COURSE OUTLINE

One Semester Course

I. Introduction to Philosophy of Man
II. Philosophical Approaches to the Study of
Man
III.The Phenomenological Method
IV.Man is the Incarnate Subjectivity
V. Man as knowing
VI.Man as Liberty
VIII. Man & Fellowman
IX. Man & Death
X. Man & The Absolute
Philosophy & Logic:
An Introduction
 Philosophy
What is Philosophy?
What do we understand by history of
Philosophy?
What are the different parts of history of
Philosophy?
What is the importance of the study of
history of philosophy?
How to study the history of philosophy?
 INTRODUCTION
What is a Philosophy?
1. Philosophy is like a candlelight in a
dark room.
2. Philosophy is like a child.
3. Philosophy is like a bird a free
being flying over places and seeing
things from the horizon.
 Philosophy is like a
candlelight in a dark room.
Source of light
Guide in making sound judgments and wise
decisions, ordering priorities, and knowing
things that are worth learning.
With philosophy as light, ultimately, one
will know which way to go and what to do.
 Philosophy is like a child.
Always asks questions which are often
very basic.
Questions that are relevant and
philosophical
Brings back simple problems and
prompts people to scrutinize the basics
of life.
 Philosophy is like a bird a free
being flying over places and
seeing things from the.

It is Free
It takes on a birds eye view observing
things from a distance.
Where there is reason and love, there
philosophy alights
What is not a Philosophy?
1. Philosophy is not a monster to be
feared.
2. Philosophy is not a broken glass.
3. Philosophy is not uninteresting.
Philosophy is not a monster to
be feared.
It is not an enemy that brings about
chaos and disorder.
In fact, through wisdom and knowledge,
philosophy becomes a necessary way to
humanize a person.
It is an essential part of every
curriculum.
 Philosophy is not a broken
glass
A broken glass is good for nothing.
It no longer performs what it is intended
for.
Philosophy has many practical uses
(business, politics, religion, history, society,
family, people, education, culture, economy.
Such things can be addressed by the single
mind of a philosopher.
 Philosophy is not
uninteresting.
A balance between theory and practice
should be maintained.
 FORMAL DEFINITION
Philosophy comes from the Greek
words philos and sophia. Literally,
these words translate to love of
wisdom. It is a science that tries to
investigate all things in their ultimate
causes, reasons, and principles
through human reason alone.
 It signifies the love or the search for
wisdom understood as knowledge which
is universally valid and certain.
Traditionally, philosophy was taken as
the science of all things arrived at
through the investigation of their
ultimate causes. We, however, take this
term as the quest or the search for being.
 Things to Consider in the
Definition
1. Philosophy is a science because it is a
unique realm for investigating things.
Systematic investigation of things
A procedure or a technique
But it has the ability to go beyond
techniques or systems.
2. Philosophy is not an exclusive science.
It practically encompasses all things.
It goes deep into the realm of religion, science,
mathematics, physics, politics, and even health
science.
Philosopher asks questions and tries to find
answers. But in the end, he/she realizes that
philosophy is not about the answers but about
the questions themselves. Hence, the
philosopher ends his/her investigations with a
question.
 Things to Consider in the
Definition
3. Philosophy investigates things inside
and outside of the phenomena.
If mathematics, physics and logic go
through phenomena or the daily
experiences, philosophy starts with
them, but stretches and goes out to meet
the noumena, which are the world of
ideas.
 Things to Consider in the
Definition
4. Philosophy uses the mind by necessity.
The philosopher goes out of the laboratory
because there is so much to be said and
experienced outside the box.
The mind is the ultimate factor, which the
human race can use to recreate itself and
the world around it.
 If the philosopher uses something, it is the
word or any kind of representation that
signifies reality.
However, the philosopher should go beyond
mere representation because meaning does
not reside completely in words.
One must remember that even in the realm
of faith it is an avenue worth philosophizing
on. That is why there are philosophies of
religion and religious philosophers.
 What is the history of
Philosophy?
Ordinarily, history means the chronological
account of important events which took place
in the life of a nation or people. However, if
we take history as the process by which the
spirit or mind becomes conscious of itself,
we then take history of philosophy as the
process by which the mind becomes
conscious of itself in the various
manifestations of being.
 Which are the different parts
of the History of Philosophy?
History of Philosophy is generally
divided into 4 main periods:
1. Ancient 600BC to 600 AD
2. Medieval 600 AD to 1200 AD
3. Modern 1300 to 1900 AD
4. Contemporary 1900 to the present
 Fundamental Questions of
Philosophy
1. The Question of Being
2. Truth
3. Matter
4. Mind
5. The Relation of Matter and mind
 Fundamental Questions of
Philosophy
6. Space & Time
7. Cause
8. Freedom
9. One and the Many
10. God
 Branches of Philosophy
1. Metaphysics (what is the ultimate reality?
What is real? What is the world like? What is
it made of? Who made it? What kind of being
am I? do I have a soul? Life after death?)

