SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY

2nd SEMESTER
A.Y. 2022 – 2023
COMREHENSIVE SUMMARY | JESON AGONCILLO SSP IJ1

PHILOSOPHY
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
From Greek words, "Philos" means Love and "Sophia" means Wisdom
parts of the sense organs.

Study of general and fundamental problems such as those connected with existence, rational attempt to formulate
understand, and answer fundamental questions

PHILOSOPHER
From Greek word "philosophos" meaning “lover of wisdom”

Is an intellectual person who desires wisdom or enlightenment. They learn and study knowledge, truth, and nature
and meaning of life

SIGNIFICANCE OF PHILOSOPHY
Enables us to think carefully and clearly about important issues.

Learn to take a step back from our everyday thinking and to explore the deeper, bigger
question which underpins our thought.

To learn not what to believe, but how to think.

It sharpens your analytical abilities, enabling you to identify and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in any
position.

It hones your ability to construct and articulate cogent arguments of your own.

It prompts you to work across disciplinary boundaries and to think flexibly and creatively
about problems which do not present immediate solutions.

Develops your ability to think and work independently.

PHILOSOPHY ITS SUBJECT AND FUNCTION

SUBJECT OF PHILOSOPHY
Explore ideas that are central to the ways we live and that we commonly use without much

3 AREAS OF PHILOSOPHY
1. SUBJECT OF PHILOSOPHY
Theory of Reality- – Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within
a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary, nonexistent or nonactual. The
term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence.
Theory of Knowledge- related to the conditions, nature, or/and first principles of
genuine knowledge and also, according to some experts, with the reliability or truth-value, of knowledge
attributions
Theory of Value- is any economic theory that attempts to explain the exchange value or price of goods and
services.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PHILOSOPHY
 Conceptual
 Explains puzzling features of things
 Digging beyond the obvious
 Search for principles

FUNCTIONS OF PHILOSOPHY
SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
2nd SEMESTER
A.Y. 2022 – 2023
COMREHENSIVE SUMMARY | JESON AGONCILLO SSP IJ1

PHILOSOPHY

 Explaining Reality
 Changing Society
 Anticipating the future

MAIN KIND OF CAUSES

1. MATERIAL CAUSE
Is determined by the matter that composes the changing things.

Examples: wood (for a table), marble (for a statue) found in glands (thyroid and salivary glands)

2. FORMAL CAUSE
Is due to the arrangement, shape, or appearance of the thing changing

Examples: flat, vertical backrest, figure of a person, shape of a statuewhere it secretes digestive juices and
absorbs nutrients

3. EFFICIENT CAUSE
Consists of things apart from the thing being changed, which interact so as to be an agency of the change

Examples: carpenter (acting on wood for a table), sculptor (for a statue)

4. FINAL CAUSE
Is that for the sake of which a thing is changing to be sat on (what a table for)

Health (as the end of: losing weight: surgical tools, and drugs)

SPECIAL BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY

SIGNIFICANCE
Person's problem-solving capacities

Analyze concepts, definitions, arguments, and problems

Contributes to our capacity to organize ideas and issues, deals with questions of value

Pulls out what is essential from large quantities of information

Is the study of the inference, foundations, and entanglement of natural science

This philosophy asks questions like: "What is science?", "What are the aims of science" and "How ought we
interpret the results of science?

1. PHILOSOPHY OF STATE
Is the study of the mass or group of people residing permanently within a particular area with an independent
government (state)

On behalf of the state, the government makes and carries out the law and secures justice to the people

2. PHILOSOPHY OF POLITICS
Is the study of essential questions about the state, government, and politics and liberty, justice, property, rights,
law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority.
SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
2nd SEMESTER
A.Y. 2022 – 2023
COMREHENSIVE SUMMARY | JESON AGONCILLO SSP IJ1

PHILOSOPHY

Political philosophy” often refers to a general view, or specific ethic, belief or attitude, about politics that does not
necessarily belong to the technical discipline of philosophy

3. PHILOSOPHY OF MATHEMATICS
Is concerned with problems that are closely related to central problems of metaphysics and epistemology.
This makes one ask oneself what the nature of mathematical entities consists of and how we can have knowledge
of mathematical entities.

4. PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
Is the branch of practical philosophy engaging with the nature of education.

The three main types of major philosophies of education are the following: teachercentered philosophies, student-
centered philosophies, and society-centered philosophies.

5. PHILOSOPHY OF LAW
Is also termed as jurisprudence, a branch of philosophy that makes inquiries into the
nature of law, especially in its relation to human values, their practices, and political
communities.

6. PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE
Inquiries into the nature of human language, its origins and use, the connection between meaning and truth, and
how language relates to human thought and understanding, as well as to reality itself.
SEPARATE SCIENCES

1. Astronomy
The study of everything in the universe beyond Earth's atmosphere
 Aristotle: believed that the universe was spherical and finite

 Plato: proposed that the stars formed the outermost crystal sphere

 Socrates: astronomy isn't important, what matters is morality

 Galileo: one of the first Europeans to recognize sunspots as being part of our star, more evidence against the
idea of heavenly perfection

2. Physics
Science that deals with the structure of matter and the interactions between the fundamental constituents of the
observable universe.

