INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN

PERSON
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
What is Philosophy?
 Etymological Definition. It comes from two Greek words, “Philo”
and “Sophia”, which mean love of wisdom. Thus, a philosopher is
a lover of wisdom.
 Real Definition. It is a search for meaning. The word “search”
means to look, to find, to seek. This connotes something more
serious and intense. It is a quest.

According to (Zulueta, 2010) philosophy makes man think about the

basic foundations of his outlook in life, his knowledge and his
beliefs.

GREEK PHILOSOPHERS – believes that what constitutes the world

is also that constitutes human.
1. THALES - WATER is the world of stuff
 Somatic level of human nature: it is a scientific
knowledge that the human brain contains 80% water
and 70% in the human body.
2. ANAXIMENES – AIR
 Human: body – condensed air
 soul – rarefied air
3. PYTHAGORAS
 soul is immortal, divine
4. PROTAGORAS
 ultimate criterion of truth: man is the measure of all
things
5. SOCRATES
 Human THINKS and WILLS. Human soul is more
important than the body.
6. PLATO
  DUALISTIC nature: body – material, ergo, mutable
and destructible; Soul – immaterial, ergo immutable
and indestructible.
 Three components of the soul
a. Rational soul – mind and intellect
b. Spirited soul – will or volition
c. Appetitive soul – emotion or desire
 According to Plato values are chosen; Choice
is volitional
 It means that the development of the
character and intelligence like the body is
open to human choice.
7. ARISTOTLE – no dichotomy between body and soul.
 Body and soul are in a state of unity
8. STOICS – the soul is matter and has seven parts
 Five senses
 The power of speech
 The power of reproduction
 Another Stoic view is that the human nature is part of
determined universe. “Man must be the subject of the
will of God and to the law of nature”

The Difference between Philosophy and Theory

 Philosophy is an individual’s beliefs and has a great deal with
the way the individual chooses to live his/her life and the
way he/she views others.
 Theory on the other hand can be a scientific view, or an idea
that has not been proven to be tangible and or factual.
 In short, Philosophy – set of belief about reality. This is
about man’s world view while theory is an assumption of the
existence of truth about reality.

The Difference between Theory and Law

 According to science, a law is a generalized statement set
after a number of observations. A law has no explanations or
 exceptions when it is framed. It is an obvious fact recorded
after observations. A good example of this may be the force
of gravity. It is observed that an apple falls down on the
surface of the Earth. It is an undeniable fact. This
observation has no exceptions also. No one has ever
observed a reverse or alternative phenomenon. Hence it is
considered to be a law.
 A theory is the explanation of the observational data set
forward in the form of a law. In simple words, a theory is
the reasoning behind a law.
 A theory can be a strong one if it has a lot of evidence to
back it. It may also be regarded as a weak theory if the
amount of accuracy in its prediction is low. A theory may
become obsolete with time and be replaced by a better one.
A law, however, is a universally observable fact. It is
undeniable and never fades away with the stretch of time.

The Difference between Philosophy and Principle

 Principles are "ought" statements. They refer to an
ideal...the way something ought to be.
 A philosophy is made up of principles; it is a broader view
regarding how things should be, along with some support for
why they should be that way based on claims about the way
things are.
 Thus, philosophy is considered to be a larger and more
inclusive abstraction, of which principle is a part.
 Example: Philosophy: all men are created equal, and entitled
to certain basic inalienable rights, including life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness, because the alternative views
always lead to some kind of evil in which one man exploits
another.
Principle: all men are entitled to liberty.
Four Disciplines of Philosophy
1. Metaphysics - is the study about reality. (What is the
ultimate reality? Is reality one or many different things?
A. General
a. Ontology- this is the philosophical exploration for
what reality is in the final analysis.
B. Special
a. Cosmology – metaphysical science which studies the
nature of the world. (how is the world related to
human beings? Is the world created or has it been
existing from all eternity.
b. Theodicy – a philosophical study of God. (does God
exist? what are the proof of God’s existence?
What is the problem of evil?
c. Psychology – studies of man’s nature as being
endowed with reason and intellect.

2. Epistemology - is the study of validity of human knowledge.

(What is knowledge? Is knowledge acquired exclusively
through the senses or by some other means? How do we
know that what we perceive through our senses is correct?

