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Intro To Philo Q3 W3 4
Intro To Philo Q3 W3 4
OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION
LEARNING QUARTER 3
MODULE WEEK
3-4
INTRODUCTION TO THE
PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN
PERSON
QUARTER 3
WEEK 3 & 4
Development Team
Writer: Florendo D. Damaso, Jr.
Richard A. Hapa
Management Team:
In the previous chapter we learned about the meaning and the early beginnings of
philosophy. We also learned how to distinguish between personal and philosophical
questions. Most importantly, we were encouraged to ask philosophical questions. When we
start to raise such questions, we, ultimately, want to arrive at the truth. Nowadays, it is more
and more difficult to discern what is true from what is false; it seems that everybody can
claim to hold the truth.
After going through the module, you are expected to be able to answer the following
questions:
✓ What is the importance of establishing the truth behind every opinion?
✓ How will you apply wisdom of truth in your daily life?
✓ What makes an argument valid?
Important Reminder
WHAT’S IN
Lesson Motivation
Story Analysis
Things to ponder:
What do you think truly happened here? Who among the doctors, friends, and family
was right? What makes you think so?
Lesson Discussion
A. DOMAINS OF TRUTH
What is truth? What do we mean when we say that something is true? We often say
that something is true because it is based on facts. Furthermore, we say that something is
factual when it is scientifically proven, that is when it is backed by gathering, analysis, and
repeated verification. Some scientists, however, point out that scientific truths are part of
just one among the many ways of understanding truth. Philosophy has been aware that the
truth about truth remains to be a question for thousands of years now. To narrowly confine
truth to the scientific way of thinking is to claim the there is only ONE way of understanding
truth.
Objective Domain
Scientific truths are covered by the objective domain of life. This pertains to the
natural world that maintains relative independence from the perspective and attitude of
human beings that perceive them. Typhoon seasons, which belong to the natural realm
comes and goes whether we want it. Waters boiling point remains 100 degrees Celsius and
will remain so even if a powerful tyrant wants to change it.
Social Domain
In the social domain, “truth” is analogous with (not the exact equivalent) a general
agreement or consensus on what is right as opposed to what is wrong. For example, in a
chapel for prayer and meditation, we say that maintaining silence is good. But in a
basketball game, we say that we should cheer for our team as loudly as we can to keep
them motivated. We do not look at these two different situations as contradicting each other.
We understand that something is “true or good” in a particular context, while they are “false
or wrong” in another context. The truths in the social domain are mostly products of “an
agreement in society that has been established over time. It is in this way that norms or
values appear as truths.
Personal Domain
Aside from the social domain, there is also the personal domain where truths are
analogous with sincerity. When you say to another person. “I am telling the truth”, what you
usually mean by that statement is that our statements are consistent with our inner thoughts
Richard Rorty offers a simple way of defining truth: truth can be understood as what
has passed “procedures of justification,” (Rorty, 1989). Justification means the process of
proving the truth or validity of a statement. This process is made up of ways of critically
testing a claim against certain criteria.
The justification of social norms takes longer than scientific truth. This is
especially true when those who are involved in the process of justifying them are
people coming from varying backgrounds and histories. Because of their differences
in their perspective, it is not easy to get a consensus or agreement. This is the reason why
social norms take time before they are turned into hard laws. Furthermore, even if they do
become laws, there is always the impending possibility of them being revoked or changed.
This is because norms that have become laws for a particular generation may no longer be
true for another generation. Despite the difficulty of gaining consensus, however, this does
not discount the possibility that we can talk about social “truth”. No matter how painful the
process of justification maybe, or no matter how long it takes, we cannot simply resort to
the easy way out by saying that anything goes”. “Social norms turned to social “truths” are
the basis for the balanced in our society. Without them, society will be no different from a
jungle in which only the strong and powerful survive.
