12

Introduction to the Philosophy

of the Human Person
Quarter 1 – Module 2:
Methods of Philosophizing
Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person – Grade 11/12
Quarter 1 – Module 2: Methods of Philosophizing
First Edition, 2020

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work
of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or
office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit.
Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of
royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names,
trademarks, etc.) included in this module are owned by their respective copyright holders.
Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek permission to use these materials from
their respective copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim
ownership over them.

Published by the Department of Education

Development Team of the Module

Writers: Maurice Dence B. Bacaling
Editors: Linda C. Mahomoc, Ed.D
Reviewers:
Illustrator:
Layout Artist:
Template Developer: Neil Edward D. Diaz
Management Team: Leonora Liza D. Dacillo

Printed in the Philippines by Learning Resource Management Section

Department of Education – Davao del Sur

Office Address: Corner Lapu-Lapu Plaridel Streets, Zone 3, Digos City, Davao del Sur

Telefax: ___________________________

E-mail Address: lrmds.davsur@deped.gov.ph

 12

Introduction to the
Philosophy of the
Human Person
Quarter 1 – Module 2:
Methods of Philosophizing
Introductory Message

Welcome to this module 2, METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING. This module

will help you understand the different methods of philosophizing. This will also
develop yourself to distinguish your opinion from truth.

To the facilitators, parents and teachers who will use this module:

This module will serve as guide in facilitating your learner on how they will
understand the different methods of philosophizing in the simplest way that they will
appreciate philosophy. This module will also give you a better way of how you will
deliver the lesson to your learners.

To the learners:

As you enter the senior high school life, you will discover more about yourself
and questions about your life that needs to be answered. This module will teach you
how to analyze situations or issues that you encountered in life and how will you deal
with it in a holistic perspective. With this module you will re-examine your past
experiences and rediscover something about yourself. YOU will think like a young
Philosopher after finishing this module.

I hope this module will aid in your journey in understanding yourself, what it
means to be a human being and how important to be you. I hope that you, our
learners will begin to understand the beauty of Philosophy and how this will help you
understand the meaning of life.

1
 Let Us Learn!

This module will teach you what the various ways of doing philosophy
and how to evaluate opinions.

After studying this lesson, you should be able to:

 Distinguish opinion from truth (PPT11/12-Ic-2.1)
 Realize that the methods of philosophy lead to wisdom and truth
(PPT11/12-Id-2.2)
 Evaluate truth from opinions in different situations using the
methods of philosophizing (PPT11/12-Id-2.3)

CONTENT STANDARD

The learner demonstrates various ways of doing philosophy.

PERFORMANCE STANDARD

The learner evaluates opinions.

DURATION

Week 2

2
 Let Us Try!

As of now, you already have learned from the first module the importance of
doing philosophy. Aside from that, you also have grasped how to analyze life
situations through self-reflection and have a bigger picture using holistic perspective
before you make a decision.

Aside from using holistic perspective in analyzing different situations that you
encounter in your life, you need also to gather truthful information that you can use in
making the right decision. But, how can you decide whether that information is true
or not?
I want you to recall your past experiences from the given timeline of your life.
List down those unforgettable events in your life that you think other people have
different opinion towards you. But, you know to yourself that their opinion is not the
truth or it was not the event which really happened. Take for example this situation;
Nina is 17 yrs. old, a high school student. She was always the talk of the town. Her
neighbors gossiped about that she worked in a nightclub because she always came
home late at night. But the truth, she was working in a fast food to help her parents in
raising the family.

Write the age, and unforgettable event happened in that particular age.
Please fill-up the graph provided below. Note: use the separate activity sheet
provided for you.

Age 7
Unforgettable Ex. My

Event classmates
think that I’m
unfriendly to
them.

3
Thoughts to ponder!

Now that you already identified the unforgettable event in your life based from
the timeline activity, what do you notice about those unforgettable events of your
life? Do you think the opinions of other people reflect the truth? Why? How can we
evaluate truth from opinion? Is there a procedure or method to do it?

We will try to discover the answers to these questions as we learn this module
2, Methods of Philosophizing.

4
 Let Us Study

Lesson 1: How can we distinguish Truth from Opinion?

