ETHICS

DR. LIONEL E. BUENAFLOR

Head-Social and Behavioural Sciences Department
Head-Batangas Heritage Center
University of Batangas
 What is Philosophy?

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 What is Philosophy?
• Philosophy is the highest form of human
knowledge.
• It is considered as the scientia scientiarum (the
science of all sciences). It is the compendium of all
learnings.
• It asks the simple question like: “Where did the
world come from?”
• It also ask the most exhilarating questions like:
“What is the beginning of the beginning of the
world.”

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 What is Philosophy?

• Etymologically, it means “love of wisdom.”

• Philosophy is a search for meaning.
• It is a good tool in understanding the human person.
• It is also the means towards the attainment of
happiness.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 What Philosophy is NOT?

• Are all philosophers pilosopo?

• When a pilosopo does philosophy in order to
ridicule, what he does is a negative philosophy. But
when a pilosopo reasons out in order to obtain
wisdom, that is a positive philosophy.
• According to Socrates: “My wisdom consists in
accepting that I knew nothing.”

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 What Philosophy is NOT?

• According to Socrates: “What makes the human

person unknowledgeable is the fact that he know
nothing and yet he did not know that he knew
nothing.”
• A sophist claims that he knows everything and yet
ending up with knowing nothing. A philosopher
claims that he does not know anything and yet,
ending up with knowing everything.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Why do we study Philosophy?
• Philosophy offers the students a chance to
explore the fundamental questions about
human existence.
• It can help us clarify our thoughts.
• It digs into the root causes of the people’s
problems and discovers new solutions and
remedies to human ills.
• It gives us a clear understanding of the human
person and the reason for his existence.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Classroom Discussion

• Why is the study of

philosophy important?

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 How did Philosophy come about?

• Philosophy began when the human person

became aware of the things around them.
• Their curiosity led them to ask the questions:
“Where did everything come from?” and
“What is the urstoff (the first principle) of
everything?”

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 How did Philosophy come about?

• The birthplace of
philosophy was the
seaport town of Miletus.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor
 The Beginning of Philosophy

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Thales of Miletus (624-546 BCE)

• On the question what was the origin

of everything, his answer was that
human beings developed from the
meeting of sperm and egg. Hence,
the beginning of the human person is
in liquid content. Everything must
have come from water.
• Because he was the one who started
the ball rolling, he was considered as
the Father of Philosophy.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Anaximander of Miletus (c. 550 BCE)

• The origin of things must be an

apeiron or boundless/infinite.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Anaximenes (585-528 BCE)

• He asked: “if everything comes from

apeiron, how did we know it?”
• Every water form will end up as AIR.
• Hence, everything comes from air.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Parmenides of Elea (c. 520 BCE)

• His philosophy focused on the

PROBLEM OF THE ONE & THE MANY,
i.e., on the problem of change.
• “There is no change. Change is only
an illusion. We are just being
deceived by our senses.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 540-c. 480 BCE)

• His philosophy focused on the

PROBLEM OF THE ONE & THE MANY,
i.e., on the problem of change.
• “There is no change. Change is only
an illusion. We are just being
deceived by our senses.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Empedocles of Sicily (c. 495-430 BCE)

• He said that water, air, fire, and earth

are the origin of everything.
• He tried to put an end to the
discussion as regards where did
everything come from by simply
acknowledging the idea of everyone.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Pythagoras of Samos (c. 570-496 BCE)

• According to him, everything can be

numbered. Hence, the first principle
of everything must be numbers.
• He was the one who invented the
term philosophy.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Leucippus (490-430 BCE) and
Democritus of Abdera (c.570-496 BCE)

• Everything that exists is made up of

ATOMS. Hence, the first principle of
everything must be atoms.
• According to Democritus, “If God
exists, then, He, too, must be made
up of atoms.”

