a) Semantics (Questions related to Meaning).

It is the science of meaning. It studies the natural and artificial

language scientifically. This includes the study of the relations of words to
the objects denoted by them, the relations of words to the interpreters of
them, and, in symbolic logic, the formal relations of signs to one another
(syntax).

Semantics attempts to resolve questions like: “What sorts of meanings do

human grammars yield, and by what rules are these meanings assembled?”
“How does grammatical knowledge develop in children?”

2. Speculative Division of Philosophy - is made up of philosophical fields whose

main concern is the acquisition of knowledge without any thought of applying it
for any practical use. It includes epistemology, theodicy, cosmology,
philosophical psychology, and metaphysics.

a) Epistemology (Questions related to Truth and Knowledge).

Epistemology is the science of knowledge. This includes the
statement and solution to the critical problem, nature, origin, objectivity, and
validity of knowledge, truth and certitude.

Epistemology attempts to resolve questions like: “What is knowledge?”

“What is fact?” “What is truth?”

b) Theodicy (Questions related to God).

Theodicy is the science of God - His nature, existence, essence, attributes
and operations.

Theodicy attempts to resolve questions like : “Does God exist?” “Why God
allows evil?”

c) Cosmology (Questions related to Universe).

Cosmology is the science of the universe – its origin and
development with its parts, elements, laws, especially its characteristics with
regard to space, time, causality and freedom.

Cosmology attempts to resolve question like: “How did the world begin and
where will it end?”

d) Psychology (Questions related to Soul).

Psychology is science of soul. The study deals man not only as a sensing or
thinking subject but also as a being composed of body and soul.

Psychology attempts to resolve question like: “Is there really a soul?”

e) Metaphysics (Questions related to Being and Existence).

It studies the nature of the mind, the self, and consciousness. It is the
science which deals with the nature of being, its attributes, constituent
principles, and causes.

Metaphysics attempts to resolve the following questions: “What is being?”

“Why is there being rather than non-being?” “What is existence?”
“What is essence?”
Why is there a need to philosophize?

1. Men have the tendency to wonder (Plato).

For example: we asked questions about our existence

2. Men also have the tendency to doubt ( Rene de Cartes).

For example: Men have to test and verify information before accepting it.

3. Men do philosophize because of his/her experience ( Karl Jaspers). Our daily

experience challenged our ideas and way of thinking.
For example: Giving money to a beggar, and found out that he uses it for
gambling.

Men’s love for wisdom (Socrates). Men’s desire for truth or seeking of knowledge is not
to claim ownership of it but to get the bottom of things.
The most notable ancient Greek Philosophers
1. Pythagoras (570 BCE to 495 BCE) – He is a mathematician and a scientist, and he was credited
with formulating the Pythagorean theorem.
2. Heraclitus (535 BCE to 475 BCE)- He proposed that everything that exist is based on a higher
order or plan which he called logos.
3. Democritus (460 BCE to 370 BCE) – He primarily remembered today for his formulation of an
atomic theory of the universe. He was the first to propose that matter is composed of tiny particles
called atom.
4. Diogenes of Sinope (412 BCE to 323 BCE)- He was known as advocate of living a simple and
virtuous life. His teachings and views influenced the development of several schools of philosophy
such as Cynicism and Stoicism.
5. Epicurus ( 341 BCE to 270 BCE) – He believed that philosophy could enable man to live a life of
happiness. His perspective gave rise to Epicureanism – a school of philosophy which believes that
wisdom and simple living will result in a life free of fear and pain.
6. Socrates (470 BCE to 399 BCE) – He was considered the foremost philosopher of ancient times.
He contributed much to the field of ethics. He was known of developing Socratic Method - a means
of examining a topic by devising a series of questions that let the learner examine and analyze his
knowledge and views regarding the topic
7. Plato (427 to 347 BCE) –A student of Socrates, he wrote some of his mentor’s teachings and
incorporated some of his own ideas.

a) Plato’s most significant ideas included his Theory of Forms, which proposes that
everything that exist is based on the idea that can only be perceived in mind.

b) He is famous for his dialectic - a method of inquiry where two opposing ideas are discussed in an
attempt to arrive in a new knowledge.
8. Aristotle (384 BCE to 322 BCE) – He attended the Academy and was a prominent student of
Plato. He go against the idea of Plato’s theory of forms and took a different stance in interpreting
reality.
 For him, all ideas and views are based on perception and our reality is based on what we can
sense and perceive. Aristotle was involved in a great variety of discipline such as zoology,
psychology, ethics, and politics.
 He formulated a formal process of analyzing reasoning – deductive reasoning – the process by
which specific statements are analyzed to reach a conclusion or generalization.