MODULE 3: THE EMBODIED SUBJECT

This module will discuss methods of

philosophizing. To start off, you will be
introduced to the Socratic method or how
Socrates, in the dialogues of Plato,
applied dialectics in arriving at his theory
of knowledge. Then, Descartes' method
of systematic doubt will be discussed.
Following this is a discussion of the nature
of knowledge, including the process of
the formation of concepts for knowledge
to be possible, the different types of
meaningful statements, and the two
types of knowledge that correspond with
them. Finally, you will continue the
discussion on the nature of knowledge,
the different theories of truth and the
This module will culminate with the discussion of one's epistemic
obligation to oneself as an analytical and critical thinker before
accepting any statement, opinion, or belief as true.

SUBJECT OBJECTIVES:

After completing this module, the learners are expected to:

• distinguish opinion from truth;

• analyze situations that show difference between opinion and
truth; and
• evaluate opinions through methods of philosophy
LECTURE 1: PLATO, ARISTOTLE, AND DESCARTES’ CONCEPT OF
A HUMAN BEING
PLATO
One of the earliest theories regarding human nature
came from the Greek philosopher Plato. For Plato, a
human being is composed of body and soul, but he
argues that the human is essentially his soul. Prior to
human being’s existence in this physical world (of the
senses) the soul is residing in the world of ideas, so
that the original condition of human beings is that of a
soul. And as we acquire bodies during birth in the
physical world, we are subjected to different kinds of
limitations, including forgetfulness of the truths that we
have encountered in the world of ideas. Because of our
bodies, we are inhibited from grasping truths.
Consequently, Plato looks at the body with contempt
because it is the source of our errors. The body,
together
its with everything
limitations, as when weintrust
the more
worldour
of the senses,
senses than is
our reason and eventually realize that we
therefore
were considered
deceived by ourassenses.
having less
Platooreven
even considers
no value atthe body as a prison of the soul, which
all. The body
prompts him toprevents
set the us from
ideal knowing reality
of liberating and
the soul we the body. The soul is immortal while the
from
often submit
body to So when we die, our body will decay but our soul will return to the world of
is mortal.
ideas. Thus, a human being is essentially his soul.
Another important idea in Plato’s concept of a human being is the soul’s division into
three parts: reasoning, spiritedness, and appetites. For Plato, the ideal relationship
among the parts is for the reasoning part to rule over the appetitive and the spirited
part.
Aristotle Aristotle was Plato’s most famous student.
However, there are a lot of differences in their
philosophies, one of which is how they looked
at human beings. Like Plato, Aristotle also
believes that human beings are composed of
body and soul. However, it is how the soul is
related to the body that Aristotle differs from
Plato. Aristotle considers things as composed
of two co-principles which he calls matter and
form. Form is the principle which actualizes a
thing and makes a thing what it is, while
matter is viewed as the potentiality to receive
the form. In short, form is viewed as act while
matter is viewed as potency. It should always
be noted that matter and form are not
complete realities, but only co-principles of a
Aristotle claims that the form refers to the soul while matter refers to the
body. Since matter and form—body and soul—are co-principles, the soul
cannot exist apart from the body. The soul can never be found existing
independently of the body just like the form of paper cannot exist
independently of its matter. Even if the soul is considered as a nonmaterial
part of the body, still it cannot have an independent existence as Plato
claims. So if a human being dies, the form of a human being, i.e. soul,
ceases to be and the remaining thing is just the body. This body no longer
holds the form of man. Now, we say that the body holds a new form, a
cadaver. For Aristotle, then, a human being is always a composite of body
and soul.

