IFUGAO STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Education Ethics

Module 1: Introduction to Philosophy

ntroduction
This module aims to analyze the nature of mores and values in ethics. It discusses the in-
terplay between the individual as a free moral agent, and his/her society or environment,
as well as the process of value experience, including the difference between values and
moral values. In broad strokes, it gives a background on the nature of morality and the
mores which are the subject matter of ethics. It examines the nature of mores, including
the development of the notion of what is ‘right’ in our culture. The module also examines
the notion of freedom as it relates to morality, together with the wide range of values and
moral values, including the nature and basis of the choices that we make.
Introduction

This module aims to sketch the definition of philosophy as well as its major
branches. Specifically, it will address the quest for the concrete and subjective definition of
Philosophy deemed as the “queen of all sciences”. This unit will also introduce you the
nature and scope of philosophy and of its branches, as well as their primary concerns and
loci. It aims to lead you to an understanding of the uniqueness of philosophy in relation to
other disciplines in the academe and develop in you an appreciation of the significance of
philosophy not merely in your lives as students but in your struggle to become well-
integrated human person.

Learning Outcomes

After studying this module, you should be able to:

1. Dispel misunderstanding of the nature of philosophy;

2. Differentiate philosophy in the strict sense from philosophy in the broad sense;
and
3. Explain each of the branches of Philosophy;

I. PRE-Learning

A. React on this: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent” – Ludwig
Wittgenstein.

Key Content

Defining philosophy demands not just a simple construct of ideas, but it requires a
reflective, contemplative, and concrete answer. Conventionally, the term “philosophy” is
defined as the love of wisdom. Primarily, philosophy is concerned with the questions of how
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College of Education Ethics

one should live or ethics, what sorts of things exist and what are their essential natures or
simply called as metaphysics, what counts as genuine knowledge and what are the correct
principles of reasoning and others. However plain and direct it is, it isn’t simply a matter of
knowledge and skill acquisition and understanding of the nature of life, knowledge, and
reality in general, rather, it also includes any exercise of intelligence and validate the
trinkets of curiosity through the use of philosophical reasoning and reflective questions in
search for the absolute truth and in the quest of life’s meaning. Further, by curiosity, the
concern of inquisitiveness and interest are taken into paramount consideration towards
better understanding of things and of reality. Respectively, in the etymological framework of
the term “philosophy”, philo means “love” and Sophia means “wisdom”, hence, love of
wisdom. This is the gist by which philosophy is defined, though. In here, love is an
intellectual desire- a desire of the mind to continuously know and search for the truth.
Additionally, love simply means recognizing our emptiness in terms of knowledge, by which
it is the reason in order for us to perpetually search the truth—on which “truth” refers to
the quiddity and ‘why’ of things and the principles that govern reality. Similarly, wisdom,
however, requires more than just a bunch of acquired knowledge. It is a knowledge that
involves understanding the value of one’s knowledge and realizing the implications of one’s
knowledge and its uses for oneself and others with some purpose or value in mind. This
paradigm demonstrates the inseparableness of love and wisdom and the sense of
philosophy in general- to have passion and commitment to the pursuit and seizing the
truth.

Traditionally, however, philosophy is defined as a science that studies beings in their

ultimate causes, reasons, and principles through the aid of human reason alone. And when
we speak of “being” or “beings” in philosophy in this context, we mean all things that exist,
material or immaterial. An example of beings are “stones”, “trees”, “persons”, “cars”, air,
water; and the notions of “God”, “soul”, “spirit”. All of these are beings, and philosophy
studies their ultimate causes, reason, and principles through the aid of reason alone.
In other words, philosophy is concerned with the reason and principles that account for
everything that exists. Thus, some of the basic questions in philosophy are:
a. What is the origin of the world, of everything that exists?
b. Why do these things exist, rather than not exist at all?
c. Is there God? If so, how can we justify the goodness of God in the face of evil?
d. What is the meaning and purpose of life? Why do we have to suffer?
If one is suffering from an unbearable pain, such as cancer, is it morally right to resort to
euthanasia or assisted suicide? These are just some of the questions that philosophy
attempted to address. And in doing so, philosophy uses reason as a tool, which can be
expressed in many forms, such as the ability to reflect, question, articulate one’s thought,
and analyze certain phenomenon or event. In short, philosophy attempts to understand
things in a critical and logical manner.
It is important to note, however, that philosophers do not agree on a single definition
of philosophy. In fact, philosophers differ in their basic understanding of philosophy. For
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College of Education Ethics

example, Karl Jaspers, a famous German existential philosopher, understands philosophy

as a discipline in which questions are more important than answers because answers
themselves will, in turn, become questions.
There are various desirable descriptions of Philosophy. These are as follows:
a. Philosophy is a search for meaning or a quest for understanding.
b. Philosophy is a reasoned pursuit of fundamental truths.
c. Philosophy is a study of principles of conduct.
d. Philosophy seeks to establish standards of evidence to provide rational methods of
resolving conflicts, and to create techniques for evaluating ideas and arguments.
e. Philosophy develops the capacity to see the world from the perspective of other
individuals and other cultures.
f. Philosophy enhances one's ability to perceive the relationships among the various
fields of study.
g. Philosophy deepens one's sense of the meaning and variety of human experience.

