INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN “SCIENCE OF SCIENCES”

PERSON - What Philosophy was referred to as at one time,

as the supreme ruler of all sciences.
CHAPTER 1: DOING PHILOSOPHY - In addition, Physics is regarded as the “QUEEN
LESSON 1: THE NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCES”

PHILOSOPHY “Philosophy is vision.” According to Friedrich

• The mother of discipline out of which the other Waismann, an Australian Philosopher.
sciences emerge. (Mater Scientarum)
• During ancient times in Greek Ionia, before the LESSON 2: THE BEGINNINGS OF DOING
emergence of Philosophy as a discipline, any PHILOSOPHY
investigations regarding the nature of things
would be labeled as “Phusis” (nature). ANCIENT GREECE: THE PRE-SOCRATICS
• The 3 Milesians:
PHUSIS o Thales
- During ancient times in Greek Ionia, before the o Anaximander
emergence of Philosophy as a discipline, any o Anaximenes
investigations regarding the nature of things
would be labeled as “Phusis” (nature). The story of Philosophy started with the triumvirate the 3
• It means that there is no distinction Milesians. This first group of philosophers are the first
between science, philosophy, and thinkers who gave us a non-mythological account of the
religion. nature of reality and the universe without the aid of
• Thus, any investigation regarding the instruments, by merely using their rational faculty
nature of things in general falls under together with their ability to observe and speculate.
PHUSIS.
THALES They were the first ones who tried to give a unifying
- Started to diverge from the mythological tradition and coherent explanation of the nature of reality.
and sought to answer questions like:
• What is the underlying substance They gave the doctrine of “Hylozoist”.
that reality is made of?
• How do things come to be, change 1. THALES
and pass away? - The most popular among the three.
• Is there something that remains - The Father of Western Philosophy and was
amidst all these changes? regarded as one of the Seven Sages of Ancient
- With this inquiry, Thales emerged the beginning Greece.
of Western Philosophy. 2. ANAXIMANDER
- The underlying substance that reality is made of - Student of Thales
must be water. 3. ANAXIMENES
- Student of Anaximander.
3 CHARACTERISTICS OF A PHILOSOPHICAL
QUESTION (According to Isaiah Berlin) 1. THALES (650 B.C.)
- The fundamental substance or primary
1. These questions are often BROAD and constituent of reality is WATER.
GENERAL. - First philosopher to assume the world is FLAT.
2. There is no single methodology in answering • Such that you will fall when you reach
these questions. the end of the horizon.
3. These questions seem to have no practical - He was also a Mathematician.
utility. (Trivial) - He was also considered an Astronomer
because he was credited to have successfully
THE TASK OF PHILOSOPHY PREDICTED AN ECLIPSE.
- To ask many general questions that led towards
the development of a particular science. 2. ANAXIMANDER (610-540 B.C.)
- It is in the discipline of philosophy where the - The fundamental substance of reality is the
framework of these sciences have been INFINITE or the APEIRON.
subjected to constant criticisms and questioning - Believed that the world is CYLINDRICAL and
which, in turn, led to the refinement of their SUSPENDED IN SPACE.
methodology. - First Philosopher to attempt to draw a map.
- After this rigorous process of constant
refinement and criticisms, this would enable THE APEIRON
that young emerging discipline to stand on - Has no precise characteristics or attributes.
its own. - It is ageless, eternal, and encompasses all the
worlds.
PHILOSOPHY AS THE SECOND-ORDER INQUIRY
- Philosophy could be considered as a meta- 3. ANAXIMENES (588-524 B.C.)
discipline that transcends and crosses over - The fundamental substance of reality is AIR.
different areas of disciplines.
 - Like Thales he went back to the flat earth 8. ANAXAGORAS (480 B.C.)
theory, but unlike Thales who did not give an - Believed that there is not just one element that
exact shape of the earth. reality is made of.
- The Earth and other heavenly bodies are: • There are as many seeds or element as
• SAUCERS there are kinds of things.
§ Flat and round. - Matter is “infinitely divisible”.
• Whenever you divide matter each
OTHER PRE-SOCRATES PHILOSOPHERS separate part will contain elements of
everything else.
4. PYTHAGORAS (531 B.C.) • The pie analogy.
- The primary constituent of reality is NUMBERS.
• Anything can be explained through NOUS (MIND)
numbers. - Conceived of as external but is infinite and is
- “Philosophy is a way of life.” self-ruled and according to him “has the greatest
- Philosophy and religion are connected and strength and power over all things”.
merged into one. - Another important contribution of Anaxagoras.
- Considered philosophy and mathematics as - “All things have a portion of everything, while
good for the purification of the soul. nous is infinite and is self-ruled and is mixed
• He gave importance to the with nothing, but it is alone, itself by itself… it
contemplative life for this cathartic has knowledge about all things.”
process of purification.
- First pre-Socratic philosopher to use the term 9. ZENO OF ELEA (490 B.C.)
“LOGOS” for his Cosmology by trying to - Reiterate that the reality is BEING.
explain the nature of the universe through - A student and a loyal follower of Parmenides,
rational thought. that’s why.
- He has 4 arguments against motion, but in
5. HERACLITUS (500 B.C.) these four, there are two main ideas that are
- The only permanent thing is CHANGE. being proposed.
- He is known for the mystical nature of
philosophy, especially his idea about “change” A. ACHILLES AND THE TORTOISE
- He viewed the world as always changing which - If a matter is infinitely divisible as Anaxagoras
is likened to an ever-living fire. claimed, the race course could be divided into
- This world is the same for all, no one of an infinite number of points between Achilles
gods, or human has made; but it was ever, is and the tortoise (using DIALECTICS).
now and ever shall be, an ever living fire, • DIALECTICS
with measures of its kindling and measures § The process of taking up the
going out,” he said. hypothesis or argument of your
opponents as if you agree with
6. PARMENIDES (450 B.C.) it and deduce contradictory
- Only things that is permanent in this world is consequences from it.
BEING. § Used by politicians.
• In contradiction to Heraclitus’s idea of
change. B. ARROW PARADOX
- Known as the leader of the “Eleatic School” - The arrow in flight is at rest.
from Elea in Southern Italy. - If matter is finite divisible, then at any given
- Change for him is merely an illusion. point that you locate the arrow, it occupies a
certain portion of space where it is situated.
THE BEING
- Reality is made up of one continuous object or 10. LEUCIPPUS & DEMOCRITUS
plenum called being. - Reality is made of the ultimate substance called
- Amidst this illusion of change, there is ATOMS.
something indestructible, immovable complete - Atoms are indivisible and inseparable, must be
and without beginning or end. the ultimate constituent of matter.
- His idea that reality is being had inspired • This concept was later accepted by
phenomenology and existentialism in their scientific community and proven upon
notion of being. discovery of the microscope as a tool for
- There is no such thing as change and motion. examining matter.

