Limitations of Science

Limitations of Science

A Reflection on Natural Science

Given the task to search for the three limitations of science, I found the following answers. “Science can’t answer questions about value, Science can’t answer questions of morality, and finally, Science can’t help us with questions about the supernatural.”¹

Since I was a kid, I had questions in my mind that I want to ask my parents. I tried to ask them about myself, about others, our physical characteristics, our house, the Earth, the Solar System and about everything I see. I realized that I can’t apply science to everything because everything has its own limits. Even though man tries to solve more mysteries just to answer all the Whys and the What ifs.

Science can’t answer questions about value. Science really cannot answer questions that simply compare two bags of money with this question “Which one is designed prettier. Another is there is no scientific question such as “Which one is valuable, the diamond or the pearl?” So there’s no way to scientifically determine value.²

Science can’t questions of morality. When we talk of Science, we say that morality is to determine if an act is morally good or morally evil. There can’t be a detector that can show how evil or how good a person acted on a particular circumstance. Another question that science cannot answer is: “If science can measure the weight, height and age of a fetus, can science determine or measure the morality running inside the fetus?” Even psychology cannot answer that. So, morality can’t be measured by science.

And Science cannot help us with the questions about the Supernatural or the Absolute. By the word itself, supernatural, science can measure things that are natural. But it can’t measure supernatural things such as the Spirit and God. Truly, how can man reach the fact that he can measure the Creator or see Him or touch Him? Naturally he can’t do it. Science can do it. Science is bound only to natural things, and not on supernatural things because supernatural things are beyond man’s grasp. Unless if we can experience Beatific Vision, we can say that it’s possible. But with our situation now, I can say that it is impossible to become possible.

^{1 and 2} http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/03/08/the-limitations-of-science/

Report on Hegel

Wonder?

A Reflection on the “Hymn of Origins”

Have you ever wondered? Why you are reading now? Why are there letters in this essay?  Where did it come from? Whose thought it is from? Whose womb the handsome author of this paper was carried? Aren’t you curious? Well, I am curious, too. Three subjects came to my mind while reading the poem: Searching, Family and Love.

When we try to know where things came from, we are willing to search for its origin.  Searching is to look into or over carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something. Through this process we can see the real cause, the ultimate cause why things happen or why do we exist or why are we like these right now. To search for yourself, search first for your past. See how you acted upon circumstances in the past. See what you have done well or bad in the past. Because of this commemoration of the past, a person will be able to correct those mistakes in the present.

Family and Love are correlative. These two are factors that would guide a person to seek for him and to learn why he reached the spot where he is present. These two are the great factors that affect the person’s search for himself. Without these two, a person will be in a great danger of distraction. Distracted to see the truth and eyes-blurred to see the beauty of life.  Instead, he must be grateful for the help, support and the guidance given by the people who love him. Without them, he lacks something.

Man, himself, is the only one who can help himself. The factors mentioned were just to enhance and to guide the person to learn his origin. Therefore, we are the only ones who make our own destiny, the destiny to be HAPPY!

What about you? Do you wonder why you are like that right now? 

Wheel of Becoming

The wheel of becoming presents the following elements: old age and death, birth, becoming, grasping, desire, perception, sense impressions, six senses, body and mind, consciousness, impulse to action, and ignorance. It is determined by this wheel that all of these elements follow some sort of order to understand how man lives on this earth. Old age and death symbolizes suffering and if there is death, there is birth because they believe that after death, a birth or reincarnation will follow. Without death, there would be no birth. Without birth, there would be no becoming forces. Becoming forces depend to grasping and clinging to life. Grasping depends in the desires. Desires depend to perception. Perception depends to sense impressions. Sense impressions depend to the six senses. The six senses depend to the body and bind. These two depend to consciousness. Consciousness depends to impulse of action because consciousness is an activity that needs action. The last element, Ignorance, depends to all the elements. The wheel may be interpreted in clockwise or counter-clockwise motion.

Let’s take examples regarding the life of a rich man and a poor man. A poor boy is born in an environment of poor people. Their house is made up of wood and it is small. Together with all the poor people, they live with a poor life, with less food to eat. Sometimes, they do not have any that’s why they sleep starving. When he was still a child, he only played with his friends, instead of studying. He wasn’t able to go to school because they have insufficient money. When he grew up, his mother got sick and she needed to be supplied of medicines every day. Because of lack of money and the immediate need for money, he robbed a department store. Because of this, he was arrested and was sent to prison. With nothing, his mother died and he was stocked in prison. What a miserable life, right?

When the poor man’s mother was ill, the poor man desired one thing – to get a cure for his mother. Because of the fact that they have nothing and the man has no job at all, he perceived things in a negative way. His mind, his consciousness decided to find a way for him to save his mother from being ill or from death. The way that he decided to do is to rob a store. With this way of thinking, he used his senses and body to act on what he decided to do. Because of the immediate need for money for his mother’s medicine, he became ignorant. Ignorant in what way? He was ignorant that there are other far more better possible actions to do. Instead, the only thing he chose was to commit a sin – stealing. Because of this, he suffered greatly. He was sent to prison, his mother died and he committed one of the gravest sins.

Every suffering exists because of the ignorance of man from other choices and possibilities that appear. We have our weakness that prevents us from contemplating well, from choosing well and from acting for the common good. All we need to do is to think over a situation first before acting on it because our actions will lead us to gain reward or punishment.

If I would be that poor man, I will go to my family, friends, to the government officials or to the priests and ask for money and I will promise to pay my debt in time. It would be better because no sins are committed compare to robbery. No sins, less problems and less suffering. Problems are just challenges for us to make us stronger. We must look at these challenges positively for us to live a life of goodness.

Where Am I?

Where Am I? is a beautiful and inspiring article made by Daniel Dennett, a Distinguished Arts and Sciences Professor, a Professor of Philosophy, and the Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He also published a lot of articles and books.

