LOGIC AND CRITICAL THINKING

COURSE CODE: PHIL 1011

COURSE CRDIT HOURS: 3

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 CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCING
PHILOSOPHY

 Lesson 1: Meaning and Nature of

Philosophy
 Lesson 2: Basic Features of Philosophy

 Core Fields of Philosophy

 Lesson 3: Metaphysics and Epistemology

 Lesson 4: Axiology and Logic

 Importance of Learning Philosophy

 Chapter Summary

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 Lesson 1: Meaning of Philosophy

• Philosophy ?
etymologically philosophy‖ comes
from two Greek words:
―philo and ―sophia, which mean
―love and wisdom
• Thus, as a pursuit of wisdom, philosophy
refers
to the development of critical
habits,
the continuous search for truth,
and the questioning of the
apparent.

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• Philosophy
 is a rational and critical enterprise. It involves reason, rational criticism, examination,
and analysis.

 tries to formulate and answer fundamental questions through an intensive application

of reason- an application that draws on analysis, comparison, and evaluation.

• Philosophy
 is an activity. It is not something that can be easily mastered or learned in schools. A
philosopher is a great philosopher, not because he mastered philosophy, but because he did
it.

 It is extraordinary ability to critically think, to conceptualize, to analyse, to compare, to

evaluate, and to understand- i.e., to philosophize- that makes him so
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 - has no the specific
subject matters, but
Philosophy ? issues, which are
universal in nature

Lesson 1: We all have touched and moved by the feelings

of wonder from which all philosophy derives.
Meaning Socrates once stated that “Wonder is the
feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins
in wonder”
Philosophy

We all think and reflect in our own way about

issues that matter us most. But thinking alone
cannot make us philosophers.

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• Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy
studies the ultimate nature of reality or
existence.
• It deals with issues of reality, God,
freedom, soul/immortality, the mind-body
problem, form and substance
relationship, cause and effect
relationship, and other related issues
• derived from the Greek words “meta”
means (―beyond, ―upon or ―after) and
physika, means (―physics).
• Here are some of the questions that
Metaphysics primarily deals with:
• What is reality?
• What makes reality different from
a mere appearance?
• Are human actions free, or
predetermined by a supernatural
force?
• What is the meaning of life?
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 METAPHYSICAL QUESTIONS MAY BE DIVIDED INTO
FOUR SUBSETS OR ASPECTS.

• Cosmological Aspect: consists in the study of theories about the origin, nature, and development of the
universe as an orderly system. Questions such as these populate the realm of cosmology: ―How did the
universe originate and develop? Did it come about by accident or design? Does its existence have any purpose

• Theological Aspect: is that part of religious theory that deals with conceptions of and about God. ―Is there a
God? If so, is there one or more than one? What are the attributes of God? If God is both all good and all
powerful, why does evil exist? If God exists, what is His relationship to human beings and the ‗real‘ world of
everyday life

• Anthropological Aspect: deals with the study of human beings and asks questions like the following: What
is the relation between mind and body? Is mind more fundamental than body, with body depending on mind, or
vice versa? What is humanity‘s moral status? Are people born good, evil, or morally neutral? To what extent are
individuals free? …

• Ontological Aspect: is the study of the nature of existence, or what it means for anything to exist.
Several questions are central to ontology: ―Is basic reality found in matter or physical energy (the world
we can sense), or is it found in spirit or spiritual energy? Is it composed of one element (e.g., matter or spirit), or
two (e.g., matter and spirit), or many…
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1. A major aspect of epistemology relates to the sources of human knowledge (empiricism
(knowledge obtained through the senses). Empirical knowledge appears to be built into the very
nature of human experience)

2. A second important source of human knowledge is reason. The view that reasoning, thought, or
logic is the central factor in knowledge is known as rationalism.

3. A third source of human knowledge is intuition- the direct apprehension of knowledge that is not
derived from conscious reasoning or immediate sense perception

4. A fourth influential source of knowledge throughout the span of human history has been
revelation. Revealed knowledge has been of prime importance in the field of religion.The
truth revealed through supernatural source is believed by Christians to be absolute and
uncontaminated

5. A fifth source of human knowledge, though not a philosophical position, is authority.

Authoritative knowledge is accepted as true because it comes from experts or has been
sanctified over time as tradition. In the classroom, the most common source of information is
some authority, such as a textbook, teacher, or reference work
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 Axiology and Logic

• Axiology is the study or theory of value.

• The term stems from two Greek words-
• ―Axios‖, meaning ―value, worth, and ―logos, meaning ―reason/ theory/ symbol / science/study
of‖.
• Hence, it is the philosophical study of value, which originally meant the worth of something.

• Axiology asks the philosophical questions of values that deal with notions of what a person or a
society regards as good or preferable, such as:
• What is a value?
• Where do values come from?
• How do we justify our values?

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AXIOLOGY deals issues of value in three areas, namely:Ethics, Aesthetics, and Social/Political
Philosophy.

1. Ethics, is a Moral Philosophy, is a science deals with the philosophical study of moral principles, values, codes,
and rules, which may be used as standards for determining what kind of human conduct/action is said to be good or
bad, right or wrong.

ETHICS HAS THREE MAIN BRANCHES:

a) Normative Ethics refers to the ethical studies that attempt to study and determine precisely the moral rules, principles,
standards and goals by which human beings might evaluate and judge the moral values of their conducts, actions and
decisions. t is the reasoned search for principles of human conduct, including a critical study of the major theories
about which things are good, which acts are right, and which acts are blameworthy. Consequentialism or Teleological
Ethics, Deontological Ethics, and Virtue Ethics are the major examples of normative ethical studies.

b) Meta-ethics is the highly technical philosophical discipline that deals with investigation of the meaning of ethical terms,
including a critical study of how ethical statements can be verified. It is more concerned with the meanings of such
ethical terms as good or bad and right or wrong than with what we think is good or bad and right or wrong. Moral
Intuitionism, Moral Emotivism,
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c) Applied Ethics
is a normative ethics that attempts
to explain, justify, apply moral rules,
principles, standards, and positions
to specific moral problems, such as
capital punishment, euthanasia,
abortion, adultery, animal right, and
so on.

This area of normative ethics is

termed applied because the ethicist
applies or uses general ethical
princes in an attempt to resolve
specific moral problems.

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2. Aesthetics is the theory of beauty. It studies about the particular value of our artistic and aesthetic
experiences. It deals with beauty, art, enjoyment, sensory/emotional values, perception, and matters of taste
and sentiment. The following are typical Aesthetic questions: What is art?,What is beauty?....

3. Social/Political Philosophy studies about of the value judgments operating in a civil society,
be it social or political. The following questions are some of the major Social/Political Philosophy primarily
deal with:
• What form of government is best?
• What economic system is best?
• What is justice/injustice?
• What makes an action/judgment just/unjust?

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