LESSON-1-Encounters-in-Everyday-Life_THIRD-EDITION.pptx

Philosophy

1. Encounters in Everyday Life, Engaging in Wisdom LESSON 1

2. Warm-Up Question “What does it mean to be human?”

3. A. THE MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY PHILOSOPHY Etymologically, “ philosophy ” has two-fold meaning from the Greek word philo , meaning “ to love ,” and sophia , meaning “ wisdom .” “Love of wisdom” remains the goal of philosophy.

4. These are the approaches of philosophy: 1. Scientific Approach Philosophical approach is systematic; it is an ordered body of knowledge as any other sciences. 2. Natural Light of Reason. Philosophy uses one’s natural capacity to think or observe the world and the people. Philosophy is a natural light of reason because it uses our own ‘nature’ of thinking, what we think is what we reason out to something.

5. 3. Study of All Things. - This sets the distinction between philosophy and other sciences. All other sciences concern themselves with a particular object of investigation, but philosophy is multidimensional or holistic. A thinker is not bounded to a specific object of inquiry. He or she probes almost everything. Whereas, philosopher studies human beings, society, religion, language, God, and plants, among other concerns.

6. Through the natural light of reason, philosophy examines the original grounds or the essential principles of all things. Thus, it also studies the First Cause or the Highest Principle since everything in the world and every situation has an origin. Consider these principles: Principle of Identity Principle of Non-contradiction Principle of Excluded Middle Principle of Sufficient Reason

7. Principle of Identity - it means that a thing, idea, or person always has a name, a concept, and a characteristic for that thing to exists. “ whatever is is ; and whatever is not is not; everything is what it is” IS A NOT A

8. Principle of Non-Contradiction - it denies that a thing can be and not be at the same time. “ nothing can be BOTH true and false at the same time” Principle of Excluded Middle - Everything must either be or not be; there is no middle ground conceivable.

9. Principle of Sufficient Reason - nothing happens without a sufficient reason for its being and existence. “anything or anyone has its own reason for its being and existence. ” Examples: A triangle is a triangle simply because it’s a triangle. (self-contained explanations) Volcanoes erupt and flowers bloom for external reasons. (external explanations)

10. Finally, in attaining wisdom, there is a need for emptying. Emptying is suspending one’s judgment and conclusion about a matter and mentally exploring the pros and cons, the characteristics, and the purpose of an idea or situation. This means pushing ourselves to not be affected by our personal biases and stereotypes so we can make an objective and fair assessment of things.

11. Emptying can be intellectual - For instance, a Taoist considers an empty cup more useful than a full one. This means simplicity and humility. Emptying can also be spiritual - For Christians, it is poor in spirit (i.e., the Sermon on the Mount), while for Buddhists, it is to refrain from misuse of the senses, thereby emphasizing a unified whole.

12. Emptying is also physical - The virtue of emptying includes not only knowledge but other dimensions, such as the psychological, social, emotional, and moral aspects.

13. PHILOSOPHICAL BRANCHES

14. What is reality, why does reality exists, and how doesit exists? An enormous commitment of the metaphysician is to enlighten us in terms of what we identify as real. The concepts of thought, idea, existence, reality, being, and other abstract ideas of life are understood and analyze using what is physically seen in the world and vice versa. METAPHYSICS

15. Reality here is referred to in Metaphysics as “True Reality”, meaning it is the fundamental source and basis of all the reality in the world and in existence. Metaphysics assumes that the reality we see with our eyes is just a temporary cover of the true Reality that exists beyond what our senses could perceive. METAPHYSICS

16. For instance, Thales , a Greek thinker, claims that everything is water. Clouds, for example, or blocks of ice, do not look like water, but they can be explained in terms of water. When water evaporates, it becomes a cloud; and then when water freezes, it becomes ice. He claimed that everything we experienced is water. THALES

17. Thales believed that the principle beyond all existence and reality could be best explained by the analogy of water. In fact, water, for Thales, is the fundamental shape and movement of all things in the universe. THALES

18. b. Mind and matter are entities that idealists and the materialists based their theories upon. - We can see things made of matter, such as book or a chair, but we cannot see the underlying matter itself. - Although in our minds we can experience thoughts, ideas, desires, and fantasies, we cannot observe or experience the mind itself bearing these thoughts, ideas and desires.

