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The tvord philosoplty can be looked at from two aspects: its etymological and its rcal
dcfinition.
., E-$mologically, philosophy comes from trvo Greek rvords , philo and sophia, n{rich nrcan
of wisddt7fTJtus, a philosopher is a lover of t'isdom.
@r%r "*.**'*"-!'
. 1<irrc
It is in the very nature of philosophy that man searches for thc meaning of himscl f and his
rsorld. [n fact. it can be said that philosophy rvas bom Lhe vcry first tirnc man startcd s'ondcring at
rvhat hc sarv around him.
*r
Philosophy, as a scarch for nreaning, has ouly one obscssion: MAN. As an attcrnpt to
undsrstand lrim and &e rvorld he lives in, the philosophcr cannot but start his inquiry on man.
Thus, the philosophy of man isthe inq]4ry into nwn in all hi.r dimensiotts o.r pcrlror? qntl as an
,,--l----
existent bcing infrtffiV[l. It cxamines his dignry;truth.
ielation rvith others and God.
We may say nmn has trvo faces: that of the West and that of thc East. Far too long and too
oftcn, ottly thal. of the West is exposed and scrutinized. lndeed, our vicrv of rnan is usualll.
onc-sided in favor of the West. Hon'cver. looking at man irom thc pcrspcctivc of thc East is a
nclconre treat that is doubly signi{icant for the Filipino. After all, he is a part of thc Oricnt morc
lhan hc rcalizss.
Cuided by the same vision, this chapter is devotcd to botlr aspccts: thc Western and thc
Eastcrn vicw of rnan.
To the early Greeks, philosoplry rvas a supsrstarof a subject. Thw looked rvith favor n...
on a total world picture, in the unity of all truths - rvhether they tvere scicnti{ic. cthical, rcligious.
or aesthctic. A Grmkp/rilosophos r.vas concemed not only rvith particular typcs of knorvledgc, but
tith all ttpes-" The most important Greek Philosophcrs arc Socrates, Plato, and Aristotlc.
Socrateswas the son of a sculptor and a midwife" His wift, Xantippc, said to bc an ugll
lvsnraR, tlore him thrm childrcn. He wmrld go !o tlre rua*etp{acc, th* agora, sficrc hc urxold discuss
things. using thc qucstion and &nsu,er method. Hs wes arrestcd and conde,rnncd to dcath bccausc
of tlro clrarges: {a} irnpieq," because of not woshipping the gods of thc statc and introducing ncrv
and unfamiliar rvalt of norship, and (b) cornrption of the minds of the 1,ourg, rvho {lock arctrnd
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him. He did not adnrit any guilt, he refused to be set frce by fricnds, and he dicd aftcr drinking
a
glass of hcmlock in the presence of friends. His last day on earth, according to
Plato \\'as spcnt on
lalking about the immortaliS of the soul.
A pupil of Socrates, Plato. also had a bias against dcrnocracv. llc had an aristocraric
upbringing and rvas imrncrsed in the culture of his day. Horveyer, his plan. cncouragcd b1. rclatir.cs.
to cnter politics rt'as abandoned after he sarv rvhat rvas done to socratcs.
In spite of Socrates' influence, Plato rvas his olul man of idcas, cspcci;rllr' in his pcriod of
maturitr'. Proof of this is his thrce best knoun torks in dialoguc fonrr: ( I S)urrlxrsirrnr. u hiclr
)
spcalis of ercrvthirtg on earth as but a shadorv of rvhat is in the rnind of Cod, tlrc beautl'of thc carth
but a shadorv of divine Bounty; (2) The Republic, rvhich is about thc statc and rhc idcal
governmenti and (3) Phaedrus, rvhich is about the nature of love.
Plato has shor m his iutercst irr firan as kno\ycr and as posscssor of au furunortal soul. Much
has been rnadc of his theory of knowledge, his rnain contribution to philosophic trurh.
I
; Aristotle at seventecn rvas Plato's student at the Academy wherc hc also taught until his
tc:achex's da:rth. Then he werit to Asia Minor, rvhere he became the tutor of Alcxardcr of
It{acedonia- rvho bmame Alexander the &eat. Upm his rstum to Athens, ho foundcd thc school hc
cillcd thc'L-vceum. Hc le{t only rvhen he feared persecution kom Athcnians consumed bv
ahti-Macedonian feelingp upon thedeath of Alexander. He dicd at thc agc of 62.
