PHILO (1st Sem.

Midterms) inquires into the whole of a being and his

Philosophy - A rational activity that
teaches us to search for truth and hold on
to beliefs we can defend.
Philosophical Questions - Questions that
reflect on our life perspectives.
ideas about hermeneutics.
Book: Being and Time
Hermeneutics of Facticity - the way
people interpret things as they encounter
them in different ways.

Philosophical Etymology - Love of Faculty of Reason - allows us to pursue

wisdom. our questions.

Wonder - beginning for it stimulates us to Rational Capacity - so we come nearer to

venture into philosophy. Nagtataka. the truth.
Wander - Naggagala.
Socrates - philosophize in the market
Dialectics - Socrates way of arriving at known for socratic method recognized
truth through systematic exchange of through: Plato and Xenophon.
opinions.
- art of refutation A. Socratic Legacy
- exchange of ideas There are three claims of
Socrates from Plato’s dialogues
2 Types of Questions in Apology and Protagoras, are
Particular - a specific question. worth noting:
Universal - involves many other 1. “Know thyself”
uestions. 2. “The unexamined life is
not worth living”
Metaphysics - one of the main branches of 3. “Virtue is knowledge of
beings of beings. good and bad”

Aristotle’s Books These 3 claims is related to one another

- Ta meta ta physika and attempts to persuade you of the
- Meta(beyond) physika(physical) value of philosophical reflection.

Plato Books
- The Republic
- Apology Socratic Method - cooperative
- Protagoras argumentative dialogue.
B. Socratic Method
Martin Heidegger - the philosopher 1. To pause (reflect)
who claimed that a philosophical question 2. To really think (introspect)
 3. To share our thoughts by
conversing (to engage/be open)
Socrates was an excellent teacher
although he= did not even look at
himself as one.
He is very good in asking questions.
He was effective in making his
“students” think for themselves.
Socrates knew that his role as a
gadfly(annoys those who do not bother
to find truth) is important.
Socrates enjoined others to pondor on
philosophical questions because himself
was seeking wisdom.
Philosophical reflection - enlightens
us and makes us better persons.
Situatedness - destiny of our lives
B. Pilosopo as a Social Critic
In the philippine context, we have a term
that is close to the notion of a
philosopher that “pilosopo” has come to
be understood as having a negative
meaning.
“Pilosopo” refers to someone who
reasons poorly.
The pilosopo’s poor reasoning is not
necessarily condemned by society.
Pilosopo’s faulty reasoning is even
found entertaining.
Fallacy - a term of erroneous reasoning
or mistaken idea.
The pilosopo in this sense is indeed a
danger to philosophy.
Genetic Fallacy - discrediting the source
/ origin.
Equivocation - to deceive or mislead
someone through ambiguous language.
Red Herring Fallacy - diverts attention.
Argumentum ad hominem- attacking
individual instead of seeking to disprove
the truth of the statement.
In Rizal’s Noli me Tangere we find the
character Pilosopo Tasyo
Pilosopo Tasyo is similar to
Socrates.
Aristotle
- student of Plato and became the
mentor of Alexander the great.
- founder of ‘Lyceum’ in athens.
- claimed that rational faculty is the
best element in us.
Types of Wisdom
A. Theoretical Wisdom - necessary
truth
 B. Practical Wisdom - realm of The Milesian Philosophers
action 1. Thales
2. Anaximander
“Ideal speculation vs. True 3. Anaximenes
experience”
Thales: water - everything is water
Politics - Ruling and managing people.
Anaximander: boundless
Arrogance - belief that one have figured - Apeiron in greek which means
out everything. infinite.
- Spatial theory or Idea of Space
Ignorance - those in search for truth are
conscious of their own ignorance. Anaximenes: Air - account for change
- Revealed in actions. & life.

Philosophical Activity - cure to Pythagoreans: Number

ignorance.
Atomist: Atom
To gain wisdom, one must:
1. Be Reflective Theocentric View (Medieval period)
2. Take time to introspect - Theo - World is secondary to God
3. Examine beliefs - The church sustained man’s
intellect
Philosophical Thought in 3 views
1. Cosmocentric Avicenna (latinized)
2. Theocentric - “Ibn Sina”, First muslim
3. Anthropocentric philosopher
- The existence of beings traced to
Cosmocentric View (600 BC - 600 AD) God.
- Ancient philosophers wondered St. Thomas Aquinas
about the kosmos. - Author of Summa Theologica -
- “Arche” - greek for “starting point” contains explanation of christian
or “source of life” faith.
- Famous for 5 ways of proving
“Where did all things came from?” God.

