Republic of the Philippines

Region I
Pangasinan Division II
Binalonan
BERSAMIN AGRO- INDUSTRIAL HIGH SCHOOL
Alcala, Pangasinan

MODULE 1
INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
GRADE 11/12, 1ST QUARTER, WEEK 1

Philosophy has been around since the dawn of western civilization. The golden age of Greek philosophy took place in
Athens in the 5th century BC. The works of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle informed thousands of years of thought,
becoming central to thought in the Roman world, the Middle Ages, and then resurfacing in the renaissance and later.

Starting at the height of the Roman republic, Christian thought was central to philosophy at least until the
enlightenment. In the 18th century, questions of how we come to know what we believe we know (epistemology), and
new ethical schools began to form. By the late 1800’s, questions of language, logic, and meaning took center stage,
and the 20th century played host to one of the largest bursts of philosophical work ever seen. Today philosophical
thought is applied to almost every component of life, from science to warfare, politics to artificial intelligence.
In this module, we aim to be able to become aware of how we apply philosophy to our daily life.

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. Understand the difference between a holistic perspective from a partial point of view.
2. Identify the different ways of doing philosophy.
3. Do a philosophical reflection on your life experiences from a holistic perspective.

What I Know

Before going on, check how much you know about this topic.
Answer the pre-test below.

What is your own understanding of the word Philosophy?

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 What’s New

Lesson1 Doing Philosophy

Partial vs Holistic view

In philosophy, understanding something depends on the point of view used in studying that object, concept, or
situation. 

A partial point of view, by definition, is incomplete. It's admitting that one's perception is limited by other factors or
based on a single factor.

Having a holistic view is having a view where we understand both the whole and the parts of something, and, we
understand how the parts, when brought together, make up the whole. When you have the whole picture of
something, you have many perspectives (these are the parts of the whole).

The meaning of Philosophy:

Oxford dictionary defines philosophy as the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence,
especially when considered as an academic discipline.
Wikipedia states that Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental questions about existence, knowledge,
values, reason, mind, and language. You will notice that it is the same thought as that of the oxford meaning and other
dictionaries as well.
Etymological meaning of philosophy- The word philosophy is derived from Greek words – Philos and Sophia.
Philos means love and Sophia means wisdom. Thus philosophy means love of wisdom. In this way search of wisdom
or truth is called philosophy

Therefore, our course is mainly finding answers to questions about many things, about anything and about everything.
We reflect and think about our experiences, our thoughts, our actions and that of others too.

How it started:

Origin of Philosophy
Philosophy has been around since the dawn of western civilization. The golden age of Greek philosophy took place in
Athens in the 5th century BC. The works of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle informed thousands of years of thought,
becoming central to thought in the Roman world, the Middle Ages, and then resurfacing in the renaissance and later.

Starting at the height of the Roman republic, Christian thought was central to philosophy at least until the
enlightenment. In the 18th century, questions of how we come to know what we believe we know (epistemology), and
new ethical schools began to form. By the late 1800’s, questions of language, logic, and meaning took center stage,
and the 20th century played host to one of the largest bursts of philosophical work ever seen. Today philosophical
thought is applied to almost every component of life, from science to warfare, politics to artificial intelligence.
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Branches of Philosophy:

The branches of philosophy are divided into the many fields of philosophy:
1. Aesthetics
Aesthetics is study of the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and the creation of personal kinds of truth
Aesthetics is the philosophical study of beauty and taste. It is closely related to the philosophy of art, which is
concerned with the nature of art and the concepts in terms of which individual works of art are interpreted and
evaluated.
It deals not only with the nature and value of the arts but also with those responses to natural objects that find
expression in the language of the beautiful and the ugly. However, the terms such as beautiful and ugly seem too
vague in their application and too subjective in their meaning. What is perceived to be beautiful for one person may
be otherwise for another.

 Applied aesthetics – application of the philosophy of aesthetics to art and culture.

2. Epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the source, nature and validity of knowledge. It asks the
following central questions -

1. How is knowledge different from belief?

2. What can we know?
3. How does knowledge arise?
4. Can there be objective knowledge?

Epistemology is the study of the nature and scope of knowledge and justified belief. It analyzes the nature of

knowledge and how it relates to similar notions such as truth, belief and justification. It also deals with the means
of production of knowledge, as well as skepticism about different knowledge claims. It is essentially about issues having
to do with the creation and dissemination of knowledge in particular areas of inquiry.

The kind of knowledge usually discussed in Epistemology is propositional knowledge, "knowledge-that" as opposed

to "knowledge-how" (for example, the knowledge that "2 + 2 = 4", as opposed to the knowledge of how to go about
adding two numbers).

