Lesson 5 PDF - Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person Mr. Diether M. Paz The Human Person as Embodied Spirit The Understanding of the Human Person in the Ancient Period Ancient Philosophers...

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person Mr. Diether M. Paz The Human Person as Embodied Spirit The Understanding of the Human Person in the Ancient Period Ancient Philosophers Socrates (469-399 BCE) Gifted thinker of ancient Athens who helped lay the foundation of Western Philosophy. He was a rationalist and believed that the best life and the life most suited to human nature involved reasoning. Socrates (469-399 BCE) Socrates believed that nobody willingly chooses to do wrong. He used the claim of wisdom as his moral basis. He would want to evaluate society and your own life.  death is not the end of existence Socrates (469-399 BCE) Concept of soul? Soul is immortal. merely separation of the soul from the body Socrates (469-399 BCE) Concept of soul? Our bodies belong to the physical realm: They change, they're imperfect, they die. Our souls, however, belong to the ideal realm: They are unchanging and immortal, surviving the death of the body.  Plato The idealist or utopian or dreamer Student of Socrates He left Athens when Socrates died but returned to open a school called the Academy in 385 BCE. Plato Wrote 20 books, many in the dialectic style (a story that attempts to teach a specific concept) with Socrates as the main character. He is an idealist who believes in order and harmony, morality, and self-denial. Plato Wrote 20 books, many in the dialectic style (a story that attempts to teach a specific concept) with Socrates as the main character. He is an idealist who believes in order and harmony, morality, and self-denial. Plato Concept of soul?  human person rests on the dichotomy of the body and soul. body is material and is subject to changes and destructions, while the soul is immaterial and unchanging. Plato Concept of soul? Plato contended that the soul existed before the body, for it was created by the Gods and was venerable at birth Plato Concept of soul? He also believed that the human soul is an authentic part because the body is just its prison cell (Bernados, 2017) the body's existence is dependent on the soul, while the soul is independent of the body. Concept of soul?  Socrates and Plato are both dualists and believe that the soul is immortal. Plato’s Three Functions of the Soul Plato’s Three Functions of the Soul Accordingly, the soul has a tripartite function, namely, rational, passion, and appetitive functions (Stumpf & Fieser, 2012) These three functions of the soul are represented by the body parts, i.e., head, chest, and abdomen. Rational Function (head) Rational Function (Head) enables human persons to think, analyze, comprehend, and make decisions. This guides the passion and appetitive functions of the soul. Passion Function (chest) Passion Function (Chest) performs the actions dictated by reason and is also responsible for various feelings, such as hatred or anger. Appetitive Function (abdomen) Appetitive Function (Abdomen) enables a person to experience cravings or anything that deals with man’s physical wants (Babor, 2001) For Plato, if a person allows his reason to properly guide his passion and appetite, he/she will have a well-balanced personality (Stump & Fieser, 2012) Aristotle The realist, empiricist, and pragmatist, Student of Plato Aristotle disagreed with Plato that the soul is separable. For him, the soul and body are substantially united. Aristotle The word soul is an English translation of the Greek word psyche. Hence, for him, the soul is the source of life. For Aristotle, anything that lives has a soul. Aristotle Aristotle identifies three kinds of souls found in plants, animals, and man. These three kinds of souls are characterized as vegetative, sensitive, and rational. Vegetative Soul It does not share the higher types of souls, for it cannot feel and think. Plants can grow, reproduce, and feed themselves. Sensitive Soul shares with the vegetative soul, for it is also capable of growing, feeding, and reproducing. It is also capable of sensing or feeling. A sensitive being possesses the appetite where desire, anger, and pain are experienced. Rational Soul shares with the other lower souls. It has the capacity for scientific thoughts, for it can distinguish various things. It analyzes and understands the relationship between things. Moreover, it also deliberates and discovers the truth of the nature of things and guidelines for human behavior. Aristotle Aristotle believed then that there must be a connection between mind and the soul. It is from this connection that consciousness and self-awareness arise. Philosophy 11 The Understanding of the Human Person in the Medieval Period Medieval Period This age marks a shift of focus from cosmology to theodicy. Thus, this period centers on proving the existence of God based on rational methods. Two philosophers are very much known for this period, namely, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Augustine of Hippo He believed that God created the world, and this includes the creation of the immortal soul. A human being is not only material and rational but, most importantly, a soul embodied in a material substance. St. Augustine of Hippo He concludes the soul is immortal and capable of intelligent thought. Our soul is capable of grasping scientific truth Plato and St. Augustine believe that the soul is immortal and it can separate from the human body. However, St. Augustine didn't believe that the soul existed before the body or that the body was the prison cell of the soul. He believes that God created the universe as well as the soul and the soul is our tool to grasp for immortal truth. St. Thomas Aquinas notable philosopher known as a defender of Christian faith and a Doctor of Church. Philosophy and Theology are not two conflicting disciplines. Rather, these two are complementary in the quest for truth. St. Thomas Aquinas He believed that the soul is dependent on the body, in the same way as the body is dependent on soul. St. Thomas Aquinas agrees with Plato that the soul is immortal, immaterial, and a spiritual form. But Aquinas however follows Aristotle in thinking that the soul inheres in a body which is a composite of matter and form. The difference between Aquinas and Aristotle was that the latter only sees the body and soul as inseparable. However, for St. Aquinas, without the body and soul, the body will not have a form, and without the body, the soul will not have its required sense organs to gain knowledge. The Understanding of the Human Person in the Modern Period The Understanding of the Human Person in the Modern Period In this period, there was a huge paradigm shift. From being theocentric, it shifted to being anthropocentric. Modern ideas found it hard to fathom the notion of a God that is beyond human perception Rene Descartes He explicitly said that animals have no souls; they cannot think and are mere bundles of instincts prepackaged by God. As a rationalist, he praised the supremacy of the human mind over the human body. Rene Descartes “cogito, ergo sum” is his famous dictum.  This means that the fact that man can think is proof that he exists. Like Plato, he believed that the destruction of the physical body does not mean the destruction of mind. Rene Descartes Descartes believed that the individual is responsible for himself. Though self-examination and contemplation, a human person can realize that his existence is completely different from others. John Locke an empiricist, provided a systematic philosophy that attempts to answer how to the human person thinks. He disagreed with Descartes that human persons are born with innate, fundamental principles, and knowledge. John Locke For Locke, the human mind is a tabula rasa or blank slates. Knowledge is acquired only through sensory experiences. The soul’s task is to think and interpret what the physical body perceives. Therefore, human knowledge is limited, and humans should be aware of such limitations. The Human Body Everything you see on your body is called accidents: your skin color, size, shape, height, weight, etc. These accidental characteristics are sometimes the basis of recognizing (or misrecognizing) the dignity and value of persons. Identifying a person based on his/her accidental features can have either positive or negative effects. The Human Body Given these physical constraints, human beings have the ability to transcend. Being embodied, therefore, is not a hindrance to develop and advance. We can always improve the intangible limitations of this life.