1. PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN PERSON
OTHER DEFINITION, ET AL.
QUEZON CITY POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY
BATASAN CAMPUS
Prof Fabian T. Avila, Jr.

2. PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN PERSON
Man, for a scientist, is only a psycho- physico-chemical organic substance, an organization of systems.
Further, man operates under the same laws of nature as other animals. Thus, under this view, man can be studied and known by medicine, anatomy and other physical sciences and his behaviour likewise can be looking at man. And this is through PHILOSOPHY.

3. PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN PERSON
Philosophy of Man is a philosophicalapproach to man. It attempts todescribe and interpret human existence in relation with other beings.
Compared with the scientific approach which is too limited, narrow and defective, Philosophy of Man is a total approach to integral man.

4. To understand man as a person is no. easy task. It means. penetrating
To understand man as a person is no easy task. It means penetrating into the central mystery of our own being.
We cannot but become personal about this endeavor, for when we study man, we are in effect, studying ourselves: what we are and who we are.

5. We shall understand the human person. better by considering all the
We shall understand the human person better by considering all the important and significant aspects related to him. We shall be treating each aspect one at a time so that, ultimately, we can see MAN, totally and comprehensively. No man is an object among other objects but man as a person, an individual, as a being- in-the-world.

6. And as a being-in the-world, he is:
A subject;
An embodied subject;
A subject among other subject;
Free to choose;
A knowing subject;
A being who stand before God;
One who searches for life’s meaning and his END.

7. In order to come closer to an. understanding of the. totality of all
In order to come closer to an understanding of the totality of all that is man, we have to go back and root our reflection on the concrete experience of man himself. We cannot tear man apart in clear and fixed ideas.

8. We have to describe and bring to. light man’s whole. uniqueness in our
We have to describe and bring to light man’s whole uniqueness in our concrete experience.
And therefore, we cannot fully understand this subject unless we completely understand ourselves

9. Philosophy of Man seeks to. undertake this venture of
Philosophy of Man seeks to undertake this venture of becoming aware of ourselves and to discover the source of inner strength and security which are the rewards such venture.

10. FOR THE STUDENTS
Too often Philosophy of Man tends to be regarded as a remote and abstruse subject who can only be profitable studied by the brilliant few. It seems to me that this is unfortunate and that philosophical matters are often less difficult and more important than is generally supposed.

11. To benefit greatly in your. philosophical
To benefit greatly in your philosophical studies, one must always approach the subject with an open, critical and inquisitive mind.
To realize that philosophy, unlike the sciences, does not offer definite answers. The activity of philosophizing is not going to produce a set of cut-and-dried answers to clearly stated problems.

12. We shall be moving in a world where “one
We shall be moving in a world where “one cannot tell”, “I don’t know”, and “it all depends”, “it’s a matter of opinion” will be essential and frequently recurring phrases. We shall hope to sort out and tidy up some problems and discover the kind of question that it makes sense to ask and the kind of answer that we can expect to get; we shall hope to end up with more knowledge, more wisdom and a clearer understanding.

13. But if the ardent seeker of truth is not
But if the ardent seeker of truth is not content with that, if he is only interested in answers that are right or wrong, if he wants final, conclusive certainty he must go elsewhere — to the study, for example of pure mathematics. As he does so, he will be a shutting with a clang the door that leads to the world of “it all depends”. And this will be a pity for it is the world in which we live.

14. And therefore, that way, he. will become a critical
And therefore, that way, he will become a critical thinker and probably will become logically correct in every reasoning that he’ll be uttered.

15. It will have to be defined as:
What is philosophy?
It will have to be defined as:
“Philosophy is the study of the ultimate reality, causes and principles underlying being acquired through the use of human reason alone”.

16. To understand clearly, we will have to clarify these important terms:
1. “being”,
2. “ultimate reality”,
3. “causes and principles”,
4. “human reasons”.

17. Perhaps G. E. Moore (1873-1958). can help us a bit more. When
Perhaps G.E. Moore ( ) can help us a bit more. When he was, too, asked what philosophy is, he gestured and pointed towards his books and the bookshelves and said, “This is what philosophy is. It is what all these books are about”.

18. Philosophy is the main subject of most
Philosophy is the main subject of most writings of Plato or Aristotle’s Metaphysics and Niconachean Ethics; of large parts of the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus and William of Okham; of the Meditations of Rene Descartes; of Ethics of Spinoza; of the Monadology of Leibniz; of Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Knowledge;

19. of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason;
of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason; and finally, in the present century, of Moore’s own Principia Ethica; of Russel’s Our Knowledge of the External World; of Heidegger’s Being and Time, of Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, and of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico- Philosophicus.

20. However, it is only after we have. become acquainted with several
However, it is only after we have become acquainted with several specimen problems, with some distinctly philosophical approaches to these problems, that the whole picture becomes clear. Philosophy is not a shorthand term; it is a kind of activity with which the questioner is most likely to be completely unfamiliar.

21. So the best response to the beginner’s. question, “what is philosophy
So the best response to the beginner’s question, “what is philosophy?” is not to labor to formulate a neat dictionary definition but instead to offer a few typical philosophical problems as specimens and illustrations, further examples for themselves. And this is precisely what we will do in this course.

22. More than just a subject, philosophy is an. activity
More than just a subject, philosophy is an activity. There is nothing new about the idea that the activity of philosophizing is more important than the subject, philosophy. German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, told his pupils:
“You will not learn from me philosophy, but how to philosophize, not thoughts to repeat, but how to think. Stand on your own feet. Dare to think, no matter where it might lead you. Just dare to think.”

23. Pythagoras of Samos
A mystic during the 6th century BC, who invented the word “philosophy”, is a combination of two Greek Words, “philo” meaning love, and “Sophia” meaning wisdom. “Philosophia,” therefore, is the love of wisdom and philosophers are lovers of wisdom.

24. Pythagoras noted that,
sophos = men of great intelligence
were travelling teachers, as well. They went to various places teaching the young are more interested, not in the truth, but how to win every argument they are involved in.
So Pythagoras claimed himself not a sophos, not wise, but only a philosophos, a lover of wisdom.

25. Generally, philosophers are interested in questions like:
1. Is there a God? What reasons are there to believe in God? Can we prove or disprove God’s existence? (philosophy of religion)
2. What is knowledge? Can we know? What is it to know? How can we know? (epistemology or theory of knowledge)
3. What is man? Who is man? Is man only his body or is man his soul? (philosophical psychology)

26. 4. Are we free. Are our actions already. determined
4. Are we free? Are our actions already determined? Do we have a free will? (metaphysics and ethics)
5. What is right? What is wrong? (ethics or moral philosophy)
6. What is beauty? (aesthetics or philosophy of art)
7. What is the good life? What is happiness?
8. Does life make sense? What is the meaning of life?

27. THANK YOU
FOR
LISTENING ! ! !