In the story, there are four main characters: Yorick, Hamlet, Hubert and Fortinbras. Yorick is the original brain of Dennett which was removed to avoid the high risks of the mission. Hamlet is the original body of Dennett which was left in the interior of the earth due to the malfunction of the system operating Yorick and Hamlet. Hubert is the copied brain or the twin of Yorick and Fortinbras is the copied body or the twin of Hamlet.

            At first, I had a bit of difficult and confusion with the story because of the names and the sequence of the story. I had a hard time of reflecting on it because I wasn’t able to literally experience it, yet. It is said that it is hard to explain or share something without experiencing it. It is also hard for the listeners to believe someone who preaches something he or she is not following or doing, or he or she hasn’t experienced it yet. But because of the use of my imagination, I was able to come up with this reflection.

I just reflected on some things. These are the inseparableness of the three main parts of a person. These are the brain, the body and the consciousness. The brain is the one that controls the body, without the brain, stimuli will not be responded without the central nervous system. The body is the one that show the movements of the person and it shows the movements instructed by the brain. The body also shows it’s responses to different stimuli. These three work together with each other.

For example, a basketball team is composed of a lot of members. These are the coach, the assistant coach, the team captain, the players, the towel boys and water boys.  Everyone acts with different functions but they are one. There must nobody lacking. Without the coach, the players will have a difficulty in their strategy. Without the players, no one will play. If the players are lacking, they will not be allowed to play. Without the team captain, who will lead the team playing on-court? Without the towel boys, how will the players wipe their sweat immediately to avoid getting sick? Without the water boys, there is a possibility that the players will be dehydrated. Therefore, a team lacking will not be able to function well. The coach is the brain, the rest is the body and their “consciousness” is to win the game.

With all of these factors, they will be one. The same as the person, with all its factors, everything will be in harmony.

Freedom

According to the Philosophy of Human Person, Freedom is given three points. These are the Determinism, Libertarianism and Compatibilism. But before all of these points, there is an example given regarding Skinner’s thought but I will not use it. Instead, I will use another example. Let’s use as an example the story of the Good Samaritan. One day, a man was robbed, beaten and was left half-dead on the road when he was in his way to Jericho. Three men passed by the same road that the man has taken. They are the Pharisee, the Levite and the Samaritan. The first two men just passed by the half-dead man and left him without sympathy. They did not do anything to rescue the poor man; instead, they just walked as if they did not see anything. The third one, the Samaritan, despite of the fact that he is a Samaritan while the half-dead man is a Jew and they were citizens of two different and opposing countries, he disregarded this thought and helped the man, gave him a drink and brought him to an inn where the half-dead man can rest and recover.

Man has his own will, a power or capacity of man, to decide and make a choice. Choices are the factors that help us to deliberate which the best way to do or the best thing to have. Choices are made by the person himself. Choices depend upon a person’s motives and decisions.  Motives are used to prove something is something or not. Choice is already chosen even before the question.

In the story, the three men were given choices to help the poor man or not, to feel sympathy over the poor man or not, and to stop the journey to help the poor man or to continue walking and continue his journey. The first two men, they chose to continue their journey while the Samaritan decided to stop first his journey to help the poor man. This choice of the Samaritan has shown his motive to feel sympathy for the poor man and to help him despite of the separation of their nationality. This also gave us an idea on a good behavior on how we must act with our less fortunate brothers and sisters. But, the Samaritan did not think of popularity or fame after helping the man. Again, choices were given, to help for the sake of fame or to help for the sake of friendship and love. And again, a decision was made. This showed us that the Samaritan has a good motive and character which were determined by the Samaritan’s PAST.

According to Sartre, “Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself”. What does this mean? For me, as I reflected, man is the source of all his decisions. He must be the one to choose and to decide for himself. What a man does and how he acts shows his full rationality and his full being. For example, the Samaritan decided to help poor man. This act shows his true color that he is a good example, a good model in serving those who need a lot of help or in danger.

Let see how Determinism, Libertarianism and Compatibilism differ and be similar to each other. All of these show that we decide every time and every day. But how do they differ? Determinism shows that a person is not responsible, Libertarianism shows that a man is free, that he may live his own life and property and that he can make his choices as long as others are respected, and Compatibilism shows that a person is both responsible and free at the same time.

It is said that we are attracted by the illusion of these three. In determinism, freedom is an illusion because we are cheated that we think we are free and we are free because we are ignorant of the necessitating causes. These necessitating causes are the following: impulse, composition, elements, physical, temperament, energy, happiness, passion and the real and fictitious advantages.

For example, it is examination week and your parents told you to study at 7pm. You were not aware that it is already 7:30pm and you don’t know that it is already past 7 so you thought you were free. So you were not able to study so you disobeyed your parents and failed the exam.

In the case of libertarianism, there is a rule and when the ruler is absent, you think you are free. For example, your parents left you alone at home because they are going somewhere. Before they left, they told you to study your lessons and review your notes. The illusion appeared because you know that there is a rule but the rule maker is absent so you think you are free. It is just the same as the saying, “when the cat is out, the mice are playing.”

But in compatibilism, you are totally and absolutely free even if there is a rule and the ruler is present. For example, same as the example for libertarianism but the difference is the presence of your parents. What if they did not leave you? In the case of compatibilism, you are still free to do anything.

To end this reflection, I would like to say that I have less belief in superstitious beliefs and destiny. Our destiny will depend in our decisions and how we act on it. Our decisions will lead us to another problem that will give us a lot of choices again and will make us decide all over and over again. We must always remember that we are free, free to obey. If we are free to obey, we are free to follow God’s commandments and His will. There was a misconception of freedom. They said that we are free to do anything and whatever we want to do. I say that it is not totally true because if we can do everything, what about the bad intentions and evil motives? If we are free in that sense, it will be chaos all over the world. What this really points out is that we must be free in doing everything that is good and that is for the sake of the common good.

