chapter one : Intro to philosophy

1. INTRODUCTION
TO
PHILOSOPHY
OF THE
HUMAN PERSON
By: CHORLITO B. PUERTE

2. WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
PHILOSOPHY ( GREEK WORD)
PHILIA/PHILOS – LOVE
SOPHIA - WISDOM
THEREFORE (LOVE OF WISDOM)

3. When we speak of LOVE
This means ….
 to respect
 do best for the sake of truth
 willingness to attain certainty
 interest and eagerness specially in seeking what is true
 focus and passionate in philosophizing

4. PHILOSOPHY
means to search for ultimate
truth without lit up. It is a
science of being in their ultimate
reason, causes and principles
based o reason alone

5. Real meaning of Philosophy
speculative science, study, a way of
life, a kind of discipline, the object of
which is to acquire knowledge of
ultimate truth of reality only with the
aid of human mind.
 SCIENCE THAT STUDIES BEINGS IN THEIR ULTIMATE CAUSES, REASONS AND
PRINCIPLES THROUGH THE AID OF HUMAN REASON ALONE

6. BASIC QUESTIONS:
1. WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD OF EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS?
2. WHY DO THESE THINGS EXIST, RATHER THAN NOT EXIST AT ALL?
3. IS THERE GOD? IF SO, HOW CAN WE JUSTIFY THE GOODNESS OF GOD IN THE FACE OF EVIL?
4. WHAT IS THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF LIFE? WHY DO WE HAVE TO SUFFER?
5. IF ONE IS SUFFERING FROM UNBEARABLE PAIN, SUCH AS CANCER, IS IT MORALLY RIGHT TO RESORT TO
EUTHANASIA?

7. QUESTIONS ARE MORE
IMPORTANT THAN ANSWERS
BECAUSE ANSWERS
THEMSELVES WILL IN TURN
BECOME QUESTIONS!
-KARL JASPERS

8. Major Branch of Philosophy
METAPHYSICS
LOGIC
Philosophy
ETHICS
EPISTEMOLOGY

9. METAPHYSICS – FOUNDATION OF PHILOSOPHY
META – BEYOND/AFTER
PHYSIKA – PHYSICAL/NATURE
-STUDY OF THINGS BEYOND THE PHYSICAL; CONCEPT OR
THINGS THAT CANNOT BE EXPERIENCED.
TWO TYPES OF METAPHYICS
1. GENERAL METHAPHYSICS/ONTOLOGY
2. SPECIAL METAPHYSICS

10. ONTOLOGY OR GENERAL METAPHYSICS
 ONTO – BEING OR THAT WHICH IS
 LOGOS – KNOWLEDGE OR STUDY
 STUDIES BEINGS IN THEIR
ULTIMATE CAUSES, REASONS AND
PRINCIPLES THROUGH THE AID
OF REASON ALONE.

11. BASIC QUESTIONS:
1. WHAT IS BEING?
2. WHY DO THING EXIST, RATHER THAN NOT
EXIST AT ALL?
3. WHAT IS THE MEANING AND NATURE OF
REALITY?
4. WHAT IS THE UNDERLYING PRINCIPLE OF
ALL THAT EXIST?
5. IS THERE NOTHING?

12. SPECIAL METAPHYSICS OR
COSMOLOGY – STUDIES THE
WORLD
(OR UNIVERSE) INCLUDING ITS
ORIGIN,
DYNAMICS AND
CHARACTERISTICS, AS
WELL AS THE LAWS THAT
GOVERNS ITS
ORDER.
KOSMOS – WORLD
LOGOS – STUDY

13. BASIC QUESTIONS:
 1. WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD?
 2. WHAT IS THE BASIC MATERIAL OF
 WHICH THE WORLD IS FORMED?
 3. HOW DO THINGS ARISE?
 4. IN WHAT CONSISTS ITS FUNDAMENTAL FORM
OR PRINCIPLE OF ORDER?

14. PSYCHOLOGY – study of
the nature and dynamics of
the human person as a
whole with emphasis on
the way the person`s mind
functions and the way she/
he behaves.
PSYCHE- SOUL AND
MIND
LOGOS - STUDY

15. BASIC QUESTIONS:
1. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE HUMAN
PERSON?
2. IS THERE SUCH THING AS HUMAN NATURE?
3. WHAT IS THE MEANING AND PURPOSE, IF
ANY, OF LIFE?
4. IS THERE LIFE AFTER DEATH?
5. HOW DO WE ACCOUNT FOR THE EXISTENCE
OF SUFFERINGS IN THE WORLD?

16. THEODICY OR
NATURAL THEOLOGY
– STUDY OF
GOD/JUSTIFICATION
OF
THE GOODNESS OF
GOD IN THE FACE OF
THE EXISTENCE OF
EVIL.
THEO – GOD

17. BASIC QUESTIONS:
1. IS THERE GOD?
2. WHAT AND WHO IS GOD, IF HE EXIST AT ALL?
3. HOW DO WE PROVE THE EXISTENCE OF GOD?
4. IF GOD EXISTS, HOW DO WE JUSTIFY THE
EXISTENCE OF EVIL AND SUFFERING IN THE
WORLD?
5. DOES A BELIEF IN GOD REALLY NECESSARY?

