MIDTERM Reviewer in Philosophy PDF

- The body is just the prison cell of the soul. Reviewer in Philosophy The soul must be trained, cultivated, and educated, w...

- The body is just the prison cell of the soul. Reviewer in Philosophy The soul must be trained, cultivated, and educated, whereas the body should merely serve Scope: the higher calling of one's mind. - Chapter 3 and 4 - The rational soul (nous) represents the guiding part toward the truth, weighing situations rationally and determining what is CHAPTER 3: THE HUMAN PERSON AS EMBODIED AND best or true based on the right kind of EXISTENTIAL SUBJECTIVITY knowledge. The spirited soul (thymos) represents the noble part and is the heart of the soul. The appetitive soul represents the Lesson 1: Different Perspective on the Human Person soul's pleasure. centeredness and bodily fulfillment. Ancient Conception on the Human Person - The operative theme and question that time Aristotle were centered on asking about the ultimate - The Nicomachean Ethics is one of Aristotle's stuff that makes up the cosmos. These most important works ever since his son pre-Socratic thinkers are generally called Nicomachus compiled and published all of his "natural thinkers" since they tried to explain lecture notes. and make the world more sensical by positing - He claimed that Eudaimonia (Human elements found in nature. Flourishing/Happiness) is the ultimate goal of - discovery of nature (physis). life and that pursuing Eudaimonia in the correct way leads to a virtuous life. fruit of SOCRATES virtuous living. - place more premium on the excellence (arête) - human person, being hylomorphic, is a of the soul (psyche). composite of body and soul. It is neither a - beginning of wisdom is knowing oneself dichotomy nor dualistic by nature. (self-mastery), and the proper way to do - true knowledge is practical. philosophy is to dialogue both internally and - Notions of matter and form. He differentiated outwardly between sensible and intelligible matter. - "The unexamined life is not worth living," Plants, animals, objects, and other empirical - value of thinking or the life of thought or tangible objects all fall under the - "The only thing I Know is that I know category of sensible matter. As a result, this nothing."- Intellectual Humility is a realm of potentiality. While intelligible - Socrates' profound philosophical articulation matter is mainly a matter of mathematical that human beings have a soul (psyche), which objects, it is only a little extension of the is the fundamental attribute of being human, former. The form, on the other hand, is the is one of his greatest contributions. The essence of things. It can be described as the nature of this soul is nonmaterialistic, and thing's property, shape, or activity. The it is imperceptible to/by the senses. human person, according to Aristotle, is a - Such life is called to live a life of vitue. composite of a substance and form which It is a life of intellectual and moral complement one another. excellence (arête) - "hylomorphism." The soul, according to his - Implicit here is the dichotomous relationship book, De Anima, is the principle that animates between the soul and body since the former is the body, that is, the principle that causes incorruptible, while the latter is subject to the body to move or act. As a result, anything corruption. The body, as the material that moves, such as animals and plants, must substance, is the source and viable have a soul. instrumentality to human vice. - only a person can have a soul with rational qualities since the rational soul of a person PLATO exists above the sentient and nutritive souls, - Aristocles was his previous name. as it performs more complex actions such as - The mind is the soul of a person, according to thinking, imagining, speaking, feeling, and so the Greeks. on. - Intellect has to be well-cultivated and - Theory of Substance. According to Aristotle, trained. the world is divided into two categories, - One may build the appropriate type of mindset namely, substances and accidents. On one hand, to lead and serve The Republic objects have substances that are necessary and - primary goal of education was to train vital to their existence. This refers to children to be excellent and responsible anything that does not exist in another and is citizens in the polis. not expressed about in another. Basically, it - One cannot live a moral life or behave refers to anything that is a natural form of correctly. But what kind of knowledge is this? that object and exists on its own. Rocks, It is the knowledge of the Good, according to trees, animals, etc. are examples of this. Plato Accidents, on the other hand, are the - Knowing the Good entails doing the right non-essential or non-necessary properties, thing. qualities, or elements of an object, that is, - The root of evil is ignorance. The "solution" they are things that belong to