INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY
OF THE HUMAN PERSON
MODULE 1: WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY - comes from the two Greek
words philos, which means “love”
and sophia, which means “wisdom”
- literally means “ love of wisdom”
Pythagoras - attributed the word “philosophy”
as he said it first to use when differentiated the
three different classes of people who attended
the ancient Olympic Games as:
1. Lovers of Gain (Sellers)
2. Lovers of Honor (Players)
3. Lovers of knowledge or wisdom
(Audience)
THE SUBJECT MATTER TO PHILOSOPHY
Three Concepts of Philosophy, Armando
Bonifacio explained that characterizing
philosophy can begin with the common
comceptions
1. That people, though unconsciously, have a
philosophy in life:”The fundamental values are
some basic assumption about things, persons,
institutions, and other which from
presuppositions that influence one’s beliefs,
decision and actions”.
2. The activity of reflecting on and analyzing
one’s belief or reasons for actions of decision
could be a kind of philosophy as well.
3. Philosophy could also be constructed as a
belief or a value system that shows a universal
and comprehensive character as a result of
reflection and analysis in a more comprehensive
and systematic manner.
B. Another view on Philosophy
- as a study of subjects which can be understood
on how they are talked about.
Philosophical Understanding - is not making
some discovery about the word, but deciding on
how to talk.
Talking about subject means:
1.) Investigating the meaning of
concepts or proposals of a new term
in order to advance some area of
philosophical inquiry.
2.) Critiquing the use of these terms
3.) A combination of both
THE MAJOR BRANCHES OF
PHILOSOPHY
Ethics – Greek word “Ethos” > meaning
“moral philosophy”
 Concerned with human conduct
 It deals with norms or standard of
right and wrong applicable to human
behavior
 It is considered prescriptive as it
prescribes what people ought to do
rather than describes what people do.
 Helps people prioritize their values
Example:
 Charity Conservationism
 Respectful
 Egalitarian
 Emphatic or Good-
intentioned social behavior
 Love caring or friendly
behavior
 Responsible Consumption
Aesthetics – Greek word “Aisthetikos” which
means “sensitive” or perceptive”.
 Concerned with the analysis of
aesthetic experience and idea of what
is beautiful.
Analyses of Aesthetic are:
1.) Aesthetic Judgement
2.) Standards of Beauty
3.) Objectivity
Epistemology – Greek word Episteme > which
means “knowledge”.
 Deals with various problems
concerning knowledge.
Major concerns are the origin of knowledge:
1.) Empiricism – experience
2.) Rationalism- Mind prior to
experience.
3.) Verification or conformation of
knowledge.
Logic – Rules or principle that govern
reasoning
 A study of reasoning
 Incorporates the methods of deduction
and induction to provide the rules on
how people ought to think logically.
 Deduction Reasoning -General to
Specific
 Induction Reasoning - Specific to
General
Metaphysics – Literally means “After physics”
 Study of the nature of reality
  Analyze whether everything is
material, and if life, energy and mind
are its different manifestations.
Metaphysics reflects on:
 Subject of appearances (How
somethings looks by how it appears)
 Reality (which actually is)
BRIEF HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
Pre-Philosophical Period
 People have already attempted to
explain the origin of things and the
events of occurrences in nature.
 Such attempts are evident in the
folklore, myths and legends.
 The ancient Babylonians, Chinese,
Hindus, Egyptian and the Greeks
most notably believed in.
Pre- Socratic Period (Miletians)
 Philosophy is said to have begun in the
ionic colonies is Asia minor around
6th century BC through Thales of
Miletus
Thales - first Greek philosopher and the
father of philosophy.
Anaximander – who also wondered about the
beginning of the universe and where it came
from.
 Claimed that universe was formed
from the boundless.
Anaximenes – argued that air was the
fundamental element.
Heraclitus of Ephesus- claimed the “Unity of
opposites”
1. Constant changes.
2. Identical Property of Unity of
opposite.
3. Everything is not the same.
Xenophanes of Colophon – claimed that there
is a single God.
Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans – believes
that the cosmos is a structured system order
by numbers.
 Since these point of view are devoid of
any mythical notions, they are already
somewhat “scientific”.
 Through their main concern is the
nature of phenomena of what
constitutes the cosmos,
testimonial, and fragments.
Socrates and the Socratic Schools – The
second period in the history of Greek
philosophy is comparatively short but is
considered the most flourishing.
 The period was dominated by three
famous philosophers; Socrates, Plato
and Aristotle.
Socrates – He left no writing at all and yet he
has greatly influenced western philosophical
tradition through Plato’s Dialogues.
 Socrates is best known for the
elenchus or the Socratic Method
 Socrates is also regarded as the one
who urged self-examination and
claimed that “The unexamined life is
not worth living”
Socratic Method – is a method of question and
answer which aims to provoke the one being
asked to think for himself or herself to clarify
his or her conceptions about what is asked.
Plato – Plato’s philosophical ideas are found in
his dialogue which are accounts of what is