Major Branches of Philosophy

After addressing the question “what is philosophy?”, let us now discuss the major
branches of philosophy. Philosophy is normally divided into four major branches, namely:
Metaphysics, Epistemology, Logic, and Ethics.
A. Metaphysics
Metaphysics comes from the two Greek words meta, which means “beyond” or “after” and
physika, “physical” or “nature”. Hence, etymologically speaking, metaphysics means the
study of things beyond the physical, that is, concepts or things that cannot be experienced,
such as the concepts of God, freedom, and soul.
Metaphysics is commonly understood as the foundation of philosophy. In fact, Aristotle
calls it the “first philosophy”.
Ontology is derived from the two Greek words onto, which means “being” or “that
which is”, that is, everything that exists; and logos, which means “knowledge” or “study”.
(Note, however, that the term logos in ancient Greek scholarship have different
connotations. For example, Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher of the late 6th century BCE,
understands Logos as reason or the underlying principle of all that is.) Ontology, therefore,
is the specific branch of philosophy that studies beings in their ultimate causes, reasons,
and principles through the aid of reason alone. In other words, Ontology studies the first
principles or the essence of all things.
Some of the basic questions in on
Ontology are:
a. What is being?
b. Why do things exist, rather than not exist at all?
c. What is the meaning and nature of reality?
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College of Education Ethics

d. What is the underlying principle of all that exist?

e. Is there nothing?

Cosmology, from the Ancient Greek words kosmos, which means the “world” and
logos, meaning “study”, is the specific sub-branch of philosophy that studies the world (or
universe), including its origin, dynamics, and characteristics, as well as the laws that
govern its order.
Some of the basic questions in cosmology are:
a. What is the origin of the world?
b. What is the basic material of which the world is formed?
c. How do things arise?
d. In what consists its (the world) fundamental form or principle of order?
e. Is the world or universe infinite?

Psychology comes from the two Greek words psyche, which means “soul” (but
loosely understood as mind) and logos, study. Thus, psychology is the specific sub-branch
of philosophy that studies the soul or mind. Broadly construed, though, psychology is the
study of the nature and dynamics of the human person as a whole, with emphasis on the
way the person’s mind functions and the way she behaves.
Some of the questions in psychology are:
a. What is the nature of the human person?
b. Is there such thing as human nature?
c. What is the meaning and purpose, if any, of life?
d. Is there life after death?
e. How do we account for the existence of sufferings in the world?

Theodicy (Natural theology) is derived from the Greek word theos, which means God.
The word theodicy was coined by the famous 18th century German philosopher Gottfried
Wilhelm Leibniz in his 1710 work titled Théodicée. Broadly construed, theodicy is the study
of God. But specifically, theodicy is concerned with the justification of the goodness of God
in the face of the existence of evil in the world.
Some of the questions in theodicy are:
a. Is there God?
b. What and who is God, if He exists at all?
c. How do we prove the existence of God?
d. If God exists, how do we justify the existence of evil and suffering in the world?
e. Does a belief in God really necessary?

B. Epistemology
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College of Education Ethics

Epistemology comes from the two Greek words episteme, which means knowledge,
and logos which means study. It is formally defined as the study of the nature and scope of
knowledge and justified belief. Specifically, it analyzes the nature of knowledge and how it
relates to similar notions, such as truth, belief, and justification.
Some of the basic questions in epistemology are:
a. What is knowledge?
b. What do we know?
c. How is knowledge acquired?
d. What is the structures and limits of knowledge?
e. What makes justified beliefs justified?

C. Logic

The third major branch of philosophy is Logic. Logic comes from the Greek word
logos, which, as I already mentioned, has different meanings. It is defined as the science of
correct thinking or the study of the principles and criteria of a valid argument. More
specifically, logic attempts to distinguish sound or good reasoning from unsound or bad
reasoning.
Some of the basic questions in logic are:
a. What is correct reasoning?
b. What distinguishes a good argument from a bad one?
c. How can we detect a fallacy in an argument?
d. What are the criteria for determining the validity of an argument?
e. What are the types of logic?

Ethics in Relation to Philosophy (Serrano & Placido, 2017)

Ethics as one of the major branches of Philosophy, is sometimes referred to as Moral
Philosophy. It should be noted that Philosophy, in general, considers reflection as an
indispensable method of philosophizing. Without undergoing reflection, any philosophical
endeavour would be considered as lame and blind. In Ethics, as an important part of
Philosophy, we are invited and challenged to reflect on how we ought to make our existence
meaningful guided by various ethical theories and principles
Ethics, then, as Philosophy, can deepen our reflection on the ultimate questions about life:
its main purpose, its proper importance, its real value, and its right direction. When we
engage in Philosophy, we learn proper and important intellectual skills. We develop how to
think rigorously about fundamental questions; understand and evaluate conflicting views;
express ideas clearly and consistently; and reason out in the proper way. Ethics also offers
us better perspectives for thinking, expressing and acting especially when we are
confronted with ethical dilemmas and moral issues.
 IFUGAO STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Education Ethics

Paul Tillich, a theologian and: a philosopher, emphasized that goodness without knowledge
is weak; knowledge without goodness is dangerous. Before we can build a better and just
society, we first need to build a better man. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is
that good people do nothing. Our purpose is not to make a living but a worthy, well-
rounded, and useful life. Ethics is not just a subject; it is a life in itself as genuine
philosophy is all about life.
Importance of Philosophy
Much of what is contributed by philosophy can be applied in virtually any endeavour. This
is so because philosophy touches on so many subjects and, especially, because many of its
methods and ideas are functional and useful in any field.
The following are some of the importance and uses of Philosophy:
1. For acquiring persuasive powers
2. For better communication skills
3. For enhancing better writing skills
4. For Problem-solving
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II. PUSH-Learning

A. Journal Writing

1. How do you philosophize (What is your philosophy in life?)?

Required: Encode your answer using Arial as the font style, 12 in size, Justified,
and single-spaced.

References:
De Guzman, J.M et.al, 2018. Ethics: Principles of Ethical Behavior in Modern Society. Mutya
Publishing House, Malabon City.
Serrano, F.M. & Placido D.M., 2017. Ethics: Modular Worktext for College Students. Wise
Ideas Publishing Co.