Introduction to the philosophy of the human person

INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE

HUMAN PERSON

Presentation of the Rationale; Content; Features and

Instructions

UNIT 4

THE HUMAN PERSON IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT

MAN AND HIS ENVIRONMENT

• RATIONALE:– According to the point of view of every

creationist, man was originally created perfect and placed in a perfect, friendly environment designed to be his home.

– He does not see agriculture as destructive of nature but remembers that God intended the earth to be cultivated (Gen. 2:5, 15).

• In this perspective, everything in creation is recognized as having its own rightful place. Yahweh/God pronounced that all His creation was exceedingly good (Gen.1:31). – Therefore, respect for the Creator requires respect for

His creation. It is thus with a sense of respect, humility, gratitude and obligation that the creationist assumes his role as steward of his Master's estate and cares for God's handiwork, not to please himself with personal comfort, but to please his Creator and to have fellowship with Him

LESSON 1: CLIMATE CHANGE

Learning Outcome: Notice disorder in the environment

"LAUDATO SI" : Care for God's Creation

• According to some classical philosophers:

Philosophy begins with a sense of

wonder and awe.

• But it is something unjustifiable to wonder on nature if what we perceive and encounter is only disorder in our environment.

• Every individual must look on areas of our surroundings wherein we see an ugly picture of our environment, and transform it into a place wherein we can see harmony in nature.

• LEARNING ACTIVITY: Poster – Making with a theme: “Save Mother Earth”

• Divide the class in five (5) members each group. Ask them to discuss among themselves ways on saving mother earth. Tell them to be more specific and practical on their suggestions, then using a white cartolina and coloring materials, make them draw/sketch creatively the output of their discussion

LESSON 2: Environmental Aesthetic

Learning Outcome: Notice things that are not in their proper place and

organize them in an aesthetic way

RATIONALE:

• The scope of environmental aesthetics has broadened to include not simply natural environments but also man – made structures within the natural environments.

• At the same time, the discipline has also come to include the examination of that which falls within such environments, giving rise to what is called the aesthetics of everyday life.

Learning Activity:

• Assign the class into a five – member group. Instruct each group to research about some beautiful tourist spots in our country. Ask them to make a ‘TRAVELOGUE’ or a brochure which contains the following information:

• a. Route Map• b. Short History• c. Pictures and descriptions of the tourist spots in

the place• d. Foods and Delicacies

LESSON 3: MAN AS CO-CREATORS AND STEWARDS ON

EARTH

Learning Outcome: Show that care for the environment contributes to health, well-being and sustainable

development

STEWARDSHIPS AND CO - CREATOR

• Genesis 2:15

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to

work it and take care of it.

RATIONALE:

• In this Chapter, we see the important responsibility of man as co-creator of God.

• God has instructed man not only to live his life but become also the stewards of His creation.

• We see Him create intentionally and orderly. He creates for the first three days (day/night; sky/water; water/land), and fills what He created for the next 3 days (sun/stars/moon; sea creatures/birds; animals/mankind). With each step, we see the Lord create each “according to their kinds.”

• And with each step, the Lord sees what He made and declares that it is good.

CREATIO EX NIHILO....

.

• We must learn to think and act ecologically.

• We repent of extravagance, pollution and wanton destruction.

• We recognize that human beings find it easier to subdue the earth than they do to subdue themselves.

• Learning Activity: – RECYCLING MATERIALS

• Using the same groupings in the travelogue activity, instruct each group to bring scrap materials in the class. Then, instruct them to discuss among their members to think of any usable recycled objects they can create out of the scrap materials which they have brought in the class.

LESSON 4: Ecological Education

Learning Outcome: Demonstrate the virtues of prudence and frugality

towards environments

• Ecological education can take place in a variety of settings: at school, in families, in the media, in catechesis and elsewhere. Good education plants seeds when we are young, and these continue to bear fruit throughout life.

