INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

OF THE HUMAN PERSON

1st Semester 2022-2023

SIENA COLLEGE OF SAN JOSE, INC.

Basic Education Department
Senior High School
 WHY,
WHEN IT ALL STARTED
“History is philosophy teaching
by examples.”
– Thucydides (460-395 BCE)
OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:

a. know and remember the central views in philosophy;

b. collaboratively examine a particular tradition in philosophy and discuss it
to the class; and
c. reflect on the lesson and present it through a vlog.
 INTRODUCTION

This lesson will give a concise background on the beginnings of western

philosophy as well as a brief description of the practice of doing philosophy from the
western and eastern tradition. This will give an idea of how the pre-Socratic
philosophers in ancient Greece went about their philosophic endeavor and pursuit of
philosophy.
DOING PHILOSOPHY IN ANCIENT GREECE

The importance of the first group of philosophers known as the pre-Socratics should not be
underestimated. In fact many of the popular ideas today had their roots in pre-Socratic
philosophy.
It has been a very long journey since the beginning of western philosophy dating back to 630 BCE
in Melitus. Melitus as a fishing village and center of trade and commerce in ancient Greece was
the ideal place for the first practice of philosophy to emerge, according to Curd. It became the
melting pot of ideas from other cultures in other parts of the globe.
Thales was known to have brought back geometry from Egypt, where he would travel for his
olive oil trade.Thus, Milesians were exposed to and became tolerant of different ideas.
The Milesians (Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes)

Thales was the most popular among the three, being the father of western philosophy and
was regarded as one of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece.
Anaximander on the other hand, was a student of Thales. While Anaximenes was a student of
Anaximander. What needs to be given emphasis here is that this first group of philosophers were
the first thinkers who gave us non-mythological account of nature of reality and the universe
without the aid of instruments, merely using their rational faculty together with their ability not
only to observe but also to speculate..
They were also considered as hylozoists (from the root word “hylo” or material.) For this reason,
Thales believed that the lodestone or natural magnet is alive since it could make objects move.
*Thales- pre-Socratic from Miletus in Asia Minor and one of the Seven Sages of Greece
* Anaximander- pre-Socratic Greek philosopher in Miletus
* Anaximenes- Known for his doctrine that air is the source of all things
* Anaximander tried to explain the origin of man from his observation about sharks, thus he
concluded that man came from fishes because he observed that just like sharks, man has more or
less the same gestation
 Pythagoras

After the Milesians, one important philosophers was Pythagoras at around 531BCE. He was the leader of a
religious cult known as the Pythagoras. Among the pre-Socratics, he was different because he treated philosophy
in a different way; it was a way of life. For him, philosophy and religion are connected and merged into one.
He considered philosophy and mathematics as good for the purification of the soul. He gave importance to the
contemplative life for the cathartic process of purification.
He has the principle of the finite (even numbers) and the infinite (odd numbers); the number ten is perfect
number, they have oblong numbers, triangular numbers; square numbers; the number of marriage is associated
with the number five, even the beauty and balance of the musical scales can be explained through numbers.
Both Plato and Aristotle appreciated the importance of contemplation that Pythagoras emphasized. Thus, both
philosophers gave importance to contemplation and the contemplative life in their respective philosophies.
 Heraclitus

At around 500 BCE, Heraclitus came. He was known for his mystical nature of his philosophy, especially his
idea about change. He believes that the only thing that is permanent in this world is CHANGE. (also known as
flux of becoming). Heraclitus was known to have said the following: ‘ You cannot step twice into the same rivers,
for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you.We step and do not step into the same rivers, we are and are not.
Heraclitus viewed the world as always changing which he likened to an ever-living fire. According to him, “ This
world, which is the same for all, no one of gods or man has made; but it was ever, is now, and ever shall be, an
ever-living fire, with measures of its kindling and measures going out. He used the flames of fire to emphasize the
idea of CHANGE.
The idea of change from Heraclitus will later become an inspiration in the development of philosophical ideas all
throughout the history of modern and contemporary thought.
 Parminedes

At approximately 450 BCE, Parmenides would known as the leader od Eleatic school, from Elea in Southern
Italy, now Velia in Naples. His philosophical idea is a contradiction of the idea of change from Heraclitus. He
proposed that the only that is permanent in this world is BEING, that is reality is made up of one continuous
object or plenum called being.
Change, for him, is merely an illusion. Amidst this illusion of change, there is something indestructible, immovable,
complete, and without beginning or end which he called ‘being’.
Thus, for Parmenides, there is no such thing as change and motion. Moreover, his idea that reality is being and
that we are, therefore, interconnected had inspired phenomenology and existentialism in their notion of being.
 Empedocles