As you try to reflect yourself and the things around you, you sometimes seek
for truth especially when you face obstacles and challenges in life.

But what is truth? How can we differentiate truth from opinion? How can we
distinguish truth from opinion? These questions might also be your questions to
yourself. An opinion is a person’s statement of judgment about something in
the world and about life. When we talk about opinion, it is not always equal in form.
Some opinions were made very weak that they cannot be seen in the world of print
and media while some opinions were strongly presented that people tend to believe
that it was already the truth. Let’s consider the example of the case COVID-19
pandemic. Today, many people tend to believe on the different opinions posted in
the social media that will create fear and wrong information that create fear and
anxiety. It is important to note, that opinion should be validated and needed
further justification to prove that it is true. We should not easily accept opinions
that we get from social media especially nowadays a lot of fake news were shown in
different platforms. Be vigilant and well informed about the information your read.

So, how can we critically validate opinions?

It is crucial for you to learn that opinion must be able to pass the test of
justification to validate if it is true or not. In short, a person who makes the opinion
must know how to argue in a most reasonable way. Remember, philosophical mind
needs preparation in examining arguments in support with the opinion.

Clarify what an argument is. When we say an argument, this is a group of

statements that supports a conclusion. For instance, “My friend is lazy.” Note, that
this is not yet an argument; this is just an expression of an opinion. So, if a person
wants to convince another person that his opinion is true, he must provide support or

5
reason for his claim. Then, the argument will be like this, “My friend is lazy because
she always has so many reasons and alibis in making a certain task.”

In this example, the claim of the person who made such opinion, “my friend is
lazy” is supported with reason, “She always has so many reasons and alibis in
making a certain task.”

Basically, an argument composed of a claim, the conclusion of an argument

and premises, the reasons used to support the conclusion of an argument.

Remember, not all arguments are good arguments. Logic as one of the
branches of philosophy, it studies and elaborates on good argumentation. In
understanding the discipline of philosophy of the human person, it is important to
know and recognize those good arguments from false ones. These fake arguments
are called “fallacies”. Fallacies are statements that appear to be arguments but don’t
actually support the conclusion. For example, “My friend is lazy because she comes
late to school.” In this example the stated reason totally doesn’t give logical support
to the claim.

It is important to recognize these fallacies because they can be trickier

because they appeared to be well articulated arguments. And if you are not
observant and careless, fallacies can pass the test of justification without difficulty at
all. So, it is crucial to know what are these fallacies are. Here are some of the most
common fallacies.

1. Argumentum Ad Hominem (Argument against the Person)

It’s an effort to contradict the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative

characteristic or belief of the person supporting it.

To summarize, If Person A made a statement X and Person B contradicts on

person A’s statement and claims Person A is wrong. Then A's statement is
automatically not true.

6
Example:

Bill: "I believe that abortion is morally wrong."

Dave: "Of course you would say that, you're a priest."
Bill: "What about the arguments I gave to support my position?"
Dave: "Those don't count. Like I said, you're a priest, so you have to say that
abortion is wrong. Further, you are just a lackey to the Pope, so I can't believe what
you say."

Explanation:

Dave attacks Bill’s opinion about abortion because he believes that Bill is just
claiming he thinks abortion is wrong because he is a priest and that it’s his place to
claim and to think that. Although he has no reason not to think that, Bill does believe
it’s morally wrong and isn’t just saying that because he is a priest.

Source: Kristin Key & Amanda Crabtree, Ad Hominem,

http://www.barren.k12.ky.us/userfiles/1537/Classes/1232/Fallacy%20-%20Ad%20Hominem.ppt

2. Argumentum ad Baculum (Appeal to Force)

This is an argument used by people who want to win a conflict by issuing a threat
to their opponents.

Example:
You had better agree that the new company policy is the best bet if you
expect to keep your job.

Proof:
Identify first the threat and the proposition and argue that the threat is
unrelated to the truth or falsity of the proposition.

Source: Cedarblom and Paulsen: 151, Copi and Cohen: 103,

https://www.slideshare.net/FilzaJawed/appeal-to-force

7
 3. Argumentum ad Misericodiam (Appeal to pity)

Sometimes called appeal to emotion. It is an argument where in people used this

to win people by manipulating people’s emotions.

