2.1-Methods-of-Philosophizing-1-1-60.pdf

philo

1. Methods of
Philosophizing
QUARTER 1 –MODULE 2.1

2. Learning Objectives
1. Identify the meaning, importance, and
source of knowledge.
2. Describe, the steps/processes of acquiring
knowledge.
3. Explain how validating one’s knowledge
leads to truth.
4. Compare/contrast different theories of truth.

3. Activity
HowdoIknowisunderwhat
branchofPhilosophy?

4. Do you believe in the idea that,
Love is Blind?

5. Accordingtophilosophyifyouwanttoknow
thetruthyouhavetouse,notemotions,but
thinking.
Tothinkhoweverisanactofchoicewhichis
notalwaysdoneproperly.Sometimesweneed
guidancetostraightenourthoughts.
ThisiswhatModule2provides.
Welcometotheprovinceofepistemology.

6. Knowledgeliterallyenabledmankindto
surviveandreachthepresentlevelofour
civilization.
Itistherecognitionofthesupreme
importanceoftheknowledgethatgaverise
tothebranchofphilosophyknownas
epistemology.

7. WHAT IS EPISTEMOLOGY?
“Epistemologyisasciencedevotedto
thediscoveryofthepropermethodof
acquiringandvalidatingknowledge”
(Rand1990).

8. The purpose of epistemology
therefore is two-fold:
To show how we can
acquire knowledge.
To give us a method of
demonstrating whether the
knowledge we acquired is
really knowledge (i.e., true).

9. THE NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE
AccordingtoAynRandknowledgeisa“mentalgrasp
ofrealityreachedeitherbyperceptualobservationor
byaprocessofreasonbasedonperceptual
observation”(Rand1990).
Whenyouknowsomething(beitthebehaviorof
yourfriend,themovementoftheplanets,ortheorigin
ofcivilizations)youunderstanditsnature.Youidentify
whatitis.Anditstayswithyou.Knowledgeisa
retainedformofawareness(Binswanger2014).

10. How do you acquire knowledge?
How do you
know that
the fire is
hot?
2+2=4
Because you
feel it?
You think of
it.

11. How do you acquire knowledge?
Empiricism-We
can acquire
knowledge using
our senses:
seeing, hearing,
tasting, feeling,
and smelling.
Rationalism-We
can acquire
knowledge by
thinking with the
use of our minds

13. Let us now explore the first part of epistemology:
the process of acquiring knowledge.
1.Reality
2. Perception
3. Concept
4. Proposition
5. Inference
ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE
.

14. What do you see
in the picture?
If your answer is
man then you
acquired your
knowledge by
Reality

15. 1. Reality
Existenceiseverythingthereis.Itincludes
everythingweperceive(animals,plants,
humanbeings,inanimateobjects)and
everythinginsideourheads(e.g.,our
thoughtsandemotions)whichrepresents
ourinnerworld.

16. How do you see
the man?
If your answer is “
the man is smiling”
or “The man is
wearing a blue
jacket” then you
acquired your
knowledge by
Perception.

17. Ourfirstandonlycontactwithrealityisthroughoursenses.At
firstthesensesgiveusknowledgeofthingsorentities(what
Aristotlecallsprimarysubstance):dog,cat,chair,table,man.
Laterwebecameawarenotonlyofthingsbutcertainaspectsof
thingslikequalities(blue,hard,smooth),quantities(seveninches
orsixpounds),relationships(infrontof,sonof)evenactions
(jumping,running,flying).Theseso-calledAristoteliancategories
cannotbeseparatedfromtheentitiesthathavethem.Redfor
examplecannotbeseparatedfromredobjects;walkingcannot
beseparatedfromthepersonthatwalks,etc.
2. Perception

18. Compare the two
image, what do
you see?
If your answer is “a
man and a
woman” then you
acquired your
knowledge by
Concept.

19. 3. Concept
Afterweperceivethings,webegantonoticethatsomeof
thethingsweperceivearesimilartootherthings.
Forexample,weseethreeindividualslet’scallthemJuan,
Pablo,andPedrowhomayhavenothingincommonat
firstglance.Butwhenwecomparethemwithanother
entity,adogforexample,suddenlytheirdifferences
becomeinsignificant.Theirbigdifferenceinadog
highlightstheirsimilaritytooneanother(Binswanger
2014)

20. Letusdescribethetwotypesofabstraction
fromabstractions:
wider
generalizations
(or simply
widenings)
subdivisions(or
narrowings)

21. Wider generalizationis the
process of forming wider and
wider concepts. For example,
from Juan, Pedro, and Pablo we
can form the concept of “man”.
Then from man, dog, cat, and
monkey, we can form a higher
and wider concept of “animal”.