something else or the way to overcome evil or this tendency or are derived from something else. Accidents is knowledge of the Good. exist only the moment they are accidents by  some substance. In other words, it is a mode (concupiscent and irascible) are what make up (property, quality, or element) of existence the sensitive soul. The appetites are the of being. Colors, weight, motion, and so on inherent inclination of being toward one's are a few examples of this. passions or desires, whereas the senses are the material cognitive capacity. The rational Medieval Conception on the Human Person soul is immortal because its origin and nature - "the in-between time"- Aristotle's philosophy emanate from the Creator's creative powers, to the Renaissance. not from any physical or physiological source. - Endeavor to reconcile philosophy (reason) with theology (faith). Modern Conception on the Human Person - scientific methodologies were introduced and Saint Augustine of Hippo developed. - "Credo ut intelligam" I believe in order that - Truth may be discovered only through the I may understand. application of reason. - For him, the nature of human beings is a "great mystery" René Descartes - Sin is that state or condition that separates - Father of Modern Philosophy. The Cartesian us from God. Since we are born with it, there Method is a need for spiritual cleansing. This - The individual's mind is the self itself, a cleansing is done through the Sacrament of part of a theoretical model that is separate Baptism and Confirmation from the body or the outside world. - city of man is the imperfect and sinful world - The methodic doubt can be used to achieve this and the city of God is the perfect and which simply means to doubt everything, peaceful world. including the one that posits it. - The telos of all human beings is to be one - The only thing that we cannot possibly doubt with the Creator, and this is only possible is doubting itself. Otherwise, one is when there is sincere reconciliation and committing the act of performative conversion of heart. contradiction. I - humility and obedience are the operative - or him, as for every rationalist, true values that must be kept and cultivated in Knowledge cannot be based on sense-experience. order to fulfill God's purpose and plan for Although he was not completely dismissing His creations. sense-experience per se, it could not be the - The human person is a composite of body and source and cradle of true knowledge soul - According to him, the mind may exist outside - One cannot, by any means, know the truth in of the body since the affirmation of the one's own capacity without the divine physical body is dependent on the mind. The illumination of God. genuine happiness is not mind is conscious and aware of itself, yet the and can never be found in earthly bliss and body is not. temporal pleasures of the body. It only - The philosophical view that the mind resides in and through God's mercy and grace (immaterial, spiritual) and the body since He alone is the ultimate dwelling place (material, physical) are basically distinct of human satisfaction. types of substances is known as dualism - Descartes defined the human person as res Saint Thomas Aquinas cogitans (thinking thing), not a "thinking - Philosophy (reason) as the handmaid of being" since the body is not "real," open to theology (faith), St. Thomas Aquinas doubt, and cannot be trusted with genuine considered them as complementary rather than apprehension of reality. ancillary to each other. Because knowledge and - On the other hand, res extensa (extended reason both originated from God thing) is the essential attribute of all - Summa Theologiae (AD 1265-1273), provides a corporeal substances found in the natural thorough and systematic compilation of sciences. It represents the entire material theology, philosophy, and moral theory. world of senses. - For him, the Unmoved Mover and the First Cause, like Aristotle, served as proof of the Immanuel Kant existence of God. He accomplished this by - reason alone is sufficient for knowing oneself providing and articulating plausible ways to and the reality around the person. know God's essence and existence. - "What ought I to do?" His ethical theory is - His philosophical acumen enhanced the methods centered on the fundamental question of what of medieval scholasticism provides an action's moral worth. - Being rational refers to thinking and acting - He dismissed the claim that morality should be in accordance with reason rather than emotion. based on human nature and be subjected to the - the faculty of intelligence and will, is fortunes of change and the redemption of supplied by the rational soul. empirical discovery. - three types and functions of the soul: - morality is universal, necessary, and rational, sensitive, and nutritive. The absolute. It is and must be grounded on our intellect and will make up the rational