Methods of Philosophizing

Lesson 2
Objectives:
• Distinguish opinion and truth.
• Analyze situations that show
difference between opinion and truth.
• Realize that the methods of
philosophy leads to wisdom and
truth.
• Evaluate opinions.
 2 Lies and a truth
• Learners will tell 2 lies and a truth about them
to their group mates
• The members of the group will have to guess
which ones are lies and which is the truth
about their classmate.
Questions:
1. Was it easy identifying the
truths about your
classmates?
2. How did you find out which
ones are lies and truths
about your classmates?
Let’s Get The Facts Straight!

There is a difference between

FACT and OPINION.

Facts are statements that can be proven.

Opinions can not be proven. They are based on someone's
thoughts, their feelings and their understanding.
Though you may be able to use facts to add credibility to an
opinion, it is still an opinion!
Though an opinion may be widely accepted, that does not
make it a fact.

{Click mouse to continue}

 Let’s Get The Facts Straight!
A fact is something that can be proven
by a reliable authority such
A
as: Proven
Statistics scientific law
history book

Governmental
Measurements
law

Mathematics An observation

Note : None of these authorities are fool proof, but

Lets Look at Some Examples of
Facts Reliable
Facts must have a Authority
Ferdinand Marcos was Ph History Book
President in 1965-1986
The adult human body has Science
206 bones
56% of gun Deaths are Statistic
suicides
18 is the legal drinking age Governmental Law
in Philippines
{Click mouse to continue}
 More Examples of Facts
What About Observations?
Observations are facts because they can be proven
by the senses.
Fact How it is Provable
Some flowers are larger You can bring in flowers of
than others. various sizes

The shirt is green. You can bring in the shirt

so that the color can be
seen
{Click mouse to continue}
 Getting the Facts on Facts
Some facts change over time. For example:
It was once considered to be a fact that the world was flat.

We believed that those traveling too far in either direction

could literally fall off!
Because new things are being discovered everyday, reliable authorities are sometimes
forced to alter what we all once considered to be facts.
{Click mouse to continue}
Lets Look at Some Examples of
Opinions
Here are some of the same topics that we saw as facts. Can
you figure out how they were changed to opinions?

Ferdinand Marcos was an excellent President.

Apparently, the adult human body has more
bones than necessary.
It is likely that the suicide rate will decrease soon.

All of these words

It is unfair for the legal drinking age to be 18.
are hints that there
is an opinion
present.
{Click mouse to continue}
Opinions: Words To Look
Out For
There are Certain Words that will Warn You that
You are Being Given an Opinion and
Not a Fact!

Maybe Successful

Perhaps Necessary

Best / Worst Apparently

Experts Agree Probably

{Click mouse to continue}

Getting the Facts About Opinions
An opinion is not necessarily wrong, it is merely not a
provable fact.

For example:

“Bridgett is a very beautiful young lady.”

Even if everyone agreed with this statement, it is still an opinion
because it is not provable. Beauty is relative.

{Click mouse to continue}

 Activity
• What are the facts about you?
• Learners will create an artistic expression of
three (3) facts about them. They may express
it through a song, poster/art, dance video, or
other artistic output
Methods of Philosophizing
Lesson 2
Philosophizing
• To think or express oneself in a philosophic
manner.
• It consider or discusses a (matter) from a
philosophical standpoint.
• Phenomenology- person’s consciousness.
• Existentialism- truth is based in exercising
choices and personal freedom.
• Postmodernism- accepted that truth is not
absolute (i.e. cultural).
• Logic- truth is based on reasoning and critical
thinking.
Phenomenology
• Edmund Husserl

I am the
founder of
Phenomenology
Phenomenology
• This focuses on careful
inspection and description of
phenomena or appearances,
defined as any object of
conscious experience, that is,
that which we are conscious of
(Johnston, 2006).
• In this book, Husserl
His continuing effort was dedicated to
arguedaagainst….
developing method for finding and
guaranteeing the truth (Phenomenology)

Psychologism- the thesis that truth is

dependent on the peculiarities of the human
mind, and that philosophy is reducible to
psychology, in other words, it was an
argument against the very thesis that he
himself had argued in his first book on the
philosophy of arithmetic.
• #ParangTVONovelLang
Phenomenology is the
Phenomenologist
scientific study can
Consciousness is of the
intentional
distinguish and describe
essential structures of the
nature of intentional
consciousness. acts of
Every act of consciousness is
consciousness and the
directed at some object or
intentional objects of
another, possibly a material
consciousness which are
object of an “ideal” (e.g.
defined through the content of
mathematics)
consciousness.
 German Philosopher
Phenomenon
Husserl intendstrouble
It is where a similar
meaning except for the crucial Used the same
starts,
that for when
factConsciousness one not
him, it does
word to refer to
is the world of our
supposes thatbetween
imply a contrast what onethe
always a consciousness experience.
experiences
appearance and is some
not or
of something
underlying reality, between
might not be the truth
-E. Husserland a
Phainomenon
the phenomenon
(Solomon
“noumenon”& or Higgins
“thing in Appearance
(Greek)2010).
itself”.
 For instance, time consciousness,
Real
mathematics, and logic; perception and
experience of the social world; our
Consciousness
Causes or
Consequenses
experience of our own bodies; and moral,
External
aesthetic, and religious experiences
This(Solomon and Higgins,
method uncovers the essential2010).
structure of
experience and its objects.
 Husserl’s
Phenomenological Reductions
1. The epoche of “suspension” (General Introduction in Pure
Phenomenology)

• The phenomenologist “brackets” all questions

of truth or reality and simply describes the
contents of consciousness (Husserl’s ideas
were borrowed from early Skeptics and
Descartes).
2. Eliminates the merely empirical contents
of consciousness and focuses instead of the
essential features, the meanings of
consciousness (phenomenologist’s
interests)
• Husserl defends a notion of intuition that
differs from and is more specialized than
ordinary notion of experience.
#EssenceOfPhenomenology
Natural Phenomenological
World Standpoint

Not on THINGS but our

CONSCIOUSNESS OF THINGS
(Solomon & Higgins, 2010)
Existentialism
• Not exactly a philosophical
method but a set of
doctrines but more of an
outlook or attitude
supported by diverse
doctrines centered on
certain common themes.
These themes include…
• The human condition of the relation of the
individual to the world.
These themes include…
• The human response to
that condition.
 These
If wethemes
Atheistic include… for just a
may generalize
VS
moment, we might
The Theistic
concreteness
Existentialism
and suggest
• Being,
subjectivity that
especially
of the the
life as
differenceand
between the
EXISTENTIALISTS
lived, against abstractions share a
being of person
false
objectifications.
concern for the(existence)
individual and
and the
The significance (and
being ofunavoidability)
other kinds of of
personal responsibilitythings. (Chambers,
choice and decision in
2001).the absence of certainty.
 Opposition of the
The authentic genuine
self was theindividual versus
personally public herd
chosen
identity.
self as opposed to public or herd identity.
Heidegger was
influenced by
these two whose
conception of
ownness came to
dominate
contemporary
Existentialism is often thought to be antireligious;
existentialist
nevertheless, there has been a strong current of
thought.
(The FirstChristian
Existentialist)
Existentialism.
Their relationship is a matter
of some
CONTROVERSY
• Some philosophers such as Jean Paul Sartre, have
employed phenomenological methods to arrive at
or support their specific variations on existential
themes.
• Emphasizes the importance of free individual
choice, regardless of the power of other people to
influence and coerce our beliefs, desires and
decisions.
• He argued that
consciousness
#ItsYourChoice
(being for itself) is
such that it is always
free to choose
(though not free not
to choose) and free
to “negate (or reject)
the given features of #NeverFreeInASituation
the world.
#NegateSituation
 Authenticity
(Good Faith)

Sartre’s
Authenticity of the self—
True to
the genuineness of his Problem
thoughts and actions, “the
Oneself
good of his soul.”
-Socrates
Horrors of war
and occupation
• St. Augustine was
concerned with the
spiritual nature of the
“true” self as opposed to
the inauthentic demands
of desire and the body.
• Jean Jacques Rousseau
was adamant about the
essential goodness of
the natural self in
contrast to the
corruption imposed by
society (Baird &
Kauffman, 1997).
 Other Existentialists

Gabriel Marcel
Jean Paul Sartre Albert Camus Simone de Beauvoir
Postmodernism #ItsNotPhilo
• Postmodernism has come into
vogue as the name for a rather
diffuse family of ideas and trends
that in significant respect rejects,
challenges, or aims to supercede
“modernity”.
• The convictions, aspirations, and
pretensions of modern Western
thought and culture since the
Enlightenment.
Postmodernism is not Philosophy…
It is at best a holding pattern,
perhaps cry of despair.

It rightly talks about world

philosophy, the philosophy of
many cultures, but such talk is
not a philosophy either (Shields,
2012).
Richard Rorty (American Philosopher)
• Developing themes from
Pragmatism
pragmatism and certain quarters of
analytic philosophy and bringing
The philosophy of
these together with Continental
considering
themes, challengedpractical
the modern
consequences or realthateffects
rationalist presumption
philosophy
to be vitalorcomponents
any branch of of
knowledge can find secure
both meaning
foundations andgenuine
or achieve truth.
representation of reality.
• Postmodernists believed that humanity should
Postmodernists
come at truth beyond the rational to the non-
rational elements of human nature including the
spiritual.