WHAT’S MORE
As we have shown above, there are different domains of truth-objective, social and
personal. Each domain of truth has a corresponding justification or has different criteria for
truth. In the scientific/objective domain, truths are tested against empirical evidence. In the
social domain, truths are tested against their acceptability to a group in a particular time in
history. In the personal domain, truths are tested against the consistency and authenticity
of the person who claims them. (Corpuz, Brenda B., et.al. 2016)
WHAT I CAN DO
WHAT’S IN
Lesson Motivation
Socrates suggests that the shadows are a reality for the prisoners because they
have never seen anything else; they do not realize that what they see are shadows of
The fire, or human-made light, and the puppets, used to make shadows are done by
the artists. This can be compared to how illusions are made with light and sound today,
with electronics, videos, movies, and 3D visuals. Plato, however, indicates that fire is also
the political doctrine that is taught in a nation-state. The artists use light and shadows to
teach the dominant doctrines of a time and place.
Also, few humans will ever escape the cave. This is not some easy tasks, and only
a true philosopher, with decades of preparation, would be able to leave the cave, up the
steep incline. Most humans will live at the bottom of the cave, and a small fee will be the
major artists that project the shadows with the use of human-made light.
Plato continues: "Suppose... that someone should drag him... by force, up the rough
ascent, the steep way up, and never stops until he could drag him out into the light of the
sun." The prisoner would be angry and in pain, and this would only worsen when the radiant
light of the sun overwhelms his eyes and blinds him.
"Slowly, his eyes adjust to the light of the sun. First, he can only see shadows.
Gradually he can see the reflections of people and things in water and then later see the
people and things themselves. Eventually, he is able to look at the stars and moon at night
until finally, he can look upon the sun itself." Only after he can look straight at the sun "is
he able to reason about it" and what it is.
The returning prisoner, whose eyes have become accustomed to the sunlight, would
be blind when he re-enters the cave, just as he was when he was first exposed to the
sun. The prisoners, according to Plato, would infer from the returning man's blindness that
the journey out of the cave had harmed him and that they should not undertake a similar
journey. Plato concludes that the prisoners if they were able, would therefore reach out and
kill anyone who attempted to drag them out of the cave.
Symbolism
The allegory contains many forms of symbolism used to instruct the reader in the
nature of perception. The cave represents superficial physical reality. It also represents
ignorance, as those in the cave live accepting what they see at face value. Ignorance is
further represented by the darkness that engulfs them because they cannot know the true
objects that form the shadows, leading them to believe the shadows are the true forms of
the objects. The chains that prevent the prisoners from leaving the cave represent that they
are trapped in ignorance, as the chains are stopping them from learning the truth. The
shadows cast on the walls of the cave represent the superficial truth, which is the illusion
that the prisoners see in the cave. The freed prisoner represents those who understand
that the physical world is only a shadow of the truth, and the sun that is glaring in the eyes
of the prisoners represents the higher truth of ideas. The light further represents wisdom,
as even the paltry light that makes it into the cave allows the prisoners to know shapes.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave
Things to ponder:
How is Plato’s Allegory of the Cave related to real life?
WHAT IS IT
Lesson Discussion
Apart from being aware of the different ways of understanding the truth as we have
shown in our previous lesson, it is equally important to learn how to distinguish truth from
opinion. Now, this is a trickier thing. An opinion is a statement of a judgment of a person
about something in the world. Not all opinions, however, are made equal. Opinions are
“There is no hope in the Philippine government because many officials are corrupt,
and Filipino voters continue to elect them.”
Here, the person is claiming that there is no hope in the Philippine government. He
supports this claim by providing two reasons: a) government officials are corrupt; b) Filipino
voters continue to elect them.
WHAT’S MORE
What we always perceive may always not be the truth. Based on the allegory of the
cave by Plato, our perspective changes from time to time when we are exposed to the truth.
In the chase of truth, we need to be critical. We need to separate truth and opinion through
the test of justification. We need to have valid grounds in our arguments. (Corpuz, Brenda
B., et.al. 2016)
WHAT I CAN DO
Lesson
FALLACIES AND ARGUMENTS
3
WHAT’S IN
Lesson Motivation
Recall a memory of an argument that you have that you consider not worth having
an argument with. Why do you think it was not worth having an argument with?
Fallacies, however, can be trickier. They usually come in the guise of well-articulated
arguments. Here are some of the most common ones.
This is the fallacy used when people convince others that someone’s argument
should be rejected because of the person’s personal background – his history, nationality,
race, socio-economic status, family, associations, religion, and other circumstances. This
argument is considered fallacious because the rightness or wrongness of a claim should
not be affected by the background of the person claiming it.
Why is this argument fallacious/? It is a false argument because it seeks to blur the
wrongness of the act of sexual harassment by focusing on the personality, gender, and
other circumstances of the victim. The violation of the right to dignity and respect is
fundamental. It does not change regardless of the personalities of those involved. If
someone was ‘tempted’, the burden of the blame should be put on the person who let his
animality rule over his reason.
The important thing to note here is that we must be wary of arguments that focus on
the personality of the opponent. There is a high chance that most of these arguments are
irrelevant to the issue.
This is an argument used by people who want to win a conflict by issuing threats to
their opponents. For example, a student raises a critical question against his history teacher
who must have taught them an erroneous reading of a historical event. The teacher gets
upset with the question and insists that there is nothing wrong with what he taught, and
subtly insinuates that if students would question him further then the whole class will be
getting a harder final exam.
Why is this wrong? People should vote for politicians because of their merits and
capability to serve the public. When people exercise their right to vote, it is because they
understand themselves as mature and rational to choose for themselves what is good for
them. Manipulating people’s emotions cloud voter’s judgment.
For example, a pharmaceutical company claims that its product is more effective
than other brands through the endorsement of Actor A. Because it is this actor who
endorses it, many will think that this is a good product indeed. Why is this argument
erroneous? Obviously, the effectiveness of a product does not depend on the popularity
of the person endorsing it. It should be drawn through a validated report of testimonies of
a significant number of people who have indeed used it. But the people are not critical
enough when they buy this product. They even argue that the reason why this medicine
is more expensive because it contains high-quality ingredients. In most cases, however,
it is more expensive because of the high costs of advertisement such as the talent fee of
the celebrity endorser.
5. Hasty Generalization
WHAT I CAN DO
Looking at the arguments you focused on, how would you assess the strength and
soundness of their arguments? Are the arguments reasonable to you? Do you agree with
these arguments? Do you think some arguments are downright foolish or simply wrong?
What is your criterion for saying that this argument is a good one, and that argument is
bad? Write your answers on any clean sheet of paper.
WHAT’S IN
Lesson Motivation
Try to philosophize an answer to the question, “Eskimos are very good hunters,
but they never hunt penguins. Why not?”
WHAT IS IT
Lesson Discussion
A. SOCRATIC METHOD
The Socratic method is named after Greek philosopher Socrates who taught
students by asking question after question. Socrates sought to expose contradictions in the
students’ thoughts and ideas to then guide them to solid, tenable conclusions. A Socratic
method is a form of a cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on
asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and
underlying presuppositions
B. DIALECTIC METHOD
The dialectical method is at base a discourse between two or more people holding
different points of view about a subject but wishing to establish
the truth through reasoned methods of argumentation. Dialectic resembles debate.
I care about my brother and think he's great, AND him being hard to reach is
something I don't like about him. This is a dialectical situation. These two, seemingly
opposing facts about the way I feel about my brother, are both true at the same time.
Logic is centered on the analysis and construction of arguments. Logical and critical
thinking serve as paths to freedom from half-truths and deceptions. Critical thinking is
In general, there are two basic types of reasoning: deductive and inductive reasoning.
