Comprehensive Study Guide: Social Sciences and Philosophy

Course Overview and Requirements

  • Institutional Context:

    • Institution: Emilio Aguinaldo College

    • Academic Unit: General Education Department

    • Term: 1st Semester, Academic Year 2026–2027

    • Course Title: Social Sciences and Philosophy

  • Course Evaluation and Requirements:

    • Attendance

    • Written Outputs

    • Grading System

    • Final Output

Foundations of Social Sciences and Philosophy


Social Science Concept Cloud

  • Core Inquiry:

    • Why should a student in social science be interested in philosophy?

  • Key Methodological and Conceptual Questions:

    • Can the social sciences be like the natural sciences?

    • What is the role of meaning, interpretation, and consciousness in social inquiry?

    • Can social phenomena be reduced to facts about individuality?

    • What type of knowledge do the social sciences produce?

  • Scope and Function of Social Science Philosophy:

    • Examines foundational assumptions regarding concepts, methods, and theoretical frameworks.

    • Engages in critical reflection on the ethical implications of social research and practice.

    • Intersects with major social science disciplines:

    • Economics

    • Political Science

    • Sociology

    • Anthropology

    • Psychology

Etymology and Conceptual History of Philosophy

  • Pythagorean Categorization of Humanity:

    • Historical attribution: The term philosophy is attributed to Pythagoras based on his classification of human drives and classes of people:

    1. Lovers of gain

    2. Lovers of honor

    3. Lovers of knowledge or wisdom

  • Etymological Roots:

    • Derived from the Greek word philosophia, which combines:

    • philos: meaning "love"

    • sophia: meaning "wisdom"

    • Literal definition: Love of wisdom.

Methods of Philosophy

The Dialectic Method

  • Historical Background:

    • Can be traced back to Socratic dialogue.

    • Purpose: To challenge underlying beliefs and promote deeper understanding.

  • Core Features:

    • Discourse and Dialogue: Uncovering truth and refining ideas through mutual interpersonal engagement.

    • Triadic Progression: Framework consisting of Thesis, Anti-thesis, and Synthesis.

    • Critical Examination: Systematically evaluates the assumptions and implications of arguments. This reflective process identifies and resolves contradictions, leading to more robust conclusions.

    • Primary Aim: To clarify controversial notions and arguments through structured dialogue with others.

  • The Hegelian Dialectical Model:


Hegelian Dialectical Model Diagram

  • Initial Triad: A Thesis (Proposition) encounters an Antithesis (Counter-Propositions), resolving into a Synthesis (New Thesis).

  • Iterative Progression: The resulting Synthesis serves as a new Thesis, which encounters a subsequent Antithesis (Counter-Propositions) to generate a further Synthesis.

    • Applied Examples of Dialectical Inquiry:

  • Example 1 (Technology & Socialization): "You believe that technology is making us less social, yet you also use social media to connect with friends. How do you reconcile these two views?"

  • Example 2 (Career & Burnout): "You say you love your job, but you also mention feeling burnt out. How can you love something that also exhausts you?"

    • Dialectical Decision-Making and Problem Solving Framework:


Proposal Evaluation Flowchart

  • Starts with a central Problem which branches into Proposal X and Proposal Y.

  • Evaluates the Assumptions underlying Proposal X and Assumptions underlying Proposal Y.

  • Weighs the Pros and Cons of Proposal X against the Pros and Cons of Proposal Y.

  • Reaches a Choice resolved through one of three pathways:

    1. X or Y (Selecting one proposal over the other)

    2. Compromise of X and Y (Integrating aspects of both)

    3. New Alternative (Formulating an entirely new resolution)

The Phenomenological Method

  • Key Figure: Edmund Husserl (1859).

  • Core Motivation: Husserl was prompted to develop phenomenology to create a philosophy entirely free from any biases or preconceived ideas.

  • Essential Nature: Investigates structures of consciousness and direct human experience without relying on presuppositions or unexamined assumptions.

The Hermeneutic Method

  • Definition: The art of interpretation.

  • Text-Context Hermeneutic Dynamics:


Text and Context Interaction Diagram

  • Step 1: Initial understanding moving from Context to Text.

  • Step 2: New understanding flowing back from Text to Context.

  • Step 3: Formulation of a New context to re-evaluate the Text.

    • The Hermeneutic Circle:


Hermeneutic Circle Diagram

  • Continuous movement between the whole and its parts.

