LEARNING MODULE IN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

S.Y. 2022-2023
Semester/Quarter: FIRST

“Blessed the man you instruct, O Lord”

Psalm 94:12

OPENING PRAYER: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Almighty God, You never left Your people Israel when they were starving in the desert. You were the
one who kept them safe during the Passover by sending angels to warn them about the incoming
calamity. We are sorry for all the sins we committed. Thank You for the gift of life. Thank You for
keeping us safe up until this day. We pray for the healing of the world. Keep us safe from harm. Amen.
We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

NAME: ______________________________________
GRADE AND SECTION: ________________________

LEARNING MODULE NO: 1 (Week 1)

TIME FRAME: September 5-9, 2022
LESSON TITLE: Doing Philosophy

Good day!
LET US BEGIN...
I. INTRODUCTION/OVERVIEW

From the term itself, “PHILOSOPHY” of the “HUMAN PERSON”, the course that we are about to
take inquires is about the human person, or from more general point of view, the NATURE of the
human person. It will also ask him* (refers to all genders; we will use this pronoun since we will be
using the term man) origin, essential attributes, how is he related to his environment around, the
meaning of his life and how he can acquire an authentic existence. Philosophy also asks if there is a
life or world ahead waiting for us or is there a deity that guides the course of our day-to-day actions.
When we inquire about essential things in life such as “Why there is suffering?” or “Is there a God?
Or “Why does evil exist?” We are philosophizing unnoticed by ourselves. It is normal for us to ask
because that is part of our nature. But, on the contrary, as we try to go deeper about the essential
inquiries that we have in mind, philosophy gives us MORE QUESTIONS all the more rather than
ANSWERS. It is one of the primary reasons why philosophy came through eras and different places
around the world, and the reason it has its vast coverage this day.
The “philosophy” that we have at the moment did not happen overnight—it flourished because of
the constant clash of many philosophers and their exchange of ideas. It is also one of the reason why
there are many philosophical systems that emerged, as well as many mentalities, and different
theories about the human person. Overall, exploring the world of philosophy would be so vast that it
requires so much endeavor to deal with it, and that there are many branches of philosophy and
numerous schools of thought or different viewpoints out there that we may discuss as we go deeper
in our course, but we will focus on our main course—the philosophy “of the” human person.
What is philosophy of the human person? Or better yet, asking what the first term is—philosophy.
In this lesson, we will discuss what is philosophy, when and where it started, who is the first person
in the West considered to ever philosophize. how can you practice philosophy on your own, and why
is there a need to study philosophy. This module expects you to see philosophy not only as a course
required for you to take but as a way of life.

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 WATCH: What is Philosophy?: Crash Course Philosophy #1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A_CAkYt3GY

PRE-ACTIVITY
After watching the video, we have learned that philosophy is mainly subdivided into five branches, namely,
metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, and logic. Before we proceed with our lesson, let us recall
these. Kindly complete the table below by using terms/phrases that you think best describes each:

METAPHYSICS is…

EPISTEMOLOGY is…

VALUE THEORY is… ETHICS is…

PHILOSOPHY

AESTHETICS is…

LOGIC is…

Now that we have seen in general what philosophy is, let us try to take a look at your OWN PHILOSOPHY
through the activity below:

EXERCISE #1: ME AND THE SUBJECT

BRAINSTORMING
According to Aristotle, “knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”. In your attempt to know yourself,
you can refer to the guide questions below:

 Have you ever argued about the best movie/song/food with someone? When?
 Have you ever told someone of a fictional character that you feel you can relate
to?
 Why do you think people differ in terms of what is right or wrong? Of what is
beautiful or not?

II. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Now in this module you will be able to:
 Understand that reason is the best faculty of man

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  Consider the nuances in beliefs of one’s ideas to others
 To be critical of the information one consumes
III. LESSON PROPER
THIS MATERIAL IS GOOD ONLY FOR THE SCHEDULED TIMEFRAME. ADDITIONAL
INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE GIVEN ONLINE/DURING DISCUSSIONS.
You may now start to explore the discussions in this module and remember to answer all the activities
given.