Example:

I really deserve an “A” on this paper, professor. Not only did I study during my
grandmother’s funeral, but I also passed up the heart transplant surgery, even
though that was the first matching donor in 3 years.

Explanation:

The student deserves an “A” for effort and dedication but, unfortunately, papers are
not graded that way. The fact that we should pity her has nothing to do with the
quality of the paper written, and if we were to adjust the grade because of the sob
stories, we would have fallen victim to the appeal to pity.

Source: Walton, D. (2006). Fundamentals of Critical Argumentation. Cambridge University Press.

https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Appeal-to-Pity

4. Argumentum ad Populum (Appeal to the People)

This fallacy believes that a suggestion must be true because most/many believe
it to be true.

Example #1:
Extended warranties are a very popular purchase by the consumer, so extended
warranties must be good for the consumer.

Explanation:
The fact that something is popular has no bearing on whether it is beneficial.

8
Example #2:

Everyone drives over the speed limit, so it should not be against the law.

Explanation:
Just because a lot of people do something, it does not make it the right thing to do.

Source: https://www.logicalfallacies.org/argumentum-ad-populum.html

Let’s answer!

 Give 1 example for each fallacy discussed.

 Check out other fallacies commonly used today. Give examples.

Note: Do not write anything on this module. Use separate sheets for your
answer.

____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

9
Lesson 2: Philosophizing – how?

There are four main methods of philosophy, namely, Socratic, phenomenological,

hermeneutical, and the analytic one.

The Socratic Method

Socrates engaged in a "didactic dialogue" of questioning, that is expressed in the

critical examination and cross-examination of the positions of every participant to the
conversation. The didactic dialogue intends not to convey new truth but only as
guide to arriving at the truth. (Nelson, 1965, pp.269-316)

The method is later known as "the Socratic method of question." Socratic Method
entails not to insist on inculcating knowledge to students but rather guides them to
arrive at certain truths.

The way to wisdom is to admit that you don't know anything. As what Plato said, "I
do not think I know what I do not know".

There are four True Philosophical Wisdom:

1. Engaging into rigor of philosophizing
2. Staying in the problem
3. Questions for answers
4. Problems solved

The Phenomenological Method

Phenomenological method is the study of our conscious experience. It deals with the
determination of nature and structure of human conscious experience. This means
that you learn through your experiences. Conscious Experience is how people
become aware and its perception to the world.

10
Phenomenology and everyday lived experiences

Phenomenology is ultimately directed upon the primordial meaningfulness of our

everyday experience. The world is something that is outside of us and not just a
mere product of our mental exercises. Edmund Husserl inquires how our linguistic
utterances and judgments- through mental structures, directing us into objects that
are existent in the world. Objects present to us in perception. Perception is now the
beginning of all of our experiences of the world. Human consciousness is always
conscious of something other than itself.

The Phenomenological Reduction

The term "epoche" means allowing truthfulness of human experience to reveal itself.
This is the process of suspending our prejudices to our natural encounter with the
world to reveal the meanings in their purest sense. It is also the attempt to lay bare
the essential and general features of that world as a set of essential meanings. What
exists in our mind is not actual book, but a reduced form by it - "intentional
inexistence". In other words, a thing exists in the mind, but not as an actual thing, but
as an idea.

The Hermeneutical Method

This is a philosophical art of interpretation. It proceeded with a free genius act of

dealing with the original meaning of the text. Texts do have their own proper
temporal context. It is an understanding that is derived from the things themselves
(Heidegger, 2008, p.153)

In this method, the interpreter must take into consideration the "alterity" of the text.
The text that one reads may give a variety of meanings to a variety of readers. Life is
a text that needs an interpretation. It is anchored on the need to know its meaning...
being of life. Being of Life - meaning of man's being in the world.

11
The Analytic Method

This method is directed upon solving or decimating the problems of philosophy in

general. It tends to provide an accurate presentation on the nature of language to
solve the problems set by philosophy. It explains the nature of language by
identifying logical statement. It also shows how language is related to what is real in
the sensible terms.

Source: https://prezi.com/p/-ecbmmcl7wbd/methods-of-philosophizing/

Let’s answer!

