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COURSE NOTES

Philosophy Overview

Philosophy has existed before Plato founded the first school: Academia. The tradition of
philosophy extends long and wide backwards through human history and can be traced back to
around 3,000 years old. It started with Thales, a Greek philosopher, who was the first to ask a
philosophical question, “What is everything composed of?” This question drives deep into the
nature of reality and is exalted, for up to this day, after three centuries and with billions of
dollars’ worth of technology, we still do not have an answer. Thales' question is both a
philosophical and a scientific question. Thus philosophy claims maternity on Science, both
natural and social.

The Nature of Philosophy

One may think of Philosophy as a human invention, but unlike most inventions whose mother is
necessity, philosophy’s mother is wonder. Several Greeks of ancient times were unsatisfied
with superstition, unjustified beliefs, and problematic social systems. It was up to these
intellectuals who yearn to improve their understanding of the world to develop the vast
enterprise that we know as Philosophy.

It was the renowned mathematician, then known as a sage, Pythagoras, who coined the term
Philosophy. He wasn’t just a mathematician, he would talk about the stars, the market, the
soul, politics and many Greeks found his ideas sensible. He was asked, “What are you, exactly?”
To which he answered, “I am a philosopher.” Philia is Greek for love and Sophia is Greek for
wisdom. Thus, philosophy is love of wisdom. It is the nature of the philosopher to inquire, seek
and confirm truth in any field that houses knowledge.

Philosophy is an umbrella discipline. It has existed before academicians categorized the

disciplines of sciences and liberal arts. All academic questions can be classified into one or two
branches of philosophy. It has many branches, most prominent of which are:

1. Metaphysics is the study of ultimate reality. This field involves the philosophical study of
how things exist and relate to one another. In here we ask questions such as, “How does
identity persist through change? What is the nature of time? What things really exist?”
2. Epistemology is the study of the theories of knowledge. This branch asks about the way
we get to acquire knowledge as well as the limits of what we can know. Here, we ask, “How is
knowledge possible? What are required for knowledge to be attained? How can we be certain
about reality?”
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3. Ethics is the study of what we ought to do. This branch reviews and analyzes what is
good or bad. We review different doctrines of morality such as utilitarianism, deontologism,
altruism, egoism, etc.
4. Aesthetics is the study of beauty. Discussions about art, expression, message and
culture are found in this branch. Here we ask, “Should art be intentional? How is beauty
defined? Is beauty absolute or subjective?”
5. Politics is the study of governance, laws, and citizenship. It discusses the necessity of the
state, the basis and goals of laws and the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Here we ask
questions like, “What is the best type of leader? What is the best type of government? How
much freedom must a law allow or restrict?”
6. Logic is the study of the methods of correct reasoning. Discussions on the proper
structure of arguments, the methods of reasoning and truth values are involved in this branch.
Here, one asks, “What is deductive reasoning? When is the conclusion only probably true?
What are the different mistakes in reasoning?”

Traditionally, Science was once considered a branch of philosophy and it was called Natural
Philosophy. Science was still a philosophy during the time of Newton, as evidenced by Newton’s
book, Principia Mathematica Naturalis Philosophae or Mathematical Principles of Natural
Philosophy.

The course of philosophy through history may be divided into four: [1]Ancient: man’s wonder
prompted the first philosophical question asked by the ancient Greek Thales. He asked “What is
everything composed of?” Then there was Socrates, known for saying that “An unexamined life
is not worth living.” He became one of history’s most famous thinkers, alongside his student
Plato whose criticisms of art and politics are still relevant to this day. Plato’s student and
completing the trio was Aristotle, who started to systematize philosophy and to whom science
and art owes a lot. [2]Medieval philosophy is largely about religion. This era includes Augustine
and Aquinas. In this era philosophy became a handmaid of theology, a tool for proving the
existence of God and discovering his will. In this era philosophy was used to fight off doubts on
God’s existence and to justify the moral imperatives of religion. [3]Modern Philosophy gave
way for new thoughts and further strengthened science. Philosophy took a step away from
religious concepts and started giving explanations without religious concepts; some even
challenge and deny religion. Auguste Comte, the father of sociology, saw the human condition
as progressing towards the rational and associated religiosity with primitivism. Rene Descartes
emphasized the power of reason when he claimed, “I think, therefore I am.” Francis Bacon
strengthened science by promoting the method of induction. Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau
formulated the basic concepts on governance. If the medieval era gave birth to the field of
theology, the modern era bore the field of human sciences. [4]Contemporary philosophy gave
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us highly influential and relevant thoughts from Marx, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Levinas, Buber,
Foucault and Lyotard and so many others. Right now, philosophy as a field leans towards
postmodernism which rejects the concept of a singular truth.