7. EMPEDOCLES (494-433 B.C.) EASTERN VS. WESTERN PHILOSOPHY

- He is the proponent of the notion that reality is
made up of the four elements namely: WEST EAST
• Earth Veered from mythological No Dichotomy between
• Air tradition. world and man as a
• Fire human being.
• Water Makes heavy use of logic, Philosophy and Religion
reason and categorization. are one.
 Breaks down ideas and Philosophy is a way of life. • “What do you mean by that?”
tends to focus on parts • Using this as a guide: the phrase “coming first”
(West). could be associated with several meaning like:
1. From the reproductive standpoint = chicken
WHAT REALITY IS MADE UP OF ACCORDING TO 2. Developmental stage = egg
PHILOSOPHERS:
Thus, no quarrel with the answer the chicken or the
Philosopher Substance egg. With analytical philosophy the concepts that
THALES Water we take for granted we can easily resolve the issue.
ANAXIMANDER Infinite / The Apeiron
ANAXIMENES Air 2. SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY
PYTHAGORAS Numbers (METAPHYSICS)
HERACLITUS Change - tries to find an underlying explanation or general
PARMENIDES Being / No Change principle that could explain reality in its entirety.
- As Broad would put it:
EMPEDOCLES Earth, Air, Water, Fire
“Speculative Philosophy aims to reach some
ANAXAGORAS Infinitely Divisible
general conclusions as to the nature of the
ZENO OF ELEA Being / No Change
universe; and as to our position and
LEUCIPPUS & Atoms prospects in it. It is an attempt to think
DEMOCRITUS
synoptically of all the facts – the results
might be trivial but the process will remind
APPROACHES IN DOING PHILOSOPHY us of the extreme complexity of the world.”
1. ANALYTICAL PHILOSOPHY (CRITICAL) ABSTRACTION
- According to Broad has two fundamental tasks: - the process of extracting a unifying explanation
A. The analysis and definition of our from the multiplicity of the things around.
fundamental concepts. - by trying to abstract the essence of the
B. The clear and resolute criticisms of our particular things that exist, they try to give and
beliefs. offer a coherent explanation about the nature
Ex: Bats fly! / Bats are mammals that fly! and reality and its underlying substance.
NUANCES REDUCTION AND HOLISTIC PHILOSOPHY
- We take for granted that we understand, what is
being said. 1. REDUCTIONIST PHILOSOPHY
- Misuse of concepts. - Understanding complex ideas by reducing them
to their parts or individual constituents.
Q: WHICH COMES FIRST, THE CHICKEN OR THE - It holds the notion of a classical Newtonian
EGG? assumption that a complex system is nothing
• Let us apply analytical philosophy: but just a sum of its parts and that everything in
• We could has two answers which are both right. it can be reduced to individual properties.
1. Chicken because it is needed before - Reductionist approach is analogous to the level
hatching an egg. of organization in science in which an organism
2. Egg before it can grow as a full-grown can be broken down into organ system, organ,
chicken. tissue and cell.
• Others may have alternative answers
like 2. HOLISTIC PHILOSOPHY
• Chicken because of the - Holistic Philosophy works on the assumption
alphabetical arrangement of the that properties in a given system cannot be
letters. broken down by its component parts alone, but,
• Biblical answer tracing Noah’s rather the system as a whole entity decides how
Ark where he brought in full the individual parts behave.
grown animal pairs including the - Holism is the idea that something can be more
chicken. than the sum of its parts: more specifically it
• The list of possible answers refers to the concept of reality.
given above is not exhaustive. - Aristotle in Metaphysics stated that “The whole
is more than the sum of its parts.”
How do we use analytical philosophy in order to - Fundamental Assumption: “The properties of
resolve the problem stated? the parts contribute to the understanding of
• First: The analysis and definition of our the whole. However, the properties of the
fundamental concepts. part can only be fully understood through
• We need to recognize that this is not a the dynamics of the whole.”
disagreement in fact. (Our disagreement - Thus, the primary focus of holism is the
is not based on how facts actually relationship between the parts or its
stand.) interconnectedness and interactions.
• The contentious here is verbal
disagreement for the use of the phrase
“coming first”.
 HOLISM IN PHILOSOPHY Ø Unfortunately, thinking like this often leads to a life
• Refers to any kind of doctrine that gives priority of missed opportunities and mediocrity because
to the whole over its parts. you’d never realize how much more of reality
• Refutes the necessity to divide the functions of actually existed outside the “cave”.
separate parts to the overall mechanism of the
whole. l The person who escaped the cave:
- Also its key characteristics is the concept of a Ø This represents the small handful of people who
certain fundamental truth of any particular dare to think and act in a different way from the
experience. crowd.
• It suggest that a mental state can be identified Ø They don’t have an imagined “shadow” reality
only in terms of its relations with others. because they have stepped outside their comfort
zone into the “sunshine” to uncover the true reality
2 MAIN TYPES OF HOLISM of life.
Ø These people live a life of limitless possibilities and
1. EPISTEMOLOGICAL HOLISM often change the course of history (think of Martin
(CONFIRMATION HOLISM) Luther King, Steve Jobs, who went beyond the
- Claims a scientific theory cannot be tested common and changed the course of history.)
individually, since testing a single theory would Ø It is not because they’re better than everyone else
always depend on other established theories that they’ve “escaped the cave”, it’s simply because
and hypothesis. they’ve made a decision to consistently step
outside their comfort zone, face their fears and
2. SEMANTIC HOLISM think in a unique way.
- Every word has meaning only in relation to other
words, sentences or the language in which it is l How can you escape this “cave”?
used. Ø The key life lesson from Plato’s Allegory of the
Cave is to question every assumption you have
PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE about reality you call “real”.
- Suggests that a certain part of language, a term Ø This is a very powerful way to develop the skill of
or a complete sentence, can only be understood thinking for yourself and discovering your own
through its relations to a larger segment of unique solutions to any problem.
language or possible the entire language.
l With the argument of the imprisonment of the
KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, AND OPINION soul in the body Plato claims that:
PLATO’S METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM Ø “Knowledge is remembrance.”
Ø It was a matter of remembering knowledge that you
Ø Philosophy is Wisdom had before in order to be able to pursue goodness
Ø The Platonic Philosophy will add further that and the good life.
knowledge is wisdom and virtue is knowledge. Ø Plato forwarded the idea of “DUALISM” between
Ø According to Plato, “Everything that we see in this mind and body.
world is nothing but a secondary copy of idea in Ø The pursuit if knowledge is connected with wisdom.
what he called the World of Forms and Ideas.” Ø Thus with this concept according to Plato, “virtue
is knowledge” and “knowlegde is wisdom”
THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE BY PLATO
Ø He described prisoners inside a cave, where they l Under Platonic Philosophy:
are chained facing a wall since birth. Behind and Ø “Knowledge is equivalent to virtue and wisdom.”
above the prisoners are people carrying objects Ø Plato’s ethics and morality are embedded in his
along a road and beyond this road is a burning fire. metaphysical system as the quest for Good life.
The burning fire would cast the shadows of the Ø “Knowledge is a matter of knowing and
people with their objects to the wall in front of the remembering goodness, and once somebody knew,
prisoners. Consequently, the prisoners could see he would automatically become virtous because he
only the images or shadows cast by these objects. would immediately do what is good. This constitute
Ø The best way to learn from Plato’s Allegory of the the attainment of wisdom”
Cave is to think of the people trapped in the
cave as majority of people in the world. World of Forms World of Appearances
Ø The cave people believed that the shadows they Intelligible Realm Visible Realm
saw were the “truth”, just like majority of the world Knowledge (episteme) Opinion (doxa)
A B C D
who believe in the pursue shadows based on
Intelligence Mathematical Beliefs Illusion
money, education, fame, love and so on. (noesis) Reasoning (pistil) (eikasia)
Ø (Additional Note: Meaning they were (dianola)
deceived to think they were seeing the PURE SOME OBJECTS IMAGES
whole picture when in fact, all is nothing but IDEAS IDEAS
an illusion or only a portion of things.) Forms Mathematical Animals Shadows
Ø These are general ideas and social norms that (eidos) Forms Man- and
we’ve been told to stick to from childhood because Philosophy Geometry Made Reflections
of the majority consensus. Items
Close to Truth and Reality Further from Truth and Reality • This recognition and realization of one’s
limitations and ignorance will help the soul gain
THE DIVIDED LINE OF KNOWLEDGE AND OPINION noetic insights and enlightenment.
• This is the only time that one could be prepared
SENSIBLE WORLD for true knowledge using the “eye of the mind”
• known through the use of our senses paving the which is the soul or intellect.
basis for opinion.
INTELLIGIBLE WORLD 2. UNDERSTANDING / DIANOIA
• is known through the use of the intellect paving • Using scientific, mathematical, or abstract
the basis for knowledge. hypothesis.
• This has to do with the lower type of knowledge,
2 DIVISIONS OF OPINION which is associated with mathematics, abstract
or scientific understanding.
1. ILLUSION / IMAGINATION (eikasia) • Relies on some assumptions, hypothesis and
• Lowest type of opinion. imagery from physical or sensible world.
• This is represented by the shadow seen by the • In certain extent, dianoia is still dependent on
prisoners. the sensible world for an explanation and
• It also includes second hand information that we representation of its assumptions and images,
accept without further investigation or search for but the process of understanding itself, or
any evidence. dianoia is operating not at the level of the
• Among the objects in this illusory realm would sensible/physical world, but in the abstract and
be poetry and works of art like painting. mathematical level.

