PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF MAN

Ancient Period Medieval Period Modern Period Contemporary Period

3000 BC to 476 AC 476 AC to 1492 AC 1492 AC to 1789 AC 1789 AC to Present day

Frame of thought: Frame of thought: Frame of thought: Frame of thought:

Cosmocentric Theocentric Anthropocentric Scientific
“The universe and the natural order of all “Faith and Religion as the basis of all “the human person as the starting “empirical evidence and theoretical
things” truth” point of knowing” explanation as the basis of knowing”

Thinkers such as Thales,
Anaximander, Pythagoras argued on
fundamental principle or elements which
comprises the cosmos (universe)as well
as its origins or characteristics, while
Sophists (Socrates, Plato) argued the
relativism in knowledge through the
dialectic argument through human
reason.
Who or what are we:
Humans are made of elements from the
universe, hence we are inherently part of
it, thus our essence as humans follows
the same natural order as that of the
universe. We are bound to the principles
of the universe/cosmos, yet capable or
reason and awareness of existence
The “Avocado View”
Humans have an Essence (core) An enduring, stable self is seen as existing at the
Philosophers were concerned with
establishing respectable philosophical
foundation for theological positions
from Greek Platonic and Aristotelian
philosophy Iconic Religious figures
such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St.
Agustin of Hippo argued the
existence for God and the nature of
his will through scripture and doctrine
Who or what are we:
According to religious scriptures; “God
created man in his own imaged and
likeness” - our essence as humans,
are rooted in God and our action
governed by God’s will. Humans are
above all creation
Thinkers were departing from
dogmatism and emphasizing
observation, human experience at
the starting point of reality and
societal reform. Kierkegaard,
Descartes and Nietzsche argued
for the significance of human
thought and reason as
existentialism and
phenomenology emerged
Who or what are we:
Humans are the starting point of
meaning – reality that exists outside
of the human mind is meaningless,
until humans ascribe meaning to it.
The nature of the human self is not
inherent with meaning until the
individual gives it meaning
The “Artichoke View”
Humans have no inherent essence (core), but rather exist to find one.
Advancement of science and technology
shifted the paradigm of explaining Human
phenomenon into a more empirical means.
Educated guesses and assumptions, were
replaced with laboratory-based scrutiny and
testing through precise observation and
measurement. Example is the Advances of
brain imaging technology enabled us to
study thought processes
Who or what are we:
An understanding of the human being lies
within the complex dynamic of a of
interacting factors from biological to social
dimensions which measurable and
observable and can be scrutinized through
the scientific method with considerations of
variation of demographic differences culture
and gender
 core of a person (Essentialism) Humans are born with an inherent Essence (a Existentialism or the self-created self- asserts that a person comes into being as a
component of something, without which it cannot exist or becomes another thing) bare existence and exists without a fixed essence: by choosing and standing
– Human nature is predetermined through a rational element accountable for our choices, we can create a “self”

PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT