Lesson 5: Introduction to

Philosophy: Key Branches

and Questions
 THE ORIGIN OF PHILOSOPHY
Western Philosophy
Socrates- as Plato reports wonder is the only beginning of
philosophy
Aristotle- it is owing to their wonder that men both now begin and
first began to philosophize
Philosophy begins in wonder
Philosophy philosophic wonder
Aristotle writes: For men were first led to study philosophy as
indeed they are today, by wonder. Now, he who is perplexed and
wonders believes himself to be ignorant. They took to philosophy to
escape ignorance.
Western philosophy originated in Miletus because Thales, the
acclaimed first philosopher in the western world was from Miletus.
Miletus-most richest and most powerful of all the lonia cities and
was the first center of scholarship in ancient Greece
Lonia -Greek city state of Asia manor now called Turkey
 with a decline of lonia which began with its conquest by the
persons in 546 BCE the intellectual life of Greece moved to
Croton in southern Italy in 530 BCE.
 Croton was a city-state of Greece to where Pythagoras
migrated from Samos and founded the Pythagorean
Brotherhood
 If philosophy begins in wonder how do we exactly know that
Thales was the first philosopher
 in fact we cannot deny the occurrence of other pre philosophical
rumblings in Egyptian and Babylonian cultures as well as in
India and in China
 there are evidence that some of the earliest Greek philosophers
had come in contact with at least some of the products of
Egyptian and Babylonian thoughts
 we cannot absolutely determine the first person who wondered or
philosophized
 Thales was the first philosopher because he was the first at least
in recorded history to put his philosophy into writing
PHILOSOPHY
Philia: love - strong desire for a particular object
Sophia: wisdom - correct application of knowledge
Philosophy means love of wisdom
Philosophy refers to a strong desire of a human person to
posses knowledge and apply it correctly
Science that studies beings in their ultimate causes,
reasons, and principles through the aid of human reason
alone.
BEINGS- all things that exist.
BEINGS are characterized into two;
1. Material- cars, stones, trees
2. Immaterial- the notion of God, soul, spirit

Karl Jasper- said that the questions are more important

than answers because answers themselves will in turn
become questions
Major Branches of Philosophy
1. Metaphysics- Foundation of Philosophy
Meta: beyond or after
Physika: physical or nature
Metaphysics means the study of the things beyond the
physical; concept or things that cannot be explained
- A study of which that exist beyong the physical

- ARISTOTLE said that metaphysics is the first

philosophy
METAPHYSICS ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO
CATEGORIES
1.1 GENERAL METAPHYSICS OR ONTOLOGY
Ontology comes from the Greek word
Onto: being or which that is
Logos: knowledge or study
 Ontology or general metaphysics studies beings in their ultimate
causes, reasons and principles through the aid of reason alone
 Ontology studies the first principles or the essence of all things
BASIC QUESTIONS OF GENERAL METAPHYSICS OR
ONTOLOGY
• What is being?
• Why do things exist rather than not exist at all?
• What is the meaning and nature of reality?
• Is there nothing?
• What is the underlying principle of that exist?

Heraclitus- said that logos is reason or the underlying principle of

all that is
1.2 SPECIAL METAPHYSICS
 cosmology, psychology or anthropology, natural theology or
theodicy
1.2A COSMOLOGY comes from the Greek word
Cosmos: world and Logos: study
 Cosmology studies the world or the universe including its
origin, dynamics, characteristics, as well as the laws that govern
its order
BASIC QUESTIONS OF COSMOLOGY
• What is the origin of the world?
• What is the basic material of which the world is formed?
• How do things arise?
• In what consists its fundamental form or principle of order? Is
the world or universe infinite?
1.2B PSYCHOLOGY OR ANTHROPOLOGY comes from the
Greek word
Psyche: soul or mind and Logos: study
 Psychology or anthropology studies the nature and dynamics of
the human person as a whole with the emphasis on the way the
person's mind functions and the way she behaves
BASIC QUESTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY
• What is the nature of the human person?
• Is there such thing as human nature ?
• What is the meaning and purpose, if any, of life?
• Is there life after death? How do we account of the sufferings of
the world?
1.2C. THEODICY OR NATURAL THEOLOGY comes from
the Greek word
Theos: God- coined by the famous 18th century German
philosopher named Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in his 1710 word
titled Theodicee
Logos: study
- Theodicy is the study of God
- Theodicy is concerned in the goodness of God in the face of the
existence of evil
BASIC QUESTIONS IN THEODICY OR NATURAL
THEOLOGY
• Is there God?
• What and who is God if He exists at all?
• How do we prove the existence of God?
• If God exists, how do we justify the existence of evil and
suffering in the world?
• Does a belief in God really necessary?
2. EPISTEMOLOGY comes from the Greek word
Episteme: knowledge and Logos: study
 Epistemology is the study of the nature and scope of knowledge
and justified belief
 it analyses the nature of knowledge and how it relates to similar
notions such as truth beliefs and justifications

BASIC QUESTIONS OF EPISTEMOLOGY

• What is knowledge?
• What do we know?
• How is knowledge acquired?
• What makes justified beliefs justified?
3. LOGIC comes for the Greek word
Logos: science of correct thinking or the study of the principles and
criteria of a valid argument
Distinguish sound or good reasoning from unsound or bad reasoning
BASIC QUESTIONS OF LOGIC
• What is correct reasoning?
• How can we detect a fallacy in argument?
• What are the types of logic?

4. ETHICS comes from the Greek word

Ethos: custom or habit
 Ethics is the morality of the human actions
 Ethics is concerned with question of how human person ought to
act and the search for a definition of a right conduct and good life.
 Ethics is not the same with morality
 Ethics: denotes the theory of right action in the greater good
 Morality: indicates practice that is the rightness or wrongness in
the human action

BASIC QUESTIONS IN ETHICS

• What is a right conduct as that which causes the realization of the
greatest good?
• What is a good life and can we attain it?
• How do we determine a right conduct?
THANK YOU!!!