3. WHAT MAKES HUMAN BEINGS
SPECIAL AS COMPARED TO OTHER
SPECIES IN THIS PLANET?
4. An understanding of the nature and condition of the
person is one of the foremost goals of PHILOSOPHY.
“MAN”
General term used to refer
to the entire human race.
“PERSON”
Refers to human being
granted recognition of
certain rights, protection,
responsibilities, and dignity,
above all.
The totality of an
individual, possessing
awareness, self-
determination and the
capacity to interact.
“PERSONHOOD”
Refers to the state of being
a person.
5. An understanding of the nature and condition of the
person is one of the foremost goals of PHILOSOPHY.
“HUMAN”
Refers to man as a
species
“HUMAN BEING”
Used to distinguish
man from other
animals
“HUMAN NATURE”
The characteristics that
distinguish humans from
all other creatures.
Traits that arise
independent of the
influence of culture and
society.
Traits considered to form
the essence of humanity.
6. WHAT IS THE HUMAN PERSON?
The most basic
definition of a human
being relates to the
nature of humans as
animals.
Philosophers believe that the
human being is not just a mere animal.
There is something in the human individual
that sets him or her apart from other
beings. These special traits make a human
distinct individual person.
10. SELF AWARENESS
Characteristics/Traits of a
Human Person
▪ Self-Awareness refers to the person
having a clear perception of oneself,
including his or her thoughts, emotions,
identity, and actions.
▪ The human person is defined by a deeper
awareness which is driven by rationality
or human thought. A person knows that
he or she is living an experience and an
active participant in this experience. A
human person knows that he or she is
living an experience and is an active
participant in this experience.
12. SELF AWARENESS
Looking, at the dog, however, you may see a
number of shared traits or features. Humans and
animals share many attributes. We both have
eyes, ears, nose, and a body.
Now, compare yourself to a dog.
Do you have eyes?
Do you have ears?
Do you have nose?
Do you have body?
Can you breathe?
Now think again…
AREYOU A DOG?
13. SELF AWARENESS
Let us say that we make this dog your pet.
Think back on how you treat your pets.
Oftentimes we treat our pets as if they are
similar to us. The following are ways pet
owners treat animals as people:
You put clothes on your pet.
You give your pet toys to play with.
You make it live in your house.
You teach it to behave properly around
other people.
You give it birthday parties and invite other
people to attend and celebrate.
14. SELF AWARENESS
By doing
these
things, is
your pet a
human
person?
Despite the intentions of people who
really love animals, animals are fundamentally
different from us humans.
Now, imagine your pet more deeply to
really make sense of personhood.
o Is your pet truly aware of what is happening
around it?
o Can your pet truly feel emotions in the same
way that you do?
o Is your pet capable of reflection? Can it question
its nature or identity as a dog?
o Can your pet reflect on its actions and behavior?
Do you think it can feel guilt or satisfaction in
the same way you do?
15. SELF AWARENESS
Try saying
these words
aloud:
I am a person.
I am alive.
I exist.
I am here. I am present.
I am living at this very moment.
Do you believe that these
statements are true?
16. SELF AWARENESS
Characteristics/Traits of a
Human Person
▪ This awareness of the self also enables us
persons to experience an “inner world”
that is defined by our personal thoughts
and ideas. The fact that we can
daydream, get lost in our thoughts,
imagine, fantasize, and reflect show that
we are able to reach within ourselves and
experience interiority.
17. The “self” enables us
to reach out and
interact with things
outside ourselves.
18. SELF DETERMINATION
Characteristics/Traits of a
Human Person
▪ Self-determination refers to the
capability of persons to make choices and
decisions based on their own
preferences, monitor and regulate their
actions, and be goal-oriented and self-
directed.
▪ We are persons because we act and we
are aware of our actions.
19. SELF DETERMINATION
Try to raise
your hand.
▪ Are you able to do it?
▪ Who makes you raise your
right hands?
20. SELF DETERMINATION
FREE WILL
▪ … enables us to do actions whenever we
want to and makes self-determination
possible…
▪ Capacity to choose a course of action
from various alternatives free of
influence of others.
Characteristics/Traits of a Human Person
22. SELF DETERMINATION
Characteristics/Traits of a
Human Person
▪ Persons exercise self-determined actions but
often encounter unintended consequences of
their actions.
▪ Morality refers to the goodness or badness of an
act.
▪ Human action is such an important aspect of the
person that many philosophers consider human
action as a way to reveal a person’s true nature.
▪ Human acts complete the person, as it is
through his or her actions that his or her inner
self is revealed to others, and it is through action
that a person is able to explore and fulfill his or
her potential.
