I.
Introduction
to Philosophy
a.
Definition
nature & historical outline of philosophy
Etymological
Definition
ð The
word philosophy is said to be invented by Pythagoras. According to him, only
the gods should be called wise while men should be called ‘lovers’ or ‘friends’
of wisdom. Hence, the term ‘philo’ & ‘sophia’ were formulated which
literally mean ‘love’ and ‘wisdom’ respectively.
Formal
Definition
ð Philosophy
is defined as ‘certa scientia per ultima causas’ which means certain knowledge
through ultimate causes-acquired by the use of human reason alone.
Popular
Definition
ð Philosophy
can be regarded as a private wisdom giving the person the ability to look
things in positive view. Hence, this gives man the opportunity to be optimistic
especially in times of misfortune.
Technical
Definition (Real)
ð Philosophy
is the science of science. It does not only unify all sciences but also
criticizes & defends the conclusion of other sciences.
ð Philosophy
is the knowledge of all things through their ultimate causes acquired through
the use of reason.
ð The
science of things naturally knowable to man’s unaided powers insofar as those
things are known or studied in their ultimate cause & reason.
Nature
of Philosophy
-Philosophy
as Wisdom
ð The
desire to know is innate in man because of his intellect & happiness is
closely linked to wisdom. Wisdom enables him to discover the meaning of his
life & to act in an upright way. The term “wise man” is usually applied to
a person who has certain & well-founded knowledge of the deepest truths,
for wisdom, in general terms, is defined as certain knowledge of the deepest
causes of everything. Philosophy is wisdom because it helps man attain the
truth in the deepest causes and reason of reality.
b.
Why
Philosophy?
ð Man
by nature is curious. He wants to know the “whatness, whyness, & howness”
of the things around him. It is in the exploring of things that he finds
fulfilment for the numerous complexities that confront him. The eagerness to
look for more answers or find solutions to the manifold problems that beset him
leads him to the unending journey of seeking for truth.
Brief
History of Philosophy
a.1.
Ancient Philosophy (6th century B.C. to 529 A.D.)
Ancient
Greek Philosophy
a.1.1.
the
Pre-Socratic Period;
a.1.2.
the
Socratic Period (5th to 4th century B.C.) the time of
three important figure in the history of Philosophy; Socrates, Plato &
Aristotle; and
a.1.3.
Post-Socratic
Period (322 B.C. to 529 A.D.)
a.2.
Medieval Philosophy (529 A.D. to 1450 century A.D.)
is
dominated by Christian thinkers, the more noted
of them are St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Albert the Great & St.
Thomas Aquinas.
this
period is divided into:
a).Patristic
Philosophy(529-799 A.D.)-St. Augustine & Boethius.
b).Medieval
Philosophy (9th century to 1450) is divided into 3-sub
period.
1.
the beginning of Scholasticism(9th to 12th
century)-includes Arab philosophers
2. the golden Age of Scholasticism(13th
century)-Aristotelian philosophy(Ecclectic Aristotelianism of Roger Bacon, St.
Bonaventure, Alexander of Hales, Henry of Ghent and the Moderate Aristotelianism
of St. Thomas Aquinas & St. Albert the Great.)
3.
the Decline of Scholasticism
a.3.
Modern Philosophy (1450-1799)
a.3.1.
the Renaissance-Nicholas Copernicus, Galileo Galilee &
Nicolo Machiavelli, Rene Descartes, Nicholas Malebranche, Benedict Spinoza and
Gottfried Leibniz, Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, George Berkeley,
& David Hume.
a.3.2.
Subjectivism, w/c includes Rational Subjectivism & empirical subjectivism
a.3.3.
the Enlightenment and the German Idealism-Francis Voltaire,
Jean Jacques Rousseau, Christian Wolff, Immanuel Kant, Johann Fichte, Friedrich
Schelling George Hegel
a.4.
Contemporary Philosophy (19th century up to 20th century)
a.4.1.
the
Dialectical Materialism of Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels.
a.4.2.
the
Positivism of August Comte
a.4.3.
the Naturalism of Charles Darwin
a.4.4.
the
Utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham & John Stuart Mill;
a.4.5.
Nihilism represented by Arthur Schopenhauer & Friedrich Nietszche.
a.4.6.
Phenomenology represented by Edmund Husserl, Max
Scheller, Paul Ricoer & Carl Rogers;
a.4.7.
Existentialism represented by Soren Keirkegaard, Jean
Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, Karl Jaspers, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Gabriel Marcel
and Martin Buber;
c.
