Philosophy Reviewer - 1st Qtr PDF

Philosophy Born in Samos and later on migrated to Croton A deeper way of thinking or understanding the in southern Italy. things that happen all around us or the things According to a story, he was asked...

Philosophy Born in Samos and later on migrated to Croton A deeper way of thinking or understanding the in southern Italy. things that happen all around us or the things According to a story, he was asked by a local that we do. king if he was a sophist like his contemporaries who considered themselves Philosophy : Meaning and Value as wise men. Philosophy has many meanings and usages Pythagoras answered that he was not a wise (some are common, others profound). man. But, the king inquired further and asked Guiding principle, reason, rational, basis of what he was. something. Pythagoras told the king he was just a The study of the cause of something. philosophus and that he was just trying to Being philosophical search for wisdom. Philosopher v. Pilosopo It was from this answer by Pythagoras that philosophy came to be known as “love of Etymology wisdom.” Philosophia Philien/philo : Love Three Kind of Love according to the Greeks : Sophia : Wisdom Eros - acquisitive love Philosopher : lover of wisdom Philia - friendship Philosophus : someone who searches for truth Agape - unconditional love *But sometimes a person’s ideas go beyond the *According to the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, all men comprehension of their time and thus they end up seek wisdom. being thought of as crazy people. *Therefore all men, regardless of social status, race, *Many people who are pioneers of knowledge are at age, and the like… are philosophers. first thought to be madmen, only after their death do *The search for wisdom is the task of everyone. their ideas become accepted by society. *The object of wisdom is truth. *Even in schools, students think that a philosopher is *The pursuit of truth is therefore the noble aspiration someone who complicates things with the intention of of every rational individual. proving that people are wrong and himself/herself as *It is the objective of philosophy to teach us how to right. reflect on our own experiences, so that we may gain *Although it is true that philosophy usually wisdom. complicates simple things, the true intention of philosophy is to assert that there is still the element of Philosophy : Academic Definition the unthought in everything. Philosophy is defined as : *The world is full of surprises, philosophy makes us ○ Science of all things. able to be constantly aware of these surprises. ○ In their ultimate principles and causes. *One attitude that philosophy wants to instill is the ○ As known by natural reason alone. never ending desire to look at things again. Philosophy : As Science Pythagoras Philosophy is a science because it is not Greek philosopher who coined the term based on mere opinions or untested philosophia or philosophy. hypotheses. One of the wisest men in ancient Greece who The concepts and principles of philosophy are lived between 570 and 495 BC. based on certain facts and they have to be  analyzed, demonstrated, or proven before ★ Philosophy continues to ask questions and being reduced to a system. even though it could not provide exact and definite answers, it nevertheless opens one's Philosophy : As the science of all things mind to the reality of life. Philosophy is considered to be the science of ★ Philosophy encourages people to ask all things or beings of things because it questions to enable them to free their minds studies all realities which can be known and from accepting anything without questioning understood by human reason. it. (critical disposition) ★ Philosophy keeps alive people’s sense of Philosophy : As the science of all things in their wonder by showing them familiar things in ultimate cause and principles their unfamiliar aspects. It investigates, reflects, and understands the ★ With an intellectual or philosophical attitude, fundamental or underlying meanings, reasons, people are able to gain the following practical and causes of things. benefits: 1. They learn how to systematize all important Philosophy : As known by natural reason alone knowledge in the domain of reason. It relies mainly on one’s mental and rational 2. They are guided in their pursuit of truth and capacity. in distinguishing truth from what is false or from mere opinion. ★ Do you think philosophy has value in our 3. They are able to analyze things through an modern world? Why or why not? “intellectual eye” that enables them to see ★ Philosophy does not aim to produce useful or things not only as they appear to the senses material benefits that science and technology but also the underlying causes and meanings give. of these things. ★ Philosophy does not aim to satisfy the material 4. They are able to gain insights into human needs of man. nature; it helps them understand their ★ The objective of philosophy is to provide food capacities and potentials and gives them a for the mind and nourishment for the spirit. better appreciation of themselves. ★ The value of philosophy is found in its ability to provide what the mind or spirit needs. The Art and Wonder of Philosophizing ★ Unlike other physical sciences, philosophy A person is able to see reality from a wider does not offer definitive and exact answers to standpoint if