HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool LESSON 1 - PHILOSOPHI INTRODUCTION In this lesson, we will study the etymological meaning of philosophy. However, philosophy cannot be defined solely based on its etymological origin. General definitions of philosophy, also, can be defined based on its uses as a field of study and as a process to develop one’s views. Thus, the study of philosophy can be understood better by identifying and analyzing its six major branches. LSP wecrives At the end of the lesson, you are expected to: a. give the etymological and general definitions of philosophy; b. understand the fundamentals of philosophy; ©. identify and describe the six branches of philosophy; SUBJECT MATTER What is Philosophy? Bertrand Russell, a philosopher of language, attempted to provide an answer to the question of what philosophy is. He said that itis the attempt to answer the “ultimate questions’, and these questions pertain to inquiries about the “clarity, coherence, or reasonableness of those concepts and presuppositions that non-philosophers presume to be intelligible or obviously true”.! In simple terms, philosophy can be understood as a field of study that inquires on the things people usually assume to be true or people think they know, and they know something about it Ina sense, philosophy is afield of study that puts into inquiry everything. Etymologically speaking, philosophy comes from the Greek words philo (love) and sophia/sophos (wisdom) which means love of wisdom. But the etymology of the word ‘philosophy’ does not exactly give us a general overview or understanding of philosophy. In the ancient period, philosophia is used in almost any discipline that involved intelligence. In fact, in the field of philosophy, what counts as wisdom and what wisdom is still debatable. Philosophy is commonly defined as the pursuit of truth and wisdom. Some ‘would say that philosophy is an attitude, is a way of life, is an approach, and/or a field in which we ask questions other fields do not have an answer to. Many of us have been doing philosophy without even realizing. Reflexive thought and introspection are part of philosophical thinking. A lot of philosophical questions are questions we ask ourselves throughout our lifetime like asking ‘what is our purpose in life’ and/or the meaning of our lives and even thinking about the rightness or wrongness of an act. Scott Hestevold, "What Is Philosophy? - Philosophy", Philosophy.Ua.Edu, Last modifed 2020, httesfphilosophy.ua.eduloverviewwhat-s-philosophy/ * Dallas M Roark, An Introduction To Philosophy Emporia, KS: Dalmor Pub., 1982 Written by: Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |1HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool ‘There is no one definition of what philosophy is. Funnily enough, the question ‘what is philosophy’ is itselfa philosophical question to which we do not have a single unified definition. Some philosophers who tried to define philosophy eventually abandoned this question and turned to what philosophers talk about. To help us to understand philosophy in a general manner, we need to inquire about what philosophy deals with or what areas and subject matters philosophy inquire upon. The kind of "wisdom" thata philosopher wants to pursue and/or attain is dependent on the subject matter that he/she wants to inquire about. ‘These subject matters in philosophy are more commonly known as the branches of philosophy. We will discuss it later. But first, we will turn to several descriptive definitions of philosophy to give a general definition and/or understanding of what philosophy is. General Definitions/Understanding of Philosophy © Historical Approach - This approach pertains to philosophy as a field of discipline that cannot be understood unless you study the history of the discipline. This approach is more concerned with the study of the pertinent historical figures in the discipline called the philosophers, and their philosophies. This approach enables us to study how the definition of philosophy and/or the things being studied in philosophy changed throughout history. "The argument for the historical approach is that no real understanding of philosophy can be had unless one understands the past.”’ This approach tackles philosophy by studying the different epochs of history, and the big questions being asked during these epochs concerning the events and developments in each epoch. The study of philosophy in this approach is divided into epochs. For example, during the Modern Philosophy which coincided with the modern era in which revolutions, the decline of the power of the Catholic Church, and the collapse of the monarchy were seen. The ideas and concepts during this era are about the state, government, politics, individualism, free will, and the human condition. These ideas are greatly influenced by the events during that time, Because ofthe decline of the church, questions about humans’ free will and freedom were greatly explored because people rejected the idea that their lives re following supernatural being’s grand plan. Also, due to the collapse of the monarchy, ideas about the state, governance, and politics dominated the philosophical thought because people yearn for a better system than monarchy. According to Dallas Roark, the importance of this approach is that it gives students of philosophy an introduction to the great philosophers who shaped philosophical thought, and it gives us an overview of how philosophical thought changed and progressed. However, this definition has its limitations namely: (i) ittends to limit philosophy to the great minds of the past and makes itan elitist movement, (2) itrestricts philosophy to an examination of past questions and answers only, (3) itis not different from the study of the history of ideas. This would make philosophy a sub-unit of, > Wid Written by: Ms. Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |2HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool history. (4) This definition would not describe the work of those philosophers (logical empiricists) who regard the philosophy of the past as so much rubbage to be rejected.* © Philosophy is a Program of Change - This definition of philosophy is attributed to Karl Marx’ declaration that the point of philosophy is not only to think about the world but to change it. Philosophy per se does not possess an innate definition of changing the world but itis plausible that a person thinking about the problems of the world may offer good solutions to address it. But itis also plausible that a person who contemplates the world and offers solutions may not act on it. According to Roark, even though there is no mandate in philosophy to be a program of change, “it may be tacitly assumed that some good action will come forth." The traditional understanding of philosophy is that it is more concerned with academic questions “but there is the underlying assumption: if you know what is right and good, you will proceed to do it” This definition of philosophy as a program of change is very apparent to socio-political philosophy which is mainly concerned with the analysis of socio-political situations, ethics, and feminist philosophy which is the driving force of the feminist movements pushing for change. Axiology or commonly known as value theory in philosophy focuses on topics and/or branches of philosophy that deal with goodness, beauty, justice, peace, fairness, and more. © Philosophy is a set of Questions and Answers - This definition of philosophy is one of the most common notions of what philosophy is. Philosophy as a pursuit of truth deals with a lotof questions, and the questions that were sufficiently answered and developed went on to become th disciplines of study like science, psychology, language, and such, Philosophy is often termed as the mother of all disciplines. Philosophy deals with a lot of questions such as what makes up the world, what is the mind, is there a god and/or a soul, and the like. Some questions have some proposed answers but are not satisfying enough or there are a lot of contentions. Some questions have convincing answers but are not decisive enough like the nature of God. Some questions can be answered with only probable solutions /answers. Some questions like questions related to the philosophy of science have been answered to satisfaction by allot of philosophers and remained that ‘way for quite some time but their predecessors raised questions about it again. For example, up to this date, what constitutes as scientific is being put into scrutiny again, Another example would be the generally accepted scientific method which is commonly used up to now, however, in the philosophy of science this method is put into question and various modifications for the method are now proposed and being used by the scientific community. The set of questions and answers being inquired on in philosophy must be scrutinized for defining philosophy as a set of questions and “bid 5 Wid tia Written by: Ms. Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |3HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool answers is not enough for this can also be applied to other disciplines. According to Roark, “other disciplines or studies could also be defined by the questions they seek to answer. If this definition is accepted as the only definition, one must set forth the particular kinds of questions that are restricted to philosophy.”” By this Roark means that we must be able to differentiate what are the questions worthy of philosophical inquiry, and what are the questions that other fields of discipline can answer. For example, a question asking how we think is worthy of philosophical discourse but the question of how long a normal human gestation is is not. But this restriction must not be imposed rigidly because as was mentioned earlier, some questions in philosophy already had answers that were accepted for a long time until someone raised this question again which puts into light new ventures of inquiry on the subject matter. © Philosophy