[WEEK 1] DOING PHILOSOPHY
o “Philosophy is a science which inquiries into the
PHILOSOPHY
• It is no exaggeration to say that there are as many views of
philosophy as there are philosophers.
o This cannot be said of the other disciplines, whose
objects of study are quite specific, such as:
▪ number for mathematics
▪ the heavenly bodies for astronomy
▪ the material world for physics
▪ living things for biology
▪ animals for zoology
▪ the human society for sociology, etc.
o Unique among the disciplines, philosophy’s concerns
are borderless.
• However, there are definitions and explanations of
philosophy that our students cannot do without.
o And for purposes of this subject, we propose three
such views: the etymological definition of Pythagoras,
o the classical definitions of Aristotle and St. Thomas
Aquinas, and the contemporary view of Karl Jaspers.
ETYMOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY
• An etymological definition is draw from the so-called root
words of a word or concept to be defined.
• For example, biology is defined as the study of life or living
things as indicated by the two root words
o bios which means life and logos which means study.
• According to Pythagoras, philosophy comes from the two
compound Greek words:
o philos meaning love
o sophia meaning wisdom.
▪ Thus, philosophy can be etymologically defined
as love of wisdom.
CLASSICA DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY
• The classical definition is expected to be a real definition
that is an essential definition
o that is, definition that tells of the very essence or nature
of a thing.
• Without doubt, a classical definition which all students of
philosophy should be aware of is the Aristotelico-Thomistic
definition popularly formulated as follows:
FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS
ultimate causes, reasons, and principles of all things in
the light of pure reason alone”
▪ Under this definition, three things are to be
considered:
SCIENCE
• It is called science because the investigation is systematic.
It follows certain steps, or it employs certain procedures.
• In other words, it is an organized body of knowledge just
like any other sciences.
LIGHT OF PURE REASON ALONE
• Philosophy investigates things, not by using any other
laboratory instrument or investigative tools, neither on the
basis of supernatural revelation
o otherwise, it becomes theology
o instead, the philosopher uses his natural capacity to
think or simply, human reason alone or the so-called
unaided reason.
STUDY OF ALL THINGS
• This sets the distinction between philosophy from other
sciences.
• All other sciences concern themselves with a particular
object of investigation.
o For example
▪ anthropology studies human beings in relation
with the society
▪ sociology studies society, its form, structures, and
functions
▪ botany focuses their attention to plants; linguistics
limits itself from language
▪ theology investigates God
▪ whereas philosophy studies human beings,
society, religion, language, and God among other
concerns.
CONTEMPORARY DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY
• This contemporary definition brings us to the present-day
definition of philosophy given by Karl Jaspers a German,
who minces no words in regarding philosophy
as: “Discipline in which questions are more important
than the answers and where every answer leads to
further questions”.
o This explains the never-ending quest of philosophy, the
ceaseless toil that humans go through in a ceaseless
process of inquiry.
▪ At this point, you might be overwhelmed by the
ideas already presented.
▪ What you were introduced to seems to be
fragmented.
▪ A beginner in philosophy like you will have an
effective understanding only if you can make
sense of the different perspectives, distinguish
them from a partial point of view and develop a
holistic perspective to see the whole or bigger
picture.
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 NOTES: WEEK 1
• What you experienced in the previous discussions gives
you a perspective of what philosophy is based on how it is
done and the common notions or characterizations of it.
• The previous discussions gave you partial points of views.
o On the other hand, the synthesis of these partial points
of views gave you a holistic perspective of philosophy.
o The etymology of philosophy gives you a clue on how
to philosophize. When you love, you try to know
everything about that which your love is directed to.
▪ At first, you might be interested in knowing the
material or physical manifestations of that thing,
but as your love for it grows deeper, you would
want to know more about it.
o Like being a lover, a philosopher takes into account
every detail – the partial points of views – in order to
make synthesis and develop a holistic perspective.
▪ Hence, to philosophize is to take part in activities
which do not only give you a partial point of view
but a holistic perspective emanating from
reflections and analysis.
VALUING OF DOING PHILOSOPHY
• The main purpose in the study of the Philosophy of the
Human Person is to see human life as a meaningful whole
or in its holistic perspective.
o Since the study of philosophy is universality, unity and
synthesis, the Philosophy of the Human Person seeks
to obtain a unified and consistent world view of the
human person.
ACCORDING TO BERTRAND RUSSELL (1915).
• “The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes
through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from
common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or
his nation, and from convictions which have grown up
in his mind without the cooperation or consent of his
deliberate reason.”
o We all become philosophers at any crucial moment in
life. Our philosophical reflection is an important part of
our self-fulfillment, happiness and our professional
growth.
SPECIFIC VALUES OF PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY AS A SUBJECT ENABLES THE
STUDENT TO STUDY, LEARN AND MASTER THE
VARIOUS BRANCHES AND DIVISIONS OF
PHILOSOPHY AND THE THEORIES AND BELIEFS
OF PHILOSOPHERS.
• Philosophy as an activity enables the student to think,
conceptualize, analyze, compare, evaluate and understand
things.
• Students philosophize and become wise. In philosophy as
a product, the students are able to articulate their
understanding of the contributions of each philosopher to
philosophical problems relating to knowledge, reality and
value.
PHILOSOPHY HELPS THE STUDENT TO DEVELOP
THE ABILITY TO FORM OPINIONS AND BELIEFS.
• He thinks, evaluates and decides what could be better or
best for him.
PHILOSOPHY HELPS THE STUDENT TO BE
RESILIENT AND PHILOSOPHICALLY CALM IN THE
FACE OF DISORDER AND DOUBTS, UNCERTAINTY,
INDEFINITENESS AND CHAOS.
• By being flexible, he is able to preserve and put things in
their proper perspective and outlook in the face of upheaval.
FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS
PHILOSOPHY DEEPENS THE STUDENT’S SELF-
AWARENESS.
• A self-aware student does not harbor illusions and
rationalizations to justify his beliefs and actions.
IN RELATION TO DEEPENING OF SELF-
AWARENESS, PHILOSOPHY ALSO INCREASES THE
STUDENT’S SELF-AWARENESS AND AWARENESS
OF THE WORLD.
• When awareness increases, he becomes more dynamic,
more critical and more discerning of the significant influence
of his life.
PHILOSOPHY HELPS THE STUDENT TO BE
CREATIVE.
• By being creative he develops a philosophical perspective
on problems, issues and concerns that is unique and
distinctive. He engages his life on a deeper level to give
meaning to it.
PHILOSOPHY HELPS THE STUDENT TO BE
IMAGINATIVE.
• By being imaginative, he is able to deal openly with new
possibilities and changes in how he sees things.
PHILOSOPHY HELPS THE STUDENT TO DEVELOP
CLEAR CONCEPTS AND VALUE SYSTEM.
PHILOSOPHY PROVIDES THE STUDENT WITH
BETTER INTELLECTUAL PERSPECTIVE AND
OUTLOOK.
• He becomes more tolerant, more open minded, less biased
and more sympathetic to views that might even conflict or
compete with his own view.
PHILOSOPHY GIVES THE STUDENT PERSONAL
FREEDOM THE FREEDOM FROM THE BIASES,
PREJUDICES AND CONVICTIONS AND TYRANNY
OF CUSTOMS THAT HAVE GROWN UP HIS MIND.
• By being free, he can make suggestions and decisions and
act according to those decisions. In fact, when the student
begins to philosophize, he will find that even the most
everyday things in life may lead to problems to which very
incomplete and unsatisfactory answers can be given.
PHILOSOPHY HELPS THE STUDENT TO REFINE HIS
POWER OF ANALYSIS THE POWER TO THINK
CRITICALLY, REASON, EVALUATE, THEORIZE AND
JUSTIFY.
• The powers of analysis are the tools of philosophy. These
tools enable him to apply them constructively to his own
affairs.
LASTLY, PHILOSOPHY WILL NOT TEACH THE
LEARNERS HOW TO EARN A LIVING, BUT HOW TO
MAKE LIFE WORTH LIVING.
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 NOTES: WEEK 1

o By focusing your thoughts on the most fundamental

PHILOERUDITION issues about reality, human existence, and God, you
open yourself up to a world of possibilities for
understanding the world and our role in it.
o You develop the capacity to envision, argue, and
explain the essence of the ideal life by training your
mind in critical and logical thinking disciplines.
• Philosophy promotes and allows you to find what is actually
true and good, as opposed to what appears to be so.

