Philosophy
Lesson 1
Wonder is the feeling of the philosopher, and philosophy begins in
wonder. -Plato
 Plato, one of the best philosophers who ever lived claimed
that philosophy being in Wonder.
 Wonder is the beginning for it stimulates us to ventue into
philosophy
 Our wondering is directed toward analogy and the
relationship of things.
 We are wondering about a more enduring quesitions.
Philosophy
 Are open to examination further questioning and enquiry;
 Can’t be answered by appealing only to scientific
investigation or sense experience;
 Are questions about meaning, truth, value, knowledge, and
reality;
 Do not have ready or definite answers.
 They are questions that matter to us for they reflect our
desire to understand or at least make sense of our
experiences.
 When we ponder on a philosophical question, we are
engaged in a philosophical reflection.
 Always contains a bigger problem.
 Allows us the freedom to ask even those questions that
others believe to already have a definite answer.
 Does not dictate conclusive or final answers to
philosophical questions.
 Goes beyond questions of fact and of what is practical.
 Challenges over assumptions and preconceived notions.
“Pilosopo”
 Has a negative meaning in our society. It usually connotes
poor reasoning or faulty reasoning.
 Contrary to the real meaning of philosophy which is love of
wisdom.
 Erroneous kind of reasoning is called fallacy.
 They are studied because to have skill in argumentation,
one also has to be mindful of arguments that are meant to
deceive.
 The “Pilosopo” in this sense is indeed a danger to
philosophy.
The solution to philosophical questions is to ask them.
The search for wisdom only begins the moment we ask questions.
What is philosophy?
Greek words: Philein & Sophia – love & wisdom
Philosophers are lovers of wisdom.
Their goal is to become wise.
To be wise is to know the truth.
Their activity is always in pursuit of wisdom.
Not easily deceived.
~
Philosophy, the term was derived from greek words – ‘Philein’ and
‘Sophia’ which literally mean ‘love’ and ‘wisdom’. Taken together,
they mean “the love or pursuit of wisdom.”
Philosophy is “A way of looking at the world and giving it meaning. It
can provide a high quality method of examining our beliefs.”
Philosophers
Socrates
 He was short, thick-set, and ugly. His clothes were old and
poor, which showed that he cared little or nothing for
external appearances.
 (his philosophy emanated from his way of life, a life that
was not concerened about wealth and worldly goods.)
 Socratic Elenchus: His way of doing philosophy was by
making dialouges with various people. Thus, he would
spend most of his time in the marketplace and talk to
people from different walks of life.
 His concern was to discuss with them profound ideas,
morality, life, and death.
 “An unexamined life is not worth living”
Plato
 One of the students who gathered around Socrates was
Plato.
 Allegory of the Cave – The allegory of the Cave explains the
two worlds of plato, the real world and the unreal. For
example, consider the digital world as the “unreal word”,
while the actual world is the “real world”
 Plato’s way of doing philosophy sought to solve the
question of the real and unreal. In other words, it seeks
the truth.
 For Plato, the truth is often forgotten at birth. However, a
recollection of such truth happens when we encounter
actual objects.
Aristotle
 He studied under Plato
 For Aristotle, the forms can be achieved thought the
senses. Thus, he maintained that things can be known and
proven using the senses and the faculty of reason (S.M.
Cohen et al., 2016).
 Aristotle put forward the notion that the forms have two
categories, namely,
o Substance – can subsist on its own
o Accidents – need another thing to exist
 Aristotle introduced his ideas about emperical evidence or
things that can be achieved and proven by using the
senses.
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle believed that human beings are
endowed with reason.
 This rational capacity facilitates a person to discover his/her
true potentials.
~~Western Philosophy~~
Greek Philosophers: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
These three prominent names of Western tradition introduced
intricate ideas concerning the
 Rational capcities of man; and
 How these capacities can be used and developed
The recognition that a human person is a thinking being
funadamentally supports the idea that we all have the freedom to
explore.
~~Eastern Philosophy~~
Centered on finding the answers to the quesitons “who and what am
I?”
They focus on searching for the meaning of being human
The goal of their respective philosophical enterprises is not only to
understand human nature, but most importantly, to practice how
truly live as a human person.
For them, philosophy and religion are intimately connected.
~~Indian Philosophy~~
Responds to the question. “Who am I?” This question goes into the
deeper meaning of the self.
 It is essentially spiritual.
 It is said that the human person is conceived as spiritual in
nature.
 This reality enables him/her to relate to a spiritual and
metaphysical destiny.
 Promotes a reflective approach to reality.
 The common of all schools of Indian Philosophy is to “see
the self”.
 It reminds us that the physical world is not as important as
knowing the inner self and the right practices of living.
The brand of philosophizing in Indian philosophy, making it ans
essential enterprise, is fundamentally centered on the notion of the
self.
~~Confucianism~~
 Confucius
 Attempts to craft a philosophy of peace that could
conceivably reach every corner of the world, guided by the
aim to restore peace among men and nations.
 Confucius believed that if a leader sets a good example to
his constituents, to his family, and people with whom he
would have a relationship, they, in turn, will do the same.
 Considered a social philosophy that is grounded on the
assumption that proper social and political behaviour is
cultivated in the family.
 Has similarities with the Filipinos’ concept and experience
of family.
 Confucius had these same thoughts with the aim of
promoting a certain societal order.
~~Buddhism~~
 Siddharta Gautama, who is also known as the historical
Buddha.
 Buddhism is anchored on the idea that human person lives
in suffering and that he should overcome this.
 This suffering refers to the deep dissatisfaction that
pervades human experience, and the thirst for endless
desires.
Teaches the Four Noble Truths:
 First – Human life is pervaded by suffering.
 Second – Suffering is a result of craving.
 Third – State of freedom from suffering called Nirvana that
we can all attain by realizing that we are not Selves, thus
abandoning the craving.
 Fourth – anyone can attain Nirvana by following the
Eightfold Path.
1. Right View: Consist of knowing the noble truths and Buddha’s
teaching as a whole.
2. Right Resolve: It consists of the intentin to renounce sexual drive
and the intention of non-ill-will, and non-cruelty.
3. Right Speech: It involves not engaging in speech that is false,
malicious, harsh, or idle.
4. Right Action: It means not killing living beings, not talking what is
not given, and avoiding misconduct in sexual pleasures.
5. Right Livelihood: It consists of the resolve not to earn one’s living in
a way that violates the ethical code.
6. Right Effort: It means eliminating and preventing unwholesome
states and develop meditative practie.
7. Right Mindfulness: It includes various contemplations of the body,
feelings, and mind.
8. Right Concentration: It means attainment of progressively higher
mental states.