Philosophy may be topographically divided into two: Western and Eastern philosophy. Although
highly dissimilar in cultures, philosophical thoughts run both in the east and the west. Recently,
philosophical thoughts are identified in various literatures of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and
Shintoism. Some countries like China and India have their own philosophers like Confucius and
Nagarjuna, respectively. In the Philippines, various efforts have been made to examine and
qualify the thoughts of our thinkers like Jose Rizal and Apolinario Mabini as philosophical.

Prominent Philosophers

Philosophy houses the widest arrays of intellectuals who ever lived. Philosophers are thinkers
who have dealt and contributed to the topics that greatly shape the intellectual community.
Simply finishing a degree in philosophy does not give one the right to be called a “philosopher”.

1. Thales – The First Philosopher, asked the question, “What is everything composed of?”
He lived in Miletus, Greece. He and his contemporaries, Anaximander and Anaximenes tried to
answer the question. These three belong to the earliest group of philosophers known as Pre-
Socratics.
2. Heraclitus – He proposed that everything is in constant change, like being consumed in
fire. He said, “One cannot step in the same river twice.” This implies that once a person has
stepped into a river, the old river is gone and cannot be stepped on again. He taught that the
only thing that is constant in the world is change.
3. Socrates – The “gadfly of Athens’, who claimed that the only thing he knows is that he
knows nothing. He was considered to be the most influential of the Greek philosophers. He
pushed for the existence of absolute truths and together with his student Plato, conjured a
reality composed of two worlds: the world of ideas or forms and the world of matter.
4. St. Thomas Aquinas – He proposed the “5 Cosmological Proofs” as justification for the
existence of the Divine Being called God. The five proofs consist of the argument from motion,
causality, necessity, degrees of perfection and intelligent design.
5. Confucius – Most commonly associated with the golden rule stated in the negative, “Do
not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you.” He considered filial love to be
the epitome of affection. He was the most influential thinker in all of Chinese history.
6. Siddharta Gautama Buddha – Buddha literally means awake. His philosophy about
karuna (compassion) and metta (loving-kindness) shaped the ethics of an entire land. His
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teachings covers human suffering through the analysis of the human mind and experience. His
philosophy blended into spirituality and has become one of the world’s most peaceful and
resilient religion.
7. Friedrich Nietzsche – a champion of life affirming ideals, he criticized traditions and
philosophies that caused humankind to regress and stay weak. He taught that one must
embrace the will to power and become morally superior, which is what he calls the ubermensch
(overhuman). Though he is a bitter critic of Christianity, his thoughts are so potent that it has
been patronized by both non-Christians and Christians, even theologians.

One of the glaring results of enlightenment is the birth of sociology. The father of Sociology,
Auguste Comte, is a testament to the value of reason to humankind. His thoughts include the
progressive stages of the human history, from: the basic [1] theological stage where human is
governed by fear, irrationality and superstition; through a [2] metaphysical stage where human
is guided by abstractions such as final causes, telos, potentiality and actuality, and similar
transcendental concepts; and finally the [3] positive stage were the limitation of knowledge is
admitted in favor of tying truths to observable and demonstrable phenomena. This last stage
grew on many intellectuals through the 18th, 19th and 20th including the great minds of John
Stuart Mill, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Ernst Mach, Alfred Ayer, Karl Popper and many more.
Positivism has helped humankind walk away from the dangers of superstition and irrational
prejudice prevalent in the religious dominion that was the dark ages. Positivism was also
absorbed into the essential nature of scientific knowledge. Facts are now expected to be
backed not by mere authority nor threat, but hard evidence. Without positivism, science will
not be a solid discipline.