RHONAMAE C.

CABILATAZAN
GR 12 LG - 14

WRITTEN REPORT

* METHOD OF PHILOSOPHIZING *

OBJECTIVE:
● Realize that the methods of philosophy lead to wisdom and truth
● Evaluate opinion

Methods of philosophy that lead to wisdom and truth

According to Filipino Philosophy professor and textbook author Jensen DG. Mañebog, the
following are some of the methods of philosophizing that lead to wisdom and truth. The
discussion on each topic is also significantly based on his lectures:

1. “The Elenchus” (Socratic Method)

The term “elenchus” is Hellenistic Greek for inquiry or cross-examination. It is a kind of inquiry
or examination that discloses people to themselves, making them see what their opinions really
amount to.

Socratic Method leads to wisdom and truth for it asks a series of incisive questions to determine
whether a supposed knowledge could rationally be justified, defended, and accepted with clarity
and logical consistency.

This philosophical method (also called elenctic method or Socratic debate) is used to refute an
argument. It is a type of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on
asking and answering questions to extract truth.

2. The “Methodic Doubt” (Cartesian Philosophy)

The “Methodic Doubt” is also called Cartesian Philosophy because it was introduced by French
philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes (1596-1650), dubbed as the “Father of Modern
Philosophy.”

What is methodic doubt?

Using the Methodic Doubt, propositions from each class are scrutinized, that if a way can be
thought to doubt the truth of any statement, then all other statements of that class are also
dismissed as dubitable, though not necessarily false.

3. The “Lived Experience” (Phenomenological Method or Inquiry)

Phenomenological inquiry studies phenomena, that is, objects and events as perceived and
understood in the human consciousness, and not of anything independent of consciousness.
Phenomenology is a method of philosophy that focuses on the essence of lived experience.

4. Dialectical Method (Hegelian Dialectics)

Dialectical Method is also called Hegelian Dialectics as this was proposed by Georg Wilhelm
Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), a German philosopher and a significant figure of German idealism.

5. Critical Method (Kant’s Transcendental Idealism)

The so-called Critical Method (also called Kant’s Transcendental Idealism) suggests that in
knowing things we should focus on the analysis of the conditions and limits of knowledge. The
idea was introduced by the influential German philosopher in the Age of Enlightenment
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).
The Critical Method teaches that to get the answers to our philosophical questions is to
investigate our mental faculties and not to do a metaphysical speculation of the universe around
us. For Kant, the mind is not a passive receptor as it dynamically forms our perception of reality.

6. Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

Induction or reasoning inductively is fundamentally inferring a general conclusion from a
collection of particular facts. For example, one might conclude that “All flowers are fragrant”
because ilang-ilang, sampaguita, rose, and rosal are fragrant.
On the other hand, deduction is a process of reasoning in which reasons are given in support of a
claim. An argument is thus deductive if the premises claim to give conclusive grounds for the
truth of the conclusion.