Module-15-Death

INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
2ND QUARTER MODULE 14

Human persons as oriented towards their impending death
At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:
1. Recognize the meaning of his/her own life Evaluate the transformation of human
relationships by social systems and how societies transform individual human beings.
2. Enumerate the objectives he/she really wants to achieve and to define the projects he/she
really wants to do in his/her life
3. Explain the meaning of life (where will all these lead to)
4. Reflect on the meaning of his/her own life.
What is your initial reaction when you read the title of this part of the module? Is death really
a terrifying phenomenon? If death is a dreadful thing, what makes it fearsome? Death is a topic
that does not get the interest of many people. It connotes an inner feeling of fear, pain, grief,
sadness, anxiety, and sympathy. As much as people would not want to speak about it, yet death
comes along the way. In other words, it is inevitable not to talk about death, for it is part of the
cycle of life. None is certain yet as to what happens to the human person after death. But at
least, the scriptures give an assurance that there is eternal life.
At this point, we will try to uncover the mystery of death by rationalizing its phenomenon so
that we get to understand it better, accept it as part of human nature, and treat it as a condition
that allows us to create a meaningful existence.
THOUGHT EXPERIMENT
Imagine the scenario below. Answer the questions using 3-5 sentences only.
You are lying in a hospital bed. You have stage 4 cancer. You have no problem in paying the
bills since you are a rich man. But nobody, except for the doctor and hospital staff, is with you.
This is because you despised your family for not believing in you and left them to pursue your
dreams.
One day, a stranger appeared and told you, “You only have a week left to live. Within that
span of remaining time, God is giving you a chance to forgive your family in one condition: your life
will end the moment you utter your forgiveness to your family. If you do not forgive them, you will
get an additional week to live."
You are about to respond to that stranger, what would you say?
INTERPRETATING THE STORY

Discuss the symbolisms in the short story and story's possible meaning.
From Leo Tolstoy’s “A Confession and Other Religious Writing

There is an old Eastern fable about a traveler who is taken unawares traveler hides in an
empty well, but at the bottom of the well, he sees a dragon with its jaws open, ready to devour
him. The poor fellow does not dare to climb out because he is afraid of being eaten by the
ferocious beast, neither does he dare drop to the bottom of the well for fear of being eaten by the
dragon. So he seizes hold of a branch of a bush that is growing in the crevices of the well and
clings on to it. His arms grow weak, and he knows that he will soon have to resign himself to the
death that awaits him on the either side. Yet he clings on and while he is holding on to one
branch, he looks around and sees that two mice, one black and one white are steadily working
on their way round the bush he is hanging from, gnawing away at it. Sooner or later, they will
eat through it and the branch will snap, and he will fall into the jaws of the dragon. The traveler
sees this and knows that he will inevitably perish. But while he is still hanging there, he sees
some drops of honey on the leaves of the bush, stretches his tongue and licks them.
SYMBOLISM MEANING
Traveler
Dragon
Well
Branch
Mice
Honey
Phenomenological Notion of Death
To understand the meaning of life, let us look at its limitations determined by the reality and
experience of death. One notable philosopher who made a great contribution to the discussion of
death is Martin Heidegger. Heidegger is known for his book Being and Time. This book
introduces a unique perspective on the daily experiences of the human person. Humans,
Heidegger argues, should live with authenticity. This authenticity means understanding of the
world to something that exists and potentially does not exist.
What makes this interesting is that Heidegger does not speak about the afterlife. Contrary to
the story at the beginning of this chapter, none can speak of what life is after the cessation of
breath. From birth, man is expected to live his life to the fullest as he journeys towards his
death. This is what Heidegger means by being-towards-an-end.
According to his book Being and Time, death has the following characteristics; it is certain,
indefinite, one's property, non-relational, and not to be outstripped.
Death is certain. As part of humanness, we are all born (in Heideggerian sense,we are “thrown")
in the world. The world is governed by time. We,humans,are existing in time, thus, as being
thrown in the world, we have beginning and since we are finite beings, we also have end - death.
Birth and death are two things we cannot remove from our existence. Whether we like it or not,
we will die.
Death is indefinite. While death is sure to come, it is however indefinite as to when it will come.
Death is impending, meaning to say, it can happen anytime.We do not know exactly when. That
is why, we should try to live the best life that we can for we never know the day of our end.
Death is one's property. The death of the person belongs to him. Nobody can experience his
death except himself. There can be no proxies or substitutes for a person in experiencing death.
Death is non-relational. This means that when we die, we die alone. We have no choice but to
face it on our own. Death also removes all our relations to others. In contemplating death, we
realize our own individuality and independence from the world.
Death is not to be outstripped. Death cannot be taken away from a person. Even the person
himself cannot remove the possibility of death in his life.of immortality, death, in real life is a
definite reality which we nothing can be done to be outstripped.
Death anad Authenticity

