Chapter 8

INTRODUCTION TO THE
PHILOSOPHY OF THE
HUMAN PERSON

Grade 11
1st Semester
Prepared by:
Mr. Michel E. Regalario, LPT
_____________________
Name of Student
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 We have now reached our final topic – death. A lot of people are afraid of dying. While
love, work, and relationships are mostly equated as pleasurable, death is associated with
sorrow and mourning.

There is however, no escaping death. It is a reality for every living organism. Consider
this: the moment one is alive, on begins to die. Of all living organisms, though, it should be
noted the human person has bee; still is; and will be always enthralled with death, in dying,
and in findings its meaning in connection to living one’s life. Hence, the question is not
about, “Will I die?” but more about “How meaningful was my life before I die?”

In this module, the learner will ponder on the concept of death and that human being are
oriented towards his or her impending death. It is also reflecting on the meaning of his/her
life.
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LESSON 8.1 NATURE AND VIEWS ON DEATH

At the end of lesson/s the learners will be able to:
1. identify the philosophical description of death;
2. recognize the philosophies’ views on death; and
3. discover the different attitudes of man in viewing life and death.
What is death?
The philosophical investigation of human death has focused on two (2) overarching
questions: (1) what is human death? and (2) how can we determine that it has occurred?
Death is the end of life. is the end of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. In
medical terms, the death of a human being is associated with “brain death” or the ceasing of all
brain functions. Death is considered to be a natural occurrence, and as a person advances in age,
the certainty of death is seen in the gradual decline of human body. This process is called aging
or senescence.
Different Views of Death
• Ancient views of Death. Most ancient people attributed death to the agency of the gods,
elves, demons. Or evil spirits who are jealous of human achievements and beautiful
human features, or who are offended by man’s sins.
• Biological View. Death is viewed as a biological event; death is the end of man considered
to be a living organism. It is also the cessation of life, the total arrest of both mental and
physiological functions as a person.
• Psychological View. Concept of death and adjustment addresses the ability to adjust to
one’s own death when the death is not imminent. Therefore, it deals with the vast range of
events related to possible deaths and the various methods of adjustment to these
possibilities.
• Theological View. St. Thomas Aquinas is very clear about the nature of death. He says,
“the necessity of dying form man is partly from nature and partly from sin. • Philosophical View.
Our philosophical understanding of death is given to us exclusively on the basis of the self-
understanding of a living-man, who is inevitably approaching death as the ultimate event of his
life. Thus, we come to an understanding of death by analyzing our actual existence in the light of
the one-side experience of death and dying by the others. Different Religious Views on Death
Each of these world views has a unique answer to various questions? What is going to
happen after death? Is there as afterlife? Is death truly the end of an individual, or a gateway to a
more mysterious journey? Is reincarnation real? Are heaven and hell real?
• Christianity. Christians believe about the afterlife vary between denominations and
individual Christians, but vast majority of Christian believe in some kind of heaven, in
which believers enjoy the presence of God and other believers and freedom from suffering
and pain.
• Muslims. They believe that the present life is only preparation for the next realm existence.
For them death is merely movement from one world to another. It can be described as a
journey through a separate dimension of existence.
• Hinduism. For them death is very spiritual, and it strongly believes in the rebirth (samsara)
and reincarnation or transmigration of souls. So, according to Hinduism, death is regarded
as natural process in the existence of soul as a separate entity. Hinduism also adheres the
concept of rebirth or reincarnation with a firm claim that the souls is both immortal and
imperishable. Reincarnation is the belief that a person’s spirit begins a new life in another
body
• Buddhism. In Buddhist teachings, death is a natural process, and it is important for a
person to be aware of it. Buddhism claims that death is not the end of life, but simply the
corruption of the body that one inhabits in this world.
• Judaism. Traditional Judaism family firmly believes that death is not the end of human
existence. However, because Judaism primarily focused on life here and now rather than
afterlife. Judaism does not have dogma about afterlife, and leaves a great deal of room for
personal opinion.

