HANDOUT #4 PHILO 102

PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

To philosophize is to wonder about life About love and loneliness, Birth and death,
About Truth, Beauty and Freedom To philosophize is to explore Life By asking painful
Questions
Questions concerning human nature and human action:

What are the essential or distinctive characteristics of human nature? Is there such a thing
as a human nature shared by all humans?

How are the human body and the human mind related to one another? [The Mind-Body
Problem]

Are there minds other than my own? [The Problem of Other Minds]

Is there any objective reality at all (i.e., a reality that exists independently of my
consciousness/mind)?

Do human beings possess the power of free choice? [The Problem of Metaphysical
Freedom] What is the nature of persons? How do persons differ from non-persons? Are
there humans who are not persons? Are there persons who are not human(s)?
Questions concerning the purpose, meaning, and value of human existence
(existential questions):

What is the nature of the human condition?

What is really worthwhile? What is really important? What is really meaningful? Whats it
all about? What really matters? Does anything really matter?

What is there to live for? What are we here for? What is the purpose and/or meaning of life
(human existence)? Does life have a purpose and/or meaning? Is there anything to live (or
hope) for?

Who am I? What am I? Where am I going?

What, if anything, does suffering mean? What should we make of it? How shall it be
understood? Can it be understood?

How should one live? What should one concentrate on? What should one devote oneself
to? What should ones primary commitments (priorities) be?

What is the meaning (if any) of death?

Is there life beyond death for the individual human person? Is there life beyond death at
all, in any sense? What difference does it make if there is life beyond death or if there is not?

What is the meaning (if any) of death?

Is there life beyond death for the individual human person? Is there life beyond death at
all, in any sense? What difference does it make if there is life beyond death or if there is not?

Is either optimism or pessimism about the world or about life in general justified?

Is there any Hope?

When Man is confronted with Mystery, or with something whose causes are still unknown, he
wonders why. Such for Socrates, was the beginning of Wisdom.
In the Theaetetus, Socrates says :
Wonder is the feeling of a Philosopher, and Philosophy begins in Wonder.
( Plato, Theaetetus, 155 B. Benjamin Jewett in vol. 7of Great Books, p. 519 )
THE EXPERIENCE OF WONDER
This willingness to stand in a relaxed receptivity before an object involves a certain reverence,
epistemological humility and willingness to appreciate out of such admiration grows gratitude
and the impulse to celebrate, or possibly even to worship.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN THEN TO WONDER?
To wonder means to realize that there is something strange behind the things that we ordinarily
perceive. To wonder is to notice something extraordinary in the ordinary things we see.
( For the love of Wisdom by Chris John-Terry, An explanation of the meaning and purpose of
Philosophy )
Philosophy is for those who are willing to be disturbed with a creative disturbance
Philosophy is for those who still have the capacity to WONDER.
( Philosophy an introduction to the Art of Wondering by James L. Christian, prelude. )
Philosopher can be best describe as one who loves truth in its deepest meaning. This is in
keeping with the literal meaning of the word Philosophy as love of wisdom. The study of
Philosophy is a continual encounter, a dialogue carried on in search of truth wherever
it maybe found. Philosophy can be termed as an inquiry which seeks to encompass the whole
of reality by understanding its most basic causes and principle in so far as these are acceptable
to reason and experience. It is characterized as beginning in wonder and ends in mystery.

HANDOUT #4 PHILO 102

( Reflections on Man by Jesse Mann et al. P2-4)
Philosophy of man is an overview on the nature, activities and destiny of man. It attempts to
assess his place in and his relationship to the world. Through such an overview, an
understanding of what man is and who he is will emerge. In some respect, Philosophy of man
constitutes a metaphysics of man, for it is a probe of the deepest causes and meaning of man.
( Reflections on Man by Jesse Mann et. al p.13)