theories
on radical ecological
philosophy?
“Wala ka bang napapansin sa iyong
mga kapaligiran?
Kay dumi na ng hangin, pati na ang
mga ilog natin
Hindi nga masama ang pag-unlad
at malayo-layo na rin ang ating
narating…”
• Asin
What signs of disorder in the
environment do we see?
• pollution in water
• landslide; because of
deforestation
• kaingin system
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
• is development that meets the
needs of the present without
compromising the ability of
future generations to meet
their own needs.
It contains within it two (2) key
concepts:
1. The concept of “needs”, in
particular the essential needs of
the world’s poor; and
a. Equity - needs mo lang.
receive what they need to
have equal outcomes
with everyone
b. Equality - everyone gets
treated exactly the same.
2. The idea of limitations
imposed by the state of
technology and social
organization on the
environment’s ability to meet
present and future needs.
Three Important Principles of
Sustainability
1. ENVIRONMENTAL
INTEGRITY
• refers to maintaining the state
of the environment. Kung ano
‘yung nadatnan, dapat ganoon
din iwan.
2. ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY
• refers to prudence in decision-
making regarding the use of
resources to ensure that there is
minimum to zero waste.
• Prudence (good judgement) -
is the ability to regulate one’s
actions and behavior.
3. EQUITY
• demands that we use our
natural resources in such a
manner that they are conserved
so that the next generation will
be able to use them.
• Prudence and frugality can
guide us in our use of
resources.
• Frugality is being thrifty with
the use of one’s resources.
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
• the discipline in philosophy that
studies the moral relationship
of human beings to, and also
the value and moral status of,
the environment and this non-
human contents.
VALUE
• Intrinsic value; if it has
inherent worth in itself.
• Instrumental value; if
something is considered as a
means towards achieving a
certain end.
Views on the Attribution of Moral
Consideration
a. ANTHROPOCENTRISM
(humans)
• only humans are assigned
intrinsic value
• considers human beings as the
center of moral consideration
b. PANTHOCENTRISM
(animals)
• extends intrinsic value and thus
moral consideration to higher
forms of animals or intelligent
animals such as dogs and
chimpanzees who are sentient
• Sentient: having the power of
perception by the senses;
conscious.
• Sentient beings therefore have
the capacity to feel pain, and
thus, suffering.
c. BIOCENTRISM (plants)
• is the view that not only
humans and animals, but also
plants should be morally
considerable.
• Intrinsic value is assigned to
living things.
d. ECOCENTRISM (ecosystem)
• regards ecosystems as holistic
entities that should be given
moral consideration.
• Ecosystem: the community of
living organisms in conjunction
with the nonliving components
of their environment interacting
as a system.
• Reduces all living beings as
mere members of the
ecosystem.
• Intrinsic value is assigned to the
ecosystem as a whole.
• Thus an action is right and
therefore, moral, when it has
the tendency to preserve the
integrity, stability of the biotic
 community; and wrong when it
does the opposite.
Philosophers’ take on the
environment
a. Aldo Leopold
• An American
conservationist, forester,
and philosopher.
• "That land is a
community is the basic
concept of ecology, but
that land is to be loved
and respected is an
extension of ethics"
ECOLOGY
• a science that deals with the
relationships between groups of
living things and their
environments
Theories in Radical Ecological
Philosophy
1. DEEP ECOLOGY
• an ecological and
environmental philosophy
which presupposes that all
living things possess equal
intrinsic value regardless of
their usefulness or utility to
other beings.
a. Arne Naess
• Founder of Deep
Ecology.
• “Each living being is
understood as a goal in
itself, in principle on an
equal footing with one’s
own ego.”
2. SOCAL ECOLOGY
• an offshoot of the movement
against the domination of
existing hierarchical structures
in society that preempt the
development of the full nature
of an individual.
• Man has two natures: (1) biotic
nature; and (2) human nature.
a. Murray Bookchin
• Proponent of Social
Ecology
• “Until human beings
cease to live in societies
that are structured
around hierarchies as
well as economic classes,
we shall never be free of
domination..."
• "...however much we try
to dispel it with rituals,
incantations, eco
theologies, and the
adoption of seemingly
'natural' ways of life."
3. ECOFEMINISM
• feminism is the belief that men
and women should have equal
rights and opportunities.
• Talks about the value of women
• believes that a society
characterized by a mentality
that tolerates the oppression of
women is directly linked with
its tendency to tolerate the
abuse of the environment and
degradation of nature.
a. Mary Wollstonecraft
• Feminist philosopher
 • Author of “A Vindication
of the Rights of Woman”
• "I do not wish them
[women] to have power
over men, but to have
power over themselves.”
b. Ynestra King
• Ecofeminist theorist
• Author of "The Ecology
of Feminism and the
Feminism of Ecology"
• "The human species in its
patriarchal form is the
only species which holds
a conscious belief that it
is entitled to dominion
over the other species
and over the planet."
FREEDOM
Freedom - to do what is good
Liberation - being able to do what you
want, being free from restrictions.
“I am free, no matter what rules
surround me. If I find them tolerable,
I tolerate them, if I find them
obnoxious, I break free because I
know I alone am morally responsible
for everything I do.”
• Robert A. Heinlein
“The really important kind of freedom
involves attention, and awareness, and
discipline, and effort, and being able
truly to care about other people and to
sacrifice for them, over and over, in
myriad petty little unsexy ways,
everyday.”
• David Foster Wallance
“ Freedom is not advanced in the
permissive society, which confuse
freedom with license to do anything
whatever and which in the name of
freedom proclaim kind general
amorality. It is a caricature of freedom
to claim that people are free to
organize their lives with no reference
to moral values, and to say that
society does not have to ensure the
protection and advancement of ethical
values. Such an attitude is destructive
of freedom and peace.”
• Pope John Paul II
1. How is freedom defined in the
quotes?
2. Which idea regarding freedom
is acceptable to you?
3. If you were to make your own
definition of “freedom” what
will it be?
Definition of Freedom
• the power rooted in reason and
will to act or not to act, to do
this or that and so to perform
deliberate actions.
THEOLOGICAL VIEWS ON
FREEDOM
• God freeing us from our sin
• freedom from sin and living a
life of righteousness.
• the context of living in
accordance with the will of
God.
POLITICAL CONCEPT ON
FREEDOM
• Laws
• if there is no practice of
freedom there is chaos.
• Freedom or Liberty - a social
and political concept which has
great significance in how
people participate in society.
• The concept of freedom
emerged as an important
philosophical issue in 18th
century Europe during the Age
of Enlightenment (renaissance).
• Intellectuals pondered on the
origins of society and the state
and the nature of human
freedom.
• Enlightenment thinkers
believed that early man existed
in a "natural state" and had
absolute freedom.
• However, the establishment of
societies required people to
surrender some of their
freedoms in order to live in
harmony with others and ensure
the survival of society.
• Laws to protect us
In establishing society, people entered
into a "social contract" which defined
the freedoms that they will be
enjoying as members of a society and
the state.
Freedom in a political and social
context means the freedom of an
individual from oppression,
compulsion, or coercion from other
persons, an authority figure, or from
society itself.
Two type of Liberties
1. Positive liberty refers to
a person taking control of
his or her own life and
fulfilling one's potential.
2. Negative liberty is
freedom from external
restraints, barriers, and
other inferences from
other people.
LIBERALISM
• upholds the preservation of
individuals rights and stresses
the role of the government in
protecting civil liberties.
Believes that the individual, not
the government, is the best
judge in upholding and
exercising rights.
SOCIALISM
• considers freedom as the
freedom to acquire economic
responses and the ability to
work and act according to one's
desires.
Person's Rights
 1. Natural rights - refer to
rights which are innate in
the person such as the
rights to life.
Example: right to love
2. Legal rights - are
rights that are based on
society's customs and
laws, and are enacted by
legislation and enforced
by a government.
PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW ON
FREEDOM
• State of mind
• Expressed in Two ways:
o Free action - the
freedom to perform an
action without any
obstacles or hindrances
o Free Will - which is the
capacity to choose from
alternative courses of
action or decision.
Views on the nature of Free will and
how it influence the Human Action
1. Human Agency - refers to the
capacity of a person to act and
exert control over his or her
behavior.
2. Faculties model - refers to
freewill as the use of our
mental faculties. It assumes that
we have free will due to
intellect and that each human
action is based on rationality
and sound judgement.
Example: A student deciding to
participate actively in class to
improve his or her grades indicates
that he or she uses judgement to
implement an action, thus exercising
free will.
Hierarchical model - free will is
based on human wants and desires.
• Wants and Desires - A person
exercises free will when he
identifies one desire as
acceptable and decides to act on
it.
Example: A newly-graduated high
school student who decides to pursue
either Engineering or Medicine in
college is exercising free will.
Should he choose Medicine, he must
want to become a doctor.
Reasons-response view - believes
that man has free will because he is
able to entertain reasons not to enact a
certain decision and act upon them
when the need arises.
Examples: A person decides to cross
the street but sees a car rapidly He or
she exercise free will by choosing not
to cross the street and allow the
speeding car to pass.
What can prevent us from exercising
our freedom?
• Constraints - limitation or
restriction.
External obstacles such as:
• Prohibitions
• Laws
• Social controls
External factors that may restrict free
action:
• Weather
• Accidents
• Poverty
Constraints on freewill includes
certain methods that cloud a person's
judgement such as:
• Manipulation or brainwashing
• Coercion
Determinism vs. Freedom
Determinism - is a philosophical
view that believes that every event in
the world is brought about by
underlying causes or factors.
If a man is indeed free, how can he
exercise his free will and action in a
world where events are already
determined by outside forces?
Free will and Determinism
Freewill being exercised in a
deterministic scenario is how people
deal with things that are "outside their
control".
Factors to consider:
1. Influence in society
2. Socioeconomic situation
3. Culture
4. People
5. Community
Marxist Philosophy believes that
society imposes certain controls on
people, and that a person's social
group largely influences how he
thinks or acts.
Moral Responsibility - refers to a
person's status of deserving praise and
reward, or blame and punishment for
an action.
Christian doctrine establishes that all
good, moral actions will result in
rewards such as blessing and
salvation, while evil deeds merit
punishment both in this world and in
the afterlife.
Freedom is…
• Power
o How do I use my
freedom? Is it for my
good and of those around
me?
o Do I tend to abuse it?
o Why can't God stop it if
it is abused?
• Rooted in reason and will
o We do not act out of
nothing
o There should be a reason
for everything.
o What will happen if we
do whatever we want
regardless of the
outcome?
• Performing deliberate action
o Deliberate means
intentional.
o Do we really intended it
to happen or not?
• Is not licentiousness
 o Licentiousness - is doing
anything you want
without restraint.
o Is this possible?
• Doing what is good
• Freedom is always doing what
is good.
• It is not absolute
• One's freedom is always limited
by the freedom of others.
• Freedom could be misused and
abused.
• Romans 6:17 "to disobey God
and do evil is an abuse of
freedom and leads to slavery of
sin."
• Freedom obligation always
entails
• Moral obligation enters when
man exercises his freedom.
Freedom attains its perfection when
directed towards God.
Intersubjectivity
Focus Questions
1. What is intersubjectivity?
2. Differentiate the social from the
interhuman.
3. Differentiate I-It from I-Thou
relationship.
4. What is dialogue?
5. What are the obstacles to
authentic dialogue?
6. How do people address
loneliness?
7. What are the essential
characteristics of love?
Subject vs. Object
Intersubjectivity
• Is the condition of man, a
subject, among other men, who
are also subjects.
• Refers to the shared awareness
and understanding among
persons.
• It is made possible by the
awareness of the self and the
other.
a. Martin Buber - an Austrian-
born Israeli Jewish philosopher best
know n for his philosophy of
dialogue:
→ "The world is not
comprehensible, but it is
embraceable: through the
embracing of one of its beings."
→ “All real living is meeting.”
• Meeting with other people that
are also alive.
→ “All actual life is
encounter.”
Social vs. Interhuman
• social refers to the life of a
group and together by common
experiences a bound reactions.
• "Men feel themselves to be carried
by the collectivity, which lifts them
out of loneliness and fear of the
world and lostness." - Martin Buber
• the interhuman refers to the
life between and among
 persons; it refers to the that is, a
life of dialogue.
Dialogue
• It is a deep and genuine
relationship between persons.
• It happens when two persons
truly acknowledge each other's
presence and treat each other as
equals.
Ich~Es (I-It) relationship
• It refers to the world of
experience and sensation where
there are objects.
• The beings do not actually
meet. Instead, the "I" confronts
and qualifies an idea, or
conceptualization, of the being
in its presence and treats that
being as an object.
• An individual treats other
things, people, etc., as objects
to be used and experienced.
Essentially, this form of
objectivity relates to the world
in terms of the self-how an
object can serve the individual's
interest.
• It is in fact a relationship with
oneself; it is not a dialogue, but
a monologue.
Ich~Du (I-Thou) relationship
• It refers to the world of
encounters and relationships
where there are persons. It is a
concrete encounter without any
qualification or objectification
of one another.
• It is a dialogue.
→ “Through the Thou a person
becomes I.” - Martin Buber
Obstacles to Dialogue
Seeming
Speechifying Pe
Imposition
1. Seeming
• It is a way of approaching the
other governed by the image
one desires to impress on the
other.
• It involves deliberately playing
up or hiding of yourself to
appear more desirable or
impressive.
→ “The origin of all conflict between
me and my fellow men is that I do not
say what I mean and I don't do what I
say.” - Martin Buber
→ “To yield to seeming is man's
essential cowardice, to resist it is his
essential courage." - Martin Buber
a. Being
• `It proceeds not from an
image, but from what one
really is.
• It is an acceptance of the
other in the way that it is
also an acceptance of the
self as it is.
→ "Man wishes to be confirmed in his
being by man, and wishes to have a
presence in the being of the
other...Secretly and bashfully he
watches for a YES which allows him
to be and which can come to him only
from one human person to another." -
Martin Buber
→ ”Acceptance is the road to all
change” - Bryant Mcgill
“Happiness can exist only in
acceptance.” - George Orwell
2. Speechifying
• Refers to one’s talking past
another.
• It is hearing without listening to
what one says.
• Naririnig ka nga… hindi ka
naman pinakikinggan.
a. Personal making
present
• It is the process of fully
opening oneself to the
other.
• Why is it so hard to open
up to others?
Tendencies that make dialogue and personalbut
Analytical When we break person Why
thinking
•
It is telling the other how he or
she should act, behave and
respond to things.
a. Unfolding
• It constitutes finding in
the other the disposition
toward what one
recognizes as true, good
and beautiful.
• It involves seeing the
other as a unique,
singular individual
capable of freely
actualizing
himself/herself.
→ “Love is responsibility of an
I for a Thou: in this consists
what cannot consist in any
feeling - the equality of all
lovers." - Martin Buber
• “Love does not cling to the I in
such a way as to have the Thou
only for its " content, its object;
love is present
making betweendifficult
I and
Thou." - Martin Buber
do we misunderstand love as
into parts.
something that we fall into?

Reductive The Art

When we reduce the richness of of Lovingto(Fromm,
a person a schema,1956)
a
thinking structure, and or/a concept.• We give more importance to
being loved than loving.