Empedocles (493-433 BCE) was a very interesting figure among the roster of pre-Socratic philosophers. He
believed himself to be immortal and that he and magical powers/ He was known to have cured somebody who
was comatose for 24 months. He had a lover named Pausanias, who was an inspiration for his numerous poems.
What makes Empedocles different from the rest of the pre-Socratic is that he firmly believed that he was
immortal and to prove this, he allegedly leaped into the mouth of Mt. Etna, an active volcano in Sicily, southern
Italy, that lead to his untimely death.
He was the proponent of the notion that reality is mad up of the four elements namely earth, air, fire and water.
Here, he is regarded as a pluralist because he had four elements as his fundamental substances that reality is
made of instead of only one substance.
 Anaxagoras

Around 480 BCE Anaxagoras believed that there is not just one element that reality is made of. As a matter
of fact, for him, there are as many seeds or elements as there are kinds of things. Thus, for him, there are as many
seeds or elements as there are kinds of things. Thus, for him, matter becomes infinitely divisible. Whenever you
divide matter, each separated part will contain elements of everything else.
Another important contribution of Anaxagoras is his idea about the nous or the mind, which was conceived of
as external but is infinite and is self-ruled and according to him, “has the greatest strength an power over all
things..”
The following quote from Anaxagoras would summarize his philosophy about reality and the nous” “ All things
have a portion of everything, while nous is infinite and is self-ruled and is mixed with nothing, but it is alone, itself
by itself… it has knowledge about all things. Some scholars suggest that this may have been an inspiration for the
conception of the characteristics of the Christian God, which was yet to be formalized as a doctrine at this early
period.
 Zeno of Elea

Zeno was a student and loyal follower of Parminides at around 490 BCE. As expected he would pronounce
and reiterate the idea of Parminides that reality is being. Thus, to strengthen the point that we are all
interconnected as being, he went on to prove this assumption by pronouncing that there is no motion. This
became his impetus to propose his arguments against motion.
Originally, Zeno had four arguments against motion but in these four arguments, there are two main ideas that
are being proposed.
Unknown to many, it was not Socrates who first used dialectics, or the dialectical, or the dialectical method,
which is the process of taking up the hypothesis or argument of your opponent as if you agree with it and
deducing contradictory consequences from it to make it look absurd. It was Zeno who first used the method of
dialectics in his arguments against motion.
 Doing Philosophy: East and West

The practice of doing Philosophy, together with its approach, could be considered as contrasting and different in
Eastern as from Western philosophy. It was seen in the previous lesson that during the pre-Socratic period in ancient
Greece, which has been referred to as marking the beginnings of Western philosophy, the basic task for these
philosophers was to satisfy their curiosity.
Western Philosophy tends to make heavy use of logic, reason, and categorization. An idea is presented, reasons are
given for believing in the idea, and then conclusions are made based on the idea. Western philosophy breaks down
ideas and tends to focus on the parts rather than the whole. This also marked the beginning of the process of
searching for knowledge for its sake. This practice of philosophy is very different from what they have been used to,
making the beginnings of Western philosophy somewhat revolutionary, because it went against tradition.
For the first time, man’s rationality is the key to explaining the order or logos in the universe, Thus, the universe was
conceived as a cosmos, an orderly system that is governed by laws that could be coherently explained by man. As a
consequence, the beginnings of philosophy could be described as the beginning of the process of searching for
knowledge for its own sake.
Unlike the West, Eastern philosophy seems to have no dichotomy between the objective world and man as a human
being. The Eastern tradition of philosophizing has been associated with their religion. Thus, they may not see the same
objective reality that the Western tradition is trying to explain and analyze. For them, philosophy and religion are one.
When they are doing philosophy, they are also practicing their religion. There is no dichotomy or separation between
man and the objective world. They look at man as being one with the world. Thus, their being or their oneness with
the world could actually be experienced by practicing their religion.
There need not be an artificial dichotomy in the practice of Eastern philosophy. Through their consciousness, not
through the objective self the Western philosophy is used to, they could experience this oneness with the world.
Consequently, the approach of Eastern philosophy could be summarized as philosophy is a way of life. Here, they are
one with the world and the universe, they actually experience this consciousness when they are practicing their
religion and at the same time doing philosophy.Thus, those who succeed could claim.
For example, that they have reached the highest level of consciousness, or Nirvana like the Buddhist tradition.
SUBJECT MATTER

In the history of man’s search for answers to philosophical

questions, three views are dominant – the cosmocentric, theocentric,
and anthropocentric views.
Not only do these views reveal the development of
philosophical thought as philosophers wondered about different
things throughout time, they also reflect dialectics (a collaborative
technique of refutation and dialogue to resolve philosophical
questions).
COSMOCENTRIC