2. Epistemology (nature & scope of knowledge,

Do I know everything? Is everything we see
real? )
3. Ethics (How do I know if I am right or
wrong? Can I ever be certain about
anything? How to act? Do I owe anything to
anybody?)

4. Aesthetics (What is beauty? Where did it

come from? The Beautiful)

5. Logic (Philosophers toolbox, correct

reasoning, arguments to avoid fallacies)
 The 4 Epochs of ancient
Philosophy
1. The Pre-Socratic Epoch
The main philosophical concern was how to
explain Nature
The dominance of philosophy of nature which
was a metaphysics.
Only later, with the coming of the sophists did
man become the center of philosophical
investigation.
 The 4 Epochs of Ancient
Philosophy
1. The Pre-Socratic Epoch
The main philosophical concern was how to
explain Nature
The dominance of philosophy of nature which
was a metaphysics.
Only later, with the coming of the sophists did
man become the center of philosophical
investigation.
The main figures during this time are:
Thales 624-546 B.C.
Anaximander 610- 545 B.C
Anaximenes 585 528 B.C
Pythagoras
Heraclitus
Parmenides
 Zeno
Empedocles of Akragas
Anaxagoras
Democritus
2. Epoch of Attic Philosophy 500-300 B.C.
Attic from attike meaning Athenian or Greek
The sophists
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle

Note: This was the golden age of the highest

point of Greek philosophy, politics, military
exploits, culture. This period was glorified by M.
Heidegger in his Introduction to Metaphysics.
3. Post- Aristotelian epoch 300- 30 B.C.
Time of Hellenism, the emergence of Macedonia, the
rise of Alexander the great until the downfall of the
successor states.
4. The Epoch of the emperors 50 A.D 529 A.D.
- During this time, the emperor Justinian closed down
the academy at Athens, forbade all philosophizing.
The thinking at this time was no longer creative.
- Notable figures of this epoch were: Plotinus and the
other Neo- platonists.
Note:
1. Medieval Philosophy quotes ancient
philosophers especially plato, Aristotle,
Neo- Platonists, stoics quite often
2. Modern and contemporary philosophers,
even scientists make use of the ideas and
concepts which arose in the time of
ancient philosophy.
Such concepts, for example as:
Wholeness, meaning, purpose, notion,
idea, category, judgment, conclusion,
proof, science, principle, hypothesis,
theory, postulate, element, atom, body,
spirit, soul, matter, form, potency, act,
substance, accident, being, becoming,
causality, cause, effect, etc.
Ancient Philosophy also witnessed the
birth and development of various
philosophical systems:
1. Idealism
2. Realism
3. Skepticism
4. Materialism
5. Sensualism
 Pre- Socratic Philosophy
The phlosophers made the best
explanation or interpretation of the
kosmos (universe) during their time.
1. Anaxagoras 500 B.C
a) Believing that the sun was not a god
but a fiery stone.
b) The world is pre-arranged by the
mind.
c. The world ia a complete formation
d. He considered the inevitable
intervention of the regulator, which he
called nous or the mind or reason.
e. The chief properties of the nous were:
1. Spirituality the purest and
subtlest of all things.
2. Knowledge The mind cannot
function without knowledge.
3. Providence This means to liberate
the world from primitive chaos and to
build the kosmos and keep it in order.
One needs providence in the same
way the plants need water.
f. Change or motion is due to the activity
of the mind.
g. All is contained in the mind; nothing
is beyond it.
h. Anaxagoras has a distinctive character
as a philosopher. He was the first
philosopher to be persecuted in
Athens. He had the foundation of
rational Theology or Theodicy and
Pschology.
2. Empedocles (492 -432)
a. His famous four elements of the
Kosmos: fire, air, water, and earth
b. His teachings became one of he first
attempts to establish physics.
c. He claimed that the four elements are
the roots from which other things
grow
d. He attributed each with the names of
the gods: Zeus for fire, Hera for air,
Nestis for water, and Aidoneus for
earth.
e) Identity of the sources of change, love
and strife:
1. Love is the embodiment of
friendship, joy and harmony, it is
responsible for friendly ideas and
peaceful deeds.
2. Strife is the embodiment of the works
of evil such as hatred, quarrel, and
other destructive ways.
3. Two extremes:
a. Love dominates all- all elements
are completely bound and mixed into
a single compound that comprises all
matters in the universe.
b. Strife dominates all- There is no
unity. All elements are separated
from one another. The plurality of
compounds is formed and they come,
perish, and undergo different stages.
c. God is pure thought and
compounded with four elements.
They can become gods.
d. Change is derived from reciprocal
processes of love and strife.
3. Zeno (488 B. C.), a philosopher and a
native of Elea in Italy
a. Zeno is called by Aristotle as the
foremost disciple of Parmenides and the
father of dialects (an important
philosophical technique for sounding
out ideas).
b. Parmenides taught Zeno that the world
is the home of all illusions because it
consists of motion and plurality.
c. Position against plurality: It is
unreasonable for something to be like
and unlike at the same respect.
d. Position against motion: Essence cannot
be subjected to time and space. Motion is
impossible because what is ahead will
always be ahead.
e. A chair is an idea that resides in the mind
and the real chair that exists in the mind
does not undergo generation and
corruption.
 Some Themes of Philosophy
of Man
1. Man as Embodied Subjectivity
a) Man as rational animal or as a composite
of body & soul is an inadequate.
b) Man as embodied subjectivity- our term
kalooban (inner core of man) fits the
description
c) Not limited to rationality but includes the
affective, the emotional as well.
 Some Themes of Philosophy
of Man
2. Man as Being in- the- world
a) Phenomenologist speaks of worlds of man rather
than environment
b) It is man who gives meaning to the field.
c) To speak of man is to speak of his world and vice
versa.
d) Awareness of man in a complex world he lives,
of social injustice, unjust structures, internal
change, the need to humanize the world we live
in by our work.
3. Man as Being with: the Interhuman
and the social
a) The world of man is the world of
fellowmen.
b) The two dimensions: the interpersonal and
the social, the neighbor and the socius.
c) The interhuman is the I-Thou relationship
between persons (Martin Buber) in
contrast to the I-it relationship.
d.) Phenomenology does not limit society to
only one class of man.
e) The social is within each man: Man does
not only lives in society, society lives in
him.
f) The past, present, and future is not his
alone but shared with his fellowmen.
g) Philosophy of education must be a way of
life in a definite society.
4. Man as Person and his crowning
activity is love which presupposes
justice.
a) The final aim of education, formal or
informal, is becoming a person.
b) Man is an objective value.
c) Man gains himself by giving himself to
others. I become a person only by
committing myself to other persons.
d. The commitment of love, however,
presupposes justice.
e. Love requires giving to the other person his
due, his basic dignity as a person.
f. Phenomenological ethics is predominantly
value-ethics.
g. Our educational policies must aim at
specific personal and social values: of
justice, love, honesty.
 Rene Descartes:
Cogito Ergo Sum

- What is real v.s what you think is real.

- Father of Skepticism. (Cartesian Skepticism- disbelieve
everything at least temporarily. Examine everything.)
- Empirical Belief: beliefs that we form through use of our senses.
- Local doubts doubts about a particular sense experience.
- Vs Global Doubts- What if everything is not real?
- Bertrand Russell: 5 minute Hypothesis
- Evil Genius and Radical Skepticism
- Solution: I think therefore I am.
- Responses to Skepticism:
a. Rationalism: belief that reason is the most reliable source of
knowledge.
b. Empiricism: belief that sense experience is the most reliable
source of experience.
 John Locke: Tabularasa

- We are born with blank state of mind.

- No such thing as innate ideas Knowledge comes to us through
sense data.
- Primary Qualities (solidarity, density, mass, weight, height, figure)
vs Secondary Qualities (color, taste, texture, smell, sound)
- Secondary Qualities are not objectively real, they can only be
subjectively perceived.
 George Berkeley: Esse Est Percepi

- Theres no such thing as matter. Only Perceptions.

- Can you see a colorless apple?
- To be is to be perceived.
- Danger: Dont Blink! Or you wont exist.
- Therefore There is a God!
 Aristotle:
Truth resides in the world around us

- 384 - 322 BC
- Branch: Epistemology Approach: Empiricism

- opposed his mentor Plato

- No innate ideas. Our mind is tabularasa or clean plate. Our
experience & senses write here.

