Partial Point of View
 A point of view in philosophy, is a specified or stated
manner of consideration, an attitude how one sees or
thinks of something.
 A partial point of view then is a perspective that is
based on one of the component parts of a whole.
 A partial point of view is a perspective that looks at
reality based on a single or partial component of a
system whereas the holistic perspective tries to
broaden the understanding of reality by taking
considerations of other possible causal agents or
factors that may contribute to understanding a certain
phenomenon.
 Look only at a limited number of aspects of the given
problem or situation.
 Conclusions are made based on considering some, but
not all, sides of the problem or situation.
Holistic Point of View
 The idea that all the properties of a given system
cannot be determined or explained by its component
parts alone, but the system as a whole determines in
an important way how the parts behave.
 A kind of system that aims to determine and explain
the whole or totality of a given system by examining
the behaviors and activities of certain component parts
while in philosophy, a point of view is defined as a
way or a method how one sees or perceives the
reality of a phenomenon.
 A point of view that looks at all aspects of the given
problem or situation.
o All aspects are given importance when making
conclusions.
o All aspects are tied in together to form a
general overview of the problem or situation.
The Logic Behind the Dispute
Principle of Identity
 “What is, is.” (Your view is your view. My view is my
view.)
Principle of Non-Contradiction
 “What is, is not not-is.” (Your view is not my view. My
view is not your view.)
Analyzing the Argument
Hypothetical Syllogism
 If your view is not my view (Hypothetical premise), and
my view is right (Categorical premise), then your view
is not right (Disjunctive premise).
Modus Ponens Argument
 If my view is not your view, and your view is right, then
my view is not right.
Principle of excluded Middle
 “Either it is or it is not, never both.” (Either my view or
your view is right, never both.)
Philosophizing as Holistic Seeing
• ‘Seeing the whole’ as ‘having insight’ or ‘seeing with
the mind’ (Fr. Roque Ferriols, SJ)
• In the process of doing Philosophy, it is critical to have
a holistic point of view – the perception of looking at
all aspects of a situation before making a conclusion.
• Wisdom as it refers to a person’s ability to apply
knowledge to daily life particularly in making sound
choices and judgment is the intended product of
philosophizing.
• Lastly, knowledge of Philosophy can contribute to self-
development.
Significance of Holistic Point of View
• It looks at the ‘big picture’. Holistic perspective is
helpful to step back and look at the big picture.
• It incorporates many factors. It allows us to assess
multiple factors that might contribute to a particular
problem. Rather than simply focusing on one small
part of an issue, we can instead look at all of the
elements that may play a role.
• This approach can help find solutions that address all
of the contributing internal and external factors that
might influence a particular aspect of human life.
• This point of view is more effective than addressing
smaller components individually.
• Example - A doctor can look at their patients
holistically because they can address all of the many
factors that might affect how a person is feeling
mentally, physically and factors that affect their overall
well-being.
Transition from Partial to Holistic seeing
• When we expand our point of view, we have more
skill and more capacity from which to take action. We
have a greater capacity for compassion, acceptance,
understanding, strategic thinking and tolerance, there
are more options available for us to consider not
because there really are more options but because we
can see more of the options that already existed and
therefore, take more of them into account before
choosing.
• These all come in brilliantly for effective decision
making and action-taking.
• This means that having a holistic view is having a view
where we understand both the whole and the parts of
something, and, we understand how the parts, when
brought together, make up the whole
• When you have the whole picture of something, you
have many perspectives (these are the parts of the
whole). Not only do you have the perspectives, but you
understand each of the perspectives and you
 understand how they make up the whole. This is
important because when you understand each of the
parts and truly understand them you begin to expand
your knowledge and understanding.
• You understand the integrity of the parts and the
whole. You may also develop a sense of rightness and
compassion for the collaboration and necessariness of
each part to the other and to the whole.
Opinion
• A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not
substantiated by positive knowledge or proof.
• A belief not based on absolute certainty or positive
knowledge but on what seems true, valid, or probable
