PHILOSOPHICAL BACKGROUND OF B.E

• Philosophy


  Love of wisdom
• Philosopher


  Lover of wisdom
• Philosophy (as a science)

  • Interested with the meaning of reality including our human experiences
  • Seeks to explain the ultimate cause of everything by the use of human reason alone
  • Directed towards meaningful activity as a result of profound reflection & analysis
• Ethics


  Philosophical science that studies the morality of human act
• Ethics (as a science)


  • Concerned with the analysis of the nature of the human conduct from the point of view of morality
• Divisions of Philosophy

  • Theoretical or speculative
  • Practical Philosophy
• Theoretical Philosophy

  • Cosmology
  • Ontology
  • Metaphysics
  • Psychology
  • Theodicy
  • Epistemology
• Cosmology


  Studies the origin, evolution & fate of the entire universe
• Ontology


  Deals with the nature of existence of things & the status of reality.

  Study of being.
• Metaphysics


  Studies the nature of the mind, the self & the consciousness. Investigates the nature of religion, existence of God, concepts of time, space, cause & chance. Discover the true nature of things, their ultimate essence & the reason for being.

  *came from the Greek word “meta” or beyond & “physikon” or nature
• Psychology


  For the Greeks, it is the study of the nature of the soul of the person & other entities. Today it is known to be the science that studies human & animal behavior.
• Theodicy


  Investigates the nature, being & attributes of God not based on the Bible & divine revelation but by logical abstractions & reasoning.
• Epistemology


  Addresses the philosophical problems surrounding the theory of knowledge. Definition, concepts, sources, criteria, kinds of knowledge, etc.
• Practical Philosophy

  • Semantics
  • Axiology
  • Aesthetics
  • Logic
  • Ethics
• Semantics


  Studies the meaning of words & its linguistics forms, functions & relation to other words.
• Axiology


  Study of the philosophy of value judgments or worthiness. Studies values, its origin, types & characteristics
• Aesthetics


  Aims to establish the general principles of art & beauty. Can be divided into philosophy of art & philosophy of beauty
• Logic


  Deals with the nature of thinking & reasoning using empirical support to establish the truth. Logical validity – if the premise is true then the conclusion must be true. Deductive reasoning – from universal to particular. Inductive reasoning – from particular to universal.
• Ethics


  Goal to investigate the nature of the human conduct.
• Morality


  Quality of goodness or badness in a human act (good – moral; bad – immoral). Conformity to the rules of right conduct. Judgment that refers to moral standards & moral conduct.
• Ethics


  Formal study of those standards. Oftentimes called "moral philosophy". Investigates the nature of moral principles, ethical systems & moral norms that people use to justify their moral judgment.
• Ethics as a Normative Science

  • In ethics we determine norms ideals, standard or values, to justify our moral judgment
• Categories of General Ethics

  • Descriptive ethics
  • Normative ethics
  • Methaethics
• Descriptive Ethics


  Studying & describing the morality of people, culture, or society. Does not assess moral soundness of an ethical system but describe objectively the values & beliefs of people. Does not prescribe how people should act but describe how people act.
• Descriptive Ethics

  • Psychological egoism
  • Cultural relativism
• Normative Ethics


  Involves moral judgment based on ethical norm or theory. Consist of moral rules that governs people's behavior.
• Tasks of Normative Ethics

  • To form into a related whole the various norms, rules, & values of a society's morality
  • To find the basic principle from which the particular norm can be derived
  • To justify an ethical norm or moral principle
• Methaethics


  Branch of Normative ethics

  Concerned with analysis & meaning of terms like "good", "bad", "moral", "immoral", "moral obligation" & others. Does not evaluate belief nor evaluate the process of moral reasoning but simply analyze the usage & meaning of words.
• Ethical Relativism


  Claims that when any two cultures or any individual hold different moral values of an action both can be right. An action may be right for one person or society but wrong for the other, however both can equally correct.
• Situational Ethics


  Emphasizes moral differences based on personal beliefs & convictions.
• Approaches to Moral Differences

  • There is no moral truth
  • There is no universal truth
  • Deep down, we can find basic moral truth
  • There is one universal moral truth
• Philos

  Love
• Sophia

  Wisdom
• Theoretical or Speculative


  studies the truth to be known, e.g. God, immortality of the soul, origin of the universe
• Practical Philosophy


  studies truths to be acted upon, e.g., ethics, axiology, semantics & the like
• Cosmologist


  Philosopher that focuses on the question of universe’ origin in a scientific & philosophical manner.
• Ontology

  came from the greek word “onta” w/c means “being”
• Ontology


  branch of metaphysics
• Psychology

  Aristotle combined Greek words “psyche” or soul & “logos” or science or study.
• Theodicy


  a.k.a Rational theology

  Greek words “theos” or God & “dike” or justice