Introductio

n to
Philosophy
of the
Human
Person
Lesson 1 –
Week 1
Brief History of
Philosophy
Pre-Philosophical
Period
Pre-philosophical Period Even
before the birth of natural
Philosophy, people had already
attempted to explain the origin of
things and the events or occurrences
in nature. Such attempts are
evident in the folklores,
myths, and legends that the
ancient peoples believed in.
Pre-Socratic
Period
 Pre-Socratic Period
The first group of Greek philosophers is a
triad of Milesian thinkers: Thales,
Anaximander, and
Anaximenes. Their main contribution
was the development and application of
theory purely based on empirical observation
of natural phenomena.
Thales
Thales believed that the Earth
floats on water and all things
come to be from water .
For him the Earth was a flat
disc floating on an infinite
ocean. It has also been claimed
that Thales explained
earthquakes from the fact that
the Earth floats on water.
Anaximan
der
Anaximander was a pupil of
Thales - Anaximander, son of
Praxiades, a Milesian. He said
that a certain infinite
(Boundless - apeiron
nature is first principle of the
things that exist. From it come
the heavens and the worlds in
them. It is eternal and ageless,
and it contains all the worlds
Anaximen
es
Anaximenes is best known for

his doctrine that air is the

source of all things. In this
way, he differed with his
predecessors like Thales, who
held that water is the source of
all things, and Anaximander,
who thought that all things
came from an unspecified
boundless stuff.
Heraclitus
Heraclitus adheres to some
abstract principles which
govern the world. Already in
antiquity he was famous for
advocating the coincidence of
opposites, the flux doctrine,
and his view that fire is
the source and nature of all
things
Xenophan
es
Xenophanes is one of the first
philosophers to show interest
in epistemological questions
as well as metaphysical ones.
He held that there actually
exists an objective truth in
reality, but that as mere
mortals, humans are unable to
know it.
Pythagora
s
Pythagoras was a Greek
philosopher whose teachings
emphasized immortality of
the soul and reincarnation. He
taught that the concept of
"number"
cleared the mind and allowed
for the understanding of
reality.
THE BIG THREE
Socrates, Plato, &
Aristotle
Socrates
Socrates was a moral
philosopher. He was not
interested in mathematics or
science but was concerned with
the quality of his soul and that of
others. Socrates' philosophy
examines how we should
live. This led him to discussions
on various virtues, things like
wisdom, justice, courage, piety,
and so on.
Plato
Plato believed that reality is
divided into two parts: the
ideal and the phenomena.
The ideal is the perfect reality of
existence. The phenomena are
the physical world that we
experience; it is a flawed echo of
the perfect, ideal model that
exists outside of space and time.
Plato calls the perfect ideal the
Forms.
Aristotle
For Aristotle, everything has
a final end or purpose and
everything aims at some
good. There are different
goods (contrary to Plato) that
correspond to different
creatures, arts, or sciences
and some of these ends are
subordinate to more ultimate
ends.
Medieval Period:
Scholasticism
Medieval Period:
Scholasticism
Scholasticism, the philosophical systems and speculative
tendencies of various medieval Christian thinkers, who,
working against a background of fixed religious dogma,
sought to solve anew general philosophical problems (as of
faith and reason, will and intellect, realism and nominalism,
and the provability of the existence of God), initially under
the influence of the mystical and intuitional tradition of
patristic philosophy, especially Augustinianism, and later
under that of Aristotle.
St. Anselm of
Canterburry
Anselm's philosophical premise that
God is “that which nothing
greater can be conceived” credo ut
baffled other medieval philosophers
and scholars and gained Anselm intellegam
great esteem throughout Europe.
Anselm also made significant
I believed so that I
contributions to Catholics' belief in may understand
a trinitarian God, God in three
St. Augustine
of Hippo
Augustine thinks that the human
being is a compound of body Augustine argues that to become
righteous, wise and holy in eternity
and soul and that, within this like God, man must seek to grow in
virtue, knowledge and love now by
compound, the soul—conceived as
submitting his intellect and will,
both the life-giving element and the disordered by sin, to God's perfect
center of consciousness, perception Charity
and thought—is, or ought to be, the
St. Thomas
Aquinas
Thomas blended Greek philosophy
and Christian doctrine by
suggesting that rational thinking
and the study of nature, like
revelation, were valid ways to
understand truths pertaining to
God. According to Thomas, God
reveals himself through
 Modern
Period:
Rationalis
m,
Empiricis
m, and
Rationalis
m
the view that regards
reason as the chief
source and test of
knowledge. Holding
that reality itself has
an inherently logical
structure, the
rationalist asserts that
a class of truths exists