22. Subdivisionsconsist of identifying
finer and finer distinctions. For
example, “man” is a first level concept
that we can subdivide according to
profession (doctor, entertainer, fireman,
teacher), or race (Asian, Caucasian
[white], black), or gender (man,
woman, lesbian, gay), or nationality
(Filipino, Chinese, American) among
other things.

23. “Men are mortals”
“Men are not mortals”
I am making an assertion of men which are affirmative in
nature (thus the statement is an affirmative
proposition).
I am denying something about men and thus my
statement is negative in nature (thus the
proposition is called a negative proposition)

24. 4. Proposition
Whenweuseconceptsinordertoclassifyor
describean“existent”(aparticularthatexistbeit
anobject,aperson,anactionorevent,etc)(Rand
1990)weusewhatphilosopherscallaproposition
(Binswanger2014).
Apropositionisastatementthatexpresseseither
anassertionoradenial(Copi,2002)thatanexistent
belongstoaclassorpossesscertainattribute

25. 5. Inference
Howdowedemonstratethatthestatementistrue?
Byprovidinganargument.
AccordingtoHurleyanargument“isagroupof
statements,oneormoreofwhich(thepremises)
areclaimedtoprovidesupportfor,orreasonto
believeoneoftheothers(theconclusion)(Hurley
2011).Toclarifythisdefinitionlet’sgiveanexample
usingthefamousSocraticargument:

26. Herewehavethreerelatedstatements(or
propositions).Thelaststatementbeginning
withtheword“therefore”iswhatwecalla
conclusion.
Aconclusionisastatementthatwewantto
prove.Thefirsttwostatementsarewhatwe
callpremises(singularform:premise).A
premiseprovidesjustification,evidence,and
prooftotheconclusion.

27. All men are mortals.
Socrates is a man.
Therefore, Socrates is
mortal
Premises
Conclusion

29. All Grade 12 in this building are HE students
HE 12E are Grade 12
Therefore, HE 12E are HE students

30. Anargumentexpressesareasoningprocesswhich
logicianscallinference(Hurley2011).Arguments,
however,arenottheonlyformofinferencebut
logiciansusuallyused“argument”and“inference”
interchangeably.
Therearestillmanythingstobediscussedonthe
topicofknowledgeacquisition.Weonlyprovideda
briefoverviewofthetopic.

31. Group activity: Give a statement from following
process of acquiring knowledge by using the given
picture. Write in a one whole sheet of paper.
1.Reality
2. Perception
3. Concept
4. Proposition
5. Inference

32. 1.Reality-
2. Perception
3. Concept
4. Proposition
Inference-
All Flowers are beautiful.
Daisy is a flower.
Therefore, Daisy is beautiful.

35. Knowledge
It is the theoretical or practical understanding of a topic. It is
the understanding of a concept or idea; however, it may or may
not be true
Truth
The truth is considered as a fact and something verifiable. It is
real and authentic.

36. For example, in other times it was believed that the Earth was
flat and if a navigator came to the end, it would fall from it.
This was common knowledge, but it was not the truth. Truth
will continue to be true, even if it is not known; while the
knowledge one has may prove to be true or not.

39. Jose Rizal is the Philippines’ National
Hero.

40. Ang mundoay flat.

41. THE NATURE OF TRUTH
Nowthatweknowhowweknow,it’s
timetoseewhethertheknowledgewe
acquiredis“really”knowledgei.e.,is
true.Thisisthesecondpartof
epistemology:validating one’s
knowledge.

42. Validating one’s knowledge
1. Statements is true if you observed yourself using your
senses.
2. Statements is true if you provided “multi-step process of
validation called proof’ .
3. Statement is true by determining through a consensus.
4.Statement is true if determined by means of action.

