Philosophy PDF

PHILOSOPHY A. NATURAL LAW/DIVINE - It comes from the Greek word COMMAND “Philosophia” - 10 commandments - Philo (to Love) + Sophia (Wisdom) - “What principles guide humanity...

PHILOSOPHY A. NATURAL LAW/DIVINE - It comes from the Greek word COMMAND “Philosophia” - 10 commandments - Philo (to Love) + Sophia (Wisdom) - “What principles guide humanity meaning “Love of Wisdom” toward happiness and ultimate - systemized study of general and destiny?” fundamental questions: existence, - St. Teresa of Calcutta reason, knowledge, values, mind, - St. Lorenzo Ruiz and language. B. TELEOLOGICAL THEORY APPROACHES - What is good for the greater number of people is the best choice and the SCIENTIFIC: systematic moral choice NATURAL LIGHT OF REASON: uses - “What are the consequences of one’s natural capacity to think and observe emphasizing pleasure?” STUDY OF ALL THINGS: sets distinction between Philosophy and Sciences. C. DEONTOLOGICAL THEORY - a person is bound to duty and does PHILOSOPHER not focus on what a person thinks or - intellectual person who seeks feels about the situation wisdom or enlightenment. - “What is my moral duty?” - EXAMPLE: A client confessed to PRINCIPLES IN PHILOSOPHY their therapist that they killed someone. Either the therapist will keep it confidential due to the nature METAPHYSICS of the job or tell the police. - Enlightenment - concept of thought, idea, existence, reality, being, and other abstract D. VIRTUE ETHICS ideas of life. - ignores the consequences, duties, - QUESTIONS ASKED: and social contracts focuses on character development What is reality? - “What does it mean to live a good Why does reality exist? life beyond material want?” How does it exist? - EXAMPLES: “Everything is water” - Thales E. Relativism Nothing we experience in the - actions are morally upright within a physical world with our five particular society when they are senses is real” - Plato approved by law, custom, or other conventions. - “What does my culture or society ETHICS think is acceptable?” - Explores the nature of moral virtue and evaluate the morality. - EXAMPLE: - Questions concerning honor and When in Rome, do as the concerning happiness Romans do. Slurping in Japan is considered respectful but rude in Western countries FIVE MAIN POSITIONS OF ETHICS  - science of the beautiful in its various EPISTEMOLOGY manifestations. - deal with nature, sources, - study of beauty and sensation. limitations, and validity of knowledge - the branch of philosophy concerned - The term is derived from the Greek with the nature and appreciation of epistēmē (“knowledge”) and logos art, beauty and good taste (“reason”) - “What is beauty?” - Theory of Knowledge. - “How do we acquire reliable IMPORTANCE OF AESTHETICS knowledge?” 1. it vitalizes our knowledge HUMAN KNOWLEDGE 2. It helps us to live more genuinely and completely. 1. EMPIRICISM 3. it brings us in touch with our culture - sense experience (seeing, hearing, touching) Lesson 2: Methods of Philosophizing - JOHN LOCKE PHILOSOPHIZING 2. RATIONALISM - is to think or express oneself in a - rationalist view rational and logical matter - (logic, laws, and methods that - It considers or discussed a matter reason develops) from a philosophical standpoint: - WILLIAM JAMES, JOHN DEWEY, RENE DESCARTES PHENOMENOLOGY: truth is based on the person’s consciousness RATIONALISM is the knowledge derived EXISTENTIALISM: truth is based on from reason and logic while EMPIRICISM exercising choices and personal freedom; is the knowledge that is derived from POSTMODERNISM: it is accepted that experience and experimentation. truth is not absolute (i.e. cultural); and LOGIC: truth is based on reasoning and LOGIC critical thinking. - comes from the Greek word “logike” reasoning is the concern of the A. PHENOMENOLOGY: ON logician CONSCIOUSNESS - “What is correct reasoning?” - focuses on careful inspection and description of phenomena or ARISTOTLE said: Be a free thinker and appearances based on what we are don't accept everything you hear as truth. conscious of (Johnston, 2006) Be critical and evaluate what you believe in. - comes from the Greek word “phainomenon” which means ARISTOTLE appearance. - first philosopher to devise a logical method IMMANUEL KANT - a German philosopher, had used the ZENO OF CITIUM same word to refer to the world of our experience. - one of the successors of Aristotle. - founder of Stoicism EDMUND HUSSERL AESTHETICS - founded phenomenology, which is considered a knife? Yes, because essentially a philosophical method. the blade is still there, but if we In 2005, he studied the reality and