LESSON 8.2 ENUMERATE THE OBJECTIVES ONE REALLY WANTS TO ACHIEVE

AND TO DEFINE THE PROJECT ONE WANTS TO DO IN LIFE
At the end of lesson/s the learners will be able to:
1. discuss the objectives one really wants to achieve in a holistic perspective;
2. enumerate the goals a person wants to achieve; and
3. illustrate the projects or goals one wants to accomplish in life.

A bucket list is a list of all goals, dreams, and achievements one intends to attain before death.
Who am I? What is the meaning of Life?
The ability to find meaning in life is not limited to people who have a high quality of life.
All persons, regardless of socio-demographic and personal factors, are capable of discovering the
meaning of life on their own.
Understanding Concept of the Meaning of Life
One important aspect of the human person is a “natural desire to live a life with a sense of
meaning and value.” The search for meaning is defined as “the strength, intensity and activity of
people’s desire and efforts to establish and/or boost their understanding of the meaning,
significance, and purpose of their lives” (Steger, Oishi, & Kashdan, 2009). In other words, you as
a person is always search for the significance of living or your existence in general.
Various Perspectives on the Meaning of Life
There have been a large number of proposed answers from many different cultural and
ideological backgrounds to the question, “What is the meaning of life?”, “What is life all about?”
and “What is the purpose of existence?”. The search for life’s meaning has produced much
philosophical, scientific, theological, and metaphysical speculation throughout the history.
Western and Eastern tradition philosopher have long speculated about the meaning of life/
it will be noticed that the views are as varied as the number of philosophers who pondered about
it. One reason why is it difficult to find a consensus among philosophers about the meaning of
life is that the philosophers come from different fields, different interests and concerns, thus they
have different areas of experience upon which to found their reflect on.

LESSON 8.3 REFLECT THE MEANING LIFE

At the end of lesson/s the learners will be able to:
1. explain the origin, meaning, and purpose of life;
2. reflect on the meaning and purpose of his or her own life; and
3.make a philosophy in life in a holistic manner.

Origin of Life
• Evolutionists believe that everything in the cosmos, including life, can be explained in
terms of the interaction of matter. They initially believed in spontaneous generation that
living thing can arrive from non-living material; for example, worm, flies, or even mice
could develop from grain, meat or other materials.
• Creationists, on the other hand believe that life was brought about by a supreme being or a
God. They use scriptures, rather than scientific evidences, as proof as their belief. An
example of this would be the story of creation in the Bible.
Significance of Meaning of Life
• Some people nowadays often believe that life has no meaning or significance because it is
either (1) brought about by a god; or (2) develop by science. In both scenarios, life would
be certainly meaningless if the person does not believe in a god or modern science.
However, many theorists against this belief by saying that life has meaning based on the
theoretical concept of meaning.
 • Theorists and philosophers specified that life must be embedded in communication,
understanding, and service. As such, the meaning of life becomes centralized in doing acts
of integration, selflessness, and love.
• The meaning of life is incredibly significant because it is believed to balance the good-evil
relationship within the self. It is established as a collective defense against psychological
problems like aggression and divisiveness.
The Accomplishment of Personal Goals
• Discovering the meaning of life constitutes people to live life to the fullest. As such, they
engaged in various activities as much as possible, and they immerse themselves with what
life has to offer.
• Research shows that one out of five people are convinced that they are living their lives to
the fullest and that majority of all people who want to live life to its fullest are longing for
excitement. These activities may be reflected in a bucket list. A bucket list is a list of all
goals, dreams, and achievements one intends to attain before death.
The Endpoint of Life
• Physical life is given an origin, meaning and purpose because it has an end. • Physical death
is a state that all humans will encounter at the end of conscious life. Many people are afraid of
dying because it is the final, irreversible state of reality that leads to another path or journey.
Since people desire consciousness, memory, personhood, and love to be experienced
consciously, the unconscious state of death becomes a fearful fate.