Logic and Critical Thinking in Nursing 1
Introduction: Philosophy
PHILOSOPHY
 The fundamental law of the land
provides that all educational
institutions must develop in their
students critical and creative
thinking (Art. XIV, Sec. 3 (2), 1987
Constitution).
 Corollary (adjunct) to the mandate
of the state to “protect and promote
the right of all citizens to quality
education at all levels” (Art. XIV,
Sec. 1).
CRITICAL THINKING
 Involves analytical and synthetical
judgment, and a process of
inference.
A PROCESS OF INFERENCE
 means a mental process whereby we
pass from what we know (known) to
what we do not know (unknown).
 We pass mentally from the
apprehension/knowledge of
something given, to the
apprehensions of something related
to the given i.e. - inferential thinking
– from truths already known, the
mind proceeds to the certain
knowledge/establishments of
another truth – any sequence of
statements in which one is true or
false; good or bad.
 Human beings tend not to be very
good at reasoning logically.
 It doesn’t come naturally to us.
 We make mistakes.
 Argument surrounds us:
 It plays with our emotions
 Changes our attitude
 Talks us into a decision, and
 Lures us to something
unthought-of
 Arguments form a real-life matrix,
the supreme software that drives our
lives and,
 Rhetoric serves as arguments
decoder.
 Philosophy give a comprehensive
answer to challenging problems and
bring a fresh spirit of urgency and
optimism to philosophical inquiry.
 It begins not in certainty but in
doubt, not in judgment but in
questions.
 The role of philosophy is vital and
indispensable in the achievement of
quality education through its tool,
“Logic”
 DARE TO KNOW THE TRUTH
 Ergo, students must examine
themselves in their totality as
persons, as existent, knowing,
conscious beings, and to be critical
of their dignity, the truth, freedom,
justice, love, the eschatology of life
and their otherness.
PHILOSOPHY
 Serves as:
 a. framework for all knowledge
 b. its study is invaluable for
acquiring the skill of critical
thinking (mark of a well-
educated person)
 c. it serves as way of integrating
knowledge
 The Etymological and Real
definitions of Philosophy
 Purpose:
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Introduction: Philosophy
 To strengthen the philosophical
background of logic
 The term “Philosophy” was invented
by Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher,
who noted that there are three types
of man:
a. A lover of pleasure
b. A lover of success, and
c. A lover of wisdom (the superior
type)
 According to Pythagoras, man could
never perfectly possess a
comprehensive understanding of all
that is meant by wisdom but only in
continuous and ardent pursuit of it.
 ONLY GOD CAN BE CALLED
WISE.
 We can only be lovers of wisdom;
we can never be wise.
ETYMOLOGICAL DEFINITION
 Philosophy comes from 2 Greek
terms:
1. Philia (philein) meaning “to
love’
2. Sophia meaning “wisdom”
 Therefore, Philosophy literally
means, “the love for wisdom".
 Philosophy, therefore, is a science of
sciences of all that exist (of beings)
in their ultimate causes and
principles through the help of human
intellect
 It gives the impression of someone
who is seeking wisdom, not who has
found it.
 Example:
 We would only call someone a
nurse if one had some
knowledge about Nursing. But
 We call someone a philosopher
if he is one who is aiming at
wisdom without necessarily
achieving it.
REAL DEFINITION
 Philosophy - real definition, is the
science of all things by their first
causes as known in light of reason.
 Practically, it means to gaze or look
for something.
 Philosophically, it is more of a
pursuit or quest for the meaning of
something.
 It has the fundamental principles to
understand the meaning.
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES IN
THE DEFINITION OF
PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY AS SCIENCE
 Science comes from the Latin verb
scire, meaning to know.
 Science is scientific knowledge (not
just any kind of knowledge)
 Scientific knowledge is knowledge
of causes of things
 Someone has the science of
something only if one has
knowledge of its causes.
 To advance one’s understanding, the
“why” of things must be addressed,
not merely the “what”
 Example:
 The “mere” knowledge that ice
is cold, and that stone is hard is
not a science, but
Logic and Critical Thinking in Nursing 1
Introduction: Philosophy
 The knowledge “why” ice is
cold and “why” stone is hard is
science
 If we know only the fact, then
we have mere knowledge of it,
but if we know the reasons for
the fact, then what we have is
scientific knowledge.
 When a person knows the causes of
things, one has attained certitude.
 Certitude is the natural result of
knowing not only the facts but also
their causes.
 Scientific knowledge must therefore
be certain.
 It is a certain knowledge that results
from an analysis of causes of things.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE
 It is impossible for any human
science that is still developing to
arrive at certitude in its initial
stage.
 Cognito per causa – “a knowledge
of things attained by an investigation
of their causes”
 Cognito per causa strictly applies
only to science in its perfect, full-
blown stage.
 Philosophy is a science because it
seeks to acquire the knowledge of
the causes of things.
 It does not rest on opinion or belief
but pursues the causes of things
 When philosophy reaches its final
stage and brings itself to
perfection, it attains absolute
certitude.
 ERGO!, Philosophy is a science of
sciences, because it is a systematic
body of knowledge which is not
only based on the ideas, theories,
and hypothesis but on knowledge
that conforms to reality
PHILOSOPHY AS THE SCIENCE
OF ALL THINGS (OF BEINGS)
 Philosophy is the study of the
nature of being and thinking,
specifically, of the human
experience.