it is unobstructed by questions people ask. misunderstanding, prejudices, or biases. ★ The other sciences can give us clear answers In a philosophical discussion, a person is led because the questions we ask are objective in to his/her questions step by step. (Socratic / nature. maieutic method) ★ Philosophy on the other hand, does not ask questions that are objective like those found in A. Truth the branches of science. - The ancient roots: to know the truth is different from ★ The basic question of philosophy is “why?” believing something to be true ★ For philosophy what is more important is the - We have to be certain what it is to be declared that question rather than answers. is the truth ★ Instead of ceasing the mystery that blankets - This is the reason why we distinguish truth from reality, philosophy nurtures the mystery opinion. There are different views presented to us further as an essential part of reality. every day – in the news, social media, classroom, The human mind is prone to error streets, church, and interactions with people - Realism is opposed to skepticism Problems: - Skepticism asserts the human mind is incapable of 1. Since the beginning of philosophy, it has been attaining the truth recognized that the truth is not readily accessible to - The human mind is prone to error; it is unreliable human beings. Only God, of supreme intelligence, and because the mind is unreliable, the proper possesses all truths. attitude is the suspension of judgment 2. Man has to exert mental effort to know some of - The mental attitude of skepticism is doubt these truths. His rational capacity (reason) is his tool in such endeavors. Relativism Theory - Truth as the object of knowledge cannot be known in Primal Questions are: itself; it can only be known as it is modified by a - How could it be? person - Why do things happen? - For them, truth is always dependent on a person - For what reason do things happen? - Truth then is subjective and therefore relative to the - Answers are found as the human person perception of the subject investigates, evaluates and analyzes. - What is truth for one may not be truth for the other individuals Truth and Theories of Truth - Truth is the proper aim of inquiry Correspondence Theory - Philosophical / Scientific - Proposed by the logical positivist Bertrand Russell - By attaining the truth, people are also able to - Truth is what is said in propositions uttered achieve their goals - A proposition is true if it corresponds with the state - There are philosophical theories about truth and of affairs or with facts how it is acquired - The ball is red, if the ball is red then it is true Realism Coherence Theory - It is the theory about truth which assets that the - A reaction to the correspondence theory human mind knows certain, fundamental, and - Truth cannot be asserted of one proposition, only in immediate truths isolation from other propositions - In judging, the individuals know their intellectual - Truth belongs to the system of propositions capacities - A set of propositions that cohere with one another - For the realist, truth is the conformity of the mind to reality If the statement “the ball is red” is true then it must also be coherent with propositions like “a red apple is Adequatio rei ad intellectus ad rem / The red”, “a red ball is different from a yellow ball,” and “a adequation of things outside of intellect red ball can be used as decor in a Christmas tree.” – - Truth is there conformity with facts between facts For Bradley, it is better than correspondence theory and his ideas - It is the conformity with the knower and the known - There is truth when one says today is Monday - Known as the correspondence theory - Skepticism; yes no or maybe Truth as Value - The mind commits mistakes and arrives at falsehood Aside from these theories: rather than truth more often. 1. Realism 2. Relativism Doubt 3. Pragmatism - Is a state in which the mind suspends its judgment 4. Correspondence or assertion on the truth of a certain proposition or 5. Coherence belief. There are some Philosophers: - Doubt is either positive or negative. Existentialists – who assert that truth is not purely - Doubt can be positive if the evidence for or against a and speculative and it is not purely based on analysis. proposition is equally balanced rendering judgment impossible. Truth is not just an object of the mind or intellectual - It is negative when one has no sufficient evidence speculation. on either side. - Truth is also a matter of conviction. - Can also be either prudent or imprudent. - Truth is also a value that gives meaning to one’s life. - Prudent doubt is based on the reasonableness of - As a value, one can live and die for the truth. the suspension of assent/judgement. - People commit themselves to the truth. - But if someone has a sufficient reason and or basis - But the truth they are fighting for is not, is not an in one's belief and suspends this belief it is imprudent intellectual object or some matter that is only doubt. appreciated by the mind. - Can also be either theoretical or practical. - They are not fighting for the truth if the issue - Practical if it concerns conduct. involved is the sun being the center if the solar system - Theoretical if it is concerned with the subject - a or a path is the one that will lead him/her out of the matter of either reason or faith. An