INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

Identifying Opinion from Truth

● Truth is based on fact, evidence
and strong argument while Opinion
sometimes, is based on feeling or ● Descriptive because they try to
a subjective perspective. describe, represent, or explain and
● a statement that reflects an author aspect of the world.
or the speaker's point of view,
beliefs, perspective, personal
feelings, and values; it cannot be
verified and proven to be true
contrary. (Arlene Burke 2020).
● to a fact that can be verified and
proven to be true
● Opinion is also part of developing
the truth. This lesson helps us to
differentiate an opinion from fact.

FACT

- a statement of truth that can be

verified and able to be proven as
truth. The stronger the fact is the
stronger the possibility to be
true. Truth must be based on
fact, evidence and logical
manner.
- Can be verified through
empirical evidence.
- Are difficult to be logically
disputed or rejected.
Fact
● Objective because their value is
not dependent on one’s personal
beliefs, biases, and prejudices.
● Truth considered true when they
are validated using logical
reasoning.
OPINION
- based on feelings, belief, illusion
and subjective in the sense that
it relied on conviction and
perspective of a person.
- Opinion is changing and it
depends on the situation,
arguments, and belief.
- Often personal interpretations
- Also called as “value judgement”

Opinion
● Subjective because they are
mind- dependent, it cannot be
proven to be true or false

1
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
● Normative because they give
evaluations and suggestions for a
particular situation
● Expresses Beliefs, Feelings and
Speculations because beliefs can
be false, feelings/emotion can
cloud one’s reasoning that can
lead to false statements, and
speculation can be formed
without firm evidence/
Tools in Distinguishing Truth and
Opinion
● Critical Thinking - method of
suspending beliefs
judgements in order to distinguish
facts and opinions.
● Logic or Reason - composed of
principles that govern the validity of
argument and assumptions.
○ Logic Reasoning
Uncovers possible biases
and prejudices of an
argument. It
distinguishes
inconsistency
incoherence in one’s
argument or opinion.
TWO TYPES OF REASONING
✳ Deductive Reasoning (VALIDITY)
- proceeds from a general
premise to a specific
conclusion.
● Usually describes as a top-down
chain of argument.
● Validity - the logical connection
between the premises and the
conclusion of a deductive
argument.
✴ Inductive Reasoning
(STRENGTH) - makes broad
generalization out of specific
instances or observations.
● “Bottom-top chain” of argument
● Can only tell whether the
argument is strong or weak.
● based in particular observations
which may or may not have
direct relationship to the
conclusion.
SOUNDNESS - the property of
statements and arguments that are
both valid and tru
Methods of philosophy lead to
and wisdom and truth
● A way of thinking over
philosophical problems.
● The methodology or method that
philosophers use to address
philosophical questions is critical
- thinking. Critical thinking is the
careful, reflective, rational, and
systematic approach to questions
also of very general interest. (Ramos,
Christine Carmela R. 2019 2nd
and edition, 49).
2
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
● Philosophical questions have
answers, but the answer remains
in dispute, it cannot be settled by
science, common sense or faith,
humans are perennial intellectual
interests of beings. (Double, 1999).
Hence, critical thinking is
considered the backbone of
philosophizing.
● Everybody has the capacity to
think and ask question but not
everybody has capacity to
criticize, reflect, and evaluate
the ideas or assumption. In order
to become a critical thinker, the
thinker should possessed the
following attributes: look for
evidence to support
assumption, adjust opinions,
look for proof, examine the
problems, and reject irrelevant
and incorrect information.
(Ramos Christine, 2019 2nd
edition Introduction to the
Philosophy of human person).
● Method of philosophizing varied
from different Philosophical
standpoints. In Phenomenology,
truth is based on the person’s
consciousness. Anything we are
all rationally and intentionally
thinking about.
● Existentialism, truth is based on
exercising choices and personal
freedom, on the other hand,
Postmodernism, the truth is not
absolute and finally in Logic,
truth is based on reasoning and
critical thinking.
● Method of Philosophizing is an
expression of oneself in a rational
and logical manner. These
methods are varied from different
philosophers, on how they convey
the truth in the light of their
philosophy and standpoint in life.
Nevertheless, the importance of
this is that the truth is addressed.
Neither the truth is in the measure
Phenomenology, Existentialism,
Postmodernism, or Logic.
Philosophical Reflection on a
concrete situation from a Holistic
Perspective
● Philosophical Reflection is the
capacity of humans to exercise
introspection and the willingness to
learn more about their fundamental
nature, purpose and essence
(Antonio T. Delgado 2019)
● allows a person to look back on
previous experiences and evaluate
the meaning or significance of his
or her life
● When we say introspection, we
mean a person’s ability to do
self-examination and analysis
● During the process of reflection, if
man realizes things and is derived
and directed to and from the clear
concept of reality then it is called
Primary Reflection ie. love, color,
death
● if man realizing that things, his
reasons for existence is in holistic
perspective, this process of
reflection is known and are
considered Secondary Reflection
ie. value of existence, essence of
things, meaning of life, life after
death
3
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN
EMBODIED SPIRIT
● Human has possessed a certain
limitation and no one has able to
find out the absolute truth about
human and the ideas beyond
reality of humanity.
● According to Thomas Merton
(1948) a Trappist monk, “there is
no other way for us to find who we
are than by finding in ourselves the
divine image”. (Ramos Christine
Carmela R. 2019).
● Hinduism, Buddhism and
Christianity all conveyed that
human person not just end up on
body as reality alone, but also the
things Transcendence, it beyond
reality. This concept is called is
state of being or existence that
is above and beyond physical
needs and realities.
HINDUISM
- (Brahman is god), as nothing
more than an illusion, and even
an obstacle to an individual’s
realization of one's real self.
- Soul is eternal but is bound by
the law of karma. While
Transmigration of soul means a
person’s soul moves from animal
to human or human to animal
after dying and getting born
again depending on the person’s
good or bad karma.
- Brahman is the reason for the
world’s creation. It is the
foundation of Hinduism.
- Samsara (continuous cycle of
life, death and reincarnation)
- Karma (Universal Law of Cause
and Effect)
- Everyone should strive to
achieve Dharma (right way of
living).
- Individual souls are immortal.
BUDDHISM
- Buddhism (Siddhartha
Gautama), on the other hand
believes, in order to escape from
pain and misery lay
transformation of in the one’s
and that liberation could come
mind only with a sloughing off of
all vain clinging to the things of
this life, which means having no
earthly desire for money,
ambition, wealth, or sexual
feelings.
- Teachings solely aimed at
liberating humans from suffering
- Five Precepts (Rules) in
Buddhism are:a
1. Refrain from taking life.
2. Refrain from taking what is not
given.
3. Refrain from the misuse of the
senses or sexual misconducts.
4. Refrain from wrong speech.
5. Refrain from intoxicants that
cloud the mind.
- Buddha’s Rules of Happiness
1. Clear View Point – Always live a
life according to the vision you
have built (vision for yourself
and for the world). Start by
loving yourself and everything
will fall into place.
2. Values – Develop values that will
motivate you to work for the
good of the world. To be happy
is to give to others.
3. Words That Inspire - Choose
words very carefully, do not
gossip or slander. Spread
positivity in life. Inspire others.
4. Actions In Positive Direction –
Never hurt anyone or do
anything that can do bad to
someone.
5. Efforts With Impact – Do things
that make you a better person
and motivate others to be a
better version of themselves.
6. Be mindful – Be aware of what is
happening at the very moment.
Enjoy and cherish every moment
4
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
with yourself or with others
(including your loved ones).
7. Concentrate Right – Meditate to
talk to your soul. We can release
suffering from our life by letting
go of our desires. Aim for
happiness and peace which is
constant. Don’t settle for things
that are temporary.
CHRISTIANITY
- whose faith is the basis of one’s
belief. This faith believed that
God created man on His own
image. That God is the creator
of all. Man is a sinner (Adam
and Eve)and fall short of the
glory of God, that salvation is
through faith in Christ Jesus
alone.
- No one can explain God without
faith. St. Augustine and his
philosophy reflects about the
love of God. St. Thomas
Aquinas, considered human
being as a moral agent. That
Human has both spiritual and
body elements, the spiritual
and material.
Human Body imposes Limits and
Possibilities for Transcendence
➔ Human body imposes limitations
and possibilities for
transcendence. Reality clearly
defined human body subject for
any form of deformities that lead
to limitation.
➔ Accept the fact that human body
has limitation, it is not barrier for
human not to live well, but
actually to look deeper fact about
limitation, the bright side of
meaningful life.
➔ The human person’s existence is
not complete because it is
wrapped up by limitation and
possibilities. The human person
must recognize that his human
body imposes certain limitation
and possibilities (Ariola, Mariano
M 2016 pp 53)
➔ There are no such things a
permanent in this world. All things
including human are subjects for
deformities and defects and this
truth in our world leads to a
person’s realization that his/her
existence has an end. The End
triggered a point on a person, to
find himself into a belief of
transcendence in order to satisfy
himself and live with purpose
and valuable life.
➔ Person learned to have deep
concern for people(Concept of
concern), living with
people(Concept of being related
to), accepting the temporarily
facts about life(Concept of
temporarily), feeling of guilt
about his existence(Concept of
guilt feeling), listening to his
conscience (concept of
conscience), starting himself
from nothing(concept of dread),
reality of man’s existence that
considered inevitable
event(concept of death) and a
person resolved to accept
himself and make up his mind to
the existing reality (concept of
resoluteness)
TYPES OF LIMITATIONS
1. Physical Limitations - As human
beings, we have physical
limitations. Unlike super heroes
with superhuman powers, people's
strength, sense perception, energy,
and power are all limited.
- However, even if that is the case,
our body are subject to change.
Some people exceed their limits
while some experience
degradation of their capabilities as
they get older.
- Hence, even if we know that as
human beings, our capabilities are
limited, until now, there is still no
exact measurement that dictate the
real limits of the human body.
5
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
2. Intellectual Limitations - The
brain might be a small mass of
spongy tissue but it is a complex
network of neurons firing synapses
and electrical impulses in
everything that our body does. It
controls our entire body, thoughts,
feelings, and actions. It solves
problems, experience emotions,
store memories, and communicate
with others.
- However, even if our brain is a
powerful organ, it has its own
limitations. For example, as a
person grows old, the human brain
also degrades. That is why older
people complain of memory loss
and judgment lapses.
- The human brain is prone to
information overload. This difficulty
in processing every bit of
information we get from our
surroundings lead to incomplete
and confusing information.
- The phenomenon of pareidolia
demonstrates how the human
brain interprets information with an
inherent bias. EXAMPLE When we
see shapes of animals in the
clouds or perceive a particular
message from an object that does
not intend to portray that message.
- Every person has his or her own
biases and prejudices.
3. Emotional Limitations -
Philosophers like Plato claim that
emotions are the main reason why
human beings are imperfect.
Indeed, human emotions give both
positive and negative impacts to
the habits and actions of a person.
- Emotions range from extreme
feelings like love, anger,
happiness, and loneliness to subtle
jolts of fear, disgust, wonder, etc.
Whether a human person is
expressive of his or her emotions
or not, every person is affected of
his or her emotion, and this can
sometimes dominate one's logical
reasoning.

