Intro to Philosophy of the human person
Self-examination- SOCRATES
 “An unexamined life may not be worth living but
examining mine is exhausting.”
Etymology- origin of words
Philosophy- comes from the 2 greek words:
 Philos- which means LOVE
 Sophia- which means WISDOM
 Literally means “Love of Wisdom”
Pythagoras (570-490 B.C) Greek Philosopher
(Mathematician)
 The first to use the word “Philosophy”
 3 classes of people who attended the Olympic
Games:
Lovers of GAIN= Material
Attention of
Lovers of HONOR= Non-material the crowd
Lovers of WISDOM= Spectator who seek to
arrive at truth.
*Spectators (life)- Happy in their life
Turkey- origin of philosophy
Philosophy - It is the knowledge of all things through
their ultimate causes, acquired through the use of
reason.
Ultimate Truths- Object of Philosophy
 The human being possesses a keen desire to
know that leads him to seek the causes of
events or happenings.
 He looks for answers to questions.
Claude Levi Strauss- “The wise man doesn’t give the
right answers. He possesses the right questions.”
Philosopher
 Logical
 Everything is connected
 Truth (God)
Philosophy is:
 Science- because the investigation is
systematic. It follows certain steps or it employs
certain procedures.
 Uses natural light of reason- uses natural
capacity to think/simply human reason alone
(unaided reason).
 Study of all things- questions almost
anything: multi-dimentional or holistic.
 First cause/highest principe- a principle that
from which something proceeds in any matter.
*Uncaused cause=GOD
*Reality- can be seen and unseen
Material object of Philosophy: Realities it studies
Formal object of Philosophy: study of reality through
its ultimate causes, seeking the deepest explanation
regarding the existence and nature being.
Philosophy possesses a metaphysical character:
 A kind of knowledge that leads one to explanations
based on causes beyond sensible reality.
Philosophical
 Means being able to think carefully, in a manner that
suggests a deliberate examination not only of what we
think but why we think about a certain thing in a
particular way.
 Its questions are more essential than its answers and
every answer becomes a new question.
Characteristics of Philosophical questions
 Broad or general (what is the purpose of my existence?)
 There is no single methodology to answer the question.
 Questions may seem to have no practical utility.
Philosophy as a second order inquiry
Science- first order inquiry
 He will not question his scientific method
 He will come up with legitimately raisable descriptive
and explanatory questions as he can and answering
them precisely and exactly as he can.
 To criticize and scrutinize the methods of sciences and
to question their assumptions.
 Constant scrutiny and criticism leads to refinement of a
science and its methodology.
Philosophical Principles
 Principle of Identity- everything that exists has a
specific nature. A thing without an identity cannot exist
because it would be nothing.
 Principle of Non-Contradiction-contradictory
statements cannot both be true in the same sense at the
same time.
 Principle of Sufficient Reason- nothing exists
without a sufficient reason for its being and existence.
 Principle of Excluded Middle-there is no middle
ground (balance)
Doing Philosophy in ancient Greece
Pre-socratics- first group of philosophers
Miletus- a fishing village, center trade and commerce in
ancient Greece. The ideal place for the first practice of
Philosophy to emerge.
The Milesians (Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes)
 They were the first ones who tried to give a
unifying and coherent explanation of the nature
of reality.
 First thinkers who gave us a non-mythological
account for the nature of reality and the
universe without the aid of instruments.
 Hylozoist- they were also considered as the
doctrine that all matter has life.
*Hylo- stuff
*Zoe- life
Thales- Father of Western Philosophy
 He believed that the primary substance of reality
is WATER.
 First to assume that the EARTH IS FLAT.
 He was known to have brought back geometry
from Egypt, where he would travel for his olive
oil trade (businessman).
 He was considered also as ASTRONOMER
because he was credited to have successfully
predicted an ECLIPSE.
Anaximander- (610-540 B.C) Student of Thales
 Prose Writer
 He claimed that the fundamental substance of
reality is INFINITE.
 The earth is cylindrical and is suspended in
space.
 He was that first philosopher to attempt to draw
a map.
Anaximenes- (588-524 B.C) Student of
Anaximander
 Fundamental substance must be AIR
 “Air holds our soul together, it encompasses the
whole world.”
 He claimed that the earth and other heavenly
bodies are like SAUCERS FLOATING IN AIR.
 Thus, the earth is FLAT AND ROUND.
After the Milesians, other pre-Socratic philosophers
would give primary consideration on the nature of