example of Faith is forest. the validity of the afterlife. For the validity of the theory - People fight for the truth because it has a value of evolution. associated with Justice and Peace. - Is a purely subjective condition, which means that it is a state of one’s mind which requires one to judge - Many legislative investigations are carried out in facts and make a decision order to know the truth about certain anomalies because for them it is simply important to know the truth. - The truth that they are searching for cannot be simply categorized under correspondence or coherence theories. For example, when Christ said “I am the way, the truth and the life” He did not mean truth as a mental object but the truth as a value. Skepticism, Doubt and Opinion - Skepticism theory says the human mind cannot attain the truth. - The human mind is unreliable because people are prone to error and there is a prevalence of error in truth. Phenomenology tradition. And this is not the negation of tradition or Pheno - based on experience condemnation of it as worthless, quite the reverse, it Eidos - essence signified positive appropriation of tradition – Martin - studying how we think Heidegger **Consciousness of - mental act; mind at work; intentional(ity) Epoche Phenomenology - Phenomenology brings insight back to life by Intentionality experiencing the truth of their inception - Dietrich von Hildebrand – together with other - The insight of Plato or Aristotle, or Augustine or phenomenological realists – does not use this Kant, comes suddenly to life again through expression in its ordinary sense based on everyday phenomenological research instead of positions that language which is “on purpose” might be summarized in an encyclopedia article or - rather, following the way in which Franz Brentano memorized by wary undergraduates, these claims introduces it and Edmund Husserl used it, he uses it become invested with a power to express the to designate a conscious experience which is wondrous truth of things object-directed, which can exist only if there is an - grappling with the tradition thereby allows us to object the person having the experience is aware of register the inveterate prejudices of our own time and - thus in this sense, love is the intention – one can provokes us to see more the inexhaustible field of experience it only if one is aware of something or experience someone lies; so is hated, envy, or joy about a birthday present Authority – the way in which we argue - In contrast, a state of depression or euphoria which - Using an expert / bigger person are side effects of a medication that a physician has prescribed are conscious experiences which are not Intentionality intentional; these experiences are not “about” How do we bracket? something. Although they must have a cause one can Why do we need to bracket? have these experiences without even knowing what What are we going to bracket? (preconceived notions) the cause is - Suspending our biases - seeing and hearing things and all other sense perceptions are also intentional WESTERN CONCEPTION OF MAN - you need a direct object; being convinced needs an A. Plato object; conviction is intentional - Student of Socrates, believed that there are two types of world, the ideal and the Epoche material. - the philosophical epoche that we should adopt to - Material world that we see is just a copy of the ideal put it formally, consists in the fact that we completely world. withhold the doctrinal content of all previous - The things that we experience in the material world philosophies and carry out all our demonstrations are not true reality. within the framework of withholding such judgment - Ideal world bears what is perfect and - Heidegger develop the relationship to tradition and True. argues that phenomenology can make progress only by dismantling the philosophical tradition B. Body and Soul - construction on philosophy is necessarily - Our human soul preexisted in the ideal world, and destruction, that is to say, a destruction of traditional thus has knowledge about ideas. concepts carried out in a historical recursion to the - We have knowledge about beauty, justice, goodness, - The most important faculty of these 3 is the will and etc. since it signifies that the most important function of - But when the soul is united with the body hence, we man is to love. forget our previous experiences with the ideas. We - But loving is related to understanding. Because the remember them when we experience things in the will is free, the soul tends to be restless. material world. - This restlessness prompts the soul to search for - Man has to control his bodily desires in order to meaning and truth. detach from the material world. - Man needs the grace of the supreme being. (faith) - We need personal virtues. 