Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person

Course Outline

Mid Term Final Term

I. What is Philosophy? Definitions of Philosophy VI. Who is the Human Person?

A. Etymology: Pythagoras A. Man’s Threefold Level
B. Real Definition: Aristotle & Thomas Aquinas B. Theories of Human Nature (Classical Concept of Man)
C. Contemporary: Karl Jaspers (Socrates, Plato & Aristotle St. Augustine & Thomas, Descartes)

II. Two Approaches to Philosophy VII. Freedom of the Human Person (Post- Classical Concept of Man)
A. Historical Approach A. Existentialist Views on Man
1. Ancient 1. Sartre, Camus, Nietzsche (Atheistic Camp)
2. Medieval 2. Kierkegaard &Marcel (Theistic Camp)
3. Modern 3. Heidegger (In Between)
4. Post-Modern/Contemporary
B. Systematic Approach VIII. The Human Person in the Society
1. Metaphysics A. The Formation of a Society
2. Theodicy 1. Plato’s Republic
3. Cosmology 2. Aristotle’s Politics
4. Epistemology 3. Hobbes’ Leviathan
5. Psychology 4. Locke’s Two Treaties of Civil Government
6. Logic 5. Rousseau’s The Social Contract Discourses
7. Ethics 6. Marx and Engels
*Other Branches: Aesthetics, Education, Law,
Technology, Social & Political Philosophy etc. IX. The Human Person and his Environment
A. Dasein’s Care
III. Values of Philosophy B. Pope Francis On Ecological Integrity (Laudato Si)
A. Plato
B. Aristotle X. Death’s Value to the Human Person
C. Bertrand Russell A. Dasein’s Death

IV. Methods of Philosophizing

A. Speculative Thinking
B. Analytic Thinking
C. Reflective Thinking

V. The Nature of Truth

A. Correspondence Theory of Truth
B. Coherence Theory of Truth
C. Pragmatic Theory of Truth