Human Person Topics

SELF

            When I was in the seminary, there were times that I became so anxious. I don’t know what to do. I even tried to think every night who really am I. There were times that it is so difficult to know myself, to understand myself. Every day, I always try to think of things that are related to me and I write it down in my notebook. Then, one day, I realized that we are brothers so I tried to open up myself to one of my brothers. I shared my background and my problems. I also shared the happy moments in my life and if there are happy moments, there are also sad moments.

            I asked a postulant brother, “Kuya, what do I need to do for me to know myself?”. “Go back to your past, travel through time, think about it and reflect. There I realized that it is so good to be me.

            During the preliminary term, we were given an article about where could you find self. Let me share you my reflection:

            Where Am I? is a beautiful and inspiring article made by Daniel Dennett, a Distinguished Arts and Sciences Professor, a Professor of Philosophy, and the Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He also published a lot of articles and books.

In the story, there are four main characters: Yorick, Hamlet, Hubert and Fortinbras. Yorick is the original brain of Dennett which was removed to avoid the high risks of the mission. Hamlet is the original body of Dennett which was left in the interior of the earth due to the malfunction of the system operating Yorick and Hamlet. Hubert is the copied brain or the twin of Yorick and Fortinbras is the copied body or the twin of Hamlet.

            At first, I had a bit of difficult and confusion with the story because of the names and the sequence of the story. I had a hard time of reflecting on it because I wasn’t able to literally experience it, yet. It is said that it is hard to explain or share something without experiencing it. It is also hard for the listeners to believe someone who preaches something he or she is not following or doing, or he or she hasn’t experienced it yet. But because of the use of my imagination, I was able to come up with this reflection.

I just reflected on some things. These are the inseparableness of the three main parts of a person. These are the brain, the body and the consciousness. The brain is the one that controls the body, without the brain, stimuli will not be responded without the central nervous system. The body is the one that show the movements of the person and it shows the movements instructed by the brain. The body also shows it’s responses to different stimuli. These three work together with each other.

For example, a basketball team is composed of a lot of members. These are the coach, the assistant coach, the team captain, the players, the towel boys and water boys.  Everyone acts with different functions but they are one. There must nobody lacking. Without the coach, the players will have a difficulty in their strategy. Without the players, no one will play. If the players are lacking, they will not be allowed to play. Without the team captain, who will lead the team playing on-court? Without the towel boys, how will the players wipe their sweat immediately to avoid getting sick? Without the water boys, there is a possibility that the players will be dehydrated. Therefore, a team lacking will not be able to function well. The coach is the brain, the rest is the body and their “consciousness” is to win the game.

With all of these factors, they will be one. The same as the person, with all its factors, everything will be in harmony.

FREEDOM

According to the Philosophy of Human Person, Freedom is given three points. These are the Determinism, Libertarianism and Compatibilism. But before all of these points, there is an example given regarding Skinner’s thought but I will not use it. Instead, I will use another example. Let’s use as an example the story of the Good Samaritan. One day, a man was robbed, beaten and was left half-dead on the road when he was in his way to Jericho. Three men passed by the same road that the man has taken. They are the Pharisee, the Levite and the Samaritan. The first two men just passed by the half-dead man and left him without sympathy. They did not do anything to rescue the poor man; instead, they just walked as if they did not see anything. The third one, the Samaritan, despite of the fact that he is a Samaritan while the half-dead man is a Jew and they were citizens of two different and opposing countries, he disregarded this thought and helped the man, gave him a drink and brought him to an inn where the half-dead man can rest and recover.

Man has his own will, a power or capacity of man, to decide and make a choice. Choices are the factors that help us to deliberate which the best way to do or the best thing to have. Choices are made by the person himself. Choices depend upon a person’s motives and decisions.  Motives are used to prove something is something or not. Choice is already chosen even before the question.

In the story, the three men were given choices to help the poor man or not, to feel sympathy over the poor man or not, and to stop the journey to help the poor man or to continue walking and continue his journey. The first two men, they chose to continue their journey while the Samaritan decided to stop first his journey to help the poor man. This choice of the Samaritan has shown his motive to feel sympathy for the poor man and to help him despite of the separation of their nationality. This also gave us an idea on a good behavior on how we must act with our less fortunate brothers and sisters. But, the Samaritan did not think of popularity or fame after helping the man. Again, choices were given, to help for the sake of fame or to help for the sake of friendship and love. And again, a decision was made. This showed us that the Samaritan has a good motive and character which were determined by the Samaritan’s PAST.

According to Sartre, “Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself”. What does this mean? For me, as I reflected, man is the source of all his decisions. He must be the one to choose and to decide for himself. What a man does and how he acts shows his full rationality and his full being. For example, the Samaritan decided to help poor man. This act shows his true color that he is a good example, a good model in serving those who need a lot of help or in danger.

Let see how Determinism, Libertarianism and Compatibilism differ and be similar to each other. All of these show that we decide every time and every day. But how do they differ? Determinism shows that a person is not responsible, Libertarianism shows that a man is free, that he may live his own life and property and that he can make his choices as long as others are respected, and Compatibilism shows that a person is both responsible and free at the same time.

It is said that we are attracted by the illusion of these three. In determinism, freedom is an illusion because we are cheated that we think we are free and we are free because we are ignorant of the necessitating causes. These necessitating causes are the following: impulse, composition, elements, physical, temperament, energy, happiness, passion and the real and fictitious advantages.

For example, it is examination week and your parents told you to study at 7pm. You were not aware that it is already 7:30pm and you don’t know that it is already past 7 so you thought you were free. So you were not able to study so you disobeyed your parents and failed the exam.

In the case of libertarianism, there is a rule and when the ruler is absent, you think you are free. For example, your parents left you alone at home because they are going somewhere. Before they left, they told you to study your lessons and review your notes. The illusion appeared because you know that there is a rule but the rule maker is absent so you think you are free. It is just the same as the saying, “when the cat is out, the mice are playing.”

But in compatibilism, you are totally and absolutely free even if there is a rule and the ruler is present. For example, same as the example for libertarianism but the difference is the presence of your parents. What if they did not leave you? In the case of compatibilism, you are still free to do anything.

