PHILOSOPHY NOTES
 What is Philosophy? (by Karl Jaspers)
 From the book “Way of Wisdom”
 Jaspers wants to point out what Philosophy really is
 Doesn’t give a definition
 Elaborate and expand on the meaning and nature of Philosophy
 “What Philosophy is and how much it is worth are matters of
controversy”
 Matters of Controversy
1. One may expect it to yield extraordinary revelations or one
may view it with indifference as a thinking in the void.
- Philosophy can either blow people’s minds or be
indifferent to it.
- One may think of Philosophy as an amazing realization
or an amazing discovery. On the other hand, others will
think of Philosophy as just asking and asking questions
without getting a definite answer. People who think this
way are the type of people who seek answers.
2. One may look upon it with awe as the meaningful endeavor
of exceptional men or despise it as the superfluous broodings
of dreamers.
- One may see purpose in Philosophy while some may
see it as a matter of imagination
- Some people will think of Philosophy as meaningful
because it is studied by exceptional men. While some
will think of Philosophy as useless because it is just an
enterprise where people write and expand their
imagination (nonsense)
3. One may tale the attitude that it is the concern of all men, and
hence must be simple and intelligible, or one may think of it
as hopelessly difficult.
- Some people think that Philosophy is the concern of all
man and it concerns itself with the whole being of man;
and therefore, must be simple and easy to understand.
However, for some, they think of it as unnecessarily
difficult and complicated. They think of it as useless
 Philosophy is restless as it always provides questions
 Philosophy does not aim to seek for answers. Instead, philosophy
seeks to ask more questions all the time (unlike the sciences who
always seek answers)
 How do you characterize the scientific-minded, and what is their
criticism against Philosophy?
1. Philosophy provides no universally valid results
2. Philosophy gas no generally accepted and definite knowledge
 Philosophy does not progress
 Only thing that progressed in Philosophy is the methods
 Dialectic
 Deconstruction
 Phenomenology
 Hermeneutics
 Philosophy will always end up in questions. When a question
produces an answer, the answer becomes a new question
 How does science differ from Philosophy?
- Sciences are progressive and objective; and they deal
with particular objects
- Sciences progress because they have a system and
different methods
- The certainty philosophy aspires is an inner certainty in
which a man’s whole being participates
- Philosophy means “emerges before any science,
whenever men achieve awareness’
o Questions that make us think about our life
and all that is
 4 Ways Philosophy is revealed to us
1. “Our own humanity, our own destiny, our experience strikes
us a sufficient basis for Philosophical opinions”
- It is accessible to everyone
- Not exclusive but inclusive
- Philosophical concepts may be abstract, but these
concepts arise from the concreteness of our experiences
2. “Philosophical thought must always spring from free
creation”
- Brainstorming for new ideas
- See things in a different perspective
- Be creative in different ways
- Begin with the things we have and question how we can
make it better
- Most evident in the questions children ask
- Open to new ideas; we open ourselves to the freeness of
our imagination
3. “Parting of the veils of universal occlusion”
- Occlusion = hindrance; obstacles
- Philosophy opens new ideas
- Philosophy happens through an opening
- Strangeness allows you to ask “WHY”
- When things become too familiar and something
strange happens, it makes you question things
- Suddenly have an epiphany/sudden realization out of
the ordinary
4. “It is always present”
- Through the sayings of wise people in the past
- “I think, therefore, I am” – Rene Descartes
- “Knowledge is power” – Francis Bacon
- “Know thyself” – Socrates
 There is no escape from Philosophy… anyone who rejects
Philosophy is himself unconsciously practicing Philosophy
- If someone says they reject Philosophy, that person
must have his/her own idea of Philosophy
- There is no escape from Philosophy because it is innate
in the human being
- Even if he rejects philosophy, he still practices
philosophy because he still asks philosophical questions
 “What then is Philosophy, which manifests itself so universally
and such strange forms?”
