LEARNER’S PACKET NO.

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QUARTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

Name: _____________________________________________ Grade Level: 11/12

Week/Date: _________________________

I.
MELC: Distinguish a holistic perspective from a partial point of view. PPT11/12-Ia-
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II.
The Nature and Functions of Philosophy

DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY.
Traditionally philosophy is defined as love of wisdom because it came from two
Greek words philos (love) and Sophia (wisdom). You might find it strange to
connect love to philosophy. You might think of philosophy as a purely intellectual
discipline which has nothing to do with love. You might believe love is romance,
poetry, intense passion in which you are willing to lay down your life. But you will
see that philosophy can also be pursued passionately. In fact some people like
Socrates died for truth. It is this centrality of love to philosophy that we call people
who engages in philosophy as philosophers (lovers of wisdom).

ORIGIN OF PHILOSOPHY.
Greece is the birthplace of philosophy in the West. To be more precise it is the
ancient Greek city of Miletus in the Western coast of what is now Turkey that gave
birth to philosophy. It is in this city that the first philosopher in the West, Thales,
lived. Thales is the Father of Philosophy in the Western civilization. He lived
between 624 and 546 BCE a contemporary of the Lydian king Croesus and the
statesman Solon.

What made Thales a philosopher is his desire to know the ultimate stuff that
makes up the different things we perceived. You see when we look at the world we
encounter different things: people, trees, clouds, mountains, rivers, etc. Now
Thales believed that despite the different things we encounter there is one
underlying stuff or substance in which everything is composed. He believes that

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 there is One in the Many. Thales was the first individual who tried to reduce the
multiplicity in to a unity.

But his explanation of natural phenomena is devoid of gods and goddesses of

the old religion of Greece. It is completely rational. It represents a departure from
the mythological religion of Greece. Thales approach highlights the difference
between religion and philosophy. Religion rests on faith while philosophy rests on
reason. problem. Studying Thales makes us realize that philosophical activity is
characterized by three things:
1. Scope philosophy involves the widest generalizations. While people
concern themselves with shoes and clothes, the latest gossip about their
favorite celebrities, their crushes, philosophers concern themselves with
big issues pertaining to the truth, the good, the just, the beautiful, and
the existence of practically all things. While scientists concern
themselves with scientific knowledge, historians with knowledge of the
past, economists with knowledge of supply and demand, philosophers
concern themselves with the nature of knowledge.
2. Philosophy is all about fundamentals. A fundamental is the root
because that explains almost everything in a given context. To
understand this, imagine that knowledge is like a building with levels.
3. Philosophy is driven by the desire to integrate things in to a one
coherent whole. As the celebrated philosopher Georg Wilhelm
Friedrich Hegel said “The true is the Whole (Peikoff, 1991).” If you notice
Thales wants to reduce the multiplicity of things into a single stuff. He
desires to find the One in the many.

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY

A. Axiology: the study of value; the investigation of its nature, criteria, and
metaphysical status. More often than not, the term "value theory" is used
instead of "axiology" in contemporary discussions even though the term
“theory of value” is used with respect to the value or price of goods and
services in economics.
a. Ethics: the study of values in human behavior or the study of
moral problems: e.g., (1) the rightness and wrongness of actions,
(2) the kinds of things which are good or desirable, and (3)
whether actions are blameworthy or praiseworthy.
b. Æsthetics: the study of value in the arts or the inquiry into
feelings, judgments, or standards of beauty and related concepts.
Philosophy of art is concerned with judgments of sense, taste,
and emotion.
B. Epistemology: the study of knowledge. In particular, epistemology is
the study of the nature, scope, and limits of human knowledge.
1. Epistemology investigates the origin, structure, methods, and
integrity of knowledge.
2. Consider the degree of truth of the statement, "The earth is
round." Does its truth depend upon the context in which the
statement is uttered? For example, this statement can be
successively more accurately translated as "The earth is
spherical"
C. Ontology or Metaphysics: the study of what is really real. Metaphysics
deals with the so-called first principles of the natural order and "the

