METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING meaning in life) is by

embracing existence
1. Logic
- Existence comes first and
- Truth is based on reasoning &
essence comes second
critical thinking analysis and
- Originated with the 19th Century
construction of arguments
philosophers, Soren
- Serves as a path to freedom from
Kierkegaard & Friedrich
half-truths and deception
Nietzche, although neither used
2 Types of Reasoning the term
- 1940s & 1950s, French
● Inductive Reasoning –
existentialists – Jean-Paul
specific premises to a general
Sartre, Albert Camus, Simone
conclusion
de Beauvior wrote scholarly &
● Deductive Reasoning –
fictional works that popularized
general premise to a more
existential themes (dread,
specific conclusion
boredom, alienation, the absurd,
2. Existentialism
freedom, commitment, &
- Importance of free individual
nothingness)
choice regardless of the power of
the people to influence and Characteristics of Existentialism
coerce our desires, beliefs, and
a. Existence before Essence – gets
decisions
its name from an insistence that
- Emphasizes individual
life is only understandable in
existence, freedom, & choice
terms of an individual’s
- View that humans define their
existence, his particular life
own meaning in life, & try to
experience
make rational decisions despite
b. Reason is unable to deal with
existing in an irrational
the depths of life
universe
● The reason is relatively
- Focuses on the question of
weak and imperfect,
human existence, & the feeling
(people often do not do
that there is no purpose or
the “right” thing)
explanation at the core of
● There are dark places in
existence
life which are
- Holds that there is no God or any
“non-reason” to which
other transcendent force, the
reason scarcely
only way to counter this
penetrates, (we often
nothingness (& hence to find
commit acts which seem
 to defy reason, to make - Existentialist writings bear upon
no sense) freedom
- All of these ideas either describe
some less of individuals’
freedom or some threat to it
- All existentialist of whatever sort
c. Alienation
are considered to enlarge the
- it is believed that individuals live
range of human freedom
in a fourfold condition of
- Existentialism – believes that
alienation: from God, from
individuals are entirely free and
nature, from other people, and
must take personal
from our own “true” selves
responsibility for themselves
d. “Fear and Trembling” and
(although with this responsibly
Anxiety
comes angst (a profound anguish
- The optimism of the 18th and 19th
or dread)
centuries gives way (after the
- Emphasizes action, freedom, &
World Wars & Holocaust) to a
decision as fundamental, & holds
feeling of pessimism, fear, &
that the only way to rise above
anxiety
the essentially absurd condition
- Another kind of anxiety facing
of humanity (which is
the individuals in 20th Century
characterized by suffering and
⮚ When the philosophy of
inevitable death) is by
existentialism develops,
exercising our personal freedom
the necessity which is
& choice (a complete rejection
laid upon people to
of Determinism
make “moral” choices
3. Analytical Tradition
on their own sense of
- Any of the various philosophical
responsibility
methodologies holding that clear
e. The Encounter with
& precise definition and
Nothingness
argumentation are vital to
- For individuals alienated from
productive philosophical
God, from nature, and other
inquiry
people, and even from
▪ Phenomenology
themselves, what is left at last
– careful inspection & description of
but nothingness?