- Linnaaeus and Curvier have been my two gods though in very

different ways, but they were mere schoolboys to old Aristotle.
- Charles Darwin
 We see different
instances of dog
in the world around
us.

We recognize the
common Using our sense and
characteristics of reason, we understand
dogs in the world. what makes a dog a dog.
doginess of dog

We find the truth from

evidences gained in the world
around us.
Socrates is mortal is the undeniable conclusion to the most famous
syllogism in history Aristotles syllogism. This was the first formal system of
logic.

All men are mortal. Socrates is a man

Therefore Socrates is
mortal.
Third Man Argument If there exists a Perfect Man in the world of
Forms, in which earthly man are modelled, this Perfect Man, to have any
conceivable content, would have to be based on a form of the form of man.
 Thales of Miletus:
Everything is made of water.

- C. 624-546 BC
- Branch: Metaphysics Approach: Monism

- The 1st Philosopher

- 1st Philosopher to seek rational answers about the world we live

in and to not just rely on supernatural interventions.
 What is the basic
material of the cosmos?

It must be

something from w/c capable of

everything essential capable of
change.
can be formed. to life. motion.

Everything is made of water!!!

 Heraclitus:
Everything is Flux (Change).

- C. 535-475 BC
- Branch: Metaphysics Approach: Monism

- You can never step into the same river twice.

- Everything changes. Day night day. Hot - cold

 Parmenides:
All is One.

- C. 515-445 BC
- Branch: Metaphysics Approach: Monism

- Opposite of Heraclitus.

Everything that is real Something cannot come from

must be eternal & nothing
unchanging.

Something permanent
cannot change into
something else without
it ceasing to be
permanent.
 Democritus & Leucippus:
Nothing exists except atoms & empty space.

- C. 460-371 BC
- Branch: Metaphysics Approach: Atomism

- Everything is made up of tiny, indivisible,

unchangeable particles called atomos
(uncuttable in Greek)
- When we die, atoms are dispersed and can
be reconstituted.
- Man is a microcosm of the universe
 Diogenes of Sinope:
He has the Most who is Most
Content with the Least
- 404 - 323 BC
- Branch: Ethics Approach: Cynicism

- Plato described him a Socrates gone mad.

- Good Life = free yourself from restrictions of society, desire,

emotion, fear
- Cynicism: (kunikos or dog-life) live a life of extreme poverty, a life
of a dog.
 Zeno of Citium:
The Goal of Life is living
in agreement with Nature
- 332 - 265 BC
- Branch: Ethics Approach: Stoicism

- Man has a rational soul with which to exercise free will.

- Stoicism: belief that man is powerless to change lifes rnatural

laws. While enjoying lifes many benefits, he has to accept its
cruelties and injustices.
- No one is forced to pursue a good life. It is up to him if he wants
to be indifferent to pain & pleasure, poverty & richness. If he
follows this natural laws, he will a harmonious life.
 Mozi:
When one throws to me a peach,
I return to him a plum.
- 470 - 391 BC
- Branch: Chinese Philosophy Approach: Mohism

- He advocated universal love or jian ai, and reciprocity in actions

to avoid wars & conflicts.

- started Mohism: belief that man should care for all people
regardless of their status and relationship to us.

- Mao Zedong regarded Mozi as the True Philosopher of the

People.
 Protagoras:
Man is the Measure of All Things

- 490 - 420 BC

- Branch: Ethics Approach: Relativism

- He recognized that Beliefs are subjective and relative. So there

are no absolute truth, justice, & virtue it depends on the
persons belief.
 It is a spring day in Athens.

A visitor from Sweden says A visitor from Egypt says

the weather is warm. the weather is cold.

Both people are

speaking the truth.

The truth depends on perspective and is

therefore relative.

MAN is the Measure of all things.

End of Prelims
 Karl Popper:
Falsify Things First.

- Every false belief we discover is actually good because that gets

us that much closer to believing only true things.

- Science disconfirms; Psuedo science confirms.

- It is only by seeking to dispute Santas existence that you can

demonstrate his unreality.
 Essence vs. Existentialism vs.
Nihilism:
- Essence: a certain set of core properties that are necessary or
essential for a thing to be what it is.
Ex. Knife blade (essential property)
- Essentialism: each one has essence/purpose BEFORE we are
born.
- Nihilism: (Nietzsche) ultimate meaningless of life
Jean Paul Sartre: What if we are born without essence and we just
start to have meaning afterwards?

- Existentialism: refute the notion that God made the universe/or us

with any particular purpose in mind.

- Problem: Since theres no teleology (design) the world was not

created and does not exist for a reason then there are no
absolutes to abide by. No cosmic justice, no fairness, no order, no
rules
 Jean Paul Sartre:
Search for an answer in this answerless world.

- The Absurd search for an answer in this answerless world.

- The problem is not the worlds lack of meaning but abundance in
freedom.
- Theres no real authority. Our parents/leaders are fake since they
too dont have any answers.
- Live authentically. You give meaning to your life. If you follow
others advice, it is bad faith (a refusal to accept the absurd).

Edward Camus: The literal meaning of life is whatever youre

doing that prevents you from killing yourself.

Dilemma: A man to leave his sick mother to join a war for the country.

His choice no matter what it was was the only TRUE choice
provided that it was authentic, determined by values he chose to
accept.
 Death.
Socrates: Death is nothing to Fear. Death is either
1. Dreamless sleep (nice, not scary)
2. Passage to another life.

Thomas Nagel: on feeling of loss.

If you dont fell some sort of deep sense of loss at what you missed
before you were even alive, why should you feel loss at what youll
miss after you die?

Zhuangzi: on fear of death of loved ones

Why will you be afraid of the inevitable?

 Epicurus:
Death is Nothing to Us

- 341 - 270 BC
- Branch: Ethics Approach: Epicureanism

- Peace of Mind is the goal of life and fear of Death is the only
obstacle.

- Epicureanism: pursuit of happiness and pleasure a life free

from fear and pain.
 Death is the end Death is the end of
The goal of of sensation, so it consciousness , so it
life is cannot be cannot be
happiness. physically emotionally
painful. painful.

DEATH IS
Our unhappiness is NOTHING
caused by fear, and TO FEAR
our main fear is of
death.

If we can overcome fear

of death, we can be
happy.
 IDENTITY.
Is Batman identical to Bruce Wayne?

Gottfreid Leibniz: The Indiscernibility of Identicals.

- If any 2 things are identical, they must share ALL the same
properties.

Are you still the same kid when you were born?
1. Body Theory: same body from birth to death but weaker, fatter, etc.
2. John Lockes Memory Theory: the same chain of memory/memory link
Not body but consciousness makes us the same
 PERSONHOOD.
Persons: beings who are part of our moral community

Is Superman a person?

He is not human but he is moral. Lex Luthor is not.

Is it possible to be human, yet not a person?

Fetuses, brain dead, gulay = human but not person.

 PERSONHOOD.
What must one possess to be part of our moral community? To be
persons?
1. John Newmans Genetic Criterion: youre a person if you have a
human DNA.. (zombie? Corpse? Mouth cells?
2. Mary Ann Laurens Criteria:
- consciousness; reasoning; self motivated activity; capacity to
communicate; self awareness. ( how about 0-2 yrs old child?)
3. Social Criterion: youre a person whenever society recognizes you as a
person or someone cares about you. (what if no one cares?)
4. Peter Singer: sentience the ability to feel pleasure and pain. (fetus?
Manhid?)
5. Gradient Theory: personhood comes in degreesless person (fetus),
more person (adult)

Capital Punishment/ Death Sentence Argument

When a person commits gruesome act, he surrenders his personhood
so when the government kills them they are not persons anymore.
 PERSONHOOD & A.I.
Can a robot/A.I be a person?

1. Weak A.I (siri) vs Strong A.I (machine/system that thinks like us)
2. Allan Turing: I compute therefore I am
- All it means for something to think like us is for it to be able to convince
us that its thinking like us. If we cannot tell the difference, there really is no
difference.
3. William Lycan: A lot of people think that you can make a person-like
robot, but you could never actually make a robot that is a person.
4. Robots are not persons because they are programmed.. Werent
we?
5. The Chinese Room John Searle
Passing for human is not sufficient to qualify for strong AI.
You can translate Chinese but not know it.
should have actual understanding.
Determinism vs. Free Will.
Fate & Oedipus Story: Theres no escaping fate

Are we free?
Libertarian Free Will: belief that some human actions are freely
chosen.
Should Batman kill the Should DU30 kill the drug
Joker? addicts?
If you have the ability to stop a killer but you do not, are you morally
pure because you refuse to kill? or morally dirty because you do not
do what needs to be done?

Utilitarianism (Hedonistic)
Moral theory that focuses on results/consequence of our
actions and treat intentions as irrelevant.

(Principle of Utility) We should act always so as to produce

the greatest good for the greatest number.

Action that would produce the most over all happiness for
the group, even though it produced less happiness for you.

