Philosophy of Filipino Thought and Values PDF

**METAPHYSICS**- Is really only an extension of a fundamental and necessary drive inevery human being to know what is real. **ETHICS-** It explores the nature of moral judgments. Philosophical ethics attempts to proven an account of our fundamental ethical ideas. **EPISTEMOLOGY-** Specifically,...

**METAPHYSICS**- Is really only an extension of a fundamental and necessary drive inevery human being to know what is real. **ETHICS-** It explores the nature of moral judgments. Philosophical ethics attempts to proven an account of our fundamental ethical ideas. **EPISTEMOLOGY-** Specifically, it deals with nature, sources, limitations, and validity of knowledge. Epistemology questions are basic to all other philosophical inquiries. **LOGIC**- Reasoning is the concern of the logician. Logic is not interested in what we know regarding certain subjects. Its concern, rather, is the truth or the validity of our arguments regarding such objects. to plan and dream how to make it beautiful. Aesthetics Is the science of the beautiful in its various manifestations. **THE IMPORTANCE OF AESTHETIC** 1\. *It vitalizes our knowledge* - It makes our knowledge of the world alive and useful. 2\. *It helps us to live more deeply and richly* - A work of art-whether a book, a piece of music, painting, or a television show helps us to rise from purely physical existence into the realm of intellect and spirit. 3\. *It brings us in touch with our culture* -Things about us change so rapidly today that we forget how much we owe to the past. **B. Filipino Thinking: From Local to Global** **1. LOOB: HOLISTIC AND INTERIOR DIMENSIONS -** Kagandahang-loob, kabutihang-loob and kalooban are terms that show sharing of one\`s self to others. Filipino believes the innate goodness of the human being.Filipino ethics has an internal code and sanction that flow from within itself. **2. FILIPINO PHILOSOPHY OF TIME-**Often, Filipino time is mistakenly interpreted as always delayed in the committed time of arrival. This notion can be misleading since the Filipino Farmers are early risers to go to their field and waste no time for work. The concept of "Siesta time" or "Power naps" is also important for Filipino culture that must not be necessarily considered negative. **3. BAHALA NA-** The Filipino subconsciously accepts the bahala na attitude as a part of life. Bahala na literally means to leave everything to God who is Bathala in the vernacular. It contains the elements of resignation. Thus, the Filipino accepts beforehand whatever the outcome of his problem might be. (Mercado 2000) **4. FILIPINO THOUGHT AND VALUES: POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS. UTANG NA LOOB** However as we consider our duty, it should not be bounded by *utang na loob* but to help to uplift the life not only of one\`s own family but of others as well. The Filipino gives great value to endurance and hard work as means to economic self-sufficiency. dance comes from the Latin term, "abundare" (Aguilar 2010) meaning, to overflow nonstop." in Aguilar\`s The Gift of Abundance, abundance was given new spiritual, even Buddhist paradigm. Abundance is out flowing than incoming, it is not about amassing material things or people but our relationship with others, ourselves, and with nature. Aguilar (2010) asserts that our very life belongs to God. **ABUNDANCE IS NOT WHAT WE GATHER BUT WHAT WE SCATTER.** Often, abundance is equated with materialism, but it is when we raise our empty hands and surrender, when we do not grab, when we are unattached to anything or anyone, when we often oneself-all these are abundance. Only if we have empty hands can we receive full blessings. **ABUNDANCE IS NOT WHAT WE KEEP BUT WHAT WE GIVE** Aguilar (2010) believes that to be abundant, we must learn to control our appetites and desires, for they have impact on other people. Harsh words, pollution, and eating unhealthy foods are examples where our choices influence or affect not only ourselves but others as well. In other words, there is karma in our thoughts, words, and actions. **ABUNDANCE IS NOT WHAT WE HOLD BUT WHAT WE SHARE** Undoubtedly, money counts in our globalized society. However, Aguilar (2010) reminds us that money should not matter much, for every moment is a blessing, even if one does not have money. Abundance is more than ambitions; there are more precious things such as people that matter. **ABUNDANCE IS A CHOICE** As we aspire for our dreams, we should try our best to be positive in our thoughts, motives, and efforts. A friend once said that when we look down, we only see our misfortunes but when we look up, we realize that we are more fortunate than others. Edmund Husserl -founded phenomenology, which is essentially a philosophical method. This focuses on careful inspection and description of phenomena or appearances, defined as any object of conscious experience, that is, that which we are conscious of. (Johnston 2006) The word "Phenomenon" comes directly from the Greek word Phainomenon meaning "appearance." **Existentialism: On Freedom** One\`s search for truth might be based on one\`s attitude or outlook. Unlike phenomenology, existentialism is not primarily a philosophical