Doing Philosophy

Lesson Objectives
• Recognize human activities that
emanated from deliberate reflection
• Realize the value of doing
philosophy in obtaining a broad
perspective on life
• Do a philosophical reflection on a
concrete situation
Meaning of Philosophy
―Philosophy‖ came from two Greek
words:
Philo which means “to love”
Sophia which means “wisdom”

Philosophy originally meant ―love of

wisdom.‖
Meaning of Philosophy
Philosophy is also defined as the
science that by natural light of
reason studies the first causes or
highest principles of all things.
Meaning of Philosophy
Science
• It is an organized body of
knowledge.
• It is systematic.
• It follows certain steps or
employs certain procedures.
Meaning of Philosophy
Natural Light of Reason
It uses a philosopher’s natural
capacity to think or human reason
or the so-called unaided reason.
Meaning of Philosophy
Study of All Things
• It makes philosophy distinct from
other sciences because it is not one
dimensional or partial.
• A philosopher does not limit himself
to a particular object of inquiry.
• Philosophy is multidimensional or
holistic.
Meaning of Philosophy
First Cause or Highest Principle
• Principle of Identity – whatever is is;
whatever is not is not. Everything is
its own being, and not being is not
being.
• Principle of Non-Contradiction – it is
impossible for a thing to be and not
to be at the same time.
Meaning of Philosophy
• Principle of Excluded Middle – a thing
is either is or is not; between being
and not-being, there is no middle
ground possible.
• Principle of Sufficient Reason –
nothing exists without sufficient
reason for its being and existence.
Meaning of Philosophy
Early Greek philosophers studied
aspects of the natural and human world
that later became separate sciences—
astronomy, physics, psychology, and
sociology.
Meaning of Philosophy
Basic problems like the nature of the
universe, the standard of justice, the
validity of knowledge, the correct
application of reason, and the criteria of
beauty have been the domain of
philosophy from its beginnings to the
present.
These basic problems are the subject
matter of the branches of philosophy.
Branches of Philosophy
METAPHYSICS
• It is an extension of a fundamental
and necessary drive in every human
being to know what is real.
• A metaphysician’s task is to explain
that part of our experience which we
call unreal in terms of what we call
real.
Branches of Philosophy
METAPHYSICS
Thales
• He claims that everything we
experience is water (―reality‖) and
everything else is ―appearance.‖
• We try to explain everything else
(appearance) in terms of water
(reality).
Branches of Philosophy
Metaphysics
Idealist and Materialist
• Their theories are based on
unobservable entities: mind and
matter.
• They explain the observable in terms
of the unobservable.
Branches of Philosophy
METAPHYSICS
Plato
• Nothing we experience in the physical
world with our five senses is real.
• Reality is unchanging, eternal,
immaterial, and can be detected only
by the intellect.
• Plato calls these realities as ideas of
forms.
Branches of Philosophy
ETHICS
• It explores the nature of moral virtue
and evaluates human actions.
• It is a study of the nature of moral
judgments.
• Philosophical ethics attempts to
provide an account of our
fundamental ethical ideas.
Branches of Philosophy
ETHICS
Socrates
• To be happy is to live a virtuous life.
• Virtue is an awakening of the seeds
of good deeds that lay dormant in the
mind and heart of a person which
can be achieved through self-
knowledge
Branches of Philosophy
EPISTEMOLOGY
• It deals with nature, sources, limitations,
and validity of knowledge.
• It explains: (1) how we know what we
claim to know; (2) how we can find out
what we wish to know; and (3) how we
can differentiate truth from falsehood.
Branches of Philosophy
Sources of knowledge
Induction
• gives importance to particular things
seen, heard, and touched
• Empiricist – advocates of induction
method
• Empiricism is the view that knowledge
can be attained only through sense
experience
Branches of Philosophy
Sources of knowledge
Deduction
• gives importance to general law from
which particular facts are understood or
judged
• Rationalist – advocates of deduction
method
• For a rationalist, real knowledge is based
on the logic, the laws, and the methods
that reason develops.
Branches of Philosophy
Sources of knowledge
Pragmatism
• the meaning and truth of an idea
are tested by its practical
consequences.
Branches of Philosophy
LOGIC
• Reasoning is the concern of the
logician.
• It comes from the Greek word logike,
coined by Zeno, the Stoic (c.340–
265BC), which means a treatise on
matters pertaining to the human
thought.
Branches of Philosophy
LOGIC
• It is not interested in what we know
regarding certain subjects but in the
truth or the validity of our arguments
regarding such objects.
Branches of Philosophy
LOGIC
Aristotle
• First philosopher to devise a logical
method
• Truth means the agreement of
knowledge with reality.
• Logical reasoning makes us certain
that our conclusions are true.
Branches of Philosophy
AESTHETICS
• It is the science of the beautiful in its
various manifestations – including
the sublime, comic, tragic, pathetic,
and ugly.
Branches of Philosophy
It is important because of the following:
• It vitalizes our knowledge. It makes
our knowledge of the world alive and
useful.
• It helps us to live more deeply and
richly. A work of art helps us to rise
from purely physical existence into
the realm of intellect and the spirit.
Branches of Philosophy
• It brings us in touch with our culture.
The answers of great minds in the
past to the great problems of human
life are part of our culture
Branches of Philosophy
Hans-Georg Gadamer
• A German philosopher who argues that
our tastes and judgments regarding
beauty work in connection with one’s own
personal experience and culture.
• Our culture consists of the values and
beliefs of our time and our society.
What is the significance
of studying philosophy?
Holism
Holism is a way or attitude of
viewing life or situation in a more
encompassing way. It is not one
sided view, but looks at wider
perspectives or beliefs. This
includes our views about life,
culture and what is right and
wrong.
THANK
YOU
Source:
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