Ethics: Philosophy - Understanding
The study of why’s: Introduction
PLATO (427 – 347 BC): THE PHILOSOPHICAL LIFE
• founded a school called the Academy
• Like Socrates (mentor), he believed that
philosophers have a duty to society to
help the citizens live a good life.
• Wrote what is said to be the most
influential book in Western civilization,
The Republic.
• The book includes discourse on the
concept of justice, the good, virtue and
human life.
• Plato’s ethical theory rests on idealist
metaphysical assumptions about the
nature of knowledge and reality.
PHILOSOPHY
• Plato argued in the Republic that there
are three kinds of pleasant life for man
based on the objects of desire: the
philosophical life which is knowledge
desiring, the life of ambition which is
honor-desiring, and the life of gain which
is profit-desiring.
• Since the test for good life is judged by
virtue of reason, it turns out that the
best kind of life is the philosophical life,
because the other two are judged by
passion and emotion.
• Man lives well when the knowledge
desired by reason predominates the
activities of his soul and governs the
ways of his society.
ALLEGORY OF THE CAVES
• Plato explained the nature of
philosophical life by means of the allegory
of the cave.
• The allegory compares the world in which
we live to the inside of a cave, and the
world of reality to the outside.
• We are imprisoned inside the cave, and
being chained facing the wall we could
not turn our back and look outside.
Reality exists outside the cave. What we
could see of real things are only shadows
cast on the wall, and we hear of them only
echoes. Since we have been living inside
the cave since birth, we come to believe
that the shadows are reality.
• One day, one of us unlocks his chain, and
goes out of the cave. He beholds the
reality and gains wisdom. He returns to
the cave and tells us the real truth. But we
never believe in him because we have
been so deluded to believe only in the
illusion of the shadows we experience
inside the cave.
• What does man ought to do? He may
choose any of the three: (1) He can leave
the cave, but his new-found wisdom
becomes irrelevant to human experience;
(2) he can give up his knowledge and go
back to his old belief, but he becomes
ignorant like the others; or (3) he can stay
in the cave and desperately share his
wisdom with others, but he may be
persecuted by them and may even be put
to death.
GREEK UNDERSTANDING OF PHILOSOPHY
• Etymologically, philosophy is derived from two
Greek words philia meaning “love” or “friendship”
and Sophia meaning “wisdom”. Literally,
philosophy means love of wisdom.
• But what is love and what is wisdom? Basically, love
is an urge or drive of the will towards a particular
object. As a drive, love always seeks unity with its
object; it desires to possess its object. On the other
hand, wisdom means the good exercise or
application of knowledge. Thus, wisdom cannot be
dissociated from knowledge.
• Truth, however, is considered as the ultimate
object of knowledge. Hence, truth is being showed
and practiced by a man of wisdom. Now, if
philosophy means the love of wisdom, to
philosophize, therefore, is to be a quest, or to have
a desire towards living the truth.
CHINESE UNDERSTANDING OF PHILOSOPHY
• The Chinese, however, define philosophy as Zhe-
Xue or Che Shueh (this is originally coined by Dr.
Nishi Amane). The Chinese understand Zhe-Xue or
philosophy as the “study of wisdom”.
• Obviously, this definition stands close to the ancient
Greek’s definition of philosophy as “love of
wisdom”.
• For the Chinese, Zhe (as a character) means
“wisdom” and Xue (as a character) means study.
Significantly, however, the Chinese character Zhe
bears the emblem of mouth and hand.
 • This suggests the inseparability of words and action.
Thus, for the Chinese, philosophy is the translation
of words into action or application of theory into
praxis. Hence, Chinese, philosophy singles out a
person to live what he says.
HINDUS UNDERSTANDING OF PHILOSOPHY
• For them, philosophy is a Darsana.
• Darsana means seeing, seeing not only through the
eyes but through the whole being of the one that
sees.
• In other words, philosophy for the Hindus means
seeing the whole reality through a total advertence
and involvement of the looker.