To end this reflection, I would like to say that I have less belief in superstitious beliefs and destiny. Our destiny will depend in our decisions and how we act on it. Our decisions will lead us to another problem that will give us a lot of choices again and will make us decide all over and over again. We must always remember that we are free, free to obey. If we are free to obey, we are free to follow God’s commandments and His will. There was a misconception of freedom. They said that we are free to do anything and whatever we want to do. I say that it is not totally true because if we can do everything, what about the bad intentions and evil motives? If we are free in that sense, it will be chaos all over the world. What this really points out is that we must be free in doing everything that is good and that is for the sake of the common good.

KNOWLEDGE

            Regarding knowledge, I was hardly hit by two of the subtopics included in the topic KNOWLEDGE. The two are the Noesis and Noema, and the Immanence. We all know that Noesis and Noema are two important elements in the topic knowledge. To define, Noesis is the perceiver while the noema is something that is perceived. These two are always interconnected to each other because if they don’t, world war 3 might appear in the news. No, just kidding. Seriously, with the dialectic unity of these two elements, we can really say that we are conscious that we are really awake. In the contrary, if the two are separated from each other, we can say that we are just dreaming or it is only in our mind.

            Reflecting on these two elements and their dialectic unity, I remembered a friend of mine way back grade 6 told me, “Pare, tingnan mo iyon, ang chicks noh? Pustahan tayo, may gusto iyan sa akin.”

            With what my friend told me, it is so impossible for that thing to happen. I know that they do not know each other. Maybe my friend knows the girl but the girl does not know my friend. It is so funny to say that my friend is so assuming, assuming to say that the girl likes him. I know that the statement he said does not conform with reality so I just accepted his offer. I know that I will win because he was just using his imagination or maybe he was just day dreaming that time. So the story ended when he was slapped by the girl and I ended there laughing out loud with my funny bones tried to end my life that time.

            Another subtopic is the immanence. In our discussion, it is said that “study and learning is self-study”. This statement was really glued in my mind. It is true to say that it is only us who can teach ourselves. I have a story related to this; I have a friend who quarreled with another friend and he was almost crazy that he do not know how to solve that problem. So I told him, “Bro, just relax, I have an advice for you, all you need to do is to close your eyes, relax, and try to time travel. Think of the things when the two of you were still together. Try to find the things that you might have done that caused your fight.” It is only us who can solve the problem we carry because we are the one who really know ourselves.

 If this is so, why do we need to go to school? To oppose this question, another question is raised, what if your understanding is wrong? That is the reason why we need to go to school.

There is another story; it is about the blind men and the elephant. The blind men tried to know what really an elephant is. The first man went to the tail and he thought that an elephant is a rope. Another man went to the task and thought of an elephant as a spear. The other one went to the body and thought of the elephant as a wall and the last one went to the ear and thought of the elephant as a fan.

In my opinion, all of them are partly true because they went to different parts of the animal. Because of this, they had an initial idea what an elephant is. This is the reason why we need to go to school – for us to learn and for us to improve our knowledge. We must also think that we are not the only person in the world, that we are not the only beings thinking, many are also thinking because they are rational too. We must always try to consider what others think of and try to listen to their opinions.

INTERHUMAN

            In respect to inter human, I had reflected on its elements. These are: social, being and seeming, personal making present, imposition and unfolding, and genuine dialogue, but before sharing my reflection, I would like to define the different elements. Social is to live with each other and to have a relationship with one another. Being is someone who really is while seeming is what someone wishes to seem. Person making present is to confirm someone as a creature made also by God, to accept him despite of struggles and for him to be experienced as a whole and not as a part only. Imposition and unfolding is to affect other people through propaganda and education. And genuine dialogue is to exercise that degree of making someone present as a whole.

            These elements made a great compact to me. To live with other people is not that easy. We need to know them first before we can live happily with them. Man is a social being and we need others for us to survive. It is so hard to live in a world where no other people exist. For us to socialize well, we need to confirm ourselves to others that we too need to be accepted by everyone for us to experience each other as a whole.

Living with others also needs a good attitude. In what aspect? Being and seeming will enter this one. We must always do our best to treat others equally as we treat ourselves. We are human so they are human too. We must not always think for our own self and for our own benefit, but of others too. We must be true to other people for them to accept us truly. Who can accept a person who is a plastic or a person who is just a pretender? No one can. No one will. So, what we must do is to be who we really are and for us to be true to others. Another point of this is to avoid the objectification of another human person. We must always treat others rightfully because they also have the right to live in this world.

Another reflection I would like to share is about the phenomenology of love. It is said that love is with romance, there is possessing and there is being possessed, that there is sex, and falling and standing in love.

To share my love life, I met a girl and she has the characteristics of the girl I want to be my girlfriend. Not really want, but NEED. Honestly, I fell for her when we became best of friends. After falling for her, I stood up and did everything I can do so that I will be given the honor to be called as her boyfriend. Of course, I am after the title. Yes, with the title. Because according to Chinese philosophy, we must act according to our title. For me, I would like to act the right way as her boyfriend. All I want is for her to be happy and to live the rest of my life with her. Of course, I can do it without the title. With or without the title, I am certain that I love her.

In love there is reciprocality. What does this means? It means that love has a give and take notion that when you give something, you will return something. Same as what we are doing, I care for her, I accept her, I trust her, I make her happy, I cherish her, I am honest to her, I respect her, I understand her, I am loyal to her, I am patient for her, I am obedient to her, I am open-minded for her and I love her. I don’t want her to be sad, to cry. All I do is to make her happy, to let her make her own decisions and to support her. Same as her, she does it for me too – that is reciprocality.

DEATH

            In philosophy, it is easy to explain something or express your thoughts if you experienced it already. With this topic, it is hard to reach. Anyway, we must try to learn all the possibilities in the world even if we do not experienced them at all.

