INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY Certitude — is the natural result of knowing

— Philosophy has striven to give a not only the facts but also their causes.
comprehensive answer to some challenging — scientific knowledge are the causes;
problems and has continued to bring a fresh therefore, they must be opinion, conjecture, of
spirit of urgency and optimism to this awesome belief, they must stay factual and true.
world of philosophical inquiry. — we can say that philosophy is a science
— the need to recapture the joy of because it seeks to acquire the knowledge of
understanding life. the causes of things. It doesn’t rest on opinions
— Philosophy begins not in certainty but in and beliefs but pursues the causes.
doubt, not in judgement but in questions.
Philosophy as the Science of all Things
— Dare to know the truth
— philosophical enterprise deals with all the
— “Nothing in the entire world is more
intellectual endeavors.
dangerous than a sincere ignorance and
— a subject matter of philosophy is so vast; it
conscientious stupidity” – Martin Luther Jr.
is limited only by the capacity of the human
Philosophy mind to ask new questions and to formulate old
— coined by Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher ones in some novel way.
who noted that there are three types of man: a — philosophy deals with concrete, real, and
lover of pleasure, a lover of success, and a contingent things.
lover of wisdom; the last according to him is the — contingent thing is not self-existent; it owes
superior type. its existence to something other than itself. It is
— Greek “philia” means love, and “sophia” that which has its own cause for its existence.
means love. “Love of wisdom”. — it is only God who is considered as the
— someone seeking for wisdom. supreme being, which dependence depends on
— no man possesses a comprehensive itself.
understanding of everything; hence, the — philosophy is the science of all contingent
continuous pursuit of wisdom leads someone things.
to the answers he/she is seeking for. — God is still included in philosophy even if he
— only God can be called wise, we can only be is the supreme being because the subjects
lover of wisdom and we can never be wise. cannot be understood without the inclusion of
the creator or the supreme being who created
— the science of all things by their first causes all of these.
as known in the light of reason. — “not on account of God, but on account of
the whole contingent world.”
Philosophy as Science
— the word science can from the Latin verb Philosophy as known in Light of Reason
“scire”, which means to know. — philosophy is the science of all things by
— scientific knowledge is knowledge of causes their first causes known in the light of reason.
of things. — philosophy seeks the first causes of all
— to advance in one’s understanding, the things as far as they can be rationally
“why” of all things must be addressed, not established by the human mind unaided by
merely the “what” Divine Revelation.
— for example, the ice is cold and the stone is — Theodicy, a branch of Philosophy that deals
hard, is not science. However, why ice is cold with the study of God.
and why stone is hard is science. — Natural Theology treats contingent beings
— if we know the reasons for the fact, then as its principal subject matter, and secondarily
what we have is scientific knowledge. treats God as the first cause of existence of
— when a person knows the causes of things, these contingent beings.
one has attained certitude. — Revealed Theology, treats God as its
principal subject matter, and secondarily treats Nature of Ethics
of contingent beings as His effects. — ethics is a is a practical and normative
— Faith and Reason can co-exist, faith ask that science, based on reason, which studies
its object be understood with the help of human acts, and provides norms for their
reason: and at the summit of searching reason goodness and badness.
acknowledges that it cannot do without what — is a practical and normative science, based
faith presents. on reason, which studies human acts, and
— example, you pray to pass the exam (faith). provides norms for their goodness and
You want to pass(faith) so you study hard for badness.
the test (reason). — Ethics is a science. as a science, ethics is a
systematic study of the grounds and norms of
Division of Philosophy (branches) morality.
— Ethics is a normative science. Ethics sets a
Metaphysics
basis or a norm for the direction and regulation
— the study of reality.
of human actions.
Epistemology
— as a normative science, ethics aids man in
— the study of validity of human knowledge.
distinguishing whether one’s action can be
Ethics
considered good or bad.
— the study of morality of human act.
— Ethics should be based on reason. All
Logic
ethical theories must have its basis from the
— the study of correct reasoning.
power of reason.