Philosophizing
and Insight
ð It
is in philosophizing that the ideas can be best presented & conveyed. This
can be best enhanced through proper education. Since then philosophy &
education complement & work hand-in-hand in the acquisition of knowledge
& the preservation of truth. True enough, one can say then that Philosophy
is Knowledge and Education is the most essential tool of Philosophy in the
search for wisdom and truth.
d.
The
Philosophical Inquiry
ð Philosophical Inquiries is an Italian philosophical journal published
in English. Its aim is to cover a wide range of philosophical questions of
broad interest and belonging to diverse fields, such as epistemology, ethics,
metaphysics, aesthetics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and
philosophy of law. It seeks to bring together international scholars committed
to cutting edge research on pressing questions in those fields.
e.
Philosophy
in crisis situation
ð Philosophy has experienced many crises. When for instance Sophists
threatened the possibility of wisdom (=knowledge for its own sake), Socrates,
Plato and Aristotle responded to that threat with their philosophy of crisis.
When the possibility of new knowledge of nature was threatened by the
tradition, René Descartes came with his universal doubt and philosophy of
consciousness. When David Hume threatened the objective validity of physics and
mathematics as sciences, Immanuel Kant responded with his transcendental
philosophy. When Schelling and Hegel were editing die kiritische Journal der
Philosophie in Jena, both
felt a call from fate to overcome the problem of the philosophy of reflection.
When insatiable desire and selfish greed were rampant in the 5th century B.C.
in China, this critical darkness called for Lao Tzu's philosophy. When social
disorder and political chaos threatened the foundation of morality and
government, Confucius responded the situation with his moral philosophy. When
rhetoric and disputation were common place, it was Chuang Tzu who responded the
crisis with his clear vision for freedom.
II.
Philosophy
as a Field of Study
a.
Philosophy
as Science
ð Philosophy
is a science; it is a science in an eminent way, i.e., it is more sublime than
other sciences.
1. As a knowledge through causes.
Philosophy can truly be considered a science since it studies the deepest
causes of reality, it is the first and most eminent among all the sciences; the
other sciences deal only with the more immediate or proximate causes of
reality.
2. As knowledge attained by way of
demonstration, starting from some principles. Philosophy is
truly a science since it attains knowledge in the same manner.
b.
Who
are Philosophers
ð St. Thomas Aquinas -in
the middle ages, who taught at the university of Paris,
ð John Dewey-lecturing at
Columbia University
ð Rene Descartes-
attempted to interpret the meaning & importance of various scientific
discoveries & theories.
ð John Locke & Karl Marx-
philosophized in order to effect certain changes in the political organization
of the society.
ð St. Augustine-bishop
of Hippo in rome
ð George Berkeley- bishop
of Cloyne in Ireland in the eighteenth century.
ð Baruch de Spinoza- lens-grinder
by profession
ð John Locke- medical
doctor
ð John Stuart Mill- writer
for magazine
c.
Philosophy
and Art
Philosophy
-interprets,
appreciate, & enjoys the meaning, aspects of facts
-Concerned
w/ interpreting other plans of experience
-values,
reality, knowledge & the kind of action w/c results in the fullest life.
-broader
-beauty
is theoretically treated.
-intellectualizes
aesthetic experience
Art
-interprets,
appreciate, & enjoys the meaning, aspects of facts
-limited
to authentic qualities of experience
-inclusive
-Beauty
is actually treated
-enjoys
& appreciates, expresses & creates
-primary
endeavour is the actual expression of beauty
d.
Philosophy
And Religion
Philosophy
-truth
-intellectual
-philosophy
is not religion
-worship
is an intellectual love of God
-fellowship
w/ others based on the common ground of honest search for truth rather than
upon agreement in specific beliefs
Religion
-truth
-gaining
knowledge w/c is dependable & authoritative
-calls
for personal commitment, for practice of a way of life, & the shouldering
of social responsibility
e.
Philosophy
and Education
Philosophy
-theoretical
& speculative
-ask
questions, examines facts of reality & experience, many of w/c are involved
in the educative process
-philosophy
yields a comprehensive understanding of reality, a world view, w/c when applied
to educational practice lends direction & methodology w/c are likely to be
lacking otherwise.
Education
-practical
-the
actual process of educating is a matter of actively dealing w/ those factors
-
the experience of the educator in nurturing the young places him in touch w/
phases of reality w/c are considered in making philosophical judgement.
-while
philosophy is a guide to educational practice, education as a field of
investigation yields certain data as a basis for philosophical judgements.
III.
Philosophical
Fields
a.