2. BELIEF / CONVICTION (pistis) THE SOCRATIC METHOD: AN EXERCISE IN

• Our commonsensical view about the world. DIALECTICS BY SOCRATES
• Includes one’s commonsensical notion of
morality, which should not be the basis for real The Socratic method is an example of
knowledge. method of dialectics.
• This is what many of us would be familiar with,
the so-called practical knowledge. In Plato’s early dialogues where Socrates
• Compared with illusion, belief is a bit clearer and was the main character, like Protagoras, Gorgias, Meno,
is based on a more grounded basis of looking at and other, this method has proven to be very effective in
the physical world. exposing the views of his opponent.

Plato: “The real objective is the search for Socrates gained the ire of the Sophist (the wise only) by
knowledge.” showing the absurdity of their ideas through dialectics.

2 LEVELS OF KNOWLEDGE • Socrates and Plato disagree with their teaching, in

general; especially on their promoting the relativity of
1. REASON / NOESIS morality and their asking for fee in particular.
• Using the intellect.
• Is higher than Dianoia because it deals with the • Thus resulted to the disagreement of the
GRASPING oof complete of perfect forms and two parties. Some of the sophist in Plato’s
ideas, especially the idea of the good in the dialogue were:
world of forms and ideas. o Protagoras - Man is justice / righteous.
• A direct apprehension of the transcendent o Gorgias - Virtue is not one but many.
objects of knowledge in the other world or o Thrasmachus – Justice or righteous is the
dimension, NOT in this physical world. interest of the stronger party.
• The knowledge is not dependent on the physical
world or the world of senses. What is certain though is that Socrates had
influenced Plato in the development of his
According to Socrates: “An unexamined life is not worth philosophical ideas. The Socratic influence is evident
living.” in the early and middle dialogues of Plato, including his
opus, The Republic.
• This passage is meant to emphasize the
importance of contemplation or the philosophical
life in order to remember the perfect THE REPUBLIC – Opus of Plato, heavily influenced by
knowledge that the soul knew before it Socrates.
joined the body.
It was only on the later dialogue that Plato started to
• Living is just the body trying to remember
develop his own philosophical ideas independent of
knowledge.
the Socratic influence.
• Before achieving full or complete knowledge,
the person has to go through the process of
recognizing his own ignorance or aporia.
METHOD OF SYSTEMATIC DOUBT: AN EXERCISE
IN SKEPTICISM BY RENE DESCARTES
RENE DESCARTES exist on its own without being dependent on the
• Believed that knowledge can proceed or start existence of the body. Thus, according to Descartes:
from very few premises or stating point. “He could imagine himself existing without the body,
• Once one is certain about what these starting but he could not imagine himself without the mind.”
points of knowledge are, he can expand it.
• Descartes saw the structure of knowledge as He then went on to use the method of systematic
an inverted pyramid = where a few premises are doubt to prove the two other indubitable premises of
the starting point. knowledge, the existence of God and material objects,
• The indubitable premises are logically true and as infallible knowledge of substances guaranteed by
non-sensical to doubt because the moment that the faculty of reason.
you doubt them, you would contradict yourself.
(Principle of Non-Contradiction). THE NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE
• This clear and distinct ideas which Descartes
considered as the starting points of knowledge are: THE STAGES OF APPREHENSION
There are actually three major stages in the
THE 3 INDUBITABLE PREMISES OF KNOWLEDGE apprehension of a concept before knowledge becomes
• Self possible:
• God 1. Perception
2. Abstraction
• Material Objects
3. Judgement
• These 3 could be discovered using the
1. PERCEPTION
method of systematic doubt. – They are considered as
The first stage which involves an activity that does
substances, where through the use of the
not make a different from animals. (Animals also
transcendental faculty of reason, one would be able to
perceived their surroundings including the things around
gain knowledge of, without having to rely on experience
them.)
as a source of knowledge.
TWO TYPES OF PERCEPTION
METHOD OF SYSTEMATIC DOUBT
A. External Perception
• To start with the method of systematic doubt:
B. Internal Perception
• It consists of doubting everything that can be
doubted until you arrived at clear and distinct
2. ABSTRACTION
ideas which are non-sensical to doubt.
Abstraction is the second stage that distinguishes us
• For something to be accepted as one of the
from animals.
starting points or premises of knowledge an idea
• It is the act of perceiving the objects
must be clear and distinct.
intellectually, without affirming or denying anything
• Descartes believed that one of the logically
concerning it.
certain premises is the existence of the self.
• He began his proof for the existence of the • It involves the use of the intellect where we
self by doubting everything that can be grasp what is universal among the different
doubted. particulars that we have observed from
• Even if you doubt everything that can be doubted, (e.g. perception.
you can doubt your parents, if they are really your • The result of this process of abstraction or
parents; your brothers and sisters if you are really apprehension is called concepts.
related by blood; or even the existence of things in the
other room, if nobody is there to perceive them; etc 3. JUDGEMENT
as Descartes argues that you can even doubt your own The third stage in order to complete the act of the
doubt!) With this WE CAN STILL BE SURE AND mind.
CERTAIN ABOUT ONE THING, THAT YOU ARE • It in this stage that we make knowledge claim
DOUBTING. because we are to take 2 concepts and out
them together in order to make a
IN SUMMARY: statement/proposition that could be the
Doubting is a form of thinking – Thinking could not agreement / disagreement of the two concepts.
happen in a vacuum. There must be an owner of these
thoughts. Therefore, thinking implies that you exist as a IN ESSENCE,
substance. You would be contradicting yourself if you 1. Perception = Just perception. No difference
doubt that you exist, at the very moment that you are from animals as they also perceive.
doubting. As a result, the self exists at the very act of 2. Abstraction = We are set apart from animals
doubting- which is a form of thinking. because we perceive objects
INTELLECTUALLY. We make concepts out of
“When we doubt, we cannot doubt that we doubt.” this process.
3. Judgement – We make knowledge claim.
Thus, “Cogito, ergo, sum.” (I think, therefore, I am.)
SENTENCES AND STATEMENTS
• Moreover, the existence of the self as a substance is • The concepts that we put together are
independent of the body. The self as a substance exists expressed using sentences.
at its own nature and has an independent existence. It • We are familiar with the 5 types of
sentences: • Therefore it is not depended on the
• Declarative (express a statement) accumulation of empirical data but they are
• Interrogative (ask a question) concerned with the structure or validity of their
• Imperative (issue a command) sciences within formal deductive framework that
• Expletive (issue a wish) governs them.
• Exclamatory (express surprise)
B. EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE
In Philosophy, we use DECLARATIVE in making claims. • Empirical statements use the faculty of
experience and sense perception in order to
• Philosophers have considered it a necessary tool of establish their knowledge claims.
analysis to classify two meaningful types of statements • Also takes emphasis and makes use of the data
based on two sources that could be accepted and or the content from experience and its
verified. correspondence with the state of affairs to
establish the truth /falsity of their knowledge
2 TYPES OF MEANINGFUL STATEMENTS claims from these empirical sciences.
ACCORDING TO DAVID HUME
Based on the concept of David Hume in his “Skeptical • EMPIRICAL SCIENCE - Gives information about
Doubts Concerning the Operations of the what the world is.
Understanding, he gave two types of meaningful
statements: IN SUMMARY:
A. Analytical Statements • The two general classifications of knowledge in the
B. Empirical Statements sciences belong to two different paradigms:
• EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE gives emphasis on
A. ANALYTICAL STATEMENTS the criterion of verification.
• The truth or falsity of the knowledge claim being made • FORMAL KNOWLEDGE gives emphasis on the
by an analytical statement could be found within the validity or coherence within the system being
statement itself. employed.
Meaning, you do not have to go outside the
statement to search whether the claim is true or KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH
false.
THEORIES OF TRUTH
Example: A Bachelor is an unmarried male of The main question that should be considered here is:
marriageable age. “When does one claim that his/her knowledge claim
• One does know immediately upon examining has the element of truth or falsity?”
of the key terms contained within the statement
because the statement given is a definition of a The answer to this question will be based on three
bachelor. familiar theories of truth:
1. COHERENCE
B. EMPIRICAL STATEMENTS 2. CORRESPONDENCE
• Its truth or falsity depend on the state of affairs 3. PRAGMATIC
being claimed.
• Its truth or falsity rest on its correspondence with 1. COHERENCE THEORY OF TRUTH
facts or with the current state of affairs being claimed. - This has to do with the well-formed formula adopted in
the field of the formal sciences like mathematics,
Example: The sky is blue. logic, trigonometry, geometry, or linguistic systems
• Its truth or falsity depends on additional information or where definitions are considered as tautologies.
claim being made. • COHERENCE – deals with the consistency of
• Its truth or falsity of statement would now depend on the truth of statements being claimed within the
whether or not the state of affair being described system that is being used or employed.
actually obtains at the moment.
For example, one could show a certain proof by using
TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE an accepted or well-formed formula for a certain
• From the distinction established by Hume this leads to mathematical problem.
the traditional distinction of two general types of
knowledge. On the other hand, one could show the unacceptable or
A. Formal Knowledge falsity of a certain statement if it could be shown that
B. Empirical Knowledge there are logical, mathematical, or even definitional
inconsistencies within the system that is being adopted.
A. FORMAL KNOWLEDGE It is a matter of the faculty of reason to discover the
• Corresponds to the knowledge in the formal inconsistencies and formal truths. It is responsible for
sciences whose main concern is the validation the formal types of knowledge that we accept. It is of
of their knowledge claims within the formal course assumed that man’s rationality is universal.
system in their respective discipline.
• It is characterized by the consistency of the 2. CORRENSPONDENCE THEORY OF TRUTH
system being used. - This has to do with the correspondence of knowledge
claims being made with the state of affairs (in other because you were able to receive and enjoy the good or
words, SITUATIONS) in the world. the practical cash value of your belief. But, as you grow
- Different philosophers would have different older, you would realize that you have outgrown the idea
interpretation of what this state of affairs should be, for of believing in Santa Claus, perhaps after the age of
the reason that they have different inclinations. seven and you are not anymore given his gifts, what
- Suffice it to say that no matter what their version or was good and practical before may not be anymore
answers to what is given as the state of affairs in the today.
word may be, correspondence theory assumes that • This is the gist of pragmatic theory of truth. A good
there is something given outside, in the realm of sense number of people could be considered as pragmatist
experience that we perceive as an objective reality. since one always has to consider the question, “If I do
- Correspondence theory would have sense of this, what is in it for me?”
perception or experience as its source of knowledge. • Once examined the choices or alternatives one would
- Our perception becomes the basis for verifying take the consideration the good and practical
something as true or false about the world. consequences before making a decision.