to one's own mind; judgment.
• The formal judgment of an expert on a matter in which
advice is sought.
• An evaluation, impression, or estimation of the quality
or worth of a person or thing.
Truth
• Truth (in metaphysics) is the property of sentences,
assertions, beliefs, thoughts, or propositions that are
said, in ordinary discourse, to agree with the facts or to
state what is the case.
• Objective truth is regardless of our opinion,
perception, or understanding.
• Truthfulness lies within the object itself and not the
subject.
The Principal Problem
• The principal problem is to offer a viable theory as to
what truth itself consists in, or, to put it another way,
“What is the nature of truth?”
• To illustrate with an example – the problem is not: Is it
true that there is extraterrestrial life? The problem is:
What does it mean to say that it is true that there is
extraterrestrial life? Astrobiologists study the former
problem; philosophers, the latter.
What Sorts of Things are True (or False)?
• Although we do speak of true friends and false
identities, philosophers believe these are derivative
uses of “true” and “false”.
• The central use of “true”, the more important one for
philosophers, occurs when we say, for example, it’s
true that San Juan is the south of Batangas Province.
Here,”true” is contrasted with “false”, not with “fake”
or “insincere”.
• When we say that San Juan is the south of Batangas
Province, what sort of thing is it that is true? Is it a
statement or a sentence or something else, a “fact”,
perhaps?
• More generally, philosophers want to know what sorts
of things are true and what sorts of things are false.
This same question is expressed by asking: What sorts
of things have (or bear) truth-values?
• The term “truth-value” has been coined by logicians as
a generic term for “truth or falsehood”.
• To ask for the truth-value of P, is to ask whether P is
true or whether P is false. “Value” in “truth-value”
does not mean “valuable”. It is being used in a similar
fashion to “numerical value” as when we say that the
value of “x” in “x + 3 = 7” is 4.
• To ask “What is the truth-value of the statement that
San Juan is the south of Batangas Province?” is to ask
whether the statement that San Juan is the south of
Batangas Province is true or whether it is false. (The
truth-value of that specific statement is true.)
The major theory of truth
Correspondence Theory
 First proposed in a vague form by Plato and by
Aristotle in his Metaphysics, this realist theory says
truth is what propositions have by corresponding to a
way the world is.
 The theory says that a proposition is true provided
there exists a fact corresponding to it.
 That truth is a certain relationship—the relationship
that holds between a proposition and its
corresponding fact.
 Ex. “There are students inside the classroom”
Coherence Theories
• Accounts for the truth of a proposition as arising out of
a relationship between that proposition and features
or events in the world.
• They help to reveal how we arrive at our truth claims,
our knowledge. We continually work at fitting our
beliefs together into a coherent system.
• Ex. “A drunk driver says, “There are pink elephants
dancing on the highway in front of us”, (truth or not?)
Pragmatic Theories
• A proposition is true if it is useful to believe.
• The problems with Pragmatic accounts of truth are
counterparts to the problems seen above with
Coherence Theories of truth.
• It may be useful for someone to believe a proposition
but also useful for someone else to disbelieve it.
• Certain beliefs are undeniably useful, even though – on
other criteria – they are judged to be objectively false.
Truth over Opinions
• In Plato’s Meno, Socrates engages in dialogue with
Meno, a man who questions whether virtue can be
taught.
• Throughout the dialogue, Socrates and Meno grapple
with the definition of virtue, whether it can be taught,
how to distinguish between knowledge and true
opinion, and finally the ramifications of this distinction
regarding their previous questions.
 • They finally agree that virtue is the ability to guide
“rightly,” or in a manner that is both good and useful;
they also agree that it can be taught only if virtue
comes from knowledge, and cannot be taught if it
comes from true opinion.
True opinion
- correctly believing something to be right without
understanding it
- What are the things that you believe to be true, but
can not its truthfulness?
Knowledge
- Knowing something to be right due to a deeper
understanding of it.
- What are the things that you believe to be right and
can defend its truthfulness and truly understand it?

Truth as opinion with evidence and proof

Evidence
• anything that you see, experience, read, or are told
that causes you to believe that something is true or
has really happened.
• the information which is used to try to prove
something.

Proof
• evidence sufficient to establish a thing as true, or to
produce belief in its truth.
• the cogency of evidence that compels acceptance by
the mind of a truth or a fact