Philosophy of Man

Philosophy of man or Human Existence : focus on the being,

connected with the following philosophies:
1. Metaphysics - studies the being of action
2. Sociology - the horizontal or social dimension of man
3. Psychology - studies the nature of man as being composed of body
and soul, endowed with reason
4. Theology - mans relatedness to God in the context of faith
5. Epistemology - investigates the true notion of the human nature,
intrinsic ability

The Concept of Man

Man: Center in the course of Philosophy of man
Origin of man
Nature of human life
Reality of Existence and his significant relationship
with others
Led to appreciation of ones value as a whole person
in relation to his/her fellow beings.

Objectives for studying Philosophy of Man

Gives a broader understanding of ones self, and God
Helps man identify his connected relationship between animals
and plants
Exposes man to a thorough and deeper understanding of an
individual as a unique dipartite creature (substantial unit of
body and soul)
Helps man understand better ones nature, the meaning of ones
existence, origin, and the terminal point about who is God
Enables man to encounter the diverse views of different

Man as Some Western Philosophers See Him

Human Nature of Man

- possesses the distinct powers of reasons and free will
- can see the sameness in difference, the oneness in many, the
enduring reality behind outward change
- knows meaning, law, purpose and through his power of free
choice
- can choose between the various alternatives presented to him
by his intellect
Man is unique with the rest of physical universe, because in
knowing and judging, he rises above all the laws of matter.

Four experiences of the Human Person by: Michael Novak

Awareness : enable man to see through or reflect and to search for the
meaning of his experience and his life
Insight : often wordless and non-conceptual, an emerging response to
a certain stimulus: man sees the solution to his problem.
Reflective Judgment : capability of man to arrive at a judgment based
on evidence/s that he has gathered that may support a certain
idea or insight. (concerning his life & existence)
The Drive to understand : man is capable of discounting some of
his limitations and interest for the sake of explanatory
understanding. (Unstructured, Unlimited, Objective)

Man According to Pre-Socratic Philosophers:

Thales to Pythagoras

Pre-Socratic philosophers rejected traditional and mythological

explanations. They favored rational explanations and
asked questions about the essence of things, such as;
From where does everything come?
From what is everything created?
How do we explain the plurality of things found in nature?
How might we describe nature mathematically?

The Early Greek Philosophers

1.Thales (640-550 B.C. at Miletus a city of Iona, Greece)
- merchant, statesman, and one of the legendary Seven Wise Men of
Ancient Greece. He recognized that magical, religious, allegorical. or
mythical explanations differed from a rational and scientific explanation of nature. He was first among the Greeks who take a scientific
interest in mathematics (measured the height of the pyramid through
the length of its shadow). He said. everything comes from water that
nourished the world and the whole universe, water is the basic
material substance that is capable of changing into ice, mist, etc. He
started philosophy in the direction of naturalistic explanation, opened
the way for other thinkers to criticize his views and improve on them.

2. Anaximander(610-546 B.C.) pre-Socratic reek philosopher, at

Miletus
- belonged to the Milesian school and learned the teachings of Thales.
- became the second master of that school and Anaximenes,
Pythagoras became his pupils.
- observed that water was too limited to support the whole universe.
- He said, the substance of all of all things is boundless mass from
which specific things like earth, air, fire, water, and the like are
separated and indefinite. He said, hot and cold, moist and dry are
examples of opposites that interact, and the result is a plurality of
things that successively decay and return to the indefinite.

3. Anaximenes (570-500B.C.) Early Greek thinker

- A was pupil of Anaximander, the third philosopher of the Milesian
School of Philosophy.
-He is best known for his doctrine that air is the source of everything
and through rarefaction (loosening) and condensation (packing), air
becomes warm, cold, fire, liquid, and solid-in fact all things.
- He claimed that the human body is a condensed air (which is
cold) and the soul is a rarefied air (which is hot).
- He believed that man is a union of body and soul, when man dies, his
soul separates from his body that becomes lifeless and cold.

4. Empodocles- (493-444 B.C.) Greek philosopher, poet, and scientist

- was born of a noble family in the Sicilian City of Acragas (modern
Agrigento).
- have studied under Xenophanes or Parmenides.
- suggested that the four elements - earth, air, fire, and water - are the
roots of the universe. Everything is made from these four qualitatively different elements by combination or by separation.
-The force of love brings the elements together;
- the force of hate tears them apart.
- The cosmos consists of recurring cycles of building and tearing down
of combinations of the four elements.

Pythagoras (572-497 B.C.)

Was born at Samos, an island coast of Asia Minor, came in contact with Milesian philosophers. He
migrated from his homeland to Croton, in Southern Italy, and founded a religious school known as
Pythagoreans.

Philosophy is a way of life rather than a body of doctrine, idea continued later on by Socrates and
Plato. Pythagorean interest in mathematics and music grew the conviction that reality itself consists
of numbers.

Everything we can see and touch is made up of numbers. And Numbers, is more basic than water or
fire, or any other physical aspects of things.

Numerical proportion and harmony account for the order and arrangement of things in their various
forms.

Pythagorean likened the body to a musical instrument, corresponding to high and low pitch in music.
So when we say that our system is out of tune, we mean that we are under too much tension and need
relaxation.