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Historical Background of
Philosophy

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Historical Development of Philosophy

• During the Ancient period, the prevailing

question in philosophy was: “Where did
everything come from?”
• Because ancient philosophers focused on the
origin of the cosmos, ancient philosophy is,
thereby, considered to be COSMOCENTRIC.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Historical Development of Philosophy
• Medieval philosophers held that the beginning of
the universe must be coming from an Infinite Being
which they called qeoV (theos) or God.
• The question, therefore, that became prevalent was:
“Does this God really exist?” or, better yet, “Is there
really a God?”
• For this reason, medieval philosophy is considered
to be THEOCENTRIC.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Historical Development of Philosophy
• Modern philosophers believed that God truly exists.
But He is existing only in the mind.
• The question, therefore, that became prevalent was:
“How do we know that what is in our mind is real?”
They, therefore, asked: “Is knowledge possible?”
And “Is man really capable of acquiring
knowledge?”
• For this reason, modern philosophy is considered to
be IDEOCENTRIC.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Historical Development of Philosophy
• Because of the rising political repression,
contemporary philosophers focused their attention
on the dignity of the human person.
• Hence, the question that became prevalent was: “Is
there a human dignity?”
• For this reason, contemporary philosophy is
considered to be ANTHROPOCENTRIC or
HOMOCENTRIC.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Problem of Philosophy
• The rise of modern science brought the
human person to set aside reasoning.
Philosophy became a disinteresting subject.
• People believed that philosophy does not
have a proper object. It appears to be not
anymore focusing on the true and real
problems of life.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Problem of Philosophy
• People would find it easier to resort to faith
rather than on reason because faith does
not require explanations. On the question
about the existence of God, people would
rather resort to theology than to philosophy.
• Contemporary philosophy has become
inaccessible to the modern-day students.
Because of its highfalutin terms, people find
it impractical to talk about philosophy.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Necessity of the Study of Philosophy
• Man has been haunted by questions which
philosophy alone can answer:
• What is the meaning of life?
• Why is there death?
• If the Creator is good, why is there evil in
this world?
• Is there really a human freedom?
• Is there really a God?
• Is there life after this life?

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Necessity of the Study of Philosophy
• Philosophy is the only means that is capable
of providing a common ground between
believers and non-believers.
• Philosophical training provides the students
to help to think, read, and write; and
possibly speak more critically, carefully, and
logically.
• If we will be able to apply our knowledge in
looking at things, we will be able to obtain a
meaningful living.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Definition of Philosophy
• Philosophy is defined as “a human, and
consequently, a social activity which consists
in man a perennial and a disinterested
search for the intelligible structure of the
totality of being.
• Philosophy is first and foremost a human
activity. It is only for the human person.
• Philosophy is a social activity. Because man
is a social being, philosophy became a social
activity.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Definition of Philosophy
• Philosophy is a perennial search. It is a
never-ending search for truth. For as long as
there is man on earth, there will always be
philosophy.
• Philosophy is a disinterested search because
people believed that it does not provide
practical solutions to problems.
• Philosophy is a search for the intelligible
structure. It is using reason in order to
acquire truth.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Definition of Philosophy
• Philosophy deals with the totality of being.
It deals with the whole of creation. It also
deals with anything and everything that is
under and beyond the sun.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Classroom Discussion

• How is philosophy connected

with our study on Ethics?

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Branches of Philosophy

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Branches of Philosophy

• Philosophy can be divided into three major

divisions:
1. Philosophy of Thought
2. Philosophy of Reality
3. Philosophy of Morality

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Branches of Philosophy

1. Epistemology (study of knowledge)

PHILOSOPHY
2. Logic (the science and art of distinguishing
OF THOUGHT correct from the incorrect reasoning).

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Branches of Philosophy
1. Metaphysics (the study of the origin of things).
2. Theodicy (the philosophical study of God).
3. Cosmology (the philosophical study of the
PHILOSOPHY universe / environment).
OF REALITY 4. Philosophy of Psychology (the philosophical
study of man as composed of body and soul).
5. Social Philosophy (the philosophical study of the
society.)
6. Political Philosophy (philosophical study of the
state and the social organization).

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Branches of Philosophy
1. Ethics (the study of right living)
2. Aesthetics (the study of the meaning of beauty).
PHILOSOPHY
3. Philosophy of Person (the study about the
OF dignity of man, truth, freedom, justice, love,
death, and his relationship with other human
MORALITY beings and with God).

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor