The Question of Man is Across Time

Most often than not, man has always been imposed with this question: “What is man?”

For centuries, answers to this single question were given varying from culture to culture, custom to custom, from philosopher to philosopher and even from man himself to another man. Some of which gave answers starting most often with the self, grounded from his own existence. Others gave answers starting with the statements of those claiming to have possession of an interaction with the absolute.

This act of man questioning his nature does not only imply man’s curiosity and awareness of his existence but presupposes a certain search for meaning. A search for meaning in his existence.

The answers to this question started with Greeks whose view of man as part of the Cosmos (Cosmo-centric) gave fame to the Socratic motto: “Know thyself.” Man was seen as a microcosm, and the search for truth about man was simultaneously the search for truth about the universe.[1] Therefore, man is everything.

Other periods in the philosophical landscape emerged and gave rise to new thinking of what is man but this know thyself has and will always leave its mark. With the coming and predominance of Christianity on Medieval Europe, this “knowing thyself” has somewhat found its new perspective. “Know thyself” in the perspective of faith. Philosophy became the handmaid of Theology (Theo-Centric or God-Centered). Reason was the companion of faith, its task was to make faith reasonable...Man was viewed still as part of nature but nature now was God’s creation.[2]

The change of focus began with the philosophizing of Rene Dascartes...Everything was dubitable...all except for one fact- the fact that he was doubting.[3] From this criterion, Descartes has somewhat established of understanding man in the standpoint only of himself. In the standpoint of the ‘I’ taken in itself. (Anthropo-Centric)

Yet, the zeitgeist is so alive that new ways of understanding man were born. From the standpoint of the I, where modern philosophy established man, emerged Martin Buber’s ‘Thou.’

[1] Dy, M. (2001). Philosophy of Man: Selected Readings (2nd edition). Philippines: Goodwill Trading Co., Inc.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.