IV. EXPLORATION:THE BEGINNINGS OF PHILOSOPHY

Like what we have mentioned earlier, philosophy is the product of a continuous exchange of
ideas that was developed through a long
period of time. Even until the present
moment, it still develops. A principle describes the main element
Now, let us backtrack ourselves to the time which the universe is made up of.
when philosophy was making its baby steps.

Philosophy started in Greece, in the fishing village of Miletus, located in the

modern city of Turkey. War is at its absence which made the Greeks save their precious time
from forming military strategies and defending their beloved homeland against external threats.
Thus, giving them plenty of time to do their leisure and put them in a favorable social and
economic condition that give them luxury of time to make science and art flourish.

Philosophy started around 6 B.C.E., the time traditionally acknowledged

as the birth of Western philosophy. The little that we know about the first philosophers were
from Aristotle. According to him, before the “actual’ philosophy began; the Greeks believe that
things happen because of the gods/goddesses: it is either they are pleased with offerings or
they are enraged because of sacrilege. The philosophers made an attempt to go against this
common belief, and REASON OUT instead. Among these first philosophers is a simple man
who is traditionally acknowledged as father of Western philosophy, Thales.

Have you ever wondered What are these questions?

about the things or
events around you?
Always 1.
Sometimes 2.
Never
3.

Thales is the Father of Western Philosophy. While everybody in

his hometown believed that things occur based on mythological explanations, Thales thought
of something else: what is the underlying substance of things?

Based on Thales’ question, he is doing something different from the rest. He is using REASON
instead of just settling himself on supernatural justifications. In other words, it was unacceptable
to say things happen because the gods say so. Thales asked: what is the underlying substance of things?
What is that “something” that everything is made up of? For him, it is water. As a fisherman who spends
his day in bodies of water, no doubt why this guy made such assumption. For him, water exists in
everything. Everything has moist. Water is the first principle.

Can you give examples of the things that has moist?

1.
2.
3.

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According to Thales, water is the first principle. In other words, it is the main “ingredient” of the main
universe. The humans are made of water. The trees, cars,
clouds, and basically all things were from water because it is Etymology is a branch of linguistics
everywhere. It can change into solid, liquid, or gas. Water is concerned with analyzing a word in
even observed as dew in the morning. We can say that Thales its component parts by tracing its
made a very simplistic answer after he claimed that water is the earliest recorded occurrence in the
underlying substance of things, but what should be emphasized language where it is found.
is that this man has dared to go against the tradition,
and assumed that it is within man’s rational ability to
explain and abstract reality. This is indeed revolutionary! Thales’ curiosity and desire for
knowledge made him look at a different perspective, which made him to be considered as the
father of Western philosophy. Thus, we owe to him this discipline which is known as
“philosophy”.

Now, let us see what philosophy is.

Philosophy is classically defined as:

In Latin In English
“Cognitio rerum per “The knowledge of things in
altissimas causas sola ratione their highest causes in the
luminis comparata” light of reason alone”

*Kon-yit-siyo/ re-rum/ per/ al-tis-si-mas/ kaw-sas/ so-la/ rat-siyo-ne/ lu-mi-nis/ kom-pa-ra-ta

One of the things that should be considered when immersing oneself to philosophy is that, it is an
attempt to discover the highest causes of things using reason alone: an attempt to know things that
involves faith and reason can be called theology, which is NOT the nature of our subject matter. When
we philosophize, we utilize reason alone.

ETYMOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY

To better understand what philosophy is, let us talk about friendship. Do you have friends? How
your friendship started? We can agree that it is normal for us to meet somebody somewhere. She/he may
be a classmate or schoolmate. She/he may be a stranger you met in youth camps, jeepney, or in public
places such as malls. She/he may be a regular customer of your mother’s fruit stand in the market. You
greet each other often. As time goes by, you find yourselves doing the same task in your respective
barangays or schools and start to share your interests until you share problem with each other. In the end,
you start to care for them and nourish your new established friendship.

