Colegio San Agustin - Makati

PHILOSOPHY 11

High School Department

Academic Year 2019 – 2020

PHILOSOPHY TERM PAPER

Submitted on:

September 20, 2019

Submitted by:

Philip Angelo O. Figueroa

Submitted to:

Mr. Casuga
I. Introduction

Death is something most people fear, and has been an interesting for experts

and even religious leaders. This is caused by the human’s instincts and us just being

careful (Morrow, 2019). Experts were interested and that includes philosophers like

Plato and Aristotle, in our Philosophy class we discussed the duality of the soul and

body and these two Philosophers gave their view on death. For Plato and Socrates

they had the same view or perspective on death, they believe in the duality of the

body and soul. “Is this something that the separation of soul from the body? It died

when the body is separate from the soul remains alone, apart, with himself, and

when the soul, separated from the body, left alone, apart, with itself” – Plato (428 –

348 BCE). Plato states that the body and soul are separate and when the body dies,

the soul will separate from the body and will not perish. This can be seen in some

Christian beliefs such as the soul will depart the physical body after death and

reunite with their creator in paradise. Although an article regarding dualism in the

church, it states that it is rejected and supports a holistic view on a relational view on

human beings (Smith, 2011). But in our Philosophy class a Philosophy countering

that of Socrates’s and Plato’s view was Aristotle’s unity of the body and soul. His

Philosophy stated that the body and soul are connected and when the time of death

comes the body and the soul will perish simultaneously.

II. Interpretation

Duality of the body and soul seems very fictitious and the unity of body soul

made more sense or is more logical. In my own understanding of the topic

discussed was that duality is our understanding of ‘eternal life.’ It is the way on

how our consciousness will live on and guide our descendants in the

background. It is also the interpretation of humans being rewarded with eternal

happiness; this is when it’s connected to Christianity since they believe that they

will be eternally with their God or creator. Understanding the Philosophy of this

topic is pretty important since death is imminent and we can’t run away from it.

Additionally a dead person requires utmost respect regardless, and with the

knowledge of the Philosophy of death can help us interpret other people’s beliefs

and give respect where it is due. Even basic knowledge is enough to avoid

offending people and whole community’s cultures.

III. Personal Reflection

Ever since I was a kid I was always watching random science documentaries

on the TV, and one time it talked about how the world started and evolution, etc.

If the world started it also has an end and the scientists stated that in some billion

years the sun will explode and completely destroy the 4 inner planets, and as I

kid I was a bit scared but later realized that I won’t reach that time. In some billion

years I would’ve been dead for centuries before the sun would explode. That

moment was my first experience of some existential crisis but at a very minimal

level. I was scared and started crying that I would die in the future and my family

would as well. This usually happened to me when it’s late at night and I would
 have thoughts like when I die I’m going to be completely unconscious forever and

I can’t avoid death. When I would have these thoughts my mom tried to calm me

down by using the explanation of humans having a spirit or a soul. She just told

me that we’ll become angels and go to heaven and it somewhat calmed me

down. The first time I really experienced a loss was when my grandmother

passed away. I won’t talk about all the details but there was a highlight that really

stuck to me, there’s this belief that people’s souls gets trapped into moths and

visit the family’s houses to see them once again. During the funeral there was a

moth inside and it landed on my tita’s hand and it had a damaged left wing, my

grandmother had a broken left arm which had a metal bar surgically inserted to

support it. This is just some additional information about my experience with

death rather the effect of death to other people. This is what I remembered when

we were taught the duality of the body and soul, it confirmed for me that what my

mom said actually had a Philosophy behind it and I learned more about it. Then

again for me I would like to believe the duality of the body and soul, what my

mom taught me really stuck to me and it’s something I just accepted.

IV. Conclusion

Duality of the body and soul is when our soul continues to live on when our

physical body dies. Duality of the body and soul can support human’s belief of

eternal life and happiness in paradise when connected to some selective

Christian beliefs. Overall death is still a sensitive topic and learning about its

Philosophy can help us avoid offending people’s culture and beliefs.

Sources:

Morrow, A. (2019, June 18). The Fear of Death Is Common but It Can Become

Unhealthy. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/scared-to-death-of-

death-1132501

Robinson, H. (2016, February 29). Dualism. Retrieved from

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/

Smith, S. (June 21, 2011). Emergents and the Rejection of Body-Soul Dualism.

Retrieved from https://www.equip.org/article/emergents-and-the-rejection-of-

body-soul-dualism/

Tim. (2013, March 28). Death: Philosophy definitions. Retrieved from https://www.the-

philosophy.com/death-philosophy-definitions#Definitions_of_Philosophers