Subject: Introduction to Philosophy of a Human Person

Lesson 1: PHILOSOPHY IN GENERAL

Learning Competency: 1.1 Distinguish a holistic perspective from a partial point of view.
1.2 Recognize human activities which emanated from
deliberate reflection.
What’s New?

Activity 1: Think and List!

Think of 3 simple, serious, and deep questions that you ever asked yourself.
Were you able to give answers to those queries? Example: Why is there a night and a day?
Why can’t we see the air? Why is it that we cannot hold the water for so long? Do this in
your activity notebook.
Questions: Day-day Encounter Possible answer:
1.

Processing Question:
1. Why did you come up with those questions?
2. What did you feel in asking yourself those questions?

What is It?

What is Philosophy?

There is no best definition of Philosophy as a discipline. Hence, for the sake of our
understanding, we will looked into its etymological and technical definition.

a. Etymological definition
Philosophy comes from the two Greek words philo meaning “love” or “friendship” and
sophia meaning “wisdom.” Thus, philosophy means “love of wisdom.” Love is an
urge or a drive of a will towards a particular object. As a drive, love always seeks
unity with its object and desires to possess its object. Thus, wisdom cannot be
dissociated from knowledge.
Truth is the ultimate object of knowledge. Philosophy is absolutely committed to the
truth, “the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” Hence, truth is being shown and
practiced by a man of wisdom. Now, if philosophy means love of wisdom, to
philosophize, therefore, is to be in quest, or to have a desire towards loving and
living the truth (Babor, 2007)
b. Technical definition
Philosophy is defined as “the science of beings in their ultimate reasons,
causes, and principles acquired by the aid of human reason alone (Bittle,
1984).”
To better understand Philosophy, let us break down the statement into the following:
1) Philosophy is a science.
- Science is about acquiring a certain kind of knowledge. Philosophy is a
science because the questioning is given more importance than the
answers to the questions, since answers can become questions
themselves. (Babor,2007)
2) Philosophy is a science of beings.
- As a science of beings, it covers all the things that can be reached by the
human mind. This includes man, the world, God, everything that is, or
becomes, or is known.
3) Philosophy searches for the ultimate reasons, causes and principles of
beings.
- This means that philosophy studies the ultimate “whys and wherefores” of
beings.
To illustrate: Philosophy does not investigate plant life, but rather, it
seeks an answer to the question: “What does it mean to be a living thing as
opposed to a non-living thing?”
4) Philosophy uses the power or natural light of reason.
- The study of philosophy help us acquired by the aid of human reason
alone. Meaning, philosophy doesn’t base its knowledge on authority, but
solely on the reasoning power of the human mind. Hence, divine
revelation is formally excluded as a source of information although it can
and should assist the mind of man by pointing out the proper direction for
the philosophic solution of a problem along purely natural line.
-
What are the divisions of Philosophy?
Philosophy is classified into practica l and speculative. Man’s philosophical
questions tend to fall into any of the following fields:
1. Practical Divisions of Philosophy - is composed of philosophical fields, which
study not only to obtain knowledge and wisdom but also to use that knowledge
and wisdom for practical purposes. It includes logic, ethics, axiology, aesthetics,
and semantics.
a) Logic (Questions related to Reasoning).
Logic studies the laws of thought. It is the science of correct reasoning.
This covers the study of simple apprehension and ideas, judgment and
proposition, reasoning and arguments.
Logic attempts to resolve the following questions: “What makes good
arguments good and bad arguments bad?”
b) Ethics (Questions related to Morality).
Ethics deals with development of a virtuous and moral character.
It is the science of the morality of human acts as ordained to the end.
 Ethics attempts to resolve questions like: “What makes my action right or
wrong, and how could I know it?”. “Is there a norm good and evil?
c) Axiology (Questions related to Values).
It is the science of value. It is the study of the origin, nature, functions,
types, and interrelations of values.
Axiology attempts to resolve questions like: “How are values experienced?”
“What are the kinds of value?”
d) Aesthetics (Questions related to Beauty and Taste).
It is the science of beauty and art. Beauty means the quality attributed
to whatever pleases the beholder such as form, color, and behavior. Art is
creativeness and skill in making or doing things that have form and beauty. It
includes the concept of creativity, expression, representation, form, and style.
Aesthetics attempts to resolve questions like: “What are the essential
characteristics of beauty?” “What is aesthetic value?” “Do the arts provide
knowledge?”
e) Semantics (Questions related to Meaning).
It is the science of meaning. It studies the natural and artificial
language scientifically. This includes the study of the relations of words to the
objects denoted by them, the relations of words to the interpreters of them,
and, in symbolic logic, the formal relations of signs to one another (syntax).
Semantics attempts to resolve questions like: “What sorts of meanings do
human grammars yield, and by what rules are these meanings assembled?”
“How does grammatical knowledge develop in children?”
2. Speculative Division of Philosophy - is made up of philosophical fields whose
main concern is the acquisition of knowledge without any thought of applying it for
any practical use. It includes epistemology, theodicy, cosmology, philosophical
psychology, and metaphysics.
a) Epistemology (Questions related to Truth and Knowledge). Epistemology is the
science of knowledge. This includes the
statement and solution to the critical problem, nature, origin, objectivity, and
validity of knowledge, truth and certitude.
Epistemology attempts to resolve questions like: “What is knowledge?” “What
is fact?” “What is truth?”
b) Theodicy (Questions related to God).
Theodicy is the science of God - His nature, existence, essence, attributes
and operations.
Theodicy attempts to resolve questions like : “Does God exist?” “Why God
allows evil?”
c) Cosmology (Questions related to Universe).
 Cosmology is the science of the universe – its origin and development
with its parts, elements, laws, especially its characteristics with regard to
space, time, causality and freedom.
Cosmology attempts to resolve question like: “How did the world begin and
where will it end?”
d) Psychology (Questions related to Soul).
Psychology is science of soul. The study deals man not only as a sensing or
thinking subject but also as a being composed of body and soul.
Psychology attempts to resolve question like: “Is there really a soul?”
e) Metaphysics (Questions related to Being and Existence).
It studies the nature of the mind, the self, and consciousness. It is the
science which deals with the nature of being, its attributes, constituent
principles, and causes.
Metaphysics attempts to resolve the following questions: “What is being?”
“Why is there being rather than non-being?” “What is existence?” “What is
essence?
Why the study of Philosophy is important?
According to Zunjic (2011) studying or doing philosophy could be beneficial in many
regards such as:
1. Philosophy enlarges our understanding of the world. It expands our intellectual
horizons and freedom of thought.
2. Philosophy raises public awareness and helps in forming engaged and
responsible citizens.
3. Philosophy can increase our sensitivity for universalistic moral values and
stimulate our readiness to stand up for the principles of justice and fairness.
4. Philosophy can give one self-knowledge, foresight, and a sense of direction in
life.