Now, we can say that this kind of love is similar to philosophy. Philosophy comes from the Greek
words philos/philein or lover/love and sophia or wisdom. In other words, philosophy is love of wisdom.
This love should be nourished as well, like a love for a friend, for a family, or even for a special someone,
and since this is similar to loving your parents, guardians, friends, or special someone, it is important to
make significant actions in order to nurture love of wisdom.

What can we learn from friendship?

a. Friendship happens unexpectedly. We do not intend to make friends; they just come.

b. It is too profound to determine when the friendship of two people started.

c. By caring and responding to the needs of somebody, their connection strengthens and flourishes
unnoticeably—until it turns into friendship.

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 d. In friendship, there is an aspect which gives you joy and feeling of satisfaction. That is why if you
like their attitude or you are enjoying their company, or having the same interests and perspective
in life, you choose to be with them.

Friendship can be similar to philosophizing—you are loving wisdom. People who love wisdom
and are interested to attain it are called philosophers.

KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM AND PHILOSOPHY

Now, let us know HOW to philosophize.
Being knowledgeable does not mean being wise. Knowledgeable people (matalino) are
different from wise people (marunong). Being smart is just an offspring of being wise. Now,
philosophy is a path towards the attainment of both—knowledge and wisdom. Similarly,
knowledge and wisdom are distinct from each other, and philosophy is different from these
two. Take a look at the analogy below:

Knowledge is knowing Wisdom is knowing not to Philosophy is asking if

that tomato is a fruit put tomato in a fruit salad ketchup is a tomato shake

Let us say for example:

A gardener is excited because he knows that the Golden Shower Tree is about to bloom because
of its golden, beautiful, shower-like flowers. Yet, he does not even bother himself why do these flowers
have such features. Wise people already know these things, but they know something more—the WHY
of things.

It is normal for us to ask because this is part of our human nature. There are people who recall
themselves when they were still a child having lots of questions, and that these questions have no simple
answers. Sometimes it requires a critical examination of things in order to answer your “whys”. That is the
job of a philosopher—he needs to reach his “very last why” of things in order to obtain fulfillment—the
highest cause. He needs to discover the limits of his mind. These limitations explore every why of things
or even their causes or origin. He uses his reason to discover these whys, and every question about
science, arts, industry or governance rests on these questions. It is important to answer the question
“why” to give ease in answering the questions what, who, where, when and how. For example, if it is clear
to you why you wanted to become what you want to become someday, you can easily answer the
questions what, who, where, when and how. That is why the habit of asking is essential.

PHILOSOPHY AS A CONCEPT AND AS A PROCESS

Why study philosophy? Parallel to friendship, the definition of philosophy can

be understood while doing it; like friendship, doing philosophy starts from opening oneself with
life’s daily experience, and reflecting deeply on them, and as a result, one sees the essential
meaning of this experiences in his life.

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 a. As a concept, philosophy is a system of beliefs
about reality. It is one's integrated view of the
world. It includes an understanding of the nature
of existence, man, and his role in the world. It is a
necessary product of man’s rational mind.

Here we can see that philosophy is a rational

activity—it is not motivated by faith, belief about gods and
goddesses, or any supernatural influences. It is achieved
sola ratione luminis, or in the light of reason alone. HUMAN
REASON ONLY!

NOTE: Interestingly, many Catholic saints including St. Thomas Aquinas used philosophy to prove God’s
existence. He managed to make it using his reason alone.