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 ultimate generalizations available to the human intellect." Specifically,
ontology seeks to identify and establish the relationships between the
categories, if any, of the types of existent things.
1. What kinds of things exist? Do only particular things exist or do
general things also exist? How is existence possible? Questions
as to identity and change of objects—are you the same person
you were as a baby? as of yesterday? as of a moment ago?
2. How do ideas exist if they have no size, shape, or color? (My idea
of the Empire State Building is quite as "small" or as "large" as my
idea of a book. I.e., an idea is not extended in space.) What is
space? What is time?
3. What is spirit? or soul? or matter? space? Are they made up of
the same sort of "stuff"?
D. Ethics: Everyone in their day to day life tries to conduct themselves
according to some established ethical norms. This philosophical concept
has different applications in a person’s real life. For instance, there are
certain organizations that have ethical committees which lay down rules
of behavior for its employees. Ethics is concerned with the definition of
right and wrong. It elucidates schools of thought that instruct us how to
act in a given situation, which has always been a matter of contention
between philosophers.
E. Political Philosophy: Combining the two fields of Politics and
Philosophy, Political Philosophy studies political government, laws,
liberty, justice, rights, authority, political states and systems, ethics, and
more. It explores the concepts of why we need governments, the role of
played by governments, what are its constituents, amongst others.
F. Logic: We use this word in our commonplace conversations, so we are
all aptly familiar with it. People constantly ask each other, “where is the
logic behind this or that?”. People even acknowledge a good thought or
act by calling it logically correct. Hence, the question arises, what does
Science of logic has to do with Philosophy? In logic, we usually construct
two sentences which are called premises, and they are used to make a
conclusion. This sort of logic is called a syllogism, pioneered by Aristotle.

BASIC TOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY

A. Styles of Reasoning
1. Deduction: we can assess an argument by some strict set of
formal rules of logic [(∀x(Mx→Tx) ∧ Ma)→Ta]
2. Analysis: we can try to understand something by breaking it down
into basic components.
3. Speculation: we can explore possibilities imaginatively, and try to
assess each of them.
4. Implications: we can assess a proposal by exploring its
implications, for coherence, or absurdities.
5. Methodological skepticism: we can check our beliefs by
systematically doubting each of them in turn.
B. Principles of reasoning
1. Principle of sufficient reason: assumption that there is a reason
for everything.
2. Ockham’s Razor: if in doubt, prefer the simpler theory (‘don’t
multiply entities beyond necessity’).

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 3. Bivalence: only two truth values are available for a sentence –
‘true’ or ‘false’ (no ‘true-ish’, or ‘undecidable’).
C. Failures of Reason
1. Fallacy: there is a catalogue of particular ways in which reasoning
typically goes wrong.
2. Contradiction: if reasoning concludes that something is true and
not-true, its starting point was probably false.
3. Regress: if some explanation needs further explanation then it is
no use, especially if that goes on forever.
4. Question begging: an answer is no good if it secretly assumes the
think you were trying to prove.
5. Circularity: reasoning is not much good if it just leads you back to
your starting point (esp. if the circle is ‘vicious’).
6. Ad hominem argument: you can’t disprove an argument by
attacking the person who is proposing it.
D. Skepticisms
1. Dreams: if you believe your dreams and they are false, how can
waking experience guarantee its own truth?
2. Demons: if a force might be interfering with your mind, might all
of your thoughts, or any one of them, be false?
3. Physical objects: because of ‘dreams’ and ‘demons’, might the
objects in front of us not really exist? [so what?]
4. Spiritual existence: might there not be enough reason to believe
in anything that isn’t physical?
5. Reason: we smugly assume that simple reasoning is right, but
can we say what makes reasoning work?

III.

ACTVITY NO. 1. PICTURE ANALYSIS!

Directions: Your task is to look at the picture below and answer the following
questions. Write the answers on your answer sheet.

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 1. What do you notice from the picture?
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2. Did anyone get the correct answer? Why or why not?
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3. What does this picture imply about our effort to understand the realities of life
or answer our perennial problems?
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ACTIVITY NO. 2. GRAPHIC ORGANIZER.

Directions: Your task is to make graphic organizer about “How pandemic affect
Individual’s philosophy?”. Write the answers on your answer sheet.

ACTIVITY NO. 3. IMPORTANT POINTS TO PONDER.

Directions: Your task is to complete the statements below. Write the answers on your
answer sheet.
I learned that Philosophy is______________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
I feel that Philosophy is important because
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I commit to apply Philosophy in__________________________________________
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ASSESSMENT

DIRECTION. Choose the best answer on the following questions/statements below.

Write the answers on your answer sheet.