PHILOGIST

PHILOQUEST
• Great job! You were able to discover the fundamental
concepts of philosophy.
• After discovering the basics about philosophy, the big
question here is, “How can philosophy help us to
understand the world and human life?”
o We can conclude that philosophy is the study of the
relationship between concepts and the explanation of
that relationship in a rational and logical manner.
o The most essential reason to study Philosophy is that
it will transform you.

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 [WEEK 2] TWO APPROACHES TO PHILOSOPHY(HISTORICAL APPROACH)
PHILOCORE
• There are two approaches to philosophy, and one who
would like to have some mastery of it cannot do without
either one.
• The first approach is historical, and the second one
is systematic.
• As in the case of the other disciplines, perhaps even more
any of them, it is imperative that a student of philosophy is
equipped with an adequate understanding of its history.
HISTORICAL APPROACH
• The historical study of philosophy traces the progress of
ideas through four periods, based on what Hegel calls
zeitgiest which literally means “spirit of the time”:
o Ancient (c. 600 BC – 600 AD)
o Medieval (600 – 1600)
o Modern (1600 – 1900)
o Contemporary or Post-Modern (1900 – present).
• The beginning and end of each age is naturally on an
approximation and the exact historical division is hardly a
thing any historian can aspire to make.
o The Ancient Age is cosmocentric or world centered;
o the Medieval Age is theocentric or God-centered
o Modern Age is anthropocentric or man-centered;
o the Contemporary or Post-Modern Age is global or
borderless.
• What is possible in learning the historical development of
philosophy is to cite some landmark philosophers by which
to identify each age.
ANCIENT PERIOD
• Everything started in Milesia the so-called Greek miracle
happened, when Thales (Father of Philosophy) and the
Pre-Socratics asked the question:
WHAT IS THE WORLD STUFF?
• Thales, reputedly the first philosopher, said its water! And
there was Anaximenes’ air, Anaximander’s apeiron or
infinite, Heraclitus’ fire, Empedocles’ four elements (earth,
water, air and fire), and Democritus’ atom among others.
o Others investigates the world by saying, its permanent
and unchanging,
PARMENIDES
• comes Heraclitus saying, the world is in constant flux.
• Thus, the intellectual miracle which the Greeks gave birth
to eventually became the basis for the progress which we
ascribe today to science and technology.
o And it was than here when Ancient is best remembered
through the great triumvirate of Greek Philosophers:
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
SOCRATES IS THE ICON OF A PHILOSOPHER,
• the philosopher’s philosopher, and yet he wrote nothing and
what we now of him is largely thanks to his great pupil, Plato
having wrote about him.
• Philosophy, says Plato is nothing if it does not teach man
how to live and how to die.
FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS
• His great pupil, Aristotle, disagrees with him in that, as a
scientist, he refuses to go beyond the world hic et Nunc.
o This is why it is commonly said that the great divide
among humans makes us all either a Platonist or
Aristotelian.
o We either confine the world to this physical one thus,
the Aristotelian or live in the hope of a more perfect
world beyond thus, the Platonist.
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
• Medieval philosophy refers to philosophy in Western
Europe during the medieval period, the so-called Middle
Ages.
IT IS THE AGE OF BELIEF
• the golden age of the Christian Church.
• No wonder the greatest philosophers of this age are
religious and saints, of which the most important are:
o St. Thomas Aquinas the Catholic Philosopher (The
Angelic Doctor)
o St. Augustine (The Doctor of Grace).
• The former is an Aristotelian and the later a Platonist.
Philosophy during this time is used as an intellectual
support for the Church’s own self-reflection, a handmaid of
theology.
• Philosophy became the search for the ultimate causes of all
things, eventually leading to the truth about God.
o It was theistic because what happened in life took a
back-stage to the divine drama
▪ as mediated by the Roman Catholic Church.
o And it was also static because people largely accepted
their station in society.
• A limited amount of inventive thinking and a passive
acceptance of fate hampered the solving of many problems.
• The 13th century is the highest point of the Medieval Age,
after which came its decline.
o This decline was induced by various schisms, great
and small, and the eventual displacement of feudalism
by the new and adventurous breed of young money-
makers, the capitalists.
• That decline of the age of belief proved to be a Dark Age
o during which the mighty Church was perhaps
understandably urged to face the emerging modernity
in some way but eventually to decrease.
MODERN PERIOD
• The Modern Age is the Age of Geniuses, the Age of
Enlightenment
o the age too of the emergence of mathematics and the
other sciences.
• It is the revival of the glorious achievement of the Greeks;
thus, the Renaissance which literally means re-birth.
• This transition period to modernity is made exciting by the
numerous inventions and discoveries that help in the
shaking of the Western cultural foundations.
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 NOTES: WEEK 2
THE RENAISSANCE IDEAL MAN OF THE MAN
• is personified by Leonardo da Vince, who is everything one
can think of, a universal man, who is an artist, scientist,
philosopher, and theologian all at once.
FRENCHMAN RENE DESCARTES
• The most important name to remember here is that of the
o who now is widely remembered as the Father of
Modern Thought, thanks to his universal methodic
doubt.
• Descartes was impressed by the progress of the sciences
and mathematics of his time.
o He wanted to achieve the same advance in philosophy
using his universal methodical doubt, to doubt of all
things as far as possible in order to arrive at certitude.
• For Descartes everything was doubtable,
o even his own body, all except for one fact that he was
doubting. He could not doubt that he was doubting; and
doubting being a mode of thinking, brought him to his
famous philosophy, “cogito ergo sum”.
• The Modern Age also made the remarkable split from the
same Cartesian source of two contentious schools of
thought: Rationalism and Empiricism.
RATIONALISM
• is the view that regards reason as the chief source and test
of knowledge
THE RATIONALIST’S GROUP OF PHILOSOPHERS
ARE:
• Rene Descartes Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz
• Benedict de Spinoza
o who teach us the grand work of reason.
EMPIRICISM
• is the view that all concepts originate in experience.
THE EMPIRICIST’S GROUP OF PHILOSOPHERS ARE:
• John Locke
• George Berkley
• David Hume
o who refuse to give reason the highest authority and
instead reduce all source of knowledge to experience.
CONTEMPORARY PERIOD (POST MODERNITY)
• By most accounts we have entered a new intellectual age.
• We are now into Postmodernity.
• Leading intellectuals tell us that modernity has died
o and that a revolutionary era is upon us
o an era liberated from the oppressive structures of the
past, but at the same time disquieted by its
expectations for the future.
• Ours is an age global and borderless.
• Gone are the days when whole world was dominated by
Europe and the West.
• Now the playing field has gone flat, and Asia and Africa can
no longer be ignored.
• The study of philosophy can no longer be complete without
the great philosophies of India and China.
o And even small countries like the Philippines have a
chance to join the competitive game.
• The postmodern position is borderless.
o It is open to meanings and its authority is open to the
other schools of thought and ideologies.
▪ Hence the heart of postmodernity is the view that
reality cannot be known nor described objectively.
• It is at this historical juncture that Modernity came to its
conclusion with Immanuel Kant,
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IMMANUEL KANT
• the Father of Post-modernity.
• Kant is regarded as the father of postmodernity because he
was the oldest among his contemporaries during 17th and
18th centuries who effected the paradigm shift.
• His famous philosophical landmark, the Critique of Pure
Reason
o marks the end of modern philosophy.
o His critique is the completion of the Universal
Methodical Doubt of Descartes.
▪ likewise, he reconciled the two opposing
philosophical thoughts of rationalism and
empiricism.
o He famously said, “Although all our knowledge
begins with experience, it does not follow that it
arises from experience”.
• Hence, Kant summarized the nature of knowledge by
saying, “Thoughts without contents are empty, and
intuitions without concepts are blind.”
o Enough to say that Kant makes possible the paradigm
shift but the unending attempt to salvage science
continues
▪ until Edmund Husserl, comes Karl Marx,
then Martin Heidegger to Marshall
McLuhan and Allan Turing among others.
PHILOERUDITION
HERE ARE SOME ADDITIONAL FACTS ABOUT SOME
GREATEST PHILOSOPHERS OF ALL TIME:
• The list of the greatest philosophers is incomplete
without Aristotle.
o He was a Greek Philosophers and the founder of the
Lyceum and the Peripatetic school of philosophy and
Aristotelian tradition.
o Aristotle is called the “Father of Western
Philosophy”.
IMMANUEL KANT
• was a German philosopher, who is known for arguing that
space, time, and causation are mere sensibilities
o “things-in-themselves” exist, but their nature is
unknowable.
RENE DESCARTES
• was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist.
• He lived 20-years of his life in the Dutch Republic after
service for a while in the Dutch States Army of Maurice of
Nassau, Prince of Orange and the Stadtholder of the United
Provinces.
• He is widely known as one of the founders of modern
philosophy.
SOCRATES
• was a classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher, who has a
credit to be one of the founders of Western philosophy.
• He is also considered to be the first moral philosopher
belonging to the Western ethical tradition of thought.
• He is said to have taught Plato and Xenophon.
PHILOGIST
• Modern philosophy refers to an era in Western European
philosophy that spanned the 17th and 18th century and was
particularly lively.
• Most historians consider the era to begin with Rene
Descartes' Meditationes de Prima Philosophiae,
o published in Paris in 1641, and to conclude with the full
work of German philosopher Immanuel Kant, published
in the 1780s.
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 NOTES: WEEK 2