 Buddhism teaches us something for our emancipation.
 Buddhism is neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but rather
realistic as it describes life as it is. Yes, life includes
suffering.
 We can attain freedom from suffering through total non-
attachment.
 It teaches us to “let go” of our attachments in life
~
Socratic Legacy
 According to Socrates, philosophical reflection is necessary
in the life of every person.
 Socratic Method is the series of questioning and answering
that Socrates employed in engaging philosophical
reflection.
 What we believe to be true becomes the basis of our
action.
 If we know something, it is worth sharing it to others.
 If we are ignorant about something, we need to learn from
others who know.
~~Know Thyself~~
 Self-knowledge can benfit our emotional lives-knowing
what wil motivate you to to achieve a small or large goal
can help you actually achieve that goal.
 To understand one’s self is to understand other humans as
well and in a world that is so ingrained in fear and anxiety, it
is vitally important that we understand, appreciate and
honor others.
 The more you know yourself, the more control you will
have in your life.
~~The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living~~
 You begin to know your self and to take control of your life.
 You decide who you want to be and begin to become the
person you want to be.
 If a person does not examine his life, he may keep making
the same mistakes and never change.
 A person who does not recognize his own sin will never be
able to fix it, whereas a man who examines his actions and
realizes his mistakes is able to improve upon them.
Virtue is Knowledge of “Good and Bad”
 Virtue is knowledge because to truly know what is good
necessarily leads to the actual doing of what is good.
 A person who truly understands what is good chooses to
do what is good.
 One who pretends to know what is good does not choose
what is good.
 Ignorance is revealed in actions.
 Philosophical relfection enlightens us and makes us better
person.
Lesson 2
Reality as Phenomenon
Reality
 Things that appear to us in this world.
 They are the objects we try to figure out.
 The state of things as they actualy exist.
Phenomenon
 Situation that is observed to exist or happen.
 The object of a person’s perception.
 What the senses or the mind notice.
How Science and Philosophy proceed to treat Phenomenon?
Science
 Observation through experiments and calculations are the
data used to arrive at the conclusion.
 Specific phenomenon to be understood is isolated to yield
valuable information.
 Narrows its analysis in order to know something.
[Seek to Understand the World]
Philosophy
 Uses phenomenon or raw experiacne to form the basis for
truth.
 Phenomenon is studied, not by isolating it from others but
by examining the relations it has with other phenomena.
 Broadens its analysis to arrive at wisdom and truth.
Rationaslism vs Empiricism
Empiricists
 Sense experience is the ultimate starting point for all our
knowledge.
Rationalists
 The ultimate starting point for all knowledge is not the
snses but the reason.
Rationalism versus Empiricism
 Rationalists, such as Rene Descartes, thought that reason
could examplain the working of the world; without
reference to sense experience.
 Conversely John Locke’s empiricism argued that the mind
was like a tabula raza (blank sheet of paper) which was
informed by the world of experience.
 Kant rejected Locke’s empiricism, arguing that the rational
mind is capable of structuring and interpreting sense
experience.
~~Rationalism~~
It functions on three key principles that work to find the truth.
1. Deduction
 The application of concrete principles to draw a conclusion.
 Mathematical principles are an example of deduction.
2. Innate Ideas
 The concept that we’re born with fundamental truths or
experiences left over from another life that we’re born
with.
 Innate ideas can explain why some people possess
significantly more talent in some things than others who
have exactly the same exposure to them.
3. Reason
 Uses logic to determine a conclusion.
 Logic can use multiple method to determning the truth, and
the emphasis is on finding the truth, not on the method.
~~Empiricism~~
Works with key principles to use skepticism in its school of thought
that rejects the principles of rationalism.
1. Sense experience
 They believe that our ideas come solely from sense
experience.
 These ideas are either simple or complex and make use of
the five senses (touch, smell, sound and sight).
o Simple ideas are those that use only one of the
five senses to establlish perception.
o Complex ideas use more than one of the five
senses to gain a more detailed perception.
2. Innate Ideas
 Empiricists reject the notion of innate ideas.
 A popular term associated with this came from John Locke,
who believed that the mind was a blank slate or tabula
rasa.
3. Induction
 The most crucial principle to empiricism.
 Induction is the belief that very little can be proven
conclusively, especially without experience.
Conclusion
 Rationalism and Empiricism are both terms used in
philosophy. Both terms are used under the term
epistemology, which is a branch of philosophy concerned
with knowledge.
 Rationalism regards reasons and logic as the main source
of knowledge.
o They believed in the reasoning behind things and
reality.
o Rationalists believe logic and reason will explain
the world’s reality.
o Rationalists believe that they are independent of
sensory experience.
 Empiricism is the term used in philosophy, which states
that experimentation and sensory experience is the major
source of knowledge.
o Empiricists believe that experience, and memory
develops the person and his morals.
o They also believe that evidence, any kind of
proof which is found by experiment, can reveal
the world’s reality, rather than some reason and
logic.
Opinion vs. Truth
Opinion is a personal claim,belief, or a personal stance on a particular
subject matter.
John Corvino (2015) offers a philosophical distinction between an
opinion and a fact.
 A statement of fact has objective content and is well-
supported by the available evidence.
 A statement of opinion is one whose content is either
subjective or not well supported by the available evidence.
 An opinion refers to what a person thinks about something
but is lacking evidence.
In this sense, the criterion of objectivity, which is necessary condition
of facts, is what seperates an opinion from a fact.
Truth is neither an opinion nor a fact.
 Universal
 Undisputed
 Verified through facts
 Transcendent
 Beyond a reasonable doubt
 The main question in philosophy
 Always be true no matter what a person thinks and speak.
 Does not change; an opinion, however, usually changes
through time.
 The truth remains, no matter how convincing an opinion is.
The question that remains now is how to seek the truth.
Journey to Truth [Doxa and Episteme]
Knowledge (episteme in Greek)
 Facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through
experience or education.
Opinion (doxa in Greek)
 A view or judgement formed about something, not
necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
Epistemology
 Branch of Philosophy concerned with the theory of
knowledge. Studies the nature of knowledge, justification,
and the rationality of belief.
o Devoted specifically to the problem of
knowledge.
 Every person has a set of beliefs or opinions
 Every person is entitled to his or her opinion.
 We expect people to respect our beliefs.
 Opinions would not count as knowledge unless they pass a
test of verification or confirmation.
 Rational beings are held responsible for their thoughts in
the same way that they are for their actions.
Plato’s Dialogue
This dialect is instrumental in drawing out assumptions,
inconsistencies and citing.
Counter-examples so the truth is known.
Syllogism
 A type of reasoning developed by Aristotle.
