Philosophical reflection – the careful examination of life situation.

- It involves the weighing of alternative and using specific standards to evaluates one’s action
- - an individual reflects philosophically when he builds on previous actions, events, and or decisions.

Socrates the great Greek philosopher, said “the unexamined life is not worth living”
Reflection – requires a person to be willing to examine ones thought, feelings and actions and learn more about one’s life
and experience. One can reflect on almost any subject.

- Is vital in ensuring that our actions and decisions are well thought out and are done with due regard for their
implications and consequences on others, our surroundings and ourselves
Partial Thinking – it focuses on the specific aspects of the situation.

- An important component of analytical thinking on certain areas of aspects of the problem in order to understand

Holistic Thinking – a perspective that considers large scale pattern in system.

- Often described as looking at the “BIG PICTURE”

- - requires an individual to have an open mindset

Definition of Philosophy

- Comes from two Greek words: Philos (love) and Sophia (wisdom) and soon applied to the study or discipline that
uses human reason to investigate the ultimate causes, reasons and principles which govern all things
Why is there a need to Philosophize?
a. According to Plato -man’s need to philosophize because man has the sense of wonder. Whenever we are confronted
with an experience, man always wonder, over bounding curiosity drives man to ask questions which most of these
have no definite answer.
b. According to Rene Descartes – traced man’s need to philosophize because of doubt. He was famous for rejecting or
questioning established ideas or truth in order to determine whether these are correct or true.
c. According to Karl Jaspers – man’s need to philosophize because of experience. He believed that man is often
confronted by experience which challenge his ideas and framework which he called it as limit situations.
d. Finally, man’s need to philosophy is driven by the love of wisdom. When one seeks for wisdom there is an insatiable
desire for truth
In order to understand further the meaning of philosophy, the following salient features of it must be taken into
consideration
A). Philosophy is a science. It is called as such because it is systematic and follows certain steps or procedures. In short, it
is an organized body of knowledge same as any other sciences.
B). It employs natural light of reason. This means that philosophical investigation does not use any laboratory instrument,
investigative tools nor supernatural approach. Philosophers use their natural thinking capacity or use the so called unaided
reason.
C). Philosophy has an inclination top study all things. Other sciences concern themselves with a particular object of
investigation such as anthropology which deals with human beings in relation with the society; sociology focuses on
society, its forms, structures and functions.
It is this character that philosophy is considered multidimensional or holistic.
D). Philosophy employ first cause or highest principle. Note that principle means a reason (or an explanation) from which
something proceeds in any manner whatsoever
The Fourth Characteristic of Philosophy
  Principle of Identity – In simple terms, this principle means “Everything is what is” What is not is not and
what is is.
 Principle of Non-Contradiction - States that it is an impossibility for a particular thing to be and not to be at
the same time at the aspect.
 Principle of Excluded Middle - Explains what everything must be “either be or not be” or “either is or is
not”. There is no middle ground thus the term “excluded middle”.
 Principle of Sufficient Reason - States that there is sufficient reason for the being and existence of
everything, conversely, nothing exist without any reason at all.

Branches of Philosophy
1. Metaphysics – literally means “beyond physical” is the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles pf
things, including abstract concepts such as being knowing, substance, cause identity time and space. (connected to
religion or spiritual) and space. (connected to religion or spiritual) (In philosophy we need to think beyond our
understanding)
2. Ethics – is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of rights and
wrong behavior.”
3. Epistemology – the theory of knowledge especially regarding its methods, validity and scope. Epistemology is the
investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.
4. Logic – is a branch of philosophy that deals with reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles of
validity.
5. Aesthetics – a set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty especially in art. It is the branch
of philosophy that deals with the principles of beauty and artistic taste.
Ethics

- Is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of morality and how we should have. Ethics ask questions about
what is right and wrong, good and bad, just and unjust. It also considers the role of ethics in our lives.
- Ethics is a complex and challenging field, and there is no single answer to the question of what is right or wrong.
Different people and cultures have different ethical beliefs, and what is considered ethical in one context may not
be ethical in another
There are some general ethic principles that are widely accepted:
Non-maleficence – do not harm
Beneficence – Do good
Principle of Justice – treat people fairly
“Moral Philosophy”
The three main branches of ethics are:
1. Normative ethics is concerned with developing and evaluating moral standards. It ask questions like “what is the
right thing to do? And what makes an action right or wrong?
2. Metaethics is concerned with the nature of ethics. It asks questions such as “what is the meaning of good and bad
and how do we know what is right and wrong
3. Applied ethics is concerned with apply ethical theories to specific issues. That is ask questions such as “is it
ethical to use animals in research?” and “is it ethical to torture terrorists? “

Etymology of aesthetics
 - The word aesthetics comes from the Greek word aesthesis which means perceptions aesthetics is concerned where
the where we perceive and experience the world around us, specially in terms of its beauty and ugliness, its order
and disordered, its harmony and discord.
Aesthetics Philosophy

- Aesthetics is one of the branches of philosophy it is the study of beauty taste and appreciation of art and nature.
- Aesthetics seeks to understand what makes something beautiful or aesthetical pleasing, and to develop a
framework for evaluating art and other aesthetic object.
- Different people and culture have different aesthetic standard, and what is considered beautiful in one context may
not be beautiful in another.
However there are some general aesthetic principles that are widely accepted
1. The principle of unity (the parts of a work of art should be in harmony with each other)
2. The principle of balance (the elements of a work of art should be evenly distributed)
3. The principle of contrast (the elements of a work of art should be different from each other)

Different Theories of Aerstics

Plato( 428 – 348 BCE) Plato believed that beaty is an objective property of things, and that it exist in a realm of perfect
forms that is beyond the physical world. We perceive beauty through our senses but we can only fully understand it
through our intellect.
Aristotle believed that beauty is a matter of proportion and harmony. He argued that beauty is not simply a matter of
personal taste but that there are objective standards of beauty that can be discerned through reason.
Descartes believed that beauty is a subjective experience that is created by our minds. he argued that beauty is something
that exist in the world but rather something that we project onto the real world.
Kant believed that beauty is a judgement of taste. He argued that beauty is not something that can be objective defined,
but rather something we experience subjectively
Hegel believed that beauty is a manifestation of ideas. He argued beauty is a way of understanding the world and
apprehending the divine.