reality.
Pythagoras (around 531 B.C)
 Philosophy and religion are connected and
merged into one
 He gave importance to the contemplative life
for this cathartic of purification.
 Anything could be explained through numbers
 He was credited to be the first pre-socratic
philosopher to use the term logos for his
cosmology by trying to explain the nature of
the universe through rational thought.
Herclitus (around 500 B.C)
 He came after Pythagoras
 He is known for his mystical nature of philosophy and
CHANGE.
 He believes that the only thing that is permanent in this
world is change (FLUX OR BECOMING)
 “YOU CANNOT STEP TWICE ON THE SAME WATER”
 He used the FLAMES OF FIRE to emphasized the idea of
change.
 The idea of change will later become an inspiration in
the development of philosophical ideas all throughout
the history of modern and contemporary thought.
Parmenides (approximately 450 B.C)
 Leader of the ELEATIC SCHOOL from Elea in Southern
Italy.
 His philosophical idea is CONTRADICTION OF
CHANGE.
 The only permanent in this world is BEING. Change for
him is merely an illusion.
 Being- something indestructible, immovable complete
and without beginning or end.
Empedocles (493-433 B.C)
 He believed himself to be IMMORTAL and had
MAGICAL POWERS.
 Cured somebody who was comatose for 24 months.
 He had a lover named PAUSANIAS who was an
inspiration for his numerous poems.
 He leaped into the mouth of Mt. Etna, an active volcano
in Sicily that led to his untimely death.
 He was regarded as PLURALIST because he had 4
elements as his fundamental substance (earth, air, fire
and water)
Anaxagoras (around 480 B.C)
 Does not believe in just one element
 He believes that there are as many SEEDS as there are
kind of things.
 “NOUS” or MIND, conceived as about all things but is
infinite and is self-ruled, has the greatest strength and
power over all things.
 This may have been an inspiration for the conception of
the characteristics of the Christian God.
Zeno of Elea (490 B.C)
 Student and loyal follower of Parmenides
 He reiterated the idea of BEING.
 He was the first one to use DIALECTS in his
arguments.
 DIALECTICS: The process of taking up the
hypothesis or argument of your opponent, as if
you agree with it and deducing consequences
from it.
 His arguments was known for LOGIC
CHOPPING. This is pamimilosopo in the
context of everyday life.
Leucippus and Democritus
 The ultimate substance that reality is made of
are ATOMS.
 ATOMS- means inseparable or indivisible
 Accepted by the scientific community and
proven upon the discovery of the microscope as
a tool of examining matter.
Doing Philosophy EAST and WEST
Western Philosophy
 The Philosopher’s task was to satisfy his
curiosity, veered away from mythology, used his
rationality to explain the nature of things.
 Using logic, reason and categorization
 Focus on PARTS rather than the whole
 Searching for knowledge for its own sake
*SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE
Eastern Philosophy
 Have no DICHOTOMY between the objective
world and man as a human being.
 Philosophizing has been associated with their
RELIGION.
 PHILOSOPHY and RELIGION are one.
 They look at man as being ONE with the world.
 Philosophy can be summarized as a way of life.
 They can claim that they have reached the
highest level of consciousness (NIRVANA) like
the Buddhist Tradition.
*WAY OF LIFE
Approaches in doing Philosophy
Analytic/Critical Philosophy
 The analysis and definition of our fundamental
concepts (verification)
 Analyzing the concepts that we take for granted
in our everyday life, we were able to
successfully resolve this issue.
 Clear and resolute criticism of our beliefs.
 Prejudice- pre-convinced opinion that is not
based on reason or actual experience.
 It is important to subject our beliefs and biases
to constant criticism to be able to test whether
or not they are worth holding on to.
Speculative/Metaphysical Philosophy
 Tries to find an underlying or general principle
that could explain reality in its entirety
(synoptic view of facts)
 No matter how crude their methods were, what
is important is the attempt to abstract and
extract a unifying explanation in order to give a
coherent explanation of the nature of reality.
 ABSTRACTION- the process of extracting a
unifying explanation from the multiplicity of the
things around them.
Reductionist Philosophy
 Understanding the complex ideas by reducing
them to their parts or individual constituents
 REDUCTIONISM- focuses on the properties of
its parts
 In science, reductionist philosophy and methods
are considered the basis for many areas of
modern science such as physics, chemistry and
biology.
Holistic Philosophy
 Properties in a given system cannot be broken
down by its components/parts but rather
the system as a whole entity decides how the
individual parts behave (kabaliktaran ng
reductionist)
Types of Holism:
Epistemological Holism- also called
Confirmation Holism. This type of holism
claims a scientific theory cannot be tested
individually, since testing a single theory would
always depend on other established theories
and hypotheses. EVIDENCE ALONE IS
INSUFFICIENT TO ASSERT WHICH KIND OF
THEORY IS CORRECT.
 Semantic Holism- every word has meaning
only in relation to other words, sentences
or the language in which it is used. The
meaning of an individual word or sentence can
only be understood in terms of its relations to a
larger body of language.
Plato’s metaphysical system
 Plato believed that this world is not the basis for
the attainment of true and real knowledge.
 He claimed that the objects of real knowledge
must be ageless and eternal.
 For Plato, if something is to be accepted as
knowledge, there must be an ultimate basis for
it that is absolute and unchanging.
 FORMS and IDEAS- He assumed the existence
of another world where the real objects of
knowledge could be found.
 “Knowledge is remembrance”. It was a
matter of remembering the knowledge that you
had before in order to be able to pursue
goodness and the Good Life.
Socrates (470-399 B.C)
 The foremost Philosopher of ancient time
 He was known as a critic of intellectuals
 He did not claim himself to be “wise” and merely
considered himself a “widwife” that helped
inquiring minds achieve wisdom.
 He believe that philosophy could enable man to
live a life of virtue
 He was credited with formulating the
SOCRATIC-METHOD- a means of examining a
topic by devising a series of questions that let
the learner examine and analyze his knowledge
and views regarding the topic
Plato (427-347 B.C)
 A student of Socrates, he wrote down his
teacher’s writings and incorporated some of his
own ideas into them.
 His teachings and writing were considered the
FOUNDATION OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY.
 Theory of forms- everything that exists is
based on an idea that can only be perceived in
the mind. These non physical ideas are eternal
and unchanging.
 Plato was known for his DIALECTIC, a method
of inquiry where 2 opposing ideas are discussed
in an attempt to arrive at new knowledge
 His last contribution was his founding of the
ACADEMY, an institution of higher learning
which was the first of its kind in the west.
 DIALOGUES- written by plato, a record of the
influence of Socrates in his life.
 THE REPUBLIC- his famous work, discusses
his social and political philosophy and his belief
that for the greek city states to flourish, must be
led by the Kings that justice is the best
manifested if persons would do what is suited to
his soul.
 He encouraged people to seek WHAT IS
GOOD, WHAT IS TURE and WHAT IS
BEAUTIFUL in the intellectual realm beyond
the appearances because the senses are often
deceitful.
Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
 He attended the Academy and was a
prominent student of Plato.
 Ideas and views are based on what can sense
and perceive.
 His philosophy greatly influenced the STUDY
OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES (Zoology,
Psychology, Ethics and Politics)
 He also proposed a system for the classification
of plants and animals.
*Aristotle and Plato appreciated the importance
of contemplation
Components of Knowledge
 BELIEF
 TRUTH
 JUSTIFICATION
Knowledge- facts, information and skills acquired
through experience or education, justified true belief.
Wisdom- quality of having experience, knowledge and
good judgement.
Opinion- a view or judgement formed about something
not necessarily based on facts or knowledge.
Imagination- faculty of forming new ideas or images
or concepts of external object not present to the senses.
 Illusion- misinterpreted
 Belief- firmly held opinion
The Divided Line: Knowledge and Opinion (Plato)
 Sensible World (World of Experience) –
known through the use of our senses paving
the basis for opinion.
 Intelligible World (World of True
Knowledge)- use of the intellect paving the
basis for knowledge
Opinion- is divided into belief and illusion.
Belief/Conviction- our commonsensical
motion of morality which should not be basis for
real knowledge

Two Levels of Knowledge- REASON and

UNDERSTANDING

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

 Born in France. Philosopher, Scientist
and Mathematician.
 METHODS OF SYSTEMATIC DOUBT-
an exercise in skepticism.
-Knowledge can start from very few
premises.
-The structure of knowledge is
INVERTED PYRAMID.
-For something to be a starting point.

Systematic Doubt- consists of doubting that

can be doubted until you arrive at clear and
distinct ideas which are non sensical to doubt.
 Doubting oneself
 Doubt your own doubt (doubting is
thinking)
 Thinking could not happen in a vacuum
 You contradict yourself if you doubt that
you exist
 “COGITO, ERGO, SUM” = I THINK,
THEREFORE, I AM