Cosmology
— Ethics studies human acts. Human acts are
— the science of the universe.
those actions that are done by the human
Theodicy
person based on knowledge and the full
— the philosophical study of God.
consent and will.
Human Acts
INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS — deliberate and intentional actions
Acts of Man
Greek Tradition — instinctive and involuntary.
— good life = Happiness
Judeo Christian — Ethics provides norms for goodness and
— righteousness before God; love of God and badness of certain action.
neighbor.
Morality
Etymology — it is the quality of human acts by which they
— Ethics is derived from the Greek word are constituted as good, bad, or indifferent.
“ethos” which means “characteristic way of — oral, immoral, and amoral
acting”. Its Latin equivalent is “mos”, “mores”, Ethics — it is applicable to everyone
meaning “tradition of customs”. regardless of belief
— Ethos includes It includes cultural Morals — it applies to a specific group of
mannerisms, religion, politics, laws and social people, community, culture, or even personal.
aspirations of a group of people.
Types of Ethics
Ethics
Normative Ethics/Presciptive
— also called moral philosophy, is the
— it is the study of moral problems which
discipline concerned with what is morally good
seeks to discover how one ought to act hot
or bad, right and wrong.
how one does in fact or how one thinks one
should act.
Descriptive/Applied Ethics become blind to the moral dilemmas they face,
— it is the study of human behavior as a by failing to see the moral dimensions of their
consequence of beliefs about what is right or choices.
wrong, or good or bad, insofar as that behavior — they arise when we are facing a difficult
is useful or effective. situation.
— in descriptive ethics, a conclusion is drawn
False moral dilemmas
from observation made above, namely that
— are instances where it is clear what a person
some action is wrong in one society and right in
ought to do, but he or she is either tempted or
another.
pressured to do something else.
Importance of studying Ethics — the choice is clear between morally right and
— through ethics, the human person will be a morally wrong option.
able to understand that the goal of a human
How can we decide?
being is not merely the acquisition of material
— do not decide base only on your feelings!
goods.
1. Take a pause
— it is the nature of human person to incline
2. Stop
himself towards the good. The human person
3. Look
naturally finds beauty in doing good deeds.
4. Listen
— Man by nature is GOOD.
— he will eventually obtain meaning in his Ethical Decision Making is a Reasoned
existence if he will be in constant search of Process
goodness. 1. Facts
2. Stakeholders
MORAL DILEMMA
3. Values
— Are situations where two or more moral
4. Options
values or duties make demands on the
5. Consequences
decision-maker, who can only honor one of
them, and thus will violate at least one 1. Gather the Facts
important moral concern. No matter what he or — What do I already know?
she decides to do. — What are the things I need to know?
— it is a situation where there is tension
between moral values and duties that are more 2. Stakeholders
or less on equal footing. — What are at stake?
— in a narrow sense, a moral dilemma is a — what are the interest that they protect?
situation where the moral values at stake are of 3. Articulate the Dilemma (Values)
equal importance. — Competing values
Competing Values 4. List the Alternatives (Options)
— a moral dilemma is a situation where the
decision-maker has to give priority to one moral 5. Compare the Alternatives with the Values
value over another. 6. Weigh the consequences
— not about 2 or more opposing choices, but
of opposing values. 7. Make a decision
— there is no painless decision
— Moral dilemmas are a pervasive part of — sometimes the best decisions are the
working life. They occur in the public and toughest to make
private sectors and from the smallest to the — justify your decision
largest organizations.
— In hectic working environments, people can
FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY nature in the same way that we describe a
manufactured article.
Freedom as Illusion — Sartre believed that if there’s no God, then
Absolute Freedom there is no given human nature precisely
because there is no God to have a conception
FREEDOM AS ILLUTION of it. Human nature cannot be defined in
B.F. Skinner (Burrhus Frederic Skinner) advance because it is not completely thought in
— He famously claimed that human freedom is advance.
nothing but our ignorance of the basic laws of — People as such merely exist, and only later
nature. do we become our essential selves.