• Here, though, we would stress the great importance of the family, which is “the place in which life – the gift of God – can be properly welcomed and protected against the many attacks to which it is exposed, and can develop in accordance with what constitutes authentic human growth. In the face of the so-called culture of death, the family is the heart of the culture of life”.

• Reflect on the picture, from the movie, the

Lorax, and share it in the class.

UNIT FIVE: FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN PERSON

The learner understands the human person’s freedom. The learner shows

situations that demonstrate freedom of choice and the consequences of choices.

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT:

• The learner is able to understand that doing philosophy within the context of the human person as free, intersubjective, immersed in society, and oriented towards their impending death will lead to a deeper understanding of the human person

LESSON 1: THE WILL: ITS EXISTENCE, NATURE AND

OBJECT

• The will, in philosophy and psychology, is a term used to describe the faculty of mind that is alleged to stimulate motivation of purposeful activity.

• The concept has been variously interpreted by philosophers, some accepting the will as a personal faculty or function (for example, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes and Kant)

• And other seeing it as the externalized result of the interaction of conflicting elements (for example, Spinoza, Leibniz, and Huma).

Thomas Aquinas’ Ideas About the Will and Human Freedom

• Five Stages of a Human Act (from perception to action of the will)Stage 1. Intellect - apprehends a situation and

determines that a particular end is appropriate (good) for the given circumstances. Will - approves a simple volition for that end (or can reject, change the subject, etc.)

Stage 2. Intellect - determines that the end can be achieved, is within the power of the agent.

Will - Intention: to achieve the end through some means

• Stage 3. Intellect - Counsel: determines various means to achieve the end.

• Will - accepts these means (or can ask for more means)

• Stage 4. Intellect - determines the best means for the given circumstances.

• Will - Electio (choice): selects the means the intellect proposes as best.

• Stage 5. Intellect - Command: says "Do the best means!"

• Will - Use: exercises control over the body or mind as needed.

LESSON 2: HUMAN ACTS AND VOLUNTARINESS

Learning Outcomes: At the end of this lesson, you are expected to understand the components of a

free and voluntary act, as well as the factors which affect the voluntariness of human acts.

• We have human dignity because we are intelligent and free persons, capable of determining our own lives by our own free choices.

• We give this dignity to ourselves by freely choosing to shape our lives and actions in accord with the truth; that is, by making good moral choices. Such choices are in turn dependent upon true moral judgments. These choices performed as free persons are called human acts.

CITY OF ANGELS

• The only thing that separates us from angels is...

freedom/free will

• from the latin word

VOLUNTAS

LESSON 3: ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES

LEARNING OUTCOMES: At the end of this lesson, you will realize that our actions can have

positive and negative consequences and that you should be able to make choices that aim to create

positive consequences.

• ACTIONS AND CONSEQUENCES– All our actions (spoken and physical) have

consequences. Some are good (positive) and some bad (negative).

– Consequences are a result or an effect. – It is important to try to behave in a way that

has positive consequences.

ACTION• My brother hit me really

hard...• I stayed out later than my

Mother said I could....

• I ran across the road without thinking...

• Another student called me names...

ACTIVITY 1: Write possible consequences (on the right column) to the actions mentioned on the left column.

CONSEQUENCE

LESSON 4: FREEDOM OF THE WILL

• Differentiate the various kinds of freedom,and understand some important arguments for

and against the freedom of the will.

• Freedom in general means the absence of resistant. There are different kinds of restraint and freedom. – Physical freedom is the absence of physical

restraint. When a prisoner is released from prison, he is physically free, since he is no longer restrained by the prison walls.

– Moral freedom is the absence of moral restraint, of an obligation, of a law. Thus in this country we are morally free to criticize the government.

ARGUMENT FROM COMMON CONSENT

• The great majority of men believe that their will is free. This conviction is of the utmost practical importance for the whole of human life.

• Therefore, if there is order in the world, the majority of mankind cannot be wrong in this belief. Hence, the will is free.

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

• We have said that most people naturally hold that the will is free.