is a Worldview - Philosophy defined as a world-view is also one common definition of philosophy. We often encounter questions that assume philosophy is a worldview such as what is your philosophy in life, what is your parenting philosophy, business philosophy, and the like. A ‘worldview or Weltanschatiung in German involves the attempt to come to an understanding of the universe and not just what itis made up of. This is an intellectualized perspective of what the world is. This puts into light the importance that the worldview of the person must be consistent with how the person looks at the world in totality and is manifested in how he/she understands the world in particular. According to Hunter Mead in his book entitled Types and Problems in Philosophy, worldview is an “all-inclusive outlook. A somewhat poetic term to indicate either an articulated system of philosophy or a more or less unconscious attitude toward life and the world.”* Meaning, one’s worldview affects one’s perception, thought process, knowing, and actions. The worldview of the person consists of his/her understanding of what the world is made up of, where does knowledge come from, about supernatural beings, about one’s humanity and the human condition, one's ethical standards, and morality, and such. All of these things are interrelated and affect each other. All of these subsets form an integrated whole view of the world. This definition of philosophy is for those people who want a consistent and coherent approach to thinking, For example, a firm believer in God should have a concern for human rights, equality, and justice. Something is wrong with a person's worldview if he/she is a firm believer of God and a follower of his/her God's set of morality while supporting murder, extra-judicial killings, rape, and the like. According to Roark, “a ‘worldview will include views on man, social responsibilities and politics consistent with the view of man ... a worldview is an attempt to think coherently about the world in its completeness.”? But a limitation of this defi ition of philosophy is that it may result in people being dogmatic, and the worldview may limit people to considering other worldviews. For example, a firm believer of "Wid * Hunter Mead, Types And Problems Of Philosophy New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965, Dallas M Roark, An Introduction To Philosophy Emporia, KS: Dalmor Pub., 1982. Written by: Ms. Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |4HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool Catholic faith may be a staunch advocate for same-sex marriage which deprives people of all genders the same rights and privileges when it comes to marriage. What are the subject matters/areas that philosophy is concerned with? To further understand what philosophy is, one must be familiar with the major subject matters and/or areas that philosophy deals with. While it is highly arguable that philosophy deals with anything under the sun, there are also certain fields of study and/or subjects that philosophy mainly concerns itself. Of course, anything can be put to scrutiny and may warrant philosophical pondering on, However, certain subject matters/areas help us determine whether our concerns warrant a philosophical inquiry or not. These subject matters/areas are more commonly known as the branches of philosophy. These branches are also the focus of the subject areas that philosophy students and enthusiasts study. Major Branches of Philosophy @ Metaphysics - metaphysics is the study of the nature of reality, and what exists in the world, According to Ted Honderich’s The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, metaphysics has something “to do with the features of ultimate reality, what exists and what is it that distinguishes that and makes it possible."!® Metaphysics is commonly mistaken as something about things beyond physics because of the twentieth-century usage of the word ‘meta’. However, even things that physics can explain can be metaphysical problems and can be subjected to metaphysical inquiry such as the study of the being of a human person. Both material and immaterial bodies and/or beings can be subjected to metaphysical inquiry. Therefore, it is incorrect to define metaphysics as the study of things beyond physics. Metaphysics is a term in the philosophy that historically Aristotle inquired about without even using the term ‘metaphysics’ when he was discussing his ideas on the first causes, Metaphysics in the traditional manner is the study of things that do not change -- of immutable things. It is the study of beings per se.!' Other metaphysical concerns of Aristotle's predecessors, especially the medieval philosophers, pose metaphysical concerns that are theologically oriented which are about the existence and nature of both a supernatural being and the soul.!2 Medieval to modern to contemporary philosophers are also known to pose metaphysical concerns especially about the ontological concerns which are mainly about the nature of reality such as materialism versus idealism which started from Plato and Aristotle and which have developed throughout history. The problem of the mind-body dualism that brought about the philosophy of mind is highly metaphysical too aside from it being ontological (which is a metaphysical concern) "® Ted Honderich, The Oxford Companion To Philosophy, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. 