Methods of

Philosophizing
(Introduction to the Philosophy
of the Human Person)

Prepared by: Ms. Cristine F. Germina

 Objectives:

Distinguish opinion from truth

Realize that the methods of philosophy lead to

wisdom and truth

Evaluate truth from opinions in different situations

using the methods of philosophizing
 What is Philosopical Method?

Philosophy is distinguished by the ways that

philosophers follow in addressing philosophical
questions.

There is not just one method that philosophers use to

answer philosophical questions.

Philosophy is concerned with determining the

concept of truth. Truth lies at the heart of any inquiry.
 Important WORDS we must understand
in Philosophizing

ARGUMENT CLAIM OPINION

FACT BELIEF
DOUBT
TRUTH KNOWLEDGE
PROPOSITION
CONCLUSION
 1. TRUTH

IT IS THE PROPERTY OF SENTENCES, IT IS MOST OFTEN USED TO MEAN TRUTH IS ALSO SOMETIMES DEFINED IN
ASSERTIONS, BELIEFS, THOUGHTS, OR BEING IN ACCORD WITH FACT OR MODERN CONTEXTS AS AN IDEA OF
PROPOSITIONS THAT ARE SAID, IN REALITY, OR FIDELITY TO AN ORIGINAL "TRUTH TO SELF", OR AUTHENTICITY.
ORDINARY DISCOURSE, TO AGREE WITH OR STANDARD.
THE FACTS OR TO STATE WHAT THE
CASE IS.
 2. Proposition

PROPOSITIONS IS A PROPOSITIONS MAY OR MAY

STATEMENT ABOUT THE NOT CARRY TRUTH.
WORLD OR REALITY.
 3. Knowledge

Knowledge is the clear It is the product of questions

awareness and understanding of that allow for clear answers
something. provided by facts.
 4. FACTS
Facts are propositions or statement
which are observe to be real or truthful.
5. Claim
◦ Claim is a statement
that is not evidently
or immediately
known to be true.
This means that any
claim can be proven
by verification and
experimentation.
 THEREFORE,
TRUTHFUL
STATEMENTS CAN BE
CONSIDERED AS
BASED ON FACTS.
 Doubt has a very important
purpose in philosophy as it
drives our desire to discover
6. Doubt the truth. In philosophy,
systematic doubt is employed
to help determine the truth.
 A belief is true if it can
be justified or proven
through the use of one’s
senses.
7. Belief
Another basis for
determining truth is a
belief or statement is
true if it is based on
facts.
 8. OPINION
Opinions are statement that go beyond providing facts.
DISTINGUISH OPINION FROM TRUTH
DETERMINE WHETHER THE STATEMENT IS
TRUTH OR OPINION

1. It takes me 30 minutes to walk from my home

to school.

2. Living near the school is better because we do

not have to spend much for transportation.

3. My sister ate the last piece of pizza pie.

 Facts Opinion
is something concrete that is less concrete. It's a view
can be proven. You can find formed in the mind of a
facts in legal records, person about a particular
scientific findings, issue. In other words, it is
encyclopedias, atlases, what someone believes
etc. In other words, facts or thinks and is not
are the truth and are necessarily the truth.
accepted as such.
 Arguments are series of
statements that provide
reasons to convince the
reader or listener that a
claim or opinion is
truthful.
Explanation
s are
statements
that assume
the claim to
be true and
provide
reasons why
the
statement is
true.
◦Conclusion is a
judgment based
on certain facts.
Sample Statement:

P1: Eagles have feathers to fly

P2. Birds have feathers
C: Therefore, All birds can
fly
 SAMPLE STATEMENT:

P1: Lying in Congress is impeachable

ground
P2: Bush Lied on Congress
C: Therefore, Bush should be
impeached
SAMPLE STATEMENT:

P1: All toasters are items made out of Gold

P2: Al items made out of Gold are time
travel devices
C: Therefore, All toasters are time
travel devices
ANSWER…

P1:CATS HAVE TAILS

P2: ALL CATS ARE MAMMALS
THEREFORE,
 Evaluating Argument Logically:

A. Does the argument have a valid form?

B. Are the premises true?
 ✓
Fallacies
are
arguments
based on
faulty
reasoning.
 FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS

TYPES OF Ad
Hominem
attacking the person
presenting the argument
FALLACY: instead of the argument itself.

EXAMPLE: Student: Hey, Professor

Moore, we shouldn't have to read this
book by Freud. Everyone knows he used
cocaine.
FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS

Appeal to using the threat of force or an

force undesirable event to advance an
argument.