Adhere to a Value our

relational, existence in the
holistic world and in our
approach. relation to it.
 Analytic Tradition
For philosophers, language
cannot describe Language
objectively
is
the truth.
socially conditioned
Can we describe
this objectively?

The conviction that to some significant degree, philosophical problems,

Analytic Philosopher
puzzles and errors are rooted in language and can be solved or avoided by
a sound understanding of language and careful attention to its workings.
 Analysis
• Refers to a method; owing a great deal to the
pioneers.

Bertrand G.E. Ludwig J.L.

Russel Moore Wittgenstein Austin
 Logic and Critical Thinking
It also takes
Against bias consideration
and
2 Basic Types of
Reasoning
Paths to prejudice
It is centered freedom from
in the half truths Distinguishing
analysis and reasoning- based inand Deductive reasoning-
Inductive facts
draws
and
observations in order to make conclusion from usually 1
construction deceptions.
broad judgment oropinions
definition or
generalizations
of arguments. personal
and one more specific
assertion, often an feelings.
inference.
Validity and Soundness of an Agrument
Comes from a logical conclusion Deductive
based on logically constructed
Argument d
premises (Reed, 2010).
l i
Va
Here Strength
are some
Statistical of an Argument
andofPredictive
the usually
• Inductive arguments cannot prove if the
committed
ARGUMENT errors
premises are true which will also determine in
reasoningPatterns and thus,
the truth of the conclusion.
(Common coming
of Inductive
up with
#ProbableSupport
premises.
false
Reasoning)
• It is a defect in argument
conclusion and
other than its having false

• ToThe
detect conclusion doesn’t follow
worse,
#StrongArgument distorting
fallacies, it is required
Necessarily from the premises.
agrument’s content. the
to examine
truth.
the
a. Appeal to Pity (Argumentum ad misericordiam)

• A specific kind of appeal to emotion in which

someone tries to win support for an argument
or idea by exploiting his or her opponent’s
feelings of pity and guilt.
b. Appeal to Ignorance (Argumentum ad Ignorantiam)

• Whatever has not been proved false must be

true.

#FalseIsTrue
 c. Equivocation
• A logical chain of reasoning of a term or a
word several times, but giving the particular
word a different meaning each time.

Clock has hands

#1Word We have hands
#DifferentMeaning
d. Composition (Reverse: Division)
• This infers that something is true of the whole
from the fact that is true of some part of the
whole.
e. Division
• Some parts must also be true.
f. Against the Person (Argumentum ad hominem)

• Attempts to link the validity of a premise to a

characteristic or belief of the person,
advocating the premise.
• In some instances, questions of personal
conduct, character, motives, etc. are legitimate
if relevant to the issue.
g. Appeal to Force (Argumentum ad baculum)
• An argument where force, coercion, or the the
threat of force, is given as a justification for a
conclusion.
h. Appeal to the People (Argumentum ad Populum)

• An argument that
appeals or exploits
people’s vanities, desire
for esteem, and
anchoring on popularity.
i. False Cause (post hoc)
• Coincidental correlation, or correlation not
causation.

#Akala
#DiSinasadya
#SadyangGanonTalaga
j. Hasty Generalization
• Commonly based on a broad conclusion upon
the statistics of a survey of a small groups that
falls to sufficiently represent the whole
population. #PadalosDalos
k. Begging the question (Petitio Principii)
• This is a type of fallacy in which the
proposition to be proven is assumed implicity
or explicity in the premise.
Rubrics
Truth
DEBATE
Organization
Opinion
5 PTS
Understanding the Topic5 pts
2-3
Which
Relevance Truth
is more 1-4
5 pts credible?
Opinion
Delivery 5 pts
___________________________________
_______ 5 Evaluators
Answer the following questions (5 sentences)
1. Which method of philosophizing usually reflects your
ideas?
2. How do experiences nurture your personality as a person?
3. How can you determine if a choice that you have chosen
will benefit you?
4. Which fallacy do you usually encounter? Explain how
does this fallacy affect your ideas?
5. How do language shape the society where you belong?
Assignment: Rubrics:
Originality (5 pts)
Video Blog: What aretothe
Relevance thedifferences between
topic (5 pts)
opinion and truth?Details (5 pts)
Strengthening Principle (5 pts)
______________________________
TOTAL (20 PTS)