Inductive reasoning is based on observations in order to generalize. This reasoning is often
applied in prediction, forecasting, or behavior. Deductive reasoning draws conclusions from
usually one broad judgment or definition and one more specific assertion, often an
inference. Take for Instance: All philosophers are wise. Confucius is a philosopher.
Therefore, Confucius is wise.
WHAT I CAN DO
LEARNING COMPETENCY:
1. What is the essence of the Anti-Terror Law? What are the facts about the Law?
2. Do you agree with the passing of the Law? Why or why not?
SAMPLE PROMPTS/OUTLINE
1. Assess the strength and soundness of the statement of Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez on
the controversial issue of Anti-Terror Law.
2. Present two good points and two bad points if there are any.
3. Support your answers with facts and citations.
4. State if you agree with the passing of the Anti-Terror Law or not with an explanation.
Traits 4 3 2 1
Focus & There is one clear, There is one clear, There is one topic. The topic and main
Details well-focused topic. well-focused topic. The main ideas are ideas are not clear.
The main ideas are The main ideas are somewhat clear.
clear and are well clear but are not well
supported by supported by
detailed and detailed information.
accurate
information.
Word The author uses The author uses The author uses The writer uses a
Choice vivid words and vivid words and words that limited vocabulary.
phrases. The choice phrases. The choice communicate clearly, Jargon or clichés
and placement of and placement of but the writing lacks may be present and
words seem words are inaccurate variety. detract from the
accurate, natural, at times and/or seem meaning.
and not forced. overdone.
SITUATION:
You are a comic strip creator and you want to create a comic strip out of fallacies.
In order to do that, you have to create a comic strip based on one of the fallacies
discussed. Below the comic strip is the explanation of how it is considered a
fallacious argument by evaluating the truth behind the fallacy and identifying the
personal opinion in it.
GOAL:
To create a comic strip.
STANDARDS:
A comic strip creator.
ROLE:
A comic strip creator.
PRODUCT:
Comic Strip
AUDIENCE:
Readers of all ages
STANDARDS:
The comic strip will be based on the accuracy of the content, organization of ideas, and
conclusions, sources, and grammar, sentence structure, creativity, and design.
The topic of the The topic of the The topic of the The topic of the
comic strip is comic strip is comic strip is a comic strip is
specific in intended to little broad to unclear or
Topic nature and is inform the allow the lacking.
intended to viewers. viewer to
inform the understand the
viewers. main points.
All facts are Almost all facts Some facts are Most facts are
Accuracy of
reported are reported reported reported
the Content
accurately. accurately. accurately. inaccurately.
All ideas and Most of the Some of the No ideas or
pictures used ideas and ideas and pictures are
are well- pictures used pictures used included or
organized and are organized are somehow none of the
Organization appropriate for and organized. ideas or
the content appropriate for Some may not pictures are
displayed. the content be appropriate appropriate for
displayed. for the content the content
displayed. displayed.
All sources All sources Most of the Many sources
used for facts used for facts sources used used for facts
are credible are credible for facts are are less than
Sources
and cited and most are credible and credible and
correctly. cited correctly. most are cited most are not
correctly. cited correctly.
Additional Additional Additional No additional
elements such elements are elements are elements are
as pictures or used but do not included but used.
Creativity maps are enhance the are not relevant
incorporated to infographic. to the topic of
enhance the the infographic.
infographic.
Total:
Activity 1.1
1. Personal Domain
2. Objective
3. Social
4. Personal
5. Objective
Activity 1.2 – answers may vary
Activity 2.1 – answers may vary
Activity 2.2 – answers may vary
Activity 3.1 – answers may vary
Activity 4.1 – answers may vary
References:
Books
• Corpuz, Brenda B., et.al. 2016. Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person. Manila.
Lori Mar Productions
• Ramos, Christine Carmela R. 2016. Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person.
Manila. Rex Bookstore