 A deductive argument of a certain form where a conclusion
is inferred from two premise.
o There are two statements made:
o Major Premise – a very general statement
o Minor Premise – gets more specific
o Based on the two statements, a conclusion is
drawn.
 The premises serves as explanation as to why the
conclusion is valid and acceptable.
Facts
A statement about an actual thing that exists and can be proven true
or false, observed, or measured.
Opinions
A statement about an attitude or persnal belief. Opinions cannot be
proven or certain.
Indubitability
Rene Descartes
 Father of Modern Philosophy
 Indubitabilty means cannot be doubted; patently evident
or certain; unquestionable.
 Statements that are false, doubtful or uncertain cannot be
used as basis for knowledge.
 Clear and distinct ideas alone can becoe the foundation of
all knowledge.
~
Conclusions
 Philosophy concerned with determining truth since it lies at
the heart of any inquiry.
 The discussion on truth is part of philososphical studies on
knowledge where philosophers explore the nature of
knowledge and the ways of knowing.
 Facts are statements that are observed to the real of
truthful.
 Claims are statements that require further examination to
determine theur truthfulness.
 There are various philosophical views regarding truth.
Philosophers consider something as truthful if it
corresponds with an observable fact or reality.
o Something is also true if it can be justified
through experience and the use of one’s senses.
o Another view believes that truth is a product of
agreement or consensus.
o Another perspective considers a claim as truthful
if it can be rested and verified.
 Opinions are comprised of statements which not only give
facts but also provide conclusions or perspectives
regarding certain situations. Opinions may advance a belief
about certain things or provide explanations.
 Opinions are often influenced by bias.
 Arguments are series of statements that provide reasons
to convince the reader or listener that a claim or opinion is
truthful.
 Some arguments may contain fallacies. This means that
they are products of faulty reasoning.
 Philosophy can help us examine various views on relevant
issues in out lives.
~
Methods of Philosophizing
It takes philosophical reflection to enable us to see through the things
that we do and see the person that we became because of what we
do.
We know ourselves only when we philosophize.
The methods of philosophizing are the various ways of attaining truth
or wisdom.
 Philosophy. “Love of wisdom” or the search for truth.
~
“I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think” –
Socrates
Socratic Method
 Socrates. The teacher of Plato
 A process of asking open-ended questions that are
committed to finding the truth.
 “An unexamined life is not worth living” – Socrates urges
us to examine ourselves, including our beliefs and
assumptions in life.
 Socratic Method is the art of asking a question that is
commited to the truth.
  When one uses this method, they do not seek to harm or
destroy a person; instead, the goal is to correct one’s
opinions and lead them to the truth.
Dialectical Method
 The term ‘dialectics’ is derived from the Greek word
dialego, which means to debate or discuss.
 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel & Karl Marx – Modern
Philosophers who develops the Dialectical Method.
 Reality is in constant conflict.
 The formula of the dialectical method is a thesis versus
antithesis results in synthesis.
o A thesis refers to a claim.
o An antithesis refers to a thesis that negates or
opposes the given thesis.
o Synthesis is the result of the conflict of the thesis
and antithesis.
 The dialectic method is not concerned about winning or
losing but about seeking new ideas that arise from a
conflict.
 This method in searching for the truth or discovering a
new idea.
Phenomelogical Method
 The word phenomenology comes from the two Greek
words: phainomenon, which means appearance, and logos,
which means study or reason.
 Phenomenon is that which appears to the consciousness of
the mind.
 Phenomenology investigates the essence of nature of the
things that appear to a person.
 For Edmund Husserl, phenomology is “the science of the
essence of consciousness”.
 Husserl’s phenomonological method is also called pure
phenomenology. It emphasizes the person’s lived
experience to get to the true meaning of reality.
 The phenomenological method helps a person to examine
their own experience of something.
 One’s experience is never taken for granted in the search
for truth.
Hemeneutics
 The term hermeneutics is usually associated with the Greek
God, Hermes, who was the messenger between gods and
humans.
 It is derived from hermeneuein or hermeneusai and
hermeneia, which means interpreting or interpretation.
 Friedrich Schleiermacher system is called romanticist
hermeneutics.
 The aim of hermeneutics is “to capture truth of the text”.
The truth is taken from how the author originally meant
something.
 The reader should check the author’s historical background
and the period when the author said/wrote something.
 This process only means that in seeking the truth of what
the person has said, one must aim for what the person has
intended to say, considering the history and cultural
background.
Conclusion
 The search for truth is like a vocation – a calling
 There can be different ways of answering the call.
 The methods of philosophizing may vary, but they are all
guided by and directed towards the truth.
 A person may encounter opinions, facts, and truth while
facing a certain problem, but it is a challenge to determine
each one of them.
 The methods of philosophizing do not settle with mere
opinions and facts, but they always love to transcend and
attain the truth.
 A person must be open to the call for the truth even if it is
against one’s opinion: and from here, they must consider
examining the immaterial element of the human person:
the embodied spirit.
Lesson 3
Human being’s understanding of theymselves.
 Human being is the source of many questions about the
existence of the world and everything that exists in it.
 When they’re confronted with the question “Who am I”,
which directly unveils their existence, he or she is pushed to
the limit of silence.
 The question deals with his or her concrete and specific
historicity, a question that encompasses their being. The
source of questions is now in question.
 Can discover all the answer of all their own questions.
 Classic view of man dictates that the nature of man Is to
think, to feel, and do or act only those that are inherent in
his nature.
Question Who am I?
 Does not only deal with a general concept or information
about theirselves
 They considers obvious and ordinary becomes the center of
their mental and physical activity
 Deals with their concrete and specific historicity, a question
that encompasses their self-being
 What is seend and considered as obvious and ordinary
question is certainly, can be very difficult to answer
Jose Rizal
 Believes that because human being is endowed with
reason, he/she wonders and questions everything including
his/hher existence.
 He claims that disharmony among persons occur when one
does not recognize the light or reason of the other person.
Immanuel Kant
 Claims that “Human person has the responsibility of
respecting other people in the same way he/she respect
theirselves.
 We CONSTRUCT the self
 It is the self that is constructing and organizing principles of
experiences which creates a world that is familiar,
predictable and significantly be called as mine.
 I myself the one who’s discovering the world for I am the
driver of my life. Nobody will do it for me for it transcends
the experience in my mind as well as the senses of mine.
Rene Descartes
 Man is a thinking man that has an entity to doubt,
understand, analyze, question, and the most important
thing is to reason out that can exist independently in the
physical body.
 Cogito ergo sum- “I THINK THERFORE I AM”
 I have the free will to reason out what I wanted to say.
John Locke
 The Self is Consciousness
 For him our human mind is a Tabula Rasa or also known as
a mind self at birth is a blank state.