We should make our moral decisions from the position of a

benevolent disinterested spectator (to avoid bias).
Jeremy Bentham & John Stuart Mill (Modern Utilitarians
Utilitarianism was made for the good of everybody.
Actions should be measured in terms of the happiness and
pleasure that they produce.
Happiness is our GOAL. ( you study hard to get good grades;
you work hard to get money = HAPPINESS)

Bernard Williams
Story: A group of indigenous people is to be salvaged. You
have to choose 1 from them for you to kill and the rest shall
be freed. If you do not, all of them will be shot. Will you
choose?

We live in a world where sometimes people do terrible

things. If we are one who happened to be there, and we can
do something to make things better, then we must do
something. Even if that means getting our hands dirty...

So shoot! Anyone. Anyway, all of them are considered dead in

Immanuel Kants Categorical Imperative.

Moral absolutist- morality is constant (like 1+1=2).

Most of the time whether or not we ought to do something is
not really a moral choice- its just contingent on our desires.
Hypothetical Imperatives (option to follow): desire for money=
ought to get a job/ desire for good grades=ought to study
hard
Categorical Imperative: commands that you must follow
regardless of your desires. Moral obligations are derived from
pure reason.
It does not matter whether you want to be moral or not the
moral law is binding on all of us.
You dont need religion to determine what the law is because
what is right & wrong is totally knowable just by using the
intellect.
 Formulations of Categorical Imperative.

1. Universalizabilty Principle.
Act on a maxim only which you can at the same time will that it should
become a universal law without contradiction.
Ex. stealing/lying
2. Formula of Humanity.
Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or others,
always as an end and never as means.

Absolute moral worth:

We are not mere objects, that exist to be used by others. We are our own
ends, were rational and autonomous. We have the ability to set our own goals
and work toward them.

Ex. Lying- you strip me of my autonomy to think/decide correctly because

you have given me the wrong info.
Thomas Hobbes
Man is a Machine
Branch: Metaphysics Approach: Physicalism
- Physicalism: theory that everything in the world is exclusively
physical in nature allowing no room for the existence of other
natural entities, such as the mind, or supernatural beings.
- All animals, (& humans), are nothing more than flesh-blood
machines.
- Leviathan: Universe: corporeal or has body
(length/breadth/depth), which is not body is no part of the
- universe.
Although the nature of everything is purely physical, he is not
claiming that because of this physicality everything can be
perceived by us. Some, though they occupy physical space and
have physical dimensions, are imperceptible animal spirits.
(moves around the body carrying info-just like the nervous system)

- God: incorporeal; not something that human mind can

understand.
 Thomas Hobbes
Man is a Machine

- Besides sense, and thoughts, and the train of thoughts, the

mind of man has no other motion.

- Mental activities: only voluntary motion, appetite, & aversion.

- Problem: Hobbes grounds for the existence of imperceptible

material spirits could equally be grounds for a belief in non-
material substances.
Bertrand Russell:
Working Less will increase human happiness
- 1872-1970
- Branch: Ethics Approach: Analytic Philosophy
- 2 Types of Worker: the laborer & supervisor/ working class &
middle class.
- Immense harm is caused by the belief that work if virtuous.
- The morality of work is the morality of slaves, and the modern
world has no need of slavery.
- Leisure is necessary for rich & meaningful life. Balanced Life!
- A society that took leisure seriously, will took education as the
same.
 David Hume:
Custom is the Great guide of Human Life
- 1711-1776
- Branch: Epistemology Approach: Empiricism (No innate ideas)
- divided our minds into 2 Phenomena. (Humes Fork)
1. Direct Perceptions/impressions (sensations. Passions)
2. emotions, and ideas =faint copies of our impressions
(thoughts. Reflections, imaginings)
- 2 kinds of Statement:
1. demonstrative/ true or false a priori (prior to experience)
(truth&falsity is self evident: 2+2=4)
2. probable (matters of empirical fact) truth/falsity can be
tested by experiment. Ex. Jim is upstairs)
* If neither of these, its a meaningless statement
- In our reasonings concerning fact, there are all imaginable
degrees of assurance. A wise man therefore proportions his belief
to the evidence.
 David Hume:
Custom is the Great guide of Human Life