This criterion of verification was emphasized by Alfred SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE

Jules Ayer, in his book entitled “Language, Truth and • There are two accepted sources of knowledge, reason
Logic” where he defined clearly the limits of empirical and experience. This has been accepted as mainstream
statements as only those that are empirically verifiable since these two sources have undergone scrutiny from
through experience. scholars in the different fields.
• There is however a third source of knowledge called
• If something is not empirically verifiable then, they intuition mainly used by moral philosophers claiming to
may be considered as meaningless utterances. have discovered the source of knowledge for moral
• For Ayer, ethical concepts are “pseudo” (not genuine) goodness, where they use the faculty of intuition.
concepts because they could not be subjected to the
process of verification. Thus, they do not have cognitive SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE
meaning but only emotive meaning, where your purpose 1. Knowledge
is to express your feelings and emotions and to 2. Experience
evince/evoke the same feelings and emotions from 3. Intuition (Mainly used by moral philosophers.)
others.
• Unfortunately, the logical positivist, narrowed down the 1. FACULTY OF REASON
realm of knowledge by rejecting a wide range of ethical, • Is construed here as an analytic faculty that is
value, aesthetic and even religious statements and able to determine the truth of analytic
concepts which they considered to contain only emotive statements. Therefore, the truth of knowledge
meaning. claims made in the formal sciences use the
• Hence, evaluate or normative ethical statements are faculty of reason following the framework of
cognitively meaningless because they do not contain coherence within the given system.
any assertion that is verifiable. • It is to say that the analytic faculty of reason as
a legitimate source is confined to the ability of a
3. PRAGMATIC THEORY OF TRUTH human being to perform his rational functions
• Pragmatism is a philosophical viewpoint associated including the act of thinking and analysis.
with an American Philosopher and doctor of medicine • Thus, when one analyzes an analytical
named William James. statement like “a triangle is a closed plane figure
• He asserts that truth is based on the good or practical bounded by three sides” one would be able to
consequences of an idea. “Grant an idea to be true, determine whether the statement is true orfalse
what concrete difference will it being true make in using reason as an analytical faculty by
anyone’s actual life?” employing the coherence theory of truth.
Hence; the nature of knowledge is pragmatic. James
construed both the process of validation and verification 2. FACULTY OF EXPERIENCE
as tantamount to the good or practical consequences • This is also called the faculty of sense
that the belief in an idea would bring. perception.
• He further stated that, “The truth of an idea is not a • It has to do with the 5 senses including sensory
stagnant property inherent in it. Truth happens to an extending devices for the purpose of verifying
idea” – “The truth, to put it briefly, is only the expedition our empirical claims and as a result, leading to
in the way of our thinking, just as the right is only the empirical knowledge.
expedient in the way of our behaving.” • Thus, it uses correspondence theory of truth in
verifying the truth of these empirical statements.
To put an emphasis on this point: let us take an
example: 3. FACULTY OF INTUITION
Example: The idea in believing in Santa Claus. • Considered as the third source of knowledge.
• Of course, many children believe in the idea that Santa
• deals with the immediate /direct recognition of
Claus is true. Remember when you were young, and
self-evident truths. (Sometimes called tacit
you would try to stay awake until the wee hours of the
knowledge).
morning in order to catch Santa putting your Christmas
gifts inside your Christmas socks? Those were the days
TACIT
when you truly believed in Santa Claus’s existence,
 o understood or implied without being
stated. Consequently, Plato looks at the body with contempt
GEORGE EDWARD MOORE because it is the source of our errors. The body together
o The proponent of intuitionism in Ethics. with everything in the world of the senses is therefore
o In his article “Pricipia Ethics”, he considered as having less or even no value at all.
appealed to the faculty of intuition for
the direct or immediate knowledge of The body prevents us from knowing reality and we often
the idea of goodness. submit to its limitations, as when we trust more our
o He assumed that one should be directly senses than our reason and eventually realize that we
acquainted with his object of were deceived by our senses. Plato even considers the
knowledge. body as a prison of the soul, which prompts him to set
Ex: Knowledge of color yellow = no amount of the ideal of liberating the soul from the body.
description of the color yellow to someone who is color
blind will suffice for him to have a knowledge of yellow. The soul is immortal while the body is mortal, so when
we die, our body will decay but our soul will return to the
EVALUATING OPINIONS world of ideas. Thus, a human being is essentially his
• Distinquishing between facts and opinions soul.
requires attention and scrutiny, because it is
indeed a challenge to weed out opinion based PLATO’S CONCEPT OF A HUMAN BEING IS THE
on one’s biases and subjective views from facts SOUL’S DIVISION INTO THREE PARTS:
based on accurate and objective information. • Reasoning
• Never accept the truth of any statements or • Spiritedness
beliefs unless there is adequate evidence for it. • Appetite.
• Ergo. Before believing or embracing the truth of
any statements, opinion, or belief we must go
through a certain process of checking them out. THE IDEAL SOCIETY IS MADE UP OF 3 TYPES OF
• This requires that we have the epistemic CITIZENS
obligation to subject them to the most • Rulers (Counterpart in the body: the HEAD;
appropriate manner or method of scrutiny. symbolizes the reasoning part.)
• In examining opinions and beliefs, it is important • Soldiers (Counterpart in the body: the CHEST;
to avoid dogmatism. symbolizes the spirited part.)
• Worker (Counterpart in the body: the
THE EMBODIED SPIRIT STOMACH; symbolizes the appetitive part.)
THE CONCEPT OF A HUMAN BEING
• These parts and their function have a corresponding
PLATO virtue: wisdom for reason, courage for spiritedness, and
• Going back to Plato’s division of the worlds – the world moderation for appetite.
of ideas and the world of senses.
• To understand his concept of human being, Plato PLATO’S ANALOGY OF THE STATE TO THE
considers the world of ideas as the world of perfections. INDIVIDUAL
• It is in this world of ideas where eternal truths resides. State Individual Function Virtue
• The things in our physical world (world of senses) on Ruler Head Rational Wisdom
the other hand, are not real. Soldiers Chest Spirited Courage
• The books, chairs, dogs, and mountains that we Workers Stomach Appetitive Moderation /
encounter in our world are not actually real but mere Temperance
imitations of the real. It is the idea of the book, chair,
dog, mountain that is real. ARISTOTLE
• Ex: Everyone has an idea of a dog, and when we • Like PLATO, Aristotle also believes that the human
compare one dog from other dogs, we realize that they beings are composed of body and soul. However, it is
are different, but we still recognize them as dogs how the soul is related to the body that Aristotle differ
because of our idea of a dog. from Plato.
• Our idea of a dog is thus far superior in reality than the
dog that we see in the streets. TWO CO-PRINCIPLES OF THINGS ACCORDING TO
• The real dog is in Plato’s world of ideas – the idea dog. ARISTOTLE
• For Plato, a human being is composed of body and
soul, but argues that the human is essentially his soul. 1. FORM
• Prior to human being’s existence in this physical world • the principle which actualizes a thing and makes
(senses) the soul is residing in the world of ideas, so a thing what it is.
that the original condition of human beings is that of a
soul. 2. MATTER
• And as we acquire bodies during birth in the physical • viewed as potency.
world we are subjected to different kinds of limitations,
including forgetfulness of the truths that we have Matter and form are not complete realities, but only co-
encountered in the world of ideas. principles of a thing (substance). As co-principles,
• Because of our bodies we are inhibited from grasping matter and form do not exist in themselves separately.
truths.
Example: A piece of paper has matter and form. If we something which is already obviously real, like when we
burn the paper, it will turn into ash because the actual look at our classmates, or talk to our teacher, or hold
paper has the potency to become ashes. Obviously, a this book?
piece of paper is different from its resulting ashes. This - Does it still make sense to ask whether they are real?
is because the form of a paper is different from the form ² Descartes will answer: Yes. It should still be asked
of an ash. whether what our senses deliver to us are actually
real even if they seem to be certain, because
• It is matter which facilitates the change from paper to certainty does not guarantee truth.
ash, because it is within the potential of a paper to
receive the form of an actual ash. GABRIEL MARCEL: PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
• Aristotle claims that the form refers to the soul while REFLECTION
matter refers to the body. Gabriel Marcel, a French existentialist, considers two
• Since matter and form (body-soul) are co- principles, ways of reflection, which he calls primary and secondary
the soul cannot exist apart from the body. reflections.
• The soul can never be found existing independently of - A reflective activity is a consequence of a
the body. Even if the soul is considered as a non- disturbance in the chain of our daily routine.
material part of the body, still it cannot have an - It is what an existentialist calls existential break
independent existing as Plato claims. that shakes us to pause and think about what had
• So, if a human being dies, t6he form of the human happened. Reflection, however, is rooted in life, and
being i.e. soul ceases to be and the remaining Marcel is going to illustrate this point by means of
thing is just a body. And this body no longer holds the concrete examples.
form of a man, now we say that body holds a new form
that of a cadaver. EXAMPLE OF PRIMARY REFLECTION
• For Aristotle then, a human being is always, a I put my hands, let us say in my pocket to take my
composite of body and soul. cellphone out. I discover that my cellphone is not there;
• Aristotle also divides the function of the soul into three: but it ought to be there; normally my cellphone is in my
nutrition, sensation, intellection. pocket. I experience a slight shock. There has been a
• The nutritive function is that which we share with small break in the chain of my everyday habits (between
plants. the act of putting my hand in my pocket and that taking
• Sensitive function is that which we share with other out my cellphone). The break I feel is something out of
animals the way; it arrest my attention, to a great or a less
