Doing Philosophy PDF

Doing Philosophy Combining the concepts of the western and eastern Philo, how do we define Philosophy now? “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”...

Doing Philosophy Combining the concepts of the western and eastern Philo, how do we define Philosophy now? “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” WITH THE BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY - This means the general of all things would always be greater than bits connected Philosophical Reflection together. “...Observation of the internal operations of mind... Some examples of reflection are perceiving, ELEPHANT and the BLIND MEN thinking, doubting, believing, reasoning, knowing, and willing” - John Locke Why is there a need to Philosophize? 1. Plato- Great Philosopher SENSE OF WONDER Confronted with experience Overbounding curiosity “The perspective drives the need to philosopher to question, examine, and learn more.” This describes the: 2. Rene Descartes – 15th Cen. French Philosopher “Need to philosophize to Doubt.” This method of examining ideas and PARTIAL PARTIAL perspective became the basis of critical thinking and analysis in the science. VIEW VIEW 3. Karl Jaspers – 20th Cen. Swiss-German PARTIAL PARTIAL Philosopher “Need to philosophize because of Experience.” VIEW VIEW He believed that man is often confronted by experiences which challenge his ideas and framework. a perspective that focuses on specific He believes, philosophy provides us a aspects of the situation. means to understand adverse or challenging conditions, and to rise HOLISTIC above them and gain new knowledge Refers to a perspective that considers and perspective. large-scale patterns in the system. This is also 4. Socrates – Greek Philosopher looking at a bigger picture of the situation rather He believes, seeks to continue to than just the parts. This also collates the partial question, to probe, and to discuss in perspective and evaluates them in order to have a order to get to the bottoms of things. complete idea of something. “I know that I do not know….” “The unexamined life is not worth living” Eastern/Oriental Philosophy - This seeks to understand the meaning of existence and how to live our lives. Thus. it Framework – is defined as a way of thinking includes what reality, morality, and the meaning about the world an is composed of views and and value of life. beliefs of a person. Western/ Occidental Philosophy- The SCIENCE of BEINGS in their ULTIMATE REASONS, CAUSES, AND PRINCIPLES acquired by the AID of HUMAN REASON ALONE. 1  Determining truth in this case requires a person to Methods of prove a statement through an action. This can be true if they can be applied in real life. Claims and beliefs should also be subjected to tests Philosophizing to determine truth and to prove their validity. Discovering truths about oneself is merely the FIRST step toward exploring knowledge and truth. Truth lies at the heart of any inquiry. Knowledge must be fruitful to gain validity and How can philosophy guide us in distinguishing truth acceptance. Philosophers consider truth as a kind of from opinion? quality or value. OPINION - Statements that provide PROPOSITIONS are statements about the world or conclusions or perspectives regarding reality and may or may not carry truth. certain situations CONCLUSION - A judgement based on What is truth and why is it important? certain facts but can still be contested or KNOWLEDGE - Is the clear awareness and questioned. BELIEFS - Statements that express understanding of something... the product of convictions that are not easily and clearly questioning that seeks for clear answers provided by explained by facts. facts.... our knowledge is comprised of ideas and EXPLANATION - Statements that assume beliefs that we know to be true... the claim to be true and provide reasons why. CLAIMS - There are statements that are not ARGUMENT - Series of statements that evidently or immediately known to be true. Further provide reasons to convince the examination is required to establish its truthfulness. reader/listener that a claim or opinion is truthful. TRUTHFUL STATEMENTS - Statements that are LOGIC - A branch of Philosophy that focuses based on facts. Science considers truth as something on the analysis of arguments observable and empirical. While, Philosophy has various views What should we consider when looking at arguments or opinions? ✔ When looking at an opinion, be aware of BIAS. Biases are not necessarily errors in reasoning but refer to tendencies or influences which affect the views of people. HOW CAN UNDERSTANDING of the DIFFERENCE between TRUTH and OPINION LEAD US TO WISDOM? Improve understanding and appreciation of varied views and ideas. Help to form one's own personal point of view Help determine ideas that are truthful and acceptable Philosophical Doctrines Ancient and Medieval Modern and Philosophers contemporary Philosophers Essentialists Existentialists Essentialism 2  Believes in the "real true essence, Only the human person is capable of higher invariable, or fixed property that define order thinking by relying on the following what an entity is in its truest sense" types of senses: There is an "ultimate reality" (Physical Faculties) 1. Permanent 1. External (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, 2. Unalterable and touching) 3. Eternal 2. Internal (memory, imagination, The human nature has more than just a physical consciousness, and instinct) body: (Spiritual Faculty) 1. Eternal 3. The mind as its locus and thinking, its central 2. Unchanging human nature activity Buddhism Plato In order to seek out reality, man must attain full One of the first essentialists enlightenment; only humans have the rational Believed in the concept of ideal forms quality to become a Buddha or the enlightened one "The here and now is not the real world." (Nakamura, 2016) "This world is just a shadow or a poor copy of the really, real world." The Ultimate Truth "The human person will always seek the truth, Existentialism specifically the ultimate truth, because that is what FOCUS IS THE INDIVIDUAL PERSON - "Humans are he is bound to do in accordance with his nature" totally free and must take responsibility and define the meaning of their own lives.” Opinion Freedom, action, and decision are fundamental A judgment, viewpoint, or statement that is THE ULTIMATE REALITY IS FREE CHOICE - A human considered to be subjective person is "thrown into" a tangible, physical, real It is formed based on the person's understanding, universe. "Existence precedes essence" feelings, or desires about matters, topics, issues, or concerns Jean-Paul Sartre "Man exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and Immanuel Kant only afterwards, defines himself. If man conceives Considered as the central figure of modern him, is indefinable, it is because he is nothing. Only philosophy afterward will he be something, and he himself will The human person has three ways of "taking- have made what he will be." something- to-be-true" (Fürwahrhalten) - a “Lived experiences, are the most important reality” judgment that a cognition which is presented is true Three Ways of Fürwahrhalten Subjectivity vs. Objectivity a) Opinion - conscious acceptance of a claim Subjectivity - influences, informs, or biases the without subjective or objective grounds/ person's judgment about truth and reality. A foundation collection of meanings that are specific to a person. b) Knowledge - conscious judgment on the Objectivity - a state of true quality free from biases, basis of both subjective and objective interpretations, feelings, or imaginings. grounds c) Belief - conscious acceptance of a claim on What is "TRUTH"? the basis of a subjective ground but without The term 'truth' is difficult to singularly define any objective ground In philosophy, there is no generally acceptable Among the three, opinion is the most problematic. definition of truth. There are, however, various It is neither subjectively nor subjectively sufficient theories of truth (Estaris & Gallinero, 2017). It is a form of preliminary judging. The Seeking of the Truth by the Human Person Conviction vs. Persuasion Truth can only be convincing if it is necessarily valid for everyone 3  Conviction gives rise to assertion Popularized by: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel & Persuasion can be taken as valid only privately Karl Marx The difference between conviction and persuasion can be known only by communicating with others HERMENEUTICS The term hermeneutics is usually associated with How to Evaluate Opinions the Greek god, Hermes, who was the messenger 1) Source to evaluate a source, one must between gods and humans. consider: It is derived from hermêneuein or hermêneusai and a. reputation hermêneia, which means interpreting or b. audience whom it was intended for interpretation (Keane & Lawn, 2016 & Malpas & c. whether authentic documents were Gander, 2015). provided as proof This process refers to the understanding of a 2) Reliability - how reliable is the person giving particular reality. As a method, hermeneutics "offers the opinion? Asses how long the person has a toolbox for efficiently treating problems of the spent studying the topic and how wide interpretation of human actions, texts, and other his/her experience is in relation to the topic meaningful material (Mantzavinos, 2020)." 3) Purpose - Why was the information given? Is the gist of the information to convince or PHENOMENOLOGY persuade? Make sure to evaluate a Greek words: phainomenon, which means particular viewpoint for reasoning and appearance, evidence logos, which means study or reason. 4) Bias - Does the author give partiality, A phenomenon is that which appears to the preference, or prejudice for or against and consciousness of the mind. idea/ subject matter? Phenomenology investigates the essence of nature of the things that appear to a person. Edmund Husserl started this method. OPINION Belief, impression, or judgment about Phenomenological Strategies: something but not necessarily based on 1. Bracketing facts. 