3. Ethics
Ethics – study of the right, the good, and the valuable
Ethics is that part of philosophy which deals with the good and bad, or right and wrong, in human conduct. It asks:
What is the good?
What should I do?
What is a good life?
Is morality objective or subjective?
Is it absolute or relative?
Why should I be moral?
What is the relationship between self-interest and morality?
Where does morality come from? 
What, if anything, provides the ultimate justification for morality?
Should one emphasize duty, happiness, or pleasure in moral judgments?

 Applied ethics – philosophical examination, from a moral standpoint, of particular issues in private and public life
that are matters of moral judgment. It is thus the attempts to use philosophical methods to identify the morally
correct course of action in various fields of human life.
o Decision ethics – ethical theories and ethical decision processes

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 o Environmental ethics – studies ethical issues concerning the non-human world. It exerts influence on a large
range of disciplines including environmental law, environmental sociology, ecotheology, ecological
economics, ecology and environmental geography.
o Professional ethics – ethics to improve professionalism
 Computer ethics – deals with how computing professionals should make decisions regarding
professional and social conduct
 Ethics of artificial intelligence – specific to robots and other artificially intelligent beings.
 Research ethics – application of fundamental ethical principles to a variety of topics involving research,
including scientific research.
o Bioethics – study of the typically controversial ethical issues emerging from new situations and possibilities
brought about by advances in biology and medicine.
 Medical ethics – ethics to improve basic health needs of humans
o Business ethics – individual based morals to improve ethics in a business environment
o Organizational ethics – ethics among organizations
o Social ethics – ethics among nations and as one global unit
 Descriptive ethics – study of people's beliefs about morality
 Normative ethics – study of ethical theories that prescribe how people ought to act
 Metaethics – branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties, statements, attitudes, and
judgments

4. Logic
Logic – the systematic study of the form of valid inference and reason. Ability to test arguments for logical consistency
and understanding the logical consequences of certain assumptions.

 Propositional logic
 Predicate logic
 Modal logic
5. Metaphysics
Metaphysics – traditional branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the
world that encompasses it. Metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms: "What
is ultimately there?" and, "What is it like?"

 Ontology – philosophical study of the nature of being, becoming, existence, or reality, as well as the basic
categories of being and their relations.
 Philosophy of mind – studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties,
consciousness, and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain.
 Philosophy of space and time – branch of philosophy concerned with the issues surrounding the ontology,
epistemology, and character of space and time.

Philosophy of action – theories about the processes causing willful human bodily movements of a more or less
complex kind. This area of thought has attracted the strong interest of philosophers ever since Aristotle's
Nicomachean Ethics (Third Book).

What’s More

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Title of the Activity: My Success Factors!

Most Essential Learning Competency: Distinguish a holistic perspective from a partial point of view.
K to 12 BEC CG: PPT11/12-Ia-1.1

Directions: Fill in the boxes with the factors that will help you attain your goal in your life

I. In each of the boxes, trace what happens if you study hard. The first box is studying hard. The succeeding
boxes will show what happens if you will do your best in school.

II. In the diagram below, fill the center box with your desired successful goal in the future. The other boxes
will contain all the factors that will help you in attaining that goal.

What I have learned

III. What are the two different perspectives used in the activities above?

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What can I do

Here are some enrichment activities for you to work on to master and
strengthen the basic concepts you have learned from this lesson.
Activity I: Let us
Philosophize!
Most Essential Learning Competency: Realize the value of doing philosophy in obtaining a broad
perspective on life.

K to 12 BEC CG:PPT11/12-Ib-1.3

Directions: Find the different branches of Philosophy in the word search box.
I. Word Search: The following branches of Philosophy are in the word search box.
Encircle them using your ball pen:

a. METAPHYSICS
b. ETHICS
c. EPISTEMOLOGY
d. LOGIC
e. AESTHETICS

Activity 2: Matching type:

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 letter of
your
Branch of Philosophy answer Main Focus
A. To know the nature, sources and
1. Metaphysics limitations of knowledge

2. Ethics B. To know the reason behind the truth

3. Epistemology c. To know how to make it beautiful

4. Logic D. to know what is real

5. Aesthetics E. to know what is right from wrong

Great job! You have understood the lesson.

Are you now ready to summarize?

Assessment:

Give your own example of a situation where you apply any of the branches of philosophy in your life using
the following guide questions:
1. Describe the situation.
2. What branch/es of philosophy did you apply
3. Briefly explain how the branch/es of philosophy is applied in your example.

Additional Activities

At this point, do a philosophical reflection on a concrete situation from a holistic perspective

Title of the Activity: A friend in need.

Directions: Read carefully the situation. Reflect on it and come up with a holistic approach to
address the situation.

