WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
Philosophy, plays a crucial role in human intellectual history. It involves critical
thinking, analysis, and reflection on fundamental questions about existence, knowledge,
ethics, and the nature of reality. Philosophers throughout history have contributed
significantly to shaping the way we think about the world and our place in it.
Learning philosophy can help you understand more about yourself, the society,
culture and people around you. This is where you can enhance your knowledge about
anything in this world. In Philosophy, Philo means LOVE and Sophy or Sophia means
WISDOM.
As our Teacher said, When you ask questions, When you are ignorant of
something, You are a Philosopher.
PERSPECTIVE
Perspective is your opinion in a certain topic or situation. What can you say about
something or in tagalog “ Ang iyong pananaw “. There are types of perspective that can
help us improve our knowledge about this topic.
The Holistic Perspective comes from the Greek word “holos” that means all, entire,
and totality. A holistic perspective, often referred to as holism, is an approach that
considers the whole system or entity and emphasizes the interconnectedness and
interdependence of its parts. The focus of this perspective is understanding the entire
system and how its various elements interact to create a unified and integrated whole.
Partial Perspective also known as a reductionist or fragmented perspective, involves
examining a system or phenomenon by isolating and focusing on specific components
or aspects, often without considering the broader context or interconnections. It also
known as one-sided perspective.
ORIGIN OF PHILOSOPHY
The philosophy is born in Greece and Thales is the Father of Philosophy. There are
branches of philosophy that you may not know about:
Cognitive Branches has two types of studies. Metaphysics is the study of universe
as a whole in where we are living today. It is concerned with understanding reality and
developing theories about what exists and how we know that it exists, It is a
fundamental nature of reality. And Epistemology is studies the nature and means of
human knowledge, It seeks to understand how knowledge is acquired, justified, and
organized.
Normative Behavior: Ethics or Imorality is a code of values to guide man’s choice
and action, it means it is your knowledge from choosing or making decision. It involves
the study of what is morally right or wrong, good or bad, and the reasons behind ethical
judgments. Politics is a principle of a proper social system, as we know when we
heared the word politics, Government is the first thing that comes in our mind but in
philosophy, politics is where they handled or manage our society. And Aesthetics is a
study of nature of art, the beauty of our nature, our environment.
REASONING AND THEORIES, FACT AND OPINION
It is the method we use in doing philosophy. A Philosophical question was born
with ignorance, It means you are being ignorant about something. And also when a
person keep questioning the more knowledge she/he acquires. And a Logical
Reasoning is where you are thinking about something in logical way to give your
conclusion or judgement on something.
Correspondence Theory tells something is true when if it corresponds a reality, in
what u really see or observe in your sorroundings. And Coherence Theory proposes
something is true if it make sense when it is in a certain situation or context.
Fact is can be tested by observation (observing something), experimentation or
make a research just to show what really the truth and untrue. Opinion is your own
feeling, belief or judgement on about something.
4 METHODS OF PHILOSPHIZING
The first method of philosophizing is the Logic. Logic is a truth which based on
reasoning and critical thinking, like your are thinking deeper about something. Second,
Existentialism is emphasizes the importance of free individual choice, it means your
right to choose and make a decision. Third, Analytic Tradition should apply logical
techniques to attain conceptual clarity. And Lastly is the Phenomenology, it is the study
of structures of consciousness as a experience from the first point of view. In short, it is
ur experience about something that already happened in your life.
HOW DOES PHILOSOPHY VIEW THE NATURE OF MAN?
Man is an important subject in philosophy and understanding the nature and
condition of man is the foremost goal of the discipline. Man is a general term which is
commonly used to refer to the entire human race. Human refers to the man as a
species like homo sapiens or modern human beings. Person is more complex term
which we generally refers to a human being granted recognition of rights, protection and
responsibilities. Self is a person’s essential being that distinguishesthem from others
(ex: yourself). Identity is the distinct personality of an individual. Personhood is the
recognition of human being a distinct identity.
LIMITATIONS OF THE HUMAN PERSONS
Human persons are biologically deficient beings. This means that not all the time,
we can do anything without limitations. For example, we have no natural ability to fly, we
have no wings just like the bird. We can’t even breath underwater without the help of
breathing apparatus.
Possibility is the state of being possible, it is something that might have done or
happened, something possible and or an ability that could make someone or something
better in the future. Transcendence is exceeding usual limits or surpassing, passing out
your limitations.
THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN EMBODIED SPIRIT
As an embodied spirit, it provides us numerous opportunities to explore
everything around us and even within us. Despite this natural limitations, we have used
our intellect to devise means to achieve several feats. The abillity to surpass this limits
is called transcendence. As a persons, we are able to exercise our imagination and
reflection to go beyond our own thoughts and experiences. Although we have physical
limitations, we can transcend them because of our spiritual dimensions. Transcendence
also means overcoming oneself or being control even if the body reminds us of certain
tendencies. A person who has no control over his or her eating habit eventually becoms
unhealthy. A person who allows the pleasure of dangerous drugs to rule over
himbecomes drug addict. In summary, the essence of transcendence is to acknowledge
our limitations, idntity possibilities for development, and change ourselves for the better.
Our possibilities in transcendence give us the opportunity to work toward becoming
better versions of ourselves.
THE 8 CONCEPTS
The Concept of Dread is an individual thrown in the world and left alone to face
what he can do because he did not will for it. The Concept of Being-others-related is
where you have to establish or build a relationship with others in this world. The
Concept of Concern is a person’s relatedness to entities and a person who always
together wth others, in short he/she’s not alone. The Concept of Guilt-feeling is
something that is lacking or mssng n a person. You are not a person if don’t feel guilty.
The Concept of Conscience plays a primary role in recovering from being “lost or fallen”
in the world, like your being conscience of what happened. The Concept of
Resoluteness is a man’s readiness to be called by conscence.