Ancient philosophy (600 BCE – 600 AD) may be characterized

as a period that held the cosmocentric view. Ancient philosophers
wondered about the world (kosmos in Greek).
The question that concerned them was the origin of the
universe – the arche (Greek for ‘starting point’). Their desire for truth
is reflected in the question that may be simply put as “Where did all
things come from?” The question was about the ultimate nature of the
world. The answer, they thought, would be a substance responsible for
the multiplicity of things.
THEOCENTRIC

In the medieval period during which the Church sustained the

man’s intellect, the world became secondary to God (theos in Greek)
and Christianity greatly influenced philosophy. Thus, there were a
number of medieval philosophers who philosophized using a
theocentric view. Among them are Avicenna, St. Augustine, and St.
Thomas Aquinas.
The first Muslim philosopher Avicenna (930-1037) argued that in
this world, the existence of beings can be traced to another being
responsible for its existence.
THEOCENTRIC

“Since an infinite chain is impossible, it has to end at some point.

The being in which the chain ends must be self-sufficient (that is, not
dependent on another being for its existence). That being which is the
starting point of the entire chain of existence is God.”
- Avicenna (930-1037)
Because a holistic account of reality is demanded by philosophy,
highly trained and educated theologians turned to religious texts and
doctrines.
ANTHROPOCENTRIC

The modern period (1500-1900) in philosophy is characterized by

subjectivity and individualism, hence, centered on man (anthropos in
Greek). The anthropocentric view was the result both of the rise of
modern science and the diminished authority of the Church in the 17th
century.
In his account of modern philosophy, Bertrand Russell explained
that progress in the scientific field made man realize the practical utility
of science as a technique rather than a doctrine that explained the
nature of the world (Russell, 1996). This idea sheds light on the
philosophies characterized in this period – rationalism and empiricism.
RATIONALISM & EMPIRICISM

✓ Rationalism is committed to the view that knowledge is acquired

through reason independent of sense experience.
✓ Empiricism, on the other hand, holds that all knowledge derived
from sense experience.
THREE IMPORTANT NAMES
TO KNOW:

Plato (427–347 BCE)

was a student of Socrates and the leading spokesman

for Socrates’ ideas. He was shocked by Socrates’ execution
and dedicated his life to developing and spreading his
philosophy. In 385 BCE he set up the Academy to educate
the future leaders of Athens in morality and philosophy in
general.
THREE IMPORTANT NAMES
TO KNOW:

Aristotle (384–322 BCE),

a student of Plato, strongly disagreed with many of his

teacher’s theories. Aristotle was an accomplished scientist
as well as a philosopher, and his ideas ruled most of the
sciences—especially biology— until modern times. He was
the tutor of Alexander (who became “the Great”) and later
founded his own school (the Lyceum) in Athens. When
Alexander died, Aristotle was forced to flee, commenting
that he would not let Athens “sin against philosophy a
second time.”
THREE IMPORTANT NAMES
TO KNOW:
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)
was, in the opinion of many philosophers, the greatest
philosopher of modern times. He spent his entire life in a
small eastern Prussian town (Königsberg). He was famous for
his simple, regular life. (He never married, and his neighbors
were said to set their clocks by his punctual afternoon
walks.) And yet this somewhat uninteresting professor was
also an enthusiast of the French Revolution—and a
revolutionary in his own way, too. His ideas turned many of
the traditional views of knowledge, religion, and morality
upside down.
 ACTIVITY

1. Group yourself with 5 members.

2. Ask among yourselves which one of the three central view of philosophy can
best answer the question:
“Who am I?” “What is my purpose?” “Why do I exist?”
3. Choose one central view (cosmocentric, theocentric, and anthropocentric).
4. Discuss it to the class. Why do you think that particular view can best answer
the questions posted?
 EVALUATION
1. WHAT are the difficulties you experienced in your group discussion before
arriving at your collective answer?

2. WHY did you think, personally, that your answer is philosophically sound?

3. HOW can you apply your central view on other social matters – global
warming, politics, or gender preference?

4. WHERE can you apply your central view in your ordinary day?
EXERCISE
Matching Type.
SET A SET B

1. Empiricism a. The Greek word for ‘starting point’

2. Anthropocentric View b. Argued that in this world, the existence of
beings can be traced to another being
responsible for its existence.
3. Immanuel Kant c. It is the result both of the rise of modern
science and the diminished authority of the
Church in the 17th century.
4. Arche d. Holds that all knowledge derived from sense
experience.
5. Avicenna e. His ideas turned many of the traditional views
of knowledge, religion, and morality upside
down.
 VLOG

a. Create a 1-minute vlog.

b. Answer: How did this lesson help you in your Life Philosophy?
c. Include an illustration or personal experience.