Philosophers

We are the group 1

DELA PENA, UNICE
SABANDO, LYSSA FATE
RODRIGUEZ, CASHMERE ICE
GADORES, CLOUE
BACALSO, ISIA ROVEL
BACTOL, CYRAH JHANE
LOPEZ, NEIL
Objectives: To Discuss the following
01. Introduction to 02. Biography
the 2 Philosophers of these
Philosophers

03. Guiding 04. Contents

Principles of these about their
Philosophers principles
 Our two Philosophers

Imamanuel
Socrates Kant
First we will talk about
Socrates
Did you know?
• Socrates is one of the founder of western Philosophy.
• He never wrote anything down. So, we only know about him through
other writers.
• Did you know that Socrates is a Teacher.
• No belief in religion.
• He died of hemlock poisoning
Facts about Socrates
Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the
founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral
philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought.

• Born: 470 BCE • Athens • ancient Greece

• Died: February 15, 399 BC, Classical Athens
• Spouses: Xanthippe, Myrto
• Children: Lamprocles, Menexenus, Sophroniscus
• Influenced: Plato, Aristotle, Antisthenes, Aristippus
• Philosophical era: Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient philosophy
 Who was Socrates?
Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher, one of the three greatest figures of the
ancient period of Western philosophy (the others were Plato and Aristotle), who lived
in Athens in the 5th century BCE. A legendary figure even in his own time, he was
admired by his followers for his integrity, his self-mastery, his profound philosophical
insight, and his great argumentative skill. He was the first Greek philosopher to
seriously explore questions of ethics. His influence on the subsequent course of ancient
philosophy was so great that the cosmologically oriented philosophers who generally
preceded him are conventionally referred to as the “pre-Socratics.”
 Socrates was born and lived nearly his entire life in Athens. His
father Sophroniscus was a stonemason and his mother, Phaenarete,
was a midwife. As a youth, he showed an appetite for learning.
Plato describes him eagerly acquiring the writings of the leading
contemporary philosopher Anaxagoras and says he was taught
rhetoric by Aspasia, the talented mistress of the great Athenian
leader Pericles.
 He is best known for his association with the Socratic method of
question and answer, his claim that he was ignorant (or aware of his
own absence of knowledge), and his claim that the unexamined life
is not worth living, for human beings.

Viewed by many as the founding figure of Western philosophy, Socrates

(469-399 B.C.) is at once the most exemplary and the strangest of the
Greek philosophers. He grew up during the golden age of Pericles' Athens,
served with distinction as a soldier, but became best known as a questioner
of everything and everyone (teaching).
What are the great works
of Socrates everyone
shoul read?
- Well, there aren’t any.
 Did you know?
• Socrates did not write.
• What we know of Socrates comes from the works of his students, Plato and
Xenophon , as well as the Playwright Aristophanes, who was a contemporary of
Socrates.
• This is sometimes reffered to as the “Socrates Problem” - we know about Socrates
only through second-hand accounts.
• the Socratic problem (or Socratic question) concerns attempts at reconstructing a
historical and philosophical image of Socrates based on the variable, and sometimes
contradictory, nature of the existing sources on his life.

The Oracle Of Delphi
This was a priestess at the Temple of
Apollo, who served as a medium
through which the god of Apollo spoke.
●• Socrates' friend Chaerephon asked the oracle at Delphi if
anyone was wiser than Socrates, and the Oracle responded that
none was wiser.
●• Socrates believed that what the Oracle had said was a paradox,
because he believed he possessed no wisdom whatsoever.
●• He proceeded to test the riddle by approaching men considered
wise by the people of Athens - statesmen, poets, and artisans--- in
order to refute the Oracle's pronouncement.
• Questioning them, however, Socrates concluded that, while
each man thought he knew a great deal and was wise, in fact
they knew very little and were not wise at all.

• Socrates realized while so-called wise men thought

themselves wise and yet were not, he himself knew he was not
wise at all, which, paradoxically, made him the wiser one since
he was the only person aware of his own ignorance.
“What I do not know
I do not Think i
know.”
- Socrates
 • This is reffered to as the Socratic Paradox.”
“W h at I d o n o t • Socrates only ever asserted that he believed that he knew

know I do not
nothing, having never claimed that he knew that he knew
nothing.
Think i know.” • Socrates, believing the oracle but also completely convinced
that he knew nothing, was said to have concluded that nobody
- Socrates knew anything, and that he was only wiser than others because
he was the only person who recognized his own ignorance.
• Socrates, was not known for expounding and making speeches.
Rather, he would ask questions; question after question, to pin
down what did someone actually known. Often, logical
inconsistencies in the answers would point out faulty lines of
reasons.
• In this way, both the teacher and student were led to
knowledge.
• This was the form of discourse that came to be known as “the
Socratic Method.”
 Trial
• Among other accusations, Socrates is found guilty of
impiety (not worshipping the gods the state worships),
corruption of the youth (infusing into the young
persons the spirit of criticism of Athenian society),
among other accusations.
 Plato’s Apology
• As described in Plato’s “Apology,” and Xenophon’s “Apology of Socrates to
the Jury,” Socrates denied being a Sophist, and gave evidence of his attempts
to encourage virtue and elevated behaviour from Athenians. But in true
Socratic fashion, he did not try to win over the jury, but rather point out how
poor their thinking was. The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to
death.
• no means an "apology" in our modern understanding of the word. The name
of the dialogue derives from the Greek "apologia," which translates as a
defense, or a speech made in defense.
 Death of Socrates

• Socrates was found guilty and sentenced to death.

• He had the opportunity to escape, but chose to stay for several reasons:
‒ Socrates refuses avoid his death by leaving Athens, although he could flee, but such
an escape would be contrary to his moral principles and would be an injustice to the
state which was his parent, his education, and the origin of law.
• he always obeyed the rule of law, Socrates went to his death with no outward appearance
of fear. He willingly drank the cup of deadly hemlock that was the means of his
execution.
• Athens had put to death the man Plato called “the wisest and most just of all men.”
Socrates the man may have died, but his ideas lived on through his disciples.
The Guiding
Principles of
Socrates
Philosophical Beliefs of Socrates
• Socrates believed that philosophy should achieved practical
results for the greater well-being of society. He emphasized
the idea that the more a person knows, the greater his or her
ability to reason and make choices that will bring true
happiness.
 Hapiness
• for Socrates, for a person to be happy, he has to live a virtous life.
• Socrates believed the key to happiness was self-knowledge, which can only be
found when a person searches for the objective truth. Instead of focusing on others,
Socrates said, you have to focus on yourself, question what you already know, in
order to get closer to truth and thus make yourself a better person.
 Philosophical Perspective of the self
• the acquisition of wisdom through: KNOWING ONE’S SELF

‒ “Ultimate wisdom comes from knowing oneself” - Socrates

How does Socrates views the self?
• the key to understanding Socrates’s concept of the self is through the prilosopher’s take on
the: SOUL
• But Socrates’s concept of the SOUL should not be viewed from the vantage point of
Christianity.

‒ a religious concept of the soul

‒ The ancient Greek lived long before the existence of Christianity so that for them: the
concept of the SOUL did not have the same religious connotations that it has for us
today.
But What does Socrates actually mean by SOUL?

• We cannot know for certain what Socrates really meant by the term: SOUL
• But most Scholars of philosophy, believes that when Socrates speaks of the Soul; the
philosopher refers to: A THINKING AND WILLING SUBJECT

‒ With this concept of the SOUL as a thinking and willing subject. It is safe to
assume that the SOUL is the intellectual and moral personality of humans

‒ “the soul is the essence of the human person” - Socrates

‒ It is the essence of humans to think and will

‒ the “soul” or “the self” is the responsible agent in knowing and acting rightly or
wrongly.
The SOUL is the SEAT: The “SOUL”

‒ of knowledge and ignorance ‒ is the essence of the human person

‒ of goodness and badness

‒ The Soul is the person’s true self

• In fact, Socrates said that when we turn inward in search for self-knowledge, we
could eventually discover our true self.

‒ The self is our: INNER BEING

• Socrates urges us to take care of our “soul”

But why should we
take care of our
soul?
 But why • According to Socrates, we need to take care of our

should we •
soul to attain the “GOOD LIFE”.
this is the ultimate goal of Socrates’s Philosophy.
ta ke ca re o f • As Socrates said, the human person must see to it

our soul?
that her life is geared towards knowledge of the goof
life.
• According to Sorcates, The good life simply means being wise and virtous
• This explain the good life is attained throught the acquisition of knowledge, wisdom,
and virtue.
• Knowledge of the “goof life” cannot be acquired exogenously
• It is paramount that we devote considerable amount of attention, energy, and resources
to making our soul as good and beautiful as possible.