• The human soul as an animating principle is far greater degree, according to the importance I attach to my
than the animating principles of plants cellphone; the notion that a valuable object may be loss
and other animals because of the higher function of the arises in my mind, and this notion is not a mere notion
intellect. but also a feeling of disquiet.I call in reflection to help
• It is the intellective function which not only separates me… but let us be careful here not to fall into the errors
us from all other beings, but also defines of an out-to-date psychology which isolated one faculty
us as human beings. of the mind from another. It is very clear in the example I
• We say that the goodness of something is tied up with have chosen, and in every similar examples that
its function. A good knife is a knife that cuts because it reflection is nothing other than attention, in this case
functions as what a knife should be; or a good eye is where attention is directed towards this small break in
an eye that clearly sees because it functions as what an the daily chain of habit.
eye should be.
• In a case of a human being, its good refers to the To reflect in this kind of case, is to ask oneself how such
practice of his function, however it is not just break can have occurred. But there is no place here for
the practice of any of its functions; but the practice of its the kind of purely abstract speculation which, of its very
highest and distinctive functions i.e. the intellective nature, can have no practical outcome; what I have to
function. A human being who just practices his nutritive do is to go back in time until I recall the moment when
and sensitive functions can hardly be called a human the cellphone was last in my possession. I remember let
being. us say, having looked at my messages just after
• It is clear then for Aristotle pointed out: the practice of breakfast; therefore at that moment everything was still
intellective function as essential for being all right. Between then and now something must have
human. happened to the cellphone. My mental processes are
• It is clear then for aristotle that to be human being rather like – there is no avoiding the comparison – the
means to practice its highest function, and we therefore action of a plumber who is trying to trace a leak. Was
say that human beings are rational animals. there perhaps a hole in my pocket? I look at my pocket
and discover that there is no hole. I continue with my
RENE DESCARTES task of alert recapitulation. Say that I succeed in
- He argues for the real distinction between the body recalling the fact that there was a moment when I put
and the soul, he began with doubting everything that the cellphone down on the table; I shall go, of course to
had previously been considered as knowledge. see whether it is still on the table; and there, let us say,
- Claiming that the senses are the source of previously the cellphone still is.
established knowledge, and that the senses are not
reliable. Reflection has carried out its task, and the problem is
- Descartes argued that we should doubt everything that solved… let us notice, however, even in the connection
is delivered to us by our senses, but how can we doubt
with this almost childishly simple example that I have The difference is that primary reflection has the
made a mental effort because something real, character of detachment in terms of the inquiring subject
something valuable, was at stake. in relation to the object of inquiry,While secondary
reflection cannot proceed without involving the inquirer
• Reflection is never exercise on things that are himself in the inquiry.
not worth the trouble of reflecting about. And
from another point of view, let us notice that It should be noted however, that addressing personal
reflection in this case was a personal act, and inquiries does not automatically translate into secondary
an act which nobody else would have been able reflection. The question, “Who am I?” for example can
to undertake in my place or in my behalf. be address using both primary and secondary reflection.
• The act of reflection is linked to living personal
experience, and it is important to understand the GABRIEL MARCEL’S EMBODIMENT
nature of this link. - Primary reflection is the level of inquiry by a lot of
• To all appearances, it is necessary that the philosophers concerning the issue of being human.
living personal experience should bump into - Philosophers have inquired about human beings in a
some sort of obstacle. detached manner.
- Marcel believes that this traditional essentialist and
In the example of losing a cellphone. Some points to dualistic manner of thinking is proper to scientific inquiry
note here are: but not to philosophical inquiry.
1. Reflection comes after a certain break in the daily - The solution of traditional inquiry about what a human
routine of life. being is, will always yield an abstract answer because
2. Reflection is called for because something valuable the process is either inductive or deductive or both.
is at stake. - When a philosopher considers the problem of the
3. Reflection is a personal act; nobody can reflect for relationship of the body and the soul for instance, it was
me. not about his own body or soul, but simply a body and a
4. Reflection is linked to personal experience like a soul.
plumber. - This dualistic way of addressing the problem detached
the inquirer from his own situation as a being with body.
EXAMPLE OF SECONDARY REFLECTION - This dualism creates a tension between the body and
Secondary Reflection cannot occur without involving the soul; between the rational and the animal.
inquirer into his inquiry. - Most of the theories concerning human beings looked
at the body with disfavor. And we are somewhat taught
Ex: You are waiting for a friend – Friend A, whom you to loathe it or to be vigilant about it.
are supposed to meet, say at 9 am. And it is almost 10 - But we have to ask: is it not the body – our body, the
am when Friend A arrived and very apologetic about most fundamental source of our daily experience as
being late. You are also annoyed because this human beings?
happened a number of times already. You are upset that
you even reached a point in asking why you are still Marcel, therefore:
friends with this person who does not respect your time. - In answering the question about the human being, one
At that moment you were resolved to stay away from can not simply discard the body as what Descartes and
Friend A. The following week, you are to meet another most philosophers did.
friend – Friend B, say 9 am. Unfortunately, you did not - When I inquire about who am I, I start with the
foresee the traffic caused by a big rally. So you arrived existential fact that I have a body. My body is obviously
thirty minutes late. You tried to explain about the heavy different from a rock and other inanimate object.
traffic but you noticed a skeptical look on Friend B’s - My body is different from my cat and other animals.
face. As the day ends, you are force to reflect on your And I am different from other human beings because I
experience. You asked yourself if you were fair in have a certain look, smile, a way of speaking, of
judging Friend A, who was late a number of times. You walking, etc.
were forced to reflect on your own actions and recalled
the instances that you were also late.This is a form of That is why in many cases, we are defined by our
secondary reflection. distinctive body features; and we are usually identified
through our faces as in the case of identification card.
Secondary reflection inevitably links the inquirer to the
subject of his inquiry. You cannot detach yourself from - To ask about human beings is to ask about myself:
the question. The one raising the inquiry is intricately “ Who am I?”
involved with the question. And the inquirer is forced to - Who we are is obviously linked to our body. However,
face himself. not everything that we are is our body.
- Our experience tells us that we have operations that go
Both primary and secondary reflection stem out of an beyond the body.
existential break – a disturbance in our daily routine. Ex: When I imagine the beach as the summer break
approaches – my body is inside the classroom but my
Both reflections are important and they are not about consciousness is on the beach.
petty things for the inquirer. A reflection is exercise
because it is worthwhile for the inquirer. - There are other different things that point to our
existence as more than just bodies, like experiencing
emotions
of fear, love, anger, jealousy, etc. - My body shall always be the starting point. I cannot
Ex: When we get angry at someone, we don’t get angry separate myself from my body and it will be very
at just the body of someone but at the person. Or when unnatural to proceed with an inquiry about myself
we love someone, we don’t love just the body of without regard for my own body.
someone, but the person. What we are then is more - And whenever I encounter abstract answers about the
than a body. question of what human beings are, I am not adding
anything to my knowledge of who I am.
What does it mean to have a body? - The embodied subject necessarily faces his own self,
Ø Having a body implies ownership. through his body, whenever he inquires about what
Ø Marcel made an analogy of the ownership of our being human means.
body to that of owning a dog.
Ø If I own a dog, I can call it my dog. And to be A SUMMARY OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
able to make a claim that a particular dog is my REFLECTION: THE EXISTENTIAL FULCRUM
dog, there must be a specific set of relations
that exhibit this ownership. • It shows us the turning point of our experiences from
Ø In a negative way, I can say that this dog is mere occurrences to part of our being. Through his
mine if nobody makes a claim that the dog is system, which he calls primary and secondary
theirs and not mine. reflection, one is able to look deeper into his own
Ø In a positive way, I can say that the dog is really experience in an attempt to draw something more
my dog if it is living with me; if I am responsible meaningful and helpful to him or understand the true
for its well-being; and if the dog recognizes and essence of his experience. it is comparable to taking
obeys me. apart an engine of a car in order to diagnose its
Ø These same conditions of ownership may be problem, then later returning the engine into its original
applied to our bodies. state while gaining insight on its problems. for marcel
Ø First of all, the claim to my body as mine is experience and reflection are one. Therefore,
indisputable. Nobody can claim ownership to my experience without reflection is mere occurrence and
body other than myself. only becomes experience when reflected upon.
Ø I own my body because I live with my body and
no one else. I am responsible for the well-being • His method starts when a phenomenon that breaks the
of my body; for it will be unusual for someone daily calmness of an individual occurs. This experience
owning something to destroy his own property. calls for reflection. our immediate consciousness of what
And my body is mine because it obeys me, happens is our primary reflection. We must further break
which means I can control my body this down in order to come up with a deeper
understanding. From this point, we reconstruct the
- Marcel admits that there may be certain limitations to experience while integrating what we have discovered