soul. rational will. The intellect (reason) establishes a course of - Furthermore, he asserted that the only thing action or a sense of purpose, while the will that is absolutely good and without (volition) brings it to completion. The senses qualification is "goodwill." (internal and external) and appetites  - Categorical Imperative, which provides the - despite the purposelessness of life, humans foundations for and validates our moral acts. have an immanent capacity and inherent He proposed three important moral principles. creativity to surpass life's absurdities and First, the Principle of the Universal Law difficulties. Once we rise above these, a new states that one should "act only according to breed of organism (Übermensch) is made, and a that maxim by which you may simultaneously new model of morality takes place. will that it woul become a universal law." - For Nietzsche, as a philosophical trope, the Second, the Principle of Humanity or Ends "child" represents the notion of the present states that one should "act so tha you treat life, and saying "yes" to the fullness of life humanity, whether in your own person or in since a "child" looks at life affirmatively in that of another, always as an end and never as a humble and simple way. means only. Last, the Principle of Autonomy - Affirming life or living life affirmatively states that "every rational being is able to does not mean changing "new clothes" to regard oneself as a maker of universal law, improve or enhance life. Living life that is, we do not need an external authority affirmatively does not mean serving a specific (like God, the state, our culture, or anyone telos or end goal but living life now in the else) to determine the nature of the moral law call of being. since we can discover this for ourselves." - To surpass human facticity, one must rise - For Kant, the inherent and ultimate good is to above one's current condition and "breathe" to perform our moral duty for duty s sake. It find meaning in this purposeless existence. constitutes the preeminent good or summum bonum of all human actions. Maurice Merleau-Ponty - provide the fundamental structure of human Soren Kierkegaard experience. - First existentialist - He tempted to characterize phenomenology using - Its hedonistic attraction allows the the theory of perception. individual to focus on or heighten the "will" - person's lived experience- erlebnis of the flesh and one's sensibilities, is - Motivation, in his view, is the key to pragmatistic incentive allows the individual constructing a modern type of epistemic to submerge the ego to instrumental pleasures foundation. and immediate amusements. - They cannot enter consciousness until they - The first is the aesthetic life. It operates first pass through the fundamental conditions on the question: "What constitutes the of the senses aesthetic life?" For him, it involves the - perception is more than just a sensory fascination with the arts and the propensity experience; it is an event-horizon that allows toward the erotic. our perception of an object. Thus, the objects - The second is the ethical life. It operates on we learn to know appear to us as the question: "Why choose to be "representations," which we sense intuitively. ethical/moral?" For him, when the existential - motivation is crucial in his theory of subject in the aesthetic life is ennobled, one perception because an object is known by the is bound to choose the ethical life. knowing subject not passively but actively - When the mundane life is heightened by through the knower's motivation to perceive virtuous living, the individual becomes a and evaluate the object based on its many moral subject. appearances. - The last is the religious life. It operates on - Common sense realism implies passive the question: "Is this the ultimate telos of perception and a very simple procedure that all human beings?" For him, this life provides us with an accurate image of reality. transcends the justifications and boundaries - We must consider the two separate aspects of of reason. This subtle yet crucial progression human perception, namely sensation and cannot be possible without a "leap of faith." interpretation. The former is given by the external environment, while the latter is supplied by our thoughts. Friedrich Nietzsche - stern rejection of Christianity as traditional Lesson 2: The Human Person as an Embodied morality because it infers a weak ground of morality and subsumes moral decadence. Subjectivity - Religion has nothing to do with morality, and it is not a suitable framework for Edmund Husserl understanding the human person. - founded a school of phenomenology - In the aftermath of the death of God, any a - For him, the dualistic distinction between the priori meanings and transcendental "mind" and the "body" is the consequence of presuppositions have become obsolete willful ignorance or flawed analysis. - the