3. Logic - the study of correct thinking and reasoning. This is

the basic tool that philosophers use to investigate reality.
(What makes an argument valid or invalid?)

4. Ethics - the study on the morality of human actions or

moral philosophy.(what is morally right? Are moral values
absolute or relative?

Philosophy of Man – is the philosophical study of man. It is an

endless inquiry in his attempt to understand himself and the
world he lives in, his dignity, truth, freedom, justice, love,
death, and his relations with others and with God. It is a course
that delves into the origin of human life, the nature of human
life, and the reality of human existence.

Purpose of Philosophy
One may find satisfaction and delight in philosophical
thinking or reasoning when he/she is able to: 
Understand himself/herself (sarili);
 Discover his/her inner self (loob);
 Recognize his/her otherness (social being);
 Accept self as part of nature, of the world (microcosm);
 Understand the eschatology of human life; and
 With the help of reasons, believe in the existence of
Infinite Wisdom who is God.

Meaning and Process of Doing Philosophy

• Doing philosophy means engaging oneself in “matters of
utility” and methodologies to eliminate any practical
problem or abstract idea
• In the process of doing philosophy, it is critical to have
a holistic point of view—the perception of looking at all
aspects of a situation first before making a conclusion.
Some other skills involved in doing philosophy are
critical, logical, and analytical thinking, observation, and
communicative skills.

Holistic and Partial Points of View

• Before engaging in philosophical inquiry, one must be
able to distinguish between a holistic and partial point
of view. This is critical for anyone doing philosophy
because it sets a limit in coming up with conclusions
about a given situation.
 • Looking at the characteristics of holistic and partial
points of view, it can be concluded that using a holistic
perspective is more desirable in doing philosophy than
using a partial perspective. Partial points of view only
promote limited knowledge on the situation. This leads
to wrong conclusions.
• Learning philosophy requires learning to look into all
available perspectives and work on their relationship to
come up with sound, logical, and valid conclusions. In the
process, doing philosophy helps one to develop the skill
of broadly looking at the situation first before
concluding anything.

Importance of Doing Philosophy

• Doing philosophy can be applied in day-to-day activities
and life perspectives. Because it involves an evaluative
process, doing philosophy allows a person to make better
decisions and act accordingly to situations with the help
of various philosophical skills.
• Furthermore, on life perspectives, philosophy enables
reflective thinking which greatly influences a person’s
view of life, challenges, and relationships. Doing
philosophy directs how a person will perceive these
factors in life and how they will be faced. In any
 setting, wisdom is always gained when philosophy is
applied to formulate a conclusion about a certain
concern.

LESSON II: METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING

WHAT IS METHOD OF PHILOSOPHIZING?

- A method or way of looking at truths and what will be considered
as mere “opinions.”
- A method of inquiry or an official effort to collect and examine
information about something.

WHAT IS PHILOSOPHIZING?
- is to think or express oneself in a philosophical manner. It
considers or discusses a (matter) from a philosophical standpoint.

A. PHENOMENOLOGY: (CONSCIOUSNESS)
 Founded by Edmund Husserl
 Comes directly from Greek “phainomenon” meaning
“appearance.”
 This focuses on careful inspection and description of
phenomena (an object or aspect known through the senses)
or appearances, defined as any object of conscious
experience.
 Immanuel Kant (German Philosopher) refers to it as the
WORLD OF OUR EXPERIENCE.
 Which is based on the premise that reality consists of
objects and events ("phenomena") as they are perceived or
understood in the human consciousness, and not of anything
independent of human consciousness.
 Is the study of experience and how we experience. It
studies structures of conscious experience as experienced
from a subjective or first-person point of view, along with
its "intentionality" (the way an experience is directed
 toward a certain object in the world). It then leads to
analyses of conditions of the possibility of intentionality,
conditions involving motor skills and habits, background
social practices and, often, language.
 It is the scientific study of the essential structures of
consciousness. By describing that certainty, we can find
certainty, which philosophy has always sought.
 It is the process of “bracketing-out” everything that is not
essential.

*** Consciousness is INTENTIONAL

 One can describe the content of consciousness and
accordingly, the object of consciousness without any
particular commitment to the actuality or existence of
that object.