19. c. Plato , Socrate’s most famous student, is a good example of a metaphysician who drew the sharpest possible contrast and division between reality and appearance. PLATO

20. According to Plato, nothing we experience in the physical world with our five senses is real. Reality , in fact, is just the opposite. It means the Reality is an invisible but concrete true representation of all physical reality that the eye can see. It is unchanging, eternal, immaterial, and can be detected only by the intellect. PLATO

21. Plato called the truth as consisted in Ideas or Forms, also referred as the Universals or absolutes ; and such we consider when discussing moral, mathematical, and scientific ideals. PLATO

22. Plato Plato says that the soul is an idea. Plato conceived of the soul as existing even prior to its incarnation in time. Souls exists in kosmos noetos: the world of ideas. The soul has no empirical qualities. When a person dies, the idea of immortality is clear and does not corrupt. By What Values Shall I Live in the World?

23. Plato Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is a reflection that distinguishes between appearance and reality. For Plato, there are two worlds: the world of appearances and the real world. Plato argued that opinion is the lowest realm of knowledge; one can still know some kind of truth. By What Values Shall I Live in the World?

24. Plato In the illusion in the cave, the person who can reach the highest level of knowledge is a prisoner who was freed. For Bertrand Russell (2004), the world of appearances is not completely false. This world is based on our senses: sight, touch, taste, smell and so on. By What Values Shall I Live in the World?

25. How do we distinguish good from evil or right from wrong? It is the branch of philosophy that explores the nature of moral virtue and evaluates the morality and virtue of human actions. Ethicists who study from the perspective of philosophy appeal to logical arguments to justify claims and positions involving morality. They use ethical theory in the analysis and deliberation of issues. ETHICS

26. 5 Main Positions of Ethics 1. Natural Law or Divine Command – in this framework, a strong sense of individualism does not exist, but rather, the collective is emphasized. ST. TERESA OF CALCUTTA What principles guide humanity toward happiness and ultimate destiny? ST. LORENZO RUIZ The actions and moral reasoning of St. Teresa of Calcutta and St. Lorenzo Ruiz are exemplars of this theory.

27. 2. Teleological Theory - what is good for the greatest number of people is the best choice and the moral choice. Example: If killing a cow is the only way to save seven children from starvation, killing the cow is moral. What are the consequences that emphasizes pleasure? Jeremy Bentham Stoics Epicureans The Authors of this theory

28. 3. Deontological Ethics (Duty Ethics or Kantianism) – this means that a person is bound to duty and does not focus on what a person thinks or feels about that situation. I mmanuel Kant, author of this ethical theory. Example: When a person sees Hitler drowning, he or she must save him because letting a person die without helping is wrong. The act of saving Hitler is a moral duty or, in Kant’s words, a “moral imperative” and is not dependent on a person’s opinions of Hitler’s past criminal and atrocious acts. What is my moral duty?

29. 4. Virtue Ethics – this ethical theory ignores the consequences, duties, and social contracts. Instead, it focuses on character development of individuals and their acquisition of good virtue ethics ( Tavani , 2011). SOCRATES PLATO ARISTOTLE What does it mean to live a good life beyond material want? Some of the proponents of this theory

30. 5. Relativism – “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” is a view of ethical relativism that actions are morally right within a particular society when they are approved by law, custom, or other conventions of the society. Closely related to this is ethical relationalism , which is about making judgments based on context (i.e., culture); while ethical pluralism is a view that there is more than just one justifiable moral perspective. Some versions of ethical pluralism affirm cultural diversity and respect differences among individuals and groups. What does my culture or society think is acceptable?

31. Socrates For Socrates, to be happy, a person must concentrate on the goodness of the soul. Virtue is not something to be taught or acquired through education, but rather, it is merely an awakening of the seeds of good deeds that lay inactive in humans. What Constitutes a Human Person?

32. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) W.EB. Du Bois sees himself as part of a struggle. His mother was descended from a West African slave. Du Bois, an African-American, sought equal rights for blacks. He put his ideas into political action and help organize various initiatives for the advancement of the colored people, published researches, and taught at Atlanta University. How Much Freedom Should We Have? Who Should Decide?

33. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) He was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. From Harvard. His life is an example of a person who put his belief, values, and knowledge, or his life philosophy, into action in his community to pursue positive social change. How Much Freedom Should We Have? Who Should Decide?

34. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) To understand Du Bois’s philosophy is to understand Hegel’s dialectic. Whenever a thesis of freedom is asserted, it is opposed by an antithesis. These are then both reconciled by synthesis that incorporates the best of both. How Much Freedom Should We Have? Who Should Decide?

35. EPISTEMOLOGY - Specifically, epistemology , deals with the nature, sources, limitations, and validity of knowledge (Soccio, 2007). - Epistemological questions are basic to how we explain philosophical inquiries, for instance, moral values. How do we acquire reliable knowledge?

36. Human knowledge may be regarded as having two parts : On the one hand, the human sees, hears and touches; he organizes in his mind what he learns through the senses. Philosophers have given considerable attention to questions about the sources of knowledge.

37. Some philosophers think that the particular things seen, heard, and touched are more important. They believed that general ideas are formed from the examination of particular facts or induction. Philosophers who feel that knowledge is acquired in this way are called empiricists (e.g., John Locke)

38. Empiricism – is the view that knowledge can be attained only through sense experience. According to empiricists, real knowledge is based on what our sight, hearing, smell, and other senses tell us is really out there, not what people make up in their heads. Knowledge for empiricists are based on facts and evidence that we can see and perceive in the world.

39. Other philosophers think it is more important to find a general law according to which particular facts can be understood or judged. This method is called deduction ; its advocates are called rationalists (e.g., Rene Descartes)

40. For instance, what distinguishes real knowledge from mere opinion in the rationalists view is that it is based on logic, laws, and methods that reason develops. The best example of real knowledge: Mathematics, a realm of knowledge that is obtained entirely by reason that we use to understand the universe ( Soccio , 2007). A newer school, pragmatism, has third approach to these problems. Pragmatists, such as William James and John Dewey, believe that value in use is the real test of truth and meaning. In other words, the meanin and truth of an idea are tested by its practical consequences.

41. Mary Wollstonecraft Rationalism (17th century) and Empiricism (18th century) both relied on human discoveries such asof the world, of thought, and of humanity in all sorts of conditions. Knowledge, however, was male-dominated. Mary Wollstonecraft envisioned an education for women. Women’s Equal Rights

42. Mary Wollstonecraft In her work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Wollstonecraft dictated that women were to be more than just wives and caretakers; they were to educate children, and to act not as slaves to their husbands, but as companions. Women’s Equal Rights

43. Reasoning is the concern of the logician. This could be reasoning in science and medicine, in ethics and law, in politics and commerce, in sports and games, and in the mundane affairs of everyday living. LOGIC The term “ logic” comes from the Greek word logike and was coined by Zeno the Stoic (c. 340-265 BC) – it means a treatise on matters pertaining to the human thought. What is correct reasoning?

44. Logic is not interested in what we know regarding certain objects. Its concern, rather, is the truth or the validity of our arguments regarding such objects. Aristotle was the first philosopher to devise a logical method. Aristotle understood truth to mean the agreement of knowledge with reality; truth exists when the mind’s mental representations, otherwise known as ideas, correspond with the things in the objective world.

45. Zeno of Citium was one of the successors of Aristotle. He was also the founder of a movement known as Stoicism , derived from the Greek Stoa Poikile (Painted Porch). The Painted Porch referred to the portico in Athens where the early adherents held their regular meetings.

46. Other more influential logicians include: CICERO AND BOETHIUS OF ROME THE BYZANTINE SCHOLAR – PHILOPONUS AL-FARABI AVICENNA AVERROES IN THE ARAB REGION

47. Even before the time of Aristotle down to the time of Alan Mathison Turing , the study of logic has remained important. Turing is widely considered to be the father of computer science and artificial intelligence (AI).

