Historical Methods of

Philosophizing
Doing Philosophy and Methods of
Philosophizing
You already know that the Philippines has a
rich culture that was molded by colonial
influences in the past.
• If you want to further know how that
happened, what type of book should you
read?
• How do you know that what was recorded
in our history books really happened?
Find out the answers in this lesson!
Review!
Methods of Philosophizing
A method of philosophizing is a process of
determining the truth or drawing conclusions from
a statement using various philosophical methods,
such as:
• Socratic,
• dialectic,
• scientific, and
• historical.
Learn about it!
If you answered “history book” in the previous
question, you are correct. Now, if you were to
read that particular history book to know
how the Philippines ended up with such a
unique culture, then you just applied the
historical approach in your activity. Historical
evidences are derived from records of the
past.
The Historical Method
The term "history" is from the Greek word
iotopia which means “to investigate" or "to
find out.”
The historical method is the process of
gathering evidences, examining them, and
formulating ideas about the past to come up
with present truths.
The Historical Method
In this approach, it is believed that history has a
“divine order” or a large “cyclical or
progressive” pattern that enables events to
repeat themselves and record information
through historical accounts or archaeological
findings.
The process of learning the truth is
simply through looking at past
records to validate the present
hypothesis.
If viewed in a more general
perspective, the historical approach
would include only a historical
account to differentiate truth from
opinion.
History is seen as more important
than logic and a more valid source
of the truth.
Using the historical approach is much
like researching for an answer to a
particular question. Reviewing what
has been done in the past is the
primary method of looking at a
solution for a problem at present.
EXAMPLES
You are going to Baguio for the first
time with your family. You have the
option to use one of two routes. You
look for reviews published in the
internet to determine which of the
two routes is better.
EXAMPLES
An entrepreneur wants to open a café
in a middle class residential area in
the city. Before buying the property,
she looked first at previous business
ventures that were established within
the area to determine the feasibility
of her plan.
Historical, Scientific, Dialectic,
or Socratic Method
Both the Socratic method and the
dialectic method are based on a
discussion between two or more
people who have differing views, but
wish to pursue the truth by seeking
agreement with one another.
 Historical, Scientific, Dialectic, or Socratic Method

The scientific method is a process of

determining truth or knowledge
through experimentation,
inductive and deductive reasoning,
and hypothesis or theory testing.
 Historical, Scientific, Dialectic, or Socratic Method

The historical method deals with

examining the past to come up with
present facts or truths.
Study the table below.
Opinion and Truth
It is important to distinguish opinion
from truth when using the historical
method.
Remember:
An opinion is a personal view formed about a
particular matter, such as your preference
for Japanese cuisine.
Truth is something that has actual and proven
existence regardless of one’s opinion, such
as the fact that the Philippines is made up
of more than 7,100 islands.
Distinguish the opinion
from the truth.
Situation A reveals the
truth because this account
is derived from historical
evidence.
Situation B expresses an
opinion because it is a
personal view.
 The Historical Method Leads to Wisdom
and Truth
Because history is repetitive, it is believed that the
things that are occurring at present already
happened in the past. Following this logic, the
historical method serves the purpose of digging
into historical data and analyzing together the
findings to come up with a conclusion. The use
of the method, therefore, leads to knowledge that
is true and evidence-based.
 The Historical Method Leads to Wisdom and Truth

History is repetitive. Only technology

and political systems change.
Everything revolves around war for
conquest, whatever the specific
reasons. Greed is the brace no matter
what the system may be.
Choose a random object in
your house. On a piece of
paper, write a hypothesis of
where you think that object
originated from. You may
also include your ideas on
how you think that object
was used in the past. …
After listing your thoughts, find
some relevant information on
the internet that may tell you
more about your chosen object.
You may also search for answers
at the library if you want. Once
you find valid information,
compare your work to the real
origins of the object to see how
you fared.
Can the use of the historical
approach predict the
future? Why? Why not?
The historical method does
not accept logic as the
primary source of the
truth. Instead, it relies on
factual information or
evidence-based conclusions
to confirm a present idea as
the truth.
The historical method, as a
method of philosophizing,
should not be mistaken for
historical materialism.
Although both concepts fall
under philosophy, historical
materialism is a Marxian
topic that caters to a more
liberal readership.
History, as a discipline,
should be considered a
separate topic from the
historical method. While
both concepts focus on past
events as significant, the
latter only uses history to
produce its main goal
which is the truth.
A method of philosophizing is
a process of determining
truths or conclusions from
a statement through the
use of various
philosophical methods such
as Socratic, dialectics,
historical, and scientific.
The historical method deals
with examining the past to
come up with present
truths.
An opinion is a personal view
formed about a particular
matter, while the truth is
something that has actual
and proven existence
regardless of one’s opinion.
The historical method of
philosophizing leads to
wisdom and truth.
Question 1
What method of
philosophizing deals with
examining the past to come
up with present truths?
a. Socratic method
b. historical materialism
c. dialectic method
d. historical method
Question 2
What makes history a valid
source of the truth?
a. It is passed on from one
generation to another.
b. It is written by
knowledgeable people.
c. It is cyclical and
progressive.
d. It is multidimensional.
Question 3
In the historical method, what is
considered as a more valid
source of truth?
a. time
b. knowledge
c. history
d. logic
Question 4
Which of the following scenarios
demonstrates the historical method?
a. reading through 10 books and
scientific researches to determine the
best way to lose weight
b. searching for a fried chicken recipe
at an internet site
c. looking for a research paper on
mental disorders
d. writing an essay about your favorite
philosopher
Question 5
How is history different from the
historical method?
a. History and the historical method are
the same.
b. History describes past events, while the
historical method predicts the future.
c. History describes past events, while the
historical method uses past events to
come up with the truth.
d. History uses past events to come up with
the truth, while the historical method
describes recent developments.
Question 6
If you were to use the historical
method to determine which
among cellphones A, B, and C
is best in terms of speed and
performance, how will you
proceed to find a conclusion?
Question 6 continued
a. Test each cellphone to easily
determine its speed and
performance.
b. Ask the salesperson to recommend
the best one.
c. Read reviews about the speed and
performance of each mobile phone.
d. Find and look at the specifications
of each model.
Question 7
Your classmate asked you to
suggest a topic for his report on
social development.

Using the historical method,

how will you answer your
classmate?
Question 7 continued
a. "I read from last week’s newspaper
that among all periods, social
development in the '90s was most
successful."
b. "Social development was great in the
'90s."
c. "My mother said she perceives social
development in the '90s to be the most
successful."
d. "I think society in the late '90s would
be a good topic."
Question 8
Which statement applies to a
historical approach?
1. Logic is viewed as having the
same level of importance as
history.
2. Logic is viewed as having a higher
level of importance than history.
3. Logic is viewed as having less
importance than history.
Question 8 continued
a. statement 2
b. statement 1
c. neither statement 1, 2 nor 3
d. statement 3
Question 9
Which of the following
statements is true?
1. All present facts are based on
past inquiries.
2. The historical method sees
facts or events as rooted in
logic.
Question 9 continued
a. Both statements 1 and 2 are
false.
b. Statement 1 is false.
Statement 2 is true.
c. Both statements 1 and 2 are
true.
d. Statement 1 is true.
Statement 2 is false.
Question 10
Which statement discusses the
basic premise of truth in terms
of the historical method?
1. The truth is composed of
objective and subjective
reasons.
2. Truth is universal.
Question 10 continued
a. both statements 1 and 2
b. neither statement 1 nor 2
c. statement 1
d. statement 2