Phenomenological standpoint is achieved through a series of

phenomenological “reductions”
1. The “Epoche” or “Suspension” – brackets all questions of
truth or reality and simply describes the content of
consciousness.
2. Eliminates the empirical content of consciousness and
focuses instead on the meaning of consciousness.

What interest the phenomenologists are the contents of

consciousness, not on the things of the natural world as such.
 CONTENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS – a special viewpoint
achieved by the phenomenologist that the focus is not on
things but our consciousness of things.
 NATURAL WORLD – our everyday viewpoint and the
ordinary stance describing things and the state of affairs.
B. EXISTENTIALISM: ON FREEDOM
 A philosophical outlook or attitude which focuses on one’s
search for truth might be based on one’s attitude or
outlook.
 Existentialism originated with the 19th Century
philosophers Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche,
 Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes individual
existence, freedom and choice. It is the view that humans
define their own meaning in life, and try to make rational
decisions despite existing in an irrational universe. It
focuses on the question of human existence, and the
feeling that there is no purpose or explanation at the core
of existence. It holds that, as there is no God or any other
transcendent force, the only way to counter this
nothingness (and hence to find meaning in life) is by
embracing existence.
 Existentialism believes that individuals are entirely free
and must take personal responsibility for themselves
(although with this responsibility comes angst, a profound
anguish or dread). It therefore emphasizes action,
freedom and decision as fundamental, and holds that the
only way to rise above the essentially absurd condition of
humanity (which is characterized by suffering and
inevitable death) is by exercising our personal freedom and
choice

Existentialism Themes:
1. The human condition or the relation of the individual to the
world.
2. The human response to that condition.
3. Being especially the difference between the being of person
(which is existence) and the being of other kinds of things,
4. Human Freedom
5. The significance (and unavoidability) of choice and decision
in the absence of certainty
 6. The concreteness and subjectivity of life as lived, against
abstractions and false objectifications. -
Existentialists share a concern for the individual and
personal responsibility.
 Existentialism emphasizes the importance of free individual
choice, regardless of the power of other people to influence
and coerce our desires, beliefs and decisions.
 ONE IS NEVER FREE OF ONE’S SITUATION, BUT ONE
IS ALWAYS FREE TO NEGATE THAT SITUATION
ANDTO TRY TO CHANGE IT. TO BE HUMAN OR TO BE
CONSCIOUS, IS TO BE FREE TO IMAGINE, FREE TO
CHOOSE, AND RESPONSIBLE FOR ONE’S LIFE.

C. POSTMODERNISM: ON CULTURE
 The name for a rather diffuse family of ideas that
insignificant respect rejects challenges, or aims to
supersede “modernity” of Modern Western thought and
culture.
 It rightly talks about world philosophy, the philosophy of
many cultures.
 Postmodernists believe that humanity should come at truth
beyond the rational to the non-rational elements of human
nature, including the spiritual.

D. ANALYTICAL TRADITION
 is a 20th Century movement in philosophy which holds that
philosophy should apply logical techniques in order to attain
conceptual clarity, and that philosophy should be
consistent with the success of modern science. For many
Analytic Philosophers, language is the principal (perhaps
the only) tool and philosophy consists in clarifying how
language can be used.
 Analytical philosophy is the conviction that to some
significant degree, philosophical problems, puzzles, and
errors are rooted in language and can be solved or avoided
 by a sound understanding of language and careful attention
to its workings.

E. LOGIC ANDCRITICAL THINKING: TOOLS IN REASONING

 Logic is centered in the analysis and construction of
arguments.
 Logical and critical thinking serve as paths to freedom
from half-truths and deceptions.
 Critical thinking is distinguishing facts and opinions or
personal feelings.
 In making rational choices, first, we suspend beliefs and
judgment until all facts have been gathered and
considered.
 Superstition is knowledge deduced or obtained without
logic, and speculation is deduction made without proof.

LOGIC: what is it?

 Logic is the branch of philosophy which treats all forms of
thinking in general and particularly
 Logic, simply put, is the art of valid reasoning and
argumentation
 An argument is either logical (right) or illogical (false)
 Logic studies concepts, proposition (premises) and syllogisms
 The object of study of logic is human knowledge in so for as
it respects reality. We can distinguish three operations on
our process of knowing.

