PHILOSOPHY

 The word philosophy is derived from the greek words

philia(love) and sophia(wisdom) and means “the love of
wisdom.”

 Pythagoras was said to have been the first man to call

himself a philosopher; in fact, the world is indebted to him
for the word philosopher. It is said that when Leon, the
tyrant of Philius, asked him of who he was, he said “a
Philosopher” and he likened the Philosopher to spectators
at ancient games.

 Before that time the wise man had called themselves a

sage, which was interpreted to mean those who know.

 Pythagoras was more modest. He coined the word

philosopher, which he defined as one who is attempting to
find out. According to him, men and women of the world
could be classified into 3 groups: 1. those that love pleasure
2. those that love activity and 3. those that love wisdom.

Philosophy

-is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those

connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and
language.

-it is the rational attempt to formulate, understand, and answer

fundamental questions.

NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY
1. Philosophy is a set of views or beliefs about life and the
universe, which are often held uncritically.

-we refer to this meaning as the informal sense of philosophy or

“having” a philosophy. Usually, when a person says “my philosophy
is” he or she is referring to an informal personal attitude to
whatever topic is being discussed.

2. Philosophy is a process of reflecting on and criticizing our most

deeply held conceptions and beliefs.

-these two senses of philosophy-“having” and “doing”- cannot be

treated entirely independent of each other, for it we did not have
a philosophy in the formal, personal sense, then we could not do a
philosophy in critical, reflective sense.

-Having a philosophy, however, is not sufficient for doing

philosophy. A genuine philosophical attitude is searching and critical;
open-minded and tolerant- willing to look at all sides of an issue
without prejudice. To philosophize is not merely to read and km\
now philosophy; there are skills of argumentation to be mastered,
techniques of analysis to be employed, and a body of material to
be appropriated such that we become able to think philosophically.
Philosophers are reflective and critical

3. Philosophy is a rational attempt to look at the world as a

whole.

-Philosophy seeks to combine the conclusions of the various sciences

and human experience into some kind of consistent world view.
Philosophers wish to see life, not with the specialized slant of the
scientist or the businessperson or the artist, but with the overall
view of someone cognizant of life as a totality.
4. Philosophy is the logical analysis of language and the clarification
of the meaning of words and concepts.

-Certainly this is one function of philosophy. In fact, nearly all

philosophers have used methods of analysis and have sought to
clarify the meaning of terms and the use of language. Some
philosophers see this as the main task of philosophy, and a few
claim this is the only legitimate function of philosophy.

5. Philosophy is a group of perennial problems that interest people

and for which philosophers always have sought answers.

-Philosophy presses its inquiry into the deepest problems of human

existence. Some of the philosophical questions raised in the past
have been answered in a manner satisfactory to the majority of
philosophers. Many questions, however, have been answered only
tentatively, and many problems remain unsolved.

Major Branches of Philosophy

After addressing the question “what is philosophy?”, let us now

discuss the major branches of philosophy. Philosophy is normally
divided into four major branches, namely: Metaphysics,
Epistemology, Logic, and Ethics.

Metaphysics comes from the two Greek words meta, which means
“beyond” or “after” and physika, “physical” or “nature”. Hence,
etymologically speaking, metaphysics means the study of things
beyond the physical, that is, concepts or things that cannot be
experienced, such as the concepts of God, freedom, and soul.

Metaphysics is commonly understood as the foundation of

philosophy. In fact, Aristotle calls it the “first philosophy”.
Originally, the Greek word metaphysika, which literally means “after
physics”, actually designated that part of Aristotle’s works, which
came after those chapters that dealt with physics. However, it was
misappropriated later by the Medieval commentators on classical
texts as that which is beyond the physical. Thus, over time,
metaphysics has been understood as the study of that which exists
beyond the physical.

Metaphysics is subdivided into two, namely, General Metaphysics

and Special Metaphysics. General Metaphysics is also referred to as
Ontology. Under Special Metaphysics, we have Cosmology,
Psychology or Anthropology, and Natural Theology or Theodicy.

Ontology is derived from the two Greek words onto, which means
“being” or “that which is”, that is, everything that exists; and
logos, which means “knowledge” or “study”. (Note, however, that
the term logos in ancient Greek scholarship have different
connotations. For example, Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher of the
late 6th century BCE, understands Logos as reason or the
underlying principle of all that is.) Ontology, therefore, is the
specific branch of philosophy that studies beings in their ultimate
causes, reasons, and principles through the aid of reason alone. In
other words, Ontology studies the first principles or the essence of
all things.

Some of the basic questions in ontology are:

 What is being?

 Why do things exist, rather than not exist at all?

 What is the meaning and nature of reality?

 What is the underlying principle of all that exist?

