Doing Philosophy - Lesson Notes PDF

DOING PHILOSOPHY LEARNING OBJECTIVES To articulate the nature of the philosophical act; Describe what an insight is; Demonstrate the value of truth; and Explain the importance of philosophy to human life Let us study. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates  Historically,...

DOING PHILOSOPHY LEARNING OBJECTIVES To articulate the nature of the philosophical act; Describe what an insight is; Demonstrate the value of truth; and Explain the importance of philosophy to human life Let us study. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates  Historically, the basic teachings of Socrates are attributed to the writings of his student, Plato. Let us investigate. Socrates taught Western The Socratic Method is called civilization the art of Elenchus, which is a way of questioning, that is Socratic eliciting the truth by Method. question and answer. For him, true learning is not a blind obedience to the teacher. We do not simply follow or accept things. True learning is always dialogical. Socrates: Know Thyself Philosophy is the eternal quest for the truth. For him, the only true knowing is docta ignorantia – It is to know that you do not know. Man is not a raw datum of nature. We are not just a by- product of our biological environment. We are who we are on the basis of true wisdom. Socrates gave up his life teaching this truth. This is what living an ethical life means. True knowledge must lead to real virtue. This virtue is called arete or the virtue of perfection. Not just intellectual wisdom but moral wisdom.  For Socrates, education is the perfection of the human person, that is the whole  Historically, the early Greek thinkers called themselves wise instead of philosopher. The first person who introduced the term philosopher was Pythagoras. But why should we value wisdom and truth?  This is one of the questions that reminds us about the teaching of Socrates. However, by merely asking, one must have already philosophized. To be able to truly philosophize, the individual must go into the nearness of being. But what is being? The question of being brings us into the heart and soul of reality, that is the human life. Thus, philosophy accounts for the method of thinking that involves questioning, critical analysis, reflection, and rational argumentation. Philosophy is both holistic and partial in perspective.  Philosophy as a holistic refers to the unity of thought and experience. To see life as a whole means that one values what it means to be a person.  Philosophy as a partial looks at human reality from specific vantage points. The purpose of such is the functional aspect of philosophy that allows the human mind to look specific problems and address the same using the sophistication of a method that is employed by a particular body of knowledge.  For the Greeks, true education is meant to train the body and soul. Knowledge, in this sense, is about educating the human person as one whole.  Our desire for knowledge As Aristotle must lead to a once said, “all life-long men by nature process, in desire to search of know.” practical wisdom or phronesis.  On the other hand, for Plato, this wisdom leads us to a life of real virtue and in the end, to a life of real happiness or eudaimonia.  Hence, the truth that humans are looking for is the truth about what it means to be human and how we might be able to act more freely. But what exactly is the meaning of life? As Jean Paul Sartre once said, “everything has been figured out, except how to live.” What is an insight?  Insight is a kind of seeing with the mind. Filipino Philosopher Fr. Ferriols As Albert Einstein wonders: “What an extraordinary situation is that of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though sometimes he thinks he feels it.” Einstein’s words are an invitation to wonder about the real meaning of human life. However, the philosophical act does not merely analyze the meaning of words, but it is grounded in experience. Meaning is anchored in our day-to-day existence.  Thus, we need to Insight is something have an insight as to that emerges when the meaning of we are thrown into a reality. situation.  The process of arriving at an insight is called abstraction. Abstraction refers to the analysis of concepts. In this sense, one finds that in doing a conceptual analysis, one can investigate the various aspects of objects. However, as Ferriols suggests, the fact that there are many ways of doing something with an insight shows that certain insights are so rich that they cannot be exhausted by our efforts to clarify them. Primary and Secondary Reflection  Primary reflection refers to the process directed at deriving clear concepts about reality. Gabriel Marcel once said, reflection has its roots in the daily flow of life.  As Marcel continuously thought that the act of reflection is linked, as bone is linked with bone in the human body, to living personal experience; and it is important to understand the nature of this link. Reflection, as he stated that it is not exercised on things that are not worth the trouble reflecting about. Thus, primary reflection makes us see clarity in things objectively.  Furthermore, according to Eduardo Calasanz, in this objective way of looking at things, one takes each of the parts (analysis), study their ordering (systematize) and arrive at some clear and fixed ideas regarding the thing itself (conceptualize).  On the other hand, secondary reflection is the realization of the unity of the situation and the individual which provides us with a holistic view of reality.  So, beyond what is grasped objectively in primary reflection, secondary reflection is the realization of the inseparability of the situation and the individual. Calasanz noted that in this type of investigation, the subject is part of the thing that is being investigated.  This means that we But it does not mean must see human that practicality is a bad experience beyond what thing. What it means is is practical if we are to that the meaning of life see the greater value of is a much deeper and human life. broader question. Problem and Mystery  Life is a question about what it means to be. Truly, it is a part of the mystery of human life that get lost in the many directions and digressions in which one wonders so many times where ideas lead to.  One must find the center of meaning upon which one finds the right reason for living. So, what does it mean to live?  Life is an open-ended question. It is a question that will lead to endless possibilities.  This implies that a person is always faced with a myriad of difficult choices and yet, it is where all hope dwells. Thus, to be truly fair and just, one must make a firm stand.  Taking a stand is to make a statement that one actually and truly lives for something, that is a center in which life  Although, there are many problems and mysteries in life that we cannot fully resolve, the question remains within that is, what is it really that I truly value that makes me truly who I am today?