remove the blade and change it to structures of consciousness. something like a razor blade it would not be a knife anymore because the blade is the essence of the knife. PHENOMENOLOGICAL METHOD JEAN PAUL SARTRE - is a series that continuously revises - The French philosopher emphasizes our perceptions of reality. the importance of individual choice, - It removes or brackets out the regardless of correction of our nonessentials. beliefs and decisions. - This means that the human will’s B. EXISTENTIALISM: ON ability to make choices in any FREEDOM situation gives human choice meaning. - The philosophical belief that we are - argued that consciousness (being each responsible for creating for-itself) is such that it is always free purpose or meaning in our own lives. to choose and free to “negate” (or - not necessarily a philosophical reject) the given features of the method but more of an outlook or world. attitude. - identifies people as having free will to determine the course of their C. POSTMODERN: ON CULTURES lives. - Postmodernism rejects the - is supported by varied principles convictions, aspirations, and centered on shared themes such as: pretensions of modern Western the human condition and/or traditions. reaction to that condition; - It is more of an attitude and reaction being of persons and the to modernism, which is a worldview existence of other kinds of of order, logic, and authority based things; on knowledge (Shields, 2012). human freedom; being conscious; HUMANISM responsibility for one’s life; - stresses the importance of human the implication (and dignity. unavoidability) or choice even in the absence of POSTHUMANISM certainty; and - aspires to transcend human The correctness and nature, advocate the use of subjectivity of life as lived, science and technology to human against abstractions and condition like the natural process of false objectifications. reproduction, aging, and death. Posthuman is likened to techno - Our search for truth by means of sapiens including clones, cyborgs, critical thinking is a rational choice. and other forms of human-machine - Focuses on the essence of interfaces. something. Science and technology must - EXAMPLE of essence: someone uphold human value and dignity changed the handle of the knife from (Ramos, 2003). wood to plastic, would it still be  ANALYTICAL TRADITION - statements that claim to present - "Is truth objective?" the evidence or reasons, for - LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN: he instance, consider: Human cloning is argued language cannot objectively evil. describe truth. He claimed that language is socially conditioned. 2. CONCLUSION - Truth can change depending on - The statement that evidence is what people have decided it to be. claimed to support or imply is the conclusion. POLISH-BORN, U.S. MATHEMATICIAN - EXAMPLE: In this case, the AND ALFRED TARSKI (LOGICIAN) conclusion: Human cloning should - made fundamental contributions to never be allowed. the fields of mathematics, semantics, and symbolic logic. TWO BASIC TYPES OF REASONING: - Truth shows properties and is based on physical facts (Tarski, 2013) 1. DEDUCTIVE - define truth in a simple way from that - draws conclusion from usually one of another semantic notion, namely, broad judgment or definition and one of the notion of satisfaction. more specific assertion, often an - belonged to the group of analytic inference. philosophers who believed that the - EXAMPLE: All truth-seekers are natural languages and their prudent. (Major premise) Kong Zi is everyday use are infected with a truth-seeker. (Minor premise) various deficiencies in processing Therefore, Kong Zi is prudent. consistency which is an essential (Conclusion) value for truth-seeking. 2. INDUCTIVE LOGIC AND CRITICAL THINKING: - Is based on observations in order to TOOLS IN REASONING make generalizations. It means a - Logic and critical thinking consider person can make a general guess. these three concepts in interpreting - EXAMPLE: Many people are holding the meaning of facts: their umbrellas, the ground is wet, cultural systems and the wind is strong, so probably it values is raining. This reasoning is often beliefs applied in prediction, forecasting, or behavior. CRITICAL THINKING: helps us uncover bias and prejudice and become open to new An inductive argument that ideas. succeeds in providing probable support has a strong argument. FACTUAL CLAIM: must present evidence An inductive argument that fails to or reasons (Hurley, 2011) “A dark tan may provide such support is weak. seem eye-catching though current researches show that excessive sun VALIDITY exposure may cause skin cancer" - arises from a logical conclusion based on the two logically TWO PARTS OF ARGUMENT constructed premises (Reed, 2010). However, the conclusion is 1. PREMISES not necessarily true or false.  