Man As Person

Chapter 12
Love Of Oneself
Prepared By:
Gumaling, Rey
Monsanto
Potato, Don Nelson
Tangkihay Quinelet

Wisdom, according to Socrates, begins with this one basic principle: “Know Thyself”. He referred to the human mind as a storehouse of truths which man has only to recognize in order to acquire a true and certain knowledge of what we ought to become as a persons. If anyone knows what is RIGHT and TRUE, he cannot help but choose it and act consistent with it.
Accordingly, Socrates viewed knowledge as synonymous to virtue.
(Glenn, The History of Philosophy, 67)

Love and Selfishness
•To know ourselves is to LOVE ourselves. To love ourselves is to acknowledge the fundamental goodness of our nature and to share it with others.
• LOVE is the tendency towards what is good. It thrives on justice, on what is HONEST and
BEAUTIFUL.

Love and Selfishness

• SELFISHNESS is withdrawing to ourselves, putting ourselves ahead and above all others.
It is the over flowing of greed and pride.
• No man lives for himself ALONE.

The Ethics of Self-Perfection
• It is our duty to develop by actualizing our potentials. In the biological sense, this means growing in years and maturity. In moral sense, means molding our character.
• Paul Tillich, goal of ethics, points out, is to become “a person in the community of persons”. In Pilipino, this is translated to pagpapakatao.
• Equipped with the natural powers for selfdevelopment, man does not need money or expensive mechanical devices to build splendid character.

The Integral Value of the Person
The integrity of the person is the totality of his being as composed of body and soul.
1. Biological Duties
--are those pertaining to the preservation of life and the maintenance of health and bodily functions. The Integral Value of the Person
2. Intellectual Duties
- Are those pertaining to the development of our intellect and will.
3. Moral Duties
- Are those pertaining to the development of the spirit, or character. This consists in the practice of religion and the exercise of moral virtues. Heroes, Saints, and Martyrs
• Heroes, saints, and martyrs are not born. They are made. What heroes, saints, and martyrs have in common is character.
• Great men vary in their achievements and their greatness. • It is false to believe that situations make a hero.
Situations, as experienced shows, produced both villain and the hero. It is also false that
FAME or POPULARITY is equivalent to greatness.

Heroes, Saints, and Martyrs

* The greatness and nobility belong to him who though born in the forest and without knowledge of whatsoever except that his native tongue, possessed good character, is faithful to his words and does not forget his dignity nor his honor; a man who does not oppress nor help oppressors; a man who loves and looks after the welfare of his country”.( Cartilla Pel Katipunan )

Our Basic Personal Rights
Correlative to our natural duties are the rights essential to our
Integrity as a persons.
1. The right to Life
-. Is the most important of all our rights. It is the foundation, we may say of all other rights. The 1987 Constitution expressly guarantees this right, that our right to be alive and to be secured from physical harm is primordial duty of the government (Section 4, Article II).
-. Secures us not only from physical harm but provides for the promotion of our economics, cultural and spiritual growth.

Character as Moral Creativity
• Thinkers agree that character is the will of the individual to direct his effort towards a recognized ideal. In this sense, character is a creative process of developing oneself, not necessarily according to socially acceptable norms, but according to a set of recognized ideals.

• “Character is not the result of good act done in a moment of inspiration, but it is the habit of doing well at all times.”

Human Habits
•Habit derives from Latin word habere, meaning to have. •It is either the disposition to have something
(entitative habit, ex. To be beautiful, talented, obese), or the disposition to act in a certain manner
(operative habit, ex. Painting, writing, talking).
•Habits are acquired. Once acquired, they become very difficult to alter, somehow permanent.
•In like manner, habits are not formed in an instant and it would require a tremendous effort to change a habit. Moral Significance of Habits
• Habits are either good or bad depending on whether they promote the well being of the person or not. Ex.
• In ethical sense, habit which is in conformity with the nature of man is also in conformity with right reason and, therefore, is good.
• In Ethics, good habits are called virtues while bad habits are called vices.

The Intellectual Virtues
• Intellectual Virtues – habits pertain to the intellect. Moral virtues – those that pertain to the will.
• Intellectual Virtues:
1. Understanding
Speculative intellect
2. Science
3. Wisdom
4. Art
Practical intellect
5. Prudence

The Moral Virtues
• The moral values are those that build the character of person. • Justice – is the virtue which inclines us to render to another what is due to him.
• Fortitude – is the virtue which gives us the strength in facing dangers and vicissitudes of life. It is described as tatag ng kalooban.
• Temperance – is the virtue which helps us regulate our passions and our use of earthly goods. In philosophy of
Aristotle, temperance or moderation provides the
“golden mean” so that nothing is done in excess or defect. The Moral Virtues
• A vice is the habit of doing an evil acquired through the repetition of an evil act. Every evil act speaks ill of the character of the person acting. • A vice is opposed to virtue either by excess or by defect.
1. Vices opposed to prudence by excess are: cautiousness, fraud, flattery, trickery, etc.; by defect are: imprudence, impulsiveness, carelessness, and stubbornness.

The Moral Virtues
2. Vices opposed to justice by excess: idolatry, fanaticism, and superstition; by defect are: all forms of unjust activities by omission, such as disrespect for elders, nonpayment of illegitimate debts, etc.
3. Vices opposed to fortitude by excess: rashness, boldness, recklessness; by defect: cowardice, timidity, sensitivity, and depression.
4. Vices opposed to temperance by excess: lack of self-confidence; by defect: pride, lust, hatred gluttony, vanity and other.

The Person that We Ought to Be
Character points the direction of becoming the person that we ought to become.
Character is not the product of society’s approval nor of high fashion’s sophistication.
Character is a creating process involving prudent choices of values.
“Persons should be valued according to their character, whether they are just, moderate in their wants and optimistic in their attitude.

End