DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON THE HUMAN PERSON

The ancient concept of humanity

• GREECE

  • Where the earliest philosophical thoughts emerged

  • centered on the nature and observation of the cosmos (knowing the origin of the material world)

  • the operative theme and question at that time were centered on asking the ULTIMATE STUFF THAT MAKES UP THE COSMOS

  • Pre-Socratic thinkers = natural thinkers

    • they make sense through elements found in nature

    • know and discover the physical world through empirical observations and conjectures

    • discovery of nature (physis)

SOCRATES

the discovery of Soul as arete or seat of human excellence was the starting point for his philosophical anthropology

• considered himself as a gadfly (annoying)

  • “Such an insect is sometimes what people need.”

  • draws attention to problems in the way people think or the way things are done

  • encourage positive change by provoking others to act and think in new ways

  • raising questions in the hope of inspiring change

  • shake the conformity of the world to have a positive change

• way of asking questions

  • SOCRATIC METHOD

    • assumption of ignorance, a series of Q&A, and consideration of opposite views

    • No, the Socratic method does not directly search for a single "correct" answer

    • there is a step-by-step questioning designed to lead students to discover for themselves the truth

    • He is a midwife who pulls the truth out of their mind through his questions

    “I cannot teach anybody anything; I can only make them think”

  • needs an exchange of ideas

  • enriching experiences that enhance our worldview

• “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

  • Socrates never claimed that he knows many things; all he knows is his own self and ignorance

  • he knew that he knew nothing. Upon this sole fact lay the source of his wisdom

  • In this imperfection, we are driven to progress

• What is needed, according to him, is a critical examination of our lives, our beliefs, and the world

  • “An unexamined life is not worth living.”

  • examination is important to pursue improvement, and improvement is the main goal of life

  • Socrates invites the citizens to self-improve and pay more attention to improving that which is central to being human

    • “Know Thyself”

    • self-improvement is improving the center of humanity

  • Socrates exemplified this pursuit of wisdom through questioning and logical argument by examining and thinking.

  • Socrates’ “examination” of life radiated into the lives of others, such that they began their own “examination.”

    • human beings have souls

• At the age of 70, he was arrested with the case of corrupting the youth and not believing in the official gods (resulted in death)

PLATO

• Socrates’ student

• A man born in wealth who was formerly named Aristocles

• Followed Socrates’ belief that one cannot live a moral life or behave correctly without knowledge

• States that knowing what is good and wrong does not automatically make a person virtuous

• THEORY OF FORMS

  • puts great emphasis on beauty, justice, and truth

  • dualistic view of the world

  • one view is dependent on the 1st world, and the other is independent

  • world of matter

    • known through the senses

    • material world

    • copy or shadow of the ideal world (inauthentic)

    • visible, finite, and not real

    • BODY

      • where our soul is entrapped

      • limits the soul and the mind

  • world of forms

    • The philosopher pursues that which is in the world of forms

    • The unphilosophical man is at the mercy of sense impressions

      • our senses often time fail us

    • known through the mind

    • invisible, external

    • higher level

    • authentic and perfect

    • SOUL

      • the true essence of a person

      • The parts of the soul

        • appetitive

          • pleasure centeredness

          • bodily fulfillment or desire

          • leads to the tendency to want immediate gratification

            • greed for power, fame, or money

            • obsession with worldly things

            • the rational soul can be used for this by manipulation to gain what you desire

          • hunger, addiction, lust

        • spirited

          • will-soul

          • heart of the soul

          • emotions, courage, and ambition

          • irrational

            • can lead to harmful acts and malicious behavior

            • resentiment

              • when you hate a person, there is the tendency to get mad about anything related to them

        • intellectual

          • mind or brain of the soul

          • rational truth seeker

          • responsible for reason, logic, and understanding

          • highest that rule the other

          • can lead us to be true lovers of wisdom, make good decisions in life, and be good leaders promoting justice and fairness

          • just because you are a leader doesn't mean you have a balanced soul. You could be pursuing for yourself and not with fairness

          • while this should take the lead, centering ourselves on intellect and not regarding other things could lead to a lack of empathy and enjoyment in life

        • CHARIOTEER ANALOGY

          • A soul can be declared just if all three parts agree that the rational soul should rule

          • the balance of this determines the balance of the character

          • The soul must be governed by reason as our appetite can lead us to to unhelpful or meaningless things, while we need spirit or will to make us determined to do the right thing

ARISTOTLE

• student of Plato who disagrees with their teacher

• CRITIQUE ON PLATO

  • considers Plato's ideas as impractical and abstract

    • True knowledge is practical and can be applied to better the world of “matter.”

