Sustaining Questions or Providing Answers?

The Key Tasks of Philosophy

NIÑO RANDY C. FLORES, LPT, MAED
 What is Philosophy?
“Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he
is both the marble and the sculptor.” - Alexis Carrell

• Philosophy is an articulated attempt to

understand reality in a holistic and
integrated manner. Its aim is to train the
mind to look at things as an integrated
whole.
• To look at things integrally is to strive to
perceive the interconnectedness of every
part of reality to understand it holistically.
• It is is an intellectual enterprise which
involves a striving for wisdom and the
meaning of life.
•

Inquiries vs.
Questions

INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy, as a field of discipline,
deals with questions. It seeks to
provide clear, distinct, and satisfactory
answers to key questions that
confronts us often, and these are the
questions that touch on justice,
society, beauty, God, politics, issues
like environment and education,
human flourishing, and so on.
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
The philosopher is
someone who is aware of
his calling to contemplate
– more than being
practical he searches for
an in-depth explanation of
how and why is it that
some things are worth the
effort, while others are
not.

INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
The philosopher follows the path of question; he does not settle
on the mere complacency that the answer may offer, but dwelling
on the challenge of the question he seeks to further expand his
understanding of the world by putting things into perspective.
The striving to attain
an integrated
understanding of
reality is essentially a
journey towards self-
understanding.
INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy is therefore
significant in the sense
that it seeks to resolve
uncertainty and provide
convincing answers to big
questions about the world,
ourselves, and our place in
the grand order of things.

INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
By philosophizing on the big and essential questions, we are provided
the opportunity to widen our intellectual horizons, to break our
perspectival limitations, and to critically explicate on considerations
that can transform our way of thinking and doing and channel it
towards a constructive direction.