‒ “the unexamined life is not worth living.” - Socrates.

• This gives us a clear idea of what Socrates meant by knowledge in this context: “to
know” is “to know oneself”.
• for us to attain the good life, we need to examine our life
• the reason for this is quite obvious: Virtue (which for Socrates is identical with Knowledge) is
intrinsic to the human person, and which can be accessed through self-examination.
• Since, virtue is intrinsic to the human person, Socrates was convinced that the human person
discover the truth, that is, the truth of good life.
• Once the human person discovered the truth, she then does what she thinks is the right thing
to do.

‒ “Knowing what is right is doing what is right” - Socrates.

 If knowing what is right is
doing what is right, what about
the problem of evil?
 a t is
If knowing wh
• This seems to be a problem in Socrates’s concept of

h t i s do i ng w h at i s the self.
rig
h t , w h a t a bo u t the • Socrates seems to think that humans were angels,
rig that once they know the right thing to do, they act
l?
problem of evi accordingly.
• of course, Socrates was very much aware of the
existenceof evil in the world.
• for Socrates, those who commit evil acts are ignorant of the truth.
• they are ignorant in the sense that they don’t have an immediate realization of the
“good”.
• Again, examining one’s self is the most important task one can undertake, for it alone
will give her the knowledge necessary to answer the question “How one ought to live
her life”

‒ “Knowing what is right is doing what is right” -Socrates

• means that once the person knows her “self”, she may then knows how to take care for
it.
• Finally, and the contrary to the opinion of masses, One’s true self, should
not be identified with what: ones owns, with one’s social status,
reputation, and even with one’s body.

• it is the state of the soul, that is, the person’s inner being, which
determine the quality of one’s life.
• it’s not money, fame, elegant clothes, nice house, beautiful and expensive
cars, or hight-tech gadgets that make life meaningful, but
KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, AND VIRTUE.
We will talk about
Immanuel Kant
Did you know?
• Kant was one of the foremost thinkers of the enlightenment?
• Kant’s last word is “Es ist gut” (“it is good”)?
• Kant was a great author?
• He believed in God?
• Kant was a tutor and a lecturer?
• Kant had health problem which led him to his death?
 About Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment
thinkers.

• Born:22 April 1724 Königsberg, Kingdom of Prussia

• Died:12 February 1804 (aged 79)
• Education: Collegium FridericianumUniversity of Königsberg
• Region: Western philosophy
• School: Enlightenment philosophy Kantianism
• Institutions: University of Königsberg
• Main interests Aesthetics, cosmogony, epistemology, ethics, metaphysics,
systematic philosophy
 Who was Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher of the Enlightenment whosecomprehensive

work in ethics, in aesthetics, and in the theory of knowledge greatly influenced all
subsequent philosophy, especially the schools of Kantianism and idealism.

Kant’s father was a saddler, and his mother was remarkable for her natural intelligence.
Both were devoted Pietists, and the influence of their pastor made it possible for
Kant to obtain an education.
 After working as a family tutor for 9 years, Kant spent 15 years as a lecturer at the
University of Königsberg, where he was later appointed to the chair of logic and
metaphysics.

Kant’s most famous work, Critique of Pure Reason, was published in 1781 and revised
in 1787. His other books included Critique of Practical Reason (1788) and Critique of
Judgment (1790).
Immanuel Kant
• He is the central figure in modern Philosophy
• He also introduces to unity the theretical and practical parts of his
philosophical system.
• he proposed that the human mind creates the structure of human
experience.
The Guiding Principles
Of Immanuel Kant
Philosophical beliefs of Immanuel Kant