6
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
. acts upon the body through the
Augustine: Limitations of the Will
● In the book, De Libero Arbitrio,
Augustine identified the human
condition with "ignorance" and
"difficulty".
● For Augustine, the union of the
body and the soul composes the
nature of the men. However, the
soul administers or governs the
body since the body is subject to
corruption and sin.
● The body dies when it is separated
from the soul.
● Augustine, claimed that the soul
acts upon the body through the
"instrumentality of the brain.
● Human is less reliable than the
divine authority because human
authority is subject to error.
Augustine: Limitations of the Will
● In the book, De Libero Arbitrio,
Augustine identified the human
condition with "ignorance" and
"difficulty".
● For Augustine, the union of the
body and the soul composes the
nature of the men. However, the
soul administers or governs the
body since the body is subject to
corruption and sin.
● The body dies when it is separated
from the soul.
● Augustine, claimed that the soul
"instrumentality of the brain.
● Human is less reliable than the
divine authority because human
authority is subject to error.
Augustine: Possibility for
Transcendence
● The possibility for transcendence
of man could be attributed to the
human soul that God gave to men.
● However, the soul administers the
body virtually and potentially. The
soul never dies.
● "The human soul is a living,
incorporeal, spiritual, rational
substance, which is vitally and
potentially present in the body as
the principle of all its operations".
● The human soul is immortal
because this is where the immortal
Truth dwells. Therefore, the eternal
law, which was entailed in the
Truth was given by the Divine
Authority to the soul.
Thomas Aquinas: Limitations of Human
● Aquinas believed that people
inherited the sin of the their first
parent, Adam. This is the reason
why the human body has been
corrupted by sin since then.
● Moreover, even if men has the gift
of reason, the ability of men to gain
knowledge is limited. This is the
reason why we cannot
comprehend God. Human
knowledge is limited and very
small compared to God's
knowledge and wisdom.
● The human body is deprived of
goodness because of the evil.
Thomas Aquinas: Possibility for
Transcendence
● For Aquinas, human beings should
exercise their reason properly to
achieve human goodness.
● "The virtue of wisdom is an
intellectual excellence whereby
one grasps the fundamental
causes of the world's origin and
operation. Knowledge of those
causes may include knowledge of
God, who is the highest cause of
7
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
things. Yet the virtue of wisdom
cannot disclose some of the more
important aspects of God's
character". (Floyd, n.d.)
● We also need God's help to
restore the goodness of our nature.
Human Person and Environment
● Aesthetics The word "aesthetics"
came from the word "aisthetikos”,
a Greek term which literally
translates to “perception by the
senses”.
● Aesthetics as commonly
understood today has evolved from
the definition as the "evaluation of
things using the sense", into the
more specific term "beauty".
CONCEPT OF AESTHETICS
- Pythagoras - Beauty through
numbers, exhibits through
harmony proportion of numbers
- Plato - Symmetry: exactly
similar, uniformity
- Aristotle - Functional and
Purpose, Concept of Teleology
- Friedrich Nietzsche - Life and
Vitality
- Moral worth of action depend
upon its effect on any forms of
life. "Human Center"
- Biocentrism - Moral worth of
action depend upon its effect on
any forms of life. "Life Center"
- Ecocentrism - Ethical principle
that acknowledges that intrinsic
value of natural world that
debunk the idea that human
beings own everything has
authority over it.
- Social Ecology - Understands
the interactions of the social,
institutional, and culture context,
of the relationship nature to the
people.
VIRTUES OF ENVIRONMENT
Prudence - Aquinas wisdom concerning
human affairs or right reason with respect
to action.
Frugality - is defined as the attitude of
being economical in spending and using
resources

Environmental Ethics
- concerned with the relationship of
human beings with their
environment. It is concerned with
the understanding on how should
human beings align their actions
and behaviors to morally grounded
principles.

CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
ETHICS

- Anthropocentrism - Believes that

any action must be done high
consideration of its effects on
man