INTRODUCTION TO

THE PHILOSOPHY OF
THE HUMAN PERSON
Opening Prayer
1 Define ‘methods of
philosophizing’

2 Differentiate the different methods of

doing philosophical inquiry

3 Apply your learnings about the

different of methods of philosophizing

METHODS OF
PHILOSOPHIZING
Different process of determining the
truth or drawing conclusions from
statements using various
philosophical methods.
Dialectical Method
Rational Method
Speculative Method
Analytic Method
Prescriptive Method
Historical Method
Synthetic Method

DIALECTICAL
Method
What is it?
The Art of Questions: Our
philosophy is shaped by the
questions we ask.
The dialectical method of Socratic
education was “to draw out ideas
from people through questions”.
1
Example
• Engaging in a debate
• Asking Socratic questions aka endless
“Bakit list…?”
THE PRIMARY TASK IS TO RECOVER
THE QUESTIONS RELATED TO OUR
HUMANITY.
 2

RATIONAL
Method

What is it? Example

Uses human reason alone NOT • What one does during self-
divine revelation, societal dictate, or introspection.
established philosophical traditions .
REASON IS THE ULTIMATE
SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE AND
THE TEST OF ITS VALIDITY!
 3

SPECULATIVE
Method
What is it?
Theoretical/speculative knowledge is
knowledge that is sought for its own
sake; knowing something for the
sake of ‘knowing’.
Example
• Doing a comprehensive account of
human existence and the universe.
• Raising questions about the ultimate
nature of being and thought.

TO LOOK AT, TO VIEW, OR TO

CONTEMPLATE
 4

ANALYTIC
Method

What is it? Example

This method aims to clarify the
meaning of language and the
concepts we use.
FILIPINO WORDS HAVE A
VARIETY OF MEANINGS.
• Asking for the meaning of the
words used.
• Putting in the historical and social
contexts the words used,
 5

PRESCRIPTIVE
Method
What is it? Example
This method seeks to establish • Arguing about the goodness (or
standards by which we judge bad-ness) of a certain subject.
concepts and criteria and • Looking into the moral clause of
evaluate conduct; the norms a topic.
and rules are used as guide in
decision-making.

HISTORICAL
Method
What is it?
This approach is used in tracing the
concepts and values of given
period. This mean studying the
great philosophers of the past to
guide us in the present.
6
Example
• Using Greek philosophy to explain
something.
• Referring to classical teachings.
THE PAST, IF USED PROPERLY, CAN
SHAPE OUR PRESENT AND FUTURE.
 7

SYNTHETIC
Method
What is it? Example
Synthesizing the thoughts or • Integrating experience and observation
concepts of different philosophers to claim truth or validity.
knowledge, and arguments from the • Presenting a truth value of a proposition
special sciences. even when the information is absent in
the subject.
INTEGRATION!
PHILOSOPHY DOES BOTH
OUR PROBLEM: Why the chicken crossed the road?
Dialectical Method 1. “Plato has explained that chickens are
Rational Method predisposed to crossing roads.”
Speculative Method 2. “Because crossing the road is the moral
Analytics Method
thing to do for the chicken.”
3. “Are you sure the chicken crossed the
Prescriptive Method
road?”.
Historical Method
4. “We need not explain about the chicken
Synthetic Method crossing roads. .The chicken is intelligent
enough to want to cross the road.”
5. “The chicken did not cross to road, it passed
by it”.
6. Chickens, in their natural state, are intended
to crossing roads.
1 Define ‘Fallacy’

2 Differentiate the various

kinds of fallacies

3 Apply knowledge about

fallacies in real life scenarios
Are there false/ untrue
?
?
Truth is the property of
sentences, assertions, beliefs,
thoughts, or propositions that
are said, in ordinary discourse, to
agree with the facts or to state
what is the case (Britannica.com)

The problem of truth is

about:
• What truths are?
Photo source: https://hellosensible.com

• What (if anything)

makes them true?
(Source: Plato.stanford.edu)
TRUTH
Theories of

Example :
“The apple is sitting
on the table”
-The statement can be
true only if the apple is in
fact sitting on the table.
• A proposition is true if it corresponds
to facts (correspondence to or with a
fact).
• Embracing the idea that truth consist
in a relation to reality (empirical
truth).
“A judgment is said to be true when it
conforms to the external reality”
- Thomas Aquinas
• The coherence theory of truth states
that if a proposition coheres with
all the other propositions taken to
be true, then it is true.
• The truth of a belief can only consist
in its coherence with other beliefs Example:
• Truth comes in degree and a “The pencil falls on the
possibility of different ‘truths’ from ground. Alex hears it and
different perspectives/ beliefs. Diana hears it, too.”
 • The truth of a statement can be
define in terms of the utility/
use of accepting it.
• Truth is based on the good or
Example: practical consequences of
“Prayers do come true”. an idea.
or
“Elections do not bring “A proposition is true if it is useful
change to society” or practical”.
1 Define ‘Fallacy’

2 Differentiate the different

types of fallacies

3 Apply knowledge about

fallacies in real life scenarios
FALLACY
• Fallacy is the use of invalid or
otherwise faulty reasoning, or
"wrong move" in the construction
of an argument.

• It may be created unintentionally

or intentionally in order to deceive
other people.

• Fallacies and False/ Untrue

statements are not similar. Why?
1• Attack against a Person
(Argumentum ad hominem)
– Attacking the person
who asserts the argument
to (dis)prove his/her claim.
2• Appeal to Pity (Argumentum
ad misericordiam) – Someone
tries to win support for an
argument or idea by
exploiting his or her
opponent pity.
3• Appeal to Force –
(Argumentum ad baculum) is
the fallacy committed when
one appeals to force or the
threat of force to bring
about the acceptance of a
conclusion.
4• Appeal to People
(Argumentum ad populum) –
a proposition must be true
because many or most
people believe it. “If many
believe so, it is so”.
5• Appeal to Ignorance
(Argumentum ad
ignorantiam) – a notion is
true because it has not yet
been proven false or that
the notion is false if it has
not yet been proven true.
6• Equivocation – ‘fallacy of double
meaning’; it is committed when several
meanings of a word or phrase become
confused in the context of one argument
7• Fallacy of Composition –
arises when one infers
that something is true
of the whole from the
fact that it is true of
some part of the whole.
8• Fallacies of Division – involves
an inference from the
attribution of some feature to
an entire class (or whole) to
the possession of the same
feature by each of its
individual members (or parts).
9• Hasty Generalization –
Generalization based on
insufficient evidence.
10
• False Cause (Post Hoc) –
Concluding that one
thing caused another,
simply because they are
regularly associated.
11
• Begging the Question
(petitio principii)
Also called ‘fallacy of
circular reasoning’, this is
any form of argument
where the conclusion is
assumed in one of the
premises.
12• Flawed conclusion (non-sequitur) - A fallacy
that does not follow logically from the
premises or is not clearly related to anything
previously said. “It does not follow”.
PERFORMANCE TASK No. 1
FALLACIES on
SOCIAL MEDIA