43. Group activity-explain the example of steps in
validating knowledge assigned to your group
explain to your groupmates.
Write the example on the board and each
member should be ready for sharing in front
of the class. (15 points)

44. Thefirststepinvalidatingone’sknowledgeistoaskoneselfthefollowingquestion:
“HowdidIarriveatthisbelief,bywhatsteps?”(Binswanger2014).
ThisiswhatDr.Peikoffcallsreduction(Peikoff1990).Onewillthereforerealizethatthe
stepsyoutooktoacquireknowledge(perception-concept-proposition-inference)arethe
samestepsneededtovalidateknowledge(butinreverseorder).
Iamalive.
Ihaveabody.
Icanbreathe.
Youcanonlyvalidatetheabovestatementsifyouobservedyourselfusingyoursenses.
Feelyourbody.Areyoubreathing?Feelyourpulse.Observeyourbody.Isitmoving?
Theseandcountlessexamplesprovidedbyyoursensesprovedthatyou’realive(Abella
2016).

45. Not all statements however can be validated directly
by the senses. Some beliefs or ideas need a “multi-
step process of validation called proof’(Binswanger
2014). Nevertheless proof rests ultimately on sense
perception.

46. Athirdwaytodetermineifthestatementistrueis
throughaconsensus(Abella2016).Ifthemajority
agreesthatastatementistruethenitistrue.
ForexamplethevastmajorityofGermansduringthe
timeofAdolphHitlerbelievedthatJewsareracially
inferior.Theresultofthisfalseconsensusisthe
exterminationofmillionsofJewsinmanypartsof
Europe.

47. Afourthwaytodeterminewhethera
statementistrueistotestitbymeansof
action(Abella2016).
Forexampleyouwanttoknowifaperson
isfriendly.Wellthebestwaytofindoutis
toapproachtheperson.

49. TRUTH VS OPINION
Identifying truth however can sometimes
be tricky. The reason is that there are
times when we strongly held an idea that
we feel “deep down” to be true.
For example:
Religious people strongly believed that
there is life after death.
Some people who embraced democracy
may passionately embraced the idea that
the majority is always right.

50. Howeverwemustnotconfusedstronglyheld
beliefswithtruth.Truthisknowledgevalidated
andwhenwesayvalidatedwemeantheyare
basedonthefactsofreality.
Youmustunderstanddearstudentthatthefacts
ofrealityareindependentofyourthoughts,
feelingsorpreferences

51. To summarize an opinion has the following
characteristics:
1. Based on emotions
2. Open to interpretation
3. Cannot be confirmed
4. Inherently biased
While truth is:
1. Based on the facts of reality
2. Can be confirmed with other sources
3. Independent of one’s interpretation, preferences and biases

52. THEORIES OF TRUTH

54. THEORY
-itisaformalideaorsetofideasthatis
intendedtoexplainsomething.
-asetofprinciplesonwhichthepracticeis
basedon.
-anideausedtoaccountforasituationor
justifyacourseofaction.

55. Afactissomesetofcircumstancesinthe
world.Afactcannotbeeithertrueorfalse
becauseitsimplythewaytheworldis.
Beliefisanopinionaboutwhatthosefacts
are.Itiscapableofbeingtrueorfalse
becauseitmayormaynotaccurately
describetheworld.

56. 1. The Correspondence theory of Truth
assumesthatabeliefistruewhenweareabletoconfirmitwith
reality.
Forexample:
IfIsay,“Theskyisblue”thenIlookedoutsideandsawthat
itisindeedblue,thenmystatementistrue.
Ontheotherhand,ifIsay,“Pigshavewings”andthenI
checkedapiganditdoesnothavewings,thenmy
statementisfalse.

57. 2. The Coherence Theory of Truth
Dealswiththeconsistencyofthetruthofstatements
beingclaimedwithinthesystemthatisbeingusedor
employed.
Forexample:theuseofaformulaforacertain
mathematicalproblem.

58. Consequently,byusingthismethod,weestablish
thatthestatement“coheres”withthelargersystem.
Inasense,theCoherenceTheoryissimilartothe
CorrespondenceTheorysincebothevaluates
statementsbasedontheiragreementwithreality.
Thedifferenceliesinthemethodwheretheformer
involvesalargersystemwhilethelatterreliesona
singleevidenceoffact.

59. 3. The Pragmatist Theory of Truth:
ThePragmaticTheoryofTruthstatesthata
belief/statementistrueifithasauseful(pragmatic)
applicationintheworld.
Example:
Therearesomepeoplewhothinkthatthereare
“ghosts”or“vampires”becausetheyfinditusefulin
explainingunusualphenomenaandindealingwith
fears(Mabaquiao,2016).