3. Psychology
Deals with the study of the human mind and its behavior in a given social context.

4. Sociology
Examines the different kinds of social tensions, interactions and networks that make up everyday life.

FIVE BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY

EPISTEMOLOGY
Theory of knowledge and concerned with the mind’s relation to reality.

METAPHYSICS
Uses broad concepts to help define reality and our understanding of it.
for Aristotle, it is the study of nature and ourselves.
SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
2nd SEMESTER
A.Y. 2022 – 2023
COMREHENSIVE SUMMARY | JESON AGONCILLO SSP IJ1

PHILOSOPHY

Metaphysical Concepts: Being, Existence, Purpose, Universals, Property, Relation, Causality, Space, Time,
Event, and many others.

LOGIC
Study of the methods and principles used in distinguishing correct from incorrect reasoning.
System of principles that uses reason to determine if a conclusion is true or untrue.
Helps us better understand good arguments—it helps us differentiate between good and bad reasons to believe
something.

AESTHETICS
Deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art.

Examines aesthetic values expressed through judgements of taste.

Philosophy of beauty

ETHICS
Derived from the Greek word “ethos”, which means “way of living”. Concerned with human conduct, more
specifically the behavior of individuals in society.

Also called moral philosophy, the discipline concerned with what is morally good and bad and morally right and
wrong.

METAPHYSICS

From the Greek words ta meta ta physika ("after the things of nature"); referring to an idea, doctrine, or posited
reality outside of human sense perception.

Generally focused on how reality and the universe began.

SIGNIFICANCE
Metaphysics is the foundation of philosophy.

It deals with most general and abstract questions:

 those pertaining to the nature of existence
 the categories of space and time
 the existence of God
 the immortality of the human soul

POSTMODERNISM AND DECONSTRUCTIONISM

Under the skeptical analyses of the philosophical movements known as postmodernism and deconstructionism,
all of these facts have resulted in a modern repudiation of both metaphysics and science. Their criticisms are
based on the cultural and historical relativity of all knowledge. These two philosophical "schools" deny any
existence at all of an objective or universal knowledge.

ETHICS
Concerned with human conduct, more specifically the behavior of individuals in society.

From the Greek word “ethos”, which means “way of living”.

Studies what is morally right or wrong, just or unjust.

SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
2nd SEMESTER
A.Y. 2022 – 2023
COMREHENSIVE SUMMARY | JESON AGONCILLO SSP IJ1

PHILOSOPHY

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETHICS AND MORAL

While both ethics and morality deal with distinguishing right from wrong, ethics are usually associated with a
practical set of rules that are to be followed in a professional setting, such as a code of ethics in medicine, law,
and business, whereas morals refer to an individual’s personal principles.

2 EGOISM IN MORAL DECISION

1. ETHICAL EGOIMS
Ethical egoism is the normative theory that the promotion of one’s own good is in accordance with morality.

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISMS
It suggests that every action or behavior or decision of every person is motivated by self-interest.
MAJOR DIVISIONS OF ETHICAL PHILOSOPHY

1. VIRTUE ETHICS
It defines good actions as ones that display embody virtuous character traits, like courage, loyalty, or wisdom. A
virtue itself is a disposition to act, think and feel in certain ways. A virtue ethicist is likely to give you this kind of
moral advice: “Act as a virtuous person would act in your situation.”

2. DEONTOLOGY
Its name comes from the Greek word deon, meaning duty. An ethical theory that uses rules/ rule-based ethics to
distinguish right from wrong. Deontology is an ethical theory that says actions are good or bad according to a
clear set of rules.

3. CONSEQUENTIALISM
Teleological ethics (also known as consequentialism), from the Greek word telos meaning goal, claims that the
“rightness or wrongness of an act is exclusively a function of the goodness or badness of the consequences of
that act.” The notion of “consequence” refers to all the things that a specific action/behavior on behalf of an
individual causes.
BRANCHES OF ETHICS

1. META-ETHICS
Is concerned with the study of the nature of ethics.

Investigates where our moral and ethical principles come from and meaning behind using them.

2. PERSRIPTIVE/NORMATIVE ETHICS
Study of ethical action based on what is morally right or wrong.

Applies basic human behavior and actions

Sub-branches of Prescriptive/Normative Ethics

 Deontological Ethics
 Consequentialist Ethics
 Virtue Ethics

3. DESCRIPTIVE/COMPARATIVE ETHICS
Describing and explaining people’s moral attitudes and the moral norms and practices of societies.
SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
2nd SEMESTER
A.Y. 2022 – 2023
COMREHENSIVE SUMMARY | JESON AGONCILLO SSP IJ1

PHILOSOPHY

Deals with what is believed to be good, right, or virtuous and moral practices societies do have. - empirical based

4. APPLIED ETHICS
Attempts to apply ethical principles and moral theories to real-life moral issues.
4 MAIN THEORIES OF THE FOUNDATION OF ETHICS

INTUITIONISMS
Ethical judgements are verified by a moral sense.

NATURALISMS
Ethical judgements verified by observation.

