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1. The Nature of Social Man
“While a shrimp may jump off the river, yet it will
never leave the water.” A Japanese Maxim
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1. The Nature of Man as an Object and a Subject
A. Man as an Object
. Man as an object when we view him as an object
of knowledge and an object of study
Example
> In psychology, in medicine, and physiology

2. Explain why?
. In psychology, man becomes an object of study
and observation – in order to know about him:
> how he behaves,
> how he feels,
> how he thinks,
> and how he reacts
For this, we look at him. > He becomes the object
of my look, my observation and analysis
. In medicine, man becomes an object of medical
test, examination, experimentation and analysis.
> Check/examine his body (to know his physical
functioning)

3.  Doctor may inject medicine into his body – to
cure ‘it’.
> Sometimes, doctor may use human body to test
his knowledge of medicines to see when it works
or not
If the body gets better, he will continues to give
the same medicines until it get recovered
. So, when we study man as an object, we can call
him (referring to his body) as ‘it’ or ‘he’ (as an
object)
universal concept / definition of ‘man’ as
‘rational animal’ or even as an ‘embodied
consciousness’

4. . In physiology, in study of anatomy, human
body becomes an object of anatomical analysis
> We can push human body in different parts to
see its structures
. Also, we look at man as an object in sociology, in
political science, and in philosophy
>in sociology – studies about human social
actions, inter-actions, and how man relates
(communicates) with one another…
> in political science – studies about political
human behaviors, decision-making and solutions
to their social problems…

5. and in philosophy – studies about how man think
about the meaning of his lives, the world in which
they live…
 Man as a subject
Man as an intelligible subject – as an ‘I’, not as an
‘it’ or the ‘he’
Phenomenologists and Existentialists – are the
defendants of ‘man’ as a ‘subject’
They do not agree with the definition of man as ‘a
rational animal’
They criticize that the definition of man as ‘a
rational animal’ has generic defect.
. Because, to define ‘man’ as a ‘rational animal’ seems
to divide man into two split-level:

6. Man as ‘a composite of body and soul’ – as
‘plain unity of body and soul’
Man as made up of two parts (dualistic):
Body & soul
Corporeal – spiritual
Animality – rationality
Matter – spirit
(material – spirituality)
Phenomenologists and Existentialists criticize
this idea as short-coming – and suffer from the
dilemma of two different entities

7. They question: how do you know that there
are two different entities / components in a
‘man’?
> a part from the body, do we know how much
(how many kilograms) soul do we have?
. For the Phenomenologists and Existentialists,
man is a ‘subject’ – as a foremost ‘subjectivity’
They define ‘man’ as an ‘embodied ‘subjectivity’
– as an incarnate spirit, a spirit in matter.
> Man (he) is a unique core, center, source, depth,
wellspring of initiative and meaning.

8.  Human subjectivity refers to both rationality (the
head) and the emotion (affective) – the heart
 For the Phenomenologists and Existentialists, the
human body is a subject-body – as a meaning-
giving existence.
Education for man
. So, what is education?
. what is the role of education?
. what is the subject of education?
the subject of education is man.
Education is the process of developing man, as the
embodied subject

9.  Education then must be the total development (of
man)
What total development means?
. Education as total development for both the head
and the heart
Education of/for the head
Education of/for the heart
II. The Nature of Man as a being-in-the-world
and not just a being-of-the-world
the word ‘world’ refers to a place where we live in or
locate in– a society, a family, a country , a classroom,
a school, or the whole world

10.  Man as a being-in-the-world
Man as a subject that gives meaning to the
world around him.
Things around man are not simply objects lying
there; but they form a network of meanings in
and around which man organizes his life.
Thus, we can speak of the world of a student, of
a teacher, a farmer, a politician… who can give
meaning to his world in which he lives
Example: farmer on the field is different from
the cow on the field. > Cow just eats and drinks.

