Methods of Philosophy

LESSON 2
PHILOSOPHY
• The sun is the center of the solar system.
• Asia is the largest continent in the world.
• God made the world in seven days.
• Man has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
• China’s continued presence in the Spratlys is a violation of
international law.
• A person must always consider the interest of his or her family
before his or her own happiness.
• Citizens have the right to take up arms and overthrow an
oppressive government.
• The President has done very little to uphold democracy and look
after the interests of the Filipino people.

Which of the ff. statement is TRUE?

• Were you able to easily judge the thruthfulness of the
statements? Why?
• Which of the statements are obviously true? Which one
required more thought to determine their thruthfulness?
• Which of these statement may be true for others but not
true in your judgements?
• Which of theses statements do you personally believe to
be true but may be disputed by other people?

Let’s PONDER…
• Define the role of philosophy in determining truth and
knowledge;
• Distinguish opinion from truth.

OBJECTIVES:
• Complete the following statement…
• I know that…
• I know why…
• I know how…

Let’s Explore…
What is truth and why
is it important?
How do we know if something is true?
METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING
•The Socratic Method or method of elenchus is a form of logical
refutation. This method called the elenchus refers to the
Socratic method of stimulating critical thinking and drawing out
ideas and underlying propositions.
•The term “elenchus” is Hellenistic Greek for inquiry or cross-
examination. It is a kind of inquiry or examination that discloses
people to themselves, making them see what their opinions
really amount to.
•To do this Socratic Method, a person asks probing questions to
determine whether someone’s claims to knowledge could be
rationally justified with clarity and logical consistency.

“The Elenchus” (Socratic Method)

•This Cartesian Method or Philosophy is teaching us to
doubt everything until what is left is already beyond doubt.
By teaching us not to settle for knowledge that are
dubious, the method is teaching us to be cautious and
meticulous.

The “Methodic Doubt”

(Cartesian Philosophy)
•Phenomenological inquiry studies phenomena, that is,
objects and events as perceived and understood in the
human consciousness, and not of anything independent of
consciousness. Phenomenology is a method of philosophy
that focuses on the essence of lived experience.

The “Lived Experience”

(Phenomenological Method or Inquiry)
• Hegelian dialectic leads to truth (and wisdom). He
clarifies that in this interpretive method in philosophy,
the contradiction between a proposition (thesis) and its
antithesis is resolved at a higher level of truth
(synthesis).

Dialectical Method
(Hegelian Dialectics)
• Critical Method enables us to determine which questions
reason can answer, and which ones it cannot. As an
application, this method teaches us to give up things we
do not really need, like traditions and manmade religious
practices that are baseless or needless for moral conduct.

Critical Method
(Kant’s Transcendental
Idealism)
•Induction or reasoning inductively is fundamentally
inferring a general conclusion from a collection of
particular facts.
•Deduction is a process of reasoning in which reasons are
given in support of a claim. An argument is thus deductive
if the premises claim to give conclusive grounds for the
truth of the conclusion.

Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

Activity

Identification

___1. a statement or assertion that expresses a judgment or

opinion.
___2. is the clear awareness knowing that we are able to
determine what is true.
___3. a method of philosophy that focuses on the essence of
lived experience.
___4. a method teaches us to give up things we do not really
need.
___5. method that teach
Propositions us to be cautious
Knowledge andmethod
Critical meticulous.
The “lived experience” The
“methodic doubt”
Activity
Essay writing(minimum 3-5 sentences each)

1. In what ways do you use methods of philosiphizing in

your daily life?
2. How do you differentiate inductive and deductive
reasoning?
3. What have you learned about distinguishing what is
factual or not?