1 van Inwagen Peter and Sullivan Meghan, "Metaphysics (Stanford Encyclopedia Of Philosophy)", Plato. Stanford Edu, Last modified 2020, httpsplato stanford, edu/entries/metaphysics!. "= Ted Honderich, The Oxford Companion To Philosophy, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Written by: Ms. Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |5HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool and epistemological. Also, the topics of free will, causation, the mental, the physical, and the like are metaphysical concerns, Christian Wolff attempted to provide a more inclusive understanding of metaphysics by saying that while metaphysics is the study of being, being can be further inquired in a general sense or relation to other objects belonging in particular categories. “He distinguished between ‘general metaphysics’ (or ontology), the study of being as such, and the various branches of ‘special metaphysics’, which study the being of objects of various special sorts, such as souls and material bodies.”" © Logic - This is the branch of philosophy that mainly concerns itself with reasoning, It is used to describe the various types of reasoning structures, propositions, arguments, deduction, and induction, and in modern times it becomes quite intertwined with language, and mathematics. According to Irving Copi and Carl Cohen's Introduction to Logic, itis the study of the methods and principles used to distinguish correct from incorrect reasoning,” These two further elaborated by explaining that whenever we reason we tend to produce arguments that we think would support ‘what we have concluded. These arguments contain reasons that we think are justified or at least would justify what we believe in and/or our beliefs. However, we must always take note that “not all reasons are good reasons”.!5 Hence, we are confronted with the question of whether our conclusion follows from our assumed premises. We have certain objective criteria that would allow us to assess this. In the field of logic, ‘we seek to discover and apply those criteria." These criteria are called the methods and techniques of logic which can help us distinguish between correct and incorrect reasoning. An example of these criteria would be the detection of fallacies, invalid deduction, unsound reasoning, weak argumentations, and such. Logic, which is now a generally accepted branch of philosophy, historically, is not seen by Aristotle as a branch of philosophy but rather a “prerequisite to doing any philosophy or, indeed, any inquiry which involves reasoning .. the importance of good reasoning is paramount, and logic, which attempts to spell out the principles of good reasonii fotle was the first thinker to put forward a logical 1, is universally valued." Aris system which is called the syllogistic logic. This is considered as “Aristotle's greatest invention in logic”.8He is also credited with several laws used in logic and mathematics such as the principle of excluded middle, the law of noncontradiction, and the law of bivalence most commonly known as the law of identity. During the ancient period, a lot of philosophers who worked on logic also van Inwagen Peter and Sullivan Meghan, "Metaphysics (Stanford Encyclopedia Of Philosophy)", Plato Stanford. Edu, Last modified 2020, hips:pato stanford edulentriesimetaphysics. Irving M Copi, Cari Cohen and Kenneth McMahon, Introduction To Logic, 14th ed. USA: Pearson Education Limited, 2014 oe en 1 "What Is Philosophy? ~ History, Philosophy, And Social Studies Education", Campus.Plymouth.Edu, Last modified 2020, nips:/feampus plymouth eduhistory-phlosopy-social-studes!degrees-options-minors/baphiosophyiahals '® Ted Honderich, The Oxford Companion To Philosophy, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Written by: Ms. Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |6HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool produced paradoxes such as the liar paradox and the famous philosopher known as Zeno because of his paradoxes such as the paradox of motion. The medieval, modern, and contemporary philosophers were more commonly credited for advances in logic compared to the medieval philosophers. The modern era’s logic is shaped by mathematicians such as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, George Boole, John Venn, and the like. “Leibniz envisioned the development of a universal language to be specified with mathematical precision. The goal, in effect, was to reduce scientific and philosophical speculation to computation.”"? The next notable contribution of the modern logicians is the algebraic school. This school is focused on developing a “calculi common to the reasoning in different areas.”