THE THREE VALUES OF THE SELF

1. Reflective Self –
The ability to introspect on one’s own thoughts, feelings, and actions.

2. Positive Self –
The ability to engage in positive outlook in life, responsible relationships, and
healthy perceptions of self, of others.

3. Agentic Proactive Self –

The ability to take action and be responsible of its consequences, and to
contribute to others and to the society.

PHILOSOPHY

The study of philosophy becomes more meaningful if it also changes our perception about
things. It is somethings that philosophers first initiated.

It is derived from two Greek words, philos (love) and sophia (wisdom).

What separates a knowledgeable man from a wise man?

The ability to apply the knowledge that we have.

Philosophy is pursuit of wisdom. A wise man doesn’t only stop from having knowledge
but goes beyond it and applies the knowledge he has in whatever circumstances that he
is in.

PHILOSOPHICAL SELF

What do you hope to learn?

These monolithic figures from Easter Island suggest the
contemplative nature of philosophy, which can help you
grapple with the big questions of life.

Defining Philosophy
• Pursuit of wisdom
• Begins with wonder
• Is a dynamic process
• Ultimate aims
Becoming a Critical Thinker
• Qualities of a critical thinker: open-minded, curious, self-aware, analytical,
creative, and knowledgeable
• The critical-thinking model
Understanding Arguments
• Structure of arguments
• Evaluating arguments
• Types of arguments: Deductive and Inductive
• Logical Fallacies
Branches of Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Epistemology
• Ethics
• Aesthetics
• Logic
Studying philosophy will help you develop the understanding and insight you will need to
make intelligent choices and fulfill your potential as an individual. To use a metaphor, you
are an artist, creating your life portrait, and your paints and brushstrokes are the choices
you make each day.
How do you feel about the portrait you have created so far? Have you defined yourself
as the person you always wanted to be, or are you a “work in progress”? Are you
achieving your full potential as a human being, “actively exercising your soul’s powers”?

What is Philosophy?
Wonder
“All philosophy has its origins in wonder” – Plato
A Dynamic Process
“The beginning of philosophy is the conflict between opinions” – Epictitus
Wisdom
“Philosophy is simply the love of wisdom” – Cicero
Truth
“Philosophy is the science that considers the truth” – Aristotle
 Pre-Socratic Era
Two Major School of Thoughts
1. Thales of Miletus

He said that all things are animated and living, suggesting that there’s LIFE which
is the core component/essence of things. He concluded that things have the power
to move given the right way to make it happen.

Thales’s position holds the germinal characteristic of the vitalistic view or essence
of life, the idea that living things possess a life principle—the soul. According to
this view, the soul is separate and distinct from the physical constituents it is made
of as a unit since the physical characteristics alone cannot fully explain the
activities that living things are able to do (Watson, 1978). In other words, objects
need to have something different inside them, a “prime mover,” to explain their
seemingly autonomous actions.

2. Democritus
He held the opposite view called the mechanistic view/position. This view believes
the existence of an atom. The reason for the movement of matter is the atom. He
called it as the prime mover. Democritus introduced the idea of the existence of
atoms that were in constant motion and interaction and that were the main source
of all phenomena.

Roughly after the Pre-Socratic period, the word mind was used interchangeably with the
word soul as commonly practiced by some scholars, past and present, perhaps to avoid
any religious connotation. However, many philosophers in both ancient and current times
agree that in the strictest sense, mind usually refers to the expressions of the soul or the
collective name of the distinct functions of the soul, such as thinking, feeling,
remembering, and awareness. Later, in the early Christian period, some philosophers,
especially theologians, emphasized the word soul as the spiritual nature of humankind,
the human being’s divine essence, or God-given essence.