2. Aquinas - Philosophers must have a sound mind in a sound - Followed Aristotle's conception of man as body and body. soul. - Man is a rational being and has 3 faculties namely, C. Aristotle vegetative, sentient, and rational. - Student of Plato. - Man is a human person, that is, a concrete, existing - Man is composed of two components body and the human individual. soul, but not the same as what Plato thinks (world of - A human person is a spiritual being because - is a ideas and material) rational which is based on his/her intellective or - Ideas aro product of one's own mind or thinking rational soul. - Man is a rational being capable of conceiving ideas. - The rational soul is the basis of its spiritual - The soul did not pre-exist in a separate ideal world. capacities or faculties of intelligence and will. - The very foundation of his/her being a person. D. The Soul as Principle of Life - Though human beings are composed of both Every living being has soul because it has life. spiritual and corporeal (spirit and body), it is the spirit Sentient that affords him/her dignity. Vegetative - The spiritual component of the person that is made Rational after God the Supreme Being's image. 3 Kinds of Soul - The human person is made in the image of the Proper to animals Supreme Being because of his/her capacity for Proper to plants understanding and for making free decisions as a The soul of man master of himself/ herself E. Medieval Philosophers > Two of the main Medieval philosophers, who 1. St. Augustine followed the Greek tradition of Plato and Aristotle. - Idea of humanity was created in the image of God > Their notion of Man is guided by their faith. the Supreme Being. > Their main idea is that man is a being created in the - The world was created by the Supreme image of the supreme being. - Being without anything, and through His free act. - Human Soul as spiritual, simple, and immortal. - 3 functions of the Soul: being. understanding and loving. - These functions correspond to the three faculties of man, namely, intellective memory, intelligence and will. F. Human Persons as Being-in-the- For the Existentialists World and Embodied Subjectivity. - they refrain from solving this problem. (solving what - The human person is a subject who exists, and acts is facticity and transcendence) in the world. - It is one character of human existence wherein we - The world where he/she expresses his/ her cannot really gauge how much of what we see or have personality. ideas, intentions, and desires. It is in us or in our situation arc independent of us and expressed through his/her embodiment - through form part of our facticity. being a body: - Our attitude toward those that we cannot change, is part of our transcendence or possibility. Human Existence - No person exists or lives in a vacuum. We find the The Human Person as Being-in-the-World human person existing or living or going about his - The idea of being in the world is introduced by /her life in concrete situations. Martin Heidegger - There are factors and conditions that shape and - What does world mean here? condition his/her life. - The world could have many meanings; it could mean - Human is a specific individual and actual, his or her a physical space or the totality of the objects in the existence and life is always within a specific situation. world. - As human people, we always find ourselves in a - But for Heidegger, the world is not just a space or concrete human situation. the totality of objects in this space; the world includes - No person exists or lives in a vacuum. We find the the interconnection of these objects and our relations human person existing or living or going about his/her with these life in concrete situations. objects whether we use, consume, or manipulate - There are factors and conditions that shape and them. condition his/her life. - The world is certainly composed of different - Human is a specific individual and actual, his or her physical objects, but there are objects that are not existence and life is always within a specific situation. within our reach; there are some objects that we do - As human people, we always find ourselves in a not use, and do not have any dealings with. concrete human situation. - Since we do not have any connection or relation to, our use of them, or dealings with some of these Human situations 2 characteristic features: objects, they do not belong to our world. - Facticity, those features or conditions that are given - So when we say World it is what is nearest to us- to us and fixed from without. Those are beyond our environment. control and most likely, we are just born into or with it - It is not only composed of objects but also of like our gender, our color, our family, our physical people. features, or the physical and social environment. - we communicate with them, namely our family, - Transcendence refers to the features or conditions friends, associates, and members of the community. of our existence which have been decided and created by us; they are within our control; hence, we can either change them or go beyond them; these are our thoughts and actions, our decisions and choices, our dreams and attitudes these are features of which we can change because they originate from us. Harmony with Nature Catholic Church - Everyone knows that we are in the world. The fact - Pope Francis released the Encyclical Laudato Si! On that we exist tells us that we are on earth May 24, 2015. - Human beings and the evolution of their The encyclical is entitled Laudato Si "LAUDATO SI, mi consciousness as thinking beings have been unfolding Signore" - "Praise be to you, my Lord". In the words of in a concrete context, the environment this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds - Human beings have been establishing civilization in us that our common home is like a sister with whom different conditions and contexts of the environment we share our life and a beautiful