• This kind of definition debunks our preconception,
biases, and prejudices of a certain reality since all
this are partial and unholistic treatment of any
phenomenon or any reality.
FORMAL UNDERSTANDING OF PHILOSOPHY
• If philosophy – compared to other sciences – is a
science that investigates all things in their ultimate
causes, reasons and principles then it, by necessity,
is a science that is not satisfied with skin-deep,
superficial or partial treatment of reality.
• As the vernacular nominal definition of philosophy
implies, philosophy inquires or investigates the
substance of all realities whether they are spiritual
or material, corporeal or incorporeal, organic or
inorganic, sentient or insentient, rational or
irrational.
• Supreme science and Mother of all sciences
ORIGIN OF PHILOSOPHY
• Philosophy begins in Miletus” says Reginald Ellen.
• The radix of the claim lies on Thales: The acclaimed
first philosopher.
• Way back in the 6th century B.C. lived a man named
Phytagoras who is acclaimed as the first
philosopher (because he coined the term
philosophy).
• But by virtue of the point of origin of philosophy –
which is wonder (by the way, we do not mean that
Pythagoras didn’t wonder, the thing is, Thales
wondered earlier than Pythagoras) – It is Thales.
This highlights the origin of philosophy.
PURPOSE OF PHILOSOPHY
• The pleasure of philosophizing, thinking, reflecting,
analyzing, evaluating, etc. is fulfillment or
satisfaction alien to a person who has a narrow
interest of reality.
• There is indeed a joy of philosophizing, a joy which
only the pundits can experience.
• Philosophy enables us to understand ourselves
better;
• Philosophy helps us to understand others, our
fellowmen;
• Philosophy helps us to understand others’ way of
thinking;
• Philosophy helps us to understand the world and
our place and role in it;
• Philosophy helps us understand the significance,
meaning, value, and finality of human life;
• Philosophy helps us know and understand God in
his nature, essence, activities, and attributes.
THE PHILOSOPHICAL FIELDS: Divisions of Philosophy
Theoretical
• Ontology – being as being
• Metaphysics – being
• Epistemology – knowledge
• Theodicy – God-man relationship
• Cosmology – universe and world
• Psychology – animal and human behavior
Practical
• Logic – correct reasoning
• Ethics – morality
• Aesthetics – arts and beauty
• Semantics – words and meanings
• Axiology – values and its hierarchy
MINOR BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
These branches (sub-fields) have particular doctrine in
answering key questions in philosophy.
• Philosophy of Art – deals on art, aesthetic value,
expression, and other concepts that the critic
employs.
• Philosophy of Education – deals with speculation
and application of philosophical methods in the
study of educational issues and problems.
• Philosophy of History – deals with the description of
events and actions of man’s past happenings and
those that are to happen in man.
• Philosophy of Language – deals with languages,
their meanings and how to use and manage the
language to man’s existence.
• Philosophy of Law – deals with the formulation of
theories and concepts in law to help man
understand the nature of law, its sources of
authority and role in society.
• Philosophy of Mathematics – is concerned on the
critical examination of basic mathematical entities,
mathematical theories and number system.
• Philosophy of Nature – deals with whatever issues
regarding the actual features of nature as reality. It
is divided into Philosophy of Physics and Philosophy
of Biology.
• Philosophy of Psychology – deals with actual
theories and research efforts of contemporary
psychologists.
• Philosophy of Politics – deals with the question of
the origin of the state and authority and the law of
the land.
• Philosophy of Religion – deals on situation,
experience, issues and problems relating to religion
and its methodology
• Philosophy of Science – provides intellectually and
accurately satisfying explanations of a broad range
of natural phenomena.
• Philosophy of Society – deals with questions about
personal morality in relation to man’s existence as
member of society.
• Philosophy of Man – is concerned on the study of
human nature, purpose, existence, destiny
including his relationship with people in society and
God. It is sometimes referred to as Philosophy of
Human Person.

Always do good and avoid evil

Always be good even OTHERS are not