- Jaspers answers this by looking into the etymology of
philosophy
- Philosophy means love for wisdom
o Philia = love
o Sophia = wisdom
- What distinction does the “sophos” of the Greek work
for “Philosopher”, “philosophos”, connote?
o Love of wisdom is compared to the
possession of truth; philosophy is more of
the search of truth
o More knowledge!
o If you want to be a better person, you must
search for more knowledge
 “The essence of Philosophy is not the possession of truth but the
search for truth… Philosophy means to be on the way. Its
questions are more essential than its answers, and every answer
becomes a new question”
- No readymade understanding of who the human being
is
- The human being is “after-the-fact” (cannot define at
present)
- When you put yourself in a certain position for a long
time, you begin to ask yourself, is this who I really am?
- There’s always a natter of decision in your search for
who you really are
 “Every Philosophy defines itself by its realization. We can
determine the nature of philosophy only by experiencing it”
- Philosophy is a performance, it is a way of life
- Concepts arise from the concreteness of our experiences
- Philosophers are always open to new ideas despite their
values and arguments
*there is no preconceived notion of the human being*
 Aims of Philosophy
1. To find reality in the primal source;
- Find reality at its purest
- In order to have a more comprehensive understanding
of reality, you must go back to its fundamental
roots/ground
- Dig deeper to what you know
2. To apprehend reality in my thinking attitude toward myself,
in my inner acts;
- Apprehend reality based on our own experiences
- Look introspectively into oneself
3. To open man to the comprehensive in all its scope;
- Open yourself to new ideas, concepts
- We enlarge ourselves
4. To attempt the communication of every aspect from man to
man;
- Communicate our ideas to the outer to avoid chaos
5. To sustain the vigilance of reason in the presence of failure
and in the presence of that which seems alien to it
- Despite not having enough knowledge, we must remind
ourselves that we are not limited to this ignorance
- Embrace what is new to us carefully
- Open to new ideas in the presence of failure
 “Philosophy is the principle of concentration through which man
becomes himself by partaking of reality”
- You try to discover new things about the universe
- Ongoing process
o Human being is not constrained into one
definition
o There are many possibilities man can
become himself
o Philosophy is when man becomes himself
 Criticisms Against Philosophy
a. By the authoritarian church
- Philosophy questions the existence of God
- Destroys his soul with vain preoccupations
- Church does not want people to question their teachings
and dogmas; maintain its authority
- “Beware lest any man spoil you through Philosophy
and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Col 2:8)
- “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and
knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Prov
9:10)
- Human wisdom VS divine Wisdom
- Philosophy questions the existence of God. The church
wants to keep the status of being the higher authority
which is why the church doesn’t want philosophy to
question
 b. By political totalitarianism
- Philosophy questions authority (rules, laws)
- Philosophers have only interpreted the world; it has not
produced answers
- “kung nakikita mong may pagka-pilosopo na yung anak
mo, kung nagiging matigas na yung ulo, senyales na
yan na brainwash na ng kaliwa.”
- Philosophy does not provide any practical solution for a
social problem. Philosophy opens a possibility for a
revolution because philosophy might bring new change
 “Must Philosophy then justify itself?”
- It’s impossible
- Cannot justify itself on the basis of a something else for
what is useful.
- “It can only appeal to the forces in every man which
drive him toward philosophical thought. It is a
disinterested pursuit, to which questions of utility…
have no relevance, and endeavor proper to man as man,
and it will continue to fulfill this striving as long as
there are men alive.”
- There can be no philosophy without human beings.
Philosophy and man are closely related because only
man can ask these questions even without them
knowing.
 The Value of Philosophy (by Bertrand Russell)
 Guiding Question: What is the value of philosophy and why it
ought to be studied?
 “Many men, under the influence of science or of practical affairs,
are inclined to doubt whether philosophy is anything better than
innocent but useless trifling”
- Relate to Karl Jaspers’ “What is Philosophy”
 This view of Philosophy appears to result partly from a wrong
conception of the ends… of the kinds of goods which philosophy
strives to achieve
- Philosophy strives for the inner certainty
- Philosophy is more on the personal level
- There is a misconception of philosophy as it is based on
the standards of science
- Philosophy has a different kind of view apart from the
sciences
- The kind of good philosophy and the sciences aim for
are different from each other because they have
different standards
- Inventions are made (materially) for the convenience,
progress, efficiency, and comfort for the people. These
inventions are made by the sciences (people find
science useful).
o This is not what Philosophy wants to
achieve
 “If the study of philosophy has any value at all… it must be only
indirectly, through its effects upon the lives of those who study it.”