- Problem of Inductive reasoning (ability to infer things from past evidence)

a. We assume that nature will continue to behave in a uniform way
e.g. The sun will rise tomorrow.
b. Claiming that the sun will rise tomorrow is not a demonstrative statement
(2+2=4) nor is it a probable statement (we cannot experience the suns future risings)
c. If there is no rational basis for inferring cause & effect, then what justification
do we have for making that connection?
Answer: HUMAN NATURE a mental habit that reads uniformity into regular
repetition, and a causal connection into what he calls the CONSTANT
CONJUCTION of events.
d. Although inductive inferences are not provable, CUSTOM is a good guide.
(what has always happened in the past) e.g. If you drop a stone it will always fall.
e. Humes treatment of of the problem of induction both undermines the claims of
rationalism and elevates the role of belief and custom in our lives. The conclusion
drawn by our beliefs are as satisfactory to the mind as the demonstrative kind.
Friedrich Nietzsche:
Man is something to be surpassed
- 1844-1900
- Branch: Ethics Approach: Existentialism
- God is Dead. Behold The Superman
- Attack on (philosophy with hammer):
1. idea of manor human nature
2. idea of God
3. idea on morality/ethics
- His famous Book: Thus Spoke Zarathustra (prophet)
- Revaluation of values: The death of God is not just the death of a
deity, it is the death of all the so-called higher values that we
have inherited.
- The greatest blasphemy is not against God, but against life itself.
Christianity asks us to deny the present life in favor of a promise
life to come.
Friedrich Nietzsche:
Man is something to be surpassed
- He called priests of all religions Preachers of Death because
they teach us to turn from this world and from life to death.
- Philosophys longest error: its infatuation with the distinction
between appearance and reality and the idea of 2 worlds.

- The Superman is his vision of a fundamentally life-affirming way

of being. It is the meaning of the Earth.

- Hitler took Nietzsches writings as an excuse for unbridled

violence and transgression on a grand scale.
 Christianity says that
everything in this
world is less important
than that of the next
after death. We must surpass
this limiting idea.

It says we should And besides

turn away from God is Dead!
what seems
important in this
life & try to
transcend it.

But in doing Christianitys

this we turn idea of man
away from undermines us.
life itself
Niccolo Machiavelli:
The End Justifies the Means
- 1469-1527
- Branch: Political Philo Approach: Realism
- He lived during a time of upheaval.
- He met Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI and was
impressed by his vigour, intelligence, and ability. He was his
inspiration on his work The Prince.
The Prince (necessary evil):
1. Act like a beast- ferocious as lion and cunning as fox.
2. Virtu is used to mean success
3. Realism: A ruler cannot be bound by morality, but must do what it takes
to secure his own glory & the success of the state.
4. To be feared (priority) or loved (or both) but never to be hated (can lead
to rebellion).
5. A princedom is only suitable when equality does not exist in a state and
cannot be introduced.
 The success of a
state or nation is
The end justifies the
paramount.
means..

Whoever
governs the state
or nation must
strive to In order to do this,
secure they cannot be
bound by
morality.

the
his or her success of
own glory the state
 Medieval Philosophy
250-1500

The Philosophers-Saints and the Problem of evil.

To be discussed:
- The Omni-God (omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent,
omnitemporal, omnieternal)
- Problem of evil. (TOO MUCH evil)
- Existence of God & the parable of the invisible
gardener by John Wisdom.
 St. Augustine of Hippo:
God is not the Parent of Evils

- 354 430 CE

- Branch: Ethics Approach: Christian Platonism

- Problem of Evil: If God is omnipotent, omnibenevolent, &

omniscient, why is there evil in the world?

- What made Adam capable of obeying Gods commands also

made him able to sin. our moral choices allow for the
possibility of evil. FREE WILL
- World as thing of beauty despite imperfections. Just like an
abstract art or discords in music.

- Evil as the absence of goodness: Sickness as absence of

wellness.
 Humans are
rational beings.

In order to be This means they must be

rational, humans able to choose between
must have FREE good or evil.
WILL.

Humans can
God is not the therefore act
parent of evils. badly or well.
 Boethius:
God foresees our free thoughts and actions

- 480 525 CE
- Branch: Epistemology Approach: Christian Platonism

- Problem: If God already knows what youre going to do in the

future, how can it be said that there is free will?

- Analogy of the man on the other side.

- God is beyond time. He lives in eternal present.

 God lives in the
eternal present.

God knows the God knows that I will go

future as if it were to the cinema today.
the present.

God foresees our I am free not to

free thoughts and go to cinema
actions. today.
 St. Anselm:
Just by thinking about God we can
Know He exists

- 1033 1109

- Branch: Philosophy of Religion

- Invented the Ontological Argument: Acceptance of 2 things first:

1. that God is, that than which nothing greater can be
thought.
2. that existence is superior to non-existence.