Derivational When we derive the person• from a mixed
People thinkformula.
that to love is easy
thinking and what is difficult is to find
the right person to love or be
loved by.
3. Imposition • We confuse the initial falling-
• It constitutes holding one's own in-love with the permanent
opinion, values, attitudes and state of being-in-love.
oneself without regard for those
of another.
→ “The experience of love begins • Born in kaunas (1905-1995),
from the experience of loneliness.” - Lithuania, which at the time
Dr. Manuel Dy, Jr. had about 32,000 Jews and 40
synagogues. Today only one
Loneliness - one of the most basic synagoge remains and about
experiences of the human being 500 Jews.
because of self-awareness. • Synagogue in Kaunas
• Adam and Eve
1930s and
Ways by which people address 1940s
loneliness
• Levinas studied philosophy,

Escapism andsex,
Use of drugs, rituals, spoke
andFrench,
alcoholGerman,
to fin one’s
self Russian and Hebrew.
• He wrote a book criticizing
Conformity with groups Hitler in the
Joining group, organization, 1930s.
club or fraternity
• Levinas, with his best friend
Creative and productive work Planing, producingphilosopher
and seeing the resultBlanchot.
Maurice of a
or activity hobby, pastime •or Became
passion a French soldier at the
→ “Solitude is the place of start of WWII but was captured
purification.” - Martin Buber early on and spent most of the
war in a POW camp.
Sometimes you need to lose everyone • Levinas’ wife and daughter
to find yourself again. survived WWII thanks to
Blanchot who found a hiding
Essential Characteristics of Love
place for them in a Catholic
Love is...
Monastery.
Historical Because the other is a concrete particular person with his/her own
history. Levinas and Heidegger
• Before the war, Levinas studied
Total Because people are indivisible. under German philosopher
Martin Heidegger, but broke
Eternal Because love is not given only for a limited period of time.
from his philosophy of being
Sacred Because in love, people are valuable inwhen Heidegger became a
themselves.
Nazi.
• Hindi ‘yung mahalaga ka lang
dahil kailangan ka. Kailangan Western philosophers like Heidegger
ka dahil mahalaga ka. ask questions like:
1. Do I exist?
EMMANUEL LEVINAS: An Ethics 2. What is my purpose?
of the Face They assume we are all the same.
Difference is accidental. This
sameness is called ‘Being’ or
‘Totality’.
Levinas felt that Auschwitz showed
that this understanding of humanity
didn’t work.
• If we’re all the same, what do
you do with those who are
different?
Levinas emphasized the ‘Wisdom of
Love’ over the ‘Love of Wisdom’
(philosophy by definition)
• Love means to take
responsibility for the Other.
• Levinas felt the only
philosophy worth studying was
ethics. Our responsibility for
others is what matters.
• Levinas said the ‘good’ is the
central question of all
philosophy. “The Good is
interested, not in what is
common among things but
what is absolutely unique.”
(Textbook, 18)
• “Ethics as First Philosophy”
TOTALITY vs. INFINITY
Levinas contrasted the Western notion
of Totality against the Hebrew notion
of Infinity.
1. TOTALITY: We are all the sae
2. INFINITY: We are all
different. And we are all
responsible for each other.
Levinas’ most famous work is called
Totality and Infinity
• A trace of God
Because we are all unique and
different, we each reflect a unique
trace of our infinite God. We don’t
see God in the face of another but we
see a trace of God, a reflection, like
sunlight on water.
• The face of another (the
Other) (face of God)
compels us to take
responsibility for them.
• The face of the Other
teaches us that we are not
innocent. We are in fact
responsible for each
other.
• We can only reach
forGod by reaching for
the Other. ‘I-thou-Thou’
• “Here I am”, said to
another person, is more
important than “I believe
in God.”
• Let us see the face of
God in the other person.
The Human Person in Society
Society
• an organized group of people
whose members interact
frequently and have a territory
and culture common.
• a companionship or friendly
association with others, an
alliance, a community, or a
union.