— humans can be controlled — to say that existence precedes essence
— the environment is what created human means, Sartre says, that people exist, confront
beings, themselves, emerge in the world and define
— this can be done by redesigning and themselves afterwards.
manipulating his/her physical environment. — First, we simply are, and then we are simply
— the recurrence of any behavior can be that which we make ourselves.
increased or decreased. — For Sartre, man lives alone in a world that is
— by way of positive and negative bereft of meaning. Since man has no past to
reinforcement, reward and punishment, and cling on to, no human nature to depend on, the
extinction. person must be solely responsible for
Increase good behavior — reward everything, including the values that he creates
Decrease bad behavior — punishment in the world.
Law of Nature THREE TYPES OF BEING
— it is the environment that forms human 1. En soi — in itself
nature… control it in order to achieve the 2. Pour-soi — for itself
desired results. 3. Pour-autrui — for others
— in this sense, he is suggesting that human
EN SOI
freedom is an illusion
— the being-in-itself represents human
Total Determinism
facticity. It refers to that which is static and self-
— in philosophy, theory that all events,
contained. Man is set under the background of
including moral choices, are completely
tradition, culture, and language.
determined by previously existing causes.
POUR-SOI
— Skinner’s stimulus response theory is a
— For Sartre, the being-for-itself is truly
matter of cause and effect.
dynamic and reflexive. It is not fixed. The
— But, man can never be reduced to the
being-for-itself then refers to transcendence
automatic reactions to the stimuli he finds in
and possibility. Man holds the ability to go
the environment.
beyond his given situations. He can rise above
— Man can always transcend his physical
his circumstances.
condition if he chooses to.
POUR-AUTRUI
— the person is the owner of his life.
— Sartre asserts that when a man is making a
— he cannot be solely determined by his
choice in the process of making himself, he
environment.
chooses not only for himself but for all of
ABSOLUTE FREEDOM humankind.
Jean Paul Sartre — Man is therefore responsible not only for his
— existentialist own individuality. He is responsible for
— existence precedes essence everyone.
— Sartre argues that we cannot explain human — Thus, man creates not only his individuality
but the individuality of the whole humanity. — Regard rules as changeable
— Thus, although a person may create his own — INTENTIONS
values in making himself, we nevertheless
— Kohlberg extended Piaget's theory;
create at the same time an image of humanity
proposed that moral development is a continual
as we believe it ought to be.
process that occurs throughout the lifespan.
Absolute Freedom
— He used Piaget’s storytelling technique to
— in the act of choosing, man chooses alone
tell people stories involving moral dilemmas.
for he is the one and final arbiter of his choice.
Theory of Moral Development
Freedom in this regard is absolute.
— He based his theory upon research and
— “Freedom is man; man is freedom.” In
interviews with groups of young children. A
essence then, man is nothing but the choices
series of moral dilemmas were presented to
that he makes.
these participants and they were also
Freedom in Sartre’s concept is not the
interviewed to determine the reasoning behind
freedom to just do something or anything. He
their judgments of each scenario
says “you are free” because the person always
— One of the best known stories of Kohlberg’s
has a choice “therefore choose”
(1958) concerns a man called Heinz who lived
KOHLBERG’S THEORY OF MORAL somewhere in Europe.
DEVELOPMENT
Kohlberg’s Six Stages
Lawrence Kohlberg
— Level 1: Preconventional Morality
— October 15, 1927, born in Bronxville
Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment
— New York 1948, entered The University of
Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange
Chicago and completes his bachelor’s degree
in Psychology in one year. — Level 2: Conventional Morality
— 1949, began his doctoral work at The Stage 3 Interpersonal Relationships
University of Chicago. Stage 4 Maintaining Social Order
— 1957-1958, completed his doctoral
dissertation research on the moral — Level 3: Postconventional Morality
development of children. Stage 5 Social Contract & Individual Rights
— 1968, as a result of his dissertation Stage 6 Universal Principles
research, Kohlberg found professional fame. Level 1: Preconventional Morality
— 1971, While conducting cross-cultural work — A person is motivated by obedience to
in Belize, Kohlberg contracts a tropical disease authority.
that plague him physically and mentally for the — Commonly associated with young children
next sixteen years. — Involves little thought about morality.