23. SELF DETERMINATION
TRY SAYINGTHIS:
▪ I am a person.
▪ My actions are my own and are made freely.
▪ I know that I am the cause of my actions.
▪ I know that my actions have consequences.
24. Human action is an
important aspect of
the human person
that philosophers
consider as a way to
reveal a person’s true
color.
25. EXTERNALITY
Characteristics/Traits of a
Human Person
▪ Externality is the capability to reach out and interact
with others and the world.
▪ The realization that we are not alone and that there
are other persons around us enables us to reach out
and establish meaningful relationships with others.
▪ Philosophers consider man as a social being, and that
a person never exists in isolation.
▪ We may be able to experience interiority – we
imagine and think for ourselves – but we share also
share these thoughts with other persons.
▪ Man has a natural tendency to seek out fellow human
beings, and the relationships established by this
interaction is a vital component for survival
27. EXTERNALITY
Characteristics/Traits of a
Human Person
▪ Our interactions with others define our
existence as persons. We grow and develop
not only through our thoughts and actions,
but also through the influence of other
people in our lives, and the individuals we
meet and interact with.
28. EXTERNALITY
Now, let us try
and say these
statements:
oI am a person.
oI value others.
oI interact with others in
meaningful ways.
oI value my relationships with
others.
29.
30. DIGNITY
Characteristics/Traits of a
Human Person
▪ Dignity refers to the innate right to be valued
and respected.
▪ Philosophers consider all humans as having an
inherent worth or value.
▪ Each person is worth the same as another
person in the sense that every person is
priceless, unique, unrepeatable, and
irreplaceable.
▪ Putting a price a on a person diminishes human
dignity since we tend to value some people
more while we may diminish the worth of
others.
31. DIGNITY
Characteristics/Traits of a
Human Person
▪ The value of a human person is also proven
by the fat that no person is dispensable or
interchangeable.
▪ Each person is his or her own being and
there is no one in the world who is exactly
like him or her.
32. DIGNITY
Characteristics/Traits of a
Human Person
▪ Human person has dignity because of the
fact that he or she is a human.
▪ Human dignity also drives us to seek what is
good.
▪ Doing good actions promotes dignity of the
human person.
33. DIGNITY
Now, try to say
these
statements:
I am a person.
I am a person with dignity.
I recognize that others have dignity,
as well.
I must uphold human dignity in my
thoughts and actions.
34.
35. TAKE HOME ACTIVITY
Do a research and find four
(4) pictures or images that
shows uplifting or valuing
human dignity. You may
draw the pictures or find
images on the internet. Put it
on a short-sized bond paper.
36. ACTIVITY
Copy the graphic organizer
and write in the boxes
examples that show the
following characteristics of
the human person.
A person
has
awareness of
self
has self-
determinatio
n
is able to
reach out and
interact with
others
has dignity
38. What is in our human nature that enables
us to become persons?
▪ Philosophers have delved deeper into the
question of personhood. They asked
what enables humans to have a sense of
self and the traits that define a person. To
find out the answer, they began to
ponder the essential nature of the human
being.
▪ The first question philosophers pondered
was whether or not the person is truly
defined by his or her body and what he or
she experiences through the senses.
39. What is in our human nature that enables
us to become persons?
▪ Philosophers point to another unseen
aspect of the human person which along
with the body, defines us as persons.
They refer to this as the spirit.
▪ Spirit is the intangible element which
enables us to exercise thought, possess
awareness, interiority, and the capacity
to reach out to the outside world and
other persons.
40. How are the body and the spirit related?
Person
body spirit
41. How are the body and the spirit related?
Not only are the body and spirit are united,
but they are also integrated with each other.
Both human body and spirit define human
nature and experience. The body and spirit
come together to form a whole, and this
integration defines the embodiment of the
person. The human person’s nature as an
embodied spirit gives rise to the
characteristics that define the person and
enables us to engage in profound, meaningful
experiences.
Embodiment
enables us to do
and experience
all the things
that make us
human persons.
42. How are the body and the spirit related?
• Our experience is a product of
embodiment.
• The human body stands as a mediator
between the material world and the
spiritual world.
• With human embodiment, physical
acts are no longer purely physical acts,
because the body conveys something
from a persons’ inner world.
44. How does my human nature enable me to
explore my limits?
Despite these
limitations, we have
used our intellect to
devise means to achieve
several feats. We use
airplanes to fly, use
SCUBA gear to swim
underwater for extended
periods and perform
other feats well beyond
our physical capabilities.
▪ Although it is true that the human person
enjoys a number of advantages
compared to other beings, but there are
still a number of things that humans
naturally cannot do.