  • The essence or form or structure is embedded in the thing itself

  • Aristotle has confidence in their senses

  • Eudaimonia

    • happiness

    • the ultimate goal of living

    • the fruit of a virtuous living

  • Form does not exist independently, but the matter and form co-exist and are interlaced

    • Hylomorphism

    • A soul without a body is dead

    • There is no world of form without space and time, which Plato states within the world of matter

    • The soul goes beyond space and time while the body is what is here and now

  • The mind does not have innate ideas but starts with a blank

    • Tabula Rasa = blank slate

    • Knowledge is Aposteriori (it comes from our senses and experiences)

      • Truth and knowledge are discovered primarily by the senses

      • ex: We know color is something because we have eyes to see it

      • No theory of mind-body dualism

        • The human person: a body and soul as inseparable parts of a unified whole

• empathy

  • requires reason and emotions

  • feeling what they feel and helping if you can

• theory of substance

  • The world is divided into two categories, which are substance (what something fundamentally is) and accidents (its characteristics or properties)

  • objects have substances vital for their existence

  • anything that is a natural form of that object and exists its own

The Middle Ages concept of humanity

• RELIGION

  • During this time, God is presupposed, and human action should conform to the divine laws

  • requires faith and reason

    • to believe is to see

    • reason is not enough to know our God

  • Theology and philosophy is observes

  • Focused more on spiritual and theological matters rather than the ancient’s logical thinking

  • God is the author of everything, and everything is the image of God (Imago Dei)

  • The violators of God’s law will not be able to be with God

  • God is perfectly free

  MONOTHEISM

  • one all-powerful God

  POLYTHEISM

  • multiple Gods

  • belief in minor and major Gods

ST AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

• Born at Thagaste in proconsular Numidia, Nov. 13, 354, to Monica and Patricius

• defender of truth and souls

• philosopher of the heart

• the nature of humanity is a mystery

• Human person is Imago Dei or made in the likeness of God

• CITY OF GOD

  • A book that introduces the dualism between God and Humans

  • presents a PLATOnic ideal

    • The city of man is sinful and imperfect

      • the human person is naturally and morally fragile unless they look up to an esteemed model

    • The city of God is perfect and peaceful

  • humility and obedience will bring us closer to God who is our Telos

• LIFE AND EXPERIENCE

  • knew the emptiness of a libertine's life (successful man)

  • had escapades both in boyhood and young adulthood, which gave him much to lament on his maturity about slavery, which paraded itself as freedom

  • made choices as a young man that he had regretted afterward, realizing how false a notion of human life and god

  • he wanted so much to excel as a rhetor

    • but even that was a form of slavery (success)

      • for wanting that, he was, in fact, chained to the expectations of a society that applauded achievements (having something) while not minding the state of one's soul (being something)

• “You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

  • If we are distracted and pleasured by the material world, we will not find true happiness

    • there are distractions like ambition, fame, power, money, etc.

  • Only in God can we find true happiness and peace

• “Credo ut intelligam”

  • One heart, one mind intent upon God: Following Christ the Augustinian way

  • there is the interconnection of faith and reason

    • Faith precedes reason

    • to believe is to understand

    • the goal of life is to be with God

• AUGUSTINIAN WAY

  • free to serve God without fear

    • willingly move with love and not a necessity

  • it is the grace of God that the brothers live in a community

    • it is not the result of their own doing or their own merits; rather, it is his gift

  • we serve not as slaves living under the law but as men living in freedom under grace

• WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE?

  • “It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and the needy. It has the eyes to see the misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrow of men. That is what love looks like.”

  • SOLIDARITY AS A SOCIAL JUSTICE

    • “Whatever you did to the least of my brothers, you did to me… Whatever you refused to do for one these least ones, you refuse to do to me.” - Matthew 25:41-45

      • Identification with the hungry, the thirsty, the prisoner, the sick, and the naked, in such a way that one’s actions towards these are acts towards God.