method. Neither is it exactly a set of doctrines but more of an outlook or attitude supported by diverse doctrines centered on certain common themes. These themes include: a\. The human condition or the relation of the individual to the world; b\. The human response to that condition; c\. Being, especially the difference the being of person and the being of other kinds of things; d\. Human freedom; e\. The significance of choice and decision in the absence of certainty and; f\. The concreteness and subjectivity of life as lived, against abstraction and false objectifications. If we may generalize **C. Postmodernism: On Cultures** "Postmodernism" has come into vogue as the name for a rather diffuse family of ideas and trends that in significant respect rejects, challenges, or aims to supersede "modernity"; the conviction, aspirations, and pretensions of Modern Western thought and culture since the Enlightenment. Postmodernism is not a philosophy. It is at best a holding pattern, perhaps a cry of despair. They believe that humanity should come at truth beyond the rational to the non- rational elements of human nature, including the spiritual. **D. Analytic Tradition** "Can language objectively describe truth?" for the philosophers of this tradition, language cannot objectively describe truth. For Ludwig Wittgenstein, an analytic philosopher, language is socially conditioned. We understand the world solely in terms of our language games -- that is our linguistic, social constructs. Truth, as we perceive it, is itself socially constructed. Analytic philosophy is the conviction that to some significant degree, philosophical problems, puzzles, and errors are rooted in language and can be solved or avoided by a sound understanding of language and careful attention to its workings. Critics are apt to point these concerns-they might say-this fixation with language and logic as one aspect of the trivialization of philosophy with which they charge the analytic movement. **E. Logic And Critical Thinking: Tools In Reasoning** Logic is centered in the analysis and construction of arguments. In the first chapter, logic is discussed as one of its main branches. Logic and critical thinking serve as paths to freedom from half-truths and deceptions. Critical thinking is distinguishing facts and opinions or personal feelings. In making rational choices, first, we suspend beliefs and judgment until all facts have been gathered and considered. Though facts are important, critical thinking also takes into consideration cultural systems, values, and beliefs. Critical thinking helps us uncover bias and prejudice and open to new ideas not necessarily in agreement with previous thought. In general, there are two basic types of reasoning: **deductive** and **inductive**. *Inductive reasoning* is based from observations in order to generalize. This reasoning is often applied in prediction, forecasting, or behavior. *Deductive reasoning* draws conclusion from usually one broad judgment or definition and one more specific assertion, often an inference. **H. Fallacies** On the other hand, a fallacy is a defect in an argument other than it having false premises. To detect fallacies, it is required to examine the argument\`s content. Here are some of the usually committed errors in reasoning and thus, coming up with false conclusion and worse, distorting the truth a\. **Appeal to Pity** (***argumentum ad misericordiam***) A specific kind of appeal to emotion in which someone tries to win support for an argument or idea by exploiting his or her opponent\`s feelings of pity or guilt. b\. **Appeal to Ignorance** (***argumentum ad ignorantiam***) whatever has not been proved false must be true, and vice versa. c\. **Equivocation** -- This is a logical chain of reasoning of a term or a word several times, but giving the particular word a different meaning each time. Example: human beings have hands; the clock has hands. He is drinking from the pitcher of water; he is a baseball pitcher. d\. **Composition** -- This infers that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole. The reverse of this fallacy is division. e\. **Division** -- one reasons logically that something true of a thing must also be true of all or some of its parts. f\. **Against the Person** (***argumentum, ad hominem***) This fallacy attempts to link the validity of a premises to a characteristic or belief of the person advocating the premise. However, in some instances, questions of personal conduct, character, motives, etc., Are legitimate if relevant to the issue. g\. **Appeal to Force** (***argumentum ad baculum***) An argument where force, or the threat of force, is given as a justification for a conclusion. h\. **Appeal to the People** (***argumentum ad populum***) An argument that appeals or exploits people\`s vanities, desire for esteem, and anchoring on popularity. i\. **False Cause** (***post hoc***) -- since that event followed this one, that event must have been caused by this one. This fallacy is also referred to as coincidental correlation, or correlation not causation. j\. **Hasty Generalization** One commits errors if one reaches an inductive generalization based on insufficient evidence. k\. **Begging The Question** (***petition principii***) This is a type of fallacy which the proposition to be proven is assumed implicitly or explicitly in the premise. **The Human Person as an Embodied Spirit** **Brahman is self-hood** Self-hood --the quality that makes a person or thing different from others At the heart of Hinduism lies the idea of human beings' quest for absolute truth, so that one's soul and the Brahman or Atman (Absolute Soul) might become one. For the Indians, God first created sound and the universe arose from it. As the most sacred sound. The Aum (Om) is the root of the universe and everything that exists and it continues to hold everything together. According to Hinduism, human beings have a dual nature: one is the spiritual and immortal essence (soul); the order is empirical life and character. Between the two natures, however, it is maintained that it is the soul that is ultimately real. The existence of the body, in fact, is considered as nothing more than an illusion and even an obstacle to an individual's realization of one's real self. Hindus generally believe that soul is eternal but is bound by the law of Karma (action) to the world of matter, which it can escape only after spiritual progress through an endless series or births. God allots rewards and punishment to all begins according to their karma. Similar to a prison enclosed within the wall of his prison, a human being's soul can be said to be temporarily encased in this body. For this reason, humanity's basic goal in life is the liberation (moska) of the spirit (jiva). Hinduism holds that humanity's life is a continuous cycle (samsara). While it is the spirit is either born nor does it die. The body, on the other hand, goes through a trans migratory series of birth and death. **Brahman** The creator god of the Hindu sacred triad. (Merriam) This Hindu view of humanity's reality place a lot of emphasis on the attainment of self knowledge. The goal of human life as conceived by the different Upanishads is to overcome congenital ignorance. UPANISHADS -(YU-PA-NI-SHAD) one of the class of Vedic treatises dealing with board philosophical problem. VEDIC --relating to Vedas, the language in which they are written. The concepts of Brahman and Atman (soul, self) are central ideas in all the Upanishads, with "know your atman" as their thematic focus. True knowledge (vidya) consists an understanding and realization of the individual's real self (Atman). In sum, Hinduism is one of the oldest Eastern traditions, practiced by hundreds of millions of people for about 5,000 years. To know more about this topic, students are encouraged to read *Bhagavad-Gita*, the song of the Lord, which is a part of the great epic *Mahabharata*. **C. Introduction to Buddhism**  Another major Eastern tradition is Buddhism, contained in the teaching of its founder, *Siddhartha Gautama or the Buddha*. Out of the life experience and teaching of highborn Prince Gautama of the Sakya clan in the kingdom of Magadha.  Who lived from 560 to 477 B.C, Sprang the religious philosophy we know as Buddhism. Turning away from Hindu polytheism and palace pleasures, Gautama began searching for answer to the riddle of life's suffering, disease, old age, and death.  He explored Brahminic philosophies, then tried the rigors of asceticism, but all to avail. Finally, while resting and meditating in a grove of trees, he came to a clear realization that the solution lays in his own mind.  Ascetic --relating to or having a strict and sample way of living that avoids physical pleasure.  Gautama's life was devoted to sharing his "*Dharma*" or law of salvation- a simple presentation of the gospel of inner cultivation or right spiritual attitudes, coupled with a self-imposed discipline whereby bodily desired would be channeled in the right direction.  He omitted any appeal to the gods as currently conceived; definitely rejected philosophical speculations; and spurned all recourse to ancient scriptures, outmoded rituals, or priestly incantations.  Convinced that the way of escape from pain and misery lay in the transformation of one's mind.  Buddha set about sharing his discovery with anyone who would listen to him. THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTH, GAUTAMA TAUGHT 1\. Life is full of suffering 2\. Suffering is caused by passionate desires, lusts, cravings, 3\. Only as these are obliterated, will suffering cease. 4\. Such eradication of desire may be accomplished only by following the Eightfold path of earnest endeavor. EIGHT-FOLD PATH 1\. Right belief in 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 by honorable means. 6\. Right endeavor, of effort to direct one's energies towards wise ends. 7\. Right mindfulness in choosing topics for thought. 