Cosmology - the study of nature of the Anthropocentric View (1500 - 1900

world, would be a substance Modern Period)
responsible for the multiplicity of things. - Anthropos in greek
- “Centered on Man”
Pre-Socratic Philosophers
 - Characterized by subjectivity and
individualism. The Ninety-Five Theses (1517) - Martin
- Result of rise of modern science Luther
and diminished authority of
church in the 17th century. Enlightenment led to rise of
individualism
Bertrand Russell - made man realize
the practical utility of science as a Factors that lead to the Intellect
technique, rather than a doctrine that Transformation of the West
explained the nature of the world. Enlightenment

- Challenged Church Authority

- Scientific Revolution
Medieval Philosophy - Moral Relativism
- philosophy in the middle ages. - Black Death
From the fall of the western - Skepticism
roman empire in the fifth century - Individualism
AD to the Renaissance in the - Economic, Political and Social
sixteenth century. Changes
- Essentially monotheistic - belief - Resentment (Middle Class)
in one God.
Basic Features of Modern Philosophy
Deism - belief in the existence of a - Autonomy of Reason
supreme being. - Perfectibility and progress
- Ability t discover causality
The Black Death (Bubonic Plague) - Principles governing nature, man
and social science
Science Advanced in Northern Europe - Assault on Authority
- Cosmopolitan solidarity of
Feudalism - dominant social system in enlightened intellectuals
medieval period. - A disgust with nationalism

From Dogmatism to Humanism - bible Age of Enlightenment - 18th Century

stated that the sun moved through the
sky and denounced Galileo’s teaching.
Heliocentrism or Heliocentricism -
Model of earthland planets that revolves
sun.
Geocentrism - earth at the center.
in Europe and America
Reality - things that appear to us in this
world.
Philosophical Reflection - the world as
lived, experienced as phenomenon.
Science - through experiments. Narrow. 'cogito, ergo sum' (I think, therefore I
exist) can be found.
Philosophy - uses raw experience.
Jacques Derrida a French
Broad.
Philosopher
Empiricism - knowledge derived from
sense-experience.
Deconstruction Philosophy/ Textual
Criticism
Immanuel Kant
- What is morality Famous work: On Grammatology
- Morality is knowing good and
Derrida's philosophy challenged
bad.
traditional views in philosophy by
looking at structures of language to
Universal Law / Categorial
open up limitless interpretations.
Imperatives - everybody doing the
same thing.

