PHILOSOPHY

LESSON 1- 4
Armando Bonifacio - article
“The Three Concepts of Philosophy”
1. Ordinary people have their own
philosophy
2. People express their personal
philosophy through the values
manifested in everyday life
3. To use philosophy to reconstruct and
put things in the proper perspective
Thales 650 (BCE) - dared to go against tradition for
the first time and assumed that it is within man’s
rational ability to abstract and explain reality
Came up with certain questions like “How do things
come to be, change, and pass away?”
According to Warner, philosophy emerged as
something revolutionary since their
mythological explanation about the universe
would be set aside in favor of a more
coherent and rational one.  

“PHUSIS” or “nature” in English.

Philosophy – is the mother discipline out of
which other sciences emerge.
ISAIAH BERLIN (BRITISH-RUSSIAN
PHILOSOPHER) 
- A philosophic question or problem has three
● Physics characteristics. 
● Chemistry
HARD SCIENCE
● Biology
PHILOSOPHY AS A SECOND-ORDER
INQUIRY 
● PSYCHOLOGY - Example: A scientist will follow the method
● SOCIOLOGY of his science strictly while doing his
SOFT SCIENCE
● PHYSICAL experiment in his laboratory. (First-order
SCIENCE inquiry)
-
- On the other hand, a philosopher would
USE PHILOSOPHY TO ● KANT question or criticize the assumptions of the
RECONTRUCT AND ● RUSSELL physicist. (Second-order inquiry) 
PUT THINGS IN A ● CONFUCIUS
PHILOSOPHY COULD BE RELATED TO
PROPER ANY OTHER SCIENCES:
PERSPECTIVE
● Philosophy of Mathematics
● Philosophy of Psychology 
● Philosophy of Social Sciences  

FACTS
FRIEDRICH WAISMANN – Austrian
Philosopher 
-  Once said that “Philosophy is Vision”

1
 - Look at things in different ways before WESTERN PHILOSOPHY
assuming (just like Thales) ● Tends to make a heavy use of logic.

FACTS THALES 
ANAXIMANDER
Was the most popular among the three ;
Fatherit is
ofageless and eternal
the Western and that it
Philosophy
As early as 630 BCE, Thales was already encompasses
He was regardedthe whole worlds.
as one of the Seven
doing Philosophy. But, did you know that the Sages of Ancient Greece is cylindrical and is
He believes that earth
term philosophia was first used by suspended in spacethat the SEA was the
He also believed
Pythagoras and his followers around 531 fatherHeofwas the first person to attempt to
all things
BCE? It came from the root word philo (love) draw a map
He was the first philosopher to believe
and sophia (wisdom). that earth is flat
He was also a businessman and he
managed to establish an olive oil industry
ANAXIMENES
Thales – Father of Western Philosophy  ( African Continent – Egypt )
He was a mathematician
 student of Anaximander
● It was assumed that there must be an
He
He believedconsidered
was also as an astronaut
that the fundamental
order in the universe and that the universe
because
substance he was said to
of reality have
must bepredicted
AIR an
must be an orderly system known as the
eclipse
Hesuccessfully
also agreed that the earth is flat
cosmos, governed by laws or logos which
theory but are like saucer that are floating in
could be explained by man through the
air
process of abstraction.
PRE SOCRATICS
Western Philosophy – began in 630 Miletus
Miletus – fishing village and center of trade and ANAXIMANDER
commerce student of Thales
  was a good prose writer
According to Curd, Miletus was the ideal   Fundamental Substance of Reality is the
place for the first practice of philosophy to    Infinite or APEIRON
emerge. I' Apeiron has no precise characteristic or
m attributes
 

TRIVIA
- The three of them gave us a non-
THE MILESIANS mythological account of the nature of
reality
 The story of philosophy started with the triumvirate
of the three Milesians ( Thales, Anaximander, - They were considered HYLOZOISTS ( ‘hylo’
Anaximenes ) or stuff and ‘zoe’ or life) because they
believed that the universe is alive.
Triumvirate – three men holding power
PYTHRAGORAS (531 BCE)
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY
● Seems to have no dichotomy between ●  A leader of a religious cult known as
objective world and man as a human being. Pythragoreans
The Eastern tradition of philosophizing has ● He was different because he treated
been associated with their religion. philosophy in a different way – It was a way
● For them, philosophy and religion are one of life.

