1st Meeting
extension of a man’s feelings for himself
What is Philosophy?
 Origin doesn’t necessarily appear to have an actual
definition of the word.
 Comes from the Greek words philos and Sophia.
 Philos means love and Sophia means wisdom.
 In English love is the only term for the said word
but NOT in Greek for it has eight (8) types of love.
1. Storge – familiar love.
 it is the first love happened when we were born. its
nature is to reprimand us.
2. Eros – passionate or sexual love
 its nature is to reprimand us.
 named after Greek god Fertility and it represent the
idea of sexual passion and desire
 it has negative connotation to Greeks when applied
to society
 was viewed as a dangerous and irrational form of
love that could possess you
 it involves “loss of control” towards your opposite
sex
 came from the root word “erotic”
3. Philia – friendly love / platonic love
 has nothing to do with physical attachment but with
MENTAL ATTACHMENT
 physical attraction was not a necessary part of love
according to Plato
 this type of love has nothing to do with malice but
only for pure friendship
4. Mania – obsessive love
 the type of love that cause abuse or stumble
 one of the irrational forms of love because it could
lead to extreme and abusive love
 its nature is forceful
5. Ludus – playful love / short term love
 describes love that concerns with having a playful
affection with children or casual lovers
 has no commitment and short term
 immature love because it involves young people
 youthful lust that’s why youth keep on talking about
“walang forever”.
6. Pragma – practical / enduring love
 you must be pragmatic / relationship should be
working
 long term love and has commitment
 there’s a forever in love
 we witness that from our lolo and lola
 about making compromises for the relationship to
work overtime
 there is true love
7. Philautia – self love
 Aristotle realized that there were two (2) types of
Philautia: Healthy and Unhealthy
 Unhealthy because it has something to do with
narcissism or being selfish. Loving yourself without
extension.
 Healthy because it enhances a wider capacity to
love others. If you love yourself, you have plenty of
love to give to others (it will reflect)
 This love has an extension
 Aristotle said that all feelings for others are an
 It is not a perfect love because it can be extreme
(selfish)
8. Agape – perfect love / selfless love
 Unconditional love
 Loving someone whatever or whoever he is despite
his flaws
 For ancient Greeks, this love is not innate to people
because it involves self-sacrifices
 Its nature is sacrificial love
 It is divine and can be extended not only to your
loved ones but to all people
 One perfect example is dying not only for you loved
ones but also for your enemies
 Christ dying for us in the perfect example of Agape
love.
There is correlation between Greek word Philos and Philia.
 Sophia means wisdom and this gender noun is
feminine.
 Philosophy according to Greeks is “love of
wisdom” and its tradition common definition is “the
wisdom of the ages past”.
 But for Herodotus, filosofein came from the
understanding of the verb “desire to find out”.
 Sophists are the enemies of Socrates, Plato and
Pythagoras
 Sophists they are paid, and they believe that they
know everything. They will teach what they want to
teach and believed that wisdom is natural to them.
 Pythagoras believes wisdom is not natural or innate
to people unless we seek for it and that is the
meaning of Philosophy.
Philosophy is the process of asking questions and finding
answers no matter how tentative these answers may be.
2nd Meeting
Philosophy has to do with the love of wisdom. In order for
a person to love wisdom he has to treat wisdom as
brother/sister. It is because the word
Philos (love) is related to one type of love called Philia
which means friendly/brotherly love.
THE MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
A. PLATONIC-AUGUSTINIAN DEFINITION
On the pursuit of wisdom according to Plato, whatever
knowledge we have doesn’t have to be separated to justice
and our virtue.
On the pursuit of wisdom according to St. Augustine, aside
from virtue and intellect, we should also seek for the highest
good for everyone to be happy, otherwise, it is not for
wisdom. Our understanding of goodness although limited
but it has a universal standard in a sense that it is independent
to our culture, where highest good exists. We should seek for
goodness and not evil.
On the pursuit of wisdom according to Plato, another nature
of wisdom is the truth. As per Socrates, the one who does
work with a knowledge of the truth that can defend or prove
him, when he is put to the test is worthy of a higher name.
God alone, lover of wisdom is his modest and decent title.
Socrates believes that there is a supreme entity that exists.
On the pursuit of wisdom according to St. Augustine,
another nature of wisdom is divine where it comes from
God. There are two types of wisdom: Godly and Worldly
wisdom. Possessing worldly wisdom will give you bitterness
and pride towards someone. Godly wisdom is pure and it
provokes peace in a conversation despite the
misunderstandings.