TWO BASIC TYPES OF REASONING

A. INDUCTIVE REASONING - is based from observations in
order to make generalizations. This reasoning is often
applied in prediction, forecasting, or behavior.
Example:
 • The chair in the living room is red. The chair in the dining
room is red. The chair in the bedrrom is red. All chairs in
the house are red.
• The children in that house yell loudly when they play in their
bedroom. I can hear children yelling in that house,
therefore the children must be playing in their bedroom.
• All chickens that we have seen have been brown; so, all
chickens are brown.

B. DEDUCTIVE REASONING – draws conclusion from usually one

broad judgement or definition and one more specific assertion,
often an inference.
Examples:
• All philosophers are wise. (Major Premise) Confucius is a
philosopher. (Minor Premise) Therefore, Confucius is
wise. Conclusion)
• In mathematics, If A = B and B = C, then A = C.
• Since all humans are mortal, and I am a human, then I
am mortal.

1st Example 2nd Example

1st No athletes are
premise/proposition; vegetarians
“all cats eat rats”
2nd “ “ “this is a All football players
cat” are Athletes.
Conclusion this cat Conclusion:
eats rats. therefore, no football
players are
vegetarians

Validity and Soundness of an Argument:

Based on the previous example (syllogism) if the two premises are
constructed logically, then the conclusion must follow logically, the
deductive argument is valid. This does not necessarily mean that
the conclusion is true or false. Validity comes from a logical
conclusion based on logically constructed premises.

Strength of an Argument:
On the other hand, inductive arguments cannot prove if the
premises are true which will also determine the truth of the
conclusion. An inductive argument that succeeds in providing such
probable support is a strong Argument. While an inductive argument
that fails to provide such support is weak, a strong argument with
true premises is said to be strong.

FALLACIES
Fallacy is a defect in argument other than its having false
premises. To detect fallacies, it is required to examine the
argument’s content.
1. Appeal to Pity (Argumentum and misericordiam) – a specific
kind of appeal to emotion in which someone tries to win
support for an argument or idea by exploiting his or her
opponent’s feelings of pity or guilt.
• “Passing this course means a great deal to me. It will
enable me to stay in school and make my parents very
happy. So I hope you can see to it that I get a passing
grade”
• “And so, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I know you
will find it in your hearts it dismiss the charges against
this man who has had poverty and misfortune to cope
with all his life and who has done his best even though,
like all of us, he has made mistakes” (lawyer of the
defendant.)
• “If you don’t agree that his conclusion follows from
these premises. I will flunk (fail) you”(Dean of Students)
2. Appeal to ignorance (Argumentum ad ignorantiam) –
whatever has not been proved false must be true, and vice
versa.
 • “It is obviously foolish to believe in immorality, since no
one has ever proved that man has a soul that survives
death”
3. Equivocation – this is a logical chain of reasoning of a
term or a word several times, but giving the particular
word a different meaning each time.
• Human beings have hands; the clock has hands. He is
drinking from the pitcher of water, he is a baseball
pitcher.
• “Kip Keino was a good Athlete. He should make a good
politician”.
4. Composition – this infers that something is true of the whole
from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole.
• “Surely we can’t trust any organization of which he is a
member”.
• “Pele is the best striker in the world. Therefore we
expect the Cosmos (his club) to be the best soccer club
in the world”.
5. Revision – one reasons logically that something true of a thing
must also be true of all or some of its parts.
6. Against the person (argumentum ad hominem) – this fallacy
attempts to link the validity of a premise to a characteristic
or belief of the person advocating the premise.
• “The idea of taxing large incomes at a greater rate than
small ones is one of those unfortunate consequences of
the ill-fated Ndegwa Commission. Therefore this bill
which is related to the commission must be defeated).
7. Appeal to force (Argumentum ad baculum) – an argument
where force, coercion, or the threat of force, is given as a
justification for a conclusion.
8. Appeal to the people (Argumentum ad populum) – an
argument that appeals or exploits people’s vanities, desire for
esteem, and anchoring on popularity.
• When we are urged to believe on the ground that others
do so, we encounter an “appeal to the public”
9. Hasty generalization – One commits errors if one reaches an
inductive generalization based on insufficient evidence. The
fallacy is commonly based on a broad conclusion upon the
statistics of a survey of a small group that fails to sufficiently
represent the whole.
10. Begging the question (petition principili) – this is type of
fallacy in which the proposition to be proven is assumed
implicitly or explicitly in the premise.