INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN PERSON
PHILO 001
LESSON1: DOING PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY is a deeper way of understanding all the things that happens around us.
HOLISTIC POINT OF VIEW
● View of all aspects of a given situation.
● General overview or making a conclusion.
PARTIAL POINT OF VIEW
(BIASED)
● Consider only limited number of aspects of a given problem or solution.
● Conclusions are done by NOT considering all the sides of story/problem.
MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY
● Came from 2 GREEK words
PHILO SOFIA
PHILOSOPHY is the science that by natural light of reason studies the first causes or
highest principles of all things.
ORIGIN
● MILETUS, GREECE
● THALES - FATHER OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY
“There is One in the Many”
SCIENCE
● The investigation is systematic (step by step).
● It is organized body of language.
NATURAL LIGHT OF REASON
● PHILOSOPHY explores things, without using any other laboratory/ investigative tools
● Do NOT base on supernatural revelation (THEOLOGY).
● PHILOSOPHER use natural capaticity to think, simply human reason alon or “unaided
reason”.
STUDY OF ALL THINGS
● Sets a distinction between Philosophy and Sciences
° ANTHROPOLOGY
° SOCIOLOGY
● PHILOSOPHY is NOT ONE DIMENTIONAL or PARTIAL
FIRST CAUSE / HIGHEST PRINCIPLE
PRINCIPLE OR IDENTITY
● Everything is its own being, and not being is not.
PRINCIPLE OF NON CONTRADICTION
● Impossible for a thing to be and not to be at the same time, same aspect.
PRINCIPLE OF MIDDLE EXCLUDED
● Must be either be or not be between being and not being their is NO MIDDILE
GROUND.
PRINCIPLE OF SUFFIECIENT REASON
● Nothing exist without suffient.
BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
METAPHYSICS
● Study of existence
● Study of “ultimate reality” or how things really are.
● Fundamental and necessary drive in human being to know what is real.
● Foundation of Philosophy.
3 PARTS OF METAPHISICS ACCORDING TO ARISTOTLE
● Ontology - study of being and existence.
● Natural Theology- study of God, Religion, etc.
● Universal Science -tudy of the first principle of logic and reasoning.
EPISTEMOLOGY
● Study of knowledge.
● Three conditions that justified belief are:
°Truth
°Belief
° Justification
ETHICS
● Study of action.
● Explores the nature moral virtue and evaluates human action.
● A system of moral principle
3 STANDARD OF PLEASURE
● Cynicism - living simple life is better.
●
● Hedonism - maximizing pleasure, minimizing pain
●
● Epictetus - contentment, serenity, and peace of mind should be our way of life.
AESTHETIC
● Study of ART
● A nature and appreciation of art, beauty, and good taste.
● Defined as “ critical reflection on art, culture, and nature”.
● What makes something beautiful, sublime, disgusting, fun, cute, silly, entertaining,
etc.
IMMANUEL KANT
“Beauty is subjective and universal”.
LOGIC (LOGOS)
● Study of reasoning, study of principles and criteria of valid inference and
demonstration.
● Attempts to distinguish good and bad reasoning.
● Study of rules
● Consistency- none of the theorems or the system contradict one another.
● Soundness- system’s rules or proof will never allow a false inference from a
true premise.
● Completeness- there are no true sentences in the system that cannot, at least
principle, be proved in the system.
LESSON 2: METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING
● It is an approach that attempt to provide a framework in a reason that can explain all
questions and problems to human life.
● To think / express oneself in a philosophical manner.
● A matter from a philosophical standpoint.
°Phenomenology
°Existentialism
°Post-Modernism
° Analytic Tradition
EPISTEMOLOGY
● Study of knowledge.
● Three conditions that justified belief are:
°Truth
°Belief
° Justification
SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE
● Reason
● Intuition
● Testemony
● Memory
● Perception
Why does Epistemology matters?
● To distinguish truth and knowledge.
● Builds the foundation for how we think critically.
● Leads us to ask: How do we philosophize well?
PHENOMENOLOGY
On Consicousness
● Truth is based on the person’s counsicousness.
EXISTENTIALISM
On Freedom
● Truth is based on exercising choices and personal freedom.
POST- MODERNISM
On Cultures
● All truth is relative, but not absolute.
ANALYTIC TRADITION
On Language
● Truth is a product of sound understanding of language.