- Philosophy is indirectly useful; and is directly useless
- But despite its direct usefulness, in the long-run, people
do it. they realize that philosophy is change in himself,
not in the world
- The effect of philosophy is not in the world but it is in
the man itself (inner certainty)
 “to truly determine the value of philosophy, we must first free our
minds from the prejudices of… ‘practical’ men.”
- Practical man’s only concern is with material needs;
concerns himself with what he can gain
- Philosophy doesn’t concern itself with material things.
Instead philosophy asks things about the use of
acquiring these material things; they ask about what
good will it bring you
 “if all men are able to satisfy all their material needs, then what
more is there to satisfy?”
- What makes us want to live
 “it is exclusively among the goods of the mind that the value of
philosophy is to be found.”
- Science is food for the body (material things)
- Philosophy is food for the mind and soul
 “Philosophy… aims primarily at knowledge”
- Knowledge is proper to the human being as a human
being
o So that we won’t be closed-minded
- “The knowledge it aims at is the kind of knowledge
which gives unity and system to the body of the
sciences, and the kind of which results from a critical
examination of the grounds of our convictions,
prejudices, and beliefs.”
o Philosophy aims for a holistic type of
knowledge
o Unifying and holistic
o Before you can be anything else, you must
be a human being
o Looks into common understandings of the
world to open up
 “[A]s soon as definite knowledge concerning any subject becomes
possible, this subject cease to be called philosophy, and becomes a
separate science.
- Philosophy is the mother of all sciences
o Theodicy, Theology, Cosmology,
Epistemology, Psychology, Aesthetics,
ethics, logic, etc.
- The goal of philosophy is to unify all sciences to have a
greater understanding
- It aims to unify because the sciences have their own
conception of things. It is independent therefore it is
closed, and it has its own system; it closes the
possibility to progress.
- Philosophy aims to connect other disciplines and make
them open to new ideas
- But these disciplines/branches of philosophy want to be
a discipline of its own and wants to be independent
from philosophy therefore closing the possibility to
progress
- Philosophy enrich disciplines through critical
examinations to put on beliefs
- These disciplines cease to be part of philosophy as it
desires to be independent and it no longer inspire the
spirit of philosophy which it encloses itself
 “Those questions which are already capable of definite answers are
placed in the sciences, while those only to which… no definite
answers can be given, remain to form the residue in which is called
philosophy”
- Those questions that cannot be answered are part of
philosophy/stays in philosophy
- The reason why philosophy hasn’t progressed is
because we keep on asking the same questions again
and again which is debatable up to this day
- The questions that are answered already becomes a
different science
 “it is the business of philosophy ‘to continue the consideration of
such questions, to make aware of their importance, to examine all
the approaches to them, and to keep alive that speculative interest
in the universe which is apt to be killed by confining ourselves to
definitely ascertainable knowledge.”
- The business of philosophy is basically to keep us open-
minded on things
- Philosophy allows us to be open-minded; to keep alive
that curiosity in ourselves
 “Thus, [t]he value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in
its very uncertainty.”
- What can I be, not just who I am
- The importance of uncertainty is to allow people to
enlarge themselves to explore things. Explore new
ideas.
- The value of philosophy can be understood through its
effects. We ask questions in the unknown
 “Philosophy ‘enlarge[s] our thoughts and free them from the
tyranny of custom. Thus, while diminishing our feeling of certainty
as to what things are, it greatly increases knowledge as to what
they may be.’