• The philosophers of the time confronted one of history's

most difficult intellectual challenges:
o combining conventional Aristotelian philosophy and
Christian faith with the dramatic scientific advances
that followed Copernicus and Galileo (and the
succeeding Newtonian revolution).
IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY,
POSTMODERNISM
• is a late twentieth-century movement
o characterized by broad skepticism, subjectivism, or
relativism
o a general suspicion of reason
o a keen awareness of the role of ideology in establishing
and maintaining political and economic power.
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
• refers to the philosophy of Western Europe between the
years 400 and 1400
o around the time of the fall of Rome and the
Renaissance.
• Although medieval philosophers are the historical
predecessors of antiquity's philosophers, they are only
tangentially related to them.
CHRISTIANITY
• has been the most major non-philosophical effect on
medieval philosophy throughout its thousand-year history.
• Christianity's scriptures and concepts provide abundant
subject matter for philosophical thought, and Christian
institutions maintain medieval intellectual activity.
PHILOQUEST
• Philosophy has unquestionably influenced the course of
history.
• Philosophers from all around the world have challenged
nearly everything we see around us
o whether it be science or politics.
• The finest philosophers in history have been recognized for
their talent and the philosophy that underpins their study.
• Above all these contributions of philosophy to the body of
knowledge
o the real question here is how does the study of
philosophy influence your life and strengthen your faith
as Louisian students?
• We need philosophy because we need to explore such
reasons, reasons for studying, reasons for universities’
existence, even (especially) reasons for your own
existence.
• Pope John Paul II once said, “Faith and Reason are like
two wings of the human spirit by which is soars to the
truth.”
• Philosophy can lead you to God, and theology can lead you
further into God. God is the source of all truth, goodness,
and beauty, in other words, everything we value. God is the
source of all truth. When you love your neighbor or your
fellow Louisans, you are responding to divine grace. When
you make something beautiful, you are utilizing the image
of God in his soul, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, and
partaking in God's creative power.
• Thus, Philosophy is a necessity if you want to understand
our world and your faith in God.

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 [WEEK 3] TWO APPROACHES TO PHILOSOPHY (SYSTEMATIC APPROACH)
SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO PHILOSOPHY
• The second approach to the study of philosophy is what is
commonly known as the systematic approach, which
consists in the discussion of the classical disciplines or
branches of philosophy:
METAPHYSICS
• The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of
existence, being and the world. Originally comes from the
Greek word “metaphysika” which literally means “beyond
physical”.
• Metaphysics is the foundation of philosophy: Aristotle calls
it first philosophy and says it is the subject that deals with
first causes and the principles of things.
• Aristotle splits metaphysics into three main sections and
these remain the main branches of metaphysics:
ONTOLOGY:
• The study of being and existence, including the definition
and classification of entities, physical or mental, the nature
of their properties, and the nature of change.
NATURAL THEOLOGY:
• The study of God, including the nature of religion and the
world, existence of the divine, questions about the creation,
and the various other religious or spiritual issues.
UNIVERSAL SCIENCE:
• The study of first principles of logic and reasoning, such as
the law of noncontradiction.
• Metaphysics asks the questions:
o What is the nature of reality? How does the world exist
and what is its origin or source of creation? Does the
world exist outside the mind? How can the incorporeal
mind affect the physical body? If things exist, what is
their objective nature?
THEODICY
• The branch of philosophy that deals with the study of
God. It is a term that Leibniz coined from the Greek words
theos (God) and dike (righteous).
• Theodicy attempts to justify or defend God in the face of
evil.
• Theodicy asks the questions like:
o If God is all good and all powerful why does evil exist?
Is God the creator of evil in this world?
COSMOLOGY
• The branch of philosophy that deals with the principles that
govern the processes in nature or the universe. Cosmology
is close to science since it looks for answers in the form of
empirical understanding by observation and rational
explanation.
• Thus, theories about cosmology operate with a tension
between a philosophical urge for simplicity and a wish to
include all the Universe's features versus the total
complexity of it all.
FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS
• Cosmology asks the questions:
o What came before the Big Bang? Is the Universe really
infinite or just really big? When will the world end?
PSYCHOLOGY OR RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
• The branch of philosophy that studies the life principle of
living things specifically that of man.
• The word “psychology” is derived from the Greek
terms’ “psyche” and “logos”. Respectively, these
mean “soul” and “study”. Therefore, psychology means the
study of the soul. In a simple way, we could say that
psychology is the science responsible for the study of the
human mind and behavior.
• Psychology asks the questions:
o What is the nature of man? Is the soul immortal? When
is the end of man?
EPISTEMOLOGY
• The branch of philosophy that studies the nature and scope
of knowledge and justified belief. It analyzes the nature of
knowledge and how it relates to similar notions such as
truth, belief and justification.
• It also deals with the means of production of knowledge, as
well as skepticism about different knowledge claims. It is
essentially about issues having to do with the creation and
dissemination of knowledge in particular areas of inquiry.
• Epistemology asks questions:
o What is knowledge? How is knowledge acquired?
What do people know? What makes justified beliefs
justified? How do we understand the concept of
justification? Is justification internal or external to one's
own mind?
LOGIC
• The branch of philosophy that studies about reason. It is the
science and art of correct thinking. Logic comes from the
Greek term "logos", which has a variety of meanings
including (word, thought, idea, argument, account, reason
or principle) is the study of reasoning, or the study of the
principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration.
It attempts to distinguish good reasoning from bad
reasoning.
• Aristotle defined logic as "new and necessary
reasoning", "new" because it allows us to learn what we do
not know, and "necessary" because its conclusions are
inescapable.
• Logic asks the questions:
o What is correct reasoning? What distinguishes a good
argument from a bad one? How can we detect a fallacy
in reasoning?
ETHICS
• The branch of philosophy concerned with questions of how
people ought to act and the search for a definition of right
conduct (identified as the one causing the greatest good)
and the good life (in the sense of a life worth living or a life
that is satisfying or happy)?
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 NOTES: WEEK 3

• The word ethics is derived from the Greek “ethos”:

(meaning “custom” or “habit”).
• Ethics differs from morals or morality. Ethics denotes
the theory of right action and the greater good, while morals
indicate their practice.
• Ethics is not limited to specific acts and defined moral codes
but encompasses the whole of moral ideals and behaviors,
a person's philosophy of life.
• Ethics asks the questions:
o How should people act? What do people think what is
right? How do we take moral knowledge and put it into
practice? What does 'right' mean?
OTHER BRANCHES
• Aesthetics, Philosophy of Education, Philosophy of Law,
Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Technology, Social
Philosophy, Political Philosophy, and Hermeneutics among
others.

FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS 2

 [WEEK 4] METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING

SOCRATIC METHOD CARTESIAN METHOD

• In his book, Meditations on First Philosophy he believed

• The Socratic Method is named after Greek philosopher
Socrates who taught students by asking question after
question.
• Socrates sought to expose contradictions in the students’
thoughts and ideas to then guide them to solid, tenable
conclusions. The method is still popular in legal classrooms
today.
that knowledge can proceed or start from very few premises
or starting points just like mathematics. He also suggests,
“doubt” as far as you can until what is left is already beyond
doubt”.
• For him the method of doubt consists of doubting everything
until you arrive at clear and distinct ideas which are non-
sensical to doubt. With his method of doubt, he founded his
famous maxim cogito ergo sum which means I think
therefore I am.

• In law school specifically, a professor will ask a series of

Socratic questions after having a student summarize a
case, including relevant legal principles associated with the
case.
• Professors often manipulate the facts or the legal principles
associated with the case to demonstrate how the resolution
of the case can change greatly if even one fact changes.
The goal is for students to solidify their knowledge of the
case by thinking critically under pressure.

FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS 1

 NOTES: WEEK 4

PHENOMENOLOGICAL METHOD SCIENTIFIC METHOD

• This method is also known as the empirical method.

• When conducting research, scientists use the scientific
method to collect measurable, empirical evidence in an
experiment related to a hypothesis (often in the form of an
if/then statement), the results aiming to support or
contradict a theory.

• This will be done by analyzing pure consciousness as the

relation between the self and its objects.
• A phenomenological study explores what people
experienced and focuses on their experience of a
phenomena.
• Phenomenology has a strong foundation in philosophy, it is
recommended that you explore the writings of key thinkers
such as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre and Merleau-Ponty
before embarking on your research.
HISTORICAL METHOD

FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS 2

 [WEEK 5] NATURE OF TRUTH
TRUTH
• Truth is one of the central subjects in philosophy. It is also
one of the largest.
• Truth has been a topic of discussion in its own right for
thousands of years.
• Moreover, a huge variety of issues in philosophy relate to
truth, either by relying on theses about truth, or implying
theses about truth.
• What is truth, or even a definition of truth, is a tricky concept
in philosophy. Philosophers agree that there is no absolute
measure of truth.
• There are, however, various views which can help us tackle
the concepts of knowing and truth, and arrive at a
reasonable assessment if a statement, idea, or event is
believable.
• The classical concept about truth is rooted in an ancient
Greek philosophy’s concept of “knowledge as justified, true
belief”. This concept states that something is true because
you believe it to be true, and that there is a justification for
such belief. A belief may be justified by using perception
and senses by appealing to authority or using reasoning.
Later philosophers developed more theories on the nature
of knowledge and truth each providing a basis for
establishing if a statement or an idea is true.
THE NEO-CLASSICAL THEORIES OF TRUTH
• Much of the contemporary literature on truth takes as its
starting point some ideas which were prominent in the early
part of the 20th century. There were a number of views of
truth under discussion at that time, the most significant for
the contemporary literature being the correspondence,
coherence, and pragmatist theories of truth.
• These theories all attempt to directly answer the nature
question: what is the nature of truth? They take this
question at face value: there are truths, and the question to
be answered concerns their nature. In answering this
question, each theory makes the notion of truth part of a
more thoroughgoing metaphysics or epistemology.
Explaining the nature of truth becomes an application of
some metaphysical system, and truth inherits significant
metaphysical presuppositions along the way.
CORRESPONDENCE THEORY
• Something is true if it corresponds to reality or the actual
state of affairs
o A direct relationship between an idea and reality and
that statement can be taken as fact
▪ Example: A mammal is an animal which is warm-
blooded, has hair, and feeds its young with milk is
considered to be true.
• That “dog barks” is also true.
• The statement pigs can fly, however is false in reality pigs
do not have the capability to fly.
o Whenever we look up definitions in the dictionary, we
accept these definitions primarily because of
FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS
correspondence. We expect that objects and concepts
are defined as they are in real life.
• According to the correspondence theory as sketched
here, what is key to truth is a relation between propositions
and the world, which obtains when the world contains a fact
that is structurally similar to the proposition. Though this is
not the theory Moore and Russell held, it weaves together
ideas of theirs with a more modern take on (structured)
propositions. We will thus dub it the neo-classical
correspondence theory. This theory offers us a paradigm
example of a correspondence theory of truth.
• The leading idea of the correspondence theory is familiar. It
is a form of the older idea that true beliefs show the right
kind of resemblance to what is believed. In contrast to
earlier empiricist theories, the thesis is not that one’s ideas
per se resemble what they are about. Rather, the
propositions which give the contents of one’s true beliefs
mirror reality, in virtue of entering into correspondence
relations to the right pieces of it.
• In this theory, it is the way the world provides us with
appropriately structured entities that explains truth. Our
metaphysics thus explains the nature of truth, by providing
the entities needed to enter into correspondence relations.
COHERENCE THEORY
• Something is true if it makes sense when placed in a certain
situation or context.
o An idea or statement is true because it makes sense in
its own context, and that has a certain degree of
consistency which renders it truthfully
• Based on this perspective, there is a possibility that there
will be varied truths from different perspectives. An idea or
statement is true because it makes sense in its own context,
and that has a certain degree of consistency which renders
it truthfully.
▪ Example: Muslims has a belief that certain animals
like pigs are unclean.
• For Muslims, this fact prevents them from eating pork and
other types of food made from unclean animals. The belief
that eating pork will render them unclean makes sense in
the context of Islamic faith. Non-Muslims, however, do not
share this belief and thus do not subscribe to this practice
of not eating pork.
• Coherence and consistency are also important in the
context of law and politics. Laws make sense if they
conform to previous laws and to a set of general principles
like justice, democracy, and liberty. Within a democratic
society, only democratic laws and practices are accepted to
be true. If the government tries to introduce undemocratic
laws such as limitations in the freedom of speech, many
citizens will oppose that law since it is considered in conflict
with the democratic ideal and is, therefore, unacceptable.
• The neo-classical correspondence theory seeks to capture
the intuition that truth is a content-to-world relation. It
captures this in the most straightforward way, by asking for
an object in the world to pair up with a true proposition. The
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 NOTES: WEEK 5

neo-classical coherence theory, in contrast, insists

that truth is not a content-to-world relation at all; rather, it is
a content-to-content, or belief-to-belief, relation. The
coherence theory requires some metaphysics which can
make the world somehow reflect this, and idealism appears
to be it.
PRAGMATIC THEORY
• Something is true if we can put it into practice or useful in
real life.
o It also believes that ideas should be continually tested
to confirm their validity
• The scientific method, where experiments are designed to
test hypothesis or confirm conclusions, is an example of a
pragmatic approach in determining truth.
▪ Example: A related theory, verificationism
considers that ideas must be verified using the
senses or experience
• The scientific method, where experiments are designed to
test hypothesis or confirm conclusions, is an example of a
pragmatic approach in determining truth.
PHILOERUDITION
• Descartes assumes that true belief is stronger than any
doubt. He does not explicitly argue it but it is implied by his
definition of truth as 'beyond any doubt'. By defining truth in
this way, Descartes assumes not only that the doubtful may
be false, but also that the true is indubitable.
PHILOGIST
• The classical concept about truth is rooted in an ancient
Greek philosophy’s concept of “knowledge as justified, true
belief” which implies that something is true because you
believe it to be true, and that there is a justification for such
belief.
• It can be justified by using perception and senses by
appealing to authority or using reasoning. Later
philosophers developed more theories on the nature of
knowledge and truth each providing a basis for establishing
if a statement or an idea is true.
• Correspondence theory of truth states that something is
true if it corresponds to reality or the actual state of affairs.
This theory assumes a direct relationship between an idea
and reality and that statement can be taken as fact.
• Coherence theory of truth proposes that something is true
if it makes sense when placed in a certain situation or
context. Based on this perspective, there is a possibility that
there will be varied truths from different perspectives. An
idea or statement is true because it makes sense in its own
context, and that has a certain degree of consistency which
renders it truthfully.
• Pragmatic theory holds the view that something is true if we
can put it into practice or is useful in real life. It also believes
that ideas should be continually tested to confirm their
validity.

FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS 2

 [WEEK 6] THE FALLACIES
PHILODISCOVERY
SPOT A DISHONEST ARGUMENT AND AVOID
MISLEADING OTHERS
"In a study designed by a famous academic to test the effects of
pleasant imagery on motivation, employees were shown images
of baby animals and beautiful nature scenes for their first five
minutes at work.
• "Amazingly, results showed a 10 percent leap in profits in
the first quarter and record earnings over the course of a
year. So, showing employees pleasant images is a great
way to increase their motivation and improve productivity."
o Do you agree or disagree with the argument that you
have just read? Do you agree with the conclusion that
has been reached?
▪ You shouldn't
• The argument is riddled with logical fallacies. The section
entails several very common (and effective) methods for
manipulating reason and logic, so don't be alarmed if you
came to that conclusion. How to recognize them is explored
in depth.
FALLACY
• In determining the truth of any statement or claim, we must
be familiar with how ideas are presented. Ideas and claims
are often presented in the form of arguments, and these
arguments may be based on faulty reasoning. These kinds
of argument are called fallacies. Some of these fallacies
may be intentional, as the person making the claim is
desperate to convince you to accept his or her argument.
The following are group of fallacies and its examples.
LINGUISTIC MANIPULATION
• The group of fallacies that exploit the connotative fluidity of
language in order to impress and intimidate, to seduce and
to secure sympathies, or simply to mislead others.
• Magaling ka sa mga malalalim na salita
DOUBLE TALKING
• The fallacy of double talking, or euphemism happens
whenever we carefully package our unpleasant ideas in
nice sounding words.
• Sugarcoating words tapos mauuto ka lang payag ka non
vebs?!
EMOTIONAL WORDS
• The fallacy of the use of emotional words happens when
one carefully employs words and images that are heavy
with emotional connotations in order to secure the
sympathies of others.
▪ Emotional words na maaawa ka talaga
PRESTIGE JARGON
• means technical and specialized language. When used
among experts and among persons of the same field of
practice, who are all familiar with the denotations of their
specialized terminology, jargon is all right and even helpful
for the sake of precision.
FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS
o But when maliciously used for an audience who are not
experts or who belong to other fields of practice in order
to sound impressive and intimidating, the presence of
jargon becomes questionable.
▪ Mga di mo talaga maggets namappatanong ka
talaga sa sarili mong may utak ka ba talaga
PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE
• Most often, man is not guided by his cognitive and
intellectual powers but by his sensuousness, emotions and
subconscious drives. The fallacies of psychological
warfare target these drives and motivations of man. They
will seduce and intimidate man’s sensuousness, emotions
and even his sub-conscious.
MEANING FROM ASSOCIATION
• The fallacy of meaning from association is perhaps the
most abused fallacy in the production of commercial
advertisements. Here, the advertised products are put side
by side with logically unrelated things and ideas, to suggest
that if you purchase this or that product you too get the
associated things and ideas.
• Subliminal seductions by Marshall McLuhan- we are being
cognified para mabili ang isang bagay
• No logical relationship
MISUSE OF AUTHORITY
• The fallacy of misuse of authority happens whenever we
cite an authority in one given field regarding an issue that is
outside his/her field of competence.
• Like commercials on tv yung mga endorsers nageendors
ng product pero di naman sila expert sa bagay na yun
REPEATED ASSERTION
• It is a fact that it is easier to accept a lie that one has heard
many times before than to accept truth that one has never
heard of. The fallacy of repeated assertion takes advantage
of this psychological fact. This fallacy repeats or multiplies
essentially the same assertion with the aim that sooner or
later people will accept it as true.
ATTITUDE FITTING
• The fallacy of attitude fitting is done through inserting into
the argument persons, objects, situations or ideas that are
known in advance to be positively or negatively regarded by
the intended audience.
o E.g. As early as the later part of the ninth century, the
Vikings discovered a huge island that is 85% covered
with ice. Wanting to attract more settlers, they named
it Greenland.
o At about the same time they also discovered another
territory which was lush and fertile, wanting to keep the
island for themselves they called it Iceland.
o Their strategy of naming in order to attract and repel
was an early example of attitude fitting.
TOKENISM
• This fallacy happens when people are misled to see a token
gestures as the real thing. Whenever substantial action is
needed but performing it would be too expensive, time and
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 NOTES: WEEK 6
effort consuming, and even distracting to one’s agenda,
people often resort to tokenism.
o One of the favorite themes, politicians love to print in
their campaign posters is their token shot hugging a
dirty street urchin here, or shaking hands with
miserable slum dwellers there, as if to document their
love for the poor and the downtrodden who after
the elections they immediately neglect and abandon.
POISONING THE WELL
• When one poisons a well all the water that is drawn from it
becomes poisoned and unpotable. The fallacy of poisoning
the well works similarly. It happens when one discounts in
advance the opponent’s evidence, proof, or counter
argument, thereby preventing him from employing them.
o E.g. When your philosophy professor exhorts the class
that only lazy students ask for examinations with open
notes, then asks later on who wants an examination
with an open note he is using the same ploy.
RATIONALIZING
• When one’s ego is placed in an unpleasant situation one
can spin untrue, but pleasant, reasons to settle things. If
real reasons are not available, pleasant reasons can always
be made.
o E.g. Aesop, a 6th century Greek folk hero and teller of
animal fables,had a story about a fox who felt so bad
because he could not grab the hanging bunch of
grapes. After some more tries the fox finally gave up
and comforted himself, saying, “Anyway, those grapes
are sour. Who would like to eat sour grapes?”
ARGUMENTUM AD BACULUM
• This fallacy still bears its classical Latin name. Baculum
means a club or staff, and argumentum ad baculum roughly
means an argument accompanied with a threatening blow
of a club.
o This fallacy happens when force or the threat of force
is used instead of proper reason.
ARGUMENTUM AD HOMINEM
• is another fallacy that still bears its classical Latin name. It
simply means argument against the person.
• Normally, arguments attack the opponent’s arguments and
counter-arguments.
o The fallacy of argumentum ad hominem attacks the
person of the opponent himself.
CONFIDENT MANNER
• When reasons, evidences, proofs and answers are
unavailable, one can still fool others by using proper
gestures, well calculated intonations and positive language.
o The fallacy of confident manner is saying too little or
nothing at all in so much impressive words and body
language.
LOGICAL MANEUVER
• The group of fallacies that aim to fool the cognitive and
intellectual aspect of the human mind. Hence, this group of
fallacies require some degree of rhetorical skill and a certain
competence in logical procedures.
FALLACY OF COMPOSITION
• The fallacy of composition behaves like an inductive
argument.
FALLACY OF DIVISION
• An exact opposite of the fallacy of composition is the fallacy
of division, and this fallacy behaves like a deductive
categorical argument.
FALSE DILEMMA
FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS
• The fallacy of false dilemma, or the black and white fallacy,
effaces the various alternatives in between two extreme
alternatives in a particular issue.
ARGUMENT OF THE BEARD
• If the fallacy of false dilemma conceals the various shades
in the middle ground and leaves us only with the opposite
extremes, the fallacy of the argument of the beard does the
opposite thing by capitalizing the various shades in the
middle ground and concealing the differences of the two
opposite extremes in the end.
THE STRAWMAN
• The fallacy of the strawman is basically
a counterargument. Here, the arguer misrepresents the
opponent’s position by exaggeration or distortion with the
view of an easier attack. In effect, the arguer is attacking a
strawman, an effigy of the enemy, instead of real enemy.
SLIPPERY SLOPE
• suggests taking a minor action will lead to major and
sometimes absurd consequences.
FALLACY OF DIVERSION
• diversion means wandering from the main point or going
away from the subject matter.
BEGGING THE QUESTION
• The fallacy of begging the question assumes the thing or
idea to be proven is true or where the conclusion is
assumed in one of the premises.
APPEAL TO IGNORANCE
• The fallacy of the appeal to ignorance occurs when we
assume that in a certain dispute, the failure to prove one
side is a ground to conclude the truth of the other side.
CONTRADICTORY ASSUMPTION
• As suggested by the name itself, this fallacy happens
whenever one presents an argument that contains two
assumptions which simultaneously cannot be true.
TWO WRONGS MAKE A RIGHT
• This fallacy is committed whenever one tries to justify an
admittedly faulty action by charging whoever accuses him
with a similar wrong. The fallacy of two wrongs make a right
is based on the assumption that if others are doing a similar
thing, our wrong deeds are justified or made tolerable.
LIFTING OUT OF CONTEXT
• This fallacy operates when one indiscriminately cuts a word
or groups of words away from their original context, there is
a possibility that you will end up distorting its meaning or
sense.
PHILOERUDITION
• Aristotle does not believe that the purpose of logic is to
prove that human beings can have knowledge.
• He dismisses excessive skepticism.
• The aim of logic is the elaboration of a coherent system that
allows us to investigate, classify, and evaluate good and
bad forms of reasoning.
PHILOGIST
• Ideas and claims are often presented in the form of
arguments, and these arguments may be based on faulty
reasoning. These kinds of argument are called fallacies.
Some of these fallacies may be intentional, as the person
making the claim is desperate to convince you to accept his
or her argument. The following are group of fallacies and its
examples.
• Fallacies are faulty arguments, common errors in reasoning
that will undermine the logic of your argument.
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 NOTES: WEEK 6

• Fallacies can be either illegitimate arguments or irrelevant

points, and are often identified because they lack evidence
that supports their claim.
• There are three groups of fallacy. Linguistic Manipulation
the group of fallacies that exploit the connotative fluidity of
language in order to impress and intimidate, to seduce and
to secure sympathies, or simply to mislead others.
• Logical Maneuver, the group of fallacies that aim to fool the
cognitive and intellectual aspect of the human
mind. Hence, this group of fallacies require some degree
of rhetorical skill and a certain competence in logical
procedures.
• Psychological warfare targets these drives and motivations
of man. They will seduce and intimidate man’s
sensuousness, emotions and even his sub-conscious.

FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS 3

 [WEEK 7] LESSON 7: HUMAN PERSON AS EMBODIED SPIRIT
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN?
• human being is a complex matter and represents the
highest level of development of all living organisms on
earth, subject of labor, of the social forms of life,
communication and consciousness. In Philosophy, it is
regarded that there is a living animating core with each of
us, the driving force behind all that we think, say, and do−
that is the “embodied spirit.”
HUMAN PERSON AS AN EMBODIED SPIRIT
• Man is an important subject in Philosophy and
understanding of the nature and condition of man is the
foremost goal of the discipline. The word man is a general
term which is commonly used to refer to the entire human
race. Other related terms include humanity, mankind, and
humankind. The word human is a biological term, refers to
man as a species – homo sapiens -sapiens or modern
human beings. Person is a moral term, a much more
complex term which generally refers to a human being
granted recognition of certain rights, responsibilities, and
values.
• As with any major philosophical question, the concepts of
man and human nature are much-discussed and highly
debated among philosophers and scientists. From these
discussions and debates, various perspectives have
emerged regarding the nature of man.
THE CONCEPT OF A HUMAN PERSON
WHAT IS MAN? WHAT QUALIFIES MAN AS MAN?
WHO IS MAN?
• Man is a being, a creature, whose destiny is to live in two
worlds:
1. THE SPIRITUAL WORLD
• Man is destined to live in the spiritual world because he is
summoned by God to live with Him in His kingdom
2. PHYSICAL WORLD OR MATERIAL WORLD
• Man is destined to live in the physical world since he is part
of the world and, besides, he lives among entities in the
world, viz: plants, minerals, animals, etc.
o If man is destined to live in a spiritual world and a
material world, then man is the only creature who is the
recipient of a substantial unity of a material body and a
spiritual soul.
THREE-FOLD LEVEL OF HUMAN NATURE
SOMATIC LEVEL
• refers to the body, substance, constitution, or stuff of
man and secondarily (or accidentally) to the bodily structure
and color of man which are conditioned by man’s culture
and environment.
BEHAVIORAL LEVEL
• refers to the mode of acting of every man. Both in the
abstract and concrete nuances, man has a universal way of
acting or conducting himself properly.
FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS
ATTITUDINAL LEVEL
• refers to the mental reaction of every man to given stimulus
or the position of every individual mart concerning his
opinion, feeling, or mood. This level is universal yet not
static It is universal since every man has attitudes. It is not
subjectively static because it is dependent on human
individually or uniqueness. This level lies at the heart of
every man’s uniqueness.
THEORIES OF HUMAN NATURE
ANCIENT
THALES
• His argument finds truth in the somatic level of human
nature since it is a scientific knowledge that
the human brain contains 80% water and the human body
70%.
ANAXIMENES
• contends that air is the world-stuff. To this philosopher, air
undergoes two processes, namely: condensation and
rarefaction. The former is the source of cold; while the latter
of heat. In the light of understanding man as body and soul,
its rarefied air.
HERACLITUS
• this philosopher maintains that everything is in constant
change. “You can’t step twice in the same river”. In his
consciousness of change, he believes that fire makes the
world-stuff. Evidently, 37°C temperature of the somantic
level of human nature us a conviction that man is grounded
in the world.
ANAXIMANDER
• posits that man is being that has evolved from animals of
another species. He applies evolution to the gradual
mutation of life from simple to complex until it reaches
human life. Anaximander, indeed, can be called the first
evolutionist though his evolutionary theory being crude and
incomplete.
PYTHAGORAS
• Pythagoras’ view of man resembles those of later thinkers
like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and the
Epicureans down to the contemporary thoughts as it will be
seen later. Depicted in the Pythagorean view is that soul is
immortal, divine, and is subjected to metempsychosis.
PROTAGORAS
• “man is the measure of all things, of all things that are that
they are, and of things that are not that they are not”. As the
measure of everything, man for Protagoras is the ultimate
criterion of truth.
SOCRATES
• the greatest philosopher in the western civilization,
maintains that man is a being who thinks and wills. He gives
more value to the human soul rather than the body. Human
soul should be nurtured properly through its acquisition of
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knowledge, wisdom, and virtue. Man should discover truth,
truth about good life, for it knowing the good life that man
can act correctly. Man’s attitude towards life therefore
should be oriented towards knowledge. Knowledge is
literally taken by Socrates as the ultimate criterion of action.
PLATO
• The nature of man is seen in the metaphysical dichotomy
between body and soul. The body is material; it cannot live
and move apart from the soul; it is mutable and destructible.
On the contrary, the soul is immaterial; it can exist apart
from the body; it is immutable and indestructible. The soul
is a substance because it exists and can exist
independently of the body; nevertheless, it is temporarily
incarcerated in the body.
THREE PARTS OF SOUL:
RATIONAL PART
• this part is located in the head, specifically in the brain. The
soul that enables man to think, to reflect,
to draw conclusion, and to analyze. This way prompts Plato
to say that this part of the soul is the most important and the
highest.
APPETITIVE PART
• this part is located in the abdomen. The soul that drives
man to experience hunger, thirst, and other physical wants.
SPIRITUAL PART
• this part is located in the chest. The soul that enables man
to experience happiness, contentment, and loneliness.
ARISTOTLE
• known as the famous student of Plato and tutor of
Alexander the Great. Man is a rational animal is his famous
dictum. To understand Aristotle’s concept of human nature
one must look unto one of his most important works, “De
Anima” literally means on the soul. De Anima is considered
as the first professional textbook in psychology. According
to Aristotle’s De Anima, “the soul is the animating
principle which enables living being to move on their own,
and perform activities such growth, nutrition, and
reproduction. Body and soul are in state of unity. In this
unity, soul acts as the perfect or full realization of the body
while the body is a material entity which has a potentially
for life. The body has no life, it can only possess life when
it is united with the soul. He speaks of a man as a single
essence composed of body and soul.
THREE KINDS OF SOUL
VEGETATIVE SOUL
• for plants and vegetation, it feeds itself, it grows, and it
reproduces
SENSITIVE SOUL
• for animals or brutes, it feeds itself, it grows, and it
reproduces, and it has feelings.
RATIONAL SOUL
• or man, ranks highest because it assumes the functions of
vegetative and sensitive souls. Thus, man is capable of
thinking, and judging aside from seeing and growing.
FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS
MEDIEVAL
AUGUSTINE
• Medieval Philosophy was started by Augustine.
o He is the first great Christian philosopher and the main
authority in the Medieval period. According to him “God
is Absolute spirit, Absolute will, Absolute Intelligence,
Absolute Freedom, Absolute good, Absolute power,
Absolute holiness, cannot will evil, no beginning and no
end and transcendent.
o For Augustine, God created man in a mortal body with
an immortal soul and gave man free will. Man is
responsible for the existence of evil, not God for God
cannot will it; he is Absolute goodness.
o God alone who can redeem man. God’s grace has its
locus in the church. Salvation happens through
conversion symbolized by one’s submission to the
church and its sacrament.
THOMAS AQUINAS
• Summa Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles are the
monumental works of Aquinas. He understands man as a
whole.
o He claimed that man is the substantial unity of body
and soul. Man is the point of convergence between the
corporeal and spiritual substances.
o For Aquinas, man is an embodied soul, not a soul using
a body, as Plato asserted. Soul is a substance, while
the body is actual. The mere existence of a body
makes a body complete, perfect, and actual. To
Aquinas, when animation happens, the two become
one.
o The soul the animator of the human body, is a
substance, it is a substance because it exists by itself;
it is on corporeal. Soul is a substance because it acts,
it wills, it thinks, it knows.
o A soul cannot have perception in the absence of the
body because perception means sensation. Aquinas
explains, is meant that the soul is the body’s principle
of activity.
MODERN
RENE DESCARTES
• His view of man is founded on his idea of substance. By
substance he means anything that exists independently of
other other’s existence. Descartes is saying that substance
exists by itself. He draws the distinction between God as
the infinite substance and man as the finite substance
Descartes calls thinking substance Res Cogitans and
extended substance Res Extensa.
RES EXTENSA
• The term refers to the body of man. By body, Descartes
means anything that has a figure; it is confined to a
particular space and time; it is sensible; it can be touched;
kit can be felt; it has weight; and it has color. Descartes says
that the extension of the body is its essential property.
RES COGITANS
• The term refers to the soul of man. The soul is a spiritual
substance which is the first immediate evident fact in the
finite substance. For Descartes, the essence or nature of
soul is to think because of this, it cannot subscribe to any
material fact. For Descartes, the soul, instead of giving man
life, it gives man consciousness, thinking becomes the all-
embracing reality.
CONTEMPORARY/ POST-MODERN
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KARL MARX
• Marx’s views of human nature lies at his ideas of labor and
society. For Marx the nature of man is equivalent to labor
my means of his subsistence. Man becomes man only in
the context of labor; hence man is intertwined with practical
activity
PHILOERUDITION
• Philosophers and scholars tend to talk human nature based
on major schools of thought from human history. Some
religion scholars argue that spiritual or religious natures are
the key trait in human nature. For example, Judeo-Christian
belief presents humans as creations of God that have free
will, which provides them both dignity and ethical dangers.
Buddhists think that to be human is to be aware (conscious)
and to desire.
PHILOGIST
• Man is a being, a creature, whose destiny is to live in two
worlds: (1) Man is destined to live in the spiritual world
because he is summoned by God to live with Him in His
kingdom (The spiritual world); (2) Man is destined to live in
the physical world since he is part of the world and, besides,
he lives among entities in the world, viz: plants, minerals,
animals, etc. (Physical world or material world)
• Three-fold of human nature: (1) Somatic Level (body,
substance, constitution, or stuff of man and secondarily to
the bodily structure and color of man which are conditioned
by man’s culture and environment); (2) Behavioral Level
(mode of acting of every man); (3) Attitudinal Level (mental
reaction of every man to given stimulus or the position of
every individual mart concerning his opinion, feeling, or
mood)
• Theories of Human Nature: Ancient: Thales (water);
Anaximenes (air is the world-stuff); Heraclitus (everything is
in constant change); Anaximander (man is being that has
evolved from animals of another species); Pythagoras (soul
is immortal, divine, and is subjected to metempsychosis);
Protagoras (everything, man for Protagoras is the ultimate
criterion of truth); Socrates (man is a being who thinks and
wills); Plato (man is seen in the metaphysical dichotomy
between body and soul); Aristotle (man is a rational animal
is his famous dictum)
• Medieval: St. Augustine (Medieval Philosophy was started
by Augustine and the first great Christian philosopher and
the main authority in the Medieval period); St. Thomas
Aquinas (He understands man as a whole and claimed that
man is the substantial unity of body and soul)
• Modern: Rene Descartes (by substance, anything that
exists independently of other’s existence)
• Contemporary/Post-Modern: Karl Marx (nature of man is
equivalent to labor my means of his subsistence)

FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS 3

 [WEEK 8] HUMAN PERSON AND HIS ENVIRONMENT
APPROACHES TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
PHILODISCOVERY
• The Philippines is one of the countries most impacted by HUMAN-ANTHROPOCENTRISM
climate change-induced catastrophes. Scientists warned • Traditional views consider human beings as the center of
that some of the consequences of the climate crisis are moral consideration from Judeo-Christian Tradition
irreversible for centuries to millennia (Philstar, 2022). (Genesis 1:26-29)
o Do you agree with the statement above? To deepen • The Earth and other natural resources as an instrument for
your understanding about this issue, reflect on the man to explore and conquer and to make use of it for the
following questions: benefit of man.
o Describe the most natural environment for a human • Plato and Aristotle viewed man as superior because of
being. Does your description match the environment his/her unique capacity as a rational being.
you live in? • Protagoras claimed that man is the measure of all things.
o How has the world changed since you were a child? Therefore, only human beings are moral due to his special
o Do you believe human activities contribute to climate ability towards self-consciousness and deliberation.
change? If so, what should we do about it? If not, what • Barbara Mackinnon in her book; “Ethics: theory and
do you think causes climate change? Contemporary Issues”
o Why is it important to reflect about environmental o “Our own good requires that we have due and wise
issues? regard for animals and environment”.
• Humans have a moral obligation to protect the o This good need not be defined narrowly in terms of the
environment and encourage the planet's long-term satisfaction of individual interests of a limited
development for future generations. To become more sources—prudential anthropocentrism.
environmentally aware, we must also take steps to o Recognizes duties towards the environment—instead
safeguard the world and, perhaps, undo some of the harm of dominion over nature, we are mere stewards
caused by human activities. Making minor changes to your responsible for keeping the balance and beauty in
lifestyle might help you become more environmentally nature.
conscious. Individuals have an impact on the environment NON-HUMAN-PANTHOCENTRISM
in a number of ways, including pollution emissions to land,
• Peter Singer, an Australian philosopher; “Animal
air, and water, resource usage, energy use, and waste.
Liberation”, the realm of being morally considerable must
• Because we are all responsible for damage to the extended to higher forms of animals or intelligent animals
environment, it is important for everyone to increase their like dogs and chimpanzees, who are sentient—have the
environmental awareness. It is extremely important to teach capacity to feel pain.
children about the need of environmental awareness in
• “To give preference to the life of a being, simply because
order to protect the lives of future generations. As things
that being is a member of our species would put us in the
now stand, our actions will have the greatest impact on
same position as racists who give preference to those who
future generations. As a result, we must provide our
are members of their race”.
children with the tools they need to be environmentally
responsible and educated.
o As we discuss the human person and his surroundings
this week, you will be able to become aware of your
relationship and its related responsibilities for
your environment.
ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY
• Environmental philosophy is the branch of philosophy that
is concerned with the natural environment and humanity’s
place within it. The major issues tackled by environmental
philosophers are humanity’s role in the natural world, the
interaction between nature and human activities, and
humanity’s response to environmental challenges. Most
views on environmental philosophy emphasize the role
humans play in causing environmental changes. Other
views, however, recognize that changes in the environment
are part of a larger interplay among organisms and
ecosystems on the planet.

FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS 1

 NOTES: WEEK 8
LIVING ORGANISMS-BIOCENTRISM
• Viewed that not only humans and animals, but also plants
should be morally considerable.
• Preservation of biodiversity with its plants and animals.
• Protection for all living organism including protection for all
living organism including animal rights.
• Paul Taylor, in his book “Ethics of Respect for Nature” says
“all living things should be considered as “teleogical centers
of life”—each and every living organism has its own telos,
or goal or purpose to fulfill in this world.
• Kenneth Goodpaster, “On Being Morally Considerable”—
being sentient is just a means of attaining a living
organism’s goal of being alive or having life.
HOLISTIC ENTITIES OR COMMUNITIES-
ECOCENTRISM
• Regard ecosystem as holistic entities that should be given
moral consideration.
• Leopold’s Land Ethic, “a thing is right when it tends to
preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic
community. It is wrong when it tends to do otherwise”.
• Callicott, “The Conceptual Foundations of the Land Ethic”
says that the land ethic morality is the next stage of man’s
ethical evolutionary development—moving towards seeing
things less individualistically, but in a more holistically.
“environmental ethics is not a muddle; it is an invitation to
moral development”
• All ethics seeks appropriate respect for life, but respect for
human life is only a subset of respect for all life.
DEEP ECOLOGY
• Against the traditional and conventional view of the
environment.
• An environmental approach emerged which assumes that
all living things possess equal value and intrinsic worth
regardless of their usefulness or utility to other beings.
• Arne Naess – human being should look at the self as an
extension of nature, where the human ego would be
identified with nature. Respect and care for self is
tantamount to respect and care for nature—self-realization.
SOCIAL ECOLOGY
• An offshoot of the movement against domination of existing
hierarchical structures in society that pre-empt the full
development of the full nature of an individual, from his/her
first (biotic nature-man’s evolutionary history) and second
nature.
• Murray Bookchin – “until human beings cease to live in
societies that are structured around hierarchies as well as
economic classes, we shall never be free of domination”—
the very notion of the domination of nature by man stems
from the very real domination of human by human”.
• Believes that ecological problems rooted from social
problem: Political: has to do with power relations in society
brought about by capitalism as well by social class
domination.
ECOFEMINISM
• A reaction against male domination and the corresponding
women oppression.
• Believed that in our relationship with the environment is
rooted on male-centered viewed in nature.
• They are also against to the existing patriarchal relations as
well as capitalist system supporting exploitative economic
structures to the detriment of women and nature.
• It serves as a social and political agenda for the benefit of
both women and nature—believes that a society
characterized by a mentality that tolerates the oppression
FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS
of women is directly linked with its tendency to tolerate the
abuse of the environment and degradation of nature.
ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES-PRESENT AND
FUTURE CHALLENGES ON THE ENVIRONMENT
1. CLIMATE CHANGE
• Regarded as one of the major environmental challenges
that the world is facing today.
• A treat to the world’s basic needs, since our key natural
resources may affect our food and water security
• Global climate change has already had observable effects
on the environment. Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and
lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have
shifted and trees are flowering sooner.
• Effects that scientists had predicted in the past would result
from global climate change are now occurring: loss of sea
ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense
heat waves.
• Philippines is the third most vulnerable country to climate
change according to the 2017 world risk report. Impacts of
climate change in the Philippines are immense, including:
annual losses in GDP, changes in rainfall patterns and
distribution, droughts, threats to biodiversity and food
security, sea level rise, public health risks, and
endangerment of vulnerable groups such as women and
indigenous people.
SOME CLIMATE CHANGES IMPACTS IN THE
PHILIPPINES:
1. MAJOR RAINFALL CHANGES IN PATTERNS AND
DISTRIBUTIONS
• A 2011 PAGASA report suggests a decrease in rainfall by
2020 in most parts of the country except Luzon. As far as
extreme rainfall is concerned, however, the number of days
with heavy rainfall (e.g., greater than 200 mm) is expected
to increase with global warming by the year 2020 and 2050.
2. THREATS TO NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS
• Approximately 1 million hectares of grasslands in the
Philippines are highly vulnerable to climate change in the
future. Most grasslands in the uplands are prone to fires
particularly during extended periods of dryness and lack of
rainfall during summer.
3. CORAL LOSS
• The 2016 Low Carbon Monitor Report foresees that 98
percent of coral reefs in Southeast Asia will die by 2050,
practically an extinction by the end of the century if current
global warming trends will continue. The IPCC projects that
by years 2051 to 2060, the maximum fish catch potential of
Philippine seas will decrease by as much as 50% compared
to 2001-2010 levels.
4. DECLINING RICE YIELDS
• An analysis of temperature trends and irrigated field
experiments at the International Rice Research Institute
shows that grain yield decreased by at least 10% for each
1°C increase in growing-season minimum temperature in
the dry season.
5. MORE INTENSE DROUGHTS
• Global warming exacerbates the effects of El Niño the most
recent of which was experienced in the country from 2015
to 2016. The Department of Agriculture estimated that
413,456 farmers have been directly affected by El Niño-
associated drought and dry spells during the last El Niño
period.
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 NOTES: WEEK 8
6. HIGHER SEA LEVEL RISE
• Observed sea level rise is remarkably highest at 60
centimeters in the Philippines, about three times that of the
global average of 19 centimeters. This puts at risk 60% of
LGUs covering 64 coastal provinces, 822 coastal
municipalities, 25 major coastal cities, and an estimated
13.6 million Filipinos that would need relocation.
7. WATER SCARCITY
• Climate change, rapid urbanization, and population growth
drives water scarcity worldwide. A study conducted by the
World Resources Institute predicts that Philippines will
experience a 'high' degree of water shortage by the year
2040. The country ranked 57th likely most water stressed
country in 2040 out of 167 countries. The sector that will
bear the brunt of water shortage by that year is agriculture,
a major component of the country’s economy and which
currently employs x% of the country's workforce.
2. PRESERVATION OF THE ENDANGERED
SPECIES:THE CONTINUING CHALLENGE
• A number of species have already been extinct ever since
life on Earth began as human beings compete with other
living things for space, food and water. In which, most cases
human beings are at the topmost level of the food chain and
they are very successful predators.
WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT FOR US TO PROTECT
SPECIES?
1. ECOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE
• Healthy ecosystems depend on plant and animal species
as their foundations. When a species becomes
endangered, it is a sign that the ecosystem is slowly falling
apart. Each species that is lost triggers the loss of other
species within its ecosystem. Humans depend on healthy
ecosystems to purify our environment. Without healthy
forests, grasslands, rivers, oceans and other ecosystems,
we will not have clean air, water, or land. If we allow our
environment to become contaminated, we risk our own
health.
2. MEDICAL
• Over 50% of the 150 most prescribed medicines were
originally derived from a plant or other natural product.
Unfortunately, only about 5% of known plant species have
been tested for medicinal uses and there are thousands of
plant species that have yet to be identified. Tens of
thousands of Americans die every year from illnesses for
which there is no known cure. The cures for these diseases
may eventually come from plants, therefore, we must
protect all species before they are lost forever from nature’s
medicine cabinet.
3. AESTHETIC/RECREATIONAL
• The American tourism industry is dependent on plant and
animal species and their ecosystems for their multi-billion-
dollar, job-intensive industry. Every year, millions of people
visit natural areas in the US and participate in wildlife
related activities. From woodland hikes to beach going,
outdoor activities are the second most popular travel activity
(Travel Industry Association of America).
4. AGRICULTURAL
• Agriculture also plays an important role in the protection of
species, farmers are often seen as the original
conservationists. Many farmers set aside portions of their
land as wildlife habitat and also work in partnership with
groups such as Trout Unlimited to restore river and stream
habitats for endangered and threatened fish and reptiles. In
addition, wild relatives of common crops contain important
FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS
genetic material needed to maintain these crops. These
relatives can be used to ensure crops are disease-resistant
while providing information for developing new crops that
can grow in less than adequate lands.
3. WATER SCARCITY: THE EMERGING CHALLENGE
• The rising global population combined with economic
growth in emerging markets will trigger growing demand for
portable water and food.
4. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: THE FUTURE
CHALLENGE
• Developments that meet the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.
• Peter Wenz emphasized a more primal obligation that we
have to recognize; an obligation to protect the environment
from oneself.
• Our duty is to protect the environment from any and every
threat or a duty to bring aid—we have the moral obligation
to do our part.
GLOBAL INITIATIVES
• United Nations is a leading proponent if global environment
initiatives to bring about environmental sustainability on a
global level.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM AND PROTOCOL
FORMULATED
KYOTO PROTOCOL (2005)
• agreed upon by member nations to reduce their carbon
dioxide emissions.
MONTREAL PROTOCOL (1987)
• is a result of the agreement in the Vienna Convention of the
Protection of the Ozone Layer, aimed to reduce ozone
depletion by phasing out products that contain substances
responsible for such; CFCs or Chlorofluorocarbons, HCFCs
or Hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and HFCs or
Hydrofluorocarbons.
BASEL CONVENTION (1989)
• treaty signed and ratify by 180 member states and
European Union through the initiatives of UN and its UNEP
arm—aimed at controlling ‘transboundary movements of
hazardous wastes and their disposal’ to protect developing
countries to become dumping sites for toxic waste of
developed countries.
GLOBAL MARSHALL PLAN (1990)
• proposed by Albert Gore former US Vice President,
envisions the attainment of sustainable development by
making wealthy nations with advanced economies help
Third World nations by bringing and sharing their advanced
green technologies.
PHILOERUDITION
• Philosophical view that believes maintaining order in the
environment will bring out the natural beauty of the
surroundings and contribute to the well-being of the people
and other organisms living in it. The appreciation of natural
beauty brings about the concern for the environment and
helps people relate more effectively with nature.
PHILOGIST
• Humankind is a part of the world, and we significantly affect
our environment in the same way that changes in our
environment affect us. Environment philosophy is the
discipline that studies the moral relationship of human
beings with the environment and its non-human contents.
Philosophers believe that the human person has the ability
to change the environment to suit his purposes.
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 NOTES: WEEK 8

• Anthropocentrism believes that humans are the most

important species on the planet and they are free to
transform nature and use its resources. Panthocentrism as
a philosophical stance, there are several varied opinions
and positions taken on the question as to whether humans
and animals suffer pain differently and whether that is due
to differences in mental capacity and sentience (awareness
of things).
• Biocentrism believes that humans are not the only
significant species on the planet, and that all other
organisms have inherent value and should be protected.
Ecocentrism promotes the idea that order and balance in
nature brings about stability and beauty.
• Deep ecology gives a strong importance to the preservation
of the global natural equilibrium, the variety and complexity
of living beings, ecosystems and cultures. Social ecology
looks at the ever-changing relationship between all parts of
our society, and how each one has an important role to play
in keeping the system healthy and stable. Ecofeminism
puts forth the idea that life in nature is maintained through
cooperation, mutual care and love.

FENINA DICIANO-ST. AQUILINA OF BYBLOS 4