Why is there a need to philosophize?

1. Men have the tendency to wonder (Plato).
For example: we asked questions about our existence
2. Men also have the tendency to doubt ( Rene de Cartes).
For example: Men have to test and verify information before accepting it.
3. Men do philosophize because of his/her experience ( Karl Jaspers). Our daily
experience challenged our ideas and way of thinking.
For example: Giving money to a beggar, and found out that he uses it for
gambling.
4. Men’s love for wisdom (Socrates). Men’s desire for truth or seeking of
knowledge is not to claim ownership of it but to get the bottom of things.
Who are the most notable ancient Greek philosophers?
1. Pythagoras (570 BCE to 495 BCE) – He is a mathematician and a scientist, and he was
credited with formulating the Pythagorean theorem.
2. Heraclitus (535 BCE to 475 BCE)- He proposed that everything that exist is based on a
higher order or plan which he called logos.
3. Democritus (460 BCE to 370 BCE) – He primarily remembered today for his
formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. He was the first to propose that matter is
composed of tiny particles called atom.
4. Diogenes of Sinope (412 BCE to 323 BCE)- He was known as advocate of living a
simple and virtuous life. His teachings and views influenced the development of several
schools of philosophy such as Cynicism and Stoicism.
5. Epicurus ( 341 BCE to 270 BCE) – He believed that philosophy could enable man to live
a life of happiness. His perspective gave rise to Epicureanism – a school of philosophy
which believes that wisdom and simple living will result in a life free of fear and pain.
6. Socrates (470 BCE to 399 BCE) – He was considered the foremost philosopher of
ancient times. He contributed much to the field of ethics. He was known of developing
Socratic Method - a means of examining a topic by devising a series of questions that let
the learner examine and analyze his knowledge and views regarding the topic
7. Plato (427 to 347 BCE) –A student of Socrates, he wrote some of his mentor’s
teachings and incorporated some of his own ideas.
a)Plato’s most significant ideas included his Theory of Forms, which proposes that
everything that exist is based on the idea that can only be perceived in mind.
b)He is famous for his dialectic - a method of inquiry where two opposing ideas are
discussed in an attempt to arrive in a new knowledge.
8. Aristotle (384 BCE to 322 BCE) – He attended the Academy and was a prominent
student of Plato. He go against the idea of Plato’s theory of forms and took a different
stance in interpreting reality.
 For him, all ideas and views are based on perception and our reality is based on what we
can sense and perceive. Aristotle was involved in a great variety of discipline such as
zoology, psychology, ethics, and politics.
 He formulated a formal process of analyzing reasoning – deductive reasoning – the
process by which specific statements are analyzed to reach a conclusion or
generalization.

What’s More?
Activity
 2: Let’s Do This!
Write a short essay of the philosophy of your life as a student. Write your essay in
your notebook.

Rubrics for the essay Writing

1. The paper relates entirely to the assigned topic or issue. 5,4,3,2,1
2. The paper conveys a genuine personal view of the topic or issue. 5,4,3,2,1
3. Spelling, punctuation and capitalization. 5,4,3,2,1
4. The work is original. 5,4,3,2,1