the analogy of my dog to my body, especially the idea from it, thus a transcendence of knowledge through
that the dog is still something external and detached to reflection on experience. This is our secondary reflection
me, while my body is not and can never be detached or a reflection upon our reflection. through this process,
from myself. we become aware of our awareness. we experience
exclamatory awareness. this is when we feel truly alive.
- However, the important component in this analogy in order for man to exist, he must coexist. This means
according to Marcel is the idea of ownership – the that man cannot be alone because he needs an external
experience of the ownership does not simply refer to object to reassure or confirm his existence. man has to
mere possession. find his purpose outside himself.
Ex: Mr. X bought a dog. He claims that he owns the dog
and he possesses its appropriate papers. However, it • Primary and secondary reflection serves as a means
is not Mr. X who feeds it but his maids. And even if the for man to discover himself through the experiences that
dogs live in his house, it does not recognize Mr. X as its other people share with him. although, this method is not
master because it is always in the company of the to be limited to man-to-man experience alone, it finds its
maids. most essential value in such situations. man is only
aware of his awareness through the help of other
In this case can Mr. X really call the dog his dog? humans who seek to be aware of their awareness as
Perhaps not. well. thus, it becomes an essentiality to reflect on one’s
reflection. I would like to coin the term critical reflection
- Thus, in a similar fashion, owning a body does not for this matter. critical reflection becomes the fulcrum of
merely mean possessing a body; rather it means a existentialism because it ultimately leads to the
special way of treating the body, not just a mere body question, who am I? This is the most important question
but as my body. an existing man must ask himself.
- And owning a body entails certain conditions and
responsibilities toward it – just as owning a dog entails MARTIN HEIDEGGER: BEING-IN-THE-WORLD
certain conditions and responsibilities. Martin Heidegger calls human beings:
- As an embodied being therefore, I cannot simply ‘Dasein’, a German word which literally means “being
dismiss my body in my inquiry concerning who I am. there.”
- Even if I include my body as part of my inquiry, I
cannot treat it as a mere body. This tells us that our very being is to be there, to be in
the world – being-in-the-world. “To be in the world”
means that our experiences are always situated in our approach and relate with our friends as if we don’t know
world. We cannot detach ourselves from our situations them. We treat the people who are familiar to us with
and we will always look and understand the world concern and we also share their concerns.
according to our being-in-the-world.
Ex: When a friend is involved in a heated argument, we
Heidegger’s starting point allows us to see the get involved as well; as opposed to seeing a stranger
existential import of being-in-the-world in relation to the involved in an argument.
question of who we are. Ø And just as things shape who we are, our
- Who am I can never be dislodged from my concrete relationships with other people also shape us.
situation which includes the things and people around Ø In most cases, the people around us define who
me, my culture, my language, & everything that is we are.
present in my situation. Ø It is true that the people we encounter shape our
identities. -Being-in-the-world , means that we
BEING-IN-THE-WORLD MEANS THAT WE LIVE WITH shall inevitably live with other people who will
THINGS, WITH OTHERS, AND WITHIN A eventually play roles in the determination of who
PARTICULAR PLACE AND TIME. we are.
Ø And the concept of being an authentic person
We are already encountering things as soon as we are becomes an issue when we look at how we are
born. (The materials and structures used during our influenced by others and how we influence
delivery.) It would be impossible for to live without any others.
relation to things. Even if you decide to isolate yourself
and live alone in the mountains, you are still related to BEING-IN-THE-WORLD MEANS THAT WE ARE
things: trees, rocks, birds, the sun and everything that is SITUATED IN PLACE AND TIME
present in the mountains. • We are immersed in a particular culture,
language, and social structures. = no one can
The way we relate ourselves to others is practical. In detach himself from culture, language, and
other words, we seldom look at the things around us as social structure.
objects of inquiry and investigation, but simply as • We are born in a particular era that allows us
things that we use. to see the world within the lens of that era. If
we will be given the chance to travel in time and
Ex: As I look at the television, I simply use it to entertain transport ourselves to Ancient Greece, perhaps
myself. The television allows me to watch my favorite we will be disoriented and will find it impossible
shows. And I rarely look at my television as an object to live there.
that has to be analyzed – perhaps only when it - Temporal distance makes it difficult for us to
malfunction. understand the perspective of the distant party.
- We often hear older people start their statement with
We don’t really pay attention to the reality that the things “noong panahon…” to indicate the difference in their
around us affect the definition of who we are. As temporal situation that made them look at the world in a
embodied subjects, our bodies have a direct and certain way.
concrete relation to the things around us, which
ultimately influences who we are. And you will notice that within yourself, there will be
a change in perspective and approach as you
Ex: Let us take a farmer, a chemist, a fire fighter and a move within time.
swimmer – they will have different notions of water - The things that make you happy and contented when
because of the role water plays in their lives precisely you were in the pre-school years, like candies and stuff
because of their different situations in life that allow toys, no longer give you the same satisfaction.
them practical encounter with things: being-in-the-world
perhaps: This is clear manifestation that our being-in-the-
Ø The farmer will consider water as livelihood, world is always in time and we move with time.
Ø The chemist will look at water as a composite of - The place where we are situated also shape a big role
elements in shaping who we are.
Ø The fire fighter will look at water as a life-saver - (If you are raised in the province perhaps near the
Ø And the swimmer will see water as a playground beach, then this will influence the way you look at the
world.)
Our bodies come into contact with things and shape the - The climate, surroundings, environment – all of these
way we looked at the world. This is the reason why we will influence us.
prescribe different meanings to the things around us. - Being raised in the Philippines will inevitably shape the
Being-in-the-world also means to be with other people. way you look at the world. Even if you decide to be
Just like things the moment we are born, we are already objective and unbiased and drop your being a Filipino,
connected with people – our parents, primarily. you will eventually realize that you cannot remove your
Filipino lens.
Our being situated in the world inevitably links us to - The mere change in location will immediately tell you
people. And these links are not simple categories that how influential your place is when you consider your
we use to define relationship, these links are real and world.
transformative, and just as we encounter things as - Just observed the difference in your disposition as you
practical, we also encounter people as familiar. We don’t change your location: think of the mall, the church,
your school, your home. imposes practically countless limitations on us.
- You will realize that as you change your place, you will -And this is the reality of an embodied being: that we
change your disposition. shall always have limitations by the FACTICITY of our
- As being-in-the-world we always operate in a particular existence.
place; and this will direct the way we see the world.
- We may attempt to detach and stand above our place SPATIAL-TEMPORAL BEING
and time, but it is truly impossible to do so. -The fact that we are born and that we exist in a
- We will always look at the world according to our place particular place and time already sets limitations on us
and time. that may be considered on different level.
-We are defined by them. - On the level of TEMPORALITY, the most obvious
-Who we are is inevitably connected to our being limitation is our, FINITUDE.
situated in a particular place and time.
We recognize our mortality and accept that we will not
Heidegger’s concept of being-in-the-world informs live forever. We have a limited period of stay in this
us of the very nature of who we are, that is, that we world. We will die someday, and that is a fact.Moreover,
are shaped by everything around us. as temporal being we deal with the past, the present,
and the future. When we are younger, we want time to
Who we are is not a product of a distant reflection and speed up because our youth prevents us from doing
theorizing. An embodied subject is someone who is what adults seem to enjoy. There are so many not yets:
intimately connected with the world and not some (You are not allowed to eat certain food, drink certain
detached inquirer. Our experience tells us that we are beverages, watch certain movies, wear particular cloths,
related to the world as participating subjects that deal and go to certain places.)
with things and people every day. Whether we like it or
not, this encounter with things and other people So, the lack of time – in the sense of youth – poses
everyday contribute to who we are. limitations on us. We feel that we are being restricted by
people – our parents for example, when we want to do
JEAN PAUL SARTRE: things. On a closer inspection, however you will realize
LIMITATIONS AND TRANSCENDENCE that it is our being embodied that prevents us from doing
a lot of things – because our body is not yet prepared for
An embodied subject, whose being is to be in the world, certain activities. On the other hand, those who have an
will have its first limitations the moment it is born. We advanced age will also experience limitations of a
already said that being-in-the-world means that the different kind.
moment we are born, we are already related to people Their advanced age will prevent them from doing things
– our parents. This is our first limitation. which they used to do. There are so many no longer
for them. They are no longer allowed to eat certain food,
We did not choose our parents, we are born in a drink certain beverages, go to certain places, and do
particular time and place, and we did not choose them. particular activities. And just like the youth, they feel that
There are a lot of things which are already in and with us they are being restricted by people – by their parents.
when we are born: On the closer look however, they will realize that it is
Our gender, our color, our race, our social their being embodied that prevent them from doing a lot
status, our genes, and others. of things.