- Critic of philosophy is the government and the church
o Customs and traditions hinder progress
- Philosophy is futural in essence
- What things are (present) and what things may be
(future)
- Philosophy is concerned and associated to the future
because the future itself is uncertain
- Philosophy makes us see things in a different light
 “The life of the instinctive man is shut up within the circle of its
private interests”
- People should be open-minded to be able to adapt to the
progressing society
- We welcome unfamiliar things so that we can grow up
 “[T]he philosophic life is calm and free”
- It is calm and free because we tend to accept that there
are really some things that cannot be answered. When
there is no definite answers, we become contented and
relieved because we know that it is not our fault why
there are things we cannot answer. The pressure no
longer concerns you
- You will have a different perspective of things
- You see things in a positive light
- It’s not done by objective knowledge
- To enter in dialogue with other people
o Communicate different ideas with different
people and be open to accepting new ideas.
- Although the things of the world may affect you,
looking at the world in a different perspective will set
you free
- Instinctive man is not concerned about the future
 Philosophic Contemplation
- It views the whole impartially
o Philosophy view things in. an unbiased way.
We get to have an open mind (objective)
- All acquisition of knowledge is an enlargement of the
self through the adaptation of the self to the characters
which finds in its objects.
- We start from the not-self, and through its greatness, the
boundaries of self are enlarged.
 o Philosophical contemplation enlarges the
self by beginning with the not-self
o SELF VS NOT-SELF
o Self = who we are (present)
o Not-self = who we will be/who we may be
(future)
o Combine the present and the future in order
to adapt and become better people
o It enlarges not only the objects of our
thoughts but also the objects of our actions
and our affections
 Thoughts influence actions
 We are defined not only by our
thoughts, but also by our actions.
o Knowledge is a fusion of the present and
future; it is a form of union of self and not-
self.
 Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers
to its questions since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known
to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves;
because these questions 1) enlarge our conception of what is
possible, 2) enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the
dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but
above all because, through the greatness of the universe which
philosophy contemplates, 3) the mind also is rendered great, and
becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes
its highest good.
- Philosophy tries to eliminate the dogmatic view because
a dogmatic person closes himself to new perspectives
and ideas
- Philosophy aims for us to progress and be open to new
ideas
- Progressive about ideas not to be stopped with customs
and traditions
 THE PHAEDO (by Plato)
 Socrates
- born in 470 BCE
- died at the age of 71 in 399 BCE
- Socrates engaged in argumentation with the sophists
o Sophists = learns for the sake of money not
for the sake of imparting knowledge. taught
for pragmatic purposes
o Philosopher = seeks for wisdom/knowledge
for the sake of knowledge itself
- He wrote nothing
- He loves to argue and debate
- Most of Socrates’ dealings were written by his younger
contemporaries (his students)
o Aristophanes
 Depicts Socrates as a strutting
waterfowl, poking fun at his
habit of rolling his eyes and
referring impishly to his “pupils”
and “thinking shop”
o Xenophon
 Comes from a portrait of a loyal
soldier who had a passion for
discussing requirements for
morality who inevitably attracted
younger people who sought
advice
o Plato
 Confirms this general portrait
and in addition pictures Socrates
as a man with a deep sense of
mission and absolute moral
purity.
- “GADFLY”
o A gadfly is a person who interferes with the
status quo of a society or community by
posing novel, potentially upsetting
questions, usually directed at authorities
o Socrates compares himself to a gadfly
o Socrates has stayed away from politics at the
warning of an inner voice that keeps him
from heading into danger, a voice he calls a
“supernatural sign.”
- The decisive event that confirmed his mission as a
moral philosopher was the reply of the Delphic Oracle
- As the story goes, one day a young Zealot named
Chaerophon went to the temple of Apollo near the
Delphi and asked whether there was any living person
who was wiser than Socrates; the priestess replied that
there was none.