4. COMPOSITION FALLACIES - something is true of the whole from A fallacy is a defect in an argument, the fact that it is true of some part of and to detect it, we examine the the whole (reverse of this fallacy is content of the argument. division) There are some committed errors in reasoning, and thus, coming up with - EXAMPLE: false conclusions, and, worse, "This tire is made of rubber; distorting the truth. therefore, the vehicle of which it is a part is also made SOME COMMITTED ERRORS IN of rubber." REASONING: This is fallacious, because vehicles are made with a 1. APPEAL TO PITY variety of parts, most of which are not made of - (Argumentum ad misericordiam) rubber. - exploiting his or her opponent's feelings of pity or guilt. - EXAMPLE: A student who fails to 5. DIVISION complete their homework says, - One reasons logically that "Please don't give me a zero. My something is true of a thing must parents will punish me severely if also be true of all or some of its they see a low grade, therefore I parts. don't deserve a zero." - EXAMPLE: The United States is the richest country in the world. 2. APPEAL TO IGNORANCE Thererore, everyone in the United States must be rich and live well. - (Argumentum Ad Ignorantiam) Because professional sports players - whatever has not been proven false are paid outrageous salaries, every must be true, and vice versa. professional sports player must be (following assumptions) rich. - EXAMPLE: There is no proof that God The fallacy of division incorrectly assumes does not exist; therefore, that the properties of a whole apply to God exists. its parts. No one has ever proven Its counterpart is the fallacy of composition, UFOs have not visited the which assumes that the properties of planet, which means they parts apply to the whole. have 6. AGAINST THE PERSON 3. EQUIVOCATION (ARGUMENTUM AD HOMINEM) - when a particular word is used in the - attempts to link the validity of the same context but has a different premise to a characteristics or meaning each time. credentials of the person supporting - EXAMPLE: the premise. Human beings have hands; - EXAMPLE: the clocks has hands. "You have no idea what He is drinking from the you're talking about; you've pitcher of water; he is a only lived here for six baseball pitcher. months."  "It's hard to take your claims - commonly based on an expansive seriously because you spend conclusion upon the statistics of a your days playing video survey of a small group that games." inadequately represents the whole population. 7. APPEAL TO FORCE - EXAMPLE: "9 out of 10 dentists (ARGUMENTUM AD BACULUM) recommend" is a phrase often heard - strength, coercion, or the threat of in toothpaste commercials, which force is a justification for a may not accurately represent conclusion. broader professional consensus but - EXAMPLE: If you don't join our persuades consumers by suggesting demonstration against the expansion widespread gipert approval. of the park, we will evict you from - EXAMPLE: "My two friends from your apartment; So, you should join New York are rude; therefore, all our demonstration against the New Yorkers must be rude.”: This expansion of the park. conclusion is based on a small, non-representative sample (only two individuals) and generalizes it to an 8. APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE entire population. - (Argumentum ad populum) - appeal or exploits people's vanities, 11. BEGGING THE QUESTION desire for esteem, and anchoring on - (Petitio principil) popularity. - The proposition to be proven is - EXAMPLE: "The majority of our assumed implicitly or explicitly in the countrymen think we should have premise. military operations overseas; - If something begs the question, what therefore, it's the right thing to do." you are actually asking is, "Is the This line of reasoninghis fallacious, premise of that argument actually because popular acceptance of a true?" belief or position does not amount to EXAMPLE: the statement "Snakes a justification of that belief. make great pets. That's why we should get a snake" begs the 9. FALSE CAUSE question "Are snakes really great - (Post Hoc) pets?" - coincidental correlation or correlation not causation. DETERMINING TRUTH FROM - EXAMPLE: OPINIONS Yesterday I ate blackberries, and today I have a stomach In research: excellence involves integrity ache. The blackberries must and honesty to promulgate truth. have caused this stomach In professional setup: showing moral ache. concern involves a commitment to obtain While it is not out of the and properly assess all available question for the blackberries information that is pertinent to meeting one's to be the cause, the stomach obligations. ache might also be the result Over the years, the purpose of news of something else. reporting and journalism has irrevocably changed. 