Reflection Paper

In
Introduction to the
Philosophy of the Human
Person

Prepared by:
Tristan Ahmir Buan ICT-1
We are tasked to do a reflection paper about what we have learned in Introduction to the Philosophy
of the Human Person. There is so many things that I have learned in this subject. New learnings that
greatly contributed to me. It increased my knowledge and understating about many important and
necessary informations. The thing that I learned first is about the origin and definition. In our first
lesson, “Philosophy” came from the two (2) Greek words. Philo which means “to love” and Sophia
which means “wisdom”, so Philosophy originally meant “love of wisdom”. Philosophy is also defined
as the science that by natural light reason studies the first causes or highest principle of all things.
This means that Philosophy involves the use of one’s innate ability to reason and think critically in
order to explore and understand the world around them. And in this case, our subject teacher, Sir
Marion Javier, taught us the four (4) things that we must consider. First is Science. This is included
because there are systematic investigations required. Second is Natural Light of Reason. The person
uses his or her natural capacity to think. Third is the Study of All Things. It does not only stick to a
single thing or whatsoever, it includes all things for it not to become stagnant. Lastly is the First Cause
or Highest Principle. It is something proceeds in any manner whatsoever. And I have also learned
about the four (4) principles which are the, Principle of Identity, Principle of Non-contradiction,
Principle of Excluded Middle and Principle of Sufficient Reason. The branches of Philosophy were
also discussed. The Metaphysics, Ethics, Epistemology, Logic, and Aesthetics. There are also
Philosophers who were introduced. Aristotle, who was the first philosopher to diverse a logical
method. He gave emphasis on the “universal” and Zeno of Citium, who is of the successors of
Aristotle. He founded a movement called Stoicism, from the Greek word “stoa poikile” or Painted
porch. Alan Mathison Turing was also mentioned, I have learned that he was an English
mathematician, logician and etc. He was a great contributor in the development of computer science,
providing a formalization of the concepts of “algorithm” and “computation”. He also invented the
Turing Machine and Alan is also considered to be the father of computer science and artificial
intelligence. I have learned also about Hans-George Gadamer who is a German philosopher. He
believes that our culture consists of the values and beliefs of our time and our society, that’s why
“dialog” important. And then, Diversity came. I have learned that diversity is what makes each person
unique. We moved on a topic which is about Expanding our Philosophical Frames: Western and Non-
western Traditions. I learned about the three great original centers of philosophy, the Greek (western),
Indian and Chinese. Our teacher also introduced us to the Greek triumvirate, Socrates, Plato and
Aristotle. These places and people have great influence in the field of the philosophy. And we have
also tackled the Transcending and Aiming for a Life of Abundance. Firstly, abundance came from the
Latin word “abundare” which means “to overflow non-stop.” According to Aguilar (2010), it’s not about
the material things but our relationship with others, ourselves and nature he also believes that our
very life belongs to God. I’ve learned that Abundance is not what we gather but what we scatter, it
means that we should be open-handed and learn to empty our hands. Abundance is not what we
keep but what we give away, this means that we must learn to let go and control ourselves. Next is
Abundance is not what we hold but what we share, this means that we must be willing to share
something to others. Heart and values are important if we want to have an abundant life. And next is
abundance is a choice. It is a choice which translates to commitment and perseverance. And lastly,
abundance is to evolve into a higher being. As we are bombarded by negative things, it is our choice
to adapt an abundant disposition. Next is the Post-modernism: On Culture. Post-modernism talks
about world philosophy, the philosophy of many cultures. Richard Rorty was then introduced to us,
who is an American Philosopher and developed themes from pragmatism. After Rorty, Ludwig
Wittgenstein,an analytic philosopher is also introduced. According to him, language is socially
conditioned. I’ve also learned about how distinguish facts and opinions through logic and critical
thinking with the help of tools of reasoning. I have also learned that there are two kinds of basic
reasoning. The inductive reasoning, it is based from observations, and deductive reasoning which
draws conclusion from usually broad judgement to more specific assertion. Fallacies is also
introduced to us. It is the error or defect in an argument. That’s all.