Introduction to

Philosophy of the
Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 4:
Human Person and Death
Personal Development
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 2 – Module 4: Title
First Edition, 2020

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 Introduction to
Philosophy of the
Human Person
Quarter 2 – Module 4:
Human Person and Death
Introductory Message
For the facilitator:

Welcome to the Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person Alternative Delivery

Mode (ADM) Module on Human Person and Death!

This module was collaboratively designed, developed and reviewed by educators both
from public and private institutions to assist you, the teacher or facilitator in helping
the learners meet the standards set by the K to 12 Curriculum while overcoming
their personal, social, and economic constraints in schooling.

This learning resource hopes to engage the learners into guided and independent
learning activities at their own pace and time. Furthermore, this also aims to help
learners acquire the needed 21st century skills while taking into consideration their
needs and circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the body of
the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies that
will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this module.
You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to manage
their own learning. Furthermore, you are expected to encourage and assist the
learners as they do the tasks included in the module.

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For the learner:

Welcome to the Mathematics 7 Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) Module on ( Lesson

Title) !

The hand is one of the most symbolized part of the human body. It is often used to
depict skill, action and purpose. Through our hands we may learn, create and
accomplish. Hence, the hand in this learning resource signifies that you as a learner
is capable and empowered to successfully achieve the relevant competencies and
skills at your own pace and time. Your academic success lies in your own hands!

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful opportunities for
guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You will be enabled to
process the contents of the learning resource while being an active learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

This will give you an idea of the skills or

What I Need to Know competencies you are expected to learn in the
module.
This part includes an activity that aims to
What I Know check what you already know about the
lesson to take. If you get all the answers
correct (100%), you may decide to skip this
module.
This is a brief drill or review to help you link
What’s In the current lesson with the previous one.

In this portion, the new lesson will be

What’s New introduced to you in various ways such as a
story, a song, a poem, a problem opener, an
activity or a situation.
This section provides a brief discussion of the
What is It lesson. This aims to help you discover and
understand new concepts and skills.
This comprises activities for independent
What’s More practice to solidify your understanding and
skills of the topic. You may check the
answers to the exercises using the Answer
Key at the end of the module.
This includes questions or blank
What I Have Learned sentence/paragraph to be filled in to process
what you learned from the lesson.
This section provides an activity which will
What I Can Do help you transfer your new knowledge or skill
into real life situations or concerns.

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 This is a task which aims to evaluate your
Assessment level of mastery in achieving the learning
competency.
In this portion, another activity will be given
Additional Activities to you to enrich your knowledge or skill of the
lesson learned. This also tends retention of
learned concepts.
This contains answers to all activities in the
Answer Key module.

At the end of this module you will also find:

References This is a list of all sources used in developing

this module.

The following are some reminders in using this module:

1. Use the module with care. Do not put unnecessary mark/s on any part of the
module. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises.
2. Don’t forget to answer What I Know before moving on to the other activities
included in the module.
3. Read the instruction carefully before doing each task.
4. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the tasks and checking your answers.
5. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next.
6. Return this module to your teacher/facilitator once you are through with it.
If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not
hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator. Always bear in mind that you are
not alone.

We hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful learning and
gain deep understanding of the relevant competencies. You can do it!

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 What I Need to Know

In this module, learners like you will be philosophically oriented regarding a sensitive
topic everybody does not like always to talk about – death. Here, we will treat death
in an academic way while also allowing our own takes and insights to interplay with
the discussions. However, you are advised to have an objective disposition regarding
death to remove any negative impression that may affect your readiness to
understand death as a phenomenon.

Primarily, we will deal with the Phenomenological Notion of Death to give it definite
characterization and the Relation of Death with Authenticity upon which we will
come to realize the value of understanding death as a way to establish a more
meaningful existence.

Thus, after going through this module, you are expected to:
1. explain the phenomenological notion of death
2. give the characteristics of death
3. relate death with the concept of a good life based on authenticity
4. reflect on one’s own death
5. embrace death as a natural phenomenon

Notes to the Teacher

There may be cases where students are not ready to discuss this
topic. To prevent unwanted scenarios, orientation may be done
beforehand. Being knowledgeable about psychological dispositions
of learners is an advantage.

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 What I Know

Write TRUE if you agree that the statement is correct but write FALSE if you think
the statement is incorrect and explain why the statement is wrong in the space
provided under each item.

______________ 1. Immortality can be achieved by man.

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______________ 2. Death is impending.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 3. We can always design how we will die.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 4. Two persons can totally share same experience of death

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 5. Death is one of the surest thing in the world.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 6. We can always say that there is still time.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 7. We waste our lives by living the life we don’t want.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 8. Following the society would mean a good existence.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 9. Death comes at the time we expect it will come.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 10. Though we don’t know when we will die, we can prepare for it.

__________________________________________________________________

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 Lesson

1 Death
What is your initial reaction when you read the title of this part of the module?
Is death really a terrifying phenomenon? If death is a dreadful thing, what makes it
fearsome?

On the other hand, death, as part of human reality, may have meaningful
messages. At this junction, we will try to uncover the mystery of death by
rationalizing its phenomenon so that we get to understand it better, accept it as part
of human nature, and treat it as a condition that allows us to create a meaningful
existence.

What’s In

THOUGHT EXPERIMENT: Imagine the scenario below. Answer the questions using
3-5 sentences only.