▪ It can be said that the person is a very
biologically deficient being. We are not
equipped with the best physical
attributes among all the beings in the
world.
45.
46. What is Transcendence?
… the ability to surpass limits…
… one important trait that
distinguishes the human person from
other beings in existence…
47. What is Transcendence?
▪ Transcendence also means overcoming oneself or being in
control even if the body reminds us of certain tendencies.
▪ The essence of transcendence is to acknowledge our
limitations, identify possibilities for development, and
change ourselves for the better. Our capacity for
transcendence gives us the opportunity to work toward
becoming better versions of ourselves.
49. Limitations & Possibilities for
Transcendence
• It frees us from our anger and bitterness
caused by the actions and/or words of
another.
• On the other hand, the hardness of our
heart is reinforced by whole series of
rational arguments.
FORGIVENESS
50. Limitations & Possibilities for
Transcendence
• There is perfection in every single
flower.
• A hug, sunrise and sunset, eating
together as a family are experiences of
miracles which can be truly moments of
grace that touch us deeply and
spontaneously lift our hearts.
BEAUTY AND NATURE
51. Limitations & Possibilities for
Transcendence
• To be vulnerable is to be human.
• We need to acknowledge the help of
other people in our lives if we want to
be true with ourselves and live with
meaning and direction.
VULNERABILITY
52. Limitations & Possibilities for
Transcendence
• Failures force us to confront our
weaknesses and limitations and to
surrender to a mystery or look upon a
bigger world.
• Acceptance of our failures makes us
hope and trust that all can be brought
into good.
FAILURE
53. Limitations & Possibilities for
Transcendence
• It is our choice to live in an impossible
world where we are always “happy” or
to accept a life where solitude and
companionship have a part.
• Our experience of loneliness can help us
realize that our dependence on other
people or gadgets is a possessiveness
that we can be free from.
LONELINESS
54. Limitations & Possibilities for
Transcendence
• To love is to experience richness,
positivity, and transcendence.
• Love can open in us something which
takes us beyond ourselves.
LOVE
55. ACTIVITY
Explore your abilities and limitations. Copy the table below. In the “I Can” column, write down the
skills and abilities that define you as a person. In the “I cannot” column, list down the things you
have tried to do but could not because of your personal limitations. (Use short-sized bondpaper)
What enabled you to do the things you identified in the first column? Do you see yourself overcoming the
limitations that prevented you from doing the things you stated in the second column?
I CAN I CANNOT
56. I want to be… I can achieve this by…
I want to do the following… I can make this happen by…
Explore your own possibilities for transcendence. Copy and fill out the table with the appropriate
responses. (Use short-sized bondpaper)
Editor's Notes
Based on a purely physical comparison, we can confidently state that we have no similarities with a rock and a lamp as they are non-living things. But how about dogs?
Looking, at the dog, however, you may see a number of shared traits or features. Humans and animals share many attributes. We both have eyes, ears, nose, and a body.
Now, compare yourself to a dog.
Do you have eyes?
Do you have ears?
Do you have nose?
Do you have body?
Can you breathe?
Now think again…
ARE YOU A DOG?
Based on a purely physical comparison, we can confidently state that we have no similarities with a rock and a lamp as they are non-living things. But how about dogs?
Looking, at the dog, however, you may see a number of shared traits or features. Humans and animals share many attributes. We both have eyes, ears, nose, and a body.
Now, compare yourself to a dog.
Do you have eyes?
Do you have ears?
Do you have nose?
Do you have body?
Can you breathe?
Now think again…
ARE YOU A DOG?
Based on a purely physical comparison, we can confidently state that we have no similarities with a rock and a lamp as they are non-living things. But how about dogs?
Looking, at the dog, however, you may see a number of shared traits or features. Humans and animals share many attributes. We both have eyes, ears, nose, and a body.
Now, compare yourself to a dog.
Do you have eyes?
Do you have ears?
Do you have nose?
Do you have body?
Can you breathe?
Now think again…
ARE YOU A DOG?
If yes, then you are really aware of yourself.
You may argue that you are instructed to do so. You alone decide to comply with the instruction given to raise your right hand and it is you alone who make your arm move to raise your right hand.
GIVE AN EXAMPLE (IBAON MAPAN ALAN CELLPHONE)
GIVE AN EXAMPLE
Imagine waking up one morning and finding that all the people in your community have disappeared. Your family, friends, and all other persons are gone without a trace.
Can you imagine living in a place or a world where there are no people?
Will you be able to provide for your needs now that you are alone?
How will you get your food and other things needed for survival?
Do you see yourself living normally now that you have no one to talk to – no family and friends to interact with?
If someone says to you “You’re worthless!” what will you feel?