' Ariststle u'as the nrost prolific of the Greek philosophcrs. His philosophy rvas largclv
ill{luenced by tlrrce factors in his life: (l) his father, a court physician, frorn riho,n hc golhis
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intcrest in biolory and science in goreral; (2) Plato and his stay at the Acadcml';
and (3) Alcxgdcr
the Great, rvho furthered his interest in botany and zoology rvhich he
studicd to knorv nran bcttcr
and rvho got him involved in the constitution and tlre gorr.n*ent
of the Greck statcs. Such bcirrg
thc case, he was scientist and philosopher, as well as researcher, rwitcr,
and tcachcr. It rcrnains
for Arisnoile, to delure nurn as a rotional animal. His ideas on alinost cvcrything
tlrat conccrns man
have influenced Thomas Aquinas as well as philosophers beyond ure
tuiaalci g... ioi,i,rr, n1on
is not the center of the u3iverse. Man is only a part of it; it is the cosrnos
that is thc focal point.
Tltis is Aristotle's so-called "geocentric spherical system."
There arc four great systems of phitosophy in the East that dcals nith
thc traditional
conccpt of man: Hinduism and Buddhisnl for hdia; and Confucianism
and Taoisrn. for Chirra.
ib) Pranarnayatman, the self as vitar breath.. This is the biological la1cr.
(c) Manonrayatman, the self consisting of will. This is ttrc psfchotogical la1cr.
(d) Vijnamamal'atman, the self oriconsciousness. This is the intcllcctual lar.cr: and
(e) Anandamayatnran, the finar edsence ofthc serf as pure briss.
Thes sheaths areconsidd es dark coverings ofignoraece that lic undcrncath the r.-lrolc
g*jtd rurrld. Only nhur this has beer;'tom away can-the trie sclf, rrolriclr is Atman idcntilid
rvirtr
Bratrrman, be knorvrL To reach the Abs, rlute Mar"
tlre petretd man, one must somchorv discard all
the sheaths of man for &ese are noi the true.self, the Atman,
contingcnt manifcstations of Bralrma,l. Thus, the final goal of rnan
lrt
onty supcrirnpositions or
is to inow thc irue rcalitS. -
Brahnran' The only rvay to dessoy igporaflffi is by trrorvlige- This
is acquircd througlr the praaicc
'
of Yoga Mditation, Concentration, and Absorytion ilr thc Brahman. Thus. onc obtains
Self-Realization.
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2. The Buddhist View of Man
Throughout his life, the Buddha constantly reminded his disciplcs of thc transitorincss of
all phenomena, He pointd oul. that all conditioned things or phenomcnal proccsscs. rncntalas n'cll
as material are impermanent or transient and subject to arising and passing arval'. What is
irnportant is for man to realize that man is also subiect to thc samc lg,:_!l$
Ap:"Slq ,qllS+tgjl,g!.
being!. The paradigm of reality f"ffi,cffiffiE;iio" hich-Eiirffi
t
I-rnmediately by its consequerce, not substance as it is in the Upanishads. Hence, thc fundamcntal
conccpt running through Buddhism is that rvhatever exists changcs. Existencc hcrc mcarrs thc
capacity of producing everything.
The ncxt step is the analysis of man and lhe things cxisting in thc rvorld as a stream of fir'c
cotlioincd currcnts, th" nfryflf}glqp$. These arc:
(a) Matter.
(b) Scnsation.
(c) Pcrccption.
(d) Mental constructs, arrd
(c) Consciousrless.
None of thesc eletnents is pcmrauent, hence, man has no abiding support undcrl;-ing thc
sEcaln. Thcre is no soul. Whcn [re livc aggrqgatcs come togcthcr, thcy takc a ccrtain fonn or shapc
and rvhat is fbrnred is given a namc. Thus, wc have nanrs and fornr but uhcn thc elctrrcrrts
disintegratg Lhere is no "nama-rupa,u no pcrson, no cgo. "These ph-vsicnl fornr arc likc foanr:
s$tsatiotts, like bubbles; pcrceptions,like mirage; mental mnstructs, like thc flimsy trunk of banalra
plant: and consciousness, like phantonrs" (Samyutta Nikaya lll).
