Lesson 1: What is Philosophy?

Philosophy

• Greek the words, Philo (love) and Sophia (wisdom).

• it means love of wisdom, the pursuit of knowledge and truth, systematic investigation

• Uses human reason to investigate the ultimate causes, reasons, and principles that govern all things.

• considered as the “mother of all sciences”

• a way of life; a persistent quest for knowledge and truth

• A science where reason and logic are used to understand reality and answer questions of knowledge, morality, and human nature.

• Can be described as either a body of knowledge or an intellectual activity.

Origin of Philosophy

• Greece is the birthplace of philosophy in the West.

• Thales is the Father of Philosophy in the Western civilization.

• Thales was the first individual who tried to reduce the multiplicity into a unity; everything is related to each other.

• Thales’s approach highlights the difference between religion and philosophy. Religion rests on faith while philosophy rests on reason.

Philosophical Activity

Philosophical activity is characterized by three things:

• Philosophy involves the widest generalizations

• Philosophy is all about fundamentals. - foundation

  • A fundamental is the root cause that explains almost everything in a given context.

• Philosophy is driven by the desire to integrate things into one coherent whole. - Holistic

Branches of Philosophy

• Cognitive Branch - Provide a description of being & knowing

• Normative Branch- Concerned with the standard of the good

(“Where am I”)

• Metaphysics - deals with questions regarding reality and existence.

(“How do I know it?”)

• Epistemology - the study of the nature and means of human knowledge.

• Logic - science, and art of correct thinking and reasoning

(“What should I do?”)

• Ethics or Morality - deals with human actions whether good or bad, right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable, justifiable or unjustifiable.

• Aesthetics - deals with the nature of art/ objective judgment of beauty

• Politics - deals with the principles of a proper social system.

PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

• an area in philosophy that understands the human person from a philosophical perspective.

Practical Uses of Philosophy

1. For critical analysis and interpretation of concepts, definitions, arguments, and problems

2. Improves problem-solving and decision-making

3. Develop clean and adequate articulation of ideas

4. Wisdom-application of knowledge/ sound choices and judgments

5. Self-development

Philosophy as a body of knowledge provides methodologies and insights on how societal questions, such as moral dilemmas of euthanasia or same-sex marriage, can be answered.

Philosophy as an intellectual activity is an analytic procedure of addressing individual thought processes such as resolving conflict and confusion, testing positions, and analyzing beliefs. In all instances, doing philosophy is prescribed by logic, reason, and ethics leading to wisdom.

Philosophy applied to human experience or everyday life denotes the use of philosophy as an intellectual activity. Also known as philosophy in life, this concept is important because it serves as the guiding principle on how one ought to live life.

The Most Notable Ancient Greek Philosophers:

1. Pythagoras (570 BCE to 495 BCE)

   • A mathematician and scientist, he was credited with formulating the Pythagorean theorem. His work earned him many followers, and he established a community of learners who were devoted to the study of religion and philosophy.

2. Heraclitus (535 BCE to 475 BCE)

   • He proposed that everything that exists is based on a higher order or plan which he called logos.

     For him, change is a permanent aspect of the human condition as he was credited

     with the saying, “No man ever steps in the same river twice.”

3. Democritus (460 BCE to 370 BCE)

   • He devoted himself to the study of the causes of natural phenomena. He was among the first to propose that matter is composed of tiny particles called atoms.

4. Diogenes of Sinope (412 BCE to 323 BCE)

   • He was a known advocate of living a simple and virtuous life. For Diogenes, one should not only talk of virtue but should show it in words and actions. His emphasis on austerity and simplicity often went to the extreme, and he was said to have lived like a beggar. He was also known to be a vocal critic of well-known philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. His teachings and views were later developed by his followers and influenced the development of several schools of philosophy such as Cynicism and Stoicism.

5. Socrates (470 BCE to 399 BCE)

   • He was considered the famous philosopher of ancient times. He made contributions to the field of ethics. He also believed that philosophy could enable a man to live a life of virtue. He was credited with formulating the Socratic method – a means of examining a topic by devising a series of questions that let the learner examine and analyze his knowledge and views regarding the topic.

6. Plato (427 BCE to 347 BCE)

   • A student of Socrates, he wrote down his mentor’s teaching and incorporated some of his own ideas into them. Plato’s most significant ideas included his Theory of Forms, which proposes that everything that exist is based on an idea or template than can only be perceived in the mind. Plato is also known for his dialectic - a method of inquiry where two opposing ideas are discussed in an attempt to arrive at a new knowledge. Plato’s lasting contribution to learning was his founding of the Academy, an institution of higher learning.

7. Aristotle (384 BCE to 322 BCE)

   • He attended the Academy, and was the prominent student of Plato. For him, all ideas and views are based on perception and our reality is based on what we can sense and perceive. This view greatly influenced the study of the physical sciences. He also proposed a system for the classification of plants and animals. His studies in logic led to the formulation of a formal process of analyzing reasoning which gave rise to deductive reasoning - the process by which specific statements are analyzed to reach a conclusion or generalization.