• Men are directly and indirectly aware of their freedom in the very act of making a free decision; they are indirectly aware of it because of the many instances of the behavior which can only be explained by admitting the freedom of the will

THE ETHICAL ARGUMENT

• If there is no freedom, there is no moral responsibility no virtue, no merit, no moral obligation, no duty, no morality.

• The necessary connection between freedom and the spiritual realities is quite obvious and is demonstrated in Ethics

UNIT SIX: INTERSUBJECTIVITY

Content Standard: The learner understands intersubjective human

relations

Performance Standard:

• The learner performs activities that demonstrate an appreciation for the talents of persons with disabilities and those from the underprivileged sectors of society

Learning Competencies:

1. Realize that intersubjectivity requires accepting differences and not to impose on others

2. Appreciate the talents of persons with disabilities and those from the underprivileged sectors of society and their contributions to society

3. Explain that authentic dialogue means accepting others even if they are different from themselves

4. Perform activities that demonstrate the talents of persons with disabilities and those from the underprivileged sectors of society

LESSON 1: ACCEPTING ME, ACCEPTING YOU

LEARNING OUTCOME: At the end of this lesson, you are expected to

realize that accepting differences of others is vital in any human relation.

• Another aspect of being man is his relatedness with others. This in philosophical terms is Intersubjectivity or being with others.

• One manifestation of this relation with others is accepting OTHERS AND THEIR DIFFERENCES. This is the first critical component of intersubjectivity

ACCEPTING ME, ACCEPTING YOU

LESSON 2: ACCEPTING OTHERS IS NOT TO IMPOSE ON OTHERS

LEARNING OUTCOME: Explicitate J.S. Mill’s views on human liberty, freedom of thought and expression, interference and the harm principle.

• In this lesson, the importance of accepting the other’s thoughts and ideas (though they might be opposed to yours) is another manifestation of accepting others (and their differences).

• PRINCIPLE OF PATERNALISM. "Paternalism" comes from the Latin pater, meaning to act like a father, or to treat another person like a child. ("Parentalism" is a gender-neutral anagram of "paternalism".)

• In modern philosophy and jurisprudence, it is to act for the good of another person without that person's consent, as parents do for children.

• LEGAL MORALISM is the view that the law can legitimately be used to prohibit behaviors that conflict with society's collective moral judgments even when those behaviors do not result in physical or psychological harm to others.

• According to this view, a person's freedom can legitimately be restricted simply because it conflicts with society's collective morality; thus, legal moralism implies that it is permissible for the state to use its coercive power to enforce society's collective morality.

LESSON 3: ACCEPTING PEOPLE FOR WHAT THEY ARE IS LOVING

THEM

LEARNING OUTCOME: Realize that accepting people for what they are is

a manifestation of love.

• In this lesson, the theme on accepting others (their differences) is further developed by connecting it with the act of loving. Thus, we turn to Erich Fromm’s classic The Art of Loving.

• we can use here the essay written by Fromm, The Basic elements of Love

• These are care, responsibility,

respect and knowledge.• Let us watch this video.....

UNIT SEVEN: THE HUMAN PERSON IN SOCIETY

CONTENT STANDARD: The learner demonstrates various ways of

expressing social responsibility

LEARNING COMPETENCIES:

• 1. Recognize how individuals form societies and how individuals are transformed by societies

• 2. Compare different forms of societies and individualities (eg. Agrarian, industrial and virtual).

• 3. Explain how human relations are transformed by social systems

• 4. Evaluate the transformation of human relationships by social systems and how societies transform individual human beings.

Lesson 1: MAN THE SOCIAL ANIMAL

LEARNING COMPETENCIES: Discover the nature of man as a

social animal

Aristotle

MAN is a social animal and must

satisfy certain natural basic needs in order to survive.