EXAMPLE: “The theory of evolution is just

simply wrong; you can either accept it now or
after I beat you up.”
FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS

Appeal to using emotions such as pity or sympathy.

emotion

EXAMPLE:
• A Red Cross commercial that shows the aftermath of a
hurricane just before asking viewers to donate money.
• A political ad that shows the candidate shaking hands
with the community as he leaves church on Sunday
morning.
FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS
Appeal to the the idea is presented as
popular
acceptable because a lot of
people accept it.

EXAMPLE:
• Everyone says that it's okay to lie as long as you don't
get caught.
• It might be against the law to drink when you are 18
years old, but everyone does it, so it's okay.
FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS

Appeal to the idea is acceptable because it has been true for a

tradition long time.

EXAMPLE:
• Church should begin at 11am because that's the time that
we have always begun the church service.
• The cheerleaders should be allowed to wear their uniforms
to school on Fridays because that's the way we have always
done it.
FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS

Begging the assuming the thing or idea to be proven is true; also

question known as circular argument.

EXAMPLE:
• God is real because the Bible says so, and the Bible is from
God.
• Killing people is wrong, so the death penalty is wrong.
• Murder is always morally wrong. Therefore, abortion is
morally wrong.
FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS
Cause-and- assuming “cause-and-effect”
effect relationship between unrelated events

EXAMPLE:
Every time I wash my car, it rains.
Our garage sale made lots of money before Joan
showed up.
FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS

Fallacy of assuming that what is true of a part is true for

composition the whole

EXAMPLE:
• P1: Any Hawaii resident with Hawaiian ancestry is
Hawaiian
P2: There are over 1 million Hawaii residents.
P3: Therefore, all 1 million Hawaii residents are
Hawaiians.
• Trees are made of atoms, and atoms are not visible to the
eye. Therefore, tress are not visible to the eye.
FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS

Fallacy of assuming that what is true for the whole is

division true for its parts.

EXAMPLE:
• Trees are visible, and they are made of atoms.
Therefore, atoms are also visible.
• Your family is weird. That means you are weird too.
 ✓ Bias is
disproportionate
weight in favor of or
against an idea or
thing, usually in a way
that is closed-
minded, prejudicial, or
unfair.
BIAS CHARACTERISTICS

Correspondenc tendency to judge a person’s personality by

e bias or his or her actions, without regard for the
attribution external factors or influence.
effect
EXAMPLE:
Imagine that you witness a scenario where a man arrives
at a meeting an hour late. On entering, he drops his
notes on the floor. While he is trying to pick them up,
his glasses fall off and break. Later, he spills coffee all
over his tie. What is the explanation for these events?
The chances are good that you would reach conclusions
such as “This person is disorganized and clumsy”.
BIAS CHARACTERISTICS

Confirmation tendency to look for and readily accept

bias information which fits one’s own beliefs or
views and to reject ideas or views that go
against it.

EXAMPLE:
Jane is the manager of a local coffee shop. She is a
firm believer in the motto ‘hard work equals
success.’ The coffee shop, however, has seen a
slump in sales for the past few months. Because of
her belief in the effectiveness of ‘hard work’ as a
means to success, she concludes that it is because
her staff is not working hard enough.
BIAS CHARACTERISTICS

Framin focusing on a certain aspect of a

g problem while ignoring other
aspects.

EXAMPLE:
BIAS CHARACTERISTICS
Hindsight the tendency to see past events as predictable, or
to ascribe a pattern to historical events

EXAMPLE:
• When gearing up to go camping, a father says that he just
knows someone is going to forget something. It turns out
that his son forgot his fishing rod. "I was sure it would
happen," says the father.
• After a long night out, two friends stop at a diner. One
orders coffee and the other says, "you might feel tired now,
but that's gonna keep you awake, I bet." It actually
happens, and the second friend insists that he was sure it
would.
BIAS CHARACTERISTICS
Conflict of a person or group is connected to
interest
or has a vested interest in the
issue being discussed.
EXAMPLE:
Nepotism is when someone hires, promotes or
otherwise provides special treatment in the
workplace to a family member or close friend.
Nepotism is a conflict of interest because the family
member or friend may receive job perks they don't
necessarily qualify for.
BIAS CHARACTERISTICS
Cultural bias analyzing an event or issue based on
one’s cultural standards.
EXAMPLE:
At the workplace. Cultural biases in the hiring
process may lead to less racial or cultural
diversity in the workplace. Hiring managers seek
to eliminate cultural biases in a number of ways,
including hiding names or pictures from resumes
(making them anonymous) and using diverse
interview panels.
NOW, IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO THINK.

Make You have

one 10
argumen minutes.
t with ..
one
Fallacy
and one
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING
AND COOPERATING