concerned with as influenced by his teacher,
Socrates
The Republic – One of Plato’s most famous
work, discusses his social and political
philosophy and his belief that Greek city-states
to flourish.
 Must be led by philosopher kings and
that justice is best manifested if
person would do what is suited to
each of his or her soul.
Aristotle – Aristotle’s philosophy is often
described as an opposition to the Platonic
philosophical tradition.
 He believes that the perceptual and
cognitive faculties to the Platonic
philosophical dependability.
Medieval Period: Scholasticism
 Described as the confluence of faith
and reason.
 They also attempted to reconcile
Greek philosophy and Christian
theology.
St. Anselm – known for his ontological
argument for the existence of God in
Proslogion.
St. Augustine – promoted “the argument by
analogy” against solipsism or the philosophical
idea that only one’s own existence is the only
thing that is real.
St. Thomas Aquinas – famous for his
influential work Summa Theologica which
explains his views on the creation and
government of the universe, the origin and
nature of man, and human destiny, among
others, through Catholic theology.
Modern Period: Rationalism, Empiricism,
Kat’s Philosophy.
 The modern tradition in the history of
philosophy is recognized to be
concerned about problems or issues
on knowledge.
 The reflections and analysis are
directed toward answering the
questions on the nature of knowledge
and the verification and types of
knowledge claim to be known by
humans.
Rationalism – The rationalist Rene Decartes,
Barush Spinoza and Gotfried Wilhelm Leibniz
believe that the reason is the sole source of
knowledge.
Empiricism – Empiricists believe that aside
from reason, experience is also a source of
knowledge.
Immanuel Kant and Synthetic a Prior
Knowledge – In the critique of pure reason,
Kant examined the extent to which human
reason is capable of a priori.
Contemporary Period: The Analytic and the
Continental Tradition
 The most difficult to characterize is
the philosophical tradition which
dominated western thought in the
20th century.
 The history of philosophy gives
emphasis that the beauty of
philosophic discipline is
understanding the world from a
variety of perspective, reflections and
analysis.
Analytic Tradition – This school of thought,
which dominated English speaking countries,
concentrated on logical analysis of language to
solve the problem which based on philosophy.
Continental Tradition – This philosophical
tradition dominated the English- Speaking
countries outside the analytic tradition during
the 19th and the late 20th centuries.
Holistic Perspective and Partial Point of view
– The etymology of philosophy gives you a
clue on how to philosophize.
MODULE 2: THE VALUE OF
PHILOSOPHY
SOME PROBLEMS IN PHILOSOPHY
Metaphysics
 The branch of philosophy responsible
for the study of existence.
 The foundation of a worldview.
 Encompasses everything that exist, as
well as the nature of existence itself.
 Study of the fundamental nature of all
reality.
Knowledge
 Defined as “justified true belief”.
 Analyses the nature of knowledge and
how it relates to similar notion such as
truth, belief and justification.
 The mental grasp of the facts of reality
 A successfully formed conclusion
about some aspects of reality.
Ethics
 Involves systematizing, defending,
and recommending concepts of right
and wrong behavior.
 Concerned with questions of how
people ought to act, and the search for
a definition of right conduct and the
good life.
The Value of Philosophy
 Contributes to the body of knowledge
acquired by people and how such
knowledge enhances the mind’s
ability to reason.
 Cannot be measured by its ability to
arrive at a definitive answer.
Philosophizing
 Will motivate you to dig deeper into
what you believed.
  Seek whether what you conceive
about who you are or what the world
is are based on something more
substantial than simply based passed
on by the authority.
 Engaging in philosophy means
engaging in contemplation.
Philosophical Inquiry
 Is the venue for pursuing an
examined life by reflecting upon
issues and problems in life which are
philosophical in nature.
Russell’s Description of Philosophy Best
Characterizes why it has to be pursued:
 Philosophy is to be studied, not for
sake of any definite answers to its
questions since no definite answer can,
as a rule, be known to be true, but
rather for the sake of the questions
themselves because these questions
enlarge our conception of what is
possible, 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, the mind also is rendered
great, and becomes capable of that
union with the universe which
constitutes its highest good.
- Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy
MODULE 3: THE METHODS OF
PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy as Speculation / Speculative
Thinking Speculation
 Derived from the Latin word
“specula” which means watch the
tower.
 Allow you to expand your perspective
by encouraging you to see the bigger
picture by participating in the world
and using your experience as the
source of ideas.
 Sometimes consider as detached
because it is an activity best done
alone in isolation.
 Help you to take the broadest
perspective on a subject inquiry.
Philosophy as Critical Thinking/ Analysis
Criticize
 Means to “judge” and /or analyze.
 Philosophy, like critical thinking or
analysis, questions, judges and
evaluates any all principles and
