Philosophy of Human Existence (Pl 281) Fall Semester

Reflection Paper #1
Reference to Introduction and Proposition 1

I. We focus on the self, or selfhood, as the ground from which to develop a philosophy of human existence. How do you know this self reflectively in a properly human activity? How is there reflective self-consciousness in such proper activities of a human being like yourself? How does the knowing of reflective self-consciousness differ from other kinds of knowing, such as observation, introspection, intuition, inference, as found in the natural and social sciences? How would you characterize this kind of knowing as something you are actually doing right now in writing this paper? Describe some past experience of your own in which this kind of knowing of yourself was especially in evidence for you, prior to any idea of doing a philosophy of human existence.

II. Assuming that philosophy is a science, or an inquiry into the truth accounting for the fact of human existence as we know it in experience, how do you see this initial focus on selfhood as grounding a science distinct from any of the particular natural or social sciences that also deal with the fact of human existence? How would you characterize or describe the method of this philosophical science of human existence in comparison to any particular science you know about pertaining to the fact of human existence? At this point what do you think is to be learned through this philosophic