2
 ● He also considered philosophy and
mathematics as good purification for the
purification of the soul
● He gave importance to the contemplative
life for this cathartic process of purification.
A Contemplative Life is intentional solitude, being
present in the now, and making time to think about
your thinking. Activities such ash meditation,
spending time in nature, making a digital and
social media detox exercise encourage a
contemplative life.
HERCLITUS (500 BCE)
● He was known for the mystical nature of his
philosophy especially his idea about
CHANGE
● He believes that the only permanent thing
in this world is change
● Have said the following “ You cannot sleep
twice into the rivers, for fresh waters are
overflowing in upon you. We step and do
not step into the same rivers, we are and
are not “
EMPEDOCLES (493 – 433 BCE)
● He believed himself to be IMMORTAL and
that he and magical powers
● He was known to have cured somebody
who have been comatose for 24months
● He was also the prominent of the notion
that reality is made up of 4 elements name;
Earth, Air, Water and Fire.
● He was regarded as pluralist
PARAMENIDES (450 BCE)
● He was known to be the leader of the
Eleatic School
● His Philosophical idea is contradiction of the
idea of change from Heraclitus
● He proposed that the only permanent in
this world is BEING; the reality is made up
of a continuous object of plenum called
being
ANAXAGORAS (480 BCE)
● He believed that there are many seeds or
elements as there are kinds of things
● ‘Nous’ or the mind, which was conceived of
as external but infinite
ZENO OF ELEA (490 BCE)
● The first is the Achilles and Tortoise paradox
● Zeno was a student and a loyal follower of
Paramenides
● He also agrees to the idea of Paramenides
that reality is being; he went on to prove
this assumption by pronouncing that there
is no notion.
● The second is ‘The arrow in flight is at rest’
LESSON 3: APPROACHES IN
DOING PHILOSOPHY
According to Broad
 CRITICAL OR ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY HAS 2
FUNDAMENTAL TASKS:
1. First, the analysis and definition of our
fundamental concepts 
2. Second, the clear and resolute criticism of
our beliefs 
How do we use analytic philosophy in order to
resolve the problem stated? 
- First, we need to recognize that this is not a
disagreement. In fact, this question is a
perennial problem. It exists for a very long
time but there is still no standard answer
for it. 
- Second, we should examine and criticize
our beliefs and assumptions in our everyday
life according to Broad.  These assumptions
involve our beliefs and preconceived
notions about many things around us. There
are many beliefs based on our prejudices.
3
 - Another example would be our bias against
Muslims because of the terrorist acts of a
small group of bandits like the Abu Sayyaf.
- Those who are not exposed to Islamic
traditions and live in cities predominated by
Christians, would carry their prejudice
against all Muslims and regard them as
terrorists and trouble-makers.  together to understand the bigger picture.
Conclusion: Philosophy is a new way of looking at
things. Let us try to look at what other people are
seeing. From the point of view of where they are
coming from, they have their own stories to tell us. 
0. SPECULATIVE OR METAPHYSICAL
PHILOSOPHY
In contrast, speculative or metaphysical
philosophy tries to find an underlying explanation
or general principle that could explain reality in its
entirety. As Broad would put it, "speculative
philosophy aims to reach some general conclusions
about the nature of the universe; and our position
and prospects in it.
B. REDUCTIONIST AND HOLISTIC
PHILOSOPHY
● According to Willy Ostreng in his article
“Reductionism versus Holism – Contrasting
Approaches” the difference between the
two contrasting approaches is their stems
from their fundamental differences in
focus. Reductionism focuses on the
properties of its parts while Holism leads to
the relationship between them.  used. It is a doctrine in the Philosophy of
● A reductionist approach to doing philosophy
refers to understanding complex ideas by
reducing them to their parts or individual
constituents. 
RENE DESCARTES – First introduced the concept of
Reductionism during the 17th century in Part V of
his treatise called Discourse on the Method. 
● He likened the world to a machine with
pieces working like a clockwork mechanism.
He argued that the machine can only be
understood if an individual would take its
pieces apart and study its individual
components before putting them back
● He is a French Mathematician and
Philosopher, known also for his method of
thoroughly doubting and questioning
knowledge to arrive to a piece of it that
cannot be doubted.
Holistic Philosophy - works on the assumption that
all properties in a given system cannot be broken
down by its component parts alone, but rather the
system as a whole entity decides how the individual
parts behave. 
The word holism came from the Greek word holos
which means “all”, “whole”, or “total”.
THE TWO MAIN TYPES OF HOLISM ARE: 
● Epistemological Holism - It is also called
Confirmation Holism. This type of holism
claims a scientific theory cannot be tested
individually, since testing a single theory
would always depend on other
established theories and hypotheses.
● Semantic Holism - The idea behind
semantic holism is that every word has
meaning only in relation to other words,
sentences, or the language in which it is
Language which suggests that a certain part
of language, a term, or a complete sentence
can only be understood through its relations
to a larger segment of language or possibly
the entire language.
4
LESSON 4
Anthropocentrism and Deep Ecology
- The idea of anthropocentrism stems from the
Judeo-Christian tradition which maintains that
humans are the chief stewards of God’s
creations, that non-human beings have no
intrinsic value, and that their value depends on
their utility to human beings.
Deep Ecology
- Is a new ecological philosophy (Ecosophy) that
considers humanity as an integral part of nature.
The ideology emphasizes the interdependence of
nature, humans, and non-humans
Enlightened Anthropocentrism – maintains that humans
have a moral duty to set limits on the utilization of nature’s
good to protect that needs of the future generation.
