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THE HUMAN PERSON TOWARDS HIS/HER IMPENDING DEATH
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Student Name: ________________________________________ Year & Section: _______
Date Answer Sheets were Submitted: _____________________ Teacher: Dr. Eric Agustin
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person: An Examined Life is (Perhaps) Worthwhile
2nd Quarter, 1st Semester (2Q1S), SY 2021-2022
MELC-based Weeks 15 & 16
MODULES 15 & 16: THE HUMAN PERSON Towards His/Her Impending Death
MELC-based Weeks 15 & 16
A. Learning Objectives (What a student needs to know)
In this module 15 & 16’s content standards, the student (“YOU”) should understand human beings as oriented towards their impending death. In addition, under this module 15 & 16’s performance standards, a student writes a philosophical reflection on the meaning of his/her own life.
The most essential competencies are for you to:
(7-8.1) Enumerate the objectives he/she really wants to achieve and to define the projects he/she really wants to do in his/her life and
(7-8.2) Reflect on the meaning of his/her own life.
Introduction
In the previous modules 1 to 7, we learned much about philosophy in relation to our existence or life. In this last module, we might ask ourselves: “What would all these bring to me, like with all other mortal beings, when we become oriented towards our own individual impending deaths?” First, do we find any meaning to death? What is there after death? Do we simply decompose as biological entities like all the rest of organisms? Or, is there something more worthwhile as we experience dying and after we die? What could be our legacy as we leave our earthly abode? Is there an eternal soul or spirit that never dies? However, other people might ask, too: “Is there really a soul or spirit?” Lots of questions hover over our heads, but that is just the beginning of what we will tackle in this module.
Good luck!
Impending Death
Why do we have to concern ourselves over our impending death? Is it not that death is a natural occurrence? We were born and then die eventually, so, why think about death given its inevitableness? We all know that we are all mere mortals. Even individuals whom others might consider as holies and saints die. Is it really worth it to consume our time talking about a thing (that is, death) that is just there or maybe it is pre-built in our biological clock? Would it not make us more anxious as we keep on thinking about dying since we have seen with our own very eyes how people, such as friends and other loved ones, die? Some met gruesome deaths, whereas others die “comfortably” enough.
So, enough is enough. Suffice to say that we will only focus first on what “impending death” means. First, “impending” has a negative connotation. It means an imminent adversity, such as death. However, we don’t have to think that way in philosophy (or did I just way, you’re free to think otherwise). Even when death is about to happen to anyone, anytime and anywhere, it is simply the way it is. If it is not yet our time, how are we going to well spend our remaining time? Alternatively, if it is already our time to exit our earthly existence and go 6 feet below the ground (unless we chose to be cremated as part of our last will), so be it. It is always a matter of holistic perspective whether we are optimistic or pessimistic about life and death. The important thing here is to remain calm and choose what is best for us and other people and the world in general.
Meaning of Life
When we talk about impending death, why do we have to go back discussing the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life, whichever you might want to think of. We always have to choose. Life is full of choices. Our decision is our life. So, when we speak of life’s meaning, it is you who can have the “right” answer given the “right” mindset.
So, what is life? Is life really what we make out of it? Things that we can control, we must do so. Things that are uncontrollable or beyond our power to manage, we should look or find ways. Likewise, it is never too late in life to start over and over again thinking what your life’s value is. Definitely, it has its value (or maybe, …I don’t know about you). Like what we kept on understanding from this course, everything is related or connected to everything else. If it turned out disconnected, it is all up to you (if within your control) to reconnect. Similar to life’s ultimate importance to you as a human person, you might as well keep on doing philosophical reflections until such time that sufficiency and happiness become your friend throughout your life.
At this juncture, you might as well reconsider what you have thought of before and time and again regarding the meaning of life – or of your life. Are most virtues that we possess the answer to our life’s meaning? Is it simply being alive and kicking? Dutiful, that is, being a responsible person (such as, as a child, student, single parent, LGBTQ, etc.)? It might be that the answers were uniquely ours to embrace in truly or partly answering one of the most enduring philosophical questions ever: “What is [the meaning of] life.” Consequently, what is the meaning of death? Is death a solution to pain, agony, and whatchamacallits.
Life’s Bucket List
Life is a cycle – and so they say. There are many beliefs systems worldwide, such as reincarnation and resurrection. Since birth eventually terminates into death, have you thought of writing a few items of the things that you would like to do or accomplish before you die? Well, you can get me right on this. Bucket list or list of items that you would like to do before your demise is fine for most people. You have your goal in mind before finally succumbing to death.
As a teacher, I have read many of my students’ bucket lists. Some are too serious to be noted here, whereas other bucket lists borders on jest. That’s people’s nature! Some are darn serious while others take it lightly, though the latter, deep inside of them, it is not. But for the sake of this academic exercise, we can do both.
For my part, even at this age, I want to do many things. I even wish to go back during my younger days, just like most of you in your adolescent years right now. I want to study smartly. Be the best that I can. I want to, if I could just do, get rid of my infirmities. That’s what we might be feeling right now. Your first bucket list is to go back in time, which is impossible, and to become the perfect or ideal “you” and “me.” So, the question that I was able to generate, just like you, is whether you can include in your list things that are impossible to achieve. It is up for discussion, guys!
At this point, I just want to give one item on my aforementioned bucket list, which is not definitely a list. Let’s add a second one. I want to have an adventure riding on the drone car of the future. Well, I cannot provide a much more detailed and advanced specifications of a futuristic drone car, to start with. Third, I want to provide a comfortable and decent life to my loved ones. Simply, I want to be affluent, both in and out. I want to help myself first followed by others…
I think I have to end here though I want to add more to my bucket list and discussion. For now, see you in the next activities.
Have more fun!