— 1987, On leave from a Massachusetts — Moral code is shaped by the standards of
hospital where he is seeking treatment for the adults and the consequences of following or
above illness, Kohlberg commits suicide by breaking their rules.
drowning himself in Boston Harbor. He was 59 Stage 1 - Obedience & Punishment
years old — Earliest stage of moral development
Kohlberg extended Piaget's theory; — Common in young children
Jean Piaget’s 2 Stage Theory — Children see rules as fixed and absolute.
1st Stage: 10 or 11 Younger — Obeying the rules is important to avoid
— regard rules as fixed & absolute punishment.
— Based moral judgements on — Morality is motivated solely by punishment
CONSEQUENCES Stage 2 - Individualism & Exchange
2nd Stage: 10 or 11 Older — Children account individual points of view
— Judge actions based on how they serve
individual needs. opinions and beliefs of other people.
— Reciprocity is possible but only if it serves — Laws are important but members of the
one's own interests. society should agree upon these standards
— The goal is to avoid punishment. — Becomes aware there are times when they
Stage 1: “I will keep quiet so that teacher will work against rules or the interest of
won’t get mad at me.” particular individuals
Stage 2: “I will let you copy mine if you do — Emphasis on the social contract and the
my homework.” maintenance of individual rights
Stage 6 - Universal Principles
Level 2: Conventional Morality
— Reasoning is based on universal ethical
— People focus on following social norms and
principles and abstract reasoning
customs.
— Follow these internalized principles of
— Begin to internalize the moral standards of
justice, even if it’s against the law
valued adult role models. (Entering teens)
— Moral judgment is motivated by one's own
— Reasoning is based on the norms of the
conscience
group to which the person belongs.
— Search for universal principles.
Stage 3 - Interpersonal Relationships
— Emphasizes the maintenance happy Summary
interpersonal relationships and pleasing others. — At stage 1 children think of what is right as
— A need to avoid rejection, disaffection, or that which authority says is right. Doing the
disapproval from others. right thing is obeying authority and avoiding
Stage 4 - Maintaining Social Order punishment.
— Consider society as a whole when making — At stage 2, children are no longer so
judgments impressed by any single authority; they see
— Please individuals to maintaining social that there are different sides to any issue.
order by following social norms, customs, and — Since everything is relative, one is free to
laws. pursue one's own interests, although it is often
— Focus is on maintaining law and order by useful to make deals and exchange favors with
following the rules, doing one’s duty and others
respecting authority — At stages 3 and 4, young people think as
— Becomes aware of the wider rules of society members of the conventional society with its
to avoid guilt. values, norms, and expectations.
— A need to not be criticized by a true authority — At stage 3, they emphasize being a good
figure person, which basically means having helpful
Stage 3: “I will buy that dress so that my motives toward people close to one. At stage
friends will like me.” 4, the concern shifts toward obeying laws to
Stage 4: “You should not cut the class maintain society as a whole.
because it’s against school rules.” — At stages 5 and 6 people are less
concerned with maintaining society for it own
Level 3: Postconventional Morality
sake, and more concerned with the principles
— People look beyond convention to determine
and values that make for a good society.
moral norms and appropriate social
— At stage 5 they emphasize basic rights and
interactions.
the democratic processes that give everyone a
— Judgment is based on self-chosen principles
say, and at stage 6 they define the principles
— Moral reasoning is based on individual rights
by which agreement will be most just
and justice
Stage 5 - Social Contract & Individual
(DAMM,032623)
Rights
—Begin to account the differing values,