Philo – love

Sophia – wisdom
PHILOSOPHY – “Love of Wisdom”
FOUR THINGS TO BE CONSIDERED IN PHILOSOPHY
1) Science – the investigation is systematic.
– it follows certain steps or it employs certain procedures.
2) Natural Light of Reason – Philosophy investigates things, not by using any other
laboratory equipment, or investigative tools, neither on the basis of supernatural
revelation.
3) Study of All Things– sets the distinction between philosophy from other
sciences.
– All other sciences concern themselves with a particular object of investigation.
4) First Cause or Highest Principle – A principle is that from which something
proceeds in any manner whatsoever. The First Principle:
• Principle of Indentity – what is is; and whatever is not is not; everything is
what it is.
– Everything is its own being, and not being is not being.
• Principle of Non-Contradiction – its impossible for a thing to be and not to be
at the same time, and at the same respect.
• Principle of Excluded Middle – a thing is either is or is not; everything must be
either be or not be; between being and not being, their is no middle ground
possible.
•Principle of Sufficient Reason – nothing exists without a sufficient reason for
its being and existence.
BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
1) Metaphysics – knowing the real things
– for Thales, a Greek Philosopher, everything is water.
– everything we experience is water “reality”. Everything else is “appearance”
– Plato, Socrates’ most famous student.
– According to Plato, our five senses is real.
– Reality, in fact, is just the opposite.
2) Ethics – nature of moral virtue and evaluates human actions.
– knowing the bad or good things.
– in the thought of Socrates, we see the begining of a transition from a
traditional, religionbased morality to philosophical ethics (Landsburg 2009)
3) Epistemology – deals with nature, sources, limitations, and validity of
knowledge (Soccio 2007)
4) Logic – reasoning is the concern of the logician.
– logic comes from the Greek word “logike” and was coined by Zeno, the Stoic
( c.340-265 BC)
– Etymologically means a treatise on matters pertaining to the human thought.
– logic does not provide us knowledge of the world directly.
– its concerns, rather, is the truth or the validity of our arguments regarding
such objects.
5) Aesthetics – science of the beautiful in its various manifestations.
– Hans-Georg Gadamer, a German Philosopher, argues that our tastes and judgments
regarding beauty, work in connection with one's own personal experience and
culture.
WHY BECOME A PHILOSOPHER?
WESTERN
• GREEK
• Greece
• Triumvirate (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle)
EASTERN
• ORIENTAL
• China and India
• Triumvirate (Confucius, Buddha)
• Many philosopher hold that there are three great original centers of philosophy
in the world- Greek or (Western), Indian, and Chinese.
• Indian and Chinese philosophers of note also lived earlier than their Greek
counterparts (Quito 1991)
• From the time of the Greek triumvirate (Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle), there
was a reversal.
• Western Thinkers started to indulge in feverish philosophical speculation.
• Asian Thinkers began diminishing philosophical activity.
• In our present century, almost all the major philosophical ideas emanate from
Western Thinkers (Quito 1991)
• ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
– There are multiple cultures and there are different types of states in terms of
modern economic modernization (Nye 2013)
– Culture of the “East” is very different from that of the “West” (primarily Europe
and North America) but that does not mean each culture is incapable of
understanding certain features of the other.
• Attitudinal Imperatives