On the pursuit of wisdom according to Plato, it is not about
committing suicide but ones you commit wisdom in the right
way and tried to apply it in your lives expect that you will
confront people who will disagree with you and give threats
to you. They will put you to death because they see the
importance of truth and how it could affect ignorance and
dumb.
B. COPAN’S CONCEPT OF PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy although has a religious connotation, it is neither
religious nor secular but is a kind of tool. It is a tool that it is
not a product of philosophical writings or doctrines, but the
process of critical thinking and exercising reasoning.
BRIEF HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
A. Pre-Socratic Philosophy (6th-5th Century B.C)
 The birth of Philosophy begins in the West.
 Philosophy started from Ancient Greece, especially in
a city of Miletus.
 The first philosophy was sought after cosmos and
nature (they first studies these). They question why
things change and how it happened.
 Thales of Miletus, the first ancient philosopher.
 First ancient philosopher wrestled with the problem of
change, the plurality of the elements, and the existence
of Logos.
 Milesian School, Eleatic School, Pythagorean School,
Pluralism, Atomist School.
B. Classical Philosophy (5th – 4th century B.C.)
Philosophy was formally popularized by Socrates,
Plato, and Aristotle.
 Classical Philosophy is formed in the systemic way of
life.
 Greek Philosophers were concerned with how people
should act rightly and behave, namely, ethics.
 Dialogue is first used as a form of philosophizing
method. Two parties conversing one another which
goal is to arrive at right conclusion (they challenge their
belief’s consistency and coherence)
 First formal system of education happened in Plato’s
time
 Plato = Academe
 Philosophy in this period was now sought after
morality, politics and the aim for the knowledge of
truth.
 School of Athens was developed as the first formal
system of education.
 Including, Sophism, Epicureanism, Hedonism,
Stoicism, Skepticism and Neo-Platonism
C. Medieval Philosophy (1st – 14th century A.D.)
 Medieval Philosophy was birthed from the fall of both
the Roman Empire and classical pagan cultures. Fall of
worshipping false gods.
 Philosophy, in this period, was sought after the rational
belief in a traditional basis of one God. Philosophy
doesn’t focus on nature or cosmos or even morality and
ethics because these only came from God.
 Medieval Philosophers were monotheistic, mainly
concerned with the proof of God’s existence, the
compatibility of faith and reason, and the reconciliation
of religion and the classical Greek philosophy.
 Emphasis on the study of the soul and God – Theology.
 The critical method of the use of language analysis and
logic considering the Scriptures – Scholasticism
 The establishment of the first universities in the world.
D. Modern Philosophy (17th – 19th century A.D.)
 Age of reason and enlightenment
 The early Modern Philosophy is known as The Age of
Reason or Enlightenment.
 Modern Philosophy is birthed through the dominant
growth of humanism, the advancement of science and
politics, and the rise of liberalism. Dominant growth of
Humanism emerged where instead of studying
theology, they became interested in studying
humanities because they think Man has a power.
 Revolution between the dominance of rationalism
(knowledge is possible through reason) and empiricism
(you must start with new experiences for you to have
knowledge). Philosophical revolution where
rationalism and empiricism oppose each other.
 The dominant form of Philosophy is the emphasis on
logic during the late Modern Philosophy
 Existentialism and Phenomenology become the use of
philosophizing method.
 Skepticism, Agnosticism, Transcendentalism,
Atheism, Naturalism etc.
E. Contemporary Philosophy (20th–21st Century)
 Contemporary Philosophy is resulted to the gradual
departure of a God concept, the use of language
analysis, and the rise of contemporary sophism.
Sophism or postmodern still exists until today, they
deny the existence of objective truth that there’s no
such thing as objective truth. It is impossible to know
the past objectively or with certainty.
 The revolution between Analytic Philosophy and
Continental Philosophy.
 Philosophy of language popularized by Wittgenstein
became the dominant use of method for interpreting
literatures and languages. They use the hermeneutics
which is a study of interpreting a certain text or
language.
 The development of a modified form of Existentialism
and Phenomenology, and the mixed version of both.
 Logicism, Nihilism, Behaviorism, Structuralism, Post-
structuralism, Postmodernism, Deco structuralism,
Neo-Atheism and etc.