ANTHROPOCENTRISM FOUR PRINCIPLES:
- First, human beings must recognize their moral
obligations regarding their utilization of
environmental goods.
- Second, the present generation must consider the
well being of future generation.
- Third, people must understand the full value of
ecological services.
- Fourth, human beings must recognize that nature has
an aesthetic value.
THE STATE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN
THE PHILIPPINES
The Philippine biodiversity has been one of the richest in the
world. It’s been part of the 17 mega divine countries which
claim two thirds of the world’s species.
The two major causes of the loss of Philippine forests are,
first, the conversion of Philippines forest to secondary forests
both by legal and illegal logging and second, the removal of
secondary forest by the expansions of upload agriculture.
Thus, the Philippine government initiated massive
reforestations. Both government and private sector are still not
enough to stop the rapid deforestation in the Philippines.
The reforestation using fast growing exotic species led, to the
alteration of the Philippines reforests, which failed to bring
back ecosystem functions because exotic trees do not suit the
Philippines climate.
Rain Forestation: A way of caring the natural
environment
There is a need to care for the environment since it’s wrath it
fatal when unleashed.
One of the innovations that have been implemented to address
environment exploitation is the technology called rain
forestations.
Visayan State University
- Introduced rain forestation in early 1990. It is a
technology designed to use unproductive lands by
planting native tree species that were not widely used
in the government’s reforestation program.
Philippines-German Applied Tropical Project
- Looked in to the possibilities of rehabilitating the
forested areas to reclaim their ecological function.
This program was designed to promote biodiversity
rehabilitation and conservation of remaining primary forests
and natural resources. Since the 1990’s groups and individual
adopters have successfully benefitted from the results of rain
forestation.
The Human Person and Climate Justice
According to Simon Carey, there is overwhelming evidence
that human activities are changing the climate system. The
emission of greenhouse gases results in increased temperature,
rising sea levels, and severe weather storms.
The climatic changes raise several issues of justice such as:
a. How to assess the impacts of climate change
b. What climate responsibilities the current generation
has to the future generation
c. How to political actors ought to consider the risks
and uncertainties involved in climate projections
d. Who takes responsibility for addressing climate
change
According to Gallinero, as rational beings, humans should do
the things that can bring welfare to their fellow human beings
regarding climate justice.
Summarization
Socrates
- was a greek philosopher
- he was known for his method of questioning his
conversation partners
5
 - He is famous for saying “I know that I know
nothing”
an anti thesis refers to a thesis that
- He also said
negates or opposes the guven thesis.
Once the thesis and the anti thesis “the
clash, another thesis will arise, called a unexamined
synthesis life is not
worth living”
OPINION
- is a personal claim, belief, or personal stance on a
particular subject matter.
JOHN CORVINO
- offers a philosophical distinction between an
opinion and a fact.
- For him, a statement of fact has objective
content and is well supported by pieces of
evidence.
- statement of opinion is one whose content is
either subjective or not well supported by
available pieces of evidence.
CORRESPONDENCE THEORY
- which maintains that both the knower and the
things being perceived must correspond to each
other.
Truth
- is grasped when there is conformity between the
mind and the things outside the mind.
- neither an opinion nor a fact
- it is a universal, undisputed, verified through
facts, and even transcendent, beyond a
reasonable doubt.
Methods of Philosophizing
- are the various ways of attaining truth or wisdom.
Socratic Method
- is named after the ancient philosopher Socrates,
Plato’s teacher.
- This method refers to the process of asking open ended
questions that are committed to finding the truth.
- It usually take a form of a dialogue in which people discuss
and analyze a specific subject matter.
DIALECTICAL METHOD
- term dialectics derived from the greek word
dialogue, which means to debate or discuss.
- this dialectical method emphasize here is the one
developed mostly by Henry and Marx. It is a method
of studying and understanding real development and
change.
The phenomenological method
helps a person to examine his/her
own experience of something. In
this way, personal experience is
considered to understand a certain
phenomenon better. Synthesis
- is the result
of the conflict between a thesis and antithesis.
- the synthesis becomes a new thesis that will be
opposed by another antithesis, which will result in
another synthesis.
PHENOMENOLOGICAL METHOD
- comes from the two greek words: Phenomenon,
means study or reason.
- Phenomenology is the essence of the nature of the
things that appear to a person.
For Edmund Husserl, phenomenological is the “the science
of the essence of consciousness”
Husserl’s Phenomenological Method
- is the most original or also called pure
phenomenology.
- it emphasizes the person’s live experience to get to
the true meaning of reality.
Natural Attitude – refers to the belief that the reality
outside the person is relative to and separate from the person
who experiences it.
Phenomenological Attitude – refers to the process
whereby a person suspends his/her beliefs of the things he/she
has learned from the natural attitude.
Method of Husserl’s Phenomenology
Bracketing- this process is also called epoche,
which means abstain; the person’s experiences,
beliefs, and learnings are bracketed or set aside to
see the thing in itself.
- In philosophy, this means unpacking
certain realities
Eidetic Reduction – this is the movement from fact
to essence, a transcendental reality that refers to the
immateriality of things, such as thoughts, feelings,
memories, etc.
6
 - it can b found inn plants for they can grow,
reproduce and feed themselves.

