SELF-LEARNING MODULE IN

INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON 12

Quarter 1/Week 4

Name: __________________________________ Grade/Section:_______________

Subject Teacher: _________________________ LRN: ______________________

I. OBJECTIVES:
1. Notice things that are not in their proper place and organize them in an aesthetic way (Napapansin ang
mga bagay na wala sa wastong lugar at naisasaayos ito nang ayon sa kagandahan) PPT11/12-Ii-4.2
2. Show that care for the environment contributes to health, well-being and sustainable development
(Napatutunayan na ang pagkalinga sa kapaligiran ay nakatutulong sa pagkamit ng kalusugan,
kagalingan, at likas-kayang kaunlaran) PPT11/12-Ij-4.3
3. Demonstrate the virtues of prudence and frugality towards environments (Naipapamalas ang pagiging
masinop sa pakikibagay sa kanyang kapwa nilalang at sa kapaligiran)
PPT11/12-Ij-4.4
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1. I CAN discuss and distinguish disordered situations from ordered conditions;
2. I CAN identify what factors contribute towards ordered conditions, and which ones to disordered ones;
3. I CAN affirm the importance of seeking order and contributing to the establishment of it in our lives;
4. I CAN appreciate the importance of Human Person in the Environment; and
5. I CAN differentiate the eccentric and anthropocentric Model
II. SUBJECT MATTER:
The Human Person in their Environment
III. LEARNING RESOURCES:
Textbook/Learning Materials: PEAC Teaching Guide (2019 Summer In-Service Training for SHS)
Department of Education - Alternative Delivery Mode (DepEd-ADM)
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Author: Christine Carmela R. Ramos, PhD
Curriculum Guide: K+12 Curriculum Guide in Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxC161GvMPc;
IV. PROCEDURE/LEARNING ACTIVITIES:
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
“REFLECT ON THIS!!!”

Direction: Analyze and answer the questions below.

1. What is the world made of? _______________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
2. How did the world come into being? ________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. How can we explain the process of change?
__________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

Read and Understand the Information

The Human Person in their Environment

According to John Donne: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of
the main.”
This means that as human person, it is our responsibility to treat a person with respect not only our fellow humans
but also everything in this world. Humankind is a part of the world, and we significantly affect our environment in the same
manner of what that changes in our environment affect us.

“Environment is seen in philosophy from a totally different perspective”

Pre-Socratic philosophers represent a paradigm shift- a change from the mythical explanation of the origins of the
nature. These philosophical were looking for the underlying laws of nature. It is to represent the first intellectual and
scientific attempt to understand the origins of the universe.
Two frameworks to be considered (Payne 2010)
Human Nature
Culture Wind
Individualism Holism
Mind Nature / Cosmos
Calculative Body
Human over/ against environments Relational
Global/ Technological Earth / Wisdom
Ecology over/ Against Humans
 Figure 1. Anthropocentric Model Figure 2. Ecocentric Model

Anthropocentric model- humans are superior and central to the universe, thus, it is human centered.

Ecocentric model- the ecological or relational integrity of the humans, provides meaning of our morals and values
and it is nature centered.
Devoted to preserving the totality of Earth’s biodiversity and the functioning of its life –supporting system

https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/727190671065965732/ https://www.google.com.ph/imgres?imgurl
=https%3A%2F%2F1.800.gay%3A443%2Fhttp%2Feurope.chinadaily.com.

https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/nuclear- https://missionsbox.org/news/facing-famine-
techniques-help-revealhigh-rate-of-soil-erosion-in-benin crisis-in-yemen/

https://www.slideshare.net/ChristineEndriga/human-person-in-theenvironment
Notice Disorder in the Universe
Human adopt an exploitative attitude whenever nature is merely considered as an instrument for one’s profit or
gain. For example, quarrying or cutting down age old trees could justify our exploitative attitude toward nature.
Carbon footprint has eight categories:
1. Construction 5. Mobility
2. Shelter 6. Manufactured goods
3. Food 7. Services
4. Clothing 8. Trade

 Anthropocentric attitude, humanity claims ownership or authority over land.

 “Anthropocentrism is quite human- centered in nature”
 Ecocentrism • Environmental concerns are more important than the needs and rights of human beings
Clip Art-viewing
 Watch a short film that shows about environment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4RFLWbIiko
 Tragedy of the commons (Video Clip) - www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxC161GvMPc

There are three theories about the Eco centric Model such as Deep Ecology, Social Ecology and Ecofeminism:
Deep Ecology Is an ecological philosophy developed by Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess in the early 1970’s
asserting that all life forms have an equal right to exist, and human needs and desires have no priority over those of other
organisms. Believes that the living environment should be respected and regarded as having rights to flourish,
independent of its utility to humans.
Social Ecology It is a critical social theory founded by American anarchist and libertarian socialist author
Murray Bookchin. Conceptualized as a critique of current social, political, and antiecological trends, it espouses a
reconstructive, ecological, communitarian, and ethical approach to society.
Ecofeminism It is also called ecological feminism, branch of feminism that examines the connections between
women and nature. Its name was coined by French feminist Francoise d’Eaubonne in 1974.