Like Plato, Aristotle also divides the functions of the soul into three:
nutrition, sensation, and intellection. The nutritive function is that
which we share with plants, while the sensitive function is that which we
share with other animals. The human soul as an animating principle is far
greater than the animating principle of plants and other animals because of
the higher function of intellection. It is the intellective function which not
DESCARTES
Both Plato and Aristotle consider human beings as
having two elements: the body and the soul. The
problem now seems to be focused on how the body
is related to the soul. Plato makes the gap between
the body and soul more pronounced, while Aristotle
tries to dissolve the gap. The French philosopher
Rene Descartes, on the other hand, widened the gap
between the body and the soul even more as he set
out to prove that the only thing in this world which
cannot be doubted is the existence of the thinking
self. In the Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes
argues for the real distinction between the body and
the soul. He began with doubting everything that
had previously been considered as knowledge.
Claiming that the senses are the sources of
previously established knowledge and that the
senses are not reliable, Descartes argued that we
should doubt everything that is delivered to us by
our senses. But how can we doubt something which
Descartes will answer: yes. Yes, it should still be asked whether what
our senses deliver to us are actually real even if they seem to be
certain because certainty does not guarantee truth. You can still be
mistaken that what you are experiencing right now while reading this
book is not actually happening as in the case of a dream. How many
times have you experienced being in a situation that appears to be so
real only to realize that you were dreaming after waking up?
Descartes then argues that if this is the case, it will be wise to
consider everything that is delivered by the senses as false, including
the existence of our own body. The next question is: can he deny
himself altogether? Is it possible that he does not exist? Descartes
thought that it is impossible for him not to exist. The only thing which
he cannot doubt was that he doubts, which is a form of thinking. He
may doubt his bodily existence because he can be deceived by his
senses. But he cannot doubt his thinking because his thinking
requires a subject—the thinker. And the more he rejects his existence,
the more he becomes certain that he exists. Thus, he establishes his
Descartes did not prove the existence of
man when he pronounced "I think,
therefore, I am" because man or rational
animal is a vague concept. The I, which
Descartes established as indubitably
existing, is simply a thing that thinks. For
Descartes, the existence of the soul (i.e.
the thinking thing) is more distinct and
clear than the existence of the body,
leaving us with the idea that man is more
certain of the existence of his soul than the
existence of his body. At the end of his
Meditations, Descartes ultimately proved
the existence of his own body and all
external things as well. However, the
problem of how the soul is related to the
body is still not clearly answered by
Descartes. For our purposes, it is important
to note how Descartes thought of the soul
 LECTURE 2: LIMITATIONS OF THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN
EMBODIED SPIRIT
FACTICITY
An embodied subject, whose being is to be in the
world, will have its first limitation the moment it is
born. We already said that being-in-the-world
means that the moment we are born, we are
already related to people—our parents. This is our
first limitation. We did not choose our parents. We
are born in a particular time and place, and we did
not choose them. We were never consulted about
the time of our birth. We were never asked where
we would like to be born. There are a lot of things
which are already in and with us when we are
born: our gender, our color, our race, our social
status, our genes, and others. This is what the
French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre calls facticity.
Facticity refers to the things in our lives that are already given. A person who
was born deaf, blind, or without legs will have more limitations than most of
us. A person born to a poor family will have more limitations than someone
born to a wealthy family. Facticity is not limited to the givens that we have
acquired in our birth. It also refers to all the details that surround us in the
present as being-in-the-world in the here and the now; and this will include
our environment, our language, our past decisions, our past and present
relationships, and even our future death. All the facts that we currently have
are part of our limitation. We look at every aspect of who we are right here
and now, we will realize that our being-in-the-world imposes practically
countless limitations on us. This is the reality of an embodied being: that we
SPATIAL-TEMPORAL
shall BEING by the facticity of our existence.
always have limitations

The fact that we are born and that we exist in a particular place and time
already sets limitations on us that may be considered on different levels.
On the level of temporality, the most obvious limitation is our finitude. We
recognize our mortality and accept that we will not live forever. We have a
limited period of stay in this world. We will die someday, and that is a fact.
We shall not enter into a technical definition of time here but simply consider
our actual experience of the past, the present, and the future. On the level of
our being spatial individuals, we are limited by our bodies to be present in two
or more places at the same time. We are set to be at one place at a time.