- Problem: the perfect island analogy

 Anselm: Do you agree that if God existed
he would be the greatest thing that there
could be that than which nothing
Fool: Yes
greater can be thought?

And do you agree that that than

Yes, in my mind
which nothing greater can be thought
but not in reality
exists in your mind?

But would you agree that something

that exists in reality as well as in the Yes, I suppose so
mind is greater than something that an ice cream in my
exists in the mind alone? hand is better than
one thats just in
So if that than which nothing greater can be my imagination.
thought exists only in the mind, it is less
great than if it existed also in reality.

Thats true. The

So now you are saying that there is being that really
something greater than that than which exists would be
nothing greater exists? greater.

Exactly. And the only way around this

contradiction is to admit that God (that than That does not even
which nothing greater exists) does exist make sense.
both in thought and reality.
 St. Thomas Aquinas:
Quinque Viae (5 Proofs)

- 1. Argument from Motion

- 2. Argument from Causality
- 3. Argument from Contingency/Necessity
- 4. Argument from Degrees
- 5. Argument from Design (Teleological
Argument)

* Infinite Regress = absurdity

 Avicenna:
The Soul is Distinct from the Body

- 980 1037

- Branch: Metaphysics

- Aristotle believes that mind and body is 1. Avicenna is a dualist.

He devised a thought experiment called Flying Man.

- The mind is immortal. It is not destroyed when you die.

Laozi (Lao Tzu):
The Dao (Way) that can befold
is not the eternal Dao

- C. 6th Century BC

- Tradition: Chinese Philosophy Approach: Daoism/Taoism

- The Dao cannot be conceived. We can only live according to the

way by non-action in accordance with nature spontaneously &
intuitively.

- Daoism advocating simple life, humility, and religious piety.

- Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.

 The root of
The source DAO all things-
of all (The Way) unseen &
existence. seen.

A solitary is achieved
through Acting
life of
thoughtfully,
meditation
not
and
impulsively.
reflection.

wu-wei
Living in (non-action)
peace, Acting
simplicity, harmony
& with nature.
tranquility.
 Confucius:
Hold Faithfulness and Sincerity
as First Principles.
- C. 551-479 BC
- Tradition: Chinese Philosophy Approach: Confucianism
- The Analects- collection of his writings & sayings compiled by his
disciples.
- The Virtuous Man: not simply one who stands at the top of the
social hierarchy but one who understands his place within the
hierarchy and embraces it to the full.
- Virtue/ideals: loyalty, filial piety, ritual propriety, reciprocity
- What you know, you know. What you do not know, you do not
know. This is true wisdom.

- What you do not desire for yourself, do not do to others.

Confucius does not prescribe what to do (vis--vis Golden rule), only
what not to do. This implies modesty & humility.
 ..are shown in These qualities
tradition rituals in these settings
Faithfulness
and ceremonies allow virtue to
and
become visible.
sincerity

Others are Virtue can Virtue is then

transformed then be seen made manifest
by virtue.. by others. in the world.

Faithfulness and sincerity

hold the power of
transformation.
 The 5 Constant Relationships

Sovereign Subject Elder Bro Younger Bro

Rulers should be benevolent An elder sibling is to be
& subjects loyal. gentle, younger respectful

Friend Friend (Besh-

Father - Son
Besh)
A parent is to be loving, a
Older friends are to be
child obedient.
considerate, younger
friends reverential.

Husband- Wifey
Husbands are to be good &
fair, wives understanding.
 Siddharta Gautama (Buddha):
Happy is He who has overcome his Ego

- C. 563-483 BC

- Branch: Eastern Philosophy

- Approach: Buddhism

- The Enlightened One (Buddha)

- There must be a middle way between self-indulgence and self-

modification which should lead us to true happiness.

- Nirvana state of ultimate freedom from suffering.

 The 4 Noble Truths
Suffering is an inherent part of
The truth of suffering
existence from birth, through
(Dukkha)
sickness & old age, to death.

The cause of suffering is desire:

The truth of the origin of
craving for sensual pleasures &
suffering
attachment to worldly possessions &
(Samudaya)
power.

Suffering can be ended by detaching The truth of the ending

oneself from craving and attachment. of suffering (Nirodha)

The Eightfold Path is the means to The truth of the path to

eliminate desire and overcome the the ending of suffering
ego. (Magga)
 Right Mindfulness

Right Intention
Right Speech

Right Effort