The conccpt of no soul (anatta) is tied up with thc concept of inrpcrmancncc (anicca) and
has a direct bearing sn the concept of suffering (dutrkha). The thrce go togcthcr. Thc s.ord
su{fering is an inadequate translation of &e term "dukkha.n lt is a n'ord thrlt dcscribcs thc
prcdicament in udrich man is bound by conditional cxistence. trt is the dcsire to exist, to rc-mrist. anrl
to continue to exist rvhich arises as a result of the belief in a permancnt self or soul. This is,
thereforg bassd on ignorance. It is by ignorance tlrat one dcsireq or thirsts to exist. llcncc, to
eliminate odukkhd' which in effect meaos the elimination of the notisn of tlre sel;; it is ncccssary
that ore comes to a uue urrderstarding of the real nature of {he sclf - that is, {hcrc;is no pcrmancnt
sclf. i
I
So, what
corrxpose
tcndcnry to trook upon things ns pennaddfri ffifpErmancnt" Becarisc of this \r'rorig
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\'ic$',nlansufIbrs.Heis.boundbyignorance,sothefinalgoalof@
to frec himself from the bonds ofigiorance 'f"
things and that heit nE$q-qygi!-S Beiie;g rhffi#.r Ni*r*,
o ;ffidtdy yoga or deep mcditation.
rvhictr is rtrc cxri,ctiorr
=**"*xffitr*',,lf:ffiffiil,
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"]uo.'l The "Tao" is generally understood as the Porver or the Principlc behind a.ll thin&s. lt is
Thc fint thing that man must know is that things are ever changeable and changing but
thc
laws that govern this charrge of things are not Lhemselves changeablc. Taoisnr rnaintains
that thc
sagexho has a complete understanding of the nature of things thcreby has no cmotiorrs. This is to
sa.v that hc is not bothcred by cnrotions but enjoys peacebf soul.
'lhe sage is
no longer a{Iected by ttre changes of the world. ln this rvay, hc is not dcpcndcnt
upon external things and hence tlrey do not limit his happiness. As such, he is said lo harc
actrio ca
absolute happirress. He is perfectly happy because he transcends lhe ordinary distinctions
betrvccn
the sclf and the u'orld, the''nle" and the "non-me." Therc is nolv an idcnti{ication of man
rvitlt thc
uoiverse. To acirieve this,frilleeds k ro*i-J$lnd understanding of still a highcr lcvcl.
Taoisur
speaks of tr,r'o levels of knorvlcdgg namely:
(a) TheJ"qverlevel the finitc point of vierv r,vhen rnan sees distinctions bctnccn rigtrt and
u"rong; and
(b) The.Hi.gher lcr':.!, thc highcr point of vierv s,hen man sees things in the light o[Hear.cn,
that is frorn thdpoiut of vierv of the.Tao"
Frorn the vieu'point of dle "Tao," &ings though di{Icrurt are unitcd and bcconrc olrc.
Ttrus,
altlrough all the tlrings di{fcr, lhcy are aliks in that &ey alt constitutc something and
arc good for
snrncthing. They equalty come from the "Tao." In order to be one with tlrc
Creat One (uiilcrsc;,
thc sage has to transcct'ld and forge{. firc distinctions betlvccn &ings. Tlrc rr-a'
to do this is to discard
knowlcdgc and the nrethod used by Taoists for achieving ,'sagcliness *,ithin.,,
Thc task of knowledge in thc ordinary senso is to makc distinctions; ro knou,a thing
is to
knorv the di{ferencc bctrywn it and other things Thercfore, to discard knox;ledgc
mcans to torgct
these distinctions. This is to say that at first sagcs had knowldge,
Ihc),kngv dislinctions, but la{cr
Iranscsnded this knowldge to go kyond distinctions. This kno\r!'ledg.
bqo,.d distinctiors is *.hat
Taoists called'No'L-norvledgd'or "latorvledge u,hich is not knolrlcdie."
In surn, Taoisrn statcs tlrat
evcry man can bc a sage.
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