LESSON 2

The
Philosophical
enterprise
 Lesson Objectives
1 2

Recognize human Reflect on concrete

activities that emanated situations from a holistic
from deliberate perspective and in
reflection collaboration with others
WONDER,
KNOWLEDGE,
IGNORANCE
WONDER
• Wonder is the beginning of
Philosophy.
• This is the feeling of a
philosopher.
• Philosophy begins in wonder.
-Plato
 To wonder means that
there is something
strange behind the things
that we ordinarily
perceive. - Terry
WONDER
• To be wise and to know the Truth.
• Philosophy is understood as an
activity in pursuit of wisdom.
• Wisdom-attributed to people who
truly know.
WISDOM
• Two kinds: Theoretical and
practical
WISDOM
• Theoretical wisdom involves
reasoning about or in a way
that is aimed at truth
• To know necessary truths and their
logical consequences
WISDOM
• Practical wisdom involves
reasoning about or in a way that
is aimed at the good
• Politics and ethics concerned
with action
Intuitions
• One’s held beliefs and
opinions
ARISTOTL
E• claimed that our RATIONAL
FACULTY is the best element
in us, a divine quality that we
share with the gods.
Aristotle was
an Ancient
Greek
philosopher
and polymath.
KNOWLEDGE
- ideas and beliefs that we
know to be true
KNOWLEDGE
 Every person is free to
engage in the pursuit of
wisdom and knowledge.
provided he/she has no
mental incapacity
Do you think you know
EVERYTHING?
ORACLE AT DELPHI
IGNORANCE
- makes philosophy
possible
- ARROGANCE or the belief
that one has figured out
everything will impede our
search for truth.
IGNORANCE
- those who are search in
truth are conscious of
their ignorance
We cannot do philosophy if
we assume that our views
are correct and if we do not
allow our views to be
subjected to the scrutiny of
others.
WONDER
KNOWLED
GE
IGNORAN
CE
PHILOSOPHIC
AL thoughts in
THREE VIEWS
cosmocentric
Cosmocentric era human person is
studied or understood in relation to
the Cosmos. Here, the Cosmos is at
the centre.
cosmocentric
They wanted to understand the world
for they found themselves ignorant
about the workings of the universe.

Where did all things come from?

cosmocentric
COSMOLOGY - the branch of philosophy
dealing with the origin and general structure of the
universe, with its parts, elements, and laws, and
especially with such of its characteristics as space,
time, causality, and freedom.
COSMOS – Greek word -> world
 cosmocentric
• Water is the underlying
principle of all things.
• No reasons.
• Everything that has life needs
water.
• Water is a unifying principle
for everything in the world.

THALES of MILETUS
cosmocentric
• BOUNDLESS
- apeiron in Greek

anaximander
cosmocentric
• AIR
-better an account for change
and for life.

anaximenes
 cosmocentric
• Mathematical Ratio
-Music and celestial
objects reveal order
and harmony that are
ultimately found in
number pythagoreans
 cosmocentric
• THERE must be tiny,
indivisible entities,
invisible to the naked
eye, that makeup
everything. They called
these ATOMS.
atomists
 theocentric
The next era is the Christian era or period
(Theocentric) where human person is
being studied or understood in reference
to God.
 theocentric

The human person is considered to be the image of God.

 THEOCENTRI
C
• Infinite chain- impossible
• End of the chain is the
starting point of the entire
chain –God,
self-sufficient—not
dependent of His existence
aVICENNA
 THEOCENTRI
• Summa Theologica is a
C
“theological summary.” It seeks
to describe the relationship
between God and man and to
explain how man’s
reconciliation with the Divine
is made possible at all through
Christ. Thomas aquinas
 THEOCENTRI
• “Only the grace of God can
save us.” C

augustine
ANTHROPOCEN
TRIC
• With the modern age the
study on human person
takes an anthropocentric
turn leaving aside both
cosmocentric and
theocentric perspectives.
• Anthropos –man in Greek
ANTHROPOCEN
TRIC
• The human person
himself is the point of
departure.
• He becomes the basis
and object of the study
matter
ANTHROPOCEN
TRIC
• The human person
himself is the point of
departure.
• He becomes the basis
and object of the study
matter
ANTHROPOCEN
• PROGRESS in the SCIENTIFIC
FIELD made man TRICrealize the
practical utility of science as a
technique rather than a
doctrine that explained the
nature of the world

BETRAND RUSSEL
ANTHROPOCEN
RATIONALISM
TRIC
• Committed to the view that
knowledge is acquired through
reason independent of sense
experience
ANTHROPOCEN
TRIC ideas cannot be
• Clear and distinct

doubted unlike the

data of the senses
RATIONALISM
ANTHROPOCEN
TRIC RATIONALISM
• Knowledge is based on IDEAS.
ANTHROPOCEN
EMPERICISM
TRIC
• Knowledge is derived from
SENSE EXPERIENCE.
• John Locke – the mind is a
tabula rasa (blank sheet of
paper) later filled through
sense experience.