Defnition of Philosophy

Objectives
At the end of the session, the student will able to:
Defne philosophy in its proper perspective.
Demonstrate valid thoughts about philosophy.
Apply and value philosophical inquiry.
Etymological Defnition of Philosophy
Philosophy is the oldest realm of human knowledge.
tymologically speaking, the word philosophy comes from the !reek
word philein or philos which means "LOVE FOR or FRE!D"#P
FOR and sophia or sophos, which is $"DO%. #ence, Philosophy is
the LOVE OF $"DO%&
$his word was coined by PYTHAGORAS, one of the sages of ancient
!reece.
%t must be noted that the above defnition has been, sense time
immemorial, the defnition ascribed to the discipline of philosophy.
&hen philosopher speak of love, it does not only mean a disposition of
the mind as psychology has it, but entails passion and the
entanglement of one's concerns and personhood.
#ence whenever philosophers speak of love, it is more of an activity
than of mere emotions.
qually di(cult to encapsulate is the term wisdom. )ore often than
not, we conceive of wisdom as the lessons learned from lived
e*periences.
$hese notions are not per se wrong, however, corrections have to be
made so as not to dilute the meaning of philosophy.
Philosophy, does not limit itself to what could be learned but more to
what could be asked. $his is not to say that learning is absent when we
think, or if our concern is more in asking, in wonder, or inquiry.
&isdom is a constant activity of asking, that a great learning come to
be discovered and eventually learned.
Real meaning of Philosophy
$he search for the true meaning of e*istence, life for particular thing.
According to Aristotle+$homistic meaning "is a science of natural things
by their ultimate principles and causes, as known by natural reason
alone.,
%n its classical defnition, philosophy is the discipline which studies,
through the use of reason, the ultimate causes of things.
%t is not only to know but learn to philosophi-e. %t is only when one has
e*perienced to activity of philosophi-ing that one fnds it easier to
defne what philosophy is all about.
Origin of Philosophy
According to .tumpf, the birthplace of philosophy was the seaport
town of )iletus, located across the Aegean .ea from Athens, on the
&estern shores of %onia in Asia )inor.
%onia roughly corresponds to the western part of present / day $urkey
and some nearby islands.
$his is the reason why frst philosophers are called either )ilesians or
%onians.
$he ancient !reek philosopher born in )iletus in !reek %onia.
%dentifed $hales as the frst person to investigate the basic principles,
the question of the originating substances of matter and, therefore, as
the founder of the school of natural philosophy.
$raditionally the father of philosophy. $he frst to provide an answer to
the query, "&hat is the ultimate material of the universe0,
$hales says that it is the nature, the arch, the originating principle,
this nature was a single material substance, and it is $'(ER.
1ecause of this postulate, human philosophical activities began to
trigger.
#ence, philosophy is conceived to have begun in wonder. $hat was
when early men started to ask about the universe and their
environment, about other people and about themselves.
$hus, through the ages, the inescapable question of man about himself
is about his e*istence.
The Neessity of Philosophy
2. Philosophy is one of the courses that we need to study.
3. Philosophy is very complicated intellectual activity.
4. Philosophy is re5ection of life because it fnds the ultimate e*planation
or cause of the actual e*istence of contingent reality.
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6. Philosophy brings about autonomy, meaning the freedom of being able
to make 7udgment and decisions for oneself through the aid reasoning
abilities.
8. Philosophy helps us to learn to know how to philosophi-e.
9. Philosophy is thinking about thinking.
:. Philosophy study the things are irrational or absurd, without
e*planation.
$here are problems that are currently encountered by Philosophy.
$here is also a need to study philosophy in e*plaining things;issues that are
not yet e*plained even in the level of positive sciences. .ome of the issues
are:
$he meaning of life and death
$he meaning of good and evil
$he dignity and rights of the human person
$he scandals of su<ering, in7ustice, oppression and violence
$he nature and law of love
$he issues on man's freedom and responsibility
$he e*istence of !od
$he e*planation with the regard to the e*istence of !od may be found
through the complete adherence by man to Divine =evelation. .t. Anselm
said:
Fi)es *+aerens ntellect+m means Faith see,ing
+n)erstan)ing&
Si! "ain Divisions of Philosophy
Objectives
At the end of the session, the student will able to:
%dentify the di<erent division of Philosophy.
>nderstand each division of Philosophy
?alue every division and apply it.
-& Logic
A branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of thinking
and reasoning using empirical support and information which
are reliable, valid and ob7ective.
