Sunday, October 21, 2012

Human Person

Human Person
Nowadays, human being seems to have a control in everything. Transcendent Being or God seems to have a very little role in the life of human person. Human persons are acting as superhuman or to borrow Nietzche’s term ‘ubermensch’. From different spheres in human society, man seems to be superior. Man shows his superiority in every field he belongs to.  In the sphere of politics, leaders cannot agree on crafting specific laws that would serve the greater good or the interest of the public. Leaders are putting premium on the interest of the self. They fail to put forward the interest of their constituents. In looking on other field in human society, people engage in business are showing superiority by manipulating other individuals. Greater profit is the driving force for people in business world. Most often, they disrespect the rights of their employees and customers. Improper compensation is still the cry of many employees today. Inequity is still present in the business world. In the field of science, man’s superiority is also present. Man seems to have a total control of the development of human person. The presence of cloning is an evident that man is trying to control even the creation of a living creature. In this manner, man is no longer subordinate to the Creator but he shares the same power with the Creator. In the field of education, man of today fails to realize the very essence of educating oneself. Man of today always equates education with schooling. Schooling, most often promotes the attitude of superiority. Students, in order not to fail, would cheat during examination. Learning is most often measured through grade that’s why students use any means whether it is by hook or crook, just to pass from the subject. This attitude towards learning produces many individuals who are merely schooled but not educated. Schooling, sometimes promotes negative attitudes to the students who are not willing to submit to the discipline of education. All these examples are realities of today. These are realities that show that man is indeed trying to control everything-an attempt of superiority over the Creator.
Despite the effort of man to control everything, he could not still explain why there are circumstances that give him no control of everything. The death of an innocent child, accidents, and plans that were never materialize despite the efforts that man exerted- all these are uncontrollable instances. Man seems cannot hold everything. Uncontrollable events cannot be comprehended by human mind. The deepness of the meaning of the event is not easy to understand. He cannot be certain of the reason why such event happened. In this point, man’s innate attitude of searching for Higher Being becomes notable. When everything left to be complicated, man moves to search for a reason or purpose why such event took place in his life.
St. Augustine as a Christian philosopher understands reality always in relation to God. His understanding of reality would never be isolated with his understanding of God. God for him is the Ground of all truth (Copleston, 1950). St. Augustine found truth through introspection (inward thinking). In knowing ourselves and in knowing that man can know the truth, he is led to affirm the existence of God. It is only in God that one could find truth. In searching for truth, St. Augustine regarded sensation as a way of acquiring truth. Senses never lie or deceive if human being is just true of what he feel or see. If corporeal things are taken as corporeal things then there will be no problem. If man sees a green chair then he should say that the chair appears green to him. In that sense, he is faithful to the senses. Senses are mutable things (Copleston, 1950).
In this light, human person as described by St. Augustine, is a rational soul using a mortal and earthly body (Teske, 2001). The soul is in possession of a body but does not consist of two persons but one man. The soul being superior to the body cannot be acted on by the body, but it perceives the changes in the body due to an external stimulus. The soul of human person apprehends indestructible truth, which shows that it is itself indestructible. The human person consists of soul and body can reason and can know the truth unlike the soul of an animal. This soul is created by God. In this manner, human person always reaches out to his creator in order for him to determine himself. Human person do not have the capacity to fully understand himself and others without the illumination of Transcendent Light (God), as contrary to the first paragraph of this essay which expresses man’s superiority.  Human person having soul should go beyond corporeal entities in order to find bliss which is one of human’s purposes in life according to St. Augustine. If human person will insist to determine himself, it will just end up in following a path that will mislead him to his Creator.




Bibliography

2001.The Cambridge companion to Augustine, Edited by Kretzman, N. and Stump, E., The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, UK.
Copleston, F., (1950). A history of philosophy (Mediaeval Philosophy Part I :Augustine to Bonaventure) Volume II., Newman Press , USA.


Thursday, September 27, 2012


Unconventional Marriage
Verses for Ayah, my philo.

g
Warrior-
adjective
that perfectly describes us a couple.

We were born having differences in
nature
And
nurtured
differently within social structure.

However, opposites attract
as they say.
Indeed, it’s true, isn’t it?
We are complimentary
like
coffee and
its
creamer.
We
blend perfectly.
E
We are courageous enough
to be married
in a very
unconventional way.
o
We deemed each other as a
couple
long before we were officially on
as boyfriend and girlfriend.
Then the decision to get married came.
Then the realization of our plan,
K

It’s not easy.
Having no
Parental support and
High-paying  job.

But what else we could do?
We
want to pursue our plan.
are driven by our desire.
have to make money using our skills.
spend and live each day below our income.
learn to value every centavo .

No more
coffee shop.
buying of new books.
dining-out.
And we lessen our outdoor activities.
We settled for street and home-cooked foods.
I am proud that every centavo that
we spend in our wedding
is our hard-earned money.

We have the unconventional setting.
We don’t
live under one roof
sleep together
eat together
see each other everyday or anytime we want.

We don’t mind getting married despite
the fact that anytime soon,
we will be away from each other
I have to fulfill
my dream
in foreign land.
I will be leaving.
I’m doing this fora
myself
you
and to our future child.

Don’t worry, we would be together one day
perhaps here
or
in foreign land.

This is not a conventional way of getting married
but this is our choice.
Let’s face the future together, Ayah.
g
u,
Ibu




Friday, March 2, 2012

Asymptote

   

 Eye meets eye
  Before you put
   Those shades on.
    I looked away
     knowing our world
      Could be so small.
       I hate the current situation
        that hinders me to talk to you
          So I won't talk to you.
           And neither would you.
       But the sudden twist of fate
        Brought us together
         Giving us a chance
         To be lovers.
           You tried;
            You invited me on a date
             You listened to my nonsensical stories
              You were there when I needed someone to talk to.
               But the spark that used to burn the air
                Lost its flame already.
                 Maybe we could never be lovers.
                  We are friends
                   And maybe we would
                   Always just be.

                                     

                     Verses for Kumpan
                      27th of February, 2012
                      T.C
Playing Safe



The lips of romance
is just a breath away
from friendship
Too close that they could
Almost touch each other.
But this thin line of detachment,
Too thin that only one move
Changes the story completely.
So you move away,
Keep your distance,
Remain where you stand,
Afraid to cross the line,
Afraid that it could be
One wrong move,
Because you know
That when love fails,
You can't be
Back to the safety
Of the predictable
Yet stagnant
State of friendship.

feb. 27, 2012
verses for  Kumpan