Lesson 1: Doing Philosophy

Lesson 1: Doing Philosophy Holisun and Reductionism

Holistic Perspective

- a perspective that considers large-scale patterns in systems

- described as looking at the “Big picture”

- universal—looking at the whole picture

Partial Point of View

- focuses on specific aspects of a whole

- views the little details

- views the particular or part of the whole

Martin Heidegger (1989- 1974)

- born in Messkirch, Germany

- responsible for the term "hermeneutics of facticity" or interpreting experiences

based on individual encounters.

- says that philosophy is different from science because:

• A scientific question is always confined to a particular

• A philosophical question "leads into the totality of beings" and inquiries into the whole.

Philosophy

- is the study of inquiry. It features ideas, views, principles, perspectives, or beliefs.
It is also considered as an academic discipline (Mabacquico, 2016)

- study that uses human reason to investigate the ultimate causes, reasons, and principles that govern all things

Meaning of Philosophy: Based on Philosophers

• Pythagoras: "Love for Wisdom" The Practical Knowledge

- Philosophia - "love for wisdom" or the desire to learn, gain knowledge, and understanding to see beyond the obvious

- Wisdom is about practical knowledge that is used in day to day living in view of a certain goal or end

- 3 Classification of Human:

• Those who love pleasure

• Those who love activity

• Those who love wisdom

• Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas: "Aristotelico-Thomistic" Digging into the Roots

- implies that a thorough investigation into the foundation aspect of this tradition to better understand its development and impact

- characterized by deductive logic and an analytic inductive method

• East-West: “East-West Synthesis" Theora - Praxis Continuum

- Theoria served as a guide of praxis. However, when technical knowledge (skills)
is applied, praxis becomes the standard, and theoria is only tapped to justify practices.



• Socrates: “The Socratic Method" A deliberate reflection

- Questioning is not for questioning’s sake, rather it is about looking into the foundation of the beliefs and practices

- "Questioning is a sign of a reflecting mined"

• Karl Jasper: "Philosophy of Jasper" Questions over Answers

- Philosophy is a discipline wherein questions generate answers, as a matter of course, but answers instead of clarifying things will become questions themselves seeking further answers in a never-ending inquiry

Philosophers

Socrates (464-399 BCE)

• He left no writing but conversed with people from all walks of life using question and answer as concrete living out his famous advice - “Know thyself.”

• His commitment to philosophy was the reason he was condemned to death

• Contributes to understanding the nature of the question and finding a plausible answer that may qualify

Plato (421-347 BCE)

• student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle

• wrote numerous dialogues in which Socrates is the main character

• His most famous works are The Apology (where he gives an account of Socrates' trial) and The Republic where he presents his famous theory of Forms)

Aristotle (384- 322 BCE)

• born in Stagira, Greece, and studied at Plato's Academy

• surpassed his teacher by the number of works he wrote and the fields he studied

• tortured a thirteen-year-old who came to be known as Alexander the Great

• put up a school in Athens called Lyceum

Pilosopong Tampo

• character in the novel Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal

• based on Apolinario Mabini

• shows that a philosopher is someone who observes, thinks, sees clearly, and speaks

Philosophical Questions

• "yet to be answered" questions

• trying to answer these results to intellectual reflection (look at a particular experience from a broader perspective

Principles

• through the natural light of reason, philosophy examines the original grounds or the essential principles of all things

• studies the First Cause or the Highest Principle since everything in the world and every situation has an origin

• Principle of Identity

  • it means that a thing, idea, or person always has a name, a concept, and a characteristic for that thing to exist

• Principle of Non-Contradiction

  • denies that a thing can be and not be simultaneous

• Principle of Excluded Middle

  • everything must either be or not be. There is no middle ground
    conceivable

• Principle of Sufficient Reason

  • nothing happens without a sufficient reason for its being and existence

Causality

- also known as Aristotle's doctrine of the four causes

- fundamental concept of philosophy, explaining why things exist or happen the way they do.

- according to Aristotle, to fully understand an object or an event, we must consider four types of causes

• Material Cause

  • "What is it made of?"

  • the material cause is the substance or matter from which something is made.

• Formal Cause

  • "What is its design?"

  • form or structure of a thing, which gives it its identity

• Efficient Cause

  • “How is it done?"

  • the process or action that brings something into being

    

• Final Cause

  • "Why does it exist?"

  • the purpose or reason why something exists

Branches of Philosophy

• Epistemology

  • from the Greek word "Episteme" meaning human knowledge

  • philosophical study of human knowledge with regard to the value of thought

• Metaphysics

  • From the Greek word "Meta-fusica"

  • questioning in a “bigger picture", such as reality and existence

  • asking something that goes beyond

  • fundamental drive in every human being to know what is real

• Ethics

  • from the Greek word “ethos” meaning Man’s Will

  • philosophical study of the morality of the human act that distinguishes good and evil, and right from wrong

→ Divine Command

• "What does God ordain us to do?"

• determine that what is morally right and wrong is determined by God's command

→ Consequential/ Utilitarianism

• "What were the most desirable consequences? "

• the best action is the one that results in the most happiness or benefits for most people

• maximizing the overall well-being and minimizing suffering

→ Deontological

• “Whatever is my morale duty to do.”

• focuses on the following rules or duties when deciding what is right or wrong

→ Virtue Ethics

• “What kind of person I ought to be?”

• focuses on developing good character traits, or virtues, to live a morally good life

→ Relativism

• "What does my culture or society think l ought to do?"

• considering right or wrong, true or false, depends on cultural perspective rather than being absolute or universal

• Logic

  • from the Greek word "Logike" meaning Human Thought

  • focuses on reasoning and the rules that guide our thinking

> Deductive Logic

• general statement to specific

> Inductive Logic

• specific to general statement

• Aesthetics

  • philosophical study of man's beauty and perfection

  • deals with the nature of beauty, art, taste