You are lying in a hospital bed. You have a stage 4 colon cancer. You
have no problem in paying the bills since you are a rich man. But nobody,
except for the doctor and hospital staff, is with you. This is due to the fact that
you despised your family for not believing in you and left them to pursue your
dreams.

One day, an angel appeared and told you, “You only have a week left to
live. Within that span of remaining time, God is giving you a chance to forgive
your family in one condition: your life will end the moment you utter your
forgiveness to your family. If you do not forgive them, you will get additional
week to live.”
You are about to respond to the angel, what would you say?
ANSWER:
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 What’s New

INTERPRETATING THE STORY: Discuss the symbolisms in the short story and
story’s possible meaning.

From Leo Tolstoy’s A Confession and Other Religious Writings

There is an old Eastern fable about a traveller who is taken unawares
on the steppes by a ferocious animal. In order to escape the beast, the
traveller hides in an empty well, but at the bottom of the well, he sees a
dragon with its jaws open, ready to devour him. The poor fellow does not
dare to climb out because he is afraid of being eaten by the ferocious beast,
neither does he dare drop to the bottom of the well for fear of being eaten
by the dragon. So he seizes hold of a branch of a bush that is growing in
the crevices of the well and clings on to it. His arms grow weak and he
knows that he will soon have to resign himself to the death that awaits him
on the either side. Yet he clings on and while he is holding on to the one
branch, he looks around and sees that two mice, one black and one white
are steadily working on their way round the bush he is hanging from,
gnawing away at it. Sooner or later, they will eat through it and the branch
will snap, and he will fall into the jaws of the dragon. The traveller sees
this and knows that he will inevitably perish. But while he is still hanging
there, he sees some drops of honey on the leaves of the bush, stretches his
tongue and licks them.

INTERPRETATION AND MEANING OF SYMBOLS:

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 What is It

Phenomenological Notion of Death

According to Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) in his book Being and Time,

death is (a) certain, (b) indefinite, (c) one’s property, (d) non-relational, and (e) not
to be outstripped.

Death is certain. As part of humanness, we are all born (in Heideggerian

sense, we are “thrown”) in the world. The world is governed by time. We, humans,
are existing in time, thus, as being thrown in the world, we have beginning and
since we are finite beings, we also have end – death. Birth and death are two things
we cannot remove from our existence. Whether we like it or not, we will die.

Death is indefinite. While death is sure to come, it is however indefinite as

to when it will come. Death is impending, meaning to say, it can happen anytime.
We do not know exactly when. That is why, we should try to live the best life that
we can for we never know the day of our end.

Death is one’s property. The death of the person belongs to him. Nobody
can experience his death except himself. There can be no proxies or substitutes for
a person in experiencing death.

Death is non-relational. This means that when we die, we die alone. We

have no choice but to face it on our own. Death also removes all our relations to
others. In contemplating death, we realize our own individuality and independence
from the world.

Death is not to be outstripped. Death cannot be taken away from a

person. Even the person himself cannot remove the possibility of death in his life.
One cannot make himself live forever. Even though we see in fiction movies the idea
of immortality, death, in real life is a definite reality which we nothing can be done
to be outstripped.

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 What’s More

Death and Authenticity

What does death really mean? Is it just a reminder that human existence has
a limitation? We may accept the reality of death as it is, but it also reminds us that
we have to value life while we have it.

Since we cannot control it, things that remain within our control are those
which belong to life. While still alive, we have choices to take. The question now is
not focused on death but on how we live in the world. Let us ask ourselves before we
die. Did we ever truly live?

Authenticity is an idea mostly used in existentialism which means having true

and meaningful existence. According to Soren Kierkegaard, we have to avoid the
crowd – the majority of the society which we think that should be the pattern of our
lives. For example, we see people marrying, therefore, we also have to marry. But
authenticity is not like that. We have to freely choose marrying. The intention to
marry should not come from the crowd as we usually hear but it should come from
our deliberate choice.
Another reason why we fail to lead an authentic life is fear. Just because we
are afraid of the possible consequences and what others might say, we fail to pursue
what we truly want in life. This challenge of authenticity is one of the important
messages of death. As we accept death, we realize the value of having a true life – an
authentic life!

AUTHENTICITY PROJECT: List down the 3 things you truly want in life, the
challenges you see in pursuing your goals and the possible solutions to these
challenges.
GOALS CHALLENGES SOLUTIONS

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 What I Have Learned

BEFORE AND AFTER: Write your previous knowledge (before reading this module)
and your new understanding on death. Determine what makes more sense and tell
why.

Previous Knowledge about Death New Understanding about Death

What makes more sense?

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 What I Can Do

REFLECTIONS. After realizing that death is certain and impending, we should at all
times be ready for death. It is just like a thief in the night so we have to prepare for
it. Write an essay about your realizations and your insights about death.

MY REFLECTIONS NAD INSIGHTS ABOUT DEATH

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 Assessment

Write TRUE if you agree that the statement is correct but write FALSE if you think
the statement is incorrect and explain why the statement is wrong in the space
provided under each item.

______________ 1. Death is one of the surest thing in the world.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 2. Death comes at the time we expect it will come.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 3. We can always say that there is still time.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 4. Though we don’t know when we will die, we can prepare for it.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 5. Immortality can be achieved by man.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 6. We can always design how we will die.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 7. Following the society would mean a good existence.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 8. We waste our lives by living the life we don’t want.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 9. Death is impending.

__________________________________________________________________

______________ 10. Two persons can totally share same experience of death

__________________________________________________________________

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