Epistemology-
deals
w/ the study of the origin, structures, methods, nature, limit and veracity of
human knowledge. It also includes logic & variety of linguistic concern
& the philosophy of science. ‘Epistemology’ from the Greek word ‘epesteme’
w/c mean ‘knowledge’ & ‘logos’ w/c mean ‘the study of’
b.
Metaphysics-deals
w/ the questions of reality-its
nature, meaning & existence. From the Greek word ‘meta’ w/c mean ‘beyond’
& ’physikon’ mean ‘nature’ the word physics is the science that deals w/
the matter, energy, force, natural laws & process.
c. Axiology- deals
into the study of values. It analyses the origin, types & characteristics,
criteria & knowledge of values. It includes values of human conduct, nature
& justification of social structures & political system
d.
Logic-
branch
of philosophy w/c deals w/ the nature of thinking & reasoning using
empirical support-data & information that are objective, valid, reliable,
quantifiable & defensible to establish the truth.
e.
Philosophical
Method of Investigation
ð Since
philosophy has been described as a science because it deals w/ the study of the
process governing thoughts & conduct, it is important to consider the
method to be used to determine the validity of the result. The of systematized
knowledge derived from observation, study & experimentation to discover
& establish the truth relates to a philosophical method of investigation.
IV.
Theory
of Knowledge
a.
The
theories of knowledge
1.
The
objective Theory- this theory asserts that there is a word
outside of ourselves w/c exists. John Locke refers this theory as ‘copy theory’
or ‘representative realism.
2.
Conception
& the conceivable Theory- the knowing of universal forms w/c
are expressed in class concept as plants, lions, birds & human beings,
begins w/ sensation but in completed in the intellect by way of memory w/c
enables the knower to identify that w/c is the same in varied experiences.
b.
Sources
of knowledge
Customs
& Traditions. Customs is a group pattern of habitual
activity usually transmitted from one generation to another. Tradition is the
handling down of statements, beliefs, legends & customs from generation to
generation especially by word of mouth or by practice.
Sense
Perception. This is the inherent capacity of any of the
faculties, as sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch by w/c man perceive
stimuli origination from outside & inside the body.
Intuition.
This
is a direct perception of fact & truth, w/c is independent of any reasoning
process & considered one possible source of knowledge.
Authority.
Testimonies
by individuals who are considered authorities in their specialized fields &
verified facts from exceptional & extraordinary fields of various sciences
found & attested by qualified bodies are sources of our knowledge.
Reason.
This
is the faculty or power acquiring intellectual knowledge, either by direct
understanding of first principles or by argument to form conclusions,
judgements or inferences from facts & premises.
c.
The
problem of knowledge
ð Philosophers
have been concerned w/ finding out if we can really ‘know’ anything in the
sense of possessing information that is open to question. The philosophers who
have continually sought to discover what sort of knowledge we possess &
what kind of evidence we can bring forward as evidence what standards we judge
it by, have offered various theories about nature, source & basis of our
knowledge.
d.
The
sophists
Athens/Greece
ð Protagoras & Gorgias-man
should not bother to seek what he can never find; instead, everyone should
measure matters according to his nature & needs, inasmuch as man alone was
the measure of all things.
ð Socrates-
said that we do not learn anything-we remember that we already know all the
knowledge of forms or universals already in our minds.
ð Descartes-was
seeking an absolutely certain basis for all knowledge. He found that the only
judgements we were forced to make are those regarding clear & distinct
ideas.
e.
Barriers
in attaining knowledge
1.
Blind
adherence to authority. Blind adherence to authority w/o critical
& exhaustive examinations to establish the truth is absurd & contrary
to all reason.
2.
Propaganda.
This barrier to attaining knowledge is a deliberate & methodical strategy
of spreading unfounded & misleading information or ideas to influence &
control the minds of the followers to adhere to a certain belief or ideology of
a particular movement or organization.
3. Prejudice.
This barrier to attaining knowledge is an unfavourable opinion or feeling w/o justifiable
grounds or adequate knowledge or information on the issue or subject.
4. Fallacies in reasoning. A
fallacy is any sort of mistake in reasoning or inference. It is a deceptive
argument that seems conclusive & valid but is actually false.
ð Contextual Fallacies.
Some very common types of fallacies do not depend upon grammatical misuses of
language, or upon formal mistakes in reasoning.
ð Linguistic Fallacies.
W/c are based on the structure & consistency of argument.
ð Material Fallacies.
In w/c errors are based on the content of the argument that is apparently
faulty w/ misleading evidence or an appeal to feeling instead of reason based
on logic.
ð Fallacies of reason.
Fallacious reasons are those w/c do not possess all attributes of true reasons,
but are sufficiently similar to the relationships as to appear adequate.