SANA MAGISING KA NA…

SA KATOTOHANAN

As a Dominican, you are expected to manifest a Truth-Seeker attitude: one who is critical about the inquiry
of things. Nowadays, most notably in the social media, plenty of people post something without utmost
consideration to the quality of information they share with others. One of them is fake news. A critical
thinker cannot be deceived by these misinformation. Unfortunately, people who passively consumes
everything they see or read somewhere are the common victims. Are you one of them? Are you the type
of person who easily believes on whatever you hear somewhere? Or do you reflect first on these things
and search for the first-hand information instead of accepting what is just being said? Like St. Dominic,
who is an excellent preacher of his time, and is revered by everyone because of his God-given gift of
preaching the Gospel, we are also formed to be TRUTH SEEKERS. Being critical does not only give
personal benefits; you can also be of help for someone who wants to be enlightened especially during
these trying times. If you can notice, there are plenty of posts about COVID-19, basically anything about
it: confirmed cases, number of recoveries, and announcement of places that are about to be quarantined,
and even about the possible cure for the said disease. Now, let us be realistic. Wrong information can be
extremely dangerous. It can cause anxiety,
despair or even insanity. Being critical can help
us be more aware with what is the objective truth,
Riding a bicycle is not
rather than the fabricated truth somebody else
made. Truth is somewhere out there: waiting to
about knowing its
be found. It can also be the other way around:
the Truth can find
parts, but it is in riding
us. the bicycle itself.
b. As a process, Just enjoy learning philosophy!
philosophy is
employed as a
method of inquiry.
It is an engagement in the search for the meaning of life, its value and
relevance. It is a process for finding significance in existence.

In friendship, you have an indescribable enthusiasm and passion to

know your friends all the more. You want to be more familiar with her/him.
It is comparable to philosophy—you want to deepen the little wisdom that you have as you immerse
yourself to its rivers: you want more and more of it, and that makes you a lover of wisdom.

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 CONCRETIZING IDEAS
CAN PHILOSOPHY HELP IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC?

Three years ago, the world is surprised because of Corona Virus 2019 pandemic. The society
itself is impeded with such issue—everybody turned into halt: businesses, mass gatherings,
schools, religious gatherings and activities, and everybody’s occupation. Basically, this pandemic made
a great impact on the daily life of every individual. Here in the Philippines, we hear news about the status
of our country: the number of confirmed and recovered cases as well as Persons under
Investigation/Persons under Monitoring, and places declared under General Community Quarantine,
Modified General Community Quarantine, etc., and other information about our current situation.
Fortunately, through God’s grace, we can see that the country starts to develop. Though we’re still on our
way, gradually, we can take back the lifestyle that was robbed out from us.

What can we do now during these times? Can philosophy help in times of pandemic? Philosophy
may not give us the cure for this virus, but it can help us to be safe from this virus. Thus, the saying
“Prevention is better than cure” is indeed philosophical in a wider sense.

Thanks to our dear medical personnel, and all those who dedicated themselves to help the world
recover from this pandemic, a vaccine is now available for us. While this vaccine helps us recover
corporally (body), one of the cures that can safeguard us from the threat of misinformation is to be open-
minded. A lover of wisdom is one who possess an attitude of openness—considering all possibilities and
causes why things come to be. By opening one’s mind, he broadens his perspective and it enables him
to use REASON—the greatest faculty that he has—to its fullest extent.

As said in the previous pages, asking questions is natural in man since it is part of his nature. The
word nature is derived from the Latin word natura, or “essential qualities”, and literally means “birth”.
Natura was a Latin translation of the Greek word physis, which correlated plants, animals, and other
features of the world as developing of their own accord. As a rational being, the faculty of reason is part
of his nature since it is “essential” for him to possess reason as somebody who is rational. Otherwise, if
there is no reason, he may not be called “rational”. Therefore, he is rational and reason is part of his
nature.
Asking questions, or basically, utilizing the faculty of reason is natural.

The blind men:

The blind men and the Elephant is an

ancient parable that warns us about
settling our view of the world in our
own limited perspectives. Our sensory
perception and life experiences lead to
overreaching misinterpretations. How
can a person with a limited touch of
truth turn that into the one and only
version of all reality?

People who see the holistic perspective or those

who see the “bigger picture of things” are considered to have the advantage in life. It is the opposite of a
partial perspective, which only considers a part of the whole.