10. HASTY GENERALIZATION CRITICAL THINKING AND LOGIC: are SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE: it is more important tools to distinguish facts from important than knowledge brought about by opinions. our sight, hearing, taste and touch. THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN OPINION: can be a belief or judgment that EMBODIED SPIRIT rests on grounds insufficient to produce (Hinduism, Buddhism & Christianity) complete certainty. 1. HINDUISM Value claims assess the worth or merit of an - Hinduism: Brahman is Selfhood idea, object, or practice according to the - is the idea of human beings' journey criteria supplied by arguer: for absolute truth, so that one's soul and the Brahman or Atman Values are positive or negative (Absolute Soul) might become one. attitudes. - For the Hindus, God first produced Value claims indicate what we ought sound and the universe appeared. to do. - This implies that for Hindus, sound, As such, our values strongly drive not sight, is the basis of reality and our decisions, choices, and existence. behavior. - one of the oldest Eastern traditions, Value claims focus on the values practiced by hundreds of millions of held by the participants in a dispute people for about 5,000 years Values could also mean our most (Velasquez 1999) deeply held beliefs and ideas that determine what is moral and right in HUMAN BEINGS HAVE A DUAL our life. NATURE ACCORDING TO HINDUISM: Assessing arguments and statements, looking for evidence to support assumptions The soul (spiritual) of a person is true and beliefs, and deciding rationally what to reality, while a person's body (empirical) believe or not are all important in evaluating is only temporary and ultimately an illusion opinions. that should be discarded so that the soul can be set free to return to EVALUATING OPINIONS - According to Acuña, we have one ATMAN: soul of human very important obligation as critical BRAHMAN: God of hindus thinkers , that is , “NEVER ACCEPT THE TRUTH OF ANY STATEMENT Brahman is the divine essence of the OR BELIEF unless there is universe, while Atman is the essence that adequate evidence for it. lives in all matter such as humans, animals, and nature. Lesson 3: The Human Personas An Embodied Spirit HINDUS GENERALLY BELIEVE THAT: THOMAS MERTON (1948) A. The soul is eternal but is bound by - a Trappist monk the law of karma (action) of the - "There is no other way for us to find material world, which one can break who we are than by finding in from only after a spiritual ourselves the divine image." advancement through a continuous series of births.  B. A human being's soul can be said to 4. enlightenment/religious be temporarily encased in his or her responsibilities. body. For this reason, humanity's basic goal in life is the liberation HINDUISM (moksha) of spirit (jiva). help an individual give up his or her individuality and embrace the all C. Hinduism claims that humanity's life encompassing reality of the One is an ENDLESS CYCLE To understand enlightenment, one (SAMSARA). must understand the law of karma, D. Transmigration of soul means a the law of sowing and reaping. person's soul moves from animal to All of us, through what we do or not human or human to animal after do, supposedly determine our dying and being born again destiny. depending on the person's good The wheel of existence turns until karma or bad karma. we achieve enlightenment, after which we are released from this E. Ultimate liberation, therefore, is series of rebirths. freedom from rebirth. It is realized once the individual reaches that 2. BUDDHISM stage of emancipation, then arises a - Buddhism: From Tears to Communal total realization by the individual of Compassion Nothing exists without spiritual nature as well as the cause transient nature of the body. - tenets of Buddhism are definitely one of the most widespread F. Only after a series of good acts done - DHARSANAS (Schools Of over a long period of time, perhaps Thought) decades or even centuries, can a - universalist in character person achieve escape from the - It is not preached to any one single cycle of deaths and rebirths. caste or people