pronouncement "God is dead" is neither - As a school of thought, it asserts the idea pessimistic nor negative but an existential that all knowledge about reality and our realization that the meaning of God becomes perception of ourselves is grounded on the problematic in an age where religious "phenomena" of experience, the phenomena as an hypocrisy and theological pretense are more "event" or something that appears in our celebrated than living the Gospel according to experience. Christ's teachings. - The intentionality of consciousness is emphasized in Husserl's phenomenology, which  indicates that to be conscious means to be - As a "subject," it means having an individual conscious of something. consciousness, awareness, and personal - To get at an accurate description of reality, experience of reality. Being a "subject" means he introduced three phenomenological steps: that the individual has self-worth, and 1. Epoché is a phenomenological attitude that is dignity to protect, and should treat oneself free of empirical biases and scientific and others with dignity. As an "embodied presuppositions. It refers to the act of subject," one should see and treat reality as suspending or bracketing one's judgment and a whole, without dividing, rationalizing, or refusing to consent to the existence of abstracting the essence of being human. whatever is presented. The key to interacting and understanding the world is to suspend Lesson 3: The Human Person as an Existential one's judgment and look at the phenomenon or event objectively rather than with skepticism. Subject 2. Eidetic Reduction refers to the reduction of the object of inquiry or observation to its Jean-Paul Sartre essence (eidos). One intuits if the essence of - Marcel was a harsh critique of the Cartesian the object under investigation or analysis model of thinking and emphasized. holds essential or non-essential qualities. It means that one must be able to see the - Existentialism can be viewed in two related ways. It is a philosophical approach in difference between reality understanding human existence and a (essential/necessary) and mere fantasy philosophical movement or attitude on how one (non-essential/contingency). can make sense of human existence. On one 3. Transcendental Phenomenological Reduction hand, it is an approach oftentimes used in refers to the psychological reduction of the literary criticisms and critical analysis object of inquiry in the consciousness in about the human condition. On the other hand, relation to the intersubjective realm of it is a movement of thought insofar as its meaning. The object's sense or meaning becomes tendency to produce a radical social clear at this point. envisioning throughout human history endures - In short, Husserl's phenomenology, however until the present day. arduous, is an attempt to rigorously arrive at - Life has no meaning a priori.... It is up to a presuppositionless understanding of reality you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing as appearances or events manifest in our lived but the meaning that you choose.". Thus, we experiences (Erlebnis). are what we choose. - For Plato, all things have an essential Gabriel Marcel property or form. This form is constant, - Marcel was a harsh critique of the Cartesian enduring, and eternal. model of thinking and emphasized the - This form comprises the invisible and abstract concreteness of life, not the obstinate world of ideas. abstraction of things as it appears to us - "Essence precedes existence." Meaning is since Descartes' model posits a great divide self-realized, and acting out of that between one's consciousness and the world realization means living a purposeful life. - Descartes cogito is premised on the attitude Human beings create meaning in life and define of a passive observer, Marcel's philosophical their existence by the kind of choices that attitude is premised on being an active they make. participant in the world. - Choosing not to choose is still a choice; that -. Marcel proposed two phenomenological steps is the inevitable consequence of freedom. We in order to arrive at a genuine understanding become the kind of person we choose to become. of truth. He identified two kinds of Thus, what defines us is the kind of choices philosophical reflection in order to address that we make. the problem and mystery of being: 1. Primary Reflection is a way of thinking that examines its subject by applying abstraction, CHAPTER 4: HUMAN FREEDOM generalization, impartiality, and analytic assessment. Its primary function is to identify, Lesson 1: Negative Freedom (Absence of Arbitrary analyze, and solve problems objectively, without being involved in the actual process. Coercion) 2. Secondary Reflection is a way of thinking that understands a subject while using concrete examples, - Freedom- include the lack of constraint or representative models, tangible objects, and pressure. synthetic