            There were points in the phenomenology of death by Martin Heidegger. Death is the completion of life because it ends the life of a person. With death, a person loses potentiality to do something and is no longer there because he is no longer a being. A human being can do anything he wants and can think, while a dead person does not have these characteristics anymore.

            Every being has their end. There is no being without end. I have an end, you have an end and we have an end. Nothing in this world will remain. Everything will end because through end, it completes the essence of a human person. Relating to Hegel’s philosophy in his triadic movement, the thesis always contains the antithesis. For other philosophers, it is not true for blue to have an opposite of not-blue. But for Hegel, it is possible because through thesis, antithesis is born. There will be no antithesis if the thesis is not possible, and it is not possible for a thesis to have no antithesis.

            His thesis is the being, and antithesis is the nothing. There will be no nothing if there is no being, and being is impossible to have no nothing. For the unification of the two, the synthesis connects each other. The synthesis, now, is Becoming. Becoming is the process where the being will develop itself so that it will lead to its perfection.

            For example, a baby is born to his parents, then he or she will grow to childhood where he or she will play around with his or her playmates, giggle with them, play with them, fight with them, quarrel with them and enjoy with them. Then this child will turn into adolescence where he or she will try to know where he or she wants to go, what he or she wants to do, and to ask himself or herself what to do with his or her life. Here he or she will experience struggles in life and try to learn from these problems. Then, adulthood will follow. Here, he or she is now ready to apply for a job, and to have and live with his or her family until the time when he or she becomes a grandparent. Then, time will come, he or she will die. From being comes nothing.

In the process of triadic movement, we can see that it has a beginning and an end. It begins with being, then becoming, and ends with nothing. When it has being, it consists of the different characteristics of a being that can be present in the world and can be actively participating with other beings.

When these beings become nothing, its life is finally completed, completed in a way that his or her beingness came to its final goal, to be with God. When a being becomes nothing, the characteristics of a being will be removed. It loses its potentiality to do something, it can no longer be there, and it is impossible for it to exist.

Related to this is the authenticity of a being towards death. In this situation, a being accepts the fact that its existence has ended and can no longer be experienced by other beings. For example, my authenticity will rely in the way I face my fate. If I am going to die, I must accept it.

A while ago, I said that if there is thesis, there is also its opposite, the antithesis. If there is an authentic being, there is also an inauthentic being. This kind of being is a being that does not accept the fact that its existence will end already.

So, in our Christian doctrine, we must do what is good for the sake that it is good so that by the time when we reached our limit, it will be easy for us to accept our fate.

GOD

            We are Roman Catholic Christians and we believe that there is a Supreme Being that guides us every time and every day. And this Supreme Being is God. But, to know God and to know that there is some One who helps us, we must try to learn and understand His existence. His existence was explained by St. Thomas Aquinas through his five ways, his cosmological arguments.

            The five arguments are the: argument on motion, argument on causation, argument on contingency and necessity, argument on perfection, and the argument on the Intelligent Design.

            In the first argument, the argument on motion, I reflected that all things in the world are changing. There is nothing in the world that remains as it is. Of course it transfers from something to another something because everything has its potency to change. It is believed that the motion caused for this change is also caused by another thing before it was caused and before it caused another cause. For example, I am writing an essay now is caused that I opened the computer, and because of the cause that I need to pass this requirement for me to pass the subject. It is true but before that cause, there is also something that caused it to happen. Everything is caused by the successive motions and these successive motions by someone who does not need to be caused, and it is said and proved that God is the one who caused everything to happen. He is the prime mover.

            On the second argument, the argument on causation, it is similar to the first argument but the point here is that there must be something that must cause the other things to move. And that someone does not change that’s why He is not in this world. He is the ultimate cause of everything because there is nothing that causes Him to exist, and He is God.

            Reflecting on the third argument, the argument on contingency and necessity, I thought of things that they are all possible. It possible for me to pass the exam, it is possible for me to fail the subject, it is possible for me to come up with a beautiful term paper and so many possibles. Because of these possibles, we can say that there is someone who made things possible, it is God.

            On the fourth, the argument on perfection, we know that there are different categories in this world. In terms of beauty, we can say that there is ugliest, uglier, ugly, beautiful, more beautiful and most beautiful. But how can we say that we can tell these categories? Because of the fact that we have the idea that God is the most perfect Being and He is our basis why we have such categories.

            On the last argument, I’ve been thinking this when I was a little boy. How could there be someone who made these things beautifully and in order? The trees grow, bear fruits and die. The beings have their differences such as their thumb marks, face, DNA, characteristics, actions, way of moving or walking or standing and sitting. I also realized it in the game NBA 2K12 because in there, the players have different and unique way of shooting the ball. Another observation is why the planets never collide? There is only one answer; there is a Super Intelligent Designer who designed these things like these. And that Super Intelligent Designer is God.

            My faith is strong and I know that there is really a God. Now, my faith became stronger because at least I have the proofs.

LIFE

            I love myself and I want to take care of myself. We have our responsibility to take care of our life because it is given by God to us. The Supreme Being gave it to us Himself. We are given the chance to live our life so we need to grab the chance and live our life properly.

            From this moment, I could say that I want to live. I have my own plans for myself – to finish my course, to have a degree, to study masters and doctorate, to have my own family, and to find job for me to supply my family its needs. These are the reasons why I want to live. It is so happy to live with the people you love the most.

            But life is said to be absurd because even if we want to know the truth, it is hard for us to search for it and to understand it. Life is for us to continue living but it is also difficult to live if we do not understand our surroundings. What matters most is not the truth but by the fact that it is worth living. That is what Camus said.

            For us to understand the world, we must live in the world. We must learn things that occur in the world. We know that it is difficult but we must try to understand it. For example, it is easy to study a book because its contents don’t change, but what about the world? We know that the world is continuously changing that’s why we find it hard to understand.

            For example, a girl’s father told her to study hard so that she will find a good job, have her own family or go abroad. But when the girl finished her studies, her father will just tell her to stay so that she will able to support her parents.