Indeed, each of the blind men has a limited perspective of truth. But it does not mean that the
objective truth is not there. In fact, it should be considered in all our totality—holistically (whole). If we
know that the Whole Elephant is out there, should it not trigger us to open out eyes wider and look for
every opportunity to experience more of Him? Instead of residing in our limited partial view in life, try to
be open-minded. This will lead in being responsible by realizing the important role you play in the society

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as a whole. Also, this will lead to being emphatic—understanding the value of considering holistic point of
view and valuing others’ perspective of things and empathize with them. Like what we are going through
in this trying time, that instead of insisting our longing to meet our friends, and questioning, “Why does the
government hinder activities I can enjoy with my friends? Why can’t we gather in one place?” try to be
philosophical. Ask yourself: why does the government do these precautionary measures in the first place?
Why do we need to have physical distancing? Why do we need to isolate ourselves? Lots of whys, but
this is the philosopher’s way. You will not be able to see the elephant if you will focus only with one
perspective.

ADDITIONAL READING: Holism

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/meaning-holism

V. ASSESMENT
Performance Task # 1
Title: PERSONAL PHILOSOPHICAL PROFILE

Directions: Make a video (minimum of 2 minutes) that shows your philosophical perspective. This may
include (but not limited to) the following:

 Introducing yourself
1. Complete name
2. “20 facts about me”

 Philosophical viewpoint:
1. Motto in life
2. Life principles you believe important in living
3. Things you now known that you wish you learned long time ago

 Pursued endeavor/s
1. Goal/s in life
2. Desired career/s
3. Topic/s you are interested to talk about/deepen knowledge into

NOTES:
 Rubrics for grading will be presented by the subject teacher during discussion
 Kindly name your file using the format:
B/G#.surname.givenname.IPHPpeta1.mp4 – B9.magloyuan.j-r.IPHPpeta1.mp4
 Kindly submit your performance task on the agreed platform and date.

VI. SYNTHESIS/GENERALIZATION

In this learning module, we have discussed the following:

 Philosophy started in Miletus, Greece around 6 B.C.E. with Thales as the acknowledged father of
Western philosophy
 Philosophy is subdivided into five, namely, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, and
logic.
 Before Western philosophy is acknowledged, the Greeks used to justify life’s daily affairs in the
account of gods/goddesses. They reason out by saying that prosperity and catastrophe is bound
by mythological explanations. Offering sacrifices to the gods results to advantageous effects in
one’s life such as good harvest, safety, and even happiness. Desecrating them results to tragedy
and misfortune.
 The word philosophy is derived from the two Greek words philos (lover) and sophia (wisdom).
 When defined from its etymological words, philosophy means love of wisdom.
 Etymology is a branch of linguistics concerned with analyzing a word in its component parts by
tracing its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found.
 Philosophy is analogous to friendship: just as friendship deepens when both of them enjoy each
other’s company, love of wisdom deepens as well when one desires to know more and more

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  Knowledge, wisdom and philosophy are different from one another: a wise person is not
comparable to a knowledgeable person.
 Philosophy is understanding the ultimate causes of things using reason alone.
 Similar to the Analogy of the Blind Men, “careless” thinking can put us in the danger of looking at
things in a limited perspective, whereas philosophy can help us to see the “bigger picture” and
having a holistic point of view.

CLOSING PRAYER: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us our Catholic faith and Your love which never ends. May I
grow in Your love as I nourish my life of faith. Help me to see You in the light of faith in my daily
experiences. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

REFERENCES:
 Sioco and Vinzons, Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person,
pp. 1-5, 8-15, 18-22,Quezon City: Vibal Group Inc., 2016
 Jove Jim Aguas, Philosophy: Toward an Understanding and
Appreciation of the Human Person, pp. 1-10, Quezon City: Abiva
Publishing House Inc., 2017
 Yarza, Ignatius, History of Ancient Philosophy, pp.11-12
 Pambungad sa Pilosopiya ng Tao (DepEd Teachers’ Guide), 2016 Edition
 Kelly, Melissa, Teaching Students With Existential Intelligence,
https://www.thoughtco.com/existential-intelligence-profile-8097
 All about Philosophy, https://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/blind-men-and-
the-elephant.htm

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