- Socrates interpreted this reply to mean that he was the
wisest because he realized and admitted his own
ignorance
o Being aware of your own ignorance will
allow you to gain knowledge
o To admit your ignorance, you’ll see the
possibility of learning more
- “I know that I know nothing” – Socrates
- If Socrates was to be successful in overcoming the
relativism and skepticism of the Sophists, he had to
discover some immovable foundation upon which to
build an edifice of knowledge
- Socrates discovered this foundation within people, and
not in the facts of the external world
- The inner life is the seat of a unique activity – the
activity of knowing, which leads to the practical activity
of doing
- To describe this activity, Socrates developed the
conception of the soul, or psyche
- The soul was the capacity for intelligence and
character; it was a person’s conscious personality
o Man = soul  principle of reason
- Socrates identified the soul with the normal powers of
intelligence and character, not as some ghostly
substance
- Those who attain knowledge of what human life is
really like and those who have the proper care of their
soul in mind will conduct their behavior in accordance
with their knowledge of true moral values
o Care for the knowledge and intelligence first
o “think before you act”
- Thus, Socrates was primarily concerned with the good
life, and not with mere contemplation
- Dialectic
o Socrates was convinced that the surest way
to attain reliable knowledge was through the
practice of disciplined conversation
o This method begins with a discussion of the
most obvious aspects of any problem.
Through the process of dialogue, in which
all parties to the conversation are forced to
clarify their ideas, the final outcome of the
conversation is a clear statement of what is
meant
 CONTEXT OF THE STORY: After Socrates’ Trial
- Socrates was brought to trial on the charge of (1) not
worshipping the Gods whom the state worships, but
introducing new and unfamiliar religious practices, and
(2) of corrupting the young.
- Socrates was given the punishment of death penalty
- How was Socrates executed? He was executed through
administering poison, hemlock.
 Why a Philosopher Must Accept Death:
- Death is not the end of a philosopher’s life.
o World of Forms
o World of Senses
 Phaedo - recalling events; Echecrates - interested in the topic
1. There was a long interval between trial and execution
because 
- “They have a law that as soon as this mission begins
the city must be kept pure, and no public executions
may take place until the ship has reached Delos and
return again, which sometimes takes a long time, if the
winds happen to hold it back. The mission is considered
to begin as soon as the priest of Apollo has garlanded
the stern of the ship, and this happened, as I say, on the
day before the trial.”
- Took long to execute Socrates because of tradition that
when this ship would sail, no public executions must
happen until it comes back.
2. Socrates was quite happy. Despite the imminence of death,
Socrates still continued to undertake a discussion with his
friends.
- “It never occurred to me to feel sorry for him, as you
might have expected me to feel at the deathbed of a
very dear friend. The master seemed quite happy,
Echecrates, both in his manner and in what he
said; he met his death so fearlessly and nobly.”
3. Socrates’ first words were a relationship of pleasure and pain.
- “What a queer thing it is, my friends, this sensation
which is popularly called pleasure! It is remarkable
how closely it is connected with its conventional
opposite, pain. They will never come to a man both at
once, but if you pursue one of them and catch it, you
are nearly always compelled to have the other as well;
 they are like two bodies attached to the same head. I
am sure that if Aesop had thought of it he would have
made up a fable about them, something like this — God
wanted to stop their continual quarreling; and when he
found that it was impossible, he fastened their heads
together; so wherever one of them appears, the other is
sure to follow after. ”
4. Cebes, in lieu of Evenus, asked Socrates about the lyrics
which he had been composing. Erenus wanted to know what
induced Socrates to write them after he had gone to prison.
- “I did it in the attempt to discover the meaning of
certain dreams, and to clear my conscience, in case this
was the art which I had been told to practice.”
- “In the past I used to think that it was impeling and
exhorting me to do what I was actually doing; I mean
that the dream, like a spectator encouraging a runner
in a race, was, urging me on to do what I was doing
already, that is, practicing the arts, because philosophy
is the greatest of the arts.”
5. What Socrates meant was that, although it is not legitimate to
end one’s life, a philosopher will be willing to do so to follow
a friend who dies. Socrates first explains why it is
conventionally wrong to commit suicide. 