3rd Meeting
MAIN BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
A. METAPHYSICS / FOUNDATION – is the study of
reality
• The theory of reality
• The word metaphysics was popularized by
Aristotle. Came from the Greek word “meta” which
means beyond.
• They believe that reality exists beyond the physical
world. But it changed, and they try to understand
 that it happened “after”. They define metaphysics as
something that has to do with phenomenology.
• The first foundation of philosophy that deals with
ultimate reality of existence, being, and the world.
• It studies if the world that we experience today is a
real world or is there something beyond this that
may be classified as the ultimate reality.
• Five (5) branches of Metaphysics:
1. Cosmology
 The study of cosmos or the universe. Majority of
cosmologists are scientists. They try to understand the
world through empirical observation and hypothesis
that the creation of the universe has a cause.
2. Ontology
 The study of being or existence. “Cogito, ergo sum”,
according to Rene Descartes, to be certain and distinct
about our claims of existence we have to exercise our
thinking, and part of that is to doubt since doubting is
part of thinking therefore, we exist.
3. Teleology
 The study of purpose or goal. According to Aristotle,
every substance has a purpose. We existed in this world
because every part of us has a function. We are not a
product of nature by chance. Essence precedes
existence, that our essence of life came into our
existence.
4. Natural Theology
 Was popularized by Thomas Aquinas. To understand
God and His existence, we need to understand that God
is able and knowable even in nature and in cosmos.
Thomas Aquinas’ used has five ways under Natural
Theology to prove that God exists. Cosmos and nature
are God’s second book.
5. Universal science
 Laws of Logic has three types of laws: Law of Identity,
non-contradiction, and excluded middle.
 Law of Identity p is p. The way we identify earth
is that it is round based on how scientists observe
universe.
 Law of Non-contradiction p is not non-p. For
example, someone says the earth is flat, and the
other one claims the earth is round. This laws
principle means, the two is not equal and the two
are contradictory with each other. Two conflicting
statements cannot be both true in the same sense.
 Law of Excluded Middle either p or non p and
there is no middle. We can consider 1+1=2 as
universal truth, but do you think that there 1+1 has
another sum aside from 2? No. 1+1=2 transcended
by our culture and that’s the only answer. No
middle ground, no another conclusion. It is not a
product of cultural, but it is the universal truth.
B. EPISTEMOLOGY / BLUEPRINT – the study of
knowledge that deals with its limitations and
reliability. For your belief to be consistent and
coherent you must justify what you believe with
facts.
 Has two (2) main branches
 Rationalism – is the study that knowledge is
possible only through reason alone. Theoretical
knowledge.
 Empiricism – prescriptive, our experience after
knowledge. Impractical knowledge. In which our
knowledge can be acquired through sense of data
and experiences
C. AESTHETICS / DESIGN – the theory of beauty
and appreciation of art. It is based on our aesthetic
judgement, it is subjective
• The primary role and its objective criteria is to
establish the criteria of beauty.
• There are three (3) main essential purposes of
Aesthetic philosophy:
1. It vitalizes our knowledge
2. It helps us to live more deeply and richly
3. It brings us in touch with our culture
D. LOGIC / MEASURE – where one thing must be
proportionate and in order. The study of correct
thinking.
 Is the science of reasoning that deals with the principles
and criteria of valid inference and demonstration.
 It is used through the analysis of facts whether directly
or indirectly. We must analyze something that can be
factual because the goal of logic is to arrive at truth/
objective truth. Logic is seen as math with ideas,
instead of numbers. Math that uses propositions.
 There are three (3) main branches of logic:
1. Inductive reasoning – must start from specific
to general. Example, you’re making a dependent
study, coherent to what the data and other studies say about
the reality.
2. Deductive reasoning – you must deduce.
Example, some say animal is a mammal, whale is a
sea animal therefore whale is a mammal. First and
second premise must be both truths.
3. Syllogism – it both deduce and induce based on
the proposition’s nature. It is generally a synthesis
between inductive and deductive
reasoning.
E. ETHICS /CONSTRUCTION WORKER – they are
the designer.
• The theory of moral principles and actions.
• It primarily deals with the proper concepts of right
and wrong conduct.
• Ethics commonly refers to the actions of a particular
group whereas, morality refers to individual.1
• Ethics is divided into three (3) main branches:
1. Meta-ethics – The nature and origin of ethics and its
use of language
2. Normative ethics – The framework of moral
judgment
3. Applied ethics – The standard of behavior for
different application