Social Contract
Thomas Hobbes - an agreement
where individuals sacrifice an amount
of their freedom and submit to a
higher authority.
→ John Locke - considered persons
in their natural state as more
cooperative and reasonable, and that
society is formed through the consent
of individuals that organized it,
consent of the governed.
General will
Jean Jacques Rousseau - even if the
people are the ones who organized the
society, in extreme cases, the
government is able to impose its will
on the people.
Original Position
John Rawls - “We eliminate all
influence of power and bias.” A
society of free, equal and moral
people.
David Gauthier - describe people’s
self-interest as an important factor in
building and maintaining societies.
Purpose of society is always towards
the common good.
Common Good - when more than
one person desires and works to
achieve the same good then it can be
said that the common good exists
among them refers to social
conditions which enable persons and
groups to fulfill their goals and
achieve well-being.
DIFFERENT SOCIETY
HUNTING AND GATHERING
SOCIETY
• Members are treated equally
and decisions are usually
arrived at through a consensus,
because of this, roles of its
members and division of labor
is not very clearly defined.
• Earliest and simplest form of
society
• Small sized and composed
mainly of families
• Nomadic
PASTORAL SOCIETY
• Domestication of animals for a
more stable food supply.
• Have larger populations than
hunting and gathering societies
and remain longer in one place.
• Often produce surplus food and
resources, which they trade
with other societies.
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
• Primarily engages in the small-
scale cultivation of plants,
fruits, and vegetables and the
domestication of animals.
• Roles and responsibilities are
more clearly defined with many
tasks assigned according to
GENDER.
• Semi-nomadic
AGRARIAN/AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY
→ Agra - field or land
• Further evolution of the
pastoral and horticultural
societies.
• Involves large-scale and long-
term cultivation of crops and
domestication of animals.
• Improved technology and the
use of tools to aid in farming.
• Giving rise to a growing
population in agricultural
societies.
FEUDAL SOCIETY
• Based on the ownership of
land. (owner of the land = king)
• Rulers grant their followers or
vassals the right to manage
parcels of land.
• Members of society are
organized based on status.
Different Classes of Society
• The King owned all the land in
the country and made the laws.
He gave an area of land called a
fife to rich lords and nobles.
• In return, the lords and nobles
agreed to supply the king with
soldiers and horses for his
army.
• The Nobles gave some land to
professional soldiers.
• In return these Knights fought
for nobles & the king.
• Peasants worked the land for
the nobles and knights who in
turn offered them protection.
INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
• Resulted in the Industrial
Revolution, which in turn gave
rise to new production and
industrial methods, as well as
innovations in transportation
and communication.
• Use of specialized machinery in
the production of goods and
services.
POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
• Marked by the establishment of
societies based on knowledge,
information, and the sale of
services.
• Members have higher
education, better training and
specialized roles.
• Virtual Society, where people
organize themselves through
communication technology and
the Internet, is a product of a
post-industrial society.
How does society influence our
development as persons?
• The person and the society have
a very dynamic relationship in
which one cannot exist without
the other.
• No man is an island
Society influence our development as
persons in various ways:
1. NORMS - set of traits that
society considers acceptable.
2. LAWS - more formal norms
that establish and define acceptable
behavior of citizens.
3. FOLKWAYS - less formal
norms that arise from tradition and do
not result in punishment when
violated.
4. SOCIAL VALUES - actions
or ideals that are considered important
by society. Cooperation, obedience to
the law, concern and respect for
others are considered vital to
maintaining an orderly society
Society also transforms human
relations, which leads to the
transformation of its members.
How does society enable me to
become a better person?
• Society recognizes the
capability of the person to
develop, and provide its
members with opportunities to
better themselves.
• Persons can also undertake to
contribute to society through
their decisions and actions.
(actions and decisions always
affect other people)
• Social Movement - a large-
scale action done by various
groups and organizations in
pursuit of a common goal to
bring about change.