      • Our acts to the needy are our acts to God (be inspired by God to act good)

ST THOMAS AQUINAS

• born in 1225 at Rocca Secca in the Kingdom of Naples

• His parents were Landulfo, Count of Aquino, and Teodora, Count of Teano

• For St. Thomas, it is insufficient to enlighten man, so there is a need for faith

• Reason and faith are needed to achieve truth

• St. Thomas’ passion for the Truth of faith is evident in his masterpiece, Summa Theologiae

  • a systematic compilation of theology, philosophy, and moral theory

  • Inspired by Aristotle, he believes that this is the summation of all known knowledge

  • aims to define Man and God's relationship

• Emphasizes the importance of spiritual and moral growth and how God is involved in such

• BEING RATIONAL

  • thinking and acting following reason rather than emotion

  • a person's spiritual ability is supplied by the rational soul

• FUNCTIONS OF THE SOUL

  • RATIONAL

    • intellect, reason

    • allows us to understand and think

  • SENSITIVE

    • senses (material, cognitive capacity) and appetites (inherent inclination of being toward one’s passions and desires)

    • enables us to feel, desire, and perceive

  • NUTRITIVE

    • for growth that we share with all living beings

• In the light of Aristotle’s philosophy, the act is good or bad depending on whether it contributes to or deters us from our proper human end (TELOS) or the final goal, which all human actions aim

• TELOS

  • eudaimonia or happiness

  • happiness is completion or perfection or well-being

  • happiness is a supernatural union with God

• We need God to transform our nature, to perfect it so that we might be suited to participate in divine beatitude

  • We need God’s help in order to restore the good of our nature and bring us into conformity with God’s will

MODERN CONCEPT OF HUMANITY

• RATIONALISTIC PHILOSOPHY

  • centers on man as a thinking being

  • human reason is liberated from the influence of faith

    • science challenges faith because there is no need for Divine laws

    • Reason is capable of understanding scientific discoveries, especially about the universe and scientific laws

  • The ultimate aim of a human being is no longer eternal salvation

    • the moral ideal is to see the human being’s natural self as an individual who is free to choose his/her own destiny

  • PHILOSOPHERS

    • RATIONALISTS (based on reason) AND EMPIRICISTS (all knowledge is based on senses)

RENE DESCARTES

• Father of Modern Philosophy

• Invented the Cartesian method that explores the value of thinking and the primacy of the mind

• The central issue is the essential nature of the human person

• The Human is Res Cogitans

  • Rene adheres to the DUALIST premise of a human being

  • A human is primarily a thinking thing with the body as a tool for interaction

    • not a “thinking being” since the body is “not real” and cannot be trusted with genuine apprehension of reality

  • human (mind) is a thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, is willing, is unwilling, and has sense perceptions

    • the mind is the most essential thing

  • the body is simply the “machine” or materiality controlled by the primary, which is the mind (thinking thing)

    • the body is not even an ancillary but a problem

  • the mind realizes the body, not the other way around

• Descartes proposes that methodic doubt is doubting everything, including one’s own existence, to reach indubitable truth

• Cogito Ergo Sum

  • an epistemological questioning

  • I think, therefore, I am

  • reflects on what he can assert on himself as an absolute certainty and nothing else otherwise

  • the mere fact that I am thinking, regardless of whether or not what I am thinking is true or false, implies that something must be engaged in that activity: “I.”

IMMANUEL KANT

• lived in the Age of Enlightenment

• "What is Enlightenment?" (1784)

  • “Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is man's inability to use his understanding without direction from another.”

  • An immature man is a man who is dependent on others

  • The human person

    • rational, autonomous, morally capable, free, and with dignity

    • Rational beings can make moral choices and live according to universal moral principles.

    • A rational man is an accountable man

• Kantian ethical thinking

  • absolute morality and rule rationalist

    • ethics is based on duty and moral obligation rather than consequences

  • Reason alone suffices.

  • What I ought to do?

    • MUST be done

    • the morality of doing something because it must be done despite consequences or emotions

      • not based on consequences or emotions

  • Moral principles

    • principles that would guide us to make ethical decisions

    • Universal Law

      • Act only according to maxims that can be universalized

      • things that should be right or wrong no matter the time and place

      • ex: goodness, honesty, treating others the way you want to be treated

    • Humanity or Ends

      • Treat humanity as an end, never merely as a means

      • humans have inherent dignity

      • A person must not be used or manipulated

      • ex: slavery, corruption, psychological experiments

    • Autonomy

      • Regard yourself as a maker of universal law

      • ethical decision-making (based on reason)

• Human actions or decisions are morally valuable only if they are accompanied, done, and/or inspired by “goodwill.” Which is…

  • Good in and of itself

    • performing their duty for duty’s sake

  • Freedom to do one’s moral duty

  • Dictated by reason

SOREN KIERKEGAARD

• existentialist

  • basing human existence in crisis

  • a philosophical movement that focuses on the human experience and the choices that shape our identity

  • there is something we can do out of the nothingness of life

• A human tends to flounder and plunge for a long time into the aesthetic life because of the hedonistic lure and pragmatistic reward of mundane activities.

