THE NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY

Prepared by:

LEA P. MONTERON, LPT

GEC-108 Instructor
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
•Explain the intrinsic value
of philosophy.
• Describe the fundamental
philosophical subfields, the
methods of inquiry.
1 PHILOSOPHY: ITS ETYMOLOGY

2 DEFINITIONS OF PHILOSOPHY

3 IMPORTANCE OF PHILOSOPHY

4 BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY? 1
ETYMOLOGY OF PHILOSOPHY

•Derived from the Greek words

“Phylos” meaning “to love”
and “Sophie” meaning
“Wisdom”.
 PHILOSOPHY
•Philosophy literally means ‘love of
wisdom’. It is an attempt to arrive at a
rational conception of the reality as a whole.
It enquires into the nature of the universe in
which we live, the nature of the human soul,
and its destiny, and the nature of God or the
Absolute, and their relation to one another.
 2
SOME
DEFINITIONS
OF PHILOSOPHY
 PHILOSOPHY
•It enquires into the nature of matter, time,
space, causality, evolution, life, and mind,
and their relation to one another. It is the
art of thinking all things logically,
systematically, and persistently. It is the
art of thinking rationally and
systematically of the reality as a whole.
 PHILOSOPHY
• Plato rightly conceived of philosophy as the persistent
attempt to seek clear notions. It examines, clarifies,
and explains popular and scientific concepts of matter,
space, time, causality, evolution, mechanism, teleology,
life, mind or soul, God or the Absolute, right and
wrong, good and evil, beauty and ugliness, arid the like,
and arrives at a rational conception of the reality.
Clarification of concepts is the task of philosophy.
 PHILOSOPHY
It is the critical analysis of the popular
and scientific concepts, and the
discovery of their relations to one
another. It is a rational attempt to
integrate our knowledge and interpret
and unify our experiences.
 PHILOSOPHY
• Philosophy is the rational attempt to have a world-
view. It endeavors to reach a conception of the entire
universe with all its elements and aspects and their
interrelations to one another. It is not contented with
a partial view of the world. It seeks to have a synoptic
view of the whole reality it tries to have a vision, of the
whole. The different sciences deal with different
departments of the world.
Philosophy is regarded now
more as an interpretation of
human life, its source, value,
meaning, and destiny, than as
an enquiry into the nature of the
world, soul, and God. It tries to
understand the universe in
relation to man.
WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY IN LIFE?
WHY IS PHILOSOPHY IMPORTANT? 3
1)Philosophy can give us wisdom;
2)Philosophy can also help people makes important
decisions about the use of new technology such as
bioengineering, stem cells, etc. Philosophy may
prove to be a more helpful guide since philosophy
grows organically with new knowledge while
religion tends to be more tied to the past.
WHY IS PHILOSOPHY IMPORTANT?

3)Philosophy is also a strong

foundation on which to build
important personal things such as
career, faith, and relationships.
4)Philosophy can help people live more
purposeful and fulfilled lives.
 4
A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE
BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
1. EPISTEMOLOGY
• The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope
(including limitations) of knowledge. It addresses four main
questions.
1) What is knowledge?
2) How is knowledge acquired?
3) What do people know?
4) How do we know what we know?
 2. LOGIC
•is the study of reasoning. Logic is often divided
into two parts, inductive reasoning, and
deductive reasoning. The first is drawing
general conclusions from specific examples, the
second is drawing logical conclusions from
definitions and axioms.
3. METAPHYSICS
•is concerned with explaining
the fundamental nature of
being and the world.
4. ETHICS
•also known as moral philosophy, is
a branch of philosophy which seeks to
address questions about morality; that
is, about concepts like good and bad,
right and wrong, justice, virtue, etc
5. AESTHETICS
•is the branch of philosophy dealing with the
nature of beauty, art, taste, and the creation
and appreciation of beauty.
•It is more scientifically defined as the study
of sensory or sensory-emotional values,
sometimes called judgments of sentiment
and taste
 6. Political Philosophy

• is the study of concepts such as liberty, justice, property,

rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority:
what they are, why (or even if) they are needed, what makes a
government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should
protect and why, what form it should take and why, what the
law is, and what duties citizens owe to a legitimate
government if any, and when it may be legitimately
overthrown, if ever.
References:

• De, Guzman, et.al. 2018. Ethics (Principles of Ethical Behavior in Modern Society). Mutya Publishing, Inc.

• https://www.slideshare.net/LorraineSiscar/nature-of-philosophy

• https://www.slideshare.net/ArnelLPU/lecture-23637231

• http://www.philosophynotes.net/philosophy/nature-and-scope/philosophy-meaning-origin-and-scope/116

• https://www.evphil.com/philosophy101.html#:~:text=Six%20Branches%20of%20Philosophy%2
0%2D%20Epistemology,branches%20originate%20from%20basic%20questions.