CHAPTER 3: The Human Person as

an embodied Spirit
 In the previous lessons we have
learned that philosophy is the love
of wisdom
 We have also learned that
philosophy is about dwelling on
the questions that underlie our
search for meaning
We have learned that philosophical

questions have no ready-made
answers.

A philosophical attitude demands

that we remain patient,
courageous, and hopeful in the face
of uncertainty.
In this lesson we will understand
that:
1. That our uncertainty about
many things stem from our
limitations as human beings.
2. that many of our limitations is
due to our being embodied
beings.
3. the body is both a source of
limitation and possibility.
“A small body of determined
spirits fired by an
unquenchable faith in their
mission can alter the course of
history”

-- MahatmaGhandi
ACTIVITY
Thumb-less life
-- With your partner, one of you will
pretend that your thumb are gone for
5 minutes

-- While in that state, proceed with

your normal activities while your
thumbs are not functioning.
1. On a piece of paper, in one column
ask your partner to write down as
many activities you can NOT do
because your thumb is absent.

2. In another column, write down

the many things you CAN do even if
your thumb is absent.
QUESTIONS:

1. How did you feel about your self after

failing to do certain activities that you
would normally do easily?

2. Did you appreciate the importance of

your thumb?
3. When you wrote down the column
of things that you can still do even in
the absence of your thumb, did that
change the way you feel about your
self?
4. Look at the list of the things that
you can do without your thumb.

5. Imagine that these are the only

that you can do for the rest of your
life
6. Would you still consider your
activities as human activities?

7. Do you agree if someone says that

without your thumbs, your life is
not as human as it should be?
Did you know that humans are
the only animals on earth with
fully opposable thumbs?

Opposable refers to the ability of

the thumb to “lie across the palm,
perpendicular to the four
fingers”
According to the scientists and
anthropologists:
 the human opposable thumb is one
of the key factors that helped the
human species developed into what
we are today.
 it makes us distinct from our
closest relatives in human evolution
With our thumb
1. We learned to make tools
2. Create art like ancient vases.
3. We can write beautifully
4. We can play beautiful music.
The body as a source of limitation and
possibility
Human limitations
-- We love to watch movies about
superheroes….

-- literary critics point out Superman

was a projection of people’s own
frustrations about their own limitations
 theselimitations were the direct
opposite

opposite of superman’s powers.

1. He could carry and throw 3

burly men with one hand.

2. stop a train wreck or airplane

crash by pushing them to safety.
3. Move from one end of the earth to
another in a flash of a second.

4. Turn back timeby reversing the

world’s turning on its axis.
LIMITATION
1. We only have certain amount
of strength to carry things or
accomplish tasks.

2. We cannot prevent accidents

entirely no matter how careful
we are
3. We cannot move as fast as we
could from one place to another.

4. And despite of the advances of the

technology, we can never reverse the
course of time.