 Conscious awareness and memory of previous experience
are the keys in understanding the self.
~
Discovering the Self
Material/Physical Aspects – A person has a body with all its various
features (e.g., dark skin, flat nose, long legs, etc.)
Non-material Aspects – refers to his/her emotional needs, desires,
and even passions.
The Human Person as an Embodied Spirit
 “Embodied” is that is a quality of being materialized or a
characteristic of possessing a body.
 “Spirit”, we think of something immaterial.
 It refers to the inseparable union of the body and the soul.
This concept makes it possible to accept man’s limitations and realize
his potentials. Most importantly, it helps man recognize his
uniqueness.
~ be a connection between the mind and
Ancient Period
Plato and Aristotle
- Concepts are influenced by the cosmogenic model of the
world.
- Considering that man is part of the universe.
Plato’s Three Function
 Dichotomy of the Body and Soul – The body is material
and is subject to changes and destructions, while the soul
is immaterial an unchanging.
o He also believed that the human soul is an
authentic part because the body is just its prison
cell.
o The body’s existence is dependent on the soul,
while the soul is independent of the body.
 Soul – the soul has a tripartite function, namely, the
rational function, the passion function, and the appetitive
function.
 These three functions of the soul are represented by the
body parts, i.e., head, chest, and abdomen.
o The head does the soul’s Rational function,
which enables human persons to think, analyze,
comprehend, and make decisions. This guides
the passion and appetitive functions of the soul.
o Passion function performs the actions dictated
by reason and is aso responsible for various
feelings, such as hatred or anger.
o Appetitive function enables a person to
experience cravings or anything that deals with
man’s physical wants.
o For plato, if a person allows his reason to
properly guide his passion and appetite, they will
have a well-balanced personality.
Aristotle’s Three types of souls
 The soul is insperable.
o The soul and the body are substantially united.
 There is no dichotomy between the two.
 The word soul is an English translation of the Greek word
psyche. Hence, for him, the soul is the source of life.
o For aristotle, all bodies, living or not, are a
combination of the primary elements. It needs a
form to be in acutality.
 By actuallity, we mean it is alove.
o The soul then is the form of the organized body.
Anything that lives has a soul.
o Aristotle identified three kinds of souls found in
plants, animals, and man. These three kinds of
souls are characterized as vegetative, sensitive,
and rational.
 Vegetative – Plants can grow,
reproduce, and feed themselves. That
is why the living soul is found in them.
It does not share the higher types of
souls, for it cannot feel and think.
 Sensitive – Capable of sensing or
feeling. A sensitive being possesses the
appetite where desire, anger, and pain
are experienced.
 Rational Soul – it has the capacity for
scientific thoughts, for it can
distinguish various things. With this
capacity, it analyzes and understands
the relationship of things.
 Aristotle believed then that there must
the soul. It is from this connection that
consciousness and self-awareness
arise.
Medieval Period
 The ancient Greek philosophers focused only on the
comogenic nature of human beings.
 The period following the ancient times is called the medival
period or the middle ages.
 This period is also reffered to as the age of faith. In
Philosphy, this age marks a shift of focus from cosmology to
theodicy.
o This period centers on proving the existence of
God based on rational methods.
 Two phiolosphers are very much known for this period,
namely, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.
St. Augustine
 St. Augustine of Hippo had a deep interest in Philosophy in
his search for meaning in the Christian faith.
o He believed that God created the world, and this
includes the creation of the immortal soul.
 A human beingis not only material and rational but, a soul
embodied in a material substance.
o The soul is a ‘self-sustaining’ substance.
 Plato, therefore, believed in the soul’s immortality, which
can exist without the body. With the soul’s self-subsistence,
it is the real person in man. It is the principle of life which is
also what makes man authentic.
o The authentic person of man is the soul within
him.
o The fact the human body moves means that it is
animated by the soul to performits functions.
St. Thomas Aquinas
 Defender of the Christan faith and a Doctor of the church.
 Aquinas believed that the soul is dependent on the body, in
the same way as the body is dependent on the soul.
o The body and soul is inseparable.
 For Aquinas, without the soul, the body will not have its
form, and without the body, the soul will not have its
required sense organs to gain knowledge.
 The intellect and will are the highest human faculties,
making humans higher than other animals.
 o Man can aim towards the union and eternal
fellowship with God, which is achieved in the
beatific vision.
 It is during the cessation of breath.
When the physical body of man
corrupts because of sins, the soul of
man continues to exist.
Modern Period
 In this period, there was a huge paragidm shift. From being
theocentric, it shifted to being anthropocentric.
 Anthropocentrism became an underlying assumption of
most philosophical concepts during the modern period.
Rene Descartes
 Rene Descartes said that animals have no souls; they
cannot think and are mere bundles of instincts
prepackaged by God.
 As a rationalist, he praised the supremacy of the human
mind over the human body.
o “I think, therefore, I am” is his famous claim.
o This means that the fact that man can think is
proof that he exists.
 This kind of rationalism maintained that the human mind is
different from the human body and can exist without the
other’s presence. Like Plato, he believed that the
destruction of the physical body does not mean the
destruction of the mind.
o Descartes believed that the individual is
responsible for himself.
o Self-examination and Contemplation- a human
person can realize that his existence is
completely different from others.
John Locke
 An empricist believes that the human mind could not attain
any knowledge without perceiving it first.
 Locke disagreed with Discartes that human persons are
born with innate, fundamental principles, and knowledge.
 For Locke , the human mind is a tabula rasa or blank slates.
Knowledge is acquired only through sensory experiences.
o This means that the soul begins to know only
when the senses begin to perceive.
o In Locke’s Philosophy, the soul is always in
contact with the body.
 The soul’s task is to think and interpret what the physical
body perceive.
o Human knowledge is limited, and humans should
be aware of such limitations.
Human Body
The human body connotes the idea of finitude.
The body of a human being is a material thing.
 Anything that is material is subject to corruption or
destruction. Being embodied means human beings have
certain limitations.
 Because of their body, a person becomes constrained by
time and space.
Everything you see on your body is called accidents
 Identifying a person based on his/her accidental features
can have either positive or negative effects.
It may be well to note that the colonial mentality that most Filipinos
imbibed is one of the problems of the continued patronage of
anything foreign.
Given these physical constraints, human beings can transcend.
 These limitations could also provide the motivation and
purpose to strive harder in realizing one’s potential and
possibilities.
 Being embodied, therefore, is not a hindrance to develop
and advance.
 We can always improve the intangible limitations of this
life.
The possibility for transcendence
 The act of surpassing our limitations is called
“transcendence”.