- “The allegory which the mystics tell us — that we men
are put in a sort of a guard post, from which one must
not release oneself or run away —  seems to me to be a
high doctrine with difficult implications.”  How can you perceive something without knowing its concept
- “If one of your possessions were to destroy itself (absolute standards)
without intimation from you that you wanted it to die,  If a person is to be reminded of something, he must first know it at
wouldn't you be angry with it and punish it, if you had some time or another
any means of doing so?”  Recollection implies forgetfulness because when you see that thing
6. However, Cebes was still skeptical about the idea of or someone you have forgotten; you get reminded of it
philosophers being readily willing to die. What was Cebes’  recollection, however, may be caused either by similar/equal or by
argument with which Simmias agreed? dissimilar/unequal objects
- “It is natural for the wise to be grieved when they die,  Theory of Recollection = we have the knowledge of abstract ideas
and for fools to be happy.” – such as beauty, equality and justice – because we became
7. What was Socrates’ defense against Cebes’ argument? acquainted with it in a former life. our souls must have existed
- “If I did not expect to enter the company, first, of other before we were born. For example, absolute equality does not exist
wise and good gods, and secondly of men now dead in this universe
who are better than those who are in this world now, it  Socrates points out that when we compare similar things or equal
is true that I should be wrong in not grieving at death. things, how can we know that similar things are similar and equal
As it is, you can be assured that I expect to find myself things are equal
among good men. I would not insist particularly on this o There is a difference between similar/equal things and
point, but on the other I assure you that I shall insist similarity/equality
most strongly — that I shall find there divine masters o Similarity/equality = absolute standards/universal.
who are supremely good.” These are perceived through the mind; these are
8. Death is the release of the soul from the body. It is the concepts. These are things we can’t see.
separate condition of the body by itself when it is released o Similar things/Equal things = instances of absolute
from the soul, and the separate condition by itself of the soul
standards/particulars. These are perceived through our
when released from the body.
senses; our percepts
- Socrates did not fear death because he believed in the
o We know that they are similar because we see them; but
afterlife
how do we know similarity itself?
9. On the acquisition of knowledge, is the body a hindrance?
o EXAMPLE: Good food. We know that it is good food
With regard to abstract concepts such as beauty and
goodness, have any bodily sense? Is it through the body we because we see it; but we do not know the concept of
get redeemed? goodness itself
- The philosopher is not concerned with the goods of the o Similarity/equality exists prior to our senses
body but with the goods of the mind and soul.  Everything that is perceivable by senses
- On the acquisition of knowledge: happened at the instant of birth. Therefore,
o Body = 5 senses the knowledge of absolute standards came
o Soul = obtain knowledge before that.
 LEARNING IS BASICALLY JUST
RECOLLECTING KNOWLEDGE
 Knowledge of absolute standards are already
there
 Souls knows these knowledge of
absolute standards
 Our souls exist even way before
we were born
o When the soul is already in the body, we forget about
the KAS
 We need to recollect in order to remember it
 Arguments for the Existence of the Soul because it is deep in the memory of a person
(KAS)
 Soul:
1. Soul before birth
(2)
2. Soul after death

(1)

 It is presumed that the man is both the body and the soul

 When a philosopher dies, his soul goes to the world of forms
 The Affinity Argument
o The soul bears an affinity to the invisible, the immortal,
and indissoluble, while the body exhibits and affinity to
the visible, the mortal, and the dissoluble.
o Because the soul bears an affinity to the eternal forms
and the divine gods, the soul must also be immortal.
 The Argument from the Form of Life
o The soul is immortal because the soul is the form of life
– or the cause of life
o Things that are alive possess a soul
 Cyclical Argument
o Contraries are generated from contraries
o If generation were in a straight line only, and there were
no compensation or circle in nature, no turn or return of
elements into their opposites, then you know that all
things would at last have the same form and pass into
the same state, there would be no generation of them. If
all things which partook of life were to die, and after
they were dead remained in the form of death, and did
not come to life again, all would at last die, and nothing
would be alive.