11. only the farmer knows to give meaning to the field
& use the field, the cow, the plough to produce
things for more values & meanings (for better life)
Example: students (& teachers) in class are
different from chairs in class.
students make use of class, relate to classmates, and
teachers for understanding, meanings
 teachers and students can exchange ideas, learn
together for their personal good & the good for their
society
. Man as a-being-in-the-world will have:
. Feeling of belonging (to his/her society/community)
. Feeling of responsibility (for his/her society----)

12.  Man as a-being-of-the-world will see himself
only as a part of the world – but not much
feeling of involvement in & responsibility for it
the Phenomenologists and Existentialists
emphasize man as a subject and man’s
situatedness – the place in which he was born,
he situates, locates / lives
Because man’s situatedness is the place that has
great influence (unconsciously) on man’s mind
/ consciousness – from the beginning, from his
childhood

13. Social change / improvement
>society has influenced / shaped man’s mind
in process, man will also influence his society in
return.
. How, then, can a social change be possible?
It has been said that:
No real social change is actualized without an
internal change in meaning and of the heart, and no
internal meaning can last without an external
structure to reinforce it.
.> This means, ‘social change can not be achieved if
there is no change in thought about meaning- inside
the mind & the heart of the individual persons >

14. .>and the thought about meaning (about life &
society) inside the mind of the individuals cannot
last long without social (external) structure like
schools, families… to help to reinforce (to train, to
encourage) it
He has to be aware of, and educated (by schools
and society) to know about social issues of
injustice, of unjust structures in the world in
which he lives
This is what educators should address
themselves with students (i.e. to solve the issues
with students)

15.  So, what meaning that the society, the schools
want their children, their students to comprehend?
 What kind of education and curriculum to be
applied?
And what kind of people that the society wants to
have?
 The Nature of man as being-thrown-into- the-
world-with-others
. The Phenomenologists speak of 2 dimensions of
human relationship: the interpersonal (the
neighbor) and the social (the socius)

16.  As subjects, human relationships take place in an
inter-human as I-thou relationship between persons
This is the relationship present (take place) in a
dialogue – in contrast (opposite) to monologue
A genuine dialogue begins when one person passes
(goes) beyond the world of seeming and enters into
communication with the other by becoming aware of
his totality – that he is a unique, independent
subject
In monologue, as ‘I-it’ relationship, which happens
when one person stays in the world of seeming, of
impressions, and treats other as an object – as
something that fills his need at/of the moment.

17.  In dialogue, the influence that one person exerts
(has) on other is to unfold / open up (ideas)
 > while in monologue, the influence is an
imposition, a domestication (of ideas / thoughts)
an imposition, a domestication (of ideas /
thoughts) means to put ideas / thoughts into the
head of other – without allowing him/her to
analyze right or wrong, true or false, but just to
memorize what he/she is told to do.
Liberal education is needed for growth of the
mind:

18.  Genuine and authentic education must do its
critical role by participating in such opening up
ideas > otherwise it will be simply a form of
propaganda, indoctrination, or brainwashing
 Etymologically, the word education is derived from
Latin: ‘educo’ or ‘educare’ means ‘to bring up’,
which is related to educere ‘bring out’, ‘bring forth
what is within’, ‘bring out potential’, ‘to lead out’,
and ducere means ‘to lead’.
Education, then, tends to bring out in other (the
student) a certain disposition (characteristics) in
order to make himself aware of / see what is true,
what is good and what is beautiful by him/herself

19. These are the attributes of being.
. Paulo Freire (a well-known Brazilian scholar)
has provided two distinct methods of teaching:
1. the banking method
2. the dialogical method
. in the banking method, the teacher deposits
ideas and information in/to the head of students,
and during exam, withdraw them. (nothing new)
. in the dialogical method, the teachers and
students exchange ideas, thought, reflections and
analysis with each other.

20. As the teacher teaches, he also gets some
learning from his / her students (>they are
learning from each other)
. Socrates has been regarded as the first person,
who applied liberal method in education – the
dialogical method
 his method is called maieutic method
(dialogical method) – known as a Socratic
method
This is a method to produce ideas – to get and
give ideas in dialogue

21. Following this method, the teacher / educator
behaves as a gadfly in the hope to bring out the
true, the good, and the beautiful (in others), as
they exist independently, individually, collectively
and uniquely in each case / instance.
 Education in this way liberates whereas
imposition / domestication tries to regiment (to
give only a certain idea as regime – with not extra
analysis).
Education, therefore, must not fossilize – but
must introduce new ideas / thoughts with
analysis to make students learn something new.