®°Boole’s contribution to logic is later known as Boolean algebra which is used computer sciences. Logicians from then up to the contemporary era mainly work on algorithms, mathematical logic, and language. Most, if not al, of the philosophers of language such as Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, Gottlob Frege, and their contemporaries are logicians. This is mainly because logic is the backbone of the analytic philosophy that includes the main areas of logic, sciences, language, and mathematics. © Epistemology - this branch of philosophy comes from the Greek word episteme which means knowledge, and this is commonly known as the theory of knowledge. Its philosophical concern is the nature of knowledge whether it is possible and attainable and its acquisition and growth. The three main areas of epistemology are 1) the sources and/or ways to knowledge which deals with the question ‘how do we know?’; 2) the nature of knowledge which deals with the question ‘what do we mean when we say we know something’; and 3) the validity and modality of knowledge which deals with the truth or falsity of the things that we claim to know which deals with the question ‘how do we know that what we know is true?.2 This branch of philosophy has been a major topi ‘throughout the history of philosophy. Different -isms during the ancient period were seen such as skepticism, Pyrrhonian skepticism, stoicism, and epicureanism, The medieval philosophers also contributed to the epistemological discourse, however, unlike the medieval philosophers and the contemporary philosophers, this era's epistemological concerns are highly influenced by the heightened intellectual power of the Catholic Church. But the heightened interest in epistemology peaked again during the Modern Era starting from Rene Descartes’ search for certainty to which he employed his methodic doubt to seek for the foundation of knowledge. Descartes’ mind-body dualism also posed a new development in the ways of answering the three main areas of epistemology that were mentioned above, His predecessors followed in on the questions, and new epistemological developments that Descartes’ posed. This resulted in the modern era being defined by the divide between two major schools of thought known as Rationalism and Empiricism due to 7! Dallas M Roark, An Introduction To Philosophy Emporia, KS: Dalmor Pub., 1982. Written by: Ms. Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |7HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool epistemological differences. The Rationalists are mainly concerned with knowledge through reason alone while the Empiricists are mainly concerned with knowledge that can be grounded on sense experience.® There are nuances between philosophers belonging in the same school of thought, however, the similarity between them is their epistemological standpoints. Immanuel Kant tried to do away with the divide and proposed his epistemology that is the synthesis of the two schools of thought with his synthetic a priori, Kant’s assertions eventually led to the formation of the German Idealists. This branch of philosophy remains relevant, especially to contemporary philosophers, © Ethics- This branch of philosophy is part of the larger branch of philosophy called the value theory. This is “concerned with what we ought to do, how we ought to live, and how we ought to organize our communities." Ethics’ philosophical concern is human morality and ethical standards together ‘with the moral behavior of human beings that deals with the questions of rightness and wrongness. This branch of philosophy is deeply related to the other branch of philosophy called political philosophy which deals with not just politics but also fairness and justice. Ethics is different from sociology for ethics is a discipline that deals with what human behavior ought to be rather than what human behavior is Also, this is the branch of philosophy that is primarily concerned with value and obligation. The common questions that this branch of philosophy deals with are: ‘what is good”, ‘What actions are morally permissible”, and ‘what kind of person we ought to become and what we ought to do’. “Ethics as value theory concerns itself with the evaluation of human conduct, with how human beings ought fundamentally to behave, particularly in relation to one another.”"*5 Historically, this branch of philosophy is also a major philosophical concern throughout the eras. Aristotle proposed habituation as a way of being good, and his idea on the golden mean is one of the central concepts in his ethical theory. He is also concerned with how people would be able to reach eudaimonia; Aristotle's ethics is most commonly known as virtue ethics. There have been skeptics who deny that there are objective moral truths.