  • humans tend to be satisfied by mundane activities because they give us instant happiness (hedonistic)

• Its hedonistic attraction allows the individual to focus on or heighten the “will” of the flesh and one’s sensibilities.

  • there is pragmatism in hedonism because there is an award

  • hedonistic attraction allows us to focus on the will of the flesh or sensory experiences

• Given the condition, there is the need to ascent to the ethical/moral life is extremely challenging since it demands conscientious effort, disinterestedness, and authentic response toward the ineffable and uncertainties of life

  • We don’t have happiness in things that last a long time. Therefore, we must ascend to the moral life, which is happiness in goodness and beauty of life

    • disinterest in material things

• Three Stages of Life:

  • Aesthetic

    • Focused on pleasure, beauty, and the pursuit of sensory experiences.

    • overcoming the boredom of the restlessness of life

    • For Kierkegaard, what is more essential is the self-regulating attitude.

      • we must have control

    • One should totally disregard other forms of physical enjoyment, nor should one live a hedonistic life.

  • Ethical

    • Concerned with duty, responsibility, and conforming to moral laws.

    • When the mundane life is heightened by virtuous living, the individual becomes a moral subject.

      • living in the present

    • When the aesthetic life is dignified by moral values and good conduct, one cannot help but choose the highest good

  • Religious

    • Transcending the ethical stage through faith and a personal relationship with God.

    • Transitioning from the ethical to the religious stage requires a "leap of faith."

    • If we accept God through faith, we can accept and overcome life’s absurdities and open ourselves to new possibilities with optimism, hope, and gratitude to the Creator.

    • appreciating the absurdity of life

CONTEMPORARY CONCEPT OF HUMANITY

• centers on a person’s meaning and purpose

• existentialism and phenomenology

• Man’s subjectivity and making a sense of life

• Freedom and our choices

  • His relationships with others and responsibility for ourselves and others

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

• A human person has the potential to self-overcoming or overcome their own situation

• making sense out of nothing or meaninglessness

• MORAL DECADENCE AND EXISTENTIAL RESPONSE

  • Religion is not suitable for understanding the human person

  • sees traditional morality based on fear

  • Hypocrisy and pretense lead us to a nihilistic life (despair and meaninglessness)

    • there is the death of God due to man’s manipulation of the image of God

    • “God is dead” is neither pessimistic nor negative but an EXISTENTIAL realization that the meaning of God becomes problematic due to religious hypocrisy

  • call for a new ethos or model of morality

    • we must create our own meaning and value

• THE WILL OF POWER

  • To rise above life’s absurdities

    • “ubermensch”

      • German for “over man” or “superman”

      • a man who is self-overcoming and embraces life and the struggles that come with it

  • to live affirmatively

  • to look refreshingly at life

    • positivity despite the struggles of life

  • to live life now in the call of being

  • necessity is not a fact but an interpretation

  • the “child” represents the notion of present life, and saying “yes” is a humble and simple way of affirming the sense that chooses life and life-affirming values

    • a child avoids nihilistic thinking since one looks refreshingly at life dynamically and creatively, not just out of necessity

  • Affirming living does not mean serving a specific telos or end goal but living life now in the call of being

    • Telos is merely a man-made illusion

MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY

• embodied nature of perception

• rejects the idea of the separation of mind and body

• his physical body shapes a man’s experiences because of the interactions the body encounters with the world

• characterized phenomenology through the theory of perception

• LIVED-EXPERIENCE

  • Fundamental structure of human experience

  • relation between perception and reality

  • Human experience of the world is affected by what is external and internal

  • What knowledge is based on

  • “Erlebnis” is a person’s lived experience

• HUMAN PERCEPTION

  • our senses do not reflect an independent reality

  • more dynamic and complex than what common sense permits

  • a complex process involving the affection (or internal self)

  • more than what our senses perceive

  • Our experience of the world is not only affected by what is out there but also by the structure of our sense organs and minds

  • influences by passions, emotions, or feelings

  • two aspects

    • sensation

      • what our body feels

    • interpretation

      • how we interpret it

      • could be different from what we truly physically felt

      • placebo effect

        • a psychological phenomenon where there is a change in behavior due to our belief of things

        • ex: we think we were healed by the medicine even though it did not affect us, and because of this thinking, we are healed