Republic of the Philippines

CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

By: Rolando A. Pagador, Ph.D.

GEC 106: Ethics/Etika

Number of Hours: 3 hours every week for 18 weeks or 54 hours in a semester

Lesson 1: Man as Person and Man as Rational Animal

Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the learners would be able to:

1. Understand the two dimensions of man as a person and as rational animal.

A. Man as a Person

What Is Man? What makes humans unique? Is there any way of knowing what we are,
why we are and where we are going? Man is born as an individual or person. Peron is human
nature actualized and manifested in the history of place and time. Etymologically, the word
“person” comes from the Greek word “prosophon” which is the mask worn by stage actors. The
Latin “personare” alludes to the mask which is constructed so as to project forcefully the voice of
an actor. Underneath the person is human nature which the principle of human activity. Man is
the most complex, truly unique physical mechanism ever designed and made.

Person is defined as “an individual, existing separately and independently from others,
capable of knowing and loving in an intellectual way, and of deciding for himself the purpose or
end of his actions.” We also refer to person as “self” or “ego.” When you come to see you are not
as wise today as you thought you were yesterday, you are wiser today. Thus, what’s the
difference between knowledge and enlightenment? When you have knowledge you use a torch to
show the way. When you are enlightened you become a torch. It is not important what has
previously happened in your life, what matters is where you are heading. What matters is what
you think and believe about prosperity now. It is your ability to make decisions and your
capacity to accept this wealth into your life that will create unlimited prosperity and abundance
for you.

Man can choose---he has free moral agency. He can devise codes of conduct and exercise
self-disciplines. Man can originate ideas and evaluate knowledge because he has a MIND that is
patterned after God's own mind! Man can devise, plan and bring his plans to fruition because he
has been given some of the very creative powers of God! We are either the master or the victims
of personal choices who we are today is the result of choices made yesterday. Tomorrow we will
become what we choose today. To change means to choose to change. Once you have made the
choice to change your attitude, you are ready to allow the opportunities around you to make this
decision a success.

Man alone can wonder, "Why was I born? What is life? What is death? Is there a
purpose in human existence?" Man, unlike the animals, not only "knows" how to do certain
things, but he also knows that he knows---that is, he is aware that he has knowledge. He is
conscious of the fact. He is self-conscious, aware of his own existence as a unique being.
Accordingly, knowing others is intelligence, knowing yourself is true wisdom, mastering others
is strength, mastering yourself is true power.

These attributes of mind and character make man God's unique physical creation. God
has shared some of his own qualities with man. And God expects man to develop and become
conformed to the spiritual "image" of God's perfect mind and holy character (Matt. 5:48)---just
as man now is formed in the physical "image" of God. Man was created to have a special
relationship with God that animals are utterly unable to have. Man was made in the likeness of
the GOD kind. He was made in God's image so that he might one day be born into God's divine
family!

God's purpose in making mortal man after his own likeness demanded mind power in
man patterned after God's own mind. That is why the most remarkable thing about man is his
mind. What is it then that separates humankind from the animal kingdom? What gives man this
God-plane power of intellect? It all boils down to a nonphysical component in the human brain
that does not exist in animal brain. It is this nonphysical component that makes man so vastly
different from animals. It is what makes man truly unique.

The human spirit does not supply human life---the human life is in the physical blood,
oxidized by the breath of life (Lev. 17:11). But the spirit in man does impart the power of
intellect to the human brain. This nonphysical component in the human brain is spirit essence,
just as in the material world air is a gaseous essence. This "human" spirit cannot see. The
physical brain sees through the eyes. The human spirit in a person cannot hear. The brain hears
through the ears. This human spirit cannot think. The brain thinks---although the spirit imparts
the power to think far above the level of brute animals' brain function. Without such spirit
animals cannot do original thinking. Whatever knowledge enters the brain through the five
senses is instantly stored (memorized) in the "human" spirit within the person, much like a
computer stores information. It enables the brain to have instant recall of stored-up knowledge in
the spirit, thus enabling the brain to utilize bits of related knowledge in the process of thinking
and reasoning. It is also this "spirit in man" that sets man apart from the animals. It is what
makes man unique. It imparts to the living human brain the power of intellect to comprehend
materialistic knowledge. It is the source of human intelligence. It is not present in animal brain.

Why does man exist? You can be assured that there is a definite reason for existence!
Life is not the consequence of the process of evolution. The Creator God made man in his own
image for a purpose that transcends this physical life. Man, however, apart from God, cannot
deeply know or comprehend this great purpose. Nor can he understand why humans live or why
they die. According to Plato “the first and best victory is to conquer self. The first person you
lead is you.” Thus, Rene Descartes posits: “I think therefore I exist… I think, hence I am, was so
certain and of such evidence, that no ground of doubt, however extravagant, could be alleged by
the skeptics capable of shaking it, I concluded that I might, without scruple, accept it as the first
principle of the philosophy of which I was in search.”

B. Rational Animal

Man is an organism composed of a material body and a spiritual soul. He is the whole of
his materiality and immateriality, substantial union (hylomorphic) of body and soul, matter and
spirit. This essential wholeness is what we call human nature. Human nature is made up of man’s
biological, psychological and rational powers. The biological powers are nutrition, locomotion,
growth and reproduction. The psychological powers include those of the senses, such as
smelling, tasting, seeing, hearing, perceiving, imagining and remembering, and those acts of
emotions, such as love, hatred, desire, disgust, joy, sorrow, fear, despair and courage. The
rational powers are those of the intellect and the will – comprehension and volition, respectively.

All human powers or faculties are operational tendencies towards what is good to man as
a rational animal. In this sense, human nature is the natural law because, like the laws of society,
it directs man in all his activities. Natural law differs from the so called laws of nature which are
the forces governing the material universe, including man. Natural law applies only to man as a
rational animal. When we speak of an act as “contrary to natural law,” we mean the act to be
against human nature or humanity. Innate in the human person is sound decision-making in the
context of what is good and right. Teach a child what to think and you make him a slave of
knowledge, but teach a child how to think and you make knowledge his slave.

Experience has taught us that many of the errors in the solution of problems are due to
lose reasoning and communication and to an ignorant of the laws that govern our mental
operations. We must be able to think logically before we can act logically. Hence, there are three
kinds of people in the world. There are those who watch things happen, those who wonder what
happened and those who make things happen. Strive to be one of those who make things happen.
Thus, the wrong decision at the wrong time is disaster. The wrong decision at the right time is
unacceptance. The right decision at the right time is success. Every man possesses an element of
genius. When realized and disciplined it can enable him to accomplish worthwhile deeds and to
achieve greater heights of service to mankind. Thus, as a rational being, you have to T.H.I.N.K.
first before you speak. Is it TRUE? Is it HELPFUL? Is it INSPIRING? Is it NECESSARY? Or Is
it KIND?