Methods of

Philosophizing
 Lesson Objectives

• Distinguish opinion from truth

• Analyze situations that show the difference
• Realize that the methods of philosophy lead
to rational thinking, wisdom, and truth
• Evaluate opinions, and
• Apply the theories of critical thinking in
making strong and valid reasons.
 Key Questions

• What are the different ways of doing

philosophy?

• How can philosophy guide us in

distinguishing opinion from truth?
• Philosophizing is to think or express oneself in
a rational and logical manner.
• It considers or discusses a matter from
philosophical standpoint.
• In phenomenology, truth is based on the
person’s consciousness;while in existentialism,
truth is based on exercising choices and
personal freedom; in postmodernism, it is
accepted that truth is not absolute; and logic,
truth is based on reasoning and critical
thinking.
 Methods of Philosophizing
A.
Phenomenology: On Consciousness
• Phenomenology was founded by Edmund Husserl.
• A method for finding and guaranteeing the truth
that focuses on careful inspection and description of
phenomena or appearances.
• It comes form the Greek word phainómenon
meaning “appearance.”
• It is the scientific study of the essential structures of
consciousness.
 Methods of Philosophizing
• Husserl’s phenomenology is the thesis that
consciousness is intentional.
• Every act of consciousness is directed at some object
or another, possibly a material object or an “ideal”
object.
• The phenomenologist can describe the content of
consciousness and accordingly, the object of
consciousness without any particular commitment
to the actuality or existence of that object.
• Phenomenology uncovers the essential structures of
experience and its objects.
 Methods of Philosophizing
• Husserl’s Phenomenological Standpoint
▪ The first and best known is the epoche or
“suspension” that “brackets” all questions of
truth or reality and simply describes the contents
of consciousness.
▪ The second reduction eliminates the merely
empirical contents of consciousness and focuses
instead on the essential features, the meanings of
consciousness.
• Phenomenologists are interested in the contents of
consciousness, not on things of the natural world as
such.
 Methods of Philosophizing
B. Existentialism: On Freedom
• Existentialism is not primarily a philosophical
method nor is it exactly a set of doctrines but more
of an outlook or attitude supported by diverse
doctrines centered on certain common themes.
▪ the human condition or the relation of the
individual to the world;
▪ the human response to that condition;
▪ being, especially the difference between the
being of person (which is “existence”) and the
being of other kinds of things;
▪ human freedom;
 Methods of Philosophizing
▪ the significance (and unavoidability) of choice
and decision in the absence of certainty and;
▪ the concreteness and subjectivity of life as lived,
against abstractions and false objectifications.
• Existentialism emphasizes the importance of free
individual choice, regardless of the power of other
people to influence and coerce our desires, beliefs,
and decisions.
• To be human, to be conscious, is to be free to
imagine, free to choose, and responsible for one’s
life.
• One of the continuing criticisms of existentialism is
the obscurity(the state of being unknown) and the seeming
elusiveness(hard to find) of the ideal of authenticity.
 Methods of Philosophizing
C. Postmodernism: On Cultures
• Postmodernism is not a philosophy.
• “Postmodernism” has come into vogue as the name
for a rather diffuse family of ideas and trends that in
significant respect rejects, challenges, or aims to
supersede “modernity”.
• Postmodernists believe that humanity should come
at truth beyond the rational to the non-rational
elements of human nature, including the spiritual.
• Beyond exalting individual analysis of truth,
postmodernists adhere to a relational, holistic
approach.
 Methods of Philosophizing
D. Analytic Tradition
• For analytic philosophers, language cannot
objectively describe truth because language is
socially conditioned.
• Analytic philosophy is the conviction that to some
significant degree, philosophical problems, puzzles,
and errors are rooted in language and can be solved
or avoided by a sound understanding of language
and careful attention to its workings.
 Methods of Philosophizing
E. Logic and Critical Thinking: Tools in Reasoning
• Logic is centered in the analysis and construction of
arguments.
• Critical thinking is distinguishing facts and opinions
or personal feelings.
• Critical thinking also takes into consideration
cultural systems, values, and beliefs and helps us
uncover bias and prejudice and be open to new
ideas not necessarily in agreement with previous
thought.
• Two basic types of reasoning:
▪ Inductive reasoning which is based from specific
observations in order to make generalizations.
• If you notice that everytime you eat spicy
food, you get stomach ache, you might use
inductive reasoning to conclude that spicy
food causes stomach ache.