Empiricis
the theory that all
mis derived
knowledge
from sense-experience.
Stimulated by the rise
of experimental
science, it developed in
the 17th and 18th
centuries, expounded
in particular by John
Locke, George
Immanuel Kant and Synthetic a
priori knowledge
The synthetic a priori
is concerned with the
intuitions which all of
our experiences must
conform to. Thus, rather
than concerning itself with
experience itself (which Kant
thinks is better left to empirical
science), metaphysics should
focus its attention on the
preconditions for experience
Immanuel Kant and Synthetic a
priori knowledge
Kant believed that the
shared ability of
humans to reason
should be the basis
of morality, and that
it is the ability to
reason that makes
humans morally
significant.
 Contemporary
philosophy is the
present period in the
history of Western
philosophy
beginning at the
early 20th century
with the increasing
professionalization
of the discipline and
the rise of analytic
and continental
Martha Nussbaum
•Idea: Nussbaum's work centers on ethics,
human development, and emotions. She
developed the "capabilities approach,"
which argues that justice should be
evaluated by people's ability to achieve a
good life through their capabilities.
•Famous Quote: “To be a good human
being is to have a kind of openness to the
world, an ability to trust uncertain things
beyond your own control.”
Michel Onfray
•Idea: Onfray is a proponent of
hedonism and atheism, advocating
for a philosophy that embraces life,
rejects religion, and promotes the
pursuit of personal and collective
happiness.
•Famous Quote: "The goal of life is
to live and to know how to live."
 Continental
Tradition in
Philosophy: The
continental tradition
explores broad
questions about
existence, society,
and culture, often
using complex
Continental Tradition in
Philosophy:
The continental tradition focuses
on big, broad questions about
existence, culture, society, and
human experience. It often uses
complex language and
emphasizes history, literature,
and social critique to understand
concepts like freedom, power,
and meaning.
Analytic philosophy, Philosophical tradition
that emphasizes the logical analysis of
concepts and the study of the language in
which they are expressed. It has been the
dominant approach in philosophy in the
English-speaking world since the early 20th
century.
 Analytic Philosophy: Analytic philosophy
emphasizes clarity and logic, breaking down
philosophical problems into smaller,
manageable parts. It often focuses on
language, science, and logic to solve specific
problems and ensure precise arguments.
Introductio
n to
Philosophy
of the
Human
Person
Lesson 1 –
Week 1
Introductio
n to
Philosophy
of the
Human
Person
Lesson 1 –
Week 1
What is
PHILOSOPHY?
the study of the
fundamental nature of
knowledge, reality,
and existence,
especially when
considered as an
academic discipline.
What is
PHILOSOPHY?
The original meaning of the
word philosophy comes from
the Greek roots philo-
meaning "love" and -
sophos, or "wisdom."
When someone studies
philosophy they want to
understand how and why
people do certain things and
PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN
PERSON
a philosophical
investigation into the
fundamental structure and
nature of human in the
light of metaphysical
principles. It aims at
understanding the
transcendent nature of
human, above and beyond
 Subject
Matter of
Philosophy
– by
Armando
Bonifacio
The Subject Matter of Philosophy
1. The Fundamental Values
or some basic assumptions
about things, persons,
institutions and other which
form presuppositions that
influence one’s beliefs,
decisions, and actions
The Subject Matter of Philosophy
2. Reflecting on
analyzing one’s beliefs
or reasons for actions
or decisions could be a
kind of philosophy as
well.
The Subject Matter of Philosophy
3. Reconstructed belief or a
value system which shows a
universal and
comprehensive character as
a result of reflection and
analysis in more
comprehensive and
systematic manner.
 Talking about
subjects means
• Investigating the
meaning
• Critiquing
• Combination of Both
What is knowledge?
What is the Nature of the
Self?
What is the standard of
Beauty?
Is there a universal morality?
DOES GOD
EXIST?
 Philosophy covers a
wide range of subjects
such as ethics,
aesthetics,
epistemology, logic
and metaphysics
Major Branches
of Philosophy
Ethics
Ethos
“moral
Philosophy”
Aesthetics aisthetikos
Sensitive
or
Perceptive
Epistemology

episteme

knowledge
Logic Logic is often seen as the
study of the laws of
thought, correct
reasoning, valid
inference, or logical truth.
It is a formal science that
investigates how conclusions
follow from premises in a
topic-neutral manner, i.e.
independent of the specific
subject matter discussed.
Metaphysics the branch of philosophy that
deals with the first principles
of things, including abstract
concepts such as being,
knowing, substance,
cause, identity, time,
and space.
"they would regard the
question of the initial
conditions for the universe as
belonging to the realm of
metaphysics or religion"