Lesson 2:

Methods of
Philosophizing
By: Ms. Jo Marie Nel C. Garcia
Truth and Knowledge
 Truth lies at the heart of any
inquiry. It is a fact that has been
verified.
 Knowledge is simple data that
comes from the outside that pass
to our senses. It must be truthful
to gain validity and acceptance.
Propositions
 Philosophers consider truth as a
kind of quality or value.
 Propositions are statements
about the world or reality which
may or may not carry truth.
What is truth and why is it important?
 Knowledge is the clear awareness and
understanding of something. It is the
product of questions that allow for clear
answers provided by facts.
 What we know is what is observable or
evident in the real world.
 Propositions which are observed to be
real or truthful are considered FACTS.
 There are statements, however, that are
not evidently or immediately known to
be true and they are called CLAIMS.
They require further examination to
establish whether it is true or false.
How do we know if something is
true?
 Philosophers emphasize the
importance of belief as a basis for
determining truth.
 We assume that everything we know
about this world is true but philosophers
who pondered upon the origins of
knowledge doubted everything that
there is to know about themselves and
the world. In doing so, they were able
to better understand the means by
which humans gain knowledge and
determine the truth about everything.
 It is said that there are instances when we
have to unlearn something so that we may
learn anew. Philosophers questioned what
they knew and even analyzed their methods of
knowing in order to understand themselves
and the world much better.
 Doubt has a very important purpose in
philosophy as it drives our desire to discover
truth. Nothing is taken as true unless there is
sufficient reason and evidence to prove that it
I am alive. Am I alive? I am alive.
is indeed true.
Do I have a
I have a body. I have a body.
body?

I can breathe. Can I breathe? I can breathe.

Something is true if…
1. It can be justified or proven through
the use of one’s senses.
2. It is based on facts.
3. It is a product of agreement or
consensus.
4. It can be applied in real life (tested
and verified)
 Let us Analyze…
1. It takes me 30 minutes to walk from my home
to school.
2. Living near the school is better because we
don’t have to spend much for transportation.
3. My sister ate the last piece of pizza.
4. My sister is a selfish person because she ate
the last piece and didn’t share it with me.
5. The police firmly pushed the suspect to his
kneed and placed him in handcuffs.
6. The aggressive manner by which the police
arrested the suspect is an example of brutality
that characterizes our police force.
How can philosophy guide us in
distinguishing truth from opinion?
 Opinions are comprised of
statements which not only give facts
but also provide conclusions or
perspectives regarding certain
situations. They may advance a belief
about certain things or provide
explanations.
 Opinions are also the bases for
making arguments and convincing
people that a certain claim is a fact.
They are often influenced by bias.
 Beliefs are statements that
express convictions that are not
easily and clearly explained by
facts. To judge the truthfulness of a
belief, we must also consider
things such as the person’s
experiences and views.
 Explanations are statements that
assume the claim to be true and
provide reasons why the statement
is true.
 Arguments are a series of statements
that provide reasons to convince the
reader or listener that a claim or opinion
is truthful.
 They often take the form of statements
that are either claims of facts and are
phrased in such a way that they seem
reasonable.
 Fallacies are arguments based on
faulty reasoning. Some of them are
intentional, as the person making the
claim is desperate to convince you to
 FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE
Ad hominem Attacking the person Of course he believes that the
instead of the argument government is flawed, he is a
itself rebel and a Communist.
Ad baculum Using the threat of force or If you do not agree with my
(appeal to force) an undesirable event to political opinions, you will
advance an argument receive flat 70 on your card.
Ad misericordiam Using emotions such as You cant fire me, I have a wife
(appeal to pity) pity and sympathy and 12 kids who will go hungry
if I lose this job.
Ad populum The idea is presented as Every boy your age already has
(appeal to majority acceptable because a lot a girlfriend, you should go find
or bandwagon) of people accept it one!
Ad antiquitatem The idea is acceptable Marriage has traditionally been
(appeal to because it has been true between a man and a woman;
tradition) for a long time therefore, gay marriage should
not be allowed.
Ad verecundiam ‘misusing’ an authority 4 out of 5 dentists agree that
brushing your teeth makes your
life meaningful.
 FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE
Dicto Simpliciter argument based on an Exercise is good. Therefore
unqualified generalization everybody should exercise.
Fallacy of Assuming that what is true Each brick in that building
Composition of a part is true for the weighs less than a pound.
whole Therefore, the building weighs
less than a pound.
Fallacy of Division Assuming that what is true You come from a family of
for the whole is true for its doctors and lawyers! Surely,
parts you can do better in this course!
Hasty The generalization is You can't speak French. I can’t
Generalization reached too hastily. There speak French. Carla can't
are too few instances or speak French; therefore,
evidences to support such nobody in this school can speak
a conclusion. French.
Petitio Principii Assuming that the thing or God exists because the bible
(begging the idea to be proven is true says so. … Why we can trust
question) (circular reasoning) what the Bible says? Easy, the
Bible is the word of God.
Post Hoc Assuming a ‘cause-and- Every time you wear your red
(false cause) effect’ relationship scarf, you cry. You should get
  Biases are the personal views of the
person presenting it. They are not
necessarily errors in reasoning, but
refer to tendencies or influences which
affect the views of people.
BIAS CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE
Correspondence Tendency to judge a The soldiers who fought in
bias person’s personality by the war are all bloodthirsty
(Fundamental his/her actions without murderers.
attribution error) regard for external factors
or situations
Confirmation bias the tendency to look for How can I accept his view
and accept information in a that there is no God? I am a
way that confirms one's Christian!
own beliefs and reject
ideas that go against it
 BIAS CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE

Conflict of interest A person or group is As the daughter of the

connected to or has a accused, I believe that I have
vested interest in the issue the right to express my opinion
on the issue of his alleged
corrupt practices.
Cultural bias Analyzing an event or I do not agree with this
issue based on one’s Western practice of placing the
cultural standards elderly in retirement homes.
We Filipinos take care of our
family members.
Framing Focusing on a certain Preliminary evidence has still
aspect of a problem while not pointed out the actual
ignoring other aspects cause of the plane crash, but
investigators are currently
focusing on the possibility of
pilot error.
Hindsight Is when, after an event When you put a glass on the
(knew-it-all-along occurs, we feel we already edge of a table and you start
phenomenon) knew what was going to cleaning and bumped the glass
happen and it fell to the ground and