Introduction to History and the Philosophy of the Self

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the definition of history, Philippine historiography, key historical events in the Philippines, and various philosophical perspectives on the self.

Historia

A Greek word meaning knowledge acquired through inquiry or investigation; it became known as the account of the past of a person or group through written documents.

Traditional Historians' Mantra

"No document, no history."

Historiography

The history of history; it examines how a historical text was written, who wrote it, the context of publication, and the historical method and sources used.

Positivism

An eighteenth and nineteenth-century school of thought requiring empirical and observable evidence and an objective means of arriving at a conclusion.

Postcolonialism

A twentieth-century school of thought that highlights a nation's identity free from colonial discourse and criticizes the methods and effects of colonialism.

Historical Methodology

The system of techniques and rules followed by historians to properly utilize sources and evidences in writing history.

Annales School of History

A French school of history that pioneered "history from below," focusing on social history, peasantry, and the environment rather than just monarchs and wars.

External Criticism

The practice of verifying the authenticity of evidence by examining physical characteristics such as paper quality, ink type, and language consistency with the time period.

Internal Criticism

The examination of the truthfulness and factuality of evidence by looking at the content, author's agenda, context, and intended purpose.

Pantayong Pananaw

A guiding philosophy introduced by Zeus Salazar meaning "for us-from us perspective," facilitating an internal discourse among Filipinos about their own history.

Primary Sources

Sources produced at the same time as the event, period, or subject being studied, such as eyewitness accounts, artifacts, and government records.

Secondary Sources

Materials produced by an author who used primary sources to produce the content.

Antonio Pigafetta

A scholar of cartography and geography who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan and wrote a firsthand account of the first voyage around the world.

Ladrones

The name Ferdinand Magellan's fleet gave to the present-day Marianas Islands, meaning "Islands of the Thieves."

Watering Place of Good Signs

What Pigafetta called the island of Humunu (Homonhon) because they found the first signs of gold there.

First Catholic Mass in the Philippines

An event held on March 31, 1521, at Mazava (Limasawa) attended by Magellan, Raia Siaui, and Raia Calambu.

Battle of Mactan

A conflict on April 27, 1521, where Magellan was killed by the forces of Silapulapu (Lapulapu).

Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK)

An organization that envisioned a united Filipino nation and total independence from Spain through revolution.

Kartilya ng Katipunan

A code of conduct containing fourteen rules for Katipunan members, written by Emilio Jacinto in 1896.

June 12, 1898

The date the proclamation of Philippine independence was made in Cavite, signaling the end of 333 years of Spanish colonization.

GOMBURZA

The collective name for the three martyred priests—Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez, and Jacinto Zamora—whose execution in 1872 is mentioned in the proclamation of independence.

Philippine Flag Symbolism (Original)

The white triangle represents the Katipunan; the three stars represent Luzon, Mindanao, and Panay; the eight rays represent the first eight provinces to revolt; and the colors were taken from the US flag.

Treaty of Paris

An agreement signed on December 10, 1898, where Spain sold the Philippines to the United States for $20$ million.

Colorum

A term used in Philippine political caricatures referring to unlicensed or illegal public vehicles, often labeled as "Death Cars."

People Power Revolution

The 1986 peaceful revolution that overthrew the Marcos dictatorship and installed Corazon Aquino as president.

Code of Kalantiaw

A mythical legal code attributed to Datu Kalantiaw in 1433, proven to be a historical hoax by William Henry Scott in 1968.

Sa Aking Mga Kabata

A poem famously attributed to an eight-year-old Jose Rizal, though modern historical criticism suggests it is a hoax due to the lack of an original manuscript and use of certain terminology.

Multiperspectivity

An approach in history where events are looked at through a variety of lenses and sources to account for discrepancies and contradictions.

Socrates' View of the Self

Composed of a physical (tangible) body and an immortal soul; famously stated "the unexamined life is not worth living."

Plato's Tripartite Soul

The soul consists of three parts: the Rational (logic/truth), the Spirited (courage/honor), and the Appetitive (physical desires).

Aristotle's Golden Mean

The principle that virtue is found in moderation, avoiding both excess and deficiency.

St. Augustine

A medieval philosopher who believed the self is created in the likeness of God and that true happiness/peace is found only in God.

René Descartes

A rationalist who proposed dualism (self as a thinking substance distinct from the body) and the phrase "Cogito, ergo sum."

John Locke's Tabula Rasa

The idea that humans are born as a "blank slate" and the self is constructed entirely through experience and memory.

David Hume's Bundle Theory

The skeptical view that there is no permanent self, only a fluid "bundle of perceptions" or changing thoughts and feelings.

Immanuel Kant

Proposed that the self is an active organizing principle that unifies experiences; distinguished between the Empirical self and the Transcendental self.

Sigmund Freud's Structure of the Self

Divided the self into the Id (instincts), Ego (reality), and Superego (morality), emphasizing the influence of the unconscious.

Gilbert Ryle's Behaviorism

Rejected the "ghost in the machine" (dualism) and argued that the self is defined purely by observable behaviors: "I act, therefore I am."

Eliminative Materialism

Paul Churchland's view that the self is reducible to brain states and biological processes; "You are your brain."

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

A phenomenologist who argued that the mind and body are inseparable and that the self is an embodied subject.