Bellen, JC-Ray H.

September 29,2020
ABM 12 2B – Hope SOC SCI 4
Sir Ira Jesus Yapching

SOC SCI 4
ACTIVITY 1.1

1. What makes philosophy the mother of all sciences? (minimum of 5 sentences)

Philosophy is regarded as the mother of all sciences or the science of sciences simply
because of the ancient definition of science. This definition is derived from Aristotle and very
common for Scholasticism which is “cognitio certa per causas” which translates to certain
knowledge through causes. According to Luis Fernando Hernandez, MP, a faculty member of the
Department of Philosophy in Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum, “Philosophy and specifically
Metaphysics has the first place (in which the substance or the being is the first cause). The other
experimental sciences are included in this definition but deserve only a secondary place in the
research of causes because all they reach multiple and manifold causes, but without a unique
cause that unifies all the rest (e. g. the four fundamental forces).” (Hernandez, 2015) He further
states that philosophy isn’t a part of science but is also on top of it. Thus, inferring that philosophy
is the mother of sciences.

2. What makes philosophy as part of social sciences? (minimum of 5 sentences)

As defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, social sciences are defined as the
scientific study of human society and social relationships. Meanwhile, the definition of
philosophy is defined as the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and
existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline. According to Alexa Rosenber
(n.d.), a faculty of the University of Washington, the discipline of philosophy attempts to answer
two sorts of questions which are questions that the sciences – physical, biological, social, and
behavioral-cannot answer and why the sciences cannot answer the former questions. Despite
these conditions wherein questions exist that the sciences cannot answer, scientists, especially
social scientists take part in them to take sides which will affect and determine the questions
they address as answerable in their disciplines, and the methods they employ to do so. This
means that social scientists who study the field of social sciences, unlike natural scientists,
wherein natural sciences having a much more established body of successful answers to
questions and well-established methods to answer them than social science. The social sciences
have not been so fortunate to, which results to having philosophical questions and discussions
amongst these scientists. The act of taking sides, sharing the same philosophy, and defending it
to prove their point and social interaction among these scientists is in a tangent of social science’s
study of social relationships. And the discussion that takes place in this act of social relationship
are questions unanswerable by science which include questions of philosophy to understand our
nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, better which make philosophy a part of social
sciences.

3. How can philosophy affect humans through our daily lives? (minimum of 5 sentences)
Philosophy is essential in our daily lives as humans because it arises out of wonder,
curiosity, and the desire to know and understand. According to Unexplainable.net, Philosophy is
thus a form of inquiry–a process of analysis, criticism, interpretation, and speculation. This form
of inquiry or philosophic thought is an inescapable part of human existence. (2004). Philosophy
is the foundation of human beliefs, virtues, and values we uphold. These philosophies are the
motivations of us humans to continue living, to continue pursuing our dreams and goals in our
daily lives. When we communicate with each other in real life, the very language we use to
communicate uses the classifications of nouns and verbs to involve the philosophic idea that
there is a difference between things and actions. Moreover, the unnamed author of the article
further cites examples of the influence of philosophy in real life that has affected us, humans.
They further state that. “every institution of society is based on philosophic ideas, whether that
institution is the law, government, religion, the family, marriage, industry, business, or education.
Philosophic differences have led to the overthrow of governments, drastic changes in-laws, and
the transformation of entire economic systems. Such changes have occurred because the people
involved held certain beliefs about what is important, true, real, and significant and about how
life should be ordered.” In the simplest sense, philosophy affects us in our daily lives by being the
foundation of our society and the motivation of humanity.

4. When can you say that you acquire full knowledge by reading a post from social media? How
do you evaluate that such a post is valid?

Acquiring full knowledge by reading a post from social media is possible if and only if the
post is not only well-written but is also credible. To evaluate if a post is valid and not at all fake,
one must be a critical netizen in the world of social media. The world of social media is filled with
information, so how can we differentiate factual information from fake ones? One must evaluate
it by checking if there are citations and references written by experts on the field related to the
post. These works cited should be a valid reference to support the claim of the author of the
social media post or blog. Another factor to evaluate a post’s validity is how the post is structured
(is it grammatically correct?), the author’s credibility (is the author an expert on the field?), and
timeliness (are the references in the post not yet outdated?). It is very important to be critical of
information read in social media where fake news and posts designed to misinform is rampant.

5. Give me two situations in your life experience that portrays Aesthetical Philosophy. This
statement is related to Aesthetics(2 statements)

Situations in my life that have portrayed Aesthetical Philosophy is when I was able to do
travel to Luzon and be inside the National Museum of the Philippines. There, my aesthetic
judgment kicked in as I was really in awe of everything in that museum especially in the art section
where I saw several original paintings in person that I’ve only seen in books.
Another experience is when I see my cats or dogs that do just above anything. I find
animals cute and beautiful and it’s really beautiful how two different species, us humans and our
pets speak a language so different and yet we talk to them as if we understand them and react
to us by interacting with us as if they know and exactly how we feel.
6. Give me two situations of fallacious reasoning. This statement is related to logic. (2
statements)
Situations where fallacious reasoning is when someone downplays the threat of the
coronavirus just because they know at least five to ten people who were diagnosed positive after
a swab test and were able to recover. This fallacious reasoning is called a sweeping generalization
which, according to Critical Thinking Web, is when someone attempts to draw from a sample that
is too small which is not a representative. (Lau and Chan, 2020)

Another situation is a heated political discussion and someone points out the premise
that DDS people have low reading comprehension and further states that a said person has also
that low level of reading comprehension. And the blatantly concludes that since that certain
person has such a low level of reading comprehension, he/she must be a DDS. This fallacious
reasoning is called It Does Not Follow where a conclusion does not follow the premise. (Lau and
Chan, 2020)
7. Please provide me a screenshot or article from newspapers that have something to do with
moral philosophy. The statement is related to Ethics.
References

Chan, J. L. (2020). [F06] List of fallacies. Retrieved from Critical Thinking Web:
https://philosophy.hku.hk/think/fallacy/list.php

Hernández, L. F. (2015, August 13). Is science a part of or separate from philosophy? Retrieved from
Research Gate:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_science_a_part_of_or_separate_from_philosophy

Rosenberg, A. (n.d.). Faculty of Washington Works. Retrieved from University of Washington:

http://faculty.washington.edu/lynnhank/pss.pdf