            Difficult to understand it is but we must face it because it is the truth. All we need to do is to accept it and live our life happily with the ones we love.

Chinese Philosophers

There are lots of topics said in the article and almost of these topics are experienced by everyone today. Many of us are westernized. We want to have things that are made by the first world countries especially America. Why do we always desire for products made by other countries? Why don’t we use our own products? We must also give importance to our own pride, our own products because those are made by the hands of our countrymen.

Among the philosophers, I like Mencius philosophizing about profit. Men must not think always of profit, of wealth because it only leads man to commit crimes. All we need is righteousness. But how can we be righteous? We must always think not only of our own but of others too. We must give alms to the needy not because of the possibility that they will help us if they are in our situation but because of love to others and to their Creator.

Love is the answer to poverty; love is the answer to everything because God is love. Love is all we need to have a wonderful life. Imagine life of having a lot of friends that will be with you in happy times and in sad times. Imagine life of having friends to be with until death. Imagine life of love. Isn’t it wonderful? All we need is Love. We must love others for them to learn to love us too. So that the world will be at peace and we will not need of profit anymore but SHARING.

We must learn how to share what we have to others. Of course we need it too but if we know that we have a lot of it, we must not deprive others of possessing things like that. Share with good intention because it is an example of Love so let us do it the right way.

Four Chinese Philosophers

A Reflection about the Four Chinese Philosophers

Having a lot of ideas taken, let me express myself by sharing my own reflection. This reflection revolves around the four great Chinese philosophers: Confucius, Mencius, Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu. Each of them has their own perspective and thoughts. Each thoughts conforms the important elements that a human person must possess to have and maintain a wonderful life, a wonderful living. With this reflection, I would like to express myself in terms of learning, leadership, .

Confucius 

Let me start by giving some information about the first philosopher. Confucius was born on 551 BC in Lu. He became the prime minister of Lu on 501BC at the age of 50. He focused on the three aims and with the four virtues. The three aims are the following: reform of the government, educate the people and transmit the Chou culture, and the four virtues are the following: Li, Chih, I and Ren. He wandered around for 13 years and returned to Lu where he spent his last years in literal studying and teaching, and died on 479 BC. ¹

I had a lot of interest with his sayings, regarding the aims and virtues, which are found in the Analects. According to 7:8, Confucius said, “I do not enlighten those who are not eager to learn, nor arouse those who are not anxious to give an explanation themselves. If I have presented one corner of the square and they cannot come back to me with the other three, I should not go over the points again.” Some experiences came to my mind when I read this saying. I remembered my parents while I was still an elementary student and a high school student. They always taught me and became the persons who reviewed me with the lessons. The ask questions and I answer them. At first, I had the difficulties in answering them because they focus on the book.  But as the time passed, I was able to answer all the questions they gave.

I used this example because it shows a lot of love of the parents to their children. But how come I was able to say these? Simple! Parents must take care of their children not only physical but of the whole totality of their children in every way possible. They must educate their children, love their children, and find ways to make their children become happy and a lot of more. Through these caresses, the children will be able to appreciate what their parents are doing to them and at the same time they will be able to do these to their future sons and daughters. Educating children will be a great way for families to bond with each other by teaching them the things that they must know inside and outside the four corners of the school.

There were symbols which Confucius used in his saying. These are the square, a corner of the square and the points. I reflected that the square represents the whole classroom, the first corner is the teacher and the point is the knowledge a teacher has. Thinking of a square with only one corner, it will never be square if it has only one corner because in Geometry, a square is a parallelogram has four equal angles and has four equal sides. If there is already one corner or one side, how many sides are lacking? Of course, there are three left. If the master or teacher is the first corner, the students are the other three, the remaining corners. In learning, there are four important factors that make learning meaningful and useful: the one who teach the one who is being taught, the place for learning and the though discussed. These four must be completed for learning to be effective. Imagine learning without a student. No one will occupy the classroom, the teacher will be useless and the knowledge will be meaningless. Imagine learning without a teacher. No one will teach the students, the place will be useless and the knowledge will still be meaningless. Imagine learning without place. It is impossible for place to be missing because there are lots of places for learning to achieve. It can be in the classroom, dining room, living room, lobby, and many more. Imagine knowledge is missing in learning. What will be the teacher teach the students with nothing? Therefore, these four factors must be satisfied for learning to be said present.

When the four factors are complete, the teacher is there with the knowledge and he or she is with the students in a certain place, learning is present, yet, it is not the real essence of learning. In learning, there must be a harmony between one of the factors to the other factors. The teacher must be in harmony with the students, place and knowledge. Same as the student with the teacher, place and knowledge; as the place with the teacher, student and knowledge; and the knowledge with the other three.

During our high school days, there were lots of instances that I remembered. My classmates, sometimes I’m also included, were not really listening. We were just talking to one another or using the cellular phone or playing the portable play station. Sometimes some of us were always late or absent. Some of us were just sleeping during class hours and not participating properly in class discussions. Sometimes, the teachers were also unprepared. They forgot their materials, book, class record, white board marker, or sometimes teachers maltreat students when they tease the students in front of the class or the school. Sometimes they were not that prepared to discuss the topic. These are examples for an unproductive learning. There were lacking in the four factors.

In a square, there are equal lines and equal angles or in mathematical term, it is an equilateral and equiangular figure. These four factors must be treated equally or must be given importance equally to gain a productive and useful learning.  Why productive and useful? From the term itself, productive and useful learning will help the students be successful in their future career and may be able to achieve their dreams, their goals, the teachers may improve their teaching skills and for them to whole-heartedly share their expertise to others, the room may be developed into something humongous and the idea will be widened much more.

So, as a student, my duty is to study harder to attain my goals and to give my parents and my family their due as they helped me grow and be mature. It is not the academic endeavors I must only prioritize because there are still other things in this world: my service to God, my family, my parents, my friends, my girlfriend and my own self. Nothing must be greater than the other but there must be balance between.