but to everybody. - There is no independent, TRUE KNOWLEDGE (VIDYA) categorical, and permanent self. - consists of an understanding and - All beings have a Buddha nature, realization of the individual's real self every individual is a potential (atman) as opposed to lower Buddha and should be taught the knowledge that is limited to an equality and brotherhood of human - interpretation of reality based solely beings. on the data offered by sense - The Buddha regards this world as experience. FLEETING. This means in Hinduism, a person's individuality and uniqueness have no value. SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA/BUDDHA In fact, it is an illusion. Also common to all - Turning away from Hindu polytheism Hindu thoughts are the four primary values. and palace pleasures, Gautama In order of increasing importance, they may began searching for answers to the be roughly translated as: riddle of life's sufferings, disease, old age, and death. 1. achieving wealth 2. pursuing pleasure or success; Gautama's life was devoted to sharing 3. fulfilling duties or social obligations; his dharma or way to salvation: and  1. a simple inner cultivation of right A. a life of self-purification, in total spiritual attitudes; loyalty to the Buddha, the dharma, 2. a self-imposed discipline whereby and the Sangha; and bodily desires would be channeled in B. a commitment to a life of poverty the right directions; whose sole aim was the 3. transcendence of the Buddha "evangelization" of India through its omitted any appeal to the gods as dissemination of the doctrine of the currently conceived; and Middle Way between extreme 4. rejecting philosophical speculations asceticism and self-indulgence and spurning all recourse to ancient (Puligandla 2007). scriptures, outmoded rituals, or priestly incantations. FOUR STATES OF SUBLIME CONDITION FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS 1. Love 2. Sorrow in the sorrow of others A. Life is full of suffering. 3. Joy in the joy of others B. Suffering is caused by passionate 4. Equanimity with regard to one's own desires, lusts, and cravings caused joy and sorrows. by the bodies and emotions of people. WAY TO SALVATION C. Only as these emotions, desires, - Lies through SELF-ABNEGATION: and wants are obliterated will The denial of self or fighting against suffering cease. one's emotions and desires, rigid D. Such eradication of desire may be discipline of mind and body, a accomplished only by following the consuming love for all living Eightfold Path of earnest endeavor. creatures, and the final achievement of that state of consciousness which EIGHTFOLD PATH marks an individual's full preparation to enter the NIRVANA: (enlightened 1. right belief in and acceptance of the wisdom) of complete selflessness, Fourfold Truth; becoming an embodied spirit 2. right aspiration (toward one's self and for others); ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO 3. right speech; - In the fifth century, Augustine's 4. right conduct (goodwill toward all writings are considered to be the human beings); most influential in the early medieval 5. right means of livelihood (living by period. In doing so, we shall treat the honorable means); statement "God exists" as a 6. right endeavor (effort to direct one's hypothesis, which we call the theistic energies toward wise ends); hypothesis. 7. right mindfulness (especially in - Does not all knowledge come from choosing topics for thought); and sensation, and does not the sense 8. right meditation or concentration constantly deceive us? (complete absorption in mystic - St. Augustine (354-430 CE) ecstasy). - Philosophy is amor sapiential, the love of wisdom; its aim is to produce With single-hearted purpose, this happiness. brotherhood of believers dedicated itself to: ST. THOMAS AQUINAS - Love follows knowledge  - Medieval philosopher claims that of all creatures, only human beings 4. FAILURE have the power to transform - force us to confront our weaknesses themselves and things for the better. and limitations WILL AND LOVE 5. LONELINESS - We are free physically but morally - can be rooted from our sense of bound to obey the law. God is the vulnerability and fear of death eternal law. 6. LOVE EVALUATING OWN LIMITATIONS IN A BUDDHIST VIEW: the more we AND THE POSSIBILITIES FOR THEIR love, the more risks and fears there are in TRANSCENDENCE life (Aguilar 2010). IN CHRISTIANITY: the soul is like a 1. FORGIVENESS lover who longs to return to God. - Sebatu (2009), negative minds, IN HINDUISM: the union between the self feelings, and attitudes are signs of and Brahman is