On the level of understanding, we consider our spatial-temporal situation as

imposing a limit on us as it sets out to be our preconditions of our
understanding. In other words, our being situated in a particular time and
place shall prescribe the way we look at and understand things. Think of our
age, culture, and past experiences as optics that we wear every time we look
at the world. No matter how hard we try to look at the world in an objective
manner, our spatial-temporal situation will be there to taint it. And in the
same way, no matter how much we imagine ourselves looking at something
using someone else’s perspective, we cannot do so. We will always have our
own spatial temporal condition at the backdrop of our understanding. Our
spatial-temporal situation limits us from obtaining a purely objective
perspective, or someone else’s perspective. This may be a source of problem
at times. We may think that we understand someone when we put ourselves
into their shoes. However, we need to ask ourselves if we can really set aside
THE BODY AS INTERMEDIARY
The body as intermediary is another difficulty that arises out of an
embodied subject. We have established that we are our bodies, but
also more than our bodies. Our body then serves as an intermediary
between us and the physical world. It is because of my body that I
experience the world from a particular bodily standpoint—from a lying
standpoint along the shore of a beach, or from a sitting standpoint
beside the window of a plane, and others. It is also because of my
body that I experience the world as my world and not the world of
others. For example, I can always imagine myself living as a rock star
but I will never really know how it is to be a rock star unless I become
one myself. Furthermore, my body as intermediary limits me in
communicating with other people. Through my body, I can
communicate using words or express myself through bodily gestures.
This may now pose limitations concerning communication and
expression. We have to make use of words or bodily expressions to
When we communicate with others, we most likely want other people
to understand us fully and that is why we wish for full disclosure of our
thoughts and feelings. However, there are also times when we wish to
hide ourselves from others. We do not want the other person to see
what we are really thinking and feeling. During these moments, it
appears that having a body that hides our thoughts and feelings
becomes an advantage to us. However, we soon realize that hidden
thoughts and feelings are also the root of many difficulties in life. It
now becomes difficult to discern if the words and bodily expressions of
a person convey the actual sentiments of a person—as in the case of
lying and deception. The body in this case is like a veil that covers the
reality of a person. How do we know if someone is telling the truth?
How do we know if someone’s bodily expressions are consistent with
his actual disposition? Thus, our bodies set a limitation for
understanding one another because on the one hand, it may never
fully disclose what we would like to express; and on the other hand, it
hides certain thoughts and feelings. The body as intermediary allows
LECTURE 3:
TRANSCENDENCE
The presence of several limitations
imposed by being an embodied
subject may influence us to think
that our life is very restricting. Life
becomes difficult because of these
limitations. However, it is also these
limitations that make our lives more
interesting and challenging. Let us
address each limitation and see how
we can overcome them, and
perhaps we will see that there is no
need to overcome them.
➤ FACTICITY – We cannot simply
change our facticity, but what we can
do is change our attitude towards
them. At times, we use our facticity as
an excuse for our difficulties and
failures. This is what happens when we
let our facticity define who we are. We
treat our facticity as if life has destined
us to it, like being born in a poor family,
or being born disabled. What is
important to see is that we are free to
define who we are and who we are to
be. This is what we may call our
historicity. Historicity means that we
are history-making creatures, and we
are not limited to what nature has
initially given us. We should not look at
them as if they are our fate. Our
facticity challenges us to be creative
with our life options. Our task then is to
➤ SPATIAL-TEMPORAL – Our being limited due
to our being temporal is something which
bothers a lot of people. We are more concerned
about the future and/or the past that is why we
never appreciate the present. Perhaps what we
need is a moment to stop and reflect on our
attitude toward temporality. This is easily said
than done for sure. However, if we are reminded
from time to time how wonderful the present is,
then perhaps being a temporal creature does
not really impose limitations, but simply sets a
challenge. It is a challenge on how to make our
lives more interesting and meaningful and a
challenge to make the most out of our time in
this life. Meanwhile, our being limited due to
spatial concerns also imposes difficulty for us
embodied beings because we cannot be at a
place where we want to be at an instant. We
have to experience loneliness and anxiety as we
wait for our bodies to arrive at a place where we
want it to be. However, just like being temporal,
we can always look at our spatial character as
➤ BODY AS INTERMEDIARY – Having a body which links us to the
world appears to be a source of limitation because we can never
directly and fully experience the world. However, to think that we do
not directly experience the world—because the body prevents us from
doing so—is a way of thinking that uses the dualistic framework of
body and soul composition. As an embodied subject, we directly
experience the world. The interesting thing is that you will always
experience the world as your world. It is limiting on the one hand; on
the other hand however, our experience of the world as the way we
perceive it becomes a privileged experience. What we experience is
only for us to be experienced. We also established that having a body
may prevent us from disclosing what we really want to express. This
then challenges us to be more creative in our expressions. We are
taught how to be respectful of one’s concealment. We are taught how
to be responsible, to be patient, sensitive, understanding, and a lot of
other values. Moreover, having a body that conceals our emotions also
serves as our protection and solace. There are times that we do not
 Having a body may prevent us from disclosing what we really want to express. In most cases,
words are not enough.

This is a challenge for us to be more creative in expressing ourselves.

END OF THE LESSON