PHILOSOPHY

• SEARCH – meaning – LIFE and REALITY

• RATIONALITY and FREEDOM
–“The unexamined life is not worth
living for man.” (Socrates)
• What is man?
• What is life?
• What is death?
• What is the true nature of the universe?
• What are the qualities of truth,
goodness, and beauty?
DIVISIONS OF PHILOSPHY
1. METAPHYSICS
• Are humans free to decide their fate?
• Is there a first cause, or a God, that
made everything in motion?
• What are space and time?
2. EPISTEMOLOGY
– Is the world, as people perceive it, the basic
reality, or do people perceive only appearances
that conceal basic reality?
– What are the boundaries between reason and
knowledge?
– What is the basis of knowledge? Is it observation,
experience? Intuition or inspiration?
– RATIONALISM vs. EMPIRICISM
3. AESTHETICS
• How do humans judge what is
beautiful?
• Is beauty a reasoned assessment, or is
it merely an emotional preference?
4. LOGIC
• Critical Thinking
• Valid Arguments and Correct
Reasoning
The Lifeboat Dilemma
The Lifeboat Dilemma
You can only save 2 people…
• A Doctor
• The President of the Philippines
• A Priest
• A 5-year old kid
• A Pregnant Woman
• A Murderer
• The Richest Man on Earth
The real question in ethics..

•What is the
right thing to
do?
The real question in ethics..

–Did you make

the RIGHT
DECISION?
The real question in ethics..
–What made the lives of
the 2 individuals you
saved more valuable
than the those who were
left floating?
• Is the murderer’s life less
valuable because of the sin
he has committed?
• Can we say that a person’s
life is less valuable because
of his past mistakes?
• Who are we to put value on
people’s lives?
To understand, analyze and
distinguish…
• Human actions and the reasons for
such
–Right or wrong
–Good and bad
On morals…
• What actions are immoral?
• What is the difference
between an immoral act and
a non-moral act?
IMPORTANT FEATURES OF
MORALS AND ETHICS
1. No one can avoid making moral or
ethical decisions because the social
connection with others necessitates
that people must consider moral and
ethical actions.
2. Other people are always involved with
one‟s moral and ethical decisions.
Private morality does not exist.
3. Moral decisions matter
because every decision
affects someone else’s life,
self esteem, or happiness
level.
4. Definite conclusions or
resolutions will never be
reached in ethical debates.
5. In the area of morals and ethics,
people cannot exercise moral judgment
without being given a CHOICE; in other
words, a necessity for making a sound
moral judgment is being able to choose
an option from among a number of
choices.
Types of Ethical Inquiry
1. Normative Ethics
-What ought to be done, what type of
behavior should be shown
2. Meta-ethics
-Theories and concepts
3. Descriptive Ethics
-Scientific, How people actually behave