What does death really mean? Is it just a reminder that there is a purpose in human
existence? Does it tell us to value life while we have it?
Since death cannot be controlled, the things that we have during our lifetime are those not
focused on how we live our life in this world. It is an invitation to evaluate our own existence and
ask the most appropriate question: Did we ever truly live?
Authenticity is an idea mostly used in existentialism which means having true and
meaningful existence. According to Soren Kierkegaard, conformity restricts our capacity to be
true to ourselves. An individual has to avoid the crowd, the majority of society who dictates what
and how to conduct the course of our lives. For example, the social media and the popular
culture tell us to be unique and show our individuality, and it is expected for everyone to follow
this behavior. But authenticity is not like that, rather it invites us to be unique not because we
were told to but, out or our own free will and how we view ourselves and the world . The ultimate
goal of becoming who you and what one should be, should not come from the crowd but it
should come from our deliberate choice.
Another reason why we fail to lead an authentic life is fear. Because of uncertainty of
possible consequences and the dread of criticism we fail to pursue what we truly want in life.
This challenge of authenticity is one of the important messages of death. As we accept death, we
realize the value of having a real life - an authentic life!
AUTHENTICITY PROJECT
List down the 3 things you truly want in life, the challenges you see in pursuing your goals and
the possible solutions to these challenges.
GOALS CHALLENGES SOLUTIONS

(Physical/
Psychological/Resources)
As a fitting end, how humans view life is not limited to one definition. Life cannot be
evaluated with a single set of parameters; different factors must be recognized before one can
define it. It is neither objective nor subjective, depending on the person defining it, there should
be a holistic understanding for a human person to grasp its far-reaching aspect. The way things
are experienced differently by each one, so as variety of one’s interpretation of life’s meaning. It
should be acknowledged that as we try to learn the meaning of life, we have to be aware and
conscious of its various forms and manifestations.
Looking at these approaches in understanding the meaning of life does not imply that each
is independent of the other. Rather, combining these themes provides a more concrete and
clearer understanding of life. The meaning of life is not only exclusive to one group or individual.
Having a clear and holistic understanding of life’s experiences is a noteworthy evaluation of one’s
existence. There might not have a single or universal definition of the meaning of life, but what is
more important is that the search for the meaning of life is a philosophical journey.
ACTIVITY #1
Find a partner. Ask each other about the following:
1. What are the significant moments in your life? Why do you consider these as important?
2. How do you view your own life according to : goals, challenges faced, choices made as well
as regrets.
3. What are you’re your aspirations in life? How will you achieve these things?
Write a 2-paragraph biographical essay of your discussion. Introduce the person you are writing
about in your essay.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

2ND QUARTER MODULE 14

At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:

INTERPRETATING THE STORY

From Leo Tolstoy’s “A Confession and Other Religious Writing

Phenomenological Notion of Death

Death anad Authenticity

GOALS CHALLENGES SOLUTIONS

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