8\. Right meditation, or concentration to the point of complete absorption in mystic ecstasy In the 5th century, Augustine's writing is considered to be the most influential in the early medieval period. This section looks at the reasonableness of belief in "God's exists" as a hypothesis. Religious people definitely do not treat God's existence as a hypothesis, for God is a constant presence, rather than being whose existence is accepted as the best explanation of available evidence. For the Biblical writers, proving God's existence would be as pointless as trying to prove the existence of the air we breathe. The religious problem reflected in the Old Testament narratives is not atheism but polytheism: o *Atheism-* lack of believe or strong disbelief in the existence of god or ant gods. o *Polytheism-* the belief that there is more than one god. In the New Testament, the reality of God is unquestioned due to the conviction that Jesus of Nazareth the eternal God became flesh and dwelt among human beings. In its earliest missionary endeavors, Christian directed their preaching to Jews who accepted the reality of God. For Augustine, philosophy is *amor sapiential*, the love of wisdom; its aim is to produce happiness. However, for Augustine, wisdom is not just an abstract logical construction; but it is substantially existent as the Divine logos. Teaching of Christianity are based on the love of God, which Augustine's, Aquinas, and Anselm's arguments are basically rooted. For Augustine, Christianity, as presenting the full revelation of the true God, is the only full and true philosophy. However, we can love only that which we know. When comes this knowledge of God? **E. Limitations and the Possibilities for their Transcendence** A. **Forgiveness** - We are freed from our anger and bitterness because of the actions and/ or word of another. On the other hand, the hardness of our heart is reinforced by whole series of rational argument. B. **The Beauty of Nature** - There is perfection in every single flower; this is what the three philosophies believed. For a hug, for every sunrise and sunset, to eat together as a family, are our miracles. These kinds of experiences can be truly moments of grace. C. **Vulnerability** - To be invulnerable is somehow inhuman. To be vulnerable is to be human. Supermen or superheroes are hiding from their true humanity. The experience that we are contingent, that we are dependent for our existence on another is frightening. D. **Failure** - Our failure force us to confront our weaknesses and limitations. When a relationship fails, when a student fails a subject, when our immediate desires are not met, we are confronted with the possibility of our plans, and yet, we are forced to surrender to a mystery or look upon a bigger world. E. **Loneliness** - can be rooted from our sense of vulnerability and fear of death. This experience is so common. However, it is our choice to live in an impossible world where we are always "happy" or to accept a life where solitude and companionship have a part. With our loneliness, we can realize that our dependence on other people or gadgets is a possessiveness that we can be free from. F. **Love -** To love is to experience richness, positivity, and transcendence. Whether in times of ecstatic moments or struggles, the love for a friend, between family members or a significant person, can open in us something in the other which takes us beyond ourselves. **Buddhism: Nirvana** Nirvana means the state in which one is absolutely free from all forms of bandage and attachment. It means to overcome and remove the cause of suffering. It is also the state of perfect insight into the nature of existence. The Buddhists see one who has attained nirvana as one who is unencumbered from all the fetters that bind a human being to existence. He has perfect knowledge, perfect peace, and perfect wisdom. 1\. The Buddha did not want his disciples to concern themselves with purely speculative problems. 2\. Another false conception regarding *nirvana* is that one who attains it, cuts himself off from the world of toil, tears, and turmoil and spends his life in a state of total inactivity and indifference to the world around him. Far from living a passive life, the Buddha from the day of his enlightenment until death is always surrounded by people. One who attained enlightenment is a non-attachment. This means that as one attains wisdom, one desires nothing for himself but always work for the well-being and liberation of his fellow humans. **St. Augustine and St. Tomas Aquinas: Will and Love** » For St. Augustine, Physically we are free yet morally bound to obey the law. The eternal law is God Himself. According to this law, humanity must do well and avoid evil. » Hence, the existence of moral obligation in every human being » Christian life is not easy. » No human being should become an end to himself. » We are responsible to our neighbors as we are to our own actions. » Definitely to live a chaste life is difficult. For to be pure is also to be holy. Though all are called to different lifestyles. All are called to be holy, pure and chaste within that lifestyle. » Any lifestyles that does not include these virtues, even with consenting individuals, is not pleasing to God; for it does not lead to holiness, selflessness and full honesty. » For St. Augustine though we are physically free, one does not have the right to do anything if it is not morally right or if one will hurt another. » Rightness means pleasing God, God has given us a choice to discern between right and wrong though we are often ignorant in this manner unless we are wholly (complete or fully) sincere, honest, and p