 Through transcendence, a person can acknowledge their
limitations, identify possibilites for development, and
change theirselves for the better.
o To transcend is to go beyond the ordinary.
Conclusion
The soul and the body are two active existence in the human person.
 Our bodily experiences like running, talking, writing,
encoding, working are manifestations that we are living
with it.
 Imagining with goals and self-images and the internal
functions of our senses are the activities of the soul.
The life experience of one is not the same for everyone.
 Each has their unique way of living their bodiliness and
spirituality.
 The body and soul of the human person stand for man’s
possibilities. These possibilities are lived in different ways.
These skills that are developed in the human person are the
possibilities of his existence.
The soulness is experienced by seeing and aiming at his goals in life.
While living in the material world, the human person has ambitions.
These ambitions drive man to strive hard and work for the best.
Lesson 4
Freedom of the Human Person
 People want to exercise their freedom.
 Nobody likes to be forced, imprisoned, or be stuck in a
miserable situation.
 When we think about freedom deeply, we realize there are
problems with its nature that we are not aware of.
o The classic problem of freedom is whether there
is freedom or not.
o Our past actions predict our future behaviour.
 Determinism rejects the idea of freedom.
Some believes that a human person can do anything he/she wants to
do, while others believe that there are certain limitations on what
humans can do.
 freedom is essential in a human person.
Freedom
 A vital to human existence.
 Aside from reason, what distinguishes human beings from
animal is freedom.
 Human beings have the capacity to choose, to be free from
and to be free for.
 The will of humanity is an instrument of free choice. It is
within the power of everyone to be good or bad, worthy or
worthless.
Jean-Paul Sartre
“Man is condemned to be free”
 The concept of freedom is ontological
o It focuses on the study of being.
o This means that a person cannot escape from
freedom. He cannot choose not to be free
because not choosing is even a choice.
o Not doing anything is choosing to do something,
and that is doing nothing.
The limitation of freedom is a product of our being conscious of
things; it is our choice of limitations.
The only thing that the person cannot be free is not being free.
Being free also means being responsible.
~ 
Responsibility and Consequences
Responsibility
Satre
 When people talk about freedom, what is being
emphasized is how a person is free.
 When there is freedom, there is responsibility.
o The absolute responsibility of the person is
freedom itself.
 Sartre defines responsibility as the “consciouness (of) being
the incontestable author of an event or an object.”
o When a person is free, the person is also
responsible. Whatever the person chooses,
he/she is the author of the choice.
 Responsibility is being the owner of one’s choice.
 Some people, however, disown their freedom, thereby
neglecting their responsibility.
 Their choices have consequences.
Aristotle
 A human being is rational (based on facts or reason and not
by emotion).
o Reason is divine characteristics.
o Humans have the spark of the divine.
o If there were no intellect, there would be no will.
o Our will is an instrument of free choice. Reason,
will, and action drives each other.
 Reason can legislate (control), but only through will can its
legislation be translated into action.
 The will of humanity is an instrument of free choice. It is
whithin the power of everyone to be good or bad, worthy
or worthless.
o This is bourne out by:
 Our inner awareness of an aptitude to
do right or wrong;
 The common testimony of all human
beings;
 The rewards and punishment of
rulers;
 The general employement of praise
and blame.
 Moral acts, which are always particular acts, are in our
power and we are responsible for them. Character or habit
is no excuse for immoral conduct.
St. Thomas of Aquinas
 Love is Freedom
 Human beings have the unique power to change
themselves and the things around them for the better.
 Human beings has a supernatural transcendental destiny.
o Hence, if if a human being perseveringly lives a
righteous and virtuous life, he transcends his
mortal state of life and soars to an immortal
state of life.
 The power of change is achieved through cooperation with
God. Between humanity and God, there is a gap, which God
alone can bridge through His power.
 Since God is love, then love is the guiding principle of
humanity towards self-perception and happiness is his
ultimate destiny.
Jean Jacques Rousseau
 Social Contract
He is the most famous and influential philosophers of the
french enlightenment in the 18 th century. In his book the
Social Contract. He elaborated his theory of human nature.
 Human beings must form a community or civil community
to protect themselves from one another, because the
nature of human beings is to wage war against one
another,
 Humanity ends toward self-preservation, then it follows
that they must come to a free mutual agreement to protect
themselves.
~
Freedom and Consequences
 Because of freedom, the consequences of our actions are
inevitable.
 What should a person do?
o Commit himself to a certain goal. Their direction,
their choice of action. Anything the person
chooses become part of the Self.
o Choosing oneself is also choosing all human
persons.
o The consequences of the choice are inevitable.
 One must always be ready to face what lies ahead, which
means he/she has to be responsible for their choices.
 The freedom of the human is a gift because it makes us
what we are, but it is also a burden because it makes us
anxious for not escaping freedom and responsibility.
Conclusion
 Freedom is crucial in a human person and remains vital in
human life.
 Freedom always goes with responsibility.
o No matter how free the person is, he/she must
be responsible for his/her freedom.
 A true person who consciously chooses their action will
courageously face the consequences.
 As a human being, when one violates the rules as a matter
of free choice , they cannot escape from the responsibility
of the consequences.
 Individual freedom involves the world and freedom of other
individuals, and that leads us to the idea of
intersubjectivity.
“You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequences
of your choice”
Lesson 5
Human beings as Being-in-Dialogue
Self-consciousness
 One important and inherent aspect of human person as
thinking and acting being is self-consciousness.
 It must be recognized itself through another self-
consciousness.
 Emerges when communicating each other in a vocative
situation or in dialouge.
 Gabriel Marcel’s idea: In establishing relation with another
person, self-consciousness becomes more aware of itself.
 This summons each self-consciousness to treat one another
not as an object but as subject, as Thou and not as It
(Buber)
 He believes that the absence of freedom in communicative
manifestation, objectification follows.
Selfhood and Dialogue
 Human being ‘s selfhood is its individuality, self-being, self-
realization and well being.
 It does not show itself when one decides to break himself
from communicative manifestation of their being.
 Karl Jasper says: Selfhood only emerges itself in and
through dialogical situation. Dialogue fosters individuality,
self-identity and self being of each person in the dialogical
situation.
Freedom and Dialogue: Unfolding of the Self
 Freedom is a human aspect that he/she becomes conscious
of themselves.
 Freedom effects something upon human being if it is
expressed in a dialogical context.
 The true expression of freedom occurs when it is expressed
both for one’s self-being. This freedom is never passive. It
summons human being to action and this action
pressuposes relationship.
 R. Tagore claims: Human freedom can only find its true
meaning in relation to the freedom of another human
being.
Truth and Dialogue: Making Present
 Truth is about one’s self-being is always relational; and it is
unveiled through dialogical situation or communicative
manifestation.
 Buber and Jasper remind us: It is in this encounter the truth
of the one’s whole being can possibly emerge.
 Jasper: “Truth gives courage: If I have grasped it at any
point the urge grows to pursue it relentlessly. Truth gives
support: here something indestructable, something linked
to being”
 Truth, make you project a true image of who you are; true
self emerges.
 In the context of friendships; truth matters for meaningful
relationships.
~ the self and its relation to another.
Human being as Political Animal
Aristotle
 Living in a society organized intelligently, such as city, state
or nations, is what makes us human.
 Anybody who lives outside the “city-state” is either a beast
or a god.
 Man engages in politics to achieve “common good.”
 In the classical period, human could not conceive a good
life separately from politics.
 Therefore, “Man is a political animal.”
Thomas Hobbes
 People were naturally wicked and could not be trusted to
govern. Humans are naturally selfish and violent.
 “Leviathan” – is a stronger ruler who can give people
direction.
 Fear of others in the state of nature prompts people to
form governments through social contract.
 Social Contract – Agreement between individuals held
together by the common interest.
Baron de Montesquieu
 There should be a seperation of powers.
 Seperation of powers would keep any individual or group
from gaining total control.
 The seperation of powers check and balances the power.
o Legislative
o Executive
o Judicial
~
Human’s Existence of Intersubjectivity
Intersubjectivity deals with the human person as a subject in relation
to another.
Jean-Paul Gustave Ricoeur
 A french philosopher and historian. Studied linguistic and
psychoanalytic theories of interpretation.
 “The world now becomes discoverable, not behind the text
but in front of the text, then the work unfolds, discovers,
and reveals.”
 “For one to understand is to understand oneself in front of
a text”
 If one stretches out the idea of the self of self-hood, one
cannot exclude the idea of the other.
 Oneself implies such an ostensible event that one cannot be
thought of without the other. Oneself has its title as a self
because of the other.
 His idea of the Self brought Descartes’ famous dictum “I
think, therefore, I am.”
 A philosopher who lived during the Scientific revolution,
the era of rapid advances in the sciences.
 Best known for his “Methodic doubt” and the concept of
the “Cogito.”
 Man can doubt everything except the self. Using doubt as a
standpoint, one can attain knowledge and certainty.
 Selfishness can be a temporary phase may lead one to
become a selfless human being the moment he/she realizes
the other.
Martin Buber
“The content and relation of these two worlds is the theme of I and
Thou. The other person, the Thou, is shown to be a reality – that is- it is
given to me, but it is bounded by me.”
 He differentiate the “I and It” and the “I and Thou”
o The I-It relationship points to the existence of
o The I-Thou relationship points to the existence of
the self and its relation to another entity that
has a human self.
I-Thou
 This relationship presupposes that each participant is
concered for each other and each person turns fully and
equally towards the other with opennes and ethical
engagement.
 Buber maintains the importance of the relationship of
person to person.
 This existence is heightened by the act of dialogue, leading
to the realization of total-presentness.
Emmanuel Levinas
 “Ethics is the first philosophy because it is only by
acknowledging the comman in the ‘face’ of the other that
we can account for the sensitivity to the normative
distinctions that structure intentional content”
o Ethics calls for a vivid and wide scope of
responsibility towards the other.
 This idea of intersubjectivity presupposes the equality and
inclusiveness of every individual.
Idealistic Transcendental Ego as Man’s Ultimate Goal
 One should not focus on the question of being’s essence,
but rather which responsibility has it awoken to.
 Levinas encourages to go out from the self and opens one’s
heart and mind to see the face of the vulnerable other.
 Recognizing the sense of responsibility is the paramount
priority in engaging oneself with the other.
Who is the “Other”?
 “Other” is not limited to the other person.
 The other does not only mean the alterity of the self or as
the other person, but also those who are weak and
vulnerable whose existence is interconnected with the
environment.
 The self’s task is no longer centered on the development of
the self, because the other, in one way or another, affirms
the selfless self. It cannot be emphasized enough that the
self may still want to attain its perfection, but not at the
other’s expense.
Lesson 6
The Human Person in Society
 A being who does not exist only for itself or themselves but
a being that is naturally destined to relate with others in
society.
 The human person to fully actualize themselves fully, it is
more advantageous for them to live harmaniously with
others as they live in the midst of society.
 Self-actualization does not mean the destruction of others
but rather a process of immersing oneself with other to
make one better, happy and contended members of
society.
 “No man is an island”
 Human being tend to relate with other groups and
individuals, which constitute what is referred to as a
society.
 Society refers to individuals’ voluntary association for
common ends, especially an organized group working
together or periodcally meeting because of common
interests, beliefs, or profession.
Plato’s Concept of Society
 He argued that societies are invariably formed for a
particular purpose.
 Individual beings are not self-sufficient.
 He held that separation of functions and specialization of
labor are the keys to establishing a worthwhile society.
 He envisions that a society should be divided into three
social classes, namely,
o a) the producing class, which includes the
farmers, merchants and laborers/workers.
o b) the soldier class, which comprises the
warriors.
o c) the ruling class, includes philosopher- thinkers
as well as rulers and kings who are selected to
lead the entire society.
Auguste Comte’s Three Stages of a Global Society
He argues that there are different stages of the development of a
global society.
 Theological Stage – Starting at the very beginning of human
beings and social groups, Comte believes that in this stage,
people viewed the world and the events in that world as a
direct expression of the will of various gods.
 The theological stage – meant that people used
supernatural or divine explanations to understand society
and the world.
 Metaphysical Stage – People viewed the world and events
as natural reflections of human tendencies.
o People in this stage still believed in divine powers
or gods, but they believed that these beings were
more abstract and less directly involved in what
happens daily. Instead, problems in the world
were due to defects in humanity.
 Positive Stage – This stage is when the mind stops
searching for the causes of phenomena and realizes that
laws exist to govern human behaviour, which can be
explained using reason and observation, both of which are
used to study the social world.
o This stage relies on science, rational thought,
and empirical laws.
 He believes that sociology is “the science that [comes] after
all the others; and as the final science, it must assume the
task of coordinating the development of the whole of
knowledge because it organizes all of human behaviour”.
 There is one common entity that is involved in the idea –
Human beings.
~
The Human Person as a Social Being.
“Man is a Social Animal.” – Aristotle
 Every human beings is pressumably social and always has
the penchant for relations to others. As humans connect
with each other, such relation is accompanied by
responsibility.
 Luke 10:25-37 “Parable of the Good Samaritan”
o This story captures human beings’ imagination on
who their neighbors are or the extent to which
they are responsible.
