INTRODUCTION TO THE
PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN
PERSON
Philosophy- the love of wisdom
- Philo- to love
- Sophia- wisdom
Philosopher - lovers of wisdom
4 principles of philosophy
Science
- Systematic. organized body of
knowledge just like any other
sciences.
- Natural Light of Reason. uses
natural capacity to think. human
reason alone or the so-called unaided
reason.
- Study of All Things. Not one
dimensional. a philosopher does not
limit himself to a particular object.
He questions almost anything, if not
everything.
- First Cause or Highest Principle.
Break down complicated problems
into basic elements then reassemble
them.
First Cause or Highest Principle
Principle of Identity
- Whatever is is; whatever is not, is
not.
Principle of Noncontradiction
- It is impossible for a thing to be and
not to be at the same time, at the
same respect.
Principle of Excluded Middle
- Between being and not-being, there
is no middle ground possible.
Principle of Sufficient Reason
- Nothing exists without a sufficient
reason for its being and existence.
Western Philosophy
Socrates
- “I know that I know nothing”
- unexamined life is not worth living.
Plato
- “The unexamined life is not worth
living.” living a life without any aim
or thirst to become noble and
sublime.
- Theory of Forms asserts that the
physical world is not really the 'real'
world; instead, ultimate reality exists
beyond our physical world.
- The Republic: importance of being
just in the world
- Phaedrus: enigmatic text
- Allegory of Cave: shows how
characters can free themselves from
intellectual darkness through
enlightenment and the bravery to
experiment with new ideas
Aristotle
- all people by nature desire to know.
But how should we examine our lives
- Aristotle's Poetic: emphasizes how
spiritual growth can be achieved
only by working on yourself
everyday
- Theory of poetry: based upon two
main propositions: the first, that
poetry is imitation and the second,
that it aims at universality.
- On the Soul: “the actuality of a body
that has life”
Eastern Philosophy
Confucianism
- considered a social philosophy that is
grounded on the assumption that
proper social and political behavior
is cultivated in the family.
- Respect elders.
● Jen (ren). Human heartedness,
which denotes a compassionate
person
● Yi. righteousness, which consists of
doing things in the right manner.
Buddhism
- anchored on the idea that a human
person lives in suffering and that he
should overcome this.
The Four Noble Truths
1. Life is pervaded by suffering.
2. Suffering is a result of craving.
3. There is a state of freedom from suffering
- called Nirvana ( final emancipation of the
soul)
4. Anyone can attain Nirvana by following
the Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path
1. Right understanding (Samma ditthi)
2. Right thought (Samma sankappa)
3. Right speech (Samma vaca)
4. Right action (Samma kammanta)
5. Right livelihood (Samma ajiva)
6. Right effort (Samma vayama)
7. Right mindfulness (Samma sati)
8. Right concentration (Samma
samadhi)
● Karma. Good and bad actions are
like seeds that, if planted, will bear
fruits in the future.
● Rebirth. All life is a cycle of death
and rebirth.
Indian Philosophy
- The physical world is not as
important as the knowledge of the
inner self.
- HOLISTIC THINKING It refers to
a perspective that considers
large-scale patterns in systems. This
is often described as the “big
picture”
- PARTIAL THINKING It focuses on
the specific aspects of a situation.
focuses on certain areas of a problem
in order to understand it.
Framework. is a way of thinking about the
world and is composed of the views and
beliefs of a person.
- Internal Questions
- External Questions
Branches of Philosophy
Metaphysics.
- deals with questions regarding
reality and existence.
- mind and matter.
● Ontology. the science of what is, of
the kinds and structures of objects.
seeks the classification and
explanation of entities.
● Natural Theology. study of God,
nature of religion and the world,
existence of the divine, questions
about the creation, and the various
other spiritual issues.
 ● Universal Science. study of the first
principle of logic and reasoning such
as the law of non-contradiction.
Logic
- deals with correct reasoning.
- not interested in what we know
regarding a certain subject.
Epistemology
- It deals with nature, sources,
limitations, and validity of
knowledge.
1. How we know what we claim
to know
2. How we can find out what we
wish to know
3. How can we differentiate
truth from falsehood
Aesthetic
- science of the beautiful in various
manifestations including the sublime,
comic, tragic, pathetic, and ugly.
Ethics
- explores the nature of moral virtue
and evaluates human actions.
Political Philosophy
- the philosophical study of
government
Methods of Philosophizing
Opinions
- a personal claim, a belief
- anchor it with truth
- change it when presented with facts
Knowledge
- It is the clear awareness and
understanding of something.
Claims
- These are statements that need
further examination to know whether
it is true or false.
Domains of Truths
Scientific/ objective. Truths are tested
against empirical evidence.
Social. Truths are tested against its
acceptability to a particular group
Personal. Truths are tested against the
consistency and authenticity of the person
who claims it.
Methods in Philosophizing
Socratic Method
- method refers to a process of asking
open-ended questions that are
committed to finding the truth.
Dialectical Method
- ‘Dialectics’ - Greek word dialegoz
- which means to debate or discuss.
Believes that reality is in constant