2. Eidetic reduction. Prevails personal view of a person/thing Content is subjective or not well supported EXISTENTIALISM by available evidence. (John Corvino, 2015) This method emphasizes the person’s lived TRUTH experience to get to the true meaning of reality. Something that has been proven by facts, is observable LOGIC (in science), or sincerity. It is a science that focuses on the analysis and A kind of quality and value construction of arguments. (in Philosophy) Has objective content and is well supported Kinds of Reasoning by available evidence. (John Corvino, 2015) 1. INDUCTIVE moves from specific premises to a general SOCRATIC METHOD conclusion This method refers to a process of asking open- 2. DEDUCTIVE moves from a ended questions that are committed to finding the general premise to a more truth. specific conclusion Fallacies DIALECTICAL METHOD It is a defect in an argument other than its having It is a method of studying and understanding the false premises. real development and change (Cornforth, 2015). Kinds of fallacies The formula of the dialectical method is a thesis ❖ Appeal to pity (Argumentum ad versus antithesis results in synthesis. misericordiam) - A specific kind of appeal to 4  emotion in which someone tries to win related meanings, all of them derived from the support for an argument or idea by word's literal meaning (from Latin) of climbing exploiting his or her opponent's feeling of pity or guilt. or going beyond, that correspond with Ancient ❖ Appeal to Ignorance (Argumentum ad philosophy, Medieval philosophy, and modern ignorantiam) - Whatever has not been philosophy. The concept of transcendence, proven false must be true or vice versa together with its paired concept immanence, is ❖ Equivocation - The logical chain of reasoning of a term or a word several times a common philosophical term and is used by but giving the particular word a different many philosophers. The meaning of the concept meaning each time. of transcendence more or less differs according ❖ Against the Person (Argumentum ad to each philosopher's framework of thought. hominem) - attacking the person's character rather than the logic or content of Transcendence often refers to an experience the argument with the divine or God, which is conceived ❖ Appeal to Force (Argumentum ad baculum) - argument where force, coercion, or the as absolute, eternal, and infinite. Negative threat of force is given as a justification for theology and mysticism recognizes the limits of a conclusion conceptual understanding or linguistic ❖ Appeal to the people (Argumentum ad articulation of that which transcends the populum) - argument that appeals to or exploits people's vanities, desire for esteem, phenomenal world. Negative theology in and anchoring on popularity. Concludes that particular is an example of an attempt to a proposition must be true because many or describe what is transcendent by negating what most people believe it. is finite and relative. ❖ False Cause (Post hoc) - One reason is that since an event occurred before another, According to Thomas Merton (1948), a Trappist then the first event caused the other monk, there is no other way for us to find who ❖ Appeal to Tradition - The idea is acceptable we are than finding in ourselves the divine because it has been true for a long time. ❖ Hasty generalization - One reaches an image. We have to struggle to regain inductive generalization based on spontaneous and vital awareness of our own insufficient evidence. Conclusion without spirituality. Merton talks about a continual considering all of the variables ❖ Begging the question (petitio principii) - movement away from inner and outer idols and The proposition to be proven is assumed toward union with the desert God of his implicitly or explicitly in the premise of Christian faith. circular reasoning. Kant characterized his critical philosophy as "transcendental" as an attempt to explain the possibility of experience. While Kant's use of the Introduction: TRANSCENDENCE IN THE term is unique to him, Husserl also adopted the GLOBAL AGE Kantian notion in his phenomenology. Though there are many aspects of Transcendence (Philosophy) transcendence, this lesson will cover three In philosophy, main spiritual philosophies: Hinduism, the adjective transcendental and the Buddhism, and Christianity. noun transcendence convey three different but 5  THE HUMAN PERSON AS EMBODIED SPIRIT In this section, the learner is expected to understand the human person as an embodied spirit as well as distinguish Hinduism his/her own limitations and the possibilities of his/her transcendence. At the heart of Hinduism lies the idea of human beings' quest for absolute truth, so that one's Objectives: soul and the Brahman or Atman (Absolute 1.) To recognize own limitations or possibilities Soul) might become one. for one's transcendence. 2.) To evaluate own limitations and the Human beings have a dual nature: possibilities for one's transcendence. 1. one is the spiritual and immortal 3.) To recognize how the human body imposes essence (soul) limits and possibilities for 2. empirical life and character. transcendence. 4.) To distinguish the limitations and The existence of the body is considered as nothing more than an illusion and even an possibilities for transcendence. obstacle to an individual's realization of one's real self. Hindus generally believe that the soul is eternal but bound by the law of Karma (action) to the world of matter. Transmigration or metempsychosis is a doctrine that adheres to the belief that a person's soul passes into some other Christianity creature, human, or animal. Biblical God and Humanity Moksha is an enlightened state wherein one attains one's true selfhood This section looks at the reasonableness of beliefs in Gods existence. We shall treat the and finds oneself with the One, the statement that "God exists" as a hypothesis, Ultimate Reality, the All-Comprehensive which we call the theistic hypothesis. For Reality: Brahman. Augustine, Christianity, as presenting the full Samsara - Cycle of life and death; a revelation of the true God is the only true and full philosophy. state of "nothingness" The goal of human life is conceived by the different Upanishads is to overcome congenital 6  ignorance. The Upanishads or sometimes in turn gave assurance of entrance into Nirvana (enlightened wisdom) at death. referred to as Vedanta, the concepts of Brahman and Atman (soul, self) are central "FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS" ideas in all the Upanishads, with "Know your 1. Life is full of suffering Atman" as their thematic focus. 