assessment. Its primary objective is to - external coercion generally impedes or unite or recover the original and authentic seriously restricts the exercise of freedom. experience. It may take the form of human laws, Heaven's - In phenomenology, the human person is an mandates, social norms, universal rules, or embodied subjectivity. As a body, it implies divine orders. having a body, not just being a body. It also - In other words, the broader the spectrum of has an intimate relationship with the self as non-interference, the more notable one's a body, that is, the body is not just freedom is. physical, but it is also the seat of one's - Individual prosperity, opulence, societal appetitive, emotional, and affective states. harmony, democratic order, and so on are examples of the "good."  - The private sphere is the individual space where one realizes a certain degree of Lesson 2: Positive Freedom (Self-Rule) autonomy and authority, unconstrained by external interventions, like social groups, - Positive freedom, as self-rule, means the government, or other institutions. The self-mastery, that is being your own master public sphere, on the other hand, is the - According to Berlin, exercising freedom on social or public life of the individual where behalf of someone else's "real self" is a it is coextensive with public or external dishonorable act or a moral pretense. He calls authority. it a "monstrous impersonation" of the sublime. Thomas Hobbes Traditional Comportments of Freedom - human beings are, by nature, greedy and - For the Buddhists, Stoics, and Ascetics, selfish, and this is fundamentally grounded self-mastery is best achieved when one lessens and stirred by one's craving for wealth and or abstains from the desires of the flesh and power. focuses on a more appropriate object of desire - the natural condition of a human being as - Mindfulness and conscientious effort are the self-seeking and competitive. keys to an enlightened self. - social "jungle"- one must stay above the rest - Social Contract- Jean Jacques Rosseau. Men are to preserve and maintain one's position born Free yet everywhere are in chains. despite potential adversaries and dangers. = develop a social covenant that would "war of every man against every man"- regulate or limit these vicious tendencies. "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." - Social Contract- Social Agreement among - Power is the thing that motivates everything individual that have a collective will and in the universe, either lower or higher common interest to preserve and maintain a beings, in one way or another. genuinely free political society. - governments are created to protect people from - Four kinds of freedom- natural, civil, their own selfish interests and evil democratic, and moral freedom. propensities - world does not and cannot provide for all Freedom as "Self-realization" their needs. - Another perspective of freedom, as - "every man is against every man" —homo homini self-realization, is conceived through the lupus. What is common and most important in fostering of critical reason. all equality is the equal ability of men to - Knowledge of the Good and the proper kill one another. understanding of the Good are the proper - Through this social contract, it is assumed conditions for the realization of one's being. that all the essential rights and duties of - The "Good," if rightly conceived, is a genuine citizens can be logically deduced, in which exercise of freedom. the sovereign is identified with might rather - For Erich Fromm, in Escape from Freedom than law. The law is what the sovereign (1941), freedom means self-realization. "This commands and his/her powers are limitless. freedom man can be attained by the realization of his (her) self, by being him (her) self." John Locke Self-realization "is accomplished not only by - Two Treatises of Government- second treatise an act of thinking but also by the realization summarizes Locke’s political ideas for a more of man's total personality, by the active civilized society grounded on natural rights expression of his emotional and intellectual and social contract. potentialities. - Under the state of nature, all men and women - Spontaneity is an essential quality of are created equal by God. freedom. It means free activity and implies - If infringement arises in the event of a clash one's free will or conflict individuals should be restrained - For Rudolf Steiner, in Philosophy of Freedom from violating the rights of others. (1918), thinking is the dynamic relation - Father of Liberalism. between concept formation and sense - Separation of powers in the government and perception. Freedom is an inner and spiritual create a regulative order in society. activity of the mind. It is neither purely cognitive nor perceptual. John Stuart Mill - On Liberty- "the only freedom which deserves Lesson 3: Existentialist Notion of Freedom: the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to Freedom as Responsibility deprive others of theirs or impede their efforts to obtain it." - We are all doomed to be free. - governments ought to have fitting limitations - Human beings are inherently free the moment we in applying the principle of utilitarianism- become aware of our reality and ourselves. This principle promotes the idea of the - Freedom is qualifiedly called “freedom” only greatest good for the greatest number of if we are responsible for the decisions and people. actions that we make. - Too much weight on individual liberty produces - The fullness of life and genuine happiness can anarchism (lawlessness/rebellion), while too never be achieved in a lifetime since life much emphasis on authority results in itself is imperfect. Human life is a constant despotism (oppressiveness/tyranny). struggle.  - The key concept in establishing this intermediate route is responsibility. One’s - According to Friedrich Schleiermacher responsibility is for what one causes others (1768-1834) in his treatise On Freedom (1992), to do, not simply for what one does to it is feeling (Gefüh) or sentiment oneself. (Empfindung) that gives the person the - The essence of being human is neither motivational force or psychological drive to pre-given nor predetermined by any supreme act, not reason (in the Kantian sense). being - Generosity, for example, is not totally - Authenticity is anchored on making conscious duty-bound, but it is fundamentally a moral choices and mindful actions without a total feeling since it is in our interdependence disregard of the other. with others that such an act is fostered and cultivated Lesson 4: Freedom and Determinism - The primary function of desire is to depict prospective goals. - Our being is determined by our actions. The - freedom is merely an illusion and creates a Latin phrase "Operari sequitur esse”- Action morass of contradictions. follows being. - Determinism is the view that all actions or events that occur are (directly or indirectly) influenced or conditioned by prior causes or reasons - Soft determinism (compatibilism) assumes that we are determined by certain factors or prior causes, yet we are at the same time free. Key Concepts for Midterms: - hard determinism (incompatibilism which o Hylomorphism- mind is different from soul. assumes that freedom and determinism are o Epoche- no judgement, bias or prejudice irreconcilable since all actions are causally o Transcendental Reduction- intersubjective determined either by the natural law or meaning certain preconditions that are found in o Primary Reflection- analysis and abstraction society, environment, or familial upbringing. o Homo Homini Lupus- every man is against every - free will is merely an illusion. Thus, all man. human actions are not free. Everything that o Theory of Phenomenology- prior experiences happens, happens for a reason and is shape the being explainable through a chain of causal o Determinism- all actions are influenced by relations. Therefore, nothing happens by mere prior causes or reason chance or accident in history. o Subjective Freedom- doing freely what one - ability to choose between alternative courses chooses of action without restriction, persuasion, or o Operari Sequitur esse- action follows being impediment is referred to as free will. o Theory of Axioms- mathematics based o Secondary Reflection- original and authentic SIX TYPES OF FREEDOM: experience. o Essence precedes existence- values being even 1. Physical freedom means freedom from external not physically present. imperatives or any oppressive forces that restrict o Political Freedom- linked with notion of the individual capacity to choose in a certain liberty and autonomy. Freedom of assembly, situation. freedom to choose, freedom to religion, 2. Psychological freedom is the capacity of the freedom to vote and be elected. individual to choose anything when all the vital conditions are perceived and present in any given situation. “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he 3. Moral freedom is the absence of constraint through cares about you”- 1 Peter 5:7 the punitive and oppressive force of moral imperatives. 4. Social freedom is not just independence from social determinism; it is a particular way of Goodluck and God bless my dearest students! appropriating or exercising the assimilation of Congratulations in advance!! freedom in society. 5. Political freedom is often linked with the notion Love, Ma’am Isla of liberty and autonomy. These include but are not limited to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom of choice, academic freedom, economic freedom, etc. 6. Existential freedom puts a premium on personal responsibility and accountability. Being free implies assuming responsibility for one's actions. Being responsible implies being accountable for others as well. Lesson 5: Moral Agency and Moral Virtue