This is what Jean Paul Sartre calls FACTICITY. Perhaps, a physiological example may easily drive the
distinctive limitations of not yet and no longer. Child
FACTICITY bearing clearly limits both the young and the old. A very
- It refers to the things in our lives that are already given. young girl is not yet capable of reproduction; and a very
- A person who was born without legs or deaf, or blind, old woman is no longer capable of reproduction.In both
will have more limitations than most of us. instances, it is the body which sets this limitationings.
- A person born to a poor family will have more
limitations than someone born to a wealthy family. On the level of our being SPATIAL individuals – we are
- Facticity is not limited to the givens that we have limited by our bodies to be present in two or more
acquired in our birth, it also refers to all the details that places at the same time. We are set to be at one place
surround us in the present as being-in-the-world in the at a time. I can not be in Manila and in Cebu at the same
here and now; This include our environment, our time because my body does not allow me to. And I
language, our past decisions, our past and present cannot be in Manila this time, and be in Cebu the next
relationships, and even minute. This one clear limitation is experienced by many
our future death. Filipino families today who have relatives serving as
-All the facts that we currently have are part of our overseas workers. (How many stories have you heard of
limitations. children longing for their parents or parents longing for
their children?)
Ex: If I only know how to speak Filipino and English,
then that hinders me from talking to, say a Chinese who How many times have you longed to be with someone
only knows Mandarin. but cannot because you are in different places? And no
matter how much you desire and will to be at some
-If we look at every aspect of who we are right now here place, you simply cannot. As an embodied being, we are
and now, we will realize that our being-in-the-world
subjected to the physical laws of our universe and is why we wish for full disclosure of our thoughts and
simply admit that we are restricted by our spatial nature. feelings. However, there are also times when we wish to
hide ourselves from others, we don’t want the other
On the level of understanding, we consider our spatial- person to see what we are really thinking and feeling.
temporal situations as imposing a limit on us as it sets
out to be our preconditions of our understanding. In In this case, the body is like a veil that covers the reality
other words, our being situated in a particular time and of a person. How do we know if someone is telling the
place shall prescribe the way we look at and truth? How do we know if someone’s bodily expressions
understand things. Think of our age, culture, and past are consistent with his actual disposition?
experiences as optics that we wear every time we look
at the world. No matter how hard we try to look at the Thus, our bodies set a limitation for understanding one
world in an objective manner, our spatial-temporal another because on one hand, it may never fully
situation will be there to taint it. disclose what we would like to express; and on the other
hand, it hides certain thoughts and feelings.
And in the same way, no matter how much we imagine
ourselves looking at something using someone else’s The body as intermediary, allows us to experience the
perspective, we cannot do so. We will always have our world in a limited manner, and we can only say that our
own spatial-temporal conditions at the backdrop of our world will always be a world according to my body.
understanding.We may think that we understand
someone when we put ourselves into their shoes – TRANSCENDING LIMITATION
however, we need to ask ourselves if we can really set The presence of limitations impose by being as
aside our biases and use the perspective of another embodied subject may influence us to think that our life
person; or if we can really be purely objective. is very restricting. Life becomes difficult because of
these limitations. However, it is also this limitations that
THE BODY AS INTERMEDIARY make our lives more interesting and challenging.
The body as intermediary is another difficulty that arises
out of an embodied subject. We have established that Let us address each limitations and see how we can
we are our bodies, but also more than our bodies. Our overcome them.
body then serves as an intermediary between us and 1. FACTICITY: HOW TO ADDRESS
the physical world. It is because of my body I We cannot simply truly change our facticity, but what we
experience the world from a particular bodily standpoint. can do is change our attitude towards them. At times,
(From a lying standpoint along the shore of a beach, or we use our facticity as an excuse for our difficulties and
from a sitting standpoint beside the window of a plane, failures.
etc.) Ex: One may claim that he cannot travel abroad
because he is poor or did not finished school.
It is also because of my body that I experience the world
as my world and not the world of others. I can always This is what happens when we let our facticity define
imagine myself living as a rock star; but I will never who we are. We treat our facticity as if life has destined
really know how it is to be a rock star unless I become us to it. What is important is to see that we are free to
one myself (I more concretely I can never be Johnny define who we are and who we are to be. (this is what
Depp and conversely, Johnny Depp can never be me.) we call historicity.)