Being for Others in the Local Context
Gugma sa Isig ka Tawo – “love for others”
 This concept is understood in connection with
pagtambayayong (peace), pagpa-ambit (share), and
pagsinabtanay (mutual understanding).
 “naa ang gugma ug kalinaw as pakig-ambit sa mga
grasya nga nadawat” (there is love and peace in the act
sharing of the graces one received).
 “Being for others” is also expressed in pagsinabtay.
~ 
Human Person as a Being Condemned to be Free
 “Existence precedes essence.” Jean Paul Sartre
 Existence refers to the totality of how a person has lived
their life.
 Essence refers to the nature or the whatness of a human
person.
Abandoned to be Free
 Abandonment – the existential condition of being thrown
into one’s existence with nothing to cling to as guide.
 We are abandoned in the sense that we did not choose to
be free. Freedom is a human condition we are thrown into.
Freedom in Despair
 We are in despair when we have no control over the
realization of our plans in life.
 We can plan and decide to realize our plan, but its
realization depends on an ensemble of possiblities.
Life in Action
 Things do not always turn the way we plan them. The
realization of our plan is beyond our control.
 We are what our actions are. Our actions define who we
are. There is no life outside action.
 It is in our ability to create and to recreate ourselves where
the meaning of our lives lies.
~ term in 1973.
Freedom and Responsibility
Jean Paul Sartre: Freedom implies Responsibility
 A human person is free, hence, they are responsible for
themselves, for others, and ultimately for humanity.
 A person is free but they do not exist alone; they co-exists
with others and their actions surely affects others.
Freedom Implies…
 The person’s awareness of their huge responsibility gives
him or her so much anguish, which is the feeling of being
burdened by their own awareness of their total
responsibility.
But can a person choose not to be responsible?
 It is an act of bad faith on the part of any person not to
recognize their total responsibility.
 Choosing to live irresponsibly is to deny one’s freedom, a
freedom which defines their own existence.
 To be human is to be free and to be free is to be
responsible, not only for oneself, but also, for others and
for the whole humanity itself.
Kant: Freedom is Doing What is Good as a Matter of Duty
 Freedom is not an act of doing anything one wants. Getting
what one wants is not freedom; it is slavery to one’s
appetite or emotion.
 Freedom does not react; it commands.
 Freedom is not also doing things because they are
beneficial; it is doing things because they ought to be done.
Kant’s Concept of a Human Person
 A human person is a rational being.
 As a rational being, a human person is capable of
distinguishing what is right from what is wrong.
 This capacity enables a human person to choose their
actions, making them free.
 Rationality and freedom makes a human person
automonous.
 An automonous being commands, not commanded.
As an automonous beings, a human person does something
because they thinks it to be good.
 The commandment does not come from the outside but it
is self-imposed.
~
The Human Person in the Environment
 The world is very important to the human person.
 It is where they were born, raised, and lived the life that he
chooses to live.
 To live life to the fullest and ensure that the future
generation could also experience the same, it is imperative
to take care of the natural environment.
 Mother nature could greatly influence the quality of human
life.
Anthropocentrism and Deep Ecology
 Anthropocentrism – stems from the Judaeo-Christian
tradition, which maintains that humans are the chief
stewards of God’s Creation, while non-human beings have
no instrinsic value since they are only valuable depending
on their utility to human beings.
 One of the radical responses to Anthropocentrism is the
notion of Deep Ecology.
o A new ecological philosophy (ecosophy) that
considers humanity an integral part of nature.
o Arne Naess, a norwegian philosopher coined the
o For him, ecological science is concerned only with
facts and reasoning and cannot address ethical
questions about how human beings can live.
 Deep Ecology – Seeks to establish and integrated structure
where each gives rise to and supports the other.
Enlightened Anthropocentrism
 Maintains that human beings have a moral duty to set
limits in the utilization of nature’s goods in order to protect
the needs of the future generations.
 Anthropocentrism is governed by four principles that
define human beings’ relationship with the natural
environment.
o First, human beings must recognize their moral
obligations to the present generation of human
beings in relation to their utilization of
environment goods.
o Second, the present generation must consider
the well-being of future generations and be
aware that the stability and health of the future
generations are directly affected by the decisions
that the present generation makes concerning
the environment.
o Third, people must understand and consider the
full value of the various ecological services
provided by the ecosystem.
o Fourth, people must recognize that nature has
an aesthetic value.
  Enlightened Anthopocentrism – entails moral deliberation
and sustainable actions that are grounded on the
fundamental human inclination for preservation.
~ disposal.
The Environment and Human Beings’ Attainment of Peace
 The wellbeing of the natural environment is crucial to
human beings’ attainment of peace.
 To live peacefully, people should leave Mother Nature in
peace so that there will be peaceful co-existence between
them.
The Human Person and Climate Justice
 There is overwhelming evidence that human activities are
changing the climate system.
o The climatic changes raise several issues of
justice, such as
 How to assess the impacts of climatic
change
 What climate responsibilities current
generations have to future generations
 How political actors ought to take into
account the risks and uncertainties
involved in climate projections
 Who takes responsibility in addressing
climate change
 Human beings should do the things that can bring welfare
to their fellow human beings about climate justice.
Conclusion
 Human person is not an entity that could not live and
survive on its own
 The services that Mother Nature gives to humankind are
free and irreplaceable yet she is taken for granted.
 Nevertheless, there is always the good side of human
beings. They have the power to preserve, conserve, and
restore Nature to its pristine state.
 With the harmonious co-existence of the human persons
with the natural environment, the path of attaining
personal inner peace, health, wellbeing and sustainable
development would no longer be impossible to attain.
~ 
Human Being’s Approaches and Influences toward Environment
Instrumental Approach
 Human beings affirms the protection of the environment as
long as it possesses value or importance for human being.
 They take care of the environment because it is a medium
in establishing their society and civilization.
 The problem with this approach is that when a human
being can no longer recognize the value of environment, it
ceases to be a value.
Axiological Approach
 Human being recognizes the intrinsic value of the
environment.
 This demand them to protect and take care of it.
 Beauty can be seen as an external expression of such
intrinsic view.
 It needs a greater use of imagination and reflection on the
part of human being for their experience the intrinsic value
of environment.
Anthropological Approach
 The primary concern of human being is to unveil their being
as human or what being human ought to be.
 The focus of establishing relationship with the environment
is not environment itself but their “being”.
 Such approach considers environment as an object without
any consciousness of its own.
 It can be manipulated and controlled for human being
Utilitirianism
 This approach focuses on the consequences of human
action weather is it wrong or right.
 Our action is ethically right when it produces greater
happiness for the greater number of people, otherwise the
action is ethically wrong.