2. Suffering is caused by passionate desires, lusts, cravings For Hinduism, one's whole duty is to achieve 3. Only as these are obliterated, will suffering self-knowledge in order to achieve self- cease 4. Such eradication of desire may be accomplished annihilation and absorption into the Great Self. only by following the Eightfold Path of earnest Hinduism is one of the oldest Eastern traditions, endeavour practiced by hundreds of millions of people for about 5,000 years. The Aum The root of the universe and everything that exists and it continues to hold everything together. "EIGHTFOLD PATH" 1. Right belief and acceptance of the "Fourfold Truth" 2. Right aspiration for one's self and for others 3. Right speech that harms no one 4. Right conduct, motivated by goodwill toward all human beings 5. Right means of livelihood or earning one's living BUDDHISM: FROM TEARS TO ENLIGHTENMENT by honourable means 6. Right endeavour, or effort to direct one's "Like stars fading and vanishing at dawn, Like energies toward wise ends bubbles on a fast moving stream, Like morning 7. Right mindfulness in choosing topics for thought dewdrops evaporating on blades of grass, like candle 8. Right medication, or concentration to the point flickering in a stormy wind, echoes, mirages, and of complete absorption in mystic ecstasy phantoms hallucinations and like a dream." - The Buddha RECOGNIZE THE HUMAN BODY IMPOSES LIMITS AND POSSIBILITIES FOR TRANSCENDENCE Buddhism, is a major Eastern tradition, contained in the teachings of it's founder, Siddharta Gautama or The A. HINDUISM: Reincarnation and Karma Buddha. The teaching of Buddha has been set forth Essential Hinduism is based on the belief in karma and traditionally in the "Four Noble Truths" leading to the has its first literary expression in Upanishads. Everything "Eightfold Path" to perfect character or arhatship, which in this life is a consequence of actions performed in 7 previous existence.For the Jains, there is nothing A. FORGIVENESS migthier in the world than karma; karma tramples down When we forgive, we are freed from our anger and all powers. bitterness because of the actions and/or words of another. B. BUDDHISM: Nirvana Nirvana means the state in which one is B. THE BEAUTY OF NATURE absolutely free from all forms of bondage and There is perfection in every single flower; this is attachment. It means to overcome and remove the what the three philosophies believed. For a hug, for cause of suffering. It is also who is unencumbered from every sunrise and sunset, to eat together as a family, are all the fetters that bind a human being in existence. our miracles. The Buddha's silence is due to his awareness that nirvana is a state that transcends every mundane C. VULNERABILITY experience and cannot be talked about. Nirvana is To be invulnerable is somehow inhuman. To be beyond the sense, language and thought. This way of life vulnerable is to be human. The experience that we are conforms to Buddha's teaching that wisdom consists in contingent, that we are dependent for our existence on treading the Middle Way, avoiding the extreme of another is frightening. asceticism, inactivity and indifference on the one hand and that of frantic activity and mindless pursuit of D. FAILURE pleasure on the other. Our failures force us to confront our weaknesses and limitation. When a relationship fails, when a student DISTINGUISH THE LIMITATIONS AND POSSIBILITIES FOR fails a subject, when our immediate desires are not met, we are confronted with the possibility of our plans and TRANSCENDENCE yet, we are forced to surrender to a mystery or look A. It is the spiritual that endures and is ultimately real. upon a bigger world. B. There is the preoccupation with the inner life the road to enlightenment that stretches E. LONELINESS not outward but inward. Our loneliness can be rooted from our sense of C. There is an emphasis on the non-material oneness of creation. vulnerability and fear of death. D. There is the acceptance of direct awareness as the only way to understand what is F. LOVE real. To love is to experience richness, positivity and E. There is a healthy respect for tradition but never a transcendence. Life is full of risks, fears and slavish commitment to it. commitment, pain and sacrificing and giving up thing/s we want for the sake of the one we love. Evil and Suffering Suffering is close to the heart of biblical faith. In comparison with the Buddha, who saw life in suffering and tried to control it instead of cursing it, Job, of the Old Testament, did not just complain. In, Christianity, suffering leads to the Cross, the symbol of reality of God's saving love for the human being. Suffering, in Buddhism, gives rise to comparison for suffering humanity. 3.2 EVALUATE OWN LIMITATIONS AND THE POSSIBILITIES FOR THEIR TRANSCENDENCE 8