INTRO TO PHILO | LECTURE 03

• L3 | 1.0 MOTIVATION MINDFULNESS EXERCISE (adapted from Mindful Journaling by Tara Ward, 2017)

  • Rationale: Identify where stress emerges in your body and use mindfulness to release it. Because humans are complex and diverse, we all have distinct places where we store tension.
  • What to discover: Knowing where stress goes in your body
• L3 | 1.2. DIFFERENT TYPES OF EXISTENSIAL SUBJETCIVITY

  • Ancient Conception on the Human Person Ancient notion of the Human Person by Ancient Greece.
• L3 | 1.2. DIFFERENT TYPES OF EXISTENSIAL SUBJETCIVITY

  1. Earliest Philosophical - thoughts centered on the nature and observation of the cosmos “Universe”
  2. Pre-Socratic thinkers - are generally called “natural thinkers”
  3. Their primary goal was to know and discover the physical world through empirical observation and conjectures.
  4. This period was the discovery of nature (physis)
  5. Greek Philosopher, Socrates - changed the philosophical landscape.
• L3 | 1.2. DIFFERENT TYPES OF EXISTENSIAL SUBJETCIVITY

  • Thales
  • Anaximander
  • Anaximenes
  • Heraclitus
  • Parmenides
  • Anaxagoras
  • Empedocies
  • Leucippus
  • Democritus
• L3 | 2.0 SOCRATES

  • Socrates placed a premium on the value of thinking or the life of thought Human begins have a soul (Psyche or mind), which is the fundamental attribute of being human.
• L3 | 2.2. The nature of  SOCRATES

  1. This reflects Socrates' idea that thinking about what's important makes life meaningful. Socrates placed a premium on the value of thinking or the life of thought.
• L3 | 2.2. The nature of  SOCRATES

  • Human beings have a SOUL (psyche or mind), which is the fundamental attribute of being human.
• L3 | 2.2. The nature of  SOCRATES

  The nature of this soul is nonmaterialistic, and it is imperceptible to/by senses.
• L3 | 2.3. SOCRATES MAN'S SOUL AS ARETE

  • Man’s Soul as Arete, or the seat of human excellence, was the starting point of Socrates anthropology
  • Socrates prioritized the INNER LIFE rather than the sense of worldly existence of the individual.
• L3 | 2.3. How to achieve ARETE?

  • When a person is well-trained and educated, he/she places a premium on the mind (Soul) or inner life.
  • Such life is called to live a life of virtue.
• L3 | 3.0 PLATO

  • PLATO - "Knowing the Good entails doing the right thing.”
• L3 | 3.0 PLATO

  • He stated that In order to become a person of excellent character, one must understand the necessary and sufficient conditions, namely, knowing what is good for the nourishment and cultivation of the mind and putting it into practice by living well.

  1. The philosophical anthropology of Plato is centered of the cultivation of the soul (psyche/mind).
  2. The Soul is the real and true nature of human person. The body is just the prison cell of the soul.
  3. The soul must be trained, cultivated, and educated.
• L3 | 3.2. Three parts of the human soul

  1. Rational Soul (Nous)- represents the guiding part toward the truth, weighing situations rationally and determining what is best or true based on the right kind of knowledge.
  2. Spirited Soul (Thymos)- represents the noble part and is the heart of the soul.
  3. Appetitive Soul- represents the soul’s pleasure-centeredness and bodily fulfillment.
• L3 | 3.3 For Socrates and Plato

  • Knowing the difference between good and bad (right or wrong) does not make a person virtuous. For them, the root of evil is ignorance.
  • The Solution or the way to overcome evil or this tendency is knowledge of the GOOD. Knowledge (or knowing the Good) is not enough; one must also live well.
• L3 | 4.0 ARISTOTLE

  • He said that "True knowledge is practical. Man’s ultimate perfection and happiness consist of wisdom and virtue."
• Good and happy life

  A well-ordered one, guided by and lives in accordance with reason
• Unhappy life


  A disordered life dominated by vices
• Human person

  • A composite substance and form which complement one another
• Rational soul


  Exists above the sentiment and nutritive souls, as it performs more complex actions such as thinking, imagining, speaking, feeling etc.
• Rational person


  Someone who can make logical conclusions and go through the usual mental process of assessing the benefits and drawbacks of a course of action or decision without being influenced by emotions
• L3 | 6.0 Modern Conception on the Human Person

  • The modern period, beginning in the 16th century, was the age of scientific discoveries and enlightenment. Science and mathematics advanced and progressed during this period.
• L3 | 6.0 Modern Conception on the Human Person

  • The concentration of philosophy during this period was on philosophical anthropology, that is, it focused on the nature and role of consciousness and rational will in understanding and interpreting reality in particular.
• L3 | 7.0 Contemporary Conception on the Human Person

  • Edmund Husserl - The German mathematician, pioneered a new method and founded a school of phenomenology.
• L3 | 7.0 Contemporary Conception on the Human Person

  1. Edmund Husserl:

  • This method was a radical shift from the traditional dualistic conception of reality, as well as a stern critique and philosopher
  • For him, the dualistic distinction between the “mind” and the “body” is the consequence of willful ignorance or flawed analysis.
• L3 | 7.0 Contemporary Conception on the Human Person

  1. Maurice Merleau-Ponty:

  • He provide the fundamental structure of human experience. He argued that knowledge is essentially based on perceptual experience
• L3 | 8.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EMBODIED SUBJECTIVITY

  • Edmund Husserl - The German mathematician, pioneered a new method and founded a school of phenomenology.
• L3 | 8.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EMBODIED SUBJECTIVITY

  • Gabriel Marcel - Well-known French thinker and Christian existentialist who advocated the phenomenological method.
• L3 | 8.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EMBODIED SUBJECTIVITY

  • His philosophical career toward phenomenology was influenced by Husserl, but he made this method a bit simpler and more straightforward.
  • He identified two kinds of philosophical reflection in order to address the problem and mystery of being:
• L3 | 8.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EMBODIED SUBJECTIVITY

  • Primary Reflection - is a way of thinking that examines its subject by applying abstraction, generalization, impartiality, and analytic assessment. Its primary function is to identify , analyze, and solve problems objectively, without being involved in the actual process.
• L3 | 8.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EMBODIED SUBJECTIVITY

  • Secondary Reflection - is a way of thinking that understands a subject while using concrete examples, representative models, tangible objects, and synthetic assessment. Its primary objective is to unite or recover the original and authentic experience.
• L3 | 9.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EXISTENTIAL SUBJECT

  • JEAN-PAUL SARTRE - He was the first known self-professed thinker to declare himself an existentialist atheist
• L3 | 9.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EXISTENTIAL SUBJECT

  • Existentialism - can be viewed in two related ways.
• L3 | 9.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EXISTENTIAL SUBJECT

  • Philosophical Approach - understanding human existence
  • Philosophical Movement - attitude on how one can make sense of human existence
• L3 | 9.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EXISTENTIAL SUBJECT

  • From an essentialist point of view - life has a prior cause and has a determinate source of meaning.
• L3 | 9.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EXISTENTIAL SUBJECT

  • For Plato - all things have an essential property or form.
• L3 | 9.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EXISTENTIAL SUBJECT

  • For Aristotle - all objects have an essential substance relative to their functionality
• L3 | 9.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EXISTENTIAL SUBJECT

  • From an existentialist point of view - the human person is an existentialist Subject. It places more value on individual existence and individual choice.
• L3 | 9.0. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EXISTENTIAL SUBJECT

  • For existentialist - finding meaning in life is more important than knowing one’s Purpose since the latter cannot be fully determined by any human being in a lifetime