INTRO.

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Philosophy
- Comes from the 2 Greek words philos (which means love) and Sophia (which means wosdom)
- Love of wisdom
- Holistic perspective
- Subject matter in philosophy
o Values on things, persons, institutions, etc. that influence one’s beliefs, decisions and
actions
o Activity on reflecting on and analyzing one’s beliefs or reasons for actions or decisions
o Ongoing activity because there are varied answers to fundamental questions
- Investigate the meaning of concepts
- Critique
- Philosophy is a:
o Science
 Investigation is systematic
 It follows certain steps or it employs certain procedures

o Natural Light of Reason

 Uses his reasoning capability to investigate things

o Study of all things

 Multidimensional
 holistic

Branches of Philosophy
1. Ethics
o Derived from the Greek word ethos (which means moral philosophy)
o Concerned with human conduct
o Deals with norms or standards of right and wrong
o It prescribes what people ought to do rather than describes what people do
o Concerns with morality (which affects one’s actions toward others)
o Helps prioritize their values
o Explores the nature of moral virtue and evaluates human actions
o Study of the mature of moral judgments
o For Socrates, “To be happy, a person has to live a virtuous life”

2. Aesthetics
o Comes from the Greek word aesthetikos (which means sensitive or perceptive)
o Concerned with the analysis of aesthetic experience and the idea of what is beautiful
o The analysis is directed towards
 Nature of aesthetic judgment
 Standard of beauty
 Objectivity of these standards
o Answers the question whether beauty is based on utility, experience, form, pleasure or
expression

3. Epistemology
o Comes from the Greek word episteme (which means knowledge)
o Deals with various concerns about knowledge
o Addresses the reliability, extent and kinds of knowledge, truth, language, science and
scientific knowledge
o Deals with the nature of truth, beliefs and knowledge
o Deals with nature, sources, limitations, and validity of knowledge
o Explains
 How we know what we claim to know
 How we can find out what we wish to know
 How we can differentiate truth from falsehood
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4. Logic
o Refers to the rules or principles that govern reasoning
o Incorporates analysis on the methods of deductive and inductive
o Logician
o Concerns with the truth or validity of our arguments regarding such object
o Comes from the Greek word logike

5. Metaphysics
o Literally means after physics
o Study of nature of reality
o Reflects on the subject of appearance (how something looks by how it appears) and
reality ( that which actually is)
o Explains the part of experience
o What is the meaning of life?
o What is the purpose of life?

Filipino Thinking/Philosophy
1. Loob
o Kagandahang-loob, kabutihang-loob and kalooban are terms that show sharing of one’s
self to others
o Loob puts one in touch with his fellow beings
o Values of loyalty, hospitality, pakikisama (camaraderie), respect to authority relate to
persons
o Filipinos believe in the innate goodness of the human being

2. Filipino philosophy of Time

o Believes in wheel of fortune (gulong ng palad)
o Looks life as a series of ups and downs
o Associated to Karma in indian and Yang yin of china
o Pakikisama is associated to chinese and Japanese philosophy of “living in harmony with
nature”
o Misleading to delayed in the committed time of arrival because farmers are early risers
o Siesta time or power nap

3. Bahala Na (Come What May)

o Filipinos believed in Supreme Being, Batula or Bathala
o Filipinos put their personal trust in Bathala/Christian God
o Accepts bahala na attitude as a part of life
o Bahala na means to leave everything to God who is Bathala
o Bahala na philosophy puts his complete trust in the Divine Providence
o Thus, they accept the whatever outcome of the problem might be

Characteristics of a Good Philosopher

1. Good critical thinker
2. Ability to see the perspective of other people
3. Able to express himself/herself

Why do you think it is important for human beings to reflect upon themselves and their actions?
Why is analysis a necessary tool in philosophizing?
How do you define happiness? Explain the view of Socrates, “To become happy, a person must live a
virtuous life.”
How deep is your faith in God?
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Doing Philosophy
- Seeing things at different perspective
- Distinguishing them from partial point of view to holisitic perspective to see the whole bigger
picture
- When you love, you try to know everything about that which your love is directed to
- A philosopher takes into account every detail – the partial points of view – in order to make
synthesis and develop a holistic perspective

 To philosophize is to take part in activities which do not only give you a partial point of view
but a holistic perspective emanating from reflection and analysis

Philosophizing
- Is a reflective analysis and criticism of beliefs and values of human beings

 Engaging in philosophy means being aware of the self and the world , and making sense of
or understanding what is from what is not

Activity:
List the activities, people, locations and conditions in your life you were most happy.
What did you learn about your purpose?
List the activities, people, locations and conditions in your life when you felt dissatisfied.
What did you learn about your purpose?

Methods of Philosophy

1. Speculation/Speculative Thinking
- Derived from Latin word Specula (which means “watch tower”)
- It implies a vision above that of an ordinary person
- Encourages to see a bigger picture (bird’s eye view)

2. Critical Thinking/Analysis
- Criticize means to judge or analyze
- Questions, judges and evaluates
- Insights are validated

3. Reflective Inquiry
- Beliefs are examined
- Deeper understanding of relationship, experiences and ideas
- Values personal growth of oneself and others
- 6 phases
o The experience
o Spontaneous interpretation of the experience
o Naming the problems or questions which arise
o Generating possible explanations
o Ramifying the explanations into full blown hypothesis
o Experimenting the hypothesis