 Philosophy is a quest for knowledge,
 It is concerned with all things.
 Utilize methodology and a
technique, based on logic and reason
and critical analysis of problems,
both practical and hypothetical.
 Thus, philosophy is the science of
all things
 It is the science of all things.
 Concrete, real and contingent things
(thing that is not self-existent).
 Not self-existent owes its existence
to something other than itself
 It is that which has its own cause for
its existence
 Philosophy concerns itself with
not only that things are, but also
why things are
 Only GOD is “Self-existent)
 GOD is considered a Necessary
Being;
 One whose existence depends on
itself.
 Of beings, because it tells
everything that exists, or may exist,
or everything knowable.
 It is the highest synthesis of all
dealing with man, nature and of
God.
Logic and Critical Thinking in Nursing 1
Introduction: Philosophy
PHILOSOPHY AS KNOWN IN
LIGHT OF REASON
 Philosophy is the science of all
things by their first causes known in
light of natural reason.
 Means: Philosophy seeks first
causes of things as far as they can be
rationally established by human
mind- unaided by Divine Revelation
 Philosophy is the science by which
the natural light of reason studies the
first causes or highest principles of
all things – the science of things in
their first causes
TWO BRANCHES OF
PHILOSOPHY THAT DEALS
WITH GOD
NATURAL THEOLOGY
(THEODICY)
 studies God not by faith, but by
reason alone
 Natural Theology treats of
contingent beings as its principal
subject matter, and
 Secondarily treats of God as the
first cause of the existence of these
contingent beings
REVEALED THEOLOGY
 treats God not by reason, but by
faith
 God is its principal subject matter,
and
 Secondarily, contingent beings as
His effects
OTHER DEFINITION OF
PHILOSOPHY
 The medieval-scholastic definition
 Philosophy is “the science of the
ultimate causes of things” which
implies scientific knowledge of
causes of things
 Goal: is to know these causes
with certitude
 In modern times definition
 Philosophy is “the study of the
nature of being and thinking and
of the human experience.”
 It is the science of all things:
concrete, real, contingent
realities, which are not subsistent
but owe their existence upon
causes (Santiago,2002)
 The real definition:
 Philosophy means search for
meaning.
 An attitude of life- that is, an
attitude and passion to ask the
“whys” of things
DIVISION OF PHILOSOPHY
 Philosophy is divided into types:
PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY
 Is that which seeks to produce by
activity – the good of man.
 Its object is the good.
(In relation to man)
1. Logic – (from the Greek word logos
means thought) is the science and art
of correct thinking.
 Questions raised are:
 What makes an argument valid or
invalid?
 What is a sound argument?
Logic and Critical Thinking in Nursing 1
Introduction: Philosophy
 What is the difference between
truth and validity?
2. Ethics – (from the Greek word ethos
means man’s will) Philosophical
study of the morality of the human
act that distinguishes good from evil
and right from wrong.
 Questions raised are:
 Are there any objective standards
of right and wrong?
 Are moral values absolute or
relative?
3. Epistemology – (from the Greek
word “episteme” means human
knowledge) Philosophical study of
human knowledge with regard to
value of thought
 Study of validity of human
knowledge
 Questions that deals are:
 What is knowledge?
 Is knowledge acquired
exclusively through the senses or
by some other means?
 How do we know that what we
perceive through our senses is
correct?
SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY
 Is that which exist solely for the
sake of knowledge.
 Its object is the truth.
1. Metaphysics – (from the Greek word
meta-ta-fusica) means something
that goes beyond or philosophical
study of being in its most general
form.
 The studies of what cannot be
reached through objective
studies of material reality.
 It addresses the fundamentals of
existence or reality such as the
existence and nature of God,
immortality of soul, means of
evil, the problem of freedom and
determining the relationship of
mind and body.
 Questions that Metaphysics deals
are:
 What is the ultimate reality?
 Is reality one or many different
things?
 Can reality be grasped by the
senses or is it transcendent?
 What is a substance?
 What are accidents?
2. Rational Psychology – (from the
Greek word Psyche means soul)
study of the principles of living
things, especially that of man being
with its soul.
3. Theodicy – (from the Greek word
theos/God) philosophical study of
BEING (GOD) in its highest form.
 Questions it raises are:
 Does God exist?
 What are the proof for God’s
existence?
 What is the problem of evil?
 How do we reconcile the
existence of a benevolent God
and the unmerited misery in the
world?
4. Cosmology (the science of the
universe) from the Greek word
Xoomoo/Cosmos plus
hooyoo/logos) means study of being
in the nonliving world.
 Is a science of how the universe
started and how it is structured
Logic and Critical Thinking in Nursing 1
Introduction: Philosophy

 Questions are:
 What are space and time?
 How is the world related to
human beings?
 Is the world created or has it
been existing from all eternity?
METHOD OF PHILOSOPHY
 Philosophy accomplishes knowledge
of the world by means of human
reason, a method used in inquiring
about the nature of things.
CLINICAL ALERT
 Even Philosophy is a product of
reason; it is not a creature of
dangerous rationalism because
reason is an integral part of man’s
makeup.
OBJECTIVE AND GOAL OF
PHILOSOPHY
 Objective of Philosophy – is to
know the totality of reality and
investigates the basic causes of all
things.
 Goal – philosophy aims not this
truth, or that truth, my truth or your
truth, but “The Truth” (called
“Transcendent truth”)