Summary/Generalization (What a student learned so far?)
As a recap, I introduced you to the topic on imminent death. There are lots of questions that were presented to you concerning death. You learn that life’s cycle is not a cycle, biologically. We live once and then die, though belief systems vary as to life and death, re-life and re-death. Then, we were able to note down that once we were born, maybe and just maybe, we have a pre-built death mechanism inside all of us; hence, the inevitability or unavoidableness of dying. We also see with our very eyes how we figuratively vanish in thin air when we die. Did our spirit really simply leave its physical body – and voila, we can nowhere be contacted again from the world of the living! Is the world of the dead, by analogy, simply the world of spirits despite believing to the contrary that spirits are alive – and so, what a paradox!
As we proceed, we gain insights as to the meaning of life juxtaposed with the meaning of death. If there is life, there follows death. Much has been summarized already and the bucket list sub-topic is more on fulfilling things you might want to accomplish before your time ends in this physical world. You can come up with countless items for your bucket list. What is important is: live life to its fullest. You may never know where it would possibly bring you. …To the Elixir of Life, perhaps?
Thanks! More than you could expect is my wish for all of you in complying with all the requirements for this course on “Philosophy”!
B. Written Task (Quiz)
Multiple Choice: Instruction: Choose the correct or “best” answer by encircle your letter of choice.
1. By implication, which one of the following may not be the focus of study in this Module 8 on “Impending Death?”
- Physical death
- Spiritual death
- Psychological death
- Undeath
2. Concerning death, people have a general and definitive answer as to what is it philosophically?
- True
- False
- Partly true
- Partly false
3. “Death is the absence of life and life is the absence of death.” Does that statement have philosophical bearing?
- Yes
- No
- Maybe
- It’s a circular reasoning or a tautological statement
4. Hypothetically, If most people worldwide do NOT believe in a spirit, which one of the following statements do you think supports philosophically your conviction?
- When a person dies, his/her physical body has no more spirit.
- Dying is simply a physiological phenomenon whereby you lose your breath and your bodily functioning totally ends.
- A spirit is without flesh and bones or a physical counterpart.
- We cannot resolve with finality what it means not to have a spirit. The non-belief in spirit is under the area of religious philosophy.
5. Which one of the following terms is nearly synonymous with the world “impending?”
- Immanent
- Forthcoming
- Ingrained
- Impermanence
6. If life has meaning, by extension, death has importance, too. Is that statement have any philosophical value to you as a human person?
- Yes, as I view both to have meaningfulness.
- No, as I only believe in the significance life has over me.
- I am not sure as I have never experienced death before.
- It depends on anyone to believe or not to believe a thing.
7. Living a life that is worthwhile means having to carry on virtues to live by your whole life through. Which one of the scenarios below does demonstrate the most a life worth lived by?
- You are a happy-go-lucky person who is carefree despite having one’s own family.
- You start volunteering to the one’s affected by the Pandemic in your own private ways.
- After graduation, you simply live a life of a bystander.
- You look after your parents in their old age while having a paramour at the same time.
8. If life is inevitable/unavoidable, it only follows, by implication that…
- Everything is inevitable, too
- Nothing is inevitable, as well.
- Death is inevitable, likewise.
- After-death is inevitable no matter what you do.
9. Bucket list is like an handy items goals that you would like to achieve before you pass away. Which one of the following items does NOT belong to:
- Going back to the past and correcting all your mistakes.
- Buying a fictional supercar.
- Meeting the leader of the United Nations.
- Becoming a summa cum laude, magna cum laude or cum laude
10. Choose only one of the following statements that you think relates much to a life worth living before it abruptly ends?
- Ending one’s life because of life’s present adversities.
- Doing mostly online gaming while quarantined since it is what you really like doing.
- Helping your family cope up with the pandemic situation by being on their side supporting one another.
- Spreading fake and malicious contents online as a paid troll to support your own family.
C. Performance Task
Final Analytic Essay
Title: My Life as I See It
(minimum of 300 words)
Life is what we make out of it. However, there are things that are controllable and those beyond our control. Give one situation where you sometimes have control over something and, sometimes, does not have control over it. Please make an in-depth analysis of that particular situation.
Note: Before providing your answer to this essay, please refer to the Grading/Scoring Rubric below:
Grading/Scoring Rubric for a Philosophical Essay/Paper
| Score/Points | Philosophical Thought Fluency/Articulation(including word choice) | Depth of Idea | Organization(intro, body, generalization) | Conventions (e.g., word limit, grammar, spelling, punctuation) |
| 100-90 (4-5) | Philosophically fluent/articulated thoughts (with excellent word choice) | All philosophical ideas were deeply elucidated in excellent details | Well-organized, with good transitions, and interesting to read | Correct word limit, grammar, spelling, punctuation |
| 89-80 (3) | Good articulated thoughts (with good word choice) | Most ideas deeply explained in good details | Very organized, with some smooth transitions, and interesting to look at | Few errors as to word limit, grammar, spelling, punctuation |
| 79-70 (2) | Thoughts nearing accuracy (with enough words to convey mostly basic ideas) | Some ideas aren’t explained deeply | Somewhat organized, no sufficient transitions, and interesting at the beginning | Piecemeal errors throughout the text, many grammar, spelling, punctuation mistakes |
| 69-60 (0-1) | Haphazardly thought out ideas (many misuses of words); plagiarized | Fuzzy, shallow ideas and off points; plagiarized | No beginning and no end; extremely challenging to read/understand; plagiarized | Highly perceptible errors throughout the paper; plagiarized |
(Guide in answering your analytic essay: There is no single, definitive answer to a philosophical question. Philosophical questions are, most if not all, elemental/fundamental, general, abstract, and controversial, hence, they require diverging, broad, nondefinitive, and argumentative answers in most instances.)
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