Mencius

            The second Chinese philosopher is Mencius. He was believed to be born on 371 BC in the state of Tsou, near Lu. He lost his father at the age of 3. He received education from the disciple of Tzu Ssu, the grandson of Confucius. He traveled to many states to offer pieces of advice to rulers. He went back to Lu on 307 BC for him to have his privately and died on 289 BC. ²

            After reading Mencius’ life and works, I had this in mind, “Of all the important things he taught the people a long time ago, I like his way of leading the people:

1.      For politics and economy to exist for the benefit of the people,

2.      that he has a heart that cannot bear to witness the sufferings of others,

3.      That a man does not develop his goodness, and

4.      To extend relations to include others.”

I value these four statements which Mencius had given importance. Why? Because I am a person who love to mingle with others and a ‘somebody’ who loves to lead children in serving God and His Church.

Why do I serve God? Why do I have this in my mind that I love to serve God? Why do I have this in my mind that I would like to help other children to serve God? Why am I doing this? I am a student but why did I accept the challenge of serving God and leading the acolytes?

I did not look at the four statements above literally. I go deeper its meaning and what it really means to me. Let take this story for example:

I am Glenn Ian P. Barcebal. Since grade 3, I am a server of the Church of God. Ever since, I love my duty. I went to seminars and trainings to enhance my knowledge regarding the church and the important things that I must learn in serving in the Mass. When I reached grade 6, I was appointed as the president. It was a tough job though, but for the sake of my learning and for the sake of all the acolytes in St. Raphael, I accepted it. I trained the kids and helped them to know more about God. When I went to high school, my presidency ended. When I was in my junior year, I became the leader of the Knights of St. Thomas Aquinas and became the Animator of the AQUIlytes in my freshman year in college. I trained the kids, shared them my experiences and some stories about life and friendship, taught them the basic movements in the Mass and guide them with their studies. Until now, I have this duty to serve God and his Church by guiding little children in the way that God leads them.

We know that a good leader, just like what Jesus said, must be also a good follower. He must not always think of himself. He must not always think of the best for him. But he must always think of the best for his subject or for the place where he rules. Many people love leaders who are close to them and who always think of the fairness and the good of all. I got annoyed of the governor in the teleserye “Ikaw ay Pag-ibig” because he always thinks of himself. He robbed the baby Jesus for him to show off that he is the one who will be able to return it. Because of this, his plan is for the people to be close to him and to love him for them to re-elect him for the upcoming election. Many will love him if he is just true to his subject and if he proves that he really deserves his position.

If he is just true to his subject, they will not suffer. The people suffered because the child Jesus was robbed. For an instance, the people decided not to celebrate Christmas unless the child Jesus is returned. We know that Christmas is the most awaited part of the year so why prolong the waiting? See? Suffering appeared because of the self-centeredness of the leader.

Relating again to the governor of the said teleserye, we can see that he lacks goodness. We cannot say that he is totally bad because philosophically speaking, being is good. That’s why we can only say that that governor lacks goodness, and if he lacks goodness, it doesn’t mean that he lacks something to be good but he does not only develop them. May be that governor wasn’t able to have something good from his past experiences that’s why he appeared and acted that way. But I know that goodness also relies upon him.

As a leader, I always think what is best for the members of our group. I am encouraging them to value respect, discipline, obedience, piety, reverence and brotherhood and sisterhood. With all of these virtues, we remain as a united group. As a leader, I lead them and guide them to follow these virtues not only for the sake of fame but for the sake of the common good, and not only for a certain time but for all the rest of our lives. In times of problems, all of us sympathize with a member who has a problem. We give some pieces of advice and we do our best to make that someone smile because it is so hard to see a brother or a sister suffering. I want them to be happy because it makes me happy, too. In times that someone committed a mistake, we do not deprive him to learn from his or her mistake. Instead, we help him or her to know what wrong he or she has done for him or her to correct it next time. Mistakes may affect another person or the whole group that’s why we maintain peace and harmony in the group. And lastly, we do not only include ourselves, the installed AQUIlytes, but we also want to include those who are willing to join us in serving God and His Church.

I always look upon the brighter side of everything I experience. Without these experiences, I will not be this happy. I give my best to the things that I am ought to serve and to do. I know I am an imperfect person, but with this imperfection, I know that I have a lot of potential and a lot of improvement grounds to fill. So, if no one stands up, get up! Lead the way using your mind and your heart.

Lao Tze

            Lao Tze is a native of Ch’u, the southern part of the present Honan province. It was known to be abundant in terms of natural resources but it is not a cultured one. The book he made was Tao Te Ching. Tao means way or road, Te means virtue, efficacy and a power inherent in a thing.

            I did not focus on this book but with the two laws imbedded in it: the law of reversion and Wu Wei. The Law of Reversion or Return states that when thing reaches one extreme, it reverts from it. For example to be huge is to be small, to be great is to be less, to love more is to love less, and many other more examples and instances. While the second one, Wu Wei, states that “Tao does not do, yet there is nothing that is not done”.

Let me share some stories regarding the law of reversion which I reflected:

(1)   One day, I saw a friend who was so disappointed and whose face seems to be having some problems in life. I went beside him and asked him, “Tol, ano ang problema? Bakit nagmumukmok ka diyan?” He answered me, “Talo ako tol eh.” At first, I was not able to get what he wants to tell so I asked him, “Bro, ano ang problema? Kwento mo naman sa akin.” So he told me that he was dumped by his loved one because the girl has already a loved one. I tried to help him by giving some pieces of advice. Of course, I will use some from my experiences so that it can also help him. But, after giving him pieces of advice, he became mad at me.

(2)   Last week, two of my friends were talking. The other one said, “Ano ba yan? Kelan ka ba magpapakatino sa love life? Kelan mo seseryosohin ang taong yan? Hahayaan mo bang mawala siya sayo bago mo siya seryosohin? O di mo lang siya kayang seryosohin kasi mayroon ka pang number 2 at number 3? Ano ka ba naman? Magseryoso ka naman. ‘Wag ka na manloko. Ikaw kaya ang lokohin tingnan natin kung ‘di ka magpakamatay…………..”