Set A
Direction: Read and analyze each example below. Identify which method of
philosophizing (Socratic, Phenomenological, Hermeneutical, and Analytic
method) is being used in each example.

_________________ 1. Ana went to Badjao’s village and interviewed some of the

residents there to fully understand the Badjao culture.

_________________ 2. Student: What can we say about this phenomenon?

Teacher: Well, What are your assumptions? And what is your
basis of reasoning?

_________________ 3. Student A: Written on the board, “It’s raining cats and dogs”.
Student B: Interpreted the text as “it’s pouring outside.”

_________________ 4. Based on a study conducted, the standard of education has

fallen down; ineffectiveness of schools lowers the standard of education.

12
Set B

Direction: Give your own examples in applying these methods of philosophizing in

your daily life. Choose only two (2) methods.

____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

13
 Let Us Practice

Task 1. Read the following online article of a controversial issue. Analyze the
exchange of comments in the comment section. Then, answer the guide questions
below. Note: use the separate activity sheet in answering this task.

Pacquiao Vs Horn
What can you say about the fight?

14
[This comment section was taken as a reference for this activity. All the photos and names were
hidden for confidentiality.]

Guide Questions:

1. How do you evaluate each arguments posted in the comment section?

2. Do you think each argument were reasonable and valid? Why?
3. Is there any foolish argument in the comment section? If yes, what made this
argument foolish?
4. When you assess an argument, how do you measure if the argument is good or bad?

Let Us Practice More

15
Task 2. Detective Philo!

I want you to gather news regarding on a controversial issue from the different
source of media such as television, radio, newspaper and Internet. Just choose and
focus only one topic. Try to compare the story provided by the different news writers
and anchor about the said topic. Analyze also how they stated their personal opinion
and judgment about the said issue/topic.

Guide questions in crafting your analysis of the said issue:

1. What can you say about the truth of the news represented in the different
media forms (TV, radio, newspaper and/or Internet) about the issue?
2. How will you know that the news presented in the media is true and
correct?
3. Discuss your personal ways or steps when you validate information from
the different media forms when there is a controversial news or topic
heard? Do you automatically believe what you heard in the news?

Note: Do not write anything on this module. Use separate sheets for your
answer. You will be evaluated using the rubric on Page 22.

____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

16
Task 3. Read the short story written by Coach Muller entitled Something Worse
than a Thief. After reading the story, answer the guide questions provided below.
Note: Do not write anything on this module. Use separate sheets for your
answer. You will be evaluated using the rubric on Page 22.

Something Worse Than A Thief

by Coach Muller

Once upon a time, an old man spread rumors that his neighbor was a thief. As
a result, the young man was arrested. Days later he was proven innocent. After
being released, he sued the old man for wrongly accusing him.

In court, the old man told the judge, “They were just comments, they didn’t
harm anyone.”

The judges, before passing sentence on the case, told the old man, “write all
the things you said about him on a piece of paper.” “Cut it up into little pieces and on
the way home, throw the pieces of paper out of your car window. Tomorrow, come
back to hear the sentence.”

The next day, the judge told the old man, “Before receiving the sentence, I
want you to go out and gather up all the pieces of paper that you threw out of your
car window yesterday.”

The old man said, “I can’t do that! The wind spread them all over the place
and won’t know where to find them.”

Then the judge replied, “The same way, simple words and comments may
destroy the honor of a person to such an extent that a person will not be able to fix it.
If you can’t speak well of someone, don’t say anything at all. Let’s all be masters of
our mouths, so that we won’t be slaves of our words.”

“Gossips are worse than thieves because they steal another person’s dignity,
honor, reputation and credibility which are impossible to restore. So remember this:
when your feet slip, you can always recover your balance but when your tongue
slips, you can never recover your words!”

“Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.” ~
Proverbs 21:23

___________________________________________________________________
Source: Coach Muller, Something Is Worse than a Thief,
https://mygoodtimestories.com/2016/02/25/something-worse-than-a-thief/

17
Guide questions:

1. In the context of the story, how did the comment/opinion of the old man
change the life of his neighbor?
________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

2. How does the judge make the old man realized his wrongdoing? Do you
agree with it? Why?
________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

3. If you were the old man, would you also do or make a comment about your
neighbor without investigating the whole story/event? Why?
________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

18
4. If you were the judge, what would be your verdict or judgment to the old man?
And why?
________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

5. If you can change the whole story, how will you end it?

________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

19
 Let Us Remember

Opinions could be in a form of statements, reactions, comments or initial

judgments of a person about what he or she thinks that is happening around him/her.
Remember that we should not automatically accept these opinions as the truth. We
need to critically examine and evaluate the opinion by simply validating those using
relevant facts that will support its premise. Note that there are some fallacious
arguments that sometimes we tend to believe immediately. So, to be able to
determine whether an opinion is truthful or not, it should undergo further justification
and validation before making a decision.

Consequently, when we try to philosophize on something, there is no specific

method to follow. When we are seeking for truth, we will always have partial and
different views compare to other people. Take note that people look truth differently
and use different approaches in order to come up the truth. Always remember that
there is no final answer to everything that we search for answers. So, always try to
engage with others when you are examining and reflecting of something. We need
also other people to give us a better way of understanding our situation.

There are four main methods of philosophy, namely, Socratic,

phenomenological, hermeneutical, and the analytic method.

Socratic Method is characterized with the method of dialectical questioning.

Socrates maintains on the recognition of once ignorance and to know one self for
him/her to be truly wise. Phenomenological Method aids recover primordial
meaningfulness of life. Hermeneutic Method is the determination of language is the
medium for the revealing of truth. And Analytic Method is determination of language
as expressing the state of affairs of the world.

20
 Let Us Assess

Try to recall an event or situation in your life that you tend to evaluate truth
based from opinions. Write the event/situation wherein you start to doubt. Then,
state how you managed to derive the truth from the different opinions you’re
gathered. What were the methods or approaches you used in deriving such truth?

Note: Do not write anything on this module. Use separate sheets for your
answer. You will be evaluated using the rubric below.

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________.

21
You will be evaluated using this Rubric:
Exemplary Developing Beginning

3 2 1

Reflective The reflection explains The reflection The reflection

Thinking his/her own thinking explains the attempts to
and learning processes, student’s thinking demonstrate
as well as implications about his/her own thinking about
for future learning. learning processes.learning but is
vague and/or
unclear about the
personal learning
process.
Analysis The reflection is an The reflection is an The reflection
In-depth analysis of the analysis of the attempts to analyze
learning experience, the learning experience the learning
value of the derived and the value of the experience but the
learning to self or derived learning to value of the learning
others, and the self or others. to the student or
enhancement of the others is vague
student’s appreciation and/or unclear.
for the discipline.

Making The reflection The reflection The reflection

Connections articulates multiple articulates attempts to
connections between connections articulate
this learning experience between this connections
and content from other learning experience between this
courses, past learning, and content from learning experience
life experiences and/or other courses, past and content from
future goals. learning other courses, past
experiences, and/or learning
future goals experiences, or
personal goals, but
the connection is
vague and/or
unclear.

22
Let Us Reflect

As what Rene Descartes said, “In order to seek truth, it is necessary once
in the course of our life to doubt, as far as possible, of all things”. This means
that we should always doubt whatever we do, whatever we hear, and see around
us because this will help us discover the true meaning of truth. We should
always seek the truth and don’t just relay on the opinion of other people.

“In order to seek truth, it is necessary once in

the course of our life to doubt, as far as
possible, of all things.” 
― René Descartes

23
 References

1. Corpuz, Brenda B., Corpuz, Ruben A., Paclibar, Maria Lovelyn C. and Paclibar,
Socrates O. Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, Lorimar Publishing
Inc., 2016.

2. Guevara, Geoffrey A. Pambungad sa Pilosopiya ng Tao First Edition, Rex Book Store,
Inc. 2016

3. https://philosophy.lander.edu/logic/fallacy_topics.html

4. https://www.slideshare.net/jeromecastelo/methods-of-philosophizing-152689719

5. https://philonotes.com/index.php/phenomenological-method/

6. https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/phil/phil_03.html

7. https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/phil/phil_03.html

24
For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education – Davao del Sur Division

F. Torres St., Davao City

Telefax:

Email Address: lrms.regionxi@deped.gov.ph

25