finding the real self which masochism. Relaxation and imagery is pure. can help in healing our body. Recognizing the Human Body DIFFERENT METHODS OF Imposes Limits and Possibilities for FORGIVENESS AND HEALING: Transcendence COUNSELING: requires active listening HINDUISM: Reincarnation and Karma an TALKING TO GOD: God/Jesus is interesting Hindu belief is the transmigration presented to the counselee. of the soul, reincarnation, or EMMAUS METHOD: This process makes metempsychosis us reflect on our hurts and obstacles (e.g., BUDDHISM: Nirvana means the state in pride) as we aspire to be good. This method which one is absolutely free from all forms highlights the social dimension of healing of bondage and attachment. and reconciliation. FORGIVENESS METHOD: The counselor Lesson 4: The Human Person in the and counselee end with thanksgiving and Environment concluding prayer. Philosophical problems of how the world 2. THE BEAUTY OF NATURE started and what it is made of were - There is perfection in every single investigated approximately around 600 flower; this is what the philosophies BCE in Miletus, Greece. of Aquinas and Taoists believed. Everything that exists must have had - The suppositions of the pre-socratic a source. thinkers represent a PARADIGM SHIFT from the mythical 3. VULNERABILITY explanation of the beginnings of the - to be invulnerable is somehow cosmos to a more reasonable inhuman, to be vulnerable is to be elucidation. human out of all God’s creatures, - EXAMPLE: when the Catholic human beings have the unique Church and medieval power to change themselves. scholars mistakenly thought that the world - According to Anaximander's sketch was flat, until Magellan and the age of of the genesis of the world exploration proved this view wrong. (cosmogony) - The evolution of the world begins LAO TZU with the generation of opposites in a - Founder of Taoist School of Thought certain region of nature: a portion of - He claimed that weakness can the boundless first differentiates overcome strength as the earth's itself into a cold-moist mass softest substance, namely, water surrounded by a roughly spherical can erode the hardest shell of the warm-dry. substance-stone; - Taoist aims to be one with all things ANCIENT THINKER PYTHAGORAS and to coexist with Heaven and - Harmony and beauty in nature are Earth. embodiments of the universe. - Further, our relationship with the DIFFERENT VIEWS ON NATURE universe is connected to BIOPHILIA (love of other living ANTHROPOCENTRIC MODEL things) and COSMOPHILIA (love - is based on the premise that of other living beings). humans are essential and central to - Pythagorean beliefs such as the universe. vegetarianism, abstinence, refusal to Human eat beans, refusal to wear animal Culture skins, celibacy, self-examination, Individualism immortality, and reincarnation were Mind conceived by the author as ethical Calculative and ecological: Human against environments Global/technological The Chinese, on the other hand, see the universe as a continuous whole like a chain ECOCENTRIC MODEL of natural consequences. - emphasizes the ecological or relational integrity that provides All occurrences in the universe are results meaning to our morals and values. of a transitional process due to the primeval Nature pair: yang and yin. Wild Holism ENVIRONMENTAL THEORIES Nature/cosmos Body 1. DEEP ECOLOGY Relational - Ecological crisis is a result of Earth/wisdom anthropocentrism. Ecology over/against - For this theory, our controlling attitude extends to nature when in According to Payne (2009), we cannot fact, we are part of nature. ignore the valuing of aesthetics and the - Deep ecologists advocate humanity environment including artistic appreciation, to modify their anthropocentric enjoyment, leisure, fulfillment, serenity, attitude toward ecocentrism. peace, social relations, development toward holism, and self-understanding. ANCIENT THINKER ANAXIMANDER 2. SOCIAL ECOLOGY  - This model argued that ecological crisis is a consequence of authoritarian social structures. - Destroying nature is a reflection in which few people prevail over others as the environment is exploited for profit or self-interest. 3. ECOFEMINISM - contends that ecological crisis is a consequence of male dominance. - Male traits as in the anthropocentric model are "superior" as opposed to female traits ("inferior") as in the ecocentric model. ADDITIONAL INFOS: WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS: African-American that sought equal rights for black. PRINCIPLE OF NONCONTRADICTION: denies that a thing can be and not be at the same time.