 Does this mean that wisdom can only be attained during death?
o Yes. When a person dies, his body decays and
disintegrates rapidly. But the soul, the invisible part is
released and “carries with it no contamination with the
body, because it has never willingly associated with it
in life but has stunned it and kept itself from regular
practice.
o Man can only attain wisdom after death for it is only
then that the mind is liberated from the distraction from
the body
o The body is a source of endless trouble to us by reason
of the mere requirement of food; and is liable also to
diseases which overtake and impede us in the search
after the being: it fills us full of love, and lusts, and
fears, and fancies of all kinds, and endless foolery, and
in fact, as men says, takes away from us the power of
thinking at all
o The soul in herself must behold thing in themselves:
and only then we shall attain wisdom which we desire,
not while we live but after death
 Those who are the happiest become good animals
 Soul - ghost (shadowy apparition)
- If the person has not cultivated his mind and not
regulated his sense organs
- If a person is always associating himself with the body,
he will have no peace
- Souls become ghosts because they are attached to the
world of senses
- Ghosts reincarnate; souls are pure after death
- Those who are still attached to bodily desires and
material needs become ghosts or reincarnated to bad
animals
 To live a good life is to live a rational life.
- Only philosophers can go to WOF - since they
reasoned, are not attached from bodily desires and
material needs
- Those who are the happiest become good animals. To
live a happy life does not mean that they lived a rational
life.
- Socrates is a moral philosopher. He believes that to live
a moral life or a good life is to live a rational life. This
means that…
- Even if you get a good life, without philosophy, it does
not mean that you will be excluded from reincarnation
 Philosophers attain a divine nature. They don’t reincarnate.
- A philosopher, therefore, is one who cares about his/her
soul and does not subordinate them to the body
 Philosophers set the soul free from the imprisonment of the body:
1. Philosophy points out that observation is entirely deceptive –
prone to mistakes/manipulation
2. Philosophy urges the soul to refrain from using them (senses)
unless it is necessary to do so
3. Philosophy encourage the soul to collect and concentrate
itself by itself
4. Philosophy attributes no truth to anything which it views
indirectly as being subject to variation
 Socrates said that they can bury him in whatever way they think is
most proper on the condition that what they say is what they are
burying is only his body. This means to say that they are not
burying “Socrates” himself, but only Socrates’ body, because
“who” Socrates is, is not the body, but the soul that lingers on after
death.
 Socrates is: brave (he did not fear death), wise (he wanted to
recollect because knowledge/ wisdom can only be attained after
death, and upright (because he lived a good life)
 Philosophy
 Phaedo = a work under the branch of psychology (study of
the soul; study of the human being)
 Metaphysis
- where psychology came from
- meta = beyond
- physika = the physical
- ground of cosmology, theology
- A study/theory of reality. It asks questions about what
is real/what is an illusion
- It is the study of being as being. It studies things as they
are.
o Being is understood to be the reason why
things are as they are/exist
o It is the first principle/cause of all things
o It deals with the existence of everything
o For Plato, being is the form/absolute
standards
 Form = essence of all things. All
things participate under a form.
All things are imitations of
forms. Forms are what makes a
being a being.
 Before Plato, there were 2 other Philosophers
1. Heraclitus
o Reality is change, is becoming because we
see change
o We say reality is change through our
senses/experiences
o “You cannot step twice into the same river”
2. Parmenides
o Change is just an illusion
o Reality is constant, is being
o Thinking/logic
o For him, becoming is an illusion because for
him, reality is categorized in to 2: being &
nothing
 Nothing can come out of
nothing
 Something cannot come out
of something
o Parmenides took the view that nothing
changes in reality; only our senses convey
the appearance of change.  Heraclitus, by
contrast, thought that everything changes all
the time, and that "we step and do not step
into the same river," for new waters flow
ever about us.
 Soul is composed of 3 parts
1. Rational Part = awareness of a goal
2. Spirited Part = drive towards action
3. Appetitive Part = bodily desires
- Bothe the spirited part and the appetitive part is
perishable while the rational part is imperishable. When
we die, only the rational part of the soul will remain
 - Substance is composed of matter and form which
coexists with each other
- Theory of Hylemorphism
o Hyle = matter
o Morphism = form
- Matter
o principle of potentiality or principle of
indetermination
o for every matter, there is a potentiality to
exist
o body falls under matter because it has the
potential to be alive
- Form
o Principle of actuality or principle of
determination
o Form allows the matter to exist; it is what
gives them life
o Soul falls under the form because the soul is
what gives life to the body. It activates the
body.