 Human being uses such view to utilize and manipulate
natural environment for human development.
Natural Law Ethics
 There is goodness in human nature to do good which is
rooted in the goodness of God.
 This goodness of God in human being can be seen and
manifested throught the expression of human intellect and
reason.
 We respect nature because God created it for divine
purpose.
Value Ethics Perspective
 The act of caring and respecting becomes our second
nature.
 This extends to non-human especially for the environment
where they live and realizes their being.
Sacredness of Environment
 The recognition of the sacredness of environment is based
on the creation of all things.
 The environment as part of creation poses an affirmation of
Creator, who is the uncaused and cause, who caused
everything to exist.
 Natural environment symbolizes a possible encounter with
the Divine.
 The environment shall always have an inherent relation
with the Creator.
~
The Human and Effects of Human Activity Toward Environment
Human being is part of creation.
 They are not the author of their existence.
 Their existence come from their creator.
 They are not the master of their existence.
 As part of creation, human being’s choice and action
influences and affects the unfolding of phenomena in the
evironment.
 Their actions becomes reflexive to their own self-
realization.
 Human action does not only determine the kind of
environment they want to live in, but also it determines
their existence in the environment.
Lesson 7
The Phenomenon of Death
 Death connotes an inner feeling of fear, pain, grief,
sadness, anxiety, and sympathy.
 Death is an inevitable reality; everyone cannot escape from
it.
 These mottos in life do not provide a concrete meaning of
what life is
 They provide clues, insights, and suggestions about what
one must do to attain a meaningful life.
Inauthentic Attitude towards death
 Evading our own death by not facing it, but talking about it
from a distant third person point of view is an inauthentic
attitude towards death.
o It is inauthentic because we do not recognize
death as our own.
o We do not confront it.
 Our notions of death are not our own; they are impersonal
and cultural.
 No depth because they are not bourne out of our own
reflections about death.
 A third person point of view rather than a deep-seated
personal point of view.
 Manifesting in three ways by which we respond to it, idle
talk, curiosity, and ambiguity.
Confronting Death
 Death is a possibility of not being able to be there in the
world.
o A possibility of the impossibility of life because
we do not know what will happen when we die.
o A possibility to which each of us is thrown into.
 All of us will die. Sooner or later, we will die; there is no
escape.
 Death is our ultimate destiny in the world.
Characteristics of Death
 A person’s death has five characteristics:
o One’s own host
o Non-relational
o Cannot be outsripped
o Certain
o Definite
Death and Authentic Existence
 Being aware of my death is my own and my own alone and
something I have to face myself, leads to the realization
that my existence is my own existence.
o I have to live my life the way I want to live it
(authentic existence)
o And not according to what others want me to
live it (inauthentic existence)
Stephen Cave: Stories We tell about Death
 We don’t know what lies beyond death.
 We resort to various ways of dealing with the terror of
death.
 Stories we tell about death according to Stephen Cave:
o The story of magical elixir
o The story of resurrection
o The story of the immortality of the soul
o The story of legacy
 They have no scientific basis but we believe in them
because we are afraid of death.
Know Thyself
 Ignorance gives rise to fear of death.
 If ignorance is the cause of fear of death, then wisdom is its
antidote: thus, according to Socrates: “Know Thyself”
 Buddha believes that fear of death is cause by one’s
ignorance of the true nature of the self
 Buddha believes in no-self.
Live Fully in the Present Moment
 Our awareness of death makes us celebrate life.
 It makes us live in the present moment.
Ludwig Wittgenstein: "Death is not an event in life”
Marcus Aurelius: “If death is natural, then it must happen for a
reason.”
~
Conclussion
 Live calmly & courageously
 My awareness of my own death, makes me realize that my
life is my own and that I have to take charge of it.
 My life, including death, is my responsibility. I have to face
death myself with all the courage I can muster.
~
The Human Person as Oriented towards Impending Death
Martin Heidegger and the Notion of Being-Towards-Death
 Martin Heidegger
o Notable philosopher who made a great
contribution to the discussion of death.
o Known for his book Being and Time (introduces a
unique perspective on the daily experiences of
the human person.
 Humans should live with authenticity.
o Authenticity – Dasein’s understanding of the
world to something that exists and potentially
does not exist.
 Being-towards-an-end – From birth, man is expected to live
his life to the fullest as he journeys towards his death.
o To hone their potentials, the human person has
to be in the world, for they have the power to be
with it.
o To be in the world means involvement with other
things and beings with others.
Human Being as Dasein
 Dasein – literally means being-in-the-world
o As a dasein, they are in the world
o Being-in-the-world means that he or she is
related and involved with other things in the
world.
 Dasein as a Being in the World
o “Being-in” – signifies an involvement,
engagement, or preoccupation with entities in
the world
o “Dasein’s being-in-the-world” – an engagement
alongside with other things in the world.
 Dasein as a Being in Time
o A person has past, present, and future.
Characterized as facticity, fallenness, and
existentiality.
o Facticity – The givens of their existence.
o Fallenness – Entrapment in the world of the
“they,” the world of convention, tradition,
doctrine, and conformity.
o Existentiality – Includes all projects and
possibilities that a person intends to accomplish
in life
 A human person has to define
themselves by creating and realizing
plans in the future.
Impending Death
 “Impending” – not something that one expects
o Impending is something distinct only to the
individual man.
 “Death” – Something of an objective experience
o Death is own most.
  Authentic Living – necessary response to man’s awareness
of facing the possibility of his death
 It forfeits the very purpose of his potentiality.
 Heidegger understands death as the ability of Existence to
die at any moment.
 Existence – Any moment could be its own.
~
History, Context and Existence
 Life has a historical character for it is time-bound.
 People born in their era would always prefer to say that
their time was better than the other.
 The meaning of life can be viewed according to context.
 Life has intrinsic value which depends on the location.
 This objectivity of experience has exclusivity.
 Different contexts cause different ways of viewing the
meaning of life.
 The meaning of life can be intrepreted based on one’s
existence.
 Life has significance and purpose
 The choice one makes should always be authentic because
that is what defines him.
~
Conclusion
 The meaning of life does not have one definition.
 Can be seen either objectivity and subjectively, depending
on the person defining it.
 It is noteworthy that as we try to learn the meaning of life,
we must be conscious of its varied manifestation and
expressions.
 Looking at these approaches in understanding the meaning
of life does not imply that each is independent of the oterh
o Rather, combining these themes provide a more
concrete and clearer understanding of life.
 The meaning of life is not only exclusive to history, context,
or existence. However, combining these approaches makes
us gain wider perspective of what life is.
 What is certain is that the process of searching for the
meaning of life is a philosophical adventure.

END OF SUBJECT