 Is there nothing?
Cosmology, from the Ancient Greek words kosmos, which means the
“world” and logos, meaning “study”, is the specific sub-branch of
philosophy that studies the world (or universe), including its origin,
dynamics, and characteristics, as well as the laws that govern its
order.

Some of the basic questions in cosmology are:

 What is the origin of the world?

 What is the basic material of which the world is formed?

 How do things arise?

 In what consists its (the world) fundamental form or

principle of order?

 Is the world or universe infinite?

Psychology comes from the two Greek words psyche, which means
“soul” (but loosely understood as mind) and logos, study. Thus,
psychology is the specific sub-branch of philosophy that studies the
soul or mind. Broadly construed, though, psychology is the study of
the nature and dynamics of the human person as a whole, with
emphasis on the way the person’s mind functions and the way she
behaves.

Some of the questions in psychology are:

 What is the nature of the human person?

 Is there such thing as human nature?

 What is the meaning and purpose, if any, of life?

 Is there life after death?

  How do we account for the existence of sufferings in the
world?

Theodicy (Natural theology) is derived from the Greek word theos,

which means God. The word theodicy was coined by the famous 18 th
century German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in his 1710
work titled Théodicée. Broadly construed, theodicy is the study of
God. But specifically, theodicy is concerned with the justification of
the goodness of God in the face of the existence of evil in the
world.

Some of the questions in theodicy are:

 Is there God?

 What and who is God, if He exists at all?

 How do we prove the existence of God?

 If God exists, how do we justify the existence of evil and

suffering in the world?

 Does a belief in God really necessary?

The second major branch of philosophy is Epistemology.

Epistemology comes from the two Greek words episteme, which

means knowledge, and logos which means study. It is formally
defined as the study of the nature and scope of knowledge and
justified belief. Specifically, it analyzes the nature of knowledge and
how it relates to similar notions, such as truth, belief, and
justification.

Some of the basic questions in epistemology are:

 What is knowledge?
  What do we know?

 How is knowledge acquired?

 What is the structures and limits of knowledge?

 What makes justified beliefs justified?

The third major branch of philosophy is Logic. Logic comes from

the Greek word logos, which, as I already mentioned, has different
meanings. It is defined as the science of correct thinking or the
study of the principles and criteria of a valid argument. More
specifically, logic attempts to distinguish sound or good reasoning
from unsound or bad reasoning.

Some of the basic questions in logic are:

 What is correct reasoning?

 What distinguishes a good argument from a bad one?

 How can we detect a fallacy in an argument?

 What are the criteria for determining the validity of an

argument?

 What are the types of logic?

Now, on the fourth major branch of philosophy, namely, Ethics.

Ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, which originally means
custom or habit. Broadly construed, ethics is the morality of
human actions. Ethics, therefore, is concerned with questions of
how human persons ought to act, and the search for a definition
of a right conduct and the good life.
It is important to note that ethics is not the same with morality.
This is because ethics denotes the theory of right action and the
greater good, while morality indicates practice, that is, the
rightness or wrongness of a human action.

Some of the questions in ethics are:

 What is a right conduct as that which causes the realization

of the greatest good?

 How do we determine a right conduct? In other words,

what makes a right conduct right?

 What is a good life and can we attain it?

 What is the difference between human act and actions that

are based on instinct?

 What do people think is right?

What is the difference between holistic thinking and partial

thinking?

Holism comes from the Greek word “holos,” meaning literally

everything, whole. Holistic perspective refers to a perspective that
considers large-scale patterns in systems. This is often described as
looking at the “big picture” when describing and analyzing a
situation or problem. A holistic perspective requires an individual to
have an open mindset and an ability to get the general sense or
impression regarding a situation. Partial point of view, on the
other hand, focuses on specific aspects of a situation. The partial
point of view is an important component of analytical thinking, as
an individual focuses on certain areas or aspects of a problem in
order to understand it. Though partial point of view is useful,
philosophy utilizes holistic perspective in making sense of problems
and issues related to the human experience.

Holistic Perspective and Partial Point of View

Holistic Perspective Partial Point of View

►Looks at all aspects of the ►Looks at only a limited

given problem or situation. number of aspects of the given
problem or situation.
► All aspects are given
importance when making ► Conclusions are made based
conclusions. on considering some, but not all,
sides of the problem or
► All aspects are tied in
situation.
together to form a general
overview of the problem or Example: A teacher scolds
situation. Student A after Student B
accused him of stealing her
Example: A teacher listens first
pencil case. However, the
to both stories of her two
teacher only listened to the
arguing students before making
story of Student B, and not
any conclusion about the issue.
Student A, before deciding to
scold the student.

Looking at the characteristics of holistic perspective and partial

point of view, it can be concluded that using a holistic perspective
is more desirable in doing philosophy than using a partial point of
view. Partial point of view only promote limited knowledge on the
situation. This leads to wrong conclusions.