premises that may be gained though
speculation.
Mode of Critical Analysis
a. Logical
 where philosophical problems are
solved through a careful analysis of
the logical structure of the
philosophical assertions.
Logical Analysis
 A statement is reduced into the
simplest form, called an elementary
sentence, which is then verifies
through observation.
b. Linguistic
 where meanings of words are
analyzed for their clarity and
consistency.
Linguistic Analysis
 requires a clear definition of words to
avoid ambiguity or vagueness and
therefore ensures clarity of claims.
Philosophy as Reflective Inquiry
John Dewey
 Reflective Thinking
- “a kind of thought where the group
for the belief is deliberately sought and
the adequacy to support the belief
examined”.
 Meaning-making
- A process that moves a learner
from one experience into the next
with a deeper understanding of
its relationship with connections
to other experiences and ideas.
 Educative Experience
- is one that broadens the field of
experience and knowledge, bring
awareness to bear and leads in a
constructive direction towards
intelligent action.
Six Phases of Reflective Inquiry
- comprise the rigorous and
systematic process one may go
 through lot achieve a clear and
comprehensive idea about a
particular subject which arises
from one’s experience.
1. The experience.
2. Spontaneous interpretation of
the experience.
3. Naming the problems or
questions which arise.
4. Generating possible
explanations.
5. Ramifying the explanations into
full blown hypotheses.
6. Experimenting the hypotheses.
Philosophizing
– is not purely an intellectual exercise. It also
involves the whole being of a person of his or
her effective parts.
Reflective Inquiry
- Has to happen in a community
where each member serves as a
support to one another in
validating personal experiences
valuable, in seeing things in a
“new” way, and in engaging in
the process of query.
Reflection
- Is also described as a set of
attitudes. To believe that
awareness of one’s attitudes and
emotions, and the discipline to
harness them and use them to an
advantage is part of the work of
a good thinker.
MODULE 4: THE VALUE OF TRUTH
The Nature of Belief
Belief
- defined by the Oxford
Dictionary, refers to the
acceptance that a statement is true
or that something exists.
- The dictionary even lists belief as
synonymous with opinion.
- St. Augustine’s period
characterized it as, “to believe is
nothing but think with assent”.
The Nature of Truth
1. Correspondence Theory of Truth
- states that the key to the truth is
the relation between propositions
of the world.
2. Coherence Theory of Truth
- state that the truth of any
proposition consists in its
coherence with specified set of
propositions.
3. Pragmatic Theory of Truth
- holds that a proposition is true if
it’s useful to believe.
- truth is arrived at based on belief
that lead to the best
- “payoff” that gives the ultimate
benefit or advantage that
promotes success.
- The given proposition is true if it
leads to the success, if it is
expedient for the person to believe
that his or her dreams will come
true with visualization.
Shortcomings of the Theories of Truth
1. Correspondence Theory of Truth
- criticized in its limitation to give
future predictions
- the characteristic of being a
proposition due to the
indeterminate state of affairs it
refers to.
2. Coherence Theory of Truth
- is criticized for its vulnerability
that clarifies the notion of
consistency
3. Pragmatic Theory of Truth
“It is wrong always, everywhere, and for
anyone to believe anything on insufficient
evidence. “
- William Clifford’s essay “Ethics of Belief”
Opinions Purpose
Rene Descartes
- rationalist philosopher claimed that
“we have the obligation to
withhold assent from all
propositions whose truth we do
not clearly and distinctly
perceive”.
- In other contexts, it may be both
permissible and prudent to form
a mere “opinion” whose truth we
do not clearly and distinctively
perceive.
Plato
 - distinguished between opinion
(doxa) and intellect regarding the
visible realm of sensible object.
- He explained that two concepts
are distinct by different degrees
upon the nature of objects in
which it is concerned with.
Comparison of Knowledge and Wisdom
Knowledge
- is the accumulation of facts and
information.
- knowledge is a tool

First Segment Wisdom

- imaging or conjecture which
refers to the pictures and other
images in the lowest level of
reality.
- this segment is the appropriate
degree of awareness, although it
provides only the most primitive
and unreliable opinions.
- is the synthesis of knowledge and
experiences into insights that
deepen one's understanding of
relationships and the meaning of
life.
- wisdom is the craft in which the
tool is used

Second Segment
- is belief which is based on the
perception of ordinary physical
objects.
- Plato believes that this is the most
accurate possible conception of
man to the nature and relationship
of temporal things.

Last two segments of cognition

- are knowledge and thought.

Thought
- is in the intelligible realm, a step
to a higher than belief.

Knowledge: Justified Truth Belief

Edmund Gettier (1963)

- an America Philosopher wrote an
essay refuting the traditional
analysis of knowledge or its
definition as a “justified true
belief”.
- He gave the counter example to the
conception that knowledge is
structured as follows:

 S knows that P (if and only if)

 P is true
 S believes P
 S is justified in believing that
P is true