18. EPISTEMOLOGY –
STUDY OF
NATURE AND SCOPE
OF
KNOWLEDGE AND
JUSTIFIED BELIEF.
EPISTEME –
KNOWLEDGE
LOGOS – STUDY

19. BASIC QUESTIONS:
1. WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE?
2. WHAT DO WE KNOW?
3. HOW IS KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED?
4. WHAT ARE THE STRUCTURES AND LIMITS OF
KNOWLEDGE?
5. WHAT MAKES JUSTIFIED BELIEFS
JUSTIFIED?

20. LOGIC – STUDY OF THE
PRINCIPLES
AND CRITERIA OF A VALID
ARGUMENT
DISTINGUISH SOUND OR
GOOD
REASONING FROM
UNSOUND
OR BY
REASONING.
LOGOS – SCIENCE OF
CORRECT

21. BASIC QUESTIONS:
1. WHAT IS CORRECT REASONING?
2. WHAT DISTINGUISHES A GOOD
ARGUMENT
FROM BAD ONE?
3. HOW CAN WE DETECT A FALLACY IN
ARGUMENT?
4. WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA IN
DETERMINING
THE VALIDITY OF AN ARGUMENT?
5. WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF LOGIC?

22. ETHICS
– MORALITY OF
HUMAN ACTIONS.
HOW HUMAN
PERSONS OUGHT TO
ACT, AND THE
SEARCH FOR A
DEFINITION OF A
RIGHT CONDUCT AND
GOOD LIFE.

23. BASIC QUESTIONS:
1. WHAT IS RIGHT CONDUCT AS THAT
CAUSES
THE REALIZATION OF THE GREATEST
GOOD?
2. HOW DO WE DETERMINE A RIGHT
CONDUCT?
3. WHAT IS A GOOD LIFE AND CAN WE
ATTAIN IT?
4. WHAT IS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
HUMAN ACT
AND ACTIONS THAT ARE BASED ON
INSTINCT?

24. Rational Politics
What is Politics?
 Politics is ethics applied to a group of
people.
Why is this Important?
 Politics tells you how a society must be
set up and how one should act within a
society. Except for
hermits, this comes up a lot.
What is a rational Politics?
 The requirement for a political system is
that the individuals within that system are
allowed to fully
function according to their nature.

25. Reason is man's prime means of survival. A human
being can not survive in an environment where
reason is ineffective, and will thrive or starve to a
degree in proportion to the effectiveness of reason.
This means that the prime goal of a political
system must be the preservation and enabling of
the faculty of reason.
 Reason does not function under coercion. A
man can be forced to act at the point of a gun, but
he can not be forced to think. Likewise, in an
environment where might makes right, reason can
not function because the fruits of rationality can
not be enjoyed. Why plant crops and domesticate
animals if any raider can come by and take them
from you?

26. A moral political system must
ban coercion. Or put another way,
a moral political system must ban
the initiation of force, since
retaliatory force is both just and
necessary.
This means there must be
some way to keep one person
from killing, threatening, or
robbing another. This is
accomplished by
bestowing on government a
monopoly on retaliatory force and
objectifying laws.

27. Political questions
1. What is the best kind of government?
2. What is kind of relationship should
ruler(government officials) have with the
people(citizens)?
3. What are the rights of the people?

28. Esthetics/Aesthetics
 Esthetics is the study of art. It
includes what art consists of, as well
as the purpose behind it. Does art
consist of music, literature, and
painting? Or does it include a good
engineering solution, or a beautiful
sunset? These are the questions that
aimed at in esthetics. It also studies
methods of evaluating art, and
allows judgments of the art. Is art
in the eye of the beholder? Does
anything that appeals to you fit
under the umbrella of art? Or does it
have a specific nature? Does it
accomplish a goal?

29. Why is Esthetics important?
 Art has existed through all of recorded
human history. It is unique to humans
because of our unique form of thinking. Its
importance is based on this nature,
specifically, man’s ability to abstract. Art is a
little understood tool of man to bring
meaning to abstract concept. Esthetics is
important because it delves into the reason
why art has always existed, the burning need
of mankind through the ages to see the
world in a different, clear way. It further
evaluates art by the standard of human life,
and whether it
accomplishes the job of satisfying man's
intellectual needs, or whether it tends to
hurt or make worse those needs.

30. What are the key elements of
a proper Esthetics?
 Art is a selective recreation of
reality. Its purpose is to concretize
an abstraction to bring
an idea or emotion within the
grasp of the observer. It is a
selective recreation, with the
selection process depending on
the value judgments of the
creator. These value
judgments can be observed and
evaluated via the field of ethics.

31. Aesthetic questions
1. What is art?
2. Do they simply express individual or cultural
tastes? Is art objective or are they simply “in the
eye (or ear) of the beholder?
3. How do arts relate to spirituality and religion?
4. Is there a connection between morality and art?
5. How do arts communicate emotions?
6. How central is emotional communication to the
nature of art?