I. Mary Joy is your friend. She has been doing well in class since your elementary days. She has been a
consistent honor student. Last year, Dagul, also your friend became her boyfriend. Dagul, just like Mary
Joy comes from a poor family. They are both doing odd jobs during weekends in order to earn any
amount to sustain their school needs.

Yesterday, Mary Joy came to you saying she has a problem. She is pregnant. She needs your advice on
what course of action she must do.

After much thinking, you decided to come up with an action plan. Using the rows, indicate what possible
results will she face for possible courses of action?

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 ACTION 1: ACTION 2:
PROS CONS PROS CONS

Which between the two actions, which would you choose if you were in Mary Joy’s situation?
Why? (At least 50 words)
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Do you think you used a holistic perspective in your advice to Mary Joy? How?

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Great job! You are done with this module.

Answer Key:

I.

II.

III. Two perspectives used:

1. Partial perspective – It focused only in one factor to become successful which is to study
hard.
2. Holistic perspective – It applied diverse viewpoints to determine the factors in becoming
successful.

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Activity I
letter of
your
Branch of Philosophy answer Main Focus
A. To know the nature, sources and
1. Metaphysics D limitations of knowledge

2. Ethics E B. To know the reason behind the truth

3. Epistemology A c. To know how to make it beautiful

4. Logic B D. to know what is real

5. Aesthetics C E. to know what is right from wrong

Activity II
Own example of Any of the branches of Philosophy
Students’ answers will vary according to their personal experiences.

ACTION 1: keep it a secret ACTION 2: tell her parents

PROS CONS PROS CONS
No one will know She will feel guilt She will be relieved Her parents will
of not lying scold her
She can act normal Difficult to hide Her parents can give She may stop
sound advice schooling
She can attend Others might notice Her parents are Other people will
school there to help her know
She will graduate on She will have She will be at peace She will be ashamed
time difficulty for her honesty of others
concentrating
No scolding yet from Stress knowing she
parents did not tell them
She will have time to She will not be at
think for options peace with herself

I. Personal opinion of student

II. Application of the lesson to the situation. Answers will vary.

Rubrics
Excellent Good Satisfactory Poor Needs
Total points Total points Total points Total points Improvement
(90-100) ( 80-89) (70-79) (60-69) Total points
(59 below)
EASY: 25 – 30 pts 19 – 24 pts 13 – 18 pts 7 - 12 pts below 6 pts

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Max: 30 -pts

Boxes filled 5 boxes Filled 4 boxes Filled 3 boxes Filled 2 boxes Filled 1 box

Word search found all 5 Found 4 Found 3 Found 2 Found 1 word

words words words words

Action Plan at least 9 At least 7 At least 5 At least 3 At least 1 entry

entries entries entries entries
AVERAGE: 25 – 30 pts 19 – 24 pts 13 – 18 pts 7 - 12 pts below 6 pts
Max 30 pts

Diagrams At least 5 At least 4 At least 3 At least 2 1 answer

entries answers answers answers

Matching type 5 right 4 right 3 right 2 right 1 right answer

answers answers answers answers

Own example Nearly Generally Slightly Incorrect

Accurately accurate correct correct explanation
explained explanation explanation explanation

DIFFICULT: 34 – 40 pts 26 – 33 pts 18 – 25 pts 9 – 17 pts. 8 pts below

Max 40 pts

Personal Expressed Expressed Expressed Expressed Unable to

perspectives personal views personal personal personal express
well views views views slightly personal views

Essay Explained well Explained Explained Explained Unexplained

well partially somewhat slightly
Application
Applied the Partially Partially Slightly Unable to apply
lesson to the applied the applied the applied the the lesson to
situational lesson to the lesson to the lesson to the the situational
analysis situational situational situational analysis
analysis analysis analysis

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References:
A. Books

Christine Carmela R. Ramos, PhD. 2016. Introduction to the Philosopy of the Human Person.
Quezon City: Rex Bookstore, Inc.
pp. 2 - 24.
B. Online and Other Sources

Department of Education. http://www.deped.gov.ph/

Power Point Presentation: https://www.slideshare.net/arielgilbuena7/intro-to-the-philosophy-of-the-

human-person-chapter-1-the-process-of-doing-philosophy
https://www.evphil.com/philosophy.html

Free word search puzzle maker: http://puzzlemaker.biz/

Super Scholar: History Of Philosophy: https://superscholar.org/history-of-philosophy/#:~:text=The

%20golden%20age%20of%20Greek,in%20the%20renaissance%20and%20later.
Wikipedia, Outline of Philosophy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_philosophy
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://iep.utm.edu/marcel/
Encyclopaedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/aesthetics
The basics of Philosophy: https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_epistemology.html
Reason and Meaning: https://reasonandmeaning.com/2016/04/03/what-is-philosophical-ethics/
Peace Corps: https://www.peacecorps.gov/educators/resources/story-blind-men-and-elephant/

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