® Some regard moral truths as something relative which most moral relativists believe in, Some other philosophers are more concerned about the actions per se while some philosophers such as the consequentialist philosophers are more concerned with the consequences of the action, Ethics is a branch of philosophy is heavily related to the concept of morality and more often than not these terms are used as synonyms but we must be wary in exchanging these two terms. An ethical issue is a moral issue but these terms do not mean the thing which we would further discuss in our future lessons. Ethics, nowadays, is Russ Payne, An Introduction To Philosophy Bellevue College, 2015. * ia Dallas M Roark, An Introduction To Philosophy Emporia, KS: Dalmor Pub., 1962, 2 Ted Honderich, The Oxford Companion To Philosophy, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. 26 -yat Is Philosophy? — History, Philosophy, And Social Studies Education’, Campus Plymouth Edu, Last modified 2020, https:/campus plymouth. eduhistory-philosophy-social-studies/degrees-options-minors/baphilosophyiwhatis). Written by: Ms. Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |8HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool 28 a. > hia increasingly “used to apply to specialized areas of morality’?” such as biomedical ethics, environmental ethics, legal ethics, and the like. Ethics is also used to pertain to the code a certain profession needs to abide by. The use of the term ‘ethics’ in this sense can “be thought of as a subset of morality, being that aspect of morality concerned with the moral obligations about the practice of a profession."23 While some philosophers like Socrates to Bernard Williams use the term ‘ethics’ to deal with the answers to the question ‘How should I live?’ “If we accept this broad sense of ‘ethics’, then morality becomes a subset of ethics, being that aspect of ethics concerned with obligation.” For now, it would suffice that we are aware that these two terms must not be treated as synonyms, Lastly, the three major areas of study of ethics are 1)normative ethics is the fleld of ethics that is more on the practical side as it aims to arrive at moral standards that would help distinguish the right from wrong actions, and the main ethical theories under normative ethics are virtue ethics, deontological ethics, and consequentialist ethics; 2)meta-ethies is the field of ethics that concerns itself about the source of ethical principles and what these principles mean; this field of ethics deals with metaphysical and psychological issues related to ethics and major concepts discussed under meta-ethics are objectivism, relativism, egoism and altruism; and 3)applied ethics which is the field of ethics that is concerned with the scrutiny of controversial issue such as abortion, homosexuality, death penalty, etc, and for an issue to be considered an applied ethics’ issue it must be controversial enough that it divides people into significant opposing groups with significant numbers of people at each, and it must bea distinct moral issue which is concerned with universally obligatory practices that are not limited to individual societies.*° Aesthetics - This branch of philosophy is also one of the branches under value theory. Aesthetics concerns itself with “the value of perceptual and imaginative experiences .. from engagement with objects, both natural and man-made." This branch of philosophy's philosophical concern is that of esthetic experience and value.”*? This is commonly mistaken for something that only deals with art because of i close relationship with the philosophy of art. But although this branch tries to answer questions such as ‘what is art’ and ‘what is beautiful’, this branch also inquires on the nature of aesthetics and nature of aesthetic judgments and aesthetic attitude, Aesthetics attempts to examine what it means to ‘have the aesthetic value’ and ‘what aesthetic value means and amount to’ for these questions are not simply talking solely about beauty, Nowadays, aesthetics as a branch of philosophy also deals with the sublime, One of the central questions in aesthetics is “whether ‘Ted Honderich, The Oxford Companion To Philosophy, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, °° James Fieser, “Ethics | Intemet Encyclopedia Of Philosophy’, lep.Utm.Edu, Last mosified 2020, https iwww.iep utm.edu/ethics “Ted Honderich, The Oxford Companion To Philosophy, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, =, Written by: Ms. Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |9HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool 3 oi. bia 5 ii, 56 ti [aesthetic value] is ever ‘really in’ the objects”. Some philosophers might argue that aesthetic value is not dependent solely on or at all in the objects per se. Some may say that the aesthetic value is not in the object but instead it resides in the side of the perceiver. This is why we also put into question in aesthetics the relationship of the text and the reader, and the aesthetic judgments that people make. Another philosophical concern of aesthetics is whether it is necessary that something elicits a response and/or a judgment. Also, “aesthetic value is closely linked with a kind of satisfaction which we may feel when we perceive the thing in question.” This is why aesthetics is relevant in the field of semiotics and the philosophy of the mind, In line with this, aesthetics is also concerned not just with the evaluation and analysis of aesthetic judgments and aesthetic attitude but also the epistemological value of these. By this, we mean that we also seek to know its falsity, validity, and truth value. Some of the other factors that aesthetics deals with are pleasure, satisfaction, preferences, experiences, patterns, interestedness, and/or disinterestedness. As we can see, aesthetics is highly interrelated with the other branches of philosophy like mental states, ethics, and politics especially when we try to assess aesthetic judgments and preferences affected by race, appearance, and such. Sos society. This is also sometimes called simply as political philosophy. Socio-political philosophy's Political Philosophy- This is the branch of philosophy that concerns itself with politics and philosophical concerns are to define and interpret concepts such as justice, freedom, society, authority, and the like both in the contemporary context and as well as how these concepts were used, defined and interpreted in the past. Political philosophy and social philosophy have their nuances but usually these two overlaps and are treated as one area. These two also overlap with ethics, law, economics, etc. This branch of philosophy focuses on the questions about the state, the government, politics, justice, and even the law. It also “evaluates social organization, especially government, from an ethical viewpoint, but also studies the facts about social organization.”** There are two important aspects of this branch of philosophy namely 1) the ethical normative aspect of. society, governance, law, politics, and the like; and 2) the descriptive and explanatory aspect of this branch regarding the concepts it philosophizes on. Socio-political philosophy attempts to give an account of an appropriate, structured, and functioning type of society. Analysis of the institutions in society is one of the main philosophical concerns of this branch. The philosophical problems that this branch deals with could be roughly divided into three main groups namely 1) conceptual; 2) normative; and 3) empirical¢ By saying that the problems of this branch are conceptual we mean that political philosophies attempt to provide different takes on, analyze, and clarify central ideas Written by: Ms. Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |10HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool Fo, bia » id, * ia. such as authority, citizenship, equality, rights, law, consent, duty, and the like. These concepts serve two roles which are: 1) these concepts on their own are worthy of philosophical inquiry; and 2), these concepts serve as the foundation and possible building-blocks of political theories. “The variety and complexity of these concepts, and the interconnections among them, show that the problems of political philosophy overlap, intersect, and merge with the problems of legal, social, economic, ethical, and educational philosophy.”*" On the other hand, by saying that socio-political philosophy problems are normative we mean that socio-political philosophers attempt to explain, and even defend principles that can answer normative questions such as “What principles ought to be adopted and enforced such that compliance with them will achieve social justice? What principles are used and presupposed in defending a given political practice or institution?"°® These questions arise again especially during times of political unrest, fall of a government, drastic changes, and impactful historical events. Lastly, s -political philosophy’s problems are said to have empirical problems because this branch of philosophy involves “systematic and comprehensive political thinking [Which] also involves various empirical problems.”*® This is why socio-political philosophy raises questions such as “Does equality of opportunity requires inequality of liberty? Which forms of punishment—corporal, incarcerative, pecuniary, etc —provide the most effective deterrence to crime? ... Is a capitalist economy causally related to liberal-democratic political institutions?” With this, we can see how this branch of philosophy is deeply related to history. The history of this branch of philosophy shows that the philosopl | problems socio- political philosophers problematize are influenced, if not party shaped, by the issues of their time, “These typically provide the fuel not only for political organization and agitation but for political reflection as well. And as these issues change over time, with the changing material circumstances of life, so do the paramount problems of political philosophy.” Both western and oriental philosophers are greatly concerned with socio-political philosophy. In western philosophy, the ancient Greek philosophers, especially Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, engaged