22.  As ‘social and political animals’ (Aristotle and Plato’s
definition) > living society, humans have to be guided
/ directed by reta ratio (right reasoning)
Humans have to be aware of a certain types of values:
relative value and objective value
Relative value
. the value that depends on the opinion of one person,
or a group of persons, a culture, or a society.
Right (good) or wrong (bad) is a matter of an
individual’s opinion: whatever one person believes as
true & good is true & good for that person
 there is no such a thing as a universal (absolute) truth
(about value) that applies to every person, (culture,
and society)

23. Example
Suppose that (both in Asia and Europe)
Ms. Bobby believes that kissing in public is acceptable, and
Ms. Alice believes that kissing in public is not always
acceptable.
So, kissing in public good is for Ms. Bobby, but not
always good for Ms. Alice.
Objective values
. The values - that are valuable in themselves
It exists independently of what anyone believes
The claim that there is a certain truth about value that is
applicable to, or valid in, all people, societies & cultures
There is a universal / absolute truth about value (that is
always applicable to all people, societies & cultures

24. Examples
. Suppose that killing, cheating, lying, abortion > are
claimed to be wrong for all people – in all cultures
and societies
. respect for human dignity, respect of law are
claimed to be valuable to all people and societies
For Phenomenologists
. Man (human) in his uniqueness sees irreducibility
as an objective value
Man as a subject – whose value of life (dignity)
cannot be reduced to be means for others’ use
Their body (dignity, value) cannot be reduced to be
a commodity for sale

25. Christian paradox (conflicting idea):
 ‘a man gains himself by giving himself to others’
 One man can become a person (human person) only by
committing himself to (help) other persons
The contemporary thinkers call this the ‘fundamental
option of love’
. This means, we will gain more love by loving others
more
However, this idea has been regarded as a conflicting
idea. Why?
How can we help others if do not have not helped
ourselves yet
 this leads to the count on a classical Chinese
philosophy

26.  a classical Chinese philosophy states that:
‘a person has to become a sage within and a king without’
. this means, we have to learn, to earn knowledge to
become a sage (nak-prach) first: ‘sage within’ before
helping others: ‘a king without’
. this means, as a human person, we need to help
ourselves first so that we become strong enough to help
others: the more knowledge we have, the more we can
share it with / to (help) others.
 compare this to a tree :
. When a tree takes deep roots, it becomes strong &
wider branches reach out – over a large area which
provide confortable shades for many people, and large
shelters for many animals to take refuges

27. Wider branches require deep roots
To be able to help many (others) people, we need to have
deep knowledge
Love and justice in social philosophy
It is said that ‘the ultimate value of love always
presupposes justice’
this means, a need of justice as previous condition is
required for the value of love to be good – otherwise, it
often leads to bias
. Because love, in its nature, enhances the other’s person
It is enhancement / promotion of value in others &
It requires giving to other more than what is his/her due
(more than what he/she deserves to achieve)

28.  This, in fact, is his/her basic dignity as a human
person
 It is often stated that:
‘love is the maximum of justice and justice is the
minimum of love’
1. 'love is the maximum of justice means that love
promotes other persons & maximizes justice
Because when in love, a person often gives to
others more than what they deserve to achieve
Example
A boss may give more salary/tips to some staff
because he/she loves them

29. 2. ‘justice is the minimum of love’ means that in order
to have justice, a person needs to minimize love
To have justice, he/she has to keep love in a minimum
level
. Because, it is often said that “love is blind” ‘love
makes people blind’
with no thinking of ‘justice’, love often makes things
become complicated
Love in human life
. However, as human beings, we cannot separate our
lives from others
We need ‘love’ – such as love with friends, villagers,
siblings, relatives, families, lovers and/or lovers …

30. Thus, the demand of justice cannot be separated from
the existential (live) relationship of man and his
fellowman (others)
 For this reason, ‘truth’ as a value is important
. ‘truth’ as a value = the true value of thing as true or false,
right or wrong, good or bad
To do justice is to live in the light of truth
When injustice occurs, many people will die to defend
and fight for justice
in this context, justice means ‘to stand witness to it’ – to
see true or false, right or wrong…
It is stated that -
‘No true social order can stand if it established itself in total
deception and manipulation of people’s mind and unjust
social order’

31. . This means that a social order , a society, state
authority cannot stand (exist) long if it is
established (built) on the deception (cheating)
and manipulation (exploitation) of people’s mind
and unjust social order (injustice)
So, what have to be educational objectives?
. A need to promote education of axiological /
value ethics
Values are objects of intentional feeling
. intentional feeling = purposeful feeling (for sth)
Values are reasons of the heart – not of the
mind. Why and how?