Aristotle - Syllogisms
Virtue is knowledge of good and bad.
- A deductive argument of a certain
Concept of Human Freedom form where a conclusion is
1. Man inferred from two premises.
2. World - A formal argument in logic that is
3. God formed by two statements and a
conclusion which must be true if
the two statements are true.
EXAMPLE:
Journey to Truth
1st Argument: All men are human.
Rene Descartes - “Father of Modern
2nd Argument: All humans are mortal.
Philosophy.”
Conclusion: Therefore all men are
mortal.
Skepticism - knowledge with clear and
distinct ideas can be acquired with
certainty.
We’re not supposed to believe all views
His idea about 'notion of presented to us as true.
indubitability' /certainly true or
We need to distinguish the ‘false’ from
inarguable.
the ‘true’, or the ‘illusions’ from the ‘real’.
Descartes' Latin book: Meditations on
First Philosophy where his famous Doxa - opinion
Episteme - knowledge
Opinion
- ‘We are entitled for our own
opinion’
- No one will be in a position to
correct us in our beliefs because
there would be no need to verify
them.
- They are opinions, and as such,
we do not need to justify them.
Justification
- It is a different case, however,
when we claim that our belief is
true.
- We are required to explain our
reason.
- To know is to be able to give
rational justification.
- Rational beings are held
responsible for their thoughts at
the same way that they are for
their actions.
Falsehood that are believed by many
● Good looking men and women,
has no problem with love
relationship.
● That money means happiness.
● The earth is flat.
Questions of Truth and Opinion
Correspondence Theory
- Oldest model of truth
- True prepositions (statements)
are those that correspond with
reality
Be in CONFORMITY, be in
AGREEMENT, to be SIMILAR, or
EQUAL to SOMETHING
Linguistic Turn
- Alfred North Whitehead
Context Principle
- Bertrand Russell
Sense - to be understood as meaning
(connotation or intention in logic)
Reference - ‘referent’ pertains to what is
referred to or the denotation (also
known as extension)
Miscommunication
Ludwig Wittgenstein
- ‘Language-game’
- The meaning of language is to be
found in its use
- To understand meaning, people
must be playing the same game.
‘Are we in the same page?’
Phenomenology & Existentialism
Rene Descartes
- ‘Cartesian Methodic Doubting’
“The most important thing about
existence is to give importance to
the things that your mind
perceives because it proves your
existence.”
Consciousness is Intentional
Edmund Husserl
 - forerunner of Phenomenological
Movement
“Consciousness is
consciousness of something.”
What is Phenomenology?
Phenomenology
- Investigation of the essence
(meaning) or the nature of
material things or things that
appear to us.
- Phainomenon = appearance
- Logos = reason/ study of
Study of Phenomenon - anything that
exists of which the mind is conscious.
Essence=Attributes=Meaning=Purpose
Noema - when one sees an object, it
will have an object which in this seeing
as meant.
Noesis - the intentional act that
presents that object as you meant it.
Essentialism - finality of things.
Natural Attitude & Transcendental
Attitude
Natural Attitude - when we are
comfortable with the things we know.
Transcendental Attitude - when we try
our best to direct our consciousness to
investigate the essence of every
phenomenon.
Existentialism
- “Existence precedes essence”
“We are our choices.”
-J.P. Sartre
Existentialism Phenomenology - is
designed to make us see what every
existing thing means to someone.
Unveiling Truth through Methods
Schools of Thought as Useful
Ladders
Hermeneutical Role
Hermeneut - someone who performs
hermeneutics
Hermeneutical Role
- Etymology: god Hermes, whose
role is to deliver messages, and
so an exact meaning of the
message is expected to be
conveyed.
- A philosopher, by nature of his
responsibility to communicate
ideas that are hallmarks of
wisdom, must make sure his
message is understood well.
- The hermeneutical tradition offers
many sets of guidelines and
principles on how to proceed.
‘On Hermeneutics’ Claim to Universality’
Jurgen Habermas
Theory of Communicative Action
Hermeneutics
- Is about one’s capability for
making linguistic communication
understandable.
 - Is at work in the trying to make a
decision on practical questions.
Philosophical Hermeneutics - is a
hermeneutical reflection which is in the
service of: skillful understanding and
explication; and convincing and
persuading.
Philosophical Analysis (George
Edward Moore & Bertrand Russell)
- The idea is that an analysis of
language reveals thought.
- Analytic philosophers uncovers
the logical structures that underlie
our statements.
‘All men are cheaters’
The statement needs to be clarified by
asking whether we are talking about
some men or all men.
‘Some men are cheaters.’
Phenomenological-Existential
Method
- From phenomenology, we have
learned to bracket our natural
attitude about phenomena in
order to move to a Dalai Lama - Where ignorance is our
phenomenological attitude that
will make us able to do a
reduction of the phenomena in
mind.
- Do the reduction proper. Look for
the essences or ideas that
remain in your consciousness in
relation to the object you are
conscious of. This involves a long
process of a kind of meditation; it
takes you beyond the ordinary
knowledge that you have learned
in natural science and in
simplistic psychology.
Existential Phenomenology
- Investigating every phenomenon
as meaningful to the subject who
is involved in the situation.
- Not just to look for essences, but
to look for meaning to the subject
who cannot be a detached spe
Epoche - bracket or suspend the usual
ideas that you know about that thing or
object.
Emmanuel Jal - The worst people on
earth are not only those who commit
evil, but those who stand by and turn a
blind eye.
Mark Twain - Whenever you find
yourself on the side of the majority, it is
time to pause and reflect.
Memories of Socrates III 9.5
Xenophon - knowledge is a virtue,
ignorance is a vice
master, there is no real peace
Jacques Derrida - Find the meaning
behind things you see. Deconstruct
Immanuel Kant - Sapere aude (Dare to
ask)
Claude Levi-Strauss - The right man
poses for the right questions
J.P Sartre
 - We are our choices.
- Existence precedes essence.
- I think therefore I exist.”

Immanuel Kant - if you punish a child

for being naughty, and reward him for
being good.”

Context - it is only in the context of a

sentence that a word has a meaning
(Dummet, 1993)