mother opens her - Humans can only live and realize themselves in the arms to embrace us. environment - Human actions reveal the inward being of a human Pacem in Terris (1963) being - Pope John XXIII wrote an encyclical, which not only - always a source of knowledge of their self-being; rejected war but offered a proposal for peace. always self-knowledge - He addressed his message Pacem in Terris to the - As human beings act, it affects their movement and entire "Catholic world" and indeed "to all men and activities including consciousness of the environment women of good will". Now, faced as we are with global environmental deterioration, I wish to address every Karol Wojtyla person living on this planet. - the environment enables human beings to exist and act together with others Laudato Si - Believes that human action “ought to be helpful in - This sister now cries out to us because of the harm the cognitive actualization of the potentialities” we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and - "development must not be understood solely in abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. economic terms but in a way that is fully human." We have come to see ourselves as her lords and - It is not only a question of raising all peoples to the masters, entitled to plunder her at will. level currently enjoyed by the richest countries, but rather of building up a more decent life through united Human Beings Encounter with the Environment labor, of concretely enhancing every individual's - The kind of relationship that a human being dignity and creativity, as well as his capacity to established with the environment depends on how respond to his personal vocation, and thus to God's she is perceived. call. - The apex of development is the exercise of the right and duty to seek God, to know him and to love by that knowledge." -JP2 Centesimus Annus HUMAN BEINGS AS THE SUMMIT OF CREATION - Side-by-side with the miseries of Emmanuel Levinas underdevelopment. themselves unacceptable, we - From the Textbook a human being’s action is for the find ourselves up against a form of good of the other and not for his or her own good. superdevelopment, equally inadmissible, because like the former it is contrary to what is good and true The “There Is” Happiness - It deals with that I call the “there is” [il y a]My - This superdevelopment, which consists in an reflection on this subject starts with childhood excessive availability of every kind of material good memories. One sleeps alone, the adults continue life; for the benefit of certain social groups the child feels the silence of his bedroom, as “rumbling” Rumbling Silence - Human beings is alienated from the environment. - It is resembling what one hears when one puts an - Human being see environment as standing reserved empty shell close to the ear, as if the emptiness can entity and excludes all its potentials and possibilities also feel when one thinks that even if there were as the other. nothing, the fact that “there is” is undeniable. Not that there is this or that; but the very scene of being is C. No Bio-community open: there is. - Humans are more concerned for their enrichment at - In the absolute emptiness that one can imagine the expense of the environment. before creation – there is. Modern Technology has contributed to the I-it attitude Heidegger, Gagarin and Us (1961) - Emmanuel Levinas draws in his short text D. Environment as subject in I-Thou relation “Heidegger, Gagarin and us”. This distinction - Human being sees environment as standing addresses the relation between men and place either reserved entity and excludes all its potentials and as an attachment to place or as a freedom with regard possibilities as the other. to place Buber (1970) A New Perspective (Arthur Coolsation) - The basic word I – Thou can only be spoken with - I question this opposition from a contemporary one’s whole being. perspective in environmental philosophy, namely - Genuine dialogue, human existence is fully realized. from the growing awareness of the interconnectedness between place and Earth. I SAPAT PRINCIPLES contend that this new perspective changes the 1. Sapat na ang pagkasira ng kalikasan! (Enough of understanding of dwelling today because of Earth’s the destruction of the environment) exteriority with regard to place. I argue that this 2. Sapat lamang ang kunin mula sa kalikasan. (Take exteriority is neither infinite nor a totality. only what is enough from nature.) 3. Sapat lamang ang kain at bilhin. (Eat only what is enough and buy only what is needed.) DIALOGICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMAN 4. Sapat dapat mayroon ang bawat tao sa kanyang BEINGS AND ENVIRONMENT pangangailangan upang mabuhay ng malusog at A. Environment as an Object of Human Being’s marangal. (Each person must have enough to sustain Existence a healthful and dignified life.) - I–It relation, human being sees the environment through the lens of his / her own need and perception. B. I-It Relation - In such situation, dialogue cannot be unfolded because he or she denies the being, the abilities and potentialities of the environment including its consciousness - Human being alone is active and the environment is considered as mere object to be experienced and used; seen as mere commodity. - Humans are more concerned for their enrichment at the expense of the environment.