with this branch. Socrates was a famous character in Plato's political writings especially in his The Republic in which he started from trying to define ‘what is justice’ to trying to suggest a type of government and society's structure that Plato finds as the most appropriate. Aristotle's famous philosophical writing is Politics in which he discussed what type of government he finds to be the best type of government among other political topics. The contributions of the philosophers in socio-political philosophy slightly declined in the medieval era but also shifted its focused political philosophy from human being to the divine. The discourse on autonomy and freedom compared to the ancient era is different because the medieval era focused more on the divine being as the authority. Socio-political Written by: Ms, Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 11HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Sehool philosophy peaked again during the modern era which coincided with the fall of monarchy, the decline of the Catholic Church, and the Renaissance period which was the revival of the classics. This Age of Enlightenment brought about ideas championing the human person, humanism, the role of people in shaping their political systems and government, and these ideas greatly progressed up until this day in the contemporary era, The oriental philosophers such as Confucius, Lao Tzu, and others were also concerned with societal values, with how to live one’s life concerning one’s society, with the structure of one’s society, and the like. Other Minor Branches/Fields of Philosophy Philosophy of the Law Philosophy of Religion Philosophy of Science Feminist Philosophy Philosophy of Language Philosophy of Technology Semiotics Philosophy of the Mind Supplementary videos to watch for this lesson: “crash hites:inwww. youtube. commwatchav= era Introduction to Philosophy"? Course, What Is Philosophy? Crash Course Philosophy #1, image, 2016, |A_CAKYIBGY, © Macat, An Introduction To The Discipline OF Philosophy, image, 2016, htips:/waw youtube. comwatch?™v=zhnghxhzhTY. Written by: Ms. Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |12HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool Learning Activity “Castle, Forest, Island, Sea” This is an interactive activity that would explore the different key questions in philosophy. This is a choose-your-own-adventure story. This game takes around 30 minutes to complete. thas nine chapters exploring the key areas of philosophy. As you navigate through the story, the game will build up an idea of how you feel about these questions, and at the end of the game you'll receive an analysis of your choices and a map of how your opinions compare to different philosophers through the ages. ‘The player will select different links with the text. There are three main types of ink. Links that are color orange are the player’s chance to control different elements in the world. Each time the link is selected, it changes, and you can continue changing it until you are happy with the decision, Links that are color green show that you can find out more about the world, Links that are color blue lead you forward in the game. Click the link to start the activity: hitps://www2,open.ac.uk/openlearn/philosophy/castle-forest-island- sea.htmiit References: Copi, Irving M, Carl Cohen, and Kenneth McMahon. Introduction To Logic. 14th ed. USA: Pearson Education Limited, 2014. Crash Course. What Is Philosophy?: Crash Course Philosophy #1. Image, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A_CAKYt3GY. Fieser, James. "Ethics | Internet Encyclopedia Of Philosophy". lep.Utm.Edu, Last modified 2020. https://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/ Hestevold, Scott. "What Is Philosophy? - Philosophy”, Philosophy.Ua.Edu, Last modified 2020. https:/ /philosophy.a.edu /overview /what-is-philosophy/. Honderich, Ted. The Oxford Companion To Philosophy. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Macat. An Introduction To The Discipline Of Philosophy. Image, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhnglxhzh7Y. Mead, Hunter. Types And Problems Of Philosophy. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965. Payne, Russ. An Introduction To Philosophy. Bellevue College, 2015. Written by: Ms. Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |13HUMSS 2020-2021 PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FEU Senior High Setiool Peter, van Inwagen, and Sullivan Meghan, jetaphysics (Stanford Encyclopedia Of Philosophy)”. Plato.Stanford.Edu, Last modified 2020. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphysics/. Roark, Dallas M. An Introduction To Philosophy, Emporia, KS: Dalmor Pub., 1982. “What Is Philosophy? - History, Philosophy, And Social Studies Education’, Campus.Plymouth.Edu, Last modified 2020. https://campus.plymouth.edu/history-philosophy-social-studies /degrees- options-minors/baphilosophy /what-is/ Written by: Ms. Camille Erika Jan 0. Velasco, May 2020 |14