My body then limits my experience of the world to my HISTORICITY

world. -Furthermore, my body as intermediary limits me - Means that we are history-making creatures and we
in communicating with other people, through my body I are not limited to what nature has initially given
can communicate using words or express myself us.
through bodily gestures. This may now post limitations
concerning communication and expression. As my Our facticity challenges us to be creative with our life
embodied subject, we cannot by the use of sheer will, options. Our task then is set out our possibilities and
tell other people what we have in mind or what maximize these possibilities. We receive certain givens
we feel. We have to make use of words or bodily when we are born, and it is up to us how we will make
expressions to accomplish this task. Words are often our use of those given. Transcending our facticity is a given
instruments to convey what we want to express, be it an possibility.
idea or an emotion. But words are limiting, we are
constrained by language. When I say, “I love you”, “do 2. SPATIAL – TEMPORAL: HOW TO ADDRESS?
these words accurately express what I feel for the other - Our being limited due to our being temporal is
person?” Can words really capture the things that we something which bothers a lot of people. We are
want to express? concerned about the future and/or the past that is why
we never appreciate the present.
From experience, we know that we are being limited by Blaise Pascal puts it “The present is never our goal:
our language when we cannot, put into words what we the past and present are our means: the future
want to express. That is why we sometimes say that alone is our goal. Thus, we never live but we hope to
words fail us. In this way, we may say that our body live; and as we are always hoping to be happy, it
restricts us from fully disclosing ourselves to other is inevitable that we will never be so.”
persons. When we communicate with others, we most
likely want other people to understand us fully and that
Why do we want to hastily achieve or have something
which is not yet? Why do we hold on to or lament on
something which is no longer? What if we give the
present its due worth and simply appreciate it?

Our being limited due to special concerns also imposes

difficulty for us embodied beings because we can not
be at a place where we want to be at an instant. We
have to experience loneliness and anxiety as we wait for
our bodies to arrive at a place where we want it to be.
However, just like being temporal, we can always look at
our spatial character as an invitation to make the
most out of our life. Thus, being reminded of our spatial
character invites us to value the people and things
around us.

3. BODY AS INTERMEDIARY: HOW TO ADDRESS

Having a body which links us to the world appears to be
a source of limitation because we can never directly
and fully experience the world. However, having a body
as a way to experience the world is a wonderful thing.

The interesting thing is that we will always experience

the world as my world and this becomes a privileged
experience. This then challenges us to be more creative
in our expressions.

Ex: Saying “I love you,” to someone may not be enough

to express what we feel. Thus, we are challenged to
make more creative ways of conveying this message to
the one we love by not restricting our means to words. -
We also said that having a body consequently hides our
feelings and thoughts, again this only serves as a
challenge for us to work on a good relationship with
people.
THELAES