o Life is actualized by the soul
- Both the body and the soul are interdependent
o Without the body, the soul is useless
because it has nothing to activate it to. It has
nothing to give it life
o Without the soul, the body is useless
because the body will not be activated and
there will be no life
 Aristotle looks into the natural bodies VS manmade bodies
- Natural Bodies: living things
- Manmade Bodies: non-living things
 2 Definitions of a Soul
1. The soul is the essential “whatness” of a body
- A soul is a type of form
- All bodies have a form but not all bodies have a soul
- Soul is a “what of something”
- Body is the “that” of something
- That is a marker but what is a marker
- That is a person but what is a person
2. The soul is an actuality or formulable essence of something
that possesses a potentiality of being asouled (alive)
- The soul is what gives life to the body
 For Aristotle, there is no general definition of soul because there is
a specific soul for a specific body for their specific
purpose/function.
- The definition of a thing is based on what it does
- Different bodies have different souls because of its
different functions
 Aristotle’s Psychology
- There are only 3 things that exist in the world that has a
soul:
1. Plants
2. Animals
3. Human Beings

Type of Soul Function

Plants Vegetative Soul Self-nutrition,
= it is the most basic reproduce, growth
because it is the most
common/widespread
among all
 On the Soul (by Aristotle) = “Originative Power”
 For Aristotle, there is no absolute standards/world of forms. There = first signs of life
is only a world of senses because of the 3rd Man Argument. But = everyone has this
this doesn’t mean that he regrets/rejects forms. Animals Sensible Soul Movement, sensation
 Aristotle refuted Plato’s belief in the world of forms using the 3 rd = animals and plants = idea of pleasure and
man argument have this pain
 Aristotle is a nominalist (people who looks into the words) = seek pleasure and
 3rd Man Argument avoid pain
- According to Plato, all corresponding form has an ideal Humans Rational Soul Think, communicate,
form. (most complex = only humans have reason
- EXAMPLE: beings) this

- Plato: man  soul

o For him, man is the soul; the body is just the
prison house of the soul
- But for Aristotle, - Aristotle: man  body with a soul (rational soul)
o Particular man = ideal man = more ideal o Man is a rational animal
man = more and more ideal man.... - Zoon Logon Echon
o Zoon = man is an animal
o Logon = capable of language
o Echon = capable of speaking/speech
 Aristotle’s Ethics
- Theory of Causes (how things came to be)
- This is called an infinite regression (ad infinitum 1. Formal Cause = form/essence of an object
absurdum) 2. Material Cause = matter/out of which an object is
- This argument called Plato’s argument on forms absurd. made; what is it made out of
 Aristotle’s Metaphysics 3. Efficient Cause = agent to let something be made;
- Being = substance; substance is the cause of all things who made it
 4. Final Cause = purpose/goal of an object
 These are interdependent

EXAMPLE:
Chair
Formal Cause “chairness”
Material Cause Wood
Efficient Cause Carpenter
Final Cause To be sat on -

- Purpose of Man
Human Being/Man
Formal Cause Soul (rational)
Material Cause Flesh/body
Efficient Cause Himself
Final Cause Happiness
= it is the ultimate goal of a human
being

- For Aristotle, happiness is not pleasure because

pleasure is the highest form/level for animals.
According to him, we are much greater than animals
because we have the capability to think and
communicate. He said that we should not step down to
the level of animals.
- For Aristotle, happiness is not a feeling but an activity.
It is the activity of the rational soul in accordance with
virtue.
o Virtue Ethics
 Virtue = “golden mean” or the
midpoint between excess and
deficiency (x)
 Excess = (x + 1)
 Deficiency = (x – 1)
 Examples of Virtue: courage,
justice, temperance, prudence
 You have to use your rational
self to get to the middle

EXAMPLE:
(deficiency) Cowardice  Courage  Rashness (excess)

- For Aristotle, to attain happiness is not only by living a

rational life, but also by living a virtuous life
- Despite the attainment of happiness, happiness is
relative because it responds to different degrees of
excess and deficiency
- Happiness cannot be achieved alone but it can be
achieved with others
- Happiness is the cultivity/activity of rationality.