48. AESTHETICS When humanity has learned to make something that is useful to them, they begin to plan and dream how to make it beautiful. The establishment of criteria of beauty is the function of aesthetics. - is the science of the beautiful in its various manifestations---including the sublime, comic, tragic, pathetic, and ugly. What is beauty?

49. Importance of Aesthetics 1. It vitalizes our knowledge. It makes our knowledge of the world alive and useful. 2. It helps us live more genuinely and completely. Art is not something merely like a craft or application, but something of weight and significance to humankind. It is what Schopenhauer meant when he said, “You must treat a work of art like a great man. Stand before it and wait patiently until it designs to speak.”

50. 3. It brings us touch with our culture. In the modern period, artists such as Vicente Manansala, Jose Joya, and Napoleon Abueva made lasting contributions to local and international scenes. In a recent auction, Manansala’s “Pila sa Bigas ” fetched 30 million. Currently the Commission on Higher Education and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) offer creative project grants to faculty engaged in arts research or creative projects.

51. Hans-Georg Gadamer, a German philosopher, argued that our tastes and judgments regarding beauty work in connection with one’s own personal experience and culture. Gadamer believed that our culture consists of the values and beliefs of our time and our society. That is why “dialogue” or conversation is important in interpreting works of art.

52. FILIPINO THINKING:FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL 3 Dimensions of Filipino Thought Loob Filipino philosophy of time; and Bahala na These attitudes and values constitutes the hidden springs of the Filipino mind.

53. 1. Loob : Holistic and Interior Dimensions Kagandahang-loob , kabutihang loob , and kalooban are terms that showing sharing of one’s self with others. Inferiority manifests itself in freedom. Loob is relational. It keeps us in touch with fellow beings. Intermediaries, or go-betweens, loyalty, compassion, and respect for authority are such values that relate to persons. Filipinos generally believe in the innate goodness of the human beings.

54. Holistically, Filipinos as individuals honor the principle of harmony. The Filipino looks at himself or herself, as a total whole: free and possessed of dignity, and aware of any violation of these two. For example, a leader or manager with magandang kalooban plays an active role in financial development. Leaders should not just focus on the impact of the job performance, but also treat every individual worker as a person and not just an object. A good leader motivates people to achieve economic success, giving them lakas ng loob to regard themselves in a positive light amid misfortune, obstacles, and unpredictability of the economy.

55. Filipino time is mistakenly interpreted as Filipinos’ tendency to always show up late in the committed time of arrival. This notion can be misleading since the Filipino farmers are early risers tending to their field and waste no time for work. The concept of “siesta time” or “power naps” is also important for Filipino culture that must not be necessarily considered negative. Rest is important as it recharges and gives positive state of mind, especially if we are engrossed in our online activities.

56. 2. Filipino Thought and Values: Progressive and Undesirable Traits It is believed that the Philippine values and system, in line with Filipino philosophy, are in dire need of being used as a positive motivation. Beyond his or her family group, the Filipino sees himself or herself belonging to a small, primary group in dyadic, pyramidal fashion. In other words, he or she does not identify horizontally with his or her class that cuts across the whole community, but vertically with its authority figures distinguished by their wealth, power, and age.

57. He or she receives protection and other favors from above and should be ready to do the same toward his or her ties below. Reciprocating debts of gratitude between coordinates and subordinates holds the whole group together---superordinate and subordinate ( utang na loob ). However, as we consider our duty, it should not be bounded by utang na loob (indebtedness to patrons) but to help uplift the life not only of one’s own family (micro perspective) but of others as well (macro perspective).

58. The Filipino gives great value to endurance and hard work as a means to economic self-sufficiency. This self-sufficiency refers not to the individual self, but to the family to which one owes a special debt of gratitude for having brought him or her life and nurtured him o her. In this vein, we should stress other positive Filipino values, such as bayanihan , or helping others in times of need. Bayanihan is another moving spirit of the Filipino people. Deep down in the Filipino psyche, there exists the belief that whatever good one has done will be returned to one’s benefit because a Supreme Judge will bestow just reward whether in one’s life span or in the afterlife (Mercado, 2000).

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