$wo )a7or $ypes of logic:
-& De)+ctive Reasoning / &hen an argument claims that the
truth of its premises g+arantees the tr+th of its
conclusion, it is said to involve a )e)+ctive inference&
An argument is deductive if the premises claim to
give conclusive grounds for the truth of the
conclusion, or if the premises claim to support the
conclusion with necessity.
@otice that each argument either meets this
standards or else it does notA there is no middle
ground. Bonsider this argument: *. $here were 3C
people originallyA $here are 2D persons currentlyA
$herefore, someone is missing.
.& n)+ctive Reasoning + &hen an argument claims merely
that the truth of its premises make it li,ely or probable
that its conclusion is also true, it is said to involve an
in)+ctive inference&
An inductive argument succeeds whenever its
premises provide some legitimate evidence or support
for the truth of its conclusion. Bonsider this argument:
*. $here is smokeA $herefore, there is fre.
.& Epistemology
A branch of philosophy which is concerned with the defnition of
knowledge and related concepts such as the sources and
criteria of knowledge.
$wo contending .chools of $hought:
Rational "chool / the main source or the fnal test of
knowledge is deductive reasonig based on self / evident
principles or a*ioms.
Empirical "chool / mpiricism comes from the !reek word
empeirikos, which means an e*periment. Accordingly, the
fnal sense of knowledge is sense perception.
/& Ethics
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%t comes from the !reek word ethos which means "character, or
"custom.,
%t is the study of what is right and what is wrong in human
behavior in the pursuit of beauty and goodness in life.
%t is the study the morality of human acts.
Plato0s %oral Virt+e (heory
$he good is the source of ultimate moral perfection.
$o become virtues we needA
2. )oderation;$emperance + =egulation of the desires of the body.
3. Bourage + .upport of reason by the passions.
4. Eustice + Fnowing and practicing the functions given by nature.
6. &isdom + =ational part of human self.
'ristotle0s %oral Virt+e (heory
$he avoidance of the e*tremes / e*cess and defciency / makes man
attain his s#mm#m $on#m Ghighest goodH in life which is happiness.
ither of the e*tremes is a vice. Inly the moderate is a virtue.
1& %etaphysics
%t comes from the !reek words meta which means "beyond, and
physikon which means "nature.,
%t is a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of ultimate
reality.
%mmanuel Fant / he developed a distinctive critical philosophy
called transcendental idealism
$ranscendental %dealism / reaction to realism and
empiricism. Fant argued that physical ob7ectivity of a
particular thing Gentity remains in our mental world
Gwhich is the so+called transcendentH.
2& 'esthetics
%t was derived from the !reek word aesthetikos which means "one who
is perceptive of things through his sensations, feelings and intuitions.,
%t is also a branch of Philosophy which is concerned with the essence of
perception and ugliness.
Blassical Aesthetic $heorists:
Plato / believed that reality consists of archetypes and forms
G$heory of Jorms or $he JormsH.
#is works also contain the origins of the familiar
complaint that the arts work by in5aming the passions,
and are mere illusions.
'ristotle / he believed that art is an imitation
3& Political Philosophy
%t refers to a body of knowledge that looks up on the society, politics
and the people that makes it whole.
%t is believed that society is inseparable to politics.
'ristotle0s Political (ho+ght
)an is a political animal.
$he state is a sovereign association established for the greatest
good of the citi-ens.
!overnment is of various types Gmonarchy, aristoctracy and
timocraccyH. $imocracy means property qualifcation or if we put
this concept in the present conte*t, it is called Democracy.
Kaw should rele and not certain individuals.
Any form of government is good if the ruler is concerned with
the welfare of the citi-ens.
=evolutions are ncessary and 7ustifed.
$he primary function of the state is to protect and educate the
citi-ens.
&hat is a .tate0
%t is a political concept. %t is also a politically unifed population
occupying a specifc land area and possesses an element of
permanence.
lements: population, sovereignty, territory, government
$he following are the main functions of the state:
Defend man's basic needs;security.
.upport his quest for natural well+being.
.ee the administration of fair 7ustice.
nchance the education and culture of the people.
Defend and advance the freedom of the citi-ens.
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Plato0s Political (ho+ght
$he republic discusses the topics like the nature of 7ustice,
statemanship, ethics and the nature of politics.
An ideal soiety is also composed of three classes
Philosopher Fing / as the administrator of the state, he
must cultivate the virtue of wisdom.
&arriors / defenders of the state. $hey must develop
courage as their virtue.
&orkers / providers of the state's basic needs such as
food and shelter, they develop the virtue of moderation.
According to him, only when a philosopher is the ruler that there
is a good society.
$hus, he said that the human race will not see better days until
philosopher become politicians or politicians become
philosopher.
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