A philosophical idea that combines feminism and ecology concerns, emphasizing that both suffer from their
treatment by a male dominated society. Comes from the idea that women and nature have significant connection, since
women most often have a close association with nature in many societies due to the nature of their traditional roles.

We see the important responsibility of man as co-creator of God.

 God has instructed man not only to live his life but become also the stewards of His creation.
 We see Him create intentionally and orderly. He creates for the first three days (day/night; sky/water; water/land),
and fills what He created for the next 3 days (sun/stars/moon; sea creatures/birds; animals/mankind). With each
step, we see the Lord create each “according to their kinds.”

The word FRUGALITY is oftentimes used in money; a thriftiness or a quality of being economical with
money. If this term is applied in the environment, this simply means that you have to CONSERVE as well as PROTECT
the environment. And frugality coupled with the word PRUDENCE which simply means intelligent, creates a better world
in our environment. You will act, use and harness all available resources possible in our environment conservatively and
intelligently, and of course, with all due respect to the society and human life as well.

Erich Fromm (2013) suggested a new society that should inspire the development of a new human being that will
nurture prudence and fairness or frugality towards environment. These are some of the functions of Fromm’s envisioned
society:

1. The enthusiasm to offer up all forms of having, in order to fully be.

2. Being fully present where one is.
3. Trying to lessen greed, hate and illusions as much as one is adept.
4. Making the full growth of oneself and of one’s fellow beings the utmost goal of living.
5. Not deceiving others, but also not being deceived by others, one may be called acquitted, but not naïve.
6. Freedom that is not uncertainty but the possibility to be oneself, not as a bundle of greedy desires, but as a
carefully balanced structure that at any moment is threatened with the alternatives of growth or decay, life or
death
7. Happiness in the manner of ever-growing aliveness, whatever the extreme point is the destiny permits one to
reach, for living as full as one can be so agreeable that the concern for what one might not attain has little chance
to develop.
8. Joy that comes from giving and sharing, not from hoarding and manipulating.
9. Developing one’s capacity for love, together with one’s capacity for critical, unsentimental thought.
10. Shedding one’s narcissism and accepting that catastrophic boundaries inherent in human survival.
 The ideals of this humanity cross all party lines, for protecting nature needs focused conservation, action,
politically aware and support from business. If all these segments agree on the same goals, the chance of transformation
would seem to be significantly greater, especially since most citizens have become less and less interested in part
allegiance and slogans.

Attribution of Moral Consideration and the Corresponding Approaches

 HUMAN-ANTHROPOCENTRISM – Traditional views consider human beings as the center of moral consideration
—from Judeo-Christian Tradition (Genesis 1:26-29)
 Earth and other natural resources as an instrument for man to explore and conquer and to make use of it for the
benefit of man.
 Plato and Aristotle viewed MAN as superior because of his/her unique capacity as a rational being.
 Protagoras claimed that man is the measure of all things.
- Therefore, only human beings are moral due to his special ability towards self-consciousness and
deliberation.
 However, Barbara Mackinnon in her book; “Ethics: theory and Contemporary Issues”,
- “Our own good requires that we have due and wise regard for animals and environment”.
- This good need not be defined narrowly in terms of the satisfaction of individual interests of a limited
sources—prudential anthropocentrism.
 Recognizes duties towards the environment—instead of dominion over nature, we are mere stewards responsible
for keeping the balance and beauty in nature.
 NON-HUMANS – PANTHOCENTRECISM
- Peter Singer, an Australian philosopher; “Animal Liberation”, the realm of being morally considerable
must extended to higher forms of animals or intelligent animals like dogs and chimpanzees, who are
sentient—have the capacity to feel pain.
 “To give preference to the life of a being, simply because that being is a member of our species would put us in
the same position as racists who give preference to those who are members of their race”.
 Two Arguments/Reasons why animals have moral consideration:
1. They are sentient being and they could feel pain.
- Singer argues, “all the arguments to prove man’s superiority cannot shatter this hard fact; in the animals
are our equals.
2. They possess inherent or intrinsic value.
- They are an end in themselves—should not be regarded as a means of man’s selfish ends.
 LIVING ORGANISMS – BIOCENTRISM
- Viewed that not only humans and animals, but also plants should be morally considerable.
 Preservation of biodiversity with its plants and animals.
 Protection for all living organism including
 Protection for all living organism including animal rights
- Paul Taylor, “Ethics of Respect for Nature”—“all living things should be considered as “teleogical centers
of life”—each and every living organism has its own telos, or goal or purpose to fulfill in tis world.
- Kenneth Goodpaster, “On Being Morally Considerable”—being sentient is just a means of attaining a
living organism’s goal of being alive or having life.
 HOLISTIC ENTITIES or COMMUNTIES – ECOCENTRICISM
- Regard ecosystem as holistic entities that should be given moral consideration.
 Leopold’s land ethic, “a thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty
of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends to do otherwise”.
 Callicott, “The Conceptual Foundations of the Land Ethic”—that the land ethic morality is the next stage of man’s
ethical evolutionary development—moving towards seeing things less individualistically, but in a more holistically.
 Rolston, “Challenges in Environmental Ethics”—emphasized the need for ecological conscience for
environmental ethics to take a foothold.
- “environmental ethics is not a muddle; it is an invitation to moral development”
- All ethics seeks appropriate respect for life, but respect for human life is only a subset of respect for all
life.