phenomena or appearance
- “Does existence ultimately have
- Scientific study of essential
any purpose”
structure
f. Freedom
✔ Disciplinary field in
philosophy
 ✔ Movement in the history 7. Person-centered rather than being
of philosophy concerned with social processes,
- Reality consists of objects & cultures, or traditions
events (phenomena) as they are
THE HUMAN PERSON AS EMBODIED
perceived or understood in the
SPIRIT
human consciousness, and not of
anything independent of human Person
consciousness
-
Has awareness of self
- Study of experience and how
-
Has self-determination
we experience
-
Is able to reach out and interact
- Studies structures of conscious
with each other
experience as experienced from
- Has dignity
a subjective or first-person
● Self-Awareness
POV, along with its
- a person having a clear
“intentionality” (the way an
perception of oneself including
experience is directed toward a
his thoughts, emotions, identity,
certain object in the world)
actions
Characteristics of Phenomenology - goes beyond perception and
reaction to the environment – we
1. Objective – direct investigation
have deeper awareness that is
and description of phenomena as
driven by rationality or human
they are consciously experienced,
thought
without theories about the casual
- a person is aware of both his
explanations or their objective
surroundings and himself – he
reality
knows that he is living an
2. It seeks to understand how
experience and is an active
people construct meaning
participant in this world
3. Investigates experience as they
- gives rise to the notion of the
are lived by those experiencing
“self” which the philosophers
them, and the meaning that these
describe as the person who is
people attach to them
actively aware that he is
4. Critical truths about reality are
perceiving and experiencing
grounded in people’s lived
reality
experiences
- also enables us to experience an
5. Consists mainly of in-depth
“inner world” that is defined by
conversations
our personal thoughts and ideas
6. The researcher and the
- we experience interiority –
informants are considered as
quality of being focused on one’s
co-participants
 inner life & identity – enables us
to practice creativity
- Creativity - a person can create
within himself what is not yet
existing outside
✔ Having an inner world
allows a person to create
goals, dreams, or plans
● Self-Determination
- the capability of persons to make
choices & decisions based on
their own preferences, monitor,
& self-directed
- we are persons because we act,
and we are aware of our actions
- Freewill – enables us to do
actions whenever we want to and
make various alternatives.
o Enables a person to act
willfully, control his
actions, and recognize
himself as the source of
action
- Consequence – result or effect
of an action or condition
o Philosophers believe
that a person acts freely
and with due regard for
the consequence of his
actions
- Morality – goodness or badness
of an act
● Externality
- Capability of a person to reach
out & interact with others and the
world
- The realization that we are not
alone and that there are indeed
other people around us enables
us to reach out and establish
meaningful relationships with
others. 
- Man is a social being and that a
person never exists in isolation.
- Man has the natural tendency to
seek out fellow human beings,
and the relationships established
by this interaction is a vital
component for survival.
- Our interactions with others
define our existence as persons.
- We grow and develop not only
through our thoughts and actions,
but also through the influence of
other people in our lives, and the
individuals we meet and interact
with. 
● Dignity
- innate right to be values and
respected. Philosophers consider
all humans as having an inherent
worth or value.
- each person is worth the same as
another person in the sense that
every person is priceless, unique,
unrepeatable and irreplaceable.
- No person is dispensable or
interchangeable. This is the
reason why separation from the
people we love, and value is a
difficult and painful experience.
- rooted in the nature of the human
being, meaning, a person has
dignity simply because of the
fact that he is human. 
- not defined by outside factors
like intelligence, beauty, skills,
etc.
 - A person retains his dignity in
spite of his actions or behavior
- drives us to seek what is good.
Doing good deeds upholds and
promotes dignity of the human
person.
- basis for the recognition of
human rights
What is in our human nature that enables
us to become persons?
Spirit - enables us to exercise thought,
possess awareness, interiority, and the
capacity to reach out to the outside world
and other persons.  of our physical limits.
● Embodiment
- the human body stands as the
mediator between the material
world and the spiritual world.
- Being an embodied spirit, the
person is able to encounter the
world of objects (and other
personal subjects) in a manner
that transcends the physical. 
- This feature allows him to form
intimate relationship with those
outside him.  exercised within the bounds
- Allows persons to attach certain
feelings or ideas not only to
people but also to objects.
- physical acts are no longer purely
physical acts, because the body
conveys something from a
person’s inner world.
How does my human nature enable me to
explore my limits?
- Human nature still has limits
despite being an embodied spirit.
It can be said that the person is
very biologically deficient being.
o we can’t do everything
- Transcendence – ability to
surpass limits
o Distinguishes the human
person from other beings in
existence
● Transcendence
- Our mind is an important tool
that allows us to go beyond many
- Although we have these physical
limitations, we can transcend
them because of our spiritual
dimension.
- As human persons, we have
natural tendencies or inclinations.
- overcoming oneself or being in
control even if the body reminds
us of certain tendencies.
o the person can govern them
and ensure that they are
of reason.
- Each individual carry within
himself the possibility of
transcending his limits by
exerting enough effort and
perseverance.
- Philosophy gives us useful tools
to explore our limits and
possibilities.
- To acknowledge our limitations,
identify possibilities for
 development and change
ourselves for the better. 
- Opening yourself to new
experiences and ideas
- gives us the opportunity to work
toward becoming better versions
of ourselves.