PHILOSOPHY

• Philosophy


  The study of being (or everything), according to its ultimate explanation, in the light of reason
• Philosophical Reflection


  The act of giving time to think about the meaning and purpose of life
• Eastern Philosophy


  • Confucianism
  • Taoism
  • Buddhism
  • Hinduism
  • Jainism
  • Islamic Philosophy
• Western Philosophy


  • Focuses mainly on the different branches of philosophy
  • Deeply embedded in Eastern Religions
  • Separates or brackets religious beliefs from philosophy
• Logos


  Greek = Reason, Principle, Discourse, Word
• Logos designates a certain kind of thinking that places things in the context of reason & explains them with the pure force of thought</b>
• Mythos


  A certain way of thinking that placed the world in the context of its supernatural origins
• With philosophy, natural phenomena are explained by other natural phenomena, not by supernatural events
• Why Greece?


  • Greeks are a well-travelled group
  • No priestly class of censors
  • Intimate detail in their writings
  • Socioeconomic structure with slave labor and booty
  • Intense awareness of change
  • Demand for explanation by reason rather than just religious tradition
• Major Branches of Philosophy

  • Metaphysics
  • Epistemology
  • Ethics
  • Aesthetics
  • Logic
• Holistic Perspective


  A point of view where all pertinent aspects are considered before making a judgment
• Partial Perspective


  A point of view where only a portion of something is seen or perceived, and a judgment is already made
• Doing philosophy or Philosophizing means asking questions, reflecting, and formulating & evaluating arguments
• Ontological Truth


  What simply exists, the truth that is received, understood, and then expressed in language
• Logical/Propositional Truth


  The ontological truth that is articulated and communicated faithfully and truthfully
• 3 Kinds of Logical/Propositional Truth

  • Correspondence
  • Coherence
  • Pragmatic
• Fact


  A piece of information that can be proved with concrete evidence
• Opinion


  A personal view or judgment that has its root in belief rather than in truth
• Methods of Philosophizing


  • Socratic Method
  • Platonic Method
  • Aristotelian Method
  • Cartesian Method
  • Pragmatic Method
  • Phenomenological Method
• Socratic Method


  • Meaningful Q&A
  • 'Elenchus' = refutation, disproving
  • Dialectic = dialogue
  • Artful discussion between at least two opposing views
  • Inquisitor & Interlocutor
• Socrates: '"An unexamined life is not worth living."<|>"No one has the monopoly of truth."'
• Platonic Method


  • 'Reflection'
  • 'Maieutic' = intellectual midwifery
  • Giving birth to ideas - 'Recollection'
  • Self-refutation (monologue) = Challenging one's ideas
• Plato: '"Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something."<|>"Reality is created by the mind, we can change our reality by changing our mind."'
• Aristotelian Method


  • 'Analysis'
  • 'Endoxic' = opinion, common ideas
  • 'Truth is in nature waiting to be discovered'
  • Analytic: analysis + induction 'Understanding through dissection'
  • Early form of 'scientific method'
• Aristotle: '"No pain, no gain."<|>"Learning is not child's play; we cannot learn without pain."'
• Cartesian Method


  • 'Methodic Doubt'
  • 'Skeptic' = doubter, pessimist
  • 'The first step to truth: doubt'
  • To question whatever one believes
  • Human senses are deceitful, erroneous
• Rene Descartes: '"If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things"<|>"Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum." = "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am."'
• Pragmatic Method


  • 'Pragmatism'
  • 'Pragmatic' = practical, useful
  • 'Truth has beneficial consequences'
  • 'What is truthful is useful'
  • Unpractical ideas have to be rejected
• Charles Sanders Pierce & William James: '"The pragmatist knows that doubt is an art which has to be acquired with difficulty."<|>"The art of being wise is the ability to know what should be ignored."'
• Phenomenological Method


  • 'Phenomenology'
  • 'phenomenon' = observable fact/event
  • 'first step to truth: investigate/ describe an event as consciously experienced'
  • 'Epoche' = bracket preconceived notions
• Edmund Husserl: '"No one can have a knowledge of something outside one's conscious experience."<|>"Go back to the things themselves."'
• Pragmatic Method


  • Practical, useful
  • 'Truth has beneficial consequences'
  • 'What is truthful is useful'
  • Unpractical ideas have to be rejected
• Proponents: CHARLES SANDERS PIERCE & WILLIAM JAMES
• Phenomenological Method


  • 'phenomenon' = observable fact/event
  • 'first step to truth: investigate/ describe an event as consciously experienced'
  • 'Epoche' = bracket preconceived notions
• Proponent: EDMUND HUSSERL
• Philosophical Reasoning


  • Reasoning = process of logical thinking to form a conclusion
  • Any claim or conclusion has to be supported
  • Deductive Reasoning = a specific conclusion follows a general theory
  • Inductive Reasoning = makes specific observations and then draws a general conclusion
• Proponent: ARISTOTLE (LOGIC)
• The human person as an embodied spirit


  • People get to know us through our bodies
  • Our bodies define our reality
  • Our bodies are bearers of limits and possibilities
  • Our bodies do not merely limit us; they are bearers of possibilities
• Metaphysical Approach


  • What is man?
  • Identifies the essential components of man
  • Essentialism (Aristotle & Aquinas)

  
• Existential Approach


  • Who is man?
  • Identifies the mode of existence of man
  • Existentialism (Heidegger & Sartre)