• Take for instance:

– All philosophers are wise. (major premise)
– Confucius is a philosopher. (minor premise)
– Therefore, Confucius is wise. (conclusion)
 Methods of Philosophizing
▪ Deductive reasoning which draws conclusion
from usually one broad judgment or definition
and one more specific assertion, often an
inference.
• An argument (deductive argument) is valid and
sound if it is a product of logically constructed
premises.
• Validity comes from a logical conclusion based on
logically constructed premises.
• An argument (inductive argument) is strong if it
provides probable support to the conclusion.
• A strong argument with true premises is said to be
cogent.
 Methods of Philosophizing
F. Fallacies
• A fallacy is a defect in an argument.
• Fallacies are detected by examining the contents of
the argument.
• Common fallacies
Appeal to pity (Argumentum ad misericordiam)
▪ An attempt to win support for an argument or
idea by exploiting his or her opponent’s feelings
of pity or guilt.
Appeal to ignorance (Argumentum ad
ignorantiam)
▪ What has not been proven false must be true
and vice versa.
• Example: A police officer is about to issue a ticket to a man
who was speeding. As the officer checks his license, the man
pleads…
• “I was just taking my son to the movies. He turned 7 today and
it’s his first time going to the cinema. C’mon now officer, you
wouldn’t ruin this special occasion, would you?”(AP)
• Explanation: The father makes an appeal to pity to justify why
he shouldn’t receive a ticket in the hopes that the officer
would be dissuaded.
• “You cannot prove that God does not exist; therefore God
exists.”(AI)
Methods of Philosophizing
Equivocation
▪ A logical chain of reasoning of a term or a word
several times, but giving the particular word a
different meaning each time.
Composition
▪ Something is true of the whole from the fact that
it is true of some part of the whole.
Division
▪ Something true of a thing must also be true of all
or some of its parts.
Against the Person (Argumentum ad hominem)
▪ It links the validity of a premise to a
characteristic or belief of the person advocating
• “A man is the only intelligent animal on the planet.
And, since a woman is not a man, we can say that
women are not intelligent.” (E)
• “If all the players in our team are the best players in
their positions, then this must be the best team.”(C)
• “The United States is one the richest countries in
the world: Therefore, everyone living in the United
States must be rich”.(D)
• Degrading another politician during a campaign
when asked about a specific policy - "Well, I think
we need to look at Senator Smith's failures
regarding this issue.“(AH)
Methods of Philosophizing
Appeal to force (Argumentum ad baculum)
▪ An argument where force, coercion, or the threat
of force is given as a justification for a conclusion.
Appeal to the people (Argumentum ad populum)
▪ An argument that appeals or exploits people’s
vanities, desire for esteem, and anchoring on
popularity.
False cause (post hoc)
▪ Since that event followed this one, that event
must have been caused by this one.
Hasty generalization
▪ Making an inductive generalization based on
insufficient evidence.
• “Tooth fairies are real; you better believe me,
or I will punch you in the nose!”(AF)
 Methods of Philosophizing
Begging the question (petitio principii)
▪ An argument where the proposition to be proven
is assumed implicitly or explicitly in the premise.
 Activities
1. How can truth have different interpretations?
2. Share your experiences on the times you did not use
reason in your life but rather, you relied more on
emotions or opinions of other people. What did you
learn from the experience?
3. Cite examples of how fallacies are used in daily life.
For example, when you watch advertisements based
on the popularity of endorsers, do you tend to buy
their product?