Lesson 2: THEORIES OF SOCIETY

LESSON COMPETENCIES: Understand the different theories of

about society

• DIscuss the Platonic concept of society, specifically his book, The Republic

• He divided the society in three social classes, namely: – The Producing Class which includes the

farmers, merchants, and laborers/workers; – the Guardian Class which includes the

soldiers and police force; – and the Ruling Class which includes

Philosophers-thinkers, Rulers and Kings that is selected to lead the entire society

• ARISTOTLE: Man is social animal...• Aquinas: man is naturally a political being and

as such seeks to live in the community or society...

• Machiavelli: Society should be ruled absolutely by powerful person and individual members of the society must follow in order to establish an orderly community...

• Hobbes and Locke: the state had arisen out of a voluntary agreement, or social contract...

LESSON 3: SOCIAL INFLUENCES

Identify the common influences of society to every individual

• Social influence occurs when one's emotions, opinions, or behaviors are affected by others.

• Society is a group of people, of varying size and structure and can make an impact in the behavioral patterns of a person as a member of a particular society

• Influence means to have the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.

LESSON 4: THE FILIPINO SOCIETY

Understand the NATURE of Filipino society

• The great majority of the Philippine population is bound together by common values and a common religion. Philippine society is characterized by many positive traits.

• Among these are strong religious faith, respect for authority, and high regard for amor proprio (self-esteem) and smooth interpersonal relationships.

UNIT EIGHT: HUMAN PERSON TOWARDS DEATH

CONTENT STANDARD: Compare and contrast the different perspective

of Filipinos towards DEATH

Lesson 1: WHAT IS DEATH

Recognize the meaning of his/her own Death

• The philosophical investigation of human death has focused on two overarching questions:

• (1) What is human death? and • (2) How can we determine that it has

occurred?

• . From the philosophical point of view we should recognize first that we can experience death, because we ought to know the cognitive value of our conceptions and judgments about death and its relation to with the whole of human existence.

Lesson 2: DIFFERENT VIEWS ON DEATH

Relate the different philosophical views on death with human

experiences

• ANCIENT VIEW 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 OF DEATH. Death is viewed as a biological event, death is the end of man considered to be a living organism.

• Death is the cessation of life, the total arrest of both mental and physiological functions as a person.

• PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEWS. Concept of death and adjustment addresses the ability to adjust to one's own death when that 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 for 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.

Lesson 3: DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS VIEWS ON DEATH

Differentiate the different religious views on death

CHRISTIANITY Christian beliefs about the afterlife vary between denominations and individual Christians, but vast majority of Christians believe in some kind of heaven, in which believers enjoy the presence of God and other believers and freedom from suffering and sin.

Islam Muslims believe that the present life is only a preparation for the next realm of 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 Death in Hinduism is very spiritual, and it strongly believes in the rebirth and reincarnation of souls. So, according to Hinduism, death is regarded as a natural process in the existence of soul as a separate entity.

Buddhism In Buddhism a lot has been said about the importance of death. It was awareness of death that prompted Lord Buddha to explore the truth behind worldly concerns and pleasures. After a long search,

Lord Buddha finally came to the conclusion that death is inevitable for a person who thinks about worldly pleasures and attitudes.

Judaism Traditional Judaism firmly believes that death is not the end of human existence. However, because Judaism is primarily focused on life here and now rather than on the afterlife, Judaism does not have much dogma about the afterlife, and leaves a great deal of room for personal opinion.

Lesson 4: FILIPINO VIEWS ON DEATH

Comprehend the traditional concept of Filipinos about DEATH

TRADITIONAL VIEWS ON DEATH

• Filipino traditions that surround death and dying are a blend of indigenous, Spanish, and American influence that makes Filipino traditions unique.

• The Filipinos have many indigenous traditions that regard death and dying. One of these traditions is called an “atang” An atang is a feast prepared by the bereaved family. The feast is made up of the favorite food of the deceased person and a seat at the dinner table is left open in memory of that person.

• Discuss with the students other indigenous traditions and belief…

• Try asking them of they know about death and burial in their localities…

THANK YOU!