Grade 11 Philosophy PDF

A. Discovering Philosophical Reflection Have you ever asked this question: “Why do we have to buy food when God created nature where these goods come from?” In life, we ask a lot of questions: “Why am I here?” “Why was I born?’ “What is my purpose in life?”...

A. Discovering Philosophical Reflection Have you ever asked this question: “Why do we have to buy food when God created nature where these goods come from?” In life, we ask a lot of questions: “Why am I here?” “Why was I born?’ “What is my purpose in life?” “Why love when you only get hurt?” “Is there an afterlife?” These are hard questions, yet they are questions that matter to us for they reflect our desire to understand or at least make sense of our experiences. These are what we call philosophical questions. When we ask philosophical questions, we do not simply inquire about a specific question triggered by a certain situation. A philosophical question always contains a bigger problem. “Why are we here?” “Is there a God?” “What happens to us when we die?” “Where did we come from?” “Bakit walang forever?” To not ask a philosophical question is to go through life confused and lost. The only solution is to ask. We cannot begin to know if we do not ask. B. The Universal and the Particular The nature of philosophical questions are divided into two and dealt in a different way: 1. Particular – refers to the part of the whole 2. Universal – pertains to the whole  Example: You can ask the question “Why am I here?” This seems to be a particular question because it seems to be just a question among others being asked. It is a specific question. But when you start thinking about it, you realize it is not confined to just one person or a specific situation. You realize it involves many other questions. Hence, it is a universal question. Here, you can see that philosophical questions cannot be taken in isolation. Notice that just by asking “Why am I here?”, you also have to ask “Who determines our purpose?”, and “What is our purpose?”. You are now seeing life from a holistic perspective. Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), a German who published in Catholic journals, explained the difference between philosophy and science. 1. Science – always confined to the particular 2. Philosophy – “leads into the totality of beings” and “inquires to the whole” 3. Here is an example: When we ask about the essence of human freedom, the problem is not limited to man and freedom. Instead, we find that we cannot avoid asking about the essence of man, the essence of the world, and the essence of God. (Just for additional information, essence is what makes something what it is.) Notice that when we ask a philosophical question about freedom, we venture into an inquiry about the whole. It is no longer a particular problem, but a universal one. Limits are removed and inquiry is broadened. Philosophy has its own methods and criteria of proceeding with its inquiries. There are numerous sources we go to for answers such as books, teachers, parents, internet, television, and others. Yet one of the most famous Greek Athenian philosophers, Plato, warned us as early as 360 B.C.E. that there are things that deceive, confuse, or mislead in this world. Thankfully, God gave us the faculty of reason to figure things out on our own. C. Truths and Dialectics Philosophers rely on the human faculty of reason as they philosophize. Through this rational capacity, they arrived at a technique to resolve philosophical questions. This is called dialectics. Dialectics is the art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions. It is an art of refutation that dates back to the ancient Greeks. Philosophical discovery is seen as a collaboration with partners in dialogue and conversation. This is the reason why the ancient Greek philosophers wrote dialogues, which examines and evaluates truths. Dialogues discusses moral and philosophical problems between two or more characters. These are either dramatic or narrative. Socrates, one of the greatest Greek philosophers, has a method of question and answer which illustrates how views need to be defended with consistency and clarity. It is not enough to claim that something is true. One must give reasons as bases for such a claim to withstand further scrutiny and examination. (This method will be discussed later in Module 3.) When our views are challenged, we feel compelled to defend those very views. Hence, the interplay of opposing views helps us reshape our thinking, making such necessary for progress. Debating amiably (confrontation without aggression) with someone allows us to discover many things. It reveals our beliefs and challenges us to defend those beliefs. This rational activity teaches us to hold on only to those beliefs we defend and to remain open so we can revise our views through time and in collaboration with others. Module 2: The Philosophical Enterprise “One thing I know is I know nothing.” Socrates A. Wonder, Knowledge, Ignorance Do you believe that ignorance will make us wise, but arrogance will not make wisdom possible?  Human beings want to understand the truth because we have not figured out so many things. “Philosophers begin in wonder,” Plato claimed. What is philosophy that it made Plato look at “wondering” beyond the mere childish stuff and coating? Philosophy came from two (2) Greek words: Philo – “love” (a kind of love between friends, not erotic [eros] or unconditional [agape]) Sophia – “wisdom” Hence, philosophy mean “love of wisdom.” Philosophers then are lovers of wisdom. Aristotle, a Great Philosopher who tutored Alexander the Great, stated that wisdom is of two kinds: 1. Theoretical Wisdom – Knowledge of necessary truths and their logical consequences 2. Practical Wisdom - Deals with knowledge in the realm of action Both wisdom are desirable and valuable. Philosophers would have these intuitions, which are beliefs and opinions held by them and people in general. Because they believe that to be wise is the best we ca be, philosophers devote their time to examine these institutions to arrive at a truth. The answers are not based on authority or emotions. Views are scrutinized by the faculty of reason, which separates us from animals, according to Aristotle. In doing philosophy – in actively engaging in the intellectual pursuit of truth, our knowledge of the world can be improved, our minds can be freed from narrow views, and we get to experience the best sort of experience. Philosophy is relevant to every human being. Everyone is free to engage in the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge. As we read the thoughts of philosophers, we are offered views to think about, to learn from, to disagree with, to refute, to modify, to rethink, and to develop.  It is ignorance that makes philosophy possible. Socrates admitted that he is not wise. Hence, the wisdom of Socrates rests in his admission that he is not wise. In admitting that he knows nothing, he is wiser than those who claim they know a lot. Those in search of truth are conscious of their own ignorance. To gain wisdom is to admit he is not yet wise. B. Philosophical Thought in Three (3) Views In the history in search of philosophical questions, three views are dominant: 1. Cosmocentric View Ancient philosophers wondered about the world (kosmos in Greek). The question that concerned them was the origin of the universe – the arche (Greek for starting point). The answer, the philosophers thought, would be a substance responsible for the multiplicity of things. This problem is the concern of a branch in philosophy called cosmology, which is a branch of astronomy concerned with the studies of the origin and evolution of the universe. a. Thales (620-546 B.C.) – believed that water is the principle of all things. b. Anaximenes (585-528 B.C.) – believed it was the air. c. Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans – identified numbers as the first principle because they observed how the world is governed by mathematical ratio. d. The Atomists – speculated that there must be tiny, indivisible, entities called atoms that make up everything. 2. Theocentric View In the medieval period during which the Church sustained man’s intellect, the world became secondary to God (theos in Greek) and Christianity greatly influenced philosophy. Some of the philosophers during this period are the following: a. St. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430) He wrote City of God, which defended the Christian practice of worshipping God alone during the sacking of the barbarians on the Western Roman Empire. b. Avicenna (980 – 1037)  He was a Muslim philosopher who argued that the existence of beings can be traced to another being responsible for their existence. Since an infinite chain is impossible, it has to end at some point. The being in which the chain ends must be self-sufficient and whose very essence is its existence. c. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) A Catholic, he wrote Summa Theologica, which gave an exhaustive explanation of the Christian faith. d. St. Gregory Palamas (1296 – 1359) An Orthodox monk of Mount Athos (modern Greece) and later archbishop of Thessalonica, he is famous for his defense of Hesychasm, a mystical tradition of contemplative prayer. Hesychasm is the process of retiring inward by ceasing to register the senses, in order to achieve an experiential knowledge of God. 3. Anthropocentric View The modern period (1500 – 1900) in philosophy in characterized by subjectivity and individualism, hence, centered on man (anthropos in Greek). Bertrand Russel explained that progress in the scientific field made made man realize the practical utility of as science as a technique rather than a doctrine that explained the nature of the world (1196). This view is divided into two: a. Rationalism This view claim that knowledge is acquired through reason independent of sense experience. i. Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650) – believes that clear and distinct ideas cannot be doubted unlike the data of senses. ii. Plato – believed that ideas alone are real whereas things are illusory. b. Empiricism Holds that all knowledge is ultimately derived from sense experience. John Locke (1632 – 1704) - claimed that the human mind at birth is like a blank sheet of paper (tabula rasa) that is later filled through sense experience.