INTRODUCTION TO THE

PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN

PERSON
Prepared by: MRS. LESLIE MONICA M. REYES
Teacher I
 WALKING FLASHCARDS
The teacher will instruct the students that
once she says “GO”, one member of each
group will run to the term wall to select a term
card. The group member must then run to the
definition wall and post the term card to the
meaning which he/ she thinks it matches.
Once it is posted, he/she will tap the hand of
the next group member who will do the same
procedure. They will be given ten (10) minutes
to match all the terms with its definition. At
the end of the game, the group with the most
correct matches wins.
ACTIVITY: PICTURE ANALYSIS
ACTIVITY: PICTURE ANALYSIS

What word/s
can you
associate with
the figure
shown? Explain.
ACTIVITY: PICTURE ANALYSIS

What can you say

about the picture?
Can you site an
instance in your life
where you have been
in this kind of
situation?
ACTIVITY: PICTURE ANALYSIS

How would you

explain this figure? In
relation to your
answer in question
number 2, what things
did you considered in
having that choice/
decision in your life?
UNIT TWO-LESSON FIVE

Freedom of the Human

Person
PPT11/12-IIa-5.1
Realizes that “ All Actions have
consequences”
Aristotle-The Power of Volition
Reason can legislate, but only through will
can its legislation be translated into
action. The task of practical intellect is to
guide will and be enlightening with it.
Will, in fact, is to be understood wholly in
terms of intellect. If there were no
intellect, there would be no will. This is
obvious from the way it is rationally
denominated.
Aristotle-The Power of Volition

The will of humanity is an instrument of free

choice. It is within the power of everyone to be
good or bad, worthy or worthless. This is borne
out by;
•Our inner awareness of an aptitude to do right or
wrong
•The common testimony ,of all human beings;
•The reward and punishment of rulers; and
•The general employment of praise and blame
Aristotle-The Power of Volition

Moral acts are our power and

we are responsible for them.
Character or habit is no
excuse for immoral conduct.
Aristotle-The Power of Volition

Reason, will
and actions
drive with
each other.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Love is Freedom

In all creatures of God, human

beings have the unique power to
change themselves and the
things around them for the
better. He consider that the
human as moral agent.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Love is Freedom

A human being, therefore, has

a supernatural, transcendental
destiny. This mean that he can
rise above his ordinary being
of self.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Love is Freedom

The power of change, however,

cannot be done by human being
alone, but it is achieved through
cooperation with God. Change should
promote not just any purely private
advantage, but the good of the
community.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Love is Freedom

FOUR FOLD CLASSIFICATION OF LAW

by Aquinas
1. Eternal Law
2. Natural Law
3. Human Law
4. Divine Law
St. Thomas Aquinas
Love is Freedom
Eternal Law
Is the Divine Wisdom of God which
oversees the common good and
governs everything. Eternal law is
God’s plan to lead all creation
towards God’s eternal salvific plan to
be holy and blameless before Him
through Jesus Christ.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Love is Freedom

Divine Law
Is the historical laws of Scripture
given to us through God’s self-
revelation. Divine law is divided into
the Old Law and the New Law,
which correspond to the Old and
New Testaments of the Bible.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Love is Freedom

Natural Law
Is “the rational creature’s
participation in the eternal law”.
It is a foundation for moral and
civil law
St. Thomas Aquinas
Love is Freedom

Human Law
Is the interpretation of
natural law in different
contexts.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Spiritual Freedom

1. What message does the film

projects?
2. If you were the taxi driver,
what choices would you rather
take?
St. Thomas Aquinas
Spiritual Freedom

As humans, we are
both material and
spiritual. We have a
conscience because
of our spirituality.
God is Love and Love
is our destiny.
Jean Paul Sartre:
Individual Freedom

Sartre’s Philosophy is considered to be

representative of existentialism. For him the
human person is the desire to be good; the
desire to exist as a being which has its
sufficient ground in itself (en sui causa).
There are no guide posts along the road of
life. The human person builds the road to
the destiny where he himself is the creator.
Jean Paul Sartre:
Individual Freedom

Sartre’s theory stem from this principle:

“Existence precedes essence”
- The person, first, exists, encounters
himself and surges up on the world then
defines himself afterward. The person is
nothing else but that what he makes of
himself.
Jean Paul Sartre:
Individual Freedom

-The person is provided with supreme

opportunity to give meaning to one’s life
-Freedom is therefore, the very core and
the door to authentic existence. Authentic
existence is realized only in deeds that are
committed alone, in absolute freedom and
responsibility and which, therefore the
character of true creation.
Jean Paul Sartre:
Individual Freedom

- On the other hand, the

human person who tries to escape
obligations and strives to be
en- soi is acting on bad faith
(mauval foi)
Jean Paul Sartre:
Individual Freedom

- Sartre emphasizes the importance of

free individual choice, regardless of the
power of other people to influence and
coerce our desires, beliefs, and decisions.
To be human, to be conscious, is to be
free to imagine, free to choose, and be
responsible for one’s life.
Thomas Hobbes:
Theory of Social Contract
Thomas Hobbes:
Theory of Social Contract

A Law of Nature (lex naturalis) is a

precept or general rule established by
reason, by which a person is forbidden to
do that which is destructive of his life or
takes away the means of preserving the
same; and to omit that by which he
thinks it may be best preserved.
Thomas Hobbes:
Theory of Social Contract

Mutual transferring of
these rights is called a
contract and is basis of the
notion of moral obligation
and duty.
Thomas Hobbes:
Theory of Social Contract

The rational pursuits of self-

preservation is what leads us to
form commonwealths or states;
the laws of nature give the
conditions for the establishment
of society and government.
Thomas Hobbes:
Theory of Social Contract
Thomas Hobbes:
Theory of Social Contract
Thomas Hobbes:
Theory of Social Contract

In Leviathan, Hobbes asserts:

1. The fundamental law of nature
seeks peace and follows it, while at
the same time, by the sum of
natural right, we should defend
ourselves by all means that we
can.
Thomas Hobbes:
Theory of Social Contract

2. “No contracts can be

made with animals since
animals cannot understand
an agreement.”
Thomas Hobbes:
Theory of Social Contract

3. The third law of nature is

that human beings perform
their covenant made. This
law is a fountain of justice.
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

Rousseau is one of the most

famous and influential
philosophers of the French
Enlightenment in the 18th century.
In his book, The Social Contract,
he elaborated his theory of
human nature.
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

The “EDSA Revolution” is

an example, though an
imperfect one, of what the
theory of Social Contract is
all about.
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

In order to restore peace, bring his

freedom back, and as he returned to
his true self, he saw the necessity
and came to form the state through
the social contract whereby everyone
grants his individual rights to the
general will.
POLITICAL FREEDOM
APPLICATION

Can you relate the concept

of freedom in your day to day
living and how do you
consider the consequences of
your actions?
EVALUATION
DIRECTION: Write T if the
statement is True and F if it is
False.
1. Sartre’s Philosophy of freedom
is considered to be representative
of existentialism.
EVALUATION
2. Authentic existence is realized only in
deeds that are committed alone, in
absolute freedom and responsibility and
which, therefore the character of true
creation.
3. Divine Law is the Divine Wisdom of God
which oversees the common good and
governs everything.
EVALUATION
4. Human law is a foundation for moral
and civil law.
5. The power of change, however, cannot be
done by human being alone, but it is
achieved through cooperation with God.
6. As humans, we are both material and
spiritual and we have a conscience
because of our spirituality.
EVALUATION
7. To be human, to be conscious, is
to be free to imagine, free to
choose, and is not responsible for
one’s life.
8. En sui causa is the desire to exist
as a being which has its sufficient
ground in itself .
EVALUATION
9. Eternal law is divided into the Old
Law and the New Law, which
correspond to the Old and New
Testaments of the Bible.
10. In Sartre’s philosophy of individual
freedom, the person is provided with
supreme opportunity to give meaning
to one’s life.
ANSWERS

1. T 6. T
2. T 7. F
3. F 8. T
4. F 9. F
5. T 10. T
AGREEMENT

Watch a video
presentation of the EDSA
Revolution or the life of
Mahatma Ghandi.