Sensitive Soul
- shares with the vegetable soul because it also
capable of growing, feeding, and reproducing.
Rational Soul
Hermeuneutics - shares with the lower types of soul and has the
capacity for thoughts.
- The term hermeneutics is usually associated
with the greek god, Hermes, who was the St Augustine
messenger between gods and humans. - believed that God created the world which
includes the creation of the immortal soul.
- It is derived from hermeneutics or
- St Augustine and Plato believed in the soul’s
hermeneusai and hermeneia, which means immortality and can exist without the body.
interpreting or interpretation.
- This process refers to the understanding of a St Thomas Aquinas
particular reality. - Another
Aquinas, Philosophy and notable
Romanticist hermeneutics – hermeneutics of Theology are not twophilosopher
Friedrich Schleiermacher; the aim of hermeneutics conflicting disciplines. Theywho was
is to capture the truth of the text. rather complement each other greatly
in the quest for truth. influenced
by
Chapter 3; The Human Person as an Aristotle’s
Embodied Spirit thoughts and is known as the defender is the
Christian faith and the Angelic Doctor of the
Embodied Spirit – it refers to the inseparable church.
union of body and soul

John Locke
Plato’s 3 Function of Soul - Human mind is a tabula rasa refers to a blank
slate.
- Plato’s view of the human person rest on the
dichotomy of the body and soul. He believed
that the human soul is the authentic part because
the body is in the prison cell.
- Plato contended that the soul existed before the
body because it was created by the gods and was
venerable at birth.

The Tripartile Function

 Rational Function
 Passion Function
 Appetitive Function

ARISTOTLE’S 3 TYPES OF SOUL:

- the word “soul” is an English translation of the
Greek word psyche.

Vegetative Soul