32.  because, when feeling love something or somebody,
a person sees something as value in that thing, or
that person
. Education in this context has to train the person to
see what is good value, what is bad value, right or
wrong values as true or false in order to live well with
others –harmoniously, orderly & peacefully
A need also to have imparted in meetings with
persons who can be concrete models or exemplars
Man is tutored by the spirit (ex. feeling good,
excited, feeling love or hate > feeling like to learn, to
adopt, follow or deny, and so on)

33. Instances as examples:
.> Education about value of study requires a person
as a good model / exemplar to follow
.> Education about value of family life requires
parents as good models / exemplars
.> Education about values of social life needs leaders,
educated persons as good models such as respect
law, do good acts for the young to follow
. Educational objectives has to include:
1. For both personal and social development
.> a true & genuine philosophy of education must
not only for personal development (self-realization)
> But it must also extend to social aims:

34. > because, self-realization (personal development,
actualization) is not possible to achieve if it is viewed
(thought about) outside of social development
Review:
. Man does not live in isolation > man does not live in
a (social) vacuum
>Schools must consider social ends / goals as well
2. Education for socialization
. socialization = the process of educating people to
see social values of social life – living together
> The process of socialization is always value-laden
. No study / discipline is totally value-free

35. All education is values education, and all values
education is society-inclined
. society-inclined = society-oriented (toward
helping / contributing to society)
Contemporary social scientists have claimed
that ‘no science / discipline (study subject) is
completely devoid of value-orientation
>Educational policies must aim at specific
personal and social values - such as:
. the values of justice, of love, of honesty, of
truth, of freedom… and so on.

36. 3. Educational re-engineering
> the education has to be for integral and holistic
(total) development
> Education in this way is not just/only for the mind
– the head, but it is also the heart
 Why education is for the head & the heart?
> education for the head is to make a person become
strong in thinking about what to do, and not to do,
right or wrong …
> education for the heart is to make a person become
nice, sweet, emotional, sympathy…
Question: What problem if education is only for the
head or only for the heart?

37. .> if education only for the head, it will make a person
become absolute – thinking only about right must be
right, or wrong must be wrong> no mercy, no
sympathy
.> if education only for the heart, it will make a
person become soft - thinking only about pity,
sympathy > no clear thinking about right or wrong,
good or bad…
Question: So what can be solution?
> Education must be both the head & the heart:
> To train / educate people how to think about right
or wrong – and also considerate, compassionate
toward others

38. Educators / teachers, therefore, are duty-bound to
be exemplars of what they teach
. yet, the bearer of moral values is the person himself
>The persons, in a genuine (real) sense, are the only
value-carriers
. for one level, schools, societies, families, teachers
are value-bearers & value-carriers who have duty to
teach their young children – the students,
. But, for another level, it is the students themselves
who are value-bearers & value-carriers – who have to
make decision whether to take the values or not

39. Example
The role of parents, schools and teachers is to
provide education for the students, but the students
are the main actors who decide whether they accept
on not > they are the value-carriers for their lives
4. Education as liberation
. education is for the practice of freedom
freedom is important in education. Why?
Because learning something new and sophisticated,
man needs freedom to think and analyze right or
wrong – in order to make good / right decision
>without freedom to think about right or wrong, men
are not different from animals

40.  To awake the youth > teachers carry out an engineering
role to make him realize the honest pursuit of truth and
to bring him knowledge
Thus, teachers are not just merely (only) referees in the
intellectual play-field (in school, classroom), but, in a
genuine sense, they are tutors of the spirit (of students)
This means that ‘teachers are not the ones who just act as
referees – to see the weakness and mistakes of students,
but as the educators of their head (their mind) and their
heart
So, teachers / educators have to act as assistants to
students – to help students understand things, to see
values of what they think about, & what they love in life.