(3)   One of my friends was so in love with our classmate way back high school years. He has the girl’s pictures in his wallet, study table, personal computer, laptop, iPod and notebooks. He even cannot go near that girl and talk with her. But, he can only look at her from a bit afar. When the girl asked him something or sometimes borrowed his notebooks, he was always thrilled. I can see that he was OBSESSED.

For the first story, I didn’t know why he became mad. Maybe I gave him too much pieces of advice that he was not able to grasp them all. But I am hoping that he was able to cope up with his problem and continue his life. For the second one, one of my friends was over the limit that she was not able to limit her words. She was not able to make the situation easy but she made it worse. Giving pieces of advice is good because you can share to others what you already experienced which you do not want others to experiences it themselves because it is a heart-aching experience. You never want your friend to suffer much because of that experience that’s why you are willing to share some of what you know and share what you already experienced. But the problem was, in the first two stories, they went over the limit that’s why too much pieces of advice will make problems bigger.

For the third story, we can see that the guy is obsessed. And we know that obsession is too much feelings or too much love to a certain person. Too much love to a certain person may cause you to be really blind from others’ existence because you know that she is the only one with you in the world and you know that she is the one. It is a big problem to make your loved one as your world. Why would that be? Because when you treat her that she is the only one and the two of you are the only people living in the world, you will not be able to see the beauty of all the living beings. I have this friend that he will not go to class if his girlfriend is absent, he will only go out of his house if his girlfriend will. What an obsessed one right?  Think of this, “what about others, your family, your friends, what about the One who created you?  You are alone. We are here for you.” Too much feelings may also ruin friendship and love between each one another.

We must also remember the seven deadly sins. What are these? These are pride, lust, gluttony, sloth, envy, greed and anger. Too much of sexual desires is lust, too much of the self is pride, too much of food and drink intake is gluttony, too much laziness is sloth, too much wanting of what others have is envy, too much desire to have everything is greed, and wrath is too much anger. Do you want to commit these deadly sins? Always remember, that:

Too much of everything is not nice. Too much less of everything is not nice, too. So it is better to make things moderated so things will be in a good way. So it is better to be simple that to be too much or to be too less.

Chuang Tze

            Chuang Tze is the last Chinese philosopher discussed. He lived between 399-255 B.C. state of Meng. He is the contemporary of Mencius and he was invited to become prime minister but decided to love a life of personal freedom. Chuang Tzu is thought to have lived during the reign of King Hui of Liang and King Xuan of Qi, in the span from 370 to 301 BCE. Zhuangzi was from the Town of Meng (蒙城, Méng Chéng) in the state of Song (now Mengcheng 蒙城, Anhui).

Regarding Chuang Tze’s philosophy, I would like to give importance to the following points:

·         Te is what which makes us what we are.

What really is Te? Te means virtue, efficacy and a power inherent in a thing. Te is something that makes us what we really are. Reflecting on this point, I remember my childhood. Since I was a child, I served at the Saint Raphael Church in downtown Legazpi. As I serve God, I learned a lot of things about myself and about God. I joined the acolytes there, underwent through catecheses and different trainings. After all of these challenges, one day, I learned to bring my rosary every day, pray to God before and after meals and before sleeping. I also learned to mano po to my parents, treat them as my parents, obey them and love them. After months and years, I realized that I have been doing these things for a long time and it became a habit to me – a good habit, virtue, Te.

Te let us realize that we become a person who we really are through the virtues we continuously do. With these actions, we are able to show others and reach their mind that we really are this person. By following God’s commandments and doing good deeds, we will be better persons through our virtues.

Of course, we do it not only for ourselves but for others too. Other people will experience these virtues. They will be able to see and feel the goodness of a person. So we must always remember that we must not only be virtuous towards ourselves but also to others.

·         Nature is the source of happiness and goodness but man is the source of evil.

We can really say that nature is the source of all happiness and goodness because God made the whole universe perfectly. There are plenty of things, blessings, creatures, beings which we may see in our surroundings. The trees are there for us to make fire in times of cold weather, shelter us by making it as a material to build a house, to make it as a door, window, table, chair, etc. Animals are there for us to love, to train, to respect, to cherish and by the virtue of survival, as food. Plants are there to absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen for us to inhale. Some plants may be used for medicinal purposes. Some may be used as food, especially the vegetable and fruits. The people for us to be with share the world with enjoy life with, to be merry with and to live with.

But why do we say that man is the source of evil? Man is good in nature but given all the material things in the world, sometimes man forgot the real essence of his existence in the world. It is said that man is the steward of the earth and steward means a care giver. It means that man must be the one who takes care of the world, not the one who destroys it because we do not have the right to destroy which we do not possess or which we did not create.

With all the beautiful things we see, man lives in a life full of cravings. Man desires to have all the wonderful things in the world by means of having a lot of money and power. We want to possess everything that’s why we suffer a lot and crave for more. Relating to Indian philosophy, we must remove these desires for us to attain a magnanimous and ecstatic life here on earth.

·         Principal source of human unhappiness is the fear of death and anxiety over its coming.

If there is something that could make man happy, there is also something that could make a man unhappy. What are these? Death and Anxiety. Who among us doesn’t like to live a long life and a peaceful life? All of us like to live in that kind of manner. All of us want a peaceful life and all of us want a long life. Because of these cravings, we suffer again because of the fact that we do not want to end this kind of happiness we feel.

In my opinion, what makes a person afraid to die is because he or she is not yet ready to go one with the next life. Before it is too late, it is best for us to do good things, to do virtuous things for us to be ready before this “death” appears in front of us and take us away from the people and from the things we want to share our life with.

To end my reflections, I would like to express my gratitude for giving me the chance to understand how things in life occur and how to surpass such problems. Thank you very much!