ð Fallacies of example.
These fallacies of example will involve an example of inappropriateness in some
sense in reference to reason.
f.
Thinking
as a process
1.
We
think in patterns & sequences. These sequences can be
casual; from cause to effect or from effects to cause; temporal-before &
after, now & then; spatial-here & there, logical-premises to
conclusions & conclusions to premises.
2.
We
think on planes of abstraction & levels of attention.
We move from particular instances to general ideas, from individual experiences
to generalization, from details to totalities, from symptoms to causes &
from particulars to universals.
V.
Man
(its Nature, Development & Destiny)
a.
Perspective
about Man
ð Composition.
Monism-
means
any of various theories that there is one basic substance or principles as the
ground of reality or that reality consist of a single element.
Dualism-
means
a theory that the object & datum of recognition are identical that man is
made of two irreducible elements- matter & spirit of soul. According to St.
Thomas Aquinas, the soul is the ‘first principle of life in things where we
live.’
b.
Origin
& Essence of Man
ð Origin.
The
Devine Origin-the divine theory asserts that the origin
of man is based on the biblical story of the creation. In the book of Genesis,
it is said that, on the sixth day of the week of creation, man was created by
God in his own image to rule overall his creation.
The
Theory of Evolution. Assumes that man came into being through
the process of gradual growth & development: from a single cell organism to
a structurally complex product of development. This theory runs parallel w/
Charles Darwin, through the natural selection of those best adapted to survive
in the struggle for existence.
ð Essence.
w/c is the intrinsic nature of man treats the various opinions that have been
expressed & these opinions can be grouped into the rational, religious
& scientific perspectives.
c.
Man
as biological being
ð Man as biological being is innately
good. When a man & woman fall in love & eventually
get married, their biological endowments will fuse.
ð Social Institution
1.
Family-
the
smallest but the most important unit of society.
2.
Church-
can
supplement & reinforce religious
teachings done at home. The church can serve as a reservoir of knowledge needed
in the moral development of the child.
3.
School-place
where the grains are separated from the chaff. Education of the child must
emphasize those aspects, w/c will nourish & nurture man’s innate goodness.
4.
Community- can provide an environment
that will be a safe place to live in, where men respect each other’s rights,
where man is enabled to do so by giving rather
d.
Man
as a Social & Rational being
ð Man
is the product of the social & psychological factors that assist the result
of the interplay of the various variables; e.g., heredity,
environment-geographical, social, economic, & cultural. Socialization
whereby the individual ‘is converted into a whole person”
e.
Norms
of Society
ð The role of social institutions e.g., the
family, the school & the media immensely influence the moral thinking &
the development of man. The physical environment w/c constitutes the aggregate
of surrounding things & conditions greatly affect man as a result of a long
gradual process.
f.
Man
as Modern Perspective
ð Man,
the homo sapiens, the modern single surviving species of the genus Homo &
of the private family Hominidae to w/c it belongs that possess the highest
level of developed intellect, has achieved & enjoys his present stature
because of his innate natural endowments & capabilities.
ð A
man who participates actively in the total processes of social interaction in
the society to be a better place to live.
ð His
interpersonal relation & effective participation is through the improvement
of basic knowledge, intellectual & manual skills, power of reason &
criticism, acquisition of desirable values, attitudes & motivations, power
of creativity & innovation, cultural appreciation, a sense of
responsibility & understanding of the modern world.
g.
Moral
assumption of Man’s Nature
ð One
assumption is that, since man is created in the image of God, & God is
infinitely good w/ a noble intention about his creation, man’s nature is
inferentially unquestionably good. The nature of man to make & remake
himself by his free acts of choice.
h.
The
Problem of Evil
ð Man relies on his consciousness to
determine the degree of his responsibility for his acts & on his own
conscience to judge good or evil. Some social thinkers hypothesize that the
problems of evil are the results of mans greed, selfishness, arrogance,
rapacious desires, excessive desire for wealth, avarice & extreme obsession
for something.
i.
The
highest Good & Man search for Happiness
ð The
highest good is perceived by different people in different ways. Some consider
the highest good as being at peace w/ oneself, w/ one’s fellowmen, & w/
God. Others regard the highest good as clarity of mind. Still other think of
the highest good as being of service to humanity.
ð We
may infer that the root meaning of happy is that of someone favoured by
fortune, one to whom good things happen. The man who is fortunate, lucky,
successful, satisfied, cheerful or glad may be comparatively happy but not in
the strict sense the way the philosophers
speak of happiness.
VI.
The
Phenomenon of Man
a.
Man
in Existential Phenomenology
ð Existential
phenomenology describes subjective human experience as it reflects people's
values, purposes, ideals, intentions, emotions, and relationships. Existential
phenomenology concerns itself with the experiences and actions of the
individual, rather than conformity or behaviour. The individual is seen as an
active and creative subject, rather than an object in nature: in other words,
the existential person is not merely passive or reactive, subject to
environmental influences, but also a purposeful being who has inner experiences
and can interpret the meaning of his or her existence and relationships with
others in a social world.
b.
The
western Perspective of Man
ð Aristotle's view of the human person is
perhaps the one that is most influential and is in fact accepted by many modern
thinkers such as Descartes, Kant, and Hegel. For Aristotle, the
human being is essentially a "natural being who by nature possesses
'logos'". "Logos" is commonly translated as "reason,"
and so here is the origin of the view that man is essentially a "rational
animal." Modern thinkers such as Descartes, Kant, and Hegel, accept this
Aristotelian view by identifying reason as the most important feature of human
consciousness. Hegel even goes as far as to say that reality as such is
rational, and that there is a correspondence between the rationality of the
mind and the rationality of reality.In the twentieth century, however, this
view of man as a rational being comes under attack. Starting with Nietzsche,
the existentialists, Derrida, and various other post-modern thinkers,
rationality is no longer accepted as the most important feature of human
existence.
c.
The
Oriental Perspective of Man
ð THE first Philosophy in order is the so-called Oriental, which,
however, does not enter into the substance or range of our subject as
represented here. Its position is preliminary, and we only deal with it at all
in order to account for not treating of it at greater length, and to show in
what relation it stands to Thought and to true Philosophy. The expression
Eastern philosophy is specially employed in reference to the period in which
this great universal Oriental conception aroused the East — the land of
circumscription and of limitation, where the spirit of subjectivity reigns.
More particularly in the first centuries of Christendom — that significant
period — did these great Oriental ideas penetrate into Italy; and in the Gnostic
philosophy they began to force the idea of the illimitable into the Western
mind, until in the Church the latter again succeeded in obtaining the
ascendency and hence in firmly establishing the Divine. That which we call
Eastern Philosophy is more properly the religious mode of thought and the
conception of the world belonging generally to the Orientals and approximates
very closely to Philosophy; and to consider the Oriental idea of religion just
as if it were religious philosophy, is to give the main reason why it is so
like.
d.
Man
as Knower
ð Dr. Adler divides
the middle three parts of the book according to Aristotle's classification of
three activities of a human being: making, doing, and knowing. Dr. Adler titles
these sections "Man the Maker," "Man the Doer," and "Man the Knower," respectively.
"Man the Maker" focuses on Aristotle's views on excellence in
craftsmanship (the ancient Greek concept of techne), "Man the Doer"
on Aristotle's ethics and his concept of moral virtue (both personal and political),
and "Man the Knower" on knowledge (epistemology) and logic.
e.
Man
and Dialogue
ð Buber rejected the label, contrasting his
emphasis on the whole person and “dialogic” intersubjectivity with
existentialist emphasis on “monologic” self-consciousness. In his later
essays, he defines man as the being who faces an “other” and constructs a world
from the dual acts of distancing and relating. His writing challenges Kant,
Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Dilthey, Simmel and Heidegger, and he
influenced Emmanuel Lévinas.
Bibliography
LET REVIEWER 2010 EDITION by
Conception, Esmane and Et. Al. pages 293-296
Introduction to Logic by Asuncion,
Montierro and Et. Al. pages 3-11 and page21-22
Introduction to Philosophy By Zulueta
Fracisco M. pages 1-49
Summary/Conclusion
Ideas
flow from the human mind eternally. It is in the ideas that the truth lies.
Unending as the ideas are, the more that man needs to harness & cultivate
it to perfection. Ideas that are not nourished & protected will not just
prevent man in knowing the truth but it will also deprive him a taste of his
rationality. Hence, ideas must & should be at all times shine in lustre of
naturalness, profound by simplicity & contains its true & real meaning.
The truth in the ideas must be preserved in as much as man wants to preserve
the gift of knowledge & wisdom that it brings. And delicate as it is, it
should be protected from all forms of deterioration & artificiality.
Presented it maybe in various ways, the real meaning must be conveyed at all
times. The ultimate aim of man is to look for the truth. The process ends not
in the search but in the possession of the truth. It is in his capacity to
think, to rationalize that the responsibility of philosophizing is realized. It
is but proper then to have a closer look on man & a glimpse of what
Philosophy is that we can fully understand the meaning of our search for the
truth & the desire to possess it.