Theories in Radical Ecological Philosophy

DEEP ECOLOGY – against the traditional and conventional view of the environment.
- An environmental approach emerged which assumes that all living things possess equal value and intrinsic worth
regardless of their usefulness or utility to other beings.
Arne Naess – human being should look at the self as an extension of nature, where the human ego would be
identified with nature.
 Respect and care for self is tantamount to respect and care for nature—self-realization.
SOCIAL ECOLOGY
- An offshoot of the movement against domination of existing hierarchical structures in society that pre-empt the full
development of the full nature of an individual, from his/her first (biotic nature-man’s evolutionary history) and
second nature.
Murray Bookchin – “until human beings cease to live in societies that are structured around hierarchies as well
as economic classes, we shall never be free of domination”—the very notion of the domination of nature by man stems
from the very real domination of human by human”.
- Believes that ecological problems rooted from social problem:
- Political: has to do with power relations in society brought about by capitalism as well by social class domination.
- In industrialist society with its ‘grow or die’ profit orientation—reduced human beings as machines and nature as a
mega-machines which contributed to the economic growth.
- We regard nature therefore as an evolutionary process—that the human and non-human can be located in the
evolution of the non-human can be seen as aspect of an evolutionary continuum, and the emergence of the
 human can be located in the evolution of non-human, without advancing the naïve claims that one is either
superior to or made for the other.
- Resource is something that can be used to take care of a need
- When an environmental resource is owned by many people, or no one, but no one is responsible for it, it is called
a “common resource”.
- In this process of “commune of communes”, communitarian values pursuit or communalism can mark the end of
domination of human by human.
ECOFEMINISM
- A reaction against male domination and the corresponding women oppression.
- Believed that in our relationship with the environment is rooted on male-centered viewed in nature.
- They are also against to the existing patriarchal relations as well as capitalist system supporting exploitative
economic structures to the detriment of women and nature.
- It serves as a social and political agenda for the benefit of both women and nature—believes that a society
characterized by a mentality that tolerates the oppression of women is directly linked with its tendency to tolerate
the abuse of the environment and degradation of nature.
Some Features of the Ecofeminist View
1. Historical, typical causal connection - Prototypical patterns of domination
2. Conceptual Connections - Locate in the conceptual structures of domination that construct women and nature in
male-biased ways—because of men are superior to women and nature, they could easily be subordinated,
dominated, subjugated, oppressed and exploited.
3. Symbolic Connections - The realm of symbols or language, evidence regarding the devaluation and degradation
of women and nature comes to fore.
 Example: women describe using animal terms such; chicks, pussycat, kalapati, ahas and others.

Environmental Challenges: Present and Future Challenges on the Environment – What we Ought to Do?
- A number of challenges on the environment could be identified and every living person on this planet would have
to take on the moral obligation of preservation and conservation by taking mitigation and adaptation measures
seriously in order to deal with these challenges.
Climate Change: The Present Challenge
- Regarded as one of the major environmental challenges that the world is facing today.
- A treat to the world’s basic needs, since our key natural resources may affect our food and water security.
Preservation of Endangered species: The Continuing Challenge
- A number of species have already been extinct ever since life on Earth began as human beings compete with
other living things for space, food and water. In which, most cases human beings are at the topmost level of the
food chain and they are very successful predators
Water Scarcity: The Emerging Challenge
- The rising global population combined with economic growth in emerging markets will trigger growing demand for
portable water and food.
Sustainable Development: The Future Challenge
- Developments that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.

How do we control the harmful effects of human activity on the environment?

What we Ought to Do?
 Peter Wenz – prima facie an obligation to our ecosystem.
- Emphasized a more primal obligation that we have to recognize; an obligation to protect the environment from
oneself.
- Our duty is to protect the environment from any and every threat or a duty to bring aid—we have the moral
obligation to do our part.

Global Initiatives - United Nations is a leading proponent if global environment initiatives to bring about
environmental sustainability on a global level.

Environmental Program and Protocol formulated

- Kyoto protocol (2005) – agreed upon by member nations to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions.
- Montreal Protocol (1987) – is a result of the agreement in the Vienna Convention of the Protection of the Ozone
Layer, aimed to reduce ozone depletion by phasing out products that contain substances responsible for such;
CFCs or Chlorofluorocarbons, HCFCs or Hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and HFCs or Hydrofluorocarbons.
- Basel Convention (1989) – treaty signed and ratify by 180 member states and European Union through the
initiatives of UN and its UNEP arm—aimed at controlling ‘transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and
their disposal’ to protect developing countries to become dumping sites for toxic waste of developed countries.
- Global Marshall Plan (1990) – proposed by Albert Gore former US Vice President, envisions the attainment of
sustainable development by making wealthy nations with advanced economies help Third World nations by
bringing and sharing their advanced green technologies.