VALUES EDUCATIONPhilosophy of Man

Western Philosophy

C.C. Relleve, EdD, RGC

Philosophy

The science whose essence is founded on reason,

experience, reflection, intuition, meditation,

imagination, and speculation that leads to

CRITICAL THINKING which embraces

questioning, analysing, criticizing, synthesizing,

evaluating, and judging a given phenomenon of

reality.

Philosophy of Human Person

is an endeavour, which is not an end itself but means

to an end

- is one’s desire to know who and what man is

- deals with the origin of human life, the nature of

the human life, and the reality of human existence

Greek Philosophersbelieves that the stuff that constitutes the world is also the same stuff that

constitutes human

Thales – water is the world stuff. In the

somatic level of human nature, it is

scientific knowledge that the human brain

contains 80% water and 70% in the

human body.4

Greek Philosophers

Anaximenes – the air is the world-stuff. Human is air.

He believes that the human person is composed of

body and soul. Body is a condensed air and the soul

is rarefied air. For him, air the principle of life since

soul is composed of air

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Greek Philosophers

Phytagoras– depicted that soul is immortal, divine, &

subjected to metaphysics. As immortal and divine, the soul

has fallen and is incarnated in body until it gets purified &

finally assures reunification with the divine. This

reunification is possible only through constant

reincarnation.

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Greek Philosophers

Protagoras (representative of the sophist) – human is

the ultimate criterion of truth. According to him,

“man is the measure of all things, of all things that

are that they are and of things that they are not”.

Therefore, human is the absolute possessor of truth.

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Greek Philosophers

Socrates – human being is a being who thinks

and wills. Human’s responsibility is to

discover the truth; truth about good life for it

is knowing the good life that human can act

correctly

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Greek Philosophers

Plato - the nature of the human person is seen in

the metaphysical dichotomy (separation) between

body and soul…These dualistic entities have

distinctive qualities, which are contradictory to

each other.

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For Plato, the body is material, it cannot live and move apart from the

soul; it is mutable and destructible. On the contrary, the soul is

immaterial; it can exist apart from the body, it is immutable &

indestructible.

His theory of the soul divided into three components; reason, will,

and appetite. He contended that one could identity the parts of the

soul because they sometimes clash with each other. A person may

crave or have an appetite for something, yet resist the craving with

willpower.

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Three Component of the Soul

1. The RATIONAL SOUL (mind or intellect) is

the thinking portion within each of us, which

discerns what is real and not merely apparent,

judges what is true and what is false, and wisely

makes the rational decisions in accordance with

w/c human life is most properly lived.

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Three Component of the Soul

2. The SPIRITED SOUL (will or volition) is the active

person; its function is to carry out the dictates of reason

in practical life, courageously doing whatever the intellect

has determined to be best.

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Three Component of the Soul

3. The APPETITIVE SOUL (emotion or desire) is

the portion of each of us that wants and feels

many things; most of w/c must be differed in the

face of rational pursuits if we are to achieve a

salutary degree of self-control.

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For ARISTOTLE, there is no dichotomy between

human’s body and soul. Body and soul are in

one state of unity. In this unity, the soul acts as

the full realization of the body while the body is

a material entity, w/c has a potential for life. The

body is matter of the soul and the soul from the

body. Therefore, body and soul is inseparable.

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For STOICS, the soul is matter and has

seven parts. These are the five senses,

the power of speech, and the power

of reproduction, for them, speech is

tantamount to reasoning so that it is

considered as the ruling part of the

soul.12/13/2014 15

Another Stoic view is that, human nature is part of

determined universe. With this they emphasize that

human should conform himself to the course of nature.

“Man must be the subject of the will of God and to the

law of nature” It is man’s submission to the law of

nature that makes man seek of virtue. Only in doing

this that human person conform himself/herself to the

will of God. Therefore, human’s submission to the will

of God is man’s conformity w/ nature…16

MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHERS (Medieval Philosophy is Theodicy.

Theodicy is the philosophical science of God. All Philosophies

under this period views on the existence of God)

1. For ST. AUGUSTINE, God created human w / a

mortal body w/ an immortal soul and gave him/her

free will. For him the source of evil is free will. God

created human good, but the good when he/she

turns himself away from God.

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The human person is responsible for the

existence of evil, not God because God cannot

will it; He is absolute Goodness. For these, St.

Augustine believes that human’s nature, his/her

free will, that makes human imperfect but

human is also capable of reaching perfection

only if he/she keeps himself/herself good.

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The human person is responsible for the

existence of evil, not God because God

cannot will it; He is absolute Goodness. For

these, St. Augustine believes that human’s

nature, his/her free will, that makes human

imperfect but human is also capable of

reaching perfection only if he/she keeps

himself/herself good. 12/13/2014 19

2. ST.THOMAS AQUINAS understands the human person as a

whole. He claims that the human person is substantially united

body and soul. The soul is united w/ the human body and it is

the principle of life. However, the soul requires the body as the

material medium for its operation particularly perception. But

the soul has operative functions, w/c do not need a material

medium; they are human’s intellect and will. Thus, at death, the

intellect & will remain in the soul as it is immortal, simple, and

incorruptible.

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Reference

• A Reviewer for the Licensure Examination for

Teachers, PNU 2006