PHILO 12: MIDTERMS

Man

- Is a general term commonly used to refer to the entire human race

Human

- Refers to a man as species

Human Being

- Used in order to distinguish man from other creatures

Person

- Refers to a human being granted rights, protection, responsibilities, and dignity above all

- It is the totality of an individual possessing awareness, self-determination, and the capacity to interact with others and with himself/herself

Personhood

- Refers to the state of being a person

Human Nature

- Refers to the characteristic of the human person like thinking, acting and feeling that distinguish humans from other creatures

Human Person

- Being aware of oneself, having self-determination and dignity and can be able to interact and reach out with others

- Having awareness means having a clear perception about himself/herself including thoughts, emotions, identity, and actions

Self Awareness

- Both with the world and others give man realization that he is part of the environment by means of his experience this idea gives rise to the notion of "self" which defined as a person who is actively aware that he is perceiving and experiencing reality

- Enables man to experience the inner world through thoughts and ideas

- Man experiences interiority to focus on life and identity to practice creativity

Creativity

- The capacity of the human person to create within himself a certain thing not existing in the world like goals, dreams, and plans, which he will realize by means of human activity

Self-Determination

- The capacity to make choices and decision in life

- To control his action and recognize himself as the source and responsible for all his actions

- Makes a person aware about the consequence

- To act is a revelation of one's nature, it is through his action that makes the true nature of the human person revealed to others and to himself and it is through action that a person is able to explore, fulfill, and discover his potential

Externality

- Capability to reach out and interacts with others

- It is the realization that man is not alone in the world and it enables us to make meaningful relationships

- Man is a social being (One cannot exist in isolation)

- As man continues to grow and develop himself, he realizes that building meaningful relationship with others enable him to develop his thoughts and actions through then influence of other people

Dignity

- Refers to the innate right of the human person to be valued, respected.

- Every person is priceless, unique and irreplaceable

- Rooted in a very nature of human being simply because that he is a human and person

- Does not measure by intelligence, beauty, and capabilities

- Retains in spite of his action or behavior

- Promotes respect of human kind and the basis of the recognition of human rights

Embodied Spirit

- Something is being materialized or incarnated therefore it simply means that a spirit is being materialized or being perceived

Body

Material part of Man

Spirit

Immaterial part of Man

Plato

- Idea of person is seen the contrasting (dichotomy)

- Body is material, mutable, and destructible while the soul is immaterial, immutable, and indestructible

- Existence of the body is dependent on the soul while the soul is independent of the body

- Soul is the image of the human person

Rational, Spiritual, Appetitive

Three Parts of the Soul according to Plato

Rational (Logistikon, The charioteer)

- Highest part of the soul

- Located at the head, it enables the human person to think, reflect, analyze, to comprehend, and to draw conclusions

- It guides the spiritual and appetitive

Spiritual (Thymoeidas, The noble horse)

- Located at the chest

- It drives the person to experience emotional feelings like abomination and anger

Appetitive (Epithymetikon, The unruly horse)

- Desire

- Located at the abdomen, it drives the human person to experience thirst, hunger, and other physical wants

World of Forms

- City of God; perfect

- Origin of existence that everything will go back to its origin

World of Material

- City of Man

Death

- Viewed as the liberation of the immortal soul from the mortal body

Aristotle

- Argued the inseparable unity of the body and soul

- Rejected dualism

- Soul (psyche) is not a separate entity imprisoned in the body but rather the "form" of the body-it is the animating principle that gives life to the body

- Body is the "matter" that the soul actualizes

Vegetative, Sensitive, Rational

Three Parts of the Soul according to Aristotle

Vegetative Soul

- Responsible for the basic function of nutrition, growth, and reproduction

Sensitive Soul

- Possessing all vegetative functions plus sensation

- Also appetitive faculties

Rational Soul

- Possessing all vegetative and sensitive plus the unique capacity for abstract thought, reason, and intellect, "Man is a rational animal"

Transcendence in a Human Person

- Act of rising above or going beyond ordinary experience or normal/material experience

- It is the human spirit to drive to believe something intangible

Self-Transcendence

- Ability to ruse above one's ego, interest by deciding what we want

- Personal growth

- go beyond our personal development

Spiritual Transcendence

- Human yearning for the Divine, the truth, or spiritual being connected to the Divine

Existential Transcendence

- Ability to question our existence

- To ponder our meaning of life and death

1. Search for meaning

2. Moral and Ethical development

3. Personal Growth

4. Hope and Resilence

Why Transcendence is Important

Reason

- Refers to the human capacity for logical thought, critical analysis, and empirical observation

- Relies on evidence, argumentation, and sensory experience to arrive at conclusions

Faith

- Refers to the belief in something without complete empirical proof or logical demonstration

- Often involves trust, conviction, and commitment to certain truths, particularly in religious or spiritual contexts

- Based on revelation tradition, personal experience, or intuition

Conflict/Separation

- View argues that faith and reason are inherently opposed or belong to entirely separate domains

Harmony/Complementarity

- Argue that faith and reason not contradictory but complements paths to truth, each, enriching each other

-> Reason Informing Faith

-> Faith Informing Faith

Reason as a Prerequisite for Faith

- Argue that a certain level of rational understanding is needed before one can genuinely embrace faith

Faith as a Prerequisite for Reason

- Faith provides the foundational assumptions or worldview necessary for reason to operate effectively

1. Holistic Understanding

2. Addressing Fundamental Questions

3. Personal Conviction

4. Avoiding Extremes

Importance for the Human Person