INTRDUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY IN A HUMAN PERSON

STUDY GUIDE

METHOD OF PHILOSOPHIZING

Truth – the quality or state of being true

Logic – the science of correct thinking or reasoning
Deductive – using logic or reason to form a specific conclusion
Inductive – using particular examples to reach a general conclusion about something
Fallacy – the quality of being false or erroneous arguments.

Type of Logical Fallacy

1. AD HOMINEM
An ad hominem fallacy is one that attempts to invalidate an opponent’s position based on a personal trait or fact about the
opponent rather than through logic.

Example: Katherine is a bad choice for mayor because she didn’t grow up in this town.

2. RED HERRING
A red herring is an attempt to shift focus from the debate at hand by introducing an irrelevant point.

Example: Losing a tooth can be scary, but have you heard about the Tooth Fairy?

3. EQUIVOCATION
An equivocation is a statement crafted to mislead or confuse readers or listeners by using multiple meanings or interpretations of a
word or simply through unclear phrasing.

Example:
I don't see how you can say you're an ethical person. It's so hard to get you to do anything; your work ethic is so bad

4. FALSE DELIMMA
A false dilemma, also known as a false dichotomy, claims there are only two options in a given situation. Often, these two options
are extreme opposites of each other, failing to acknowledge that other, more reasonable, options exist.

Example:
If you don’t support my decision, you were never really my friend.

5. AD IGNORANTIAM
An appeal to ignorance is a claim that something must be true because it hasn’t been proven false. It can also be a claim that
something must be false because it hasn’t been proven true. This is also known as the burden of proof fallacy.

Example:
There must be fairies living in our attic because nobody’s ever proven that there aren’t fairies living in our attic.

6. AD MISERICORDIAM
An appeal to pity attempts to sway a reader’s or listener’s opinion by provoking them emotionally.

Example:
The seller asks to purchase all his product because he is the only bread winner of his family.

7. AD POPULUM
The truth of a claim is established only on the basis of its popularity and familiarity.

Example:
Surely you have heard of commercials implying that we should buy a certain product because it has made to the top of a sales
rank, or because the brand is the city's "favourite".
 8. BEGGING THE QUESTION
an argument where the conclusion is assumed in one of the premises. It is an attempt to prove something is true while
simultaneously taking that same thing for granted. This line of reasoning is fallacious because the assumption is not justified
by any evidence.

Example:
God exists because this is what the Bible says, and the Bible is reliable because it is the word of God."

9. Composition (opposite of division)

The whole is assumed to have the same properties as its parts. Anne might be humorous and fun-loving and an excellent
person to invite to the party. The same might be true of Ben, Chris and David considered individually. But it does not follow
that it will be a good idea to invite all of them to the party. Perhaps they hate each other and the party will be ruined.

Example:
One bird is quiet so a flock of birds will be quiet.
A domestic cat likes to be petted so a tiger would, too. ...

10. Division
one arguments or assumes that if something is true for a whole then it must also be true for some or for all of its parts.

Example:
My house is green therefore my front door is green. ...
War and Peace is long therefore chapter 20 is long. ...

11. GENETIC FALLACY

is a logical fallacy in which someone accepts a claim as true or false solely on the basis of its origin.

Example:
"His father is a criminal, so he must also be up to no good."

12. NON SEQUITUR

a statement or conclusion that does not follow logically from what preceded it. Non sequiturs can be responses that have
nothing to do with the conversation or flawed conclusions “based” on what preceded them.

Example:
My refrigerator is activating, I’d better finish reading my book this Friday.

Plato’s Philosophy of Human Being

 Plato presented the allegory of the cave to explain the two realities. He presented the two worlds ( World of Ideas
and the World of Senses) where inside the cave is our senses and the outside is the conveys the world of ideas. The
place where all copies from the caves originates.
 Human being is composed of Body and Soul
 Body and soul is separable or tangible in a sense that when the body dies the soul come back to the world of ideas.
 The soul is perfect as it existed from the world of ideas.
 Man’s body is always limited (full of imperfections and flaws.
 Body may limit us from doing things but soul has the capability to rule over us.
 Plato presented human person as a state. And it becomes an ideal man when he governed himself using his intellect
and will.
 He presented human person just like the chart.
 State Individual Function Virtue
Ruler Head Rational Wisdom
Soldiers Chest Spirited Courage
Workers Stomach Appetite temperance

 Plato wants us to realize how we govern ourselves in order to see being human. It is the matter of controlling
(Temperance), Rationalizing, and evaluating self.

Aristotle’s Philosophy of Human Being (Act and Potency)

 According to Aristotle, “body and soul are inseparable in such a way that a human being is a composition of both
form and matter.
 form – actualizing a thing and makes a thing what it is. (always seen as act)
 Matter – the potentiality to receive a form. (seen as potency)
 Human person undergoes a process of having a genuine act that leads to a lot of potentialities.
 Aristotle presented the three essences of human person.

NUTRITIVE ESSENCE SENSATION ESSENCE RATIONALITY ESSENCE

(Material Being)
A function that we share with plants.
When human dies, the body will no
longer called as human. Just like a
material thing.
(Animal Being)
A function that we share with other
animals – the animal instinct
Man using his senses in order to
survive.
(Rational Being)
the function that separate us from all
other being and make us supreme
rationally
making man the highest form of
being on Earth.