_____1. It is an activity that requires a person to examine his or her thoughts, feelings
and actions and learn from experience.
A. reflection C. wondering
B. questioning D. reasoning
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______2. What is the science and art of correct thinking?
A. Ethics C. Metaphysics
B. Aesthetics D. Logic
______3. The type of philosophical reflection which trains the mind to think logically.
Also it is the ability of the mind to construct and evaluate arguments
A. Secondary reflection C. Primary reflection
B. Tertiary reflection D. all of the above
______4. One of the triumvirate Greek philosophers who pioneered a method of
argument called dialectic.
A. Plato C. Pythagoras
B. Socrates D. Aristotle
______5. It is considered as the process of thinking about something in a logical way
in order to form a conclusion or judgement.
A. reasoning C. Argument
B. Proposition D. Reflection
_____6. In our daily lives we encounter events, situations or issues that we need to
ponder and think deeply. This activity which requires a person to examine his
or her thoughts, feelings and actions and learn from experience is related to
the concept of:
A. philosophical reflection C. philosophical wondering
B. philosophical questioning D. philosophical reasoning
_____7. Imagine that you are in Boracay walking with Thales. He is convincing you
that the only reality is water. Would you believe in him?
A. No, because I had my own belief.
B. Yes, because Thales belongs to the school of monists which believes that
only one kind of stuff exists.
C. Either yes or no, I will have my own investigation that is based on the data
and reason presented.
D. Neither yes nor no until it is proven true.
______8. According to Gabriel Marcel this type of reflection enables us to look deeper
into our experiences and see the bigger picture of reality.
A. Secondary reflection C. Primary reflection
B. Tertiary reflection D. all of the above
______9. Identify which statement describes the difference between holism and partial
thinking.
A. Holism is a perspective that looks at the “big picture” while partial thinking
focuses on the specific aspect of the situation.
B. Holism is a perspective that looks at the specific aspects of the situation
while partial thinking looks at the big picture.
C. Holism requires us to focus on a certain aspect of the problem while partial
thinking requires us to have an open mindset.
D. All of the above
_____10. According to the importance of studying philosophy, what can it offer us?
A. Know the different philosophers and their philosophies in life?
B. See the downs and lows in the development and history of philosophy.
C. Survey the achievements of the different philosophers in various periods of
history.
D. Enhances our minds, understand what we encounter every day, and value
our judgement.

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 I.

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER RUBRIC

CRITERIA SCORE POINTS DESCRIPTION

73-80 Excellent: Main concept easily identified; sub concepts branch appropriately from
main idea. Reflects essential information such as logically arranged, concepts
succinctly presented and no misspellings or grammatical errors.

25-32 Very Satisfactory: Main concept easily identified; most sub concepts branch from
main idea. Reflects most of the essential information such as generally logically
arranged, concepts presented without too many excess words and fewer than
CONTENT three misspellings or grammatical errors.
80 points
17-24 Satisfactory: Main concept is quite identified; sub concepts don’t consistently
branch from main idea. Contains related information but logically unarranged and
contains numerous spelling and grammatical errors.

0-16 Fair: Main concept is not clearly identified; sub concepts don’t consistently branch
from main idea. Contains extraneous, not logically arranged and contains
numerous spelling and grammatical errors.

16-20 Excellent: Clean design with high visual appeal, four or fewer symbol shapes, fits
page without a lot of scrolling and color is used effectively for emphasis.

11-15 Very Satisfactory: Design is fairly clean, with a few exceptions. Diagram has visual
appeal with four or fewer symbol shapes, fits page well and uses color effectively
DESIGN most of time.
20 points
6-10 Satisfactory: Cluttered design with satisfactory aesthetic in visual appeal. Choice
of colors has lacks of visual appeal and impedes comprehension.

1-5 Fair: Design is in low visual appeal and information is unrelated to each other.

TOTAL

II.
ACTIVITY NO. 1. PICTURE ANALYSIS. ASSESSMENT
The answer may vary. 1. A 6. A
ACTIVITY NO. 2. GRAPHIC ORGANIZER. 2. D 7. A
The answer may vary.
ACTIVITY NO. 3. IMPORTANT POINTS TO 3. A 8. C
PONDER. The answers may vary. 4. B 9. A
5. A 10. B

III.

Bernal, Ferrer and Alac (2020). PHILO Quarter 1 Module 1: Doing Philosophy.
Department of Education Region ADM-SLMs

Prepared by:

RALPH C. NAVELINO
SDO Camarines Sur

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