  • Pre-understanding, shaped by tradition, context, and prejudices, informs the interpretation of the whole.

  • Analyzing specific parts leads to revised prejudices and new understanding, continually refining comprehension.

    • Wilhelm Dilthey's Hermeneutics:


Interpreting Dilthey Book Cover

  • Focus: Human experience and Social Context (the collective aspect of interpreting text).

  • Core Problem: Interpretation limited strictly to social context and cultural prevalence becomes bound to what is common in a specific culture, disregarding the author's individual, subjective expression.

  • Solution: Focus on erlibness (lived experiences, including love, anger, suffering, beauty, dreams, and friendship).

    • Friedrich Schleiermacher's Hermeneutics:


Friedrich Schleiermacher Portrait

  • Focus: The art of understanding written discourse.

  • Two Pillars of Interpretation:

    • Grammatical Interpretation

    • Psychological Interpretation (analyzing the language, time, and culture of the author)

  • Core Problem: Unclear to what extent a reader must consider the historical, linguistic, and cultural background of the author.

  • Solution: Application of "divinatory" reconstruction to intuitively enter the author's mind and thought process.

The Analytic Method

  • Key Figures: George Edward Moore (1873–1958), Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), and Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951).

  • Core Task: Rather than creating another system of ideas to counter grand frameworks such as the Hegelian system, the analytic approach clarifies how philosophers use words through rigorous linguistic analysis (Stumpf 2008).

  • Wittgensteinian Principle: Ludwig Wittgenstein stated that "the object of philosophy is the logical clarification of thought" so that "the result of philosophy is not a number of philosophical propositions, but to make propositions clear."

  • Evolution of Wittgenstein's Thought:

    • Early Wittgenstein:

    • Followed mentor Bertrand Russell in viewing language in only one way: stating facts.

    • Major Work: Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1919).

    • Latter Wittgenstein:

    • Recognized that words have varied functions depending on the context in which they occur.

    • Metaphor: Words are treated like "tools in the tool box."

    • Focus: Analyzed language as actual people use it in ordinary, real situations, rejecting the construction of an ideal language based solely on logic and mathematics.

    • Rule-Governed Nature: Emphasized that to analyze language, one must recognize that it follows specific context-dependent rules.

Major Branches of Philosophy

Metaphysics

  • Definition: The branch of philosophy that examines the fundamental nature of being and existence.

  • Two Traditional Branches:

    • Cosmology: Seeks to understand the origin, evolution, and structure of the universe at large.

    • Ontology: Investigates what types of things exist in the world and how they are related ("What kind of things actually exist?").

  • Core Metaphysical Inquiries:

    • What is a thing?

    • How are space and time related?

    • Does the past exist? How about the future?

    • How many dimensions does the world have?

    • Are there any entities beyond physical objects (such as numbers, properties, and relations)?

    • If abstract entities exist, how are they related to physical objects?

Epistemology

  • Definition: The branch concerned with the nature of knowledge and justified belief.

  • Taxonomic Structure of Epistemology:


Epistemology Taxonomy Tree

  • Branch 1: What is Knowledge?

    • Standard Definition: True, justified belief.

    • Explanatory Theories:

    • Externalism

    • Internalism

      • Foundationalism

      • Coherentism

  • Branch 2: Can we have Knowledge? * Philosophical Stances:

    • Skepticism

    • Dogmatism

    • Relativism

      • Subjectivism

      • Conventionalism

  • Branch 3: How do we get Knowledge?

    • Epistemological Traditions:

    • Rationalism

    • Empiricism

Ethics

  • Definition: The study of what actions ought to be taken and how human beings ought to live.

  • Core Ethical Inquiries:

    • What makes an action right or wrong?

    • Is morality relative?

    • What do the words 'right' and 'wrong' actually mean?

Logic

  • Definition: The study of valid reason and arguments.

  • Core Logical Inquiries:

    • What is an argument?

    • What makes an argument work?

    • What makes an argument fail?

Aesthetics

  • Definition: The study of beauty and art.

  • Core Aesthetic Inquiries:

    • What is beauty?

    • Is beauty subjective or objective?

Political Philosophy

  • Definition: The study of fundamental concepts such as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by political authority.

  • Core Political Inquiries:

    • What makes a government legitimate?

    • What rights and freedoms should citizens possess?

    • What form should government take and why?

    • What is the law?

    • What duties do citizens owe to a legitimate government?