• Kant was one of the foremost thinkers of the Enlightment, and a large part of
this work addresses the question, “What can only have knowledge of things
that are possible to experience. Further, he believes that we can know the
natural, observable world, but we cannot have answers to many of the deepest
questions of metaphysics.
• Methaphysics is a type of philosophy or study that uses broad concepts to help
define reality and our understanding of it.
 Categorical Imperative
• Kant is most famous for his ideas on a person's unconditional moral obligation,
known as the categorical imperative.
• Kant defines categorical imperatives as commands or moral laws all persons must
follow, regardless of their desires or extenuating circumstances.
• One of Kant’s categorical imperatives is the universalizability principle, in which
one should "act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the
same time will that it become a universal law.”
• In lay terms, this simply means that if you do an action, then everyone else should
also be able to do it.
 Kant Ethical Theory
• Kant also argued that his ethical theory requires belief in free will, God, and the
immortality of the soul.
• Although we cannot have knowledge of these things, reflection on the moral law
leads to a justified belief in them, which amounts to a kind rational faith.
• Thus in answer to the question, “What may I hope?” Kant replies that we may hope
that our souls are immortal and that there really is a God who designed the world in
accordance with principles of justice.
 Kant’s Moral Philosophy

• He starts by asking what means to be good.

• He says that the only thing that is good without qualification is the good will: the will to do
the right thing, whatever that is.
• But acting from the good will, Kant says, is the only way to really be moral.
 Here is an examle:
A bartender who gets a new customer in their bar could give the customer the wrong change
and save a bit of money, but he decides not to and gives the customer the correct change.

• Kant asks, “why did he do that?”

• if he did it because he was afraid of getting caught or because he wanted repeat business or
even just because it makes him happy, well then that’s not a genuinely good action because it
wasn’t motivated by the goodwill, it was motivated by the desire to get something else.
• For Kant, it’s not the consequences of your action that matter so much as that you do them
for the right reasons. The only genuinely good actions are the ones that you do purely out of
respect for the moral rules.
• Crucially doing what somebody else tells you to do can’t be good, because whether it’s God,
your parents, or whoever, if you’re just following orders, you’re not acting from goodwill;
you’re acting in anticipation of some reward.
• the goodwill has to come from you, that’s why moral reasons are so powerful and have such
a hold on you, it’s because they actually come from YOU.
• Morality is a system of rules that you place on yourself.
• If respect for the rules always comes as a result of being a member of something, Kant
thought that moral rules come to us as a result of being rational being; rational here just
means being able to listen to responses, and Kant thought that part of being able to do that is
that there are some reasons that we cannot ignore and that apply to everyone.
 What Kant is really trying to do?
• To ground morality in logic, he’s trying to say that being bad actually does not
make sense.
• Kant is trying to make morality as inescapable as logic by saying that ultimately
it comes from the same place; the built-in restrictions on the ways that it makes
sense for people to think.
• This leads us to “categorical Imperative,”which means that the thing that you
have to do all the time regardless of circumstance is an imperative or an order
that applies categorically.
• Kant is not saying that you should only do something if it would be good for
everyone to do. He says that you should only act if it makes sense for you to do
so.
 REMEMBER:
The moral law has to
come from you; from your
will.
 Universalizability principle
“Act as though through your maxins you could become a legislator of universal law”

• In lay terms, this simply means that if you do an action, then everyone else should also
be able to do it.
• Kant ask us to remember that we are always, in a sense, setting an example to other
people in what we do; in what we do, we contribute to what is normal human behavior,
and we have a choice to make about whether to make that normal behavior good or not
• He also reminds us that the moral law has to come from us; we place it on ourselves, and
sometimes we might have to do that against what our other desires are.
• Kant’s moral philosophy really depends on free will. if you can’t freely place the moral
law on yourself, then this whole project isn’t going to fly.
 Kant’s View of the ‘self’
• He said that we all have an inner and outer self which together form our consciousness.

Outer self “body”

Inner Self
‒ it is made of the
‒ The intellect and
senses and
psychological state of a
physical self.
being.
Two kinds of Consciousness on Self
1. Consciousness of oneself and one’s psychological states in inner
sense.
2. Consciousness of oneself and one’s states by performing acts of
apperception.
• Apperception is a mental process by which a person makes
sense of an idea by assimilating it to the body of ideas he or
she already posses.
 Did You know?
• Kant’s “self” has a unified point of self reference.
• You are concious of yourself as the subject, and you are concious
of yourself as a common subject of different representations.
• Kant confirm that the impressions you perceive point to one
single common fact - the “self” is the subject of those
experiences.
 The Fundamental idea of Immanuel Kant’s “Critical
Philosophy”
Kant’s 3 Critiques:
The Critique of Pure reason (1781, 1787) - on Epistemology

The Critique of Practical reason (1788) - on ethics

Critique of the power of judgement (1790) - on aesthetics

Thank you!
Do you have any questions?