METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING

The stories of the grateful construction worker and the

honest engineer have different situation and perspectives in
life. They have different viewpoints on the things which
matter most to attain the ultimate happiness of life.

In the distant past, when we were still shorthanded with the

technological advancements that we have today, Aristotle,
an ancient Greek philosopher, believed that the sun was pure
substance. But modern science tells us that the sun is mostly
composed of hydrogen and helium.

In this example, the stature of Aristotle as a teacher played

a role in taking his idea as “truth.” However, scientific
discovery turned Aristotle’s idea about the sun false.
TRUTH means a statement of reality based on facts.
For example, science tells us that a water molecule is
composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen
OPINION
is a statement of reality based on perception, observation,
and expertise. Hence, there could be a reliable opinion
coming from a neurosurgeon about what to do with your
brain’s problem. A reliable and meaningful opinion is an
idea that is derived from keen observation, expertise,
experience, and insights about something.
Methods of Philosophizing
In doing philosophy, certain methods are being employed.
The method means a systematic way of acquiring
knowledge. Philosophizing is a way of doing philosophy to
theorizing about important concerns.
We mean theorizing here as a systematic presentation of
ideas liberating and transforming. We will deal here with
developmental structuralism, logic, empiricism, and
phenomenology
DEVELOPMENTAL STRUCTURALISM
The term development refers to the inherent drive in the
universe toward greater and greater wholeness as
expressed in perennial philosophy’s great chain of beings
and developmental and evolutionary theories.
The perennial philosophy deals with the wisdom found in
the different world great religions such as Hinduism,
Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, etc., and great
chain of beings refers to the notion that reality is
composed of matter/body, mind, and spirit
While the term structure refers to an organized system
in a particular stage of development for example, from
self-centeredness- caring only for one’s self to
becoming other-centered- caring mostly for one’s
significant others and to further still becoming all
people-centered caring for all people in the world
regardless of race, age, gender, and all beliefs including
oneself- as studied by developmental theorists (e.g.,
Lawrence Kohlberg’s moral development; Ken Wilber’s self-
development, Clare Grave’s values development; Jurgen
Habermas’ social development)

Hence, developmental structuralism as a method of

philosophizing is about recognizing the inherent drive of
the universe toward further and further development
wherein there is a stage that emerges with an organized
structure (a la Ken Wilber)
Case Study
Assessing a religious view of morality in the context of a
secular and democratic society based on developmental
structuralism

Problem

Should a single female employee of a Catholic school who

gets pregnant out of wedlock be dismissed from her
employment? Justify your answer
Answer
In the case at hand and based on developmental
structuralism, a narrow religious view of morality (e.g., the
Catholic Church’s view of morality) cannot be used as the
basis for determining what is moral or immoral in a
democratic society. A more inclusive view of morality first
should supersede any narrow view be it religious or
otherwise. Thus, in the said case, first, the Supreme Court
rules that “Public and secular morality should determine
the prevailing norms of conduct, not religious morality, and
second, The petitioner’s pregnancy out of wedlock is not
disgraceful or immoral conduct since she and the father of
her child has no impediment to marrying each other” (Supreme
Court, 2015, LEUS vs SSCW, G.R. No. 187226, emphasis original)
The point here is that developmental structuralism can serve
as a guide in terms of assessing which view is partial or more
holistic. This example shows that philosophy has a practical
and emancipating power for the human beings in society, in
this case for women, from regressive and partial views. This
ruling of the Supreme Court shows a more inclusive, just, and
humane treatment of women who would
find themselves in a similar situation
LOGIC
Logic means the rules of correct thinking. It means that
what you are thinking should correspond to reality.
The statement, “The sun rises in the morning” is false
because the sun does not move relative to the earth.
Instead, the statement, “The earth rotates on its axis” is
true. So, the truth is that the earth is rotating on its
axis, which negates that the sun is rising in the morning
Therefore, logic is concerned with finding and
establishing the truth. Then, one way to verify a
statement is to test the accuracy of a proposition.
So, propositional truth is a statement of reality.
For example, when one says, “It is flooding outside,” to
verify such a proposition, you simply must look outside
to check whether it is flooding outside. In doing so, you
are validating the factuality of the statement based on
your experience of it by looking at what is happening
outside. In this case, you can use actual data as a basis
for determining whether it is indeed flooding outside. In
propositional truth, what you need is evidence for a
given proposition.
EMPIRICISM
means experiential knowledge. In other words, knowledge
pertains to what you know, and what you know is based
on your experience. For example, you hold a rock and
say, “The rock is hard.” In doing so, you ask a question,
“How do you know that what you think you know is
true?”

For example, how do you know that a cell has a nucleus?

- We were told that a cell has a nucleus, but if you have
never seen an actual cell, e.g., a blood cell, you have no
experience of what a cell is, let alone seeing a cell with a
nucleus in it.
Empiricism will ask you to study biology and learn how
to use a microscope to look at a cell and recognize the
nucleus in it. Hence, empiricism requires that you
experiment with yourself to gather data, that is, to
experience something by yourself, (e.g., to see a nucleus
in a cell) and to check what you found out with experts
who have done the same experiment and looked at the
data based on such an experiment. Therefore, what you
know becomes experiential knowledge.
The same applies to inquiring about the reality of the
ultimate truth and discovering your transcendental self.
If you just pause for a while and reflect on the
question, “Who are you?”
Note that anything that you have is an object: your
name, personal history, thoughts, feelings, desires, goals,
dreams, traits, memories, parents, nationality, gender,
age, talents, intelligence, and so on. These are all
objects that you are aware of. But you are not an
object. You are a subject, the one who is aware and
who owns all the things that you have. So, who are you?
You may turn to your body and say, “I have a body.”
So, you are beyond your body because you are the one
who owns it. Your body is an object, but you are not
an object. Thus, “Who are you?” You may say you are

the son or daughter of your parents, a student in this

school studying Introduction to Philosophy, and other
subjects, a citizen of a country, and so on. Still, these
are the things that you do, but you are not those things.
You are beyond those roles. So, again, “Who are you?” If
you still answer that you do such hobbies and sports, you
have these talents, dreams, and desires, but still, you are
more than these hobbies that you have, sports that you
play, and talents that you do; you are beyond these
things.
PHENOMENOLOGY
Edmund Hussert, a modern philosopher who developed
phenomenology, explained that phenomenology is a
process by which you inquire into what one thinks of
something or how something becomes a phenomenon as it
shows up in one’s consciousness. For a person to have
consciousness, he or she must have a direct experience
of something

For example, if you want to ride a bicycle, it is not enough

that you know what is a bicycle or you watch someone use
a bicycle, you must experience how to balance and
maneuver a real bicycle by your own.