SUBJECTIVISMS AND EMOTIVISM

Simple subjectivism interprets moral judgments as statements that can be true or false, so a sincere speaker is
always right when it comes to moral judgments. Emotivism, on the other hand, interprets moral judgments as
either commands or attitudes; as such, they can be neither true nor false.

SKEPTICISM
About moral truth is the claim that no substantive moral belief is true.

EPISTEMOLOGY
Concerned with the nature of knowledge, belief, and justification. Derived from the Greek words episteme (“knowledge”)
and logos (“reason”)

CORE TOPICS OF EPISTEMOLOGY

Skepticism – René Descartes,” I think, therefore I am”

Empiricism – emphasizes the importance of experience and observation in the acquisition of knowledge.

Justification – refers to the reasons or evidence that support our beliefs. “What justifies our beliefs?”

Knowledge
LOGIC

Study of the methods and principles uses to distinguish correct reasoning from incorrect reasoning (Copi and
Cohen, 1998).

The term logic derived from the Greek word “logos” which is often translated in English as “word”, “discourse”, or
“reason”.

LOGIC AS REASON
For the Ancient Greek thinkers, logos as reason could mean two things namely:
 Universal intelligence/ Rational divine intelligence
 Human Reason

LOGIC AS REASONING
When we study the correct processes of reasoning, we are necessary dealing with arguments. Hence, logic
primarily deals with the principle that governs the validity of arguments whether a certain conclusion follows from
the given premises or assumptions.

PHILOSOPHICAL DOCTRINES
o Atomism – it is an ancient philosophical theory, developed by
SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
2nd SEMESTER
A.Y. 2022 – 2023
COMREHENSIVE SUMMARY | JESON AGONCILLO SSP IJ1

PHILOSOPHY

o Democritus and expounded by Lucretius, that the ultimate constituents of the universe are atoms.

o Determinism – the philosophical doctrine that all events including human actions and choices are fully
determined by preceding events and states of affairs, and so that freedom of choice is illusory.

o Dualism – the doctrine, as opposed to idealism and materialism, that reality consists of two basic types of
substance usually taken to be, mind and matter or two basic types of entity, mental and physical.

o Hedonism – the doctrine that moral value can be defined in terms of pleasure.

o Idealism – the monistic view that material objects and the external world do not exist in reality independently of
the human mind but are variously creations of the mind or constructs of ideas.

o Intuitionism – is a philosophical view that considers intuition to be responsible for some particular knowledge.

o Mechanism – the predominant form of materialism, which holds that natural phenomena can and should be
explained by reference to matter and motion and their laws.

o Monism – the doctrine that the person consists of only a single substance, or that there is no crucial difference
between mental and physical events or properties.

o Naturalism – in philosophy, a theory that relates scientific method to philosophy by affirming that all beings and
events in the universe (whatever their inherent character may be) are natural.

o Pluralism – the metaphysical doctrine that reality consists of more than two basic types of substance.

o Positivism – any system that confines itself to the data of experience and excludes a priori or metaphysical
speculations.

o Realism – the viewpoint which accords to things which are known or perceived as an existence or nature which is
independent of whether anyone is thinking about or perceiving them.

o Transcendentalism – it centers around the belief that spirituality cannot be achieved through reason and
rationalism, but instead through self-reflection and intuition.

AESTHETIC

BRIEF HISTORY
365 E - Aristotle wrote “The Poetics”

18th Century - Modern aesthetics as a distinct discipline.

1750 - Alexander Baumgarten published “Aesthetica”

1790 - Immanuel Kant published the “Critique of Judgement”

1818-1831 - Georg Hegel delivers his Lectures on Aesthetics

1914 - Clive Bell proposed the theory of “Significant form”

From the Greek word “aisthetikos”, meaning “of sense perception.

Study of something sensed, rather than something imagined or reasoned and

SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
2nd SEMESTER
A.Y. 2022 – 2023
COMREHENSIVE SUMMARY | JESON AGONCILLO SSP IJ1

PHILOSOPHY

Concerned with the nature and appreciation of art, beauty and good taste and

Examines questions about our experiences concerning things in the world.

SIGNIFICANCE
Teach us to value our perceptual qualities, perceptual imagination, and experiences.

Has a significant role in the human experience and makes us happy.

ART
Abbreviation for creative art or fine art, where some skill is being used to express the artist’s creativity, or to
engage the audience’s aesthetic sensibilities, or to draw the audience towards consideration of the “finer” things
AESTHETICS UNIVERSALS

o Expertise or Virtuosity – technical artistic skills are cultivated, recognized and admired.

o Non-Utilitarian Pleasure – people enjoy art for art’s sake, and don’t demand practical value from it.

o Style – artistic objects and performances satisfy rules of composition that place them in recognizable styles.
o Criticism – people make a point of judging, appreciating and interpreting works of art.

o Imitation – with a few important exceptions (e.g. music, abstract painting), works of art simulate experiences of
the world.

o Special Focus – art is set aside from ordinary life and made a dramatic focus of experience.

o Imagination – artists and their audiences entertain hypothetical worlds in the theatre of the imagination