Defnition o Philosophy Objectives At the end of the session, the student will able to: Dene philosophy in its proper perspective. Demonstrate valid thoughts about philosophy. Apply and value philosophical inquiry.
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 denition, 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 e*perienced to activity of philosophi-ing philosophi-ing that one nds it easier to dene what philosophy is all about.
Origin o Philosophy Etymological Defnition o 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 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 above denitio denition n has been, sense time immemorial, the denition ascribed to the discipline of philosophy. &hen philosopher speak of love, it does not only mean a disposition of the the mind mind as psyc psycho holo logy gy has has it, it, but but enta entail ils s pass passio ion n and and the the entanglement of one's concerns and personhood. #ence whenever philosophers philosophers speak of love, it is more of an activity than of mere emotions. qually qually di(cult to encapsulate encapsulate is the term wisdom. )ore often than not, not, we conc conceiv eive e of wisdo wisdom m as the the lesso lessons ns learn learned ed from from live lived d 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, Philosophy, does not limit itself to what could be learned 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 o Philosophy $he search for the true meaning of e*istence, life for particular thing.
According to tumpf, tumpf, the birthplace birthplace of philosophy philosophy was the seaport According
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 rst philosophers are called either )ilesians or %onians. $he ancient !reek philosopher born philosopher born in )iletus in !reek %onia. %dentied $hales as the rst 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 $raditionally the father of philosophy. philosophy. $he rst to provide an answer to the query, "&hat is the ultimate material of the universe0 $hales says that it is the nature, the archê, the originating originating principle, principle, this nature was a single material substance, and it is $'(ER. 1ecause 1ecause of this postulate, postulate, human philosophica philosophicall activities activities began to trigger. #ence, philosophy is conceived to have begun in wonder. $hat was when when earl early y men men star starte ted d to ask ask abou aboutt the the univer universe se and and thei theirr environment, about other people and about themselves. $hus, through the ages, the inescapable ques tion of man about himself is about his e*istence.
The Neessity o Philosophy 2. Philosophy Philosophy is one of the courses courses that we need need to study. study. 3. Philosophy Philosophy is very complicated complicated intellectual intellectual activity activity. 4. Philosophy Philosophy is re5ection re5ection of life because because it nds the ultimate e*planati e*planation on or cause of the actual e*istence of contingent reality. reality.
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 s tudy ph ilosophy in e*plaining things;is sues that are not yet e*plained even in the level of positive sciences. ome of the issues are:
$he $he $he $he $he $he $he
meaning of life and death meaning of good and evil dignity and rights of the human person scandals of su
$he e*planation w ith 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 +n)erstan)ing&”
ntellect+m”
means
Si! "ain Divisions o Philosophy Objectives At the end of the session, the student will able to: %dentify the dinderstand each division of Philosophy ?alue every division and apply it.
-& Logic
“Faith
see,ing
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 t ru th o f i ts p re mi ses g+arantees the tr+th of its conclusion, it is said to involve a )e)+ctive inerence& 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 not there is no middle ground. Bonsider this argument: *. $here were 3C people originally $here are 2 persons currently $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 inerence& An inductive argument succeeds whenever its premises provide some legitimate evidence or support for the truth of its conclusion. Bonsider this argument: *. $here is smoke $herefore, there is re. .& Epistemology A branch of philosophy which is concerned with the denition 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 nal 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 nal sense of knowledge is sense perception.
/& Ethics
%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.
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
Plato0s %oral Virt+e (heory $he good is the source of ultimate moral perfection. $o become virtues we need
2. 3. 4. 6.
)oderation;$emperance + =egulation of the desires of the body. Bourage + upport of reason by the passions. Eustice + Fnowing and practicing the functions given by nature. &isdom + =ational part of human self.
'ristotle0s %oral Virt+e (heory $he avoidance of the e*tremes / e*cess and deciency / 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.
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
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.
good of the citi-ens. !overnment is of various types Gmonarchy, aristoctracy and timocraccyH. $imocracy means property qualication 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 7ustied. $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 unied population occupying a specic 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 pe ople. Defend and advance the freedom of the citi-ens.
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 deve lop
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.
