The human person

Think you are an alien then you

visit the earth how can you
describe the human race to
your own race
How does philosophy view the nature of
man?
• Man is an important subject in philosophy and understanding of the
nature and condition of man is the foremost goal of the discipline.
• Man = general term for human race
• Person = refers to human granted for recognition
• Biological perspective – consider man as a part of the natural world and
product of evolution.
• Modern Humans (homo sapiens sapiens) are considered one of the
most successfully adapted species on the planet
• Bipedalism: highly developed hands, smaller jaws and teeth and larger,
more developed brains
 Humans progressed and developed additional
traits and capabilities
• Planning and intentional action
• Innovation and creativity
• Communication through language and writing
• Technology
• Symbolic interaction as evidence by religion and art

Culture – considered man’s most significant achievement which sets art the
evolution of humanity from other species on this planet
Psychological perspective – places emphasis on human behavior and though
processes in analyzing human nature
Possess
• awareness
• Sense of self
• Capacity to perceive and experience
Significant mental faculties and capabilities of man include:
a) Psyche –refers to the human minds
a) Conscious mind – governs awareness
b) Unconscious mind – consist of latent or repressed emotions. Thought and desires
b) Rationality – state of being reasonable , the ability to understand experience in order
to solve problems or to do tasks and engage in decision making and judgement
c) Intelligence – ability to perceive information, store knowledge and apply it in various
situations
d) Introspection – ability to examine one’s own conscious thoughts , feelings and
mental state and the capacity of self-reflection.
Economic perspective – focuses on mans ability to engage productive
activities in an effort to meet his wants and needs
Economic man (homo economicus) – who is driven by rationality and self
interest in his desire to possess wealth
Theological perspective – considers man as God’s creation. Man is
considered to have a special relationship with the creator, being created in
his image and given an immortal spirit. Man’s existence was brought about
by his purposive creative act of God and his ultimate destiny is part of
divine plan
Describe yourself as
a human
 How does philosophy in the human person?
• Self awareness – one of the most unique traits of human
• Sentience – ability to feel
• Self as innate – this view holds that the self is an essential part of he
human being, and self awareness is natural and innate.
• Self as emergent – this views holds that awareness of the self is gained
through interaction with the world and other human
• Self as integrated and developing – this view holds that the self is
composed of varied elements that change over time
• Identity – is defined as the distinct personality of an individual
• Persons identity is composed of :
• Physical characteristic
• Mental attributes,
• Experience
• Memories
• Ideas
• Views
• Personhood – is the recognition of a human being as a distinct entity – a person
• Person as an autonomous being – this notion holds that human being is considered
a person if he or she possess the ability to determine his or her life thought .
• Person as an unified individual – this view asserts that the human being has the
inherent capacity to function as a person
• Person in relation to others – this view asserts that a human being becomes a
person through interaction with other human being.
There is lots of time that human being is not recognized as person
Like the
• slave they consider it as a property,
• women in the ancient times were not recognized as citizen
• African in 18th century are considered as subhuman by the US