conflict.
Analytic Tradition
- Language is socially conditioned.
Philosophical problems, puzzles, and
errors are rooted in language.
- founded by Gottlob Frege in the late
19th century.
Phenomenology
- focuses on careful inspection and
description of phenomena or
appearances. investigates the essence
of nature of the things that appear to
a person.
Husserl’s Phenomenology
● Bracketing. a person's experience,
beliefs, and learnings are bracketed
or 'set aside' to see the thing in itself.
● Eidetic Reduction. movement from
fact to essence, a transcendental
reality that refers to the
immateriality of things.
Existentialism
- Search for truth might be based on
one’s attitude or outlook. Jean-Paul
Sartre
Logical and Critical
- They serve as paths to freedom
Thinking from half-truths and
deceptions. Critical thinking helps
uncover bias and prejudice. It
accounts for two major reasons:
inductive and deductive.
Fallacy
- error in reasoning. It is also used
even more broadly to indicate any
false belief or cause of a false belief.
Types of Fallacies
● Appeal to Pity (Argumentatum ad
misericordiam). Argument attempts
to persuade someone by provoking
irrelevant feelings of sympathy.
● Appeal to Ignorance
(Argumentatum ad ignorantiam.
you argue that your conclusion must
be true, because there is no evidence
against it.
● Against the Person
(Argumentatum ad hominem).
someone attacks the person or some
aspect of the person who is making
the argument instead of addressing
someone's argument or position.
● Appeal to Force (Argumentatum
ad baculum). someone uses a threat
or an undesirable event to advance
an argument. Blackmailing.
● Appeal to the People
(Argumentatum ad populum). idea
is presented as acceptable because a
lot of people accept it.
● Appeal to the Tradition. idea is
presented as acceptable because it
has been true for a long time
● Fallacy of Composition. someone
assumes that what is true of a part is
true for the whole.
● Fallacy of Division. someone
assumes that what is true for the
whole is true for its parts.
Human Persons as an Embodied Spirits
Man. It is the term for the entire human
race.
Person. It refers to a human being granted
recognition of certain rights, protection,
responsibilities, and dignity, above all.
Human nature. It refers to the
characteristics that distinguish humans from
all other creatures.
Self-awareness. refers to the person having
a clear perception of oneself including his or
her thoughts.
Self-determination. refers to the capability
of persons to make choices and decisions
based on their own preferences.
Free will. enables us to do actions whenever
we want to and makes self-determination
possible.
Consequence. a discussion on
self-determination and free will eventually
leads to a discussion
Morality. refers to the goodness and
badness of an act.
Externality. refers to the capability of a
person to reach out and interact with others
and the world.
Dignity. It refers to person’s innate right to
be values and respected
Plato’s Functions of the Soul
- Rational
- Passion
- Appetitive
Aristotle’s Functions of the Soul
- Vegetative
- Sensitive
- Rational
Medieval Period
St. Augustine of Hippo
- created the world, and this includes
the creation of the immortal soul.
Philosophy is the love of God; it is
then, religious.
St. Thomas of Aquinas
- Philosophy and Theology are
complementary. believed that the
soul is dependent on the body, in the
same way as the body is dependent
on the soul.
Modern Period
Rene Descartes
- A rationalist who identified man on
top of the other animals. believed
that the individual is responsible for
himself. Humans are completely
different from others because of
self-examination and contemplation.
John Locke
- An empiricist who believed that a
human mind could not attain any
knowledge without perceiving it
first. He introduced “tabula rasa”.
“No man’s knowledge here can go
beyond his experience.”
Evaluate Limitations and Possibilities for
Transcendence
- Forgiveness
- Vulnerability
- The Beauty of Nature
- Failure
- Loneliness
- Love
The Human Person and the Environment
Anthropocentrism.
- focuses on the significant role of
humankind in the world and
considers nature as the means by
which humans are able to meet their
needs and survive.
- Humans are the most important
species on the planet and they are
free to transform nature and use its
resources.
Biocentrism
- believes that humans are not the only
significant species on the planet, and
that all organisms have inherent
value and should be protected.
- drives the activities of humane
organizations that advocate the
ethical treatment of animals.
- R.A. 8485 or "The Animal Welfare
Act of 1998".
Ecocentrism
- puts the ecosystem first and assumes
that the natural world has intrinsic
value
- land will be considered not an
instrumental mode of production but
will be preserved with integrity,
stability, and beauty.
Environmental Aesthetics.
- believes maintaining order in the
environment will bring out the
natural beauty of the surroundings
and contribute to the well-being of
the people and other organisms
living in it.
- We benefit greatly from a clean and
orderly environment.

Environmental ethics. This is a moral

approach that analyzes the relationship
between humans and the environment.

1. Environmental integrity
- maintaining the state of the
environment.
2. Economic efficiency
- refers to prudence in
decision-making regarding
the use of resources to ensure
that there is minimum to zero
waste.
3. Equity
- demands that we use our
natural resources in such a
manner that these are
conserved so that the next
generation will be able to use
them.