PHILOSOPHY

ITS MEANING AND NATURE

MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY

philia (love) sophia (wisdom)

MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
Pythagoras was said to
have been the first man to call
himself a philosopher; in fact,
the world is indebted to him for
the word philosopher. It is said
that when Leon, the tyrant of
Philius, asked him of who he
was, he said, “a Philosopher”
and he likened the Philosopher
to spectators at ancient
games.
MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY

Before that time the wise men had called

themselves a sage, which was interpreted to
mean those who know. Pythagoras was
more modest. He coined the word
philosopher, which he defined as one who is
attempting to find out.
MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY

According to him, men and women of the

world could be classified into 3 groups:
1. those that love pleasure
2. those that love activity and
3. those that love wisdom.
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
Philosophy is the study of general and
fundamental problems, such as those
connected with existence, knowledge,
values, reason, mind, and language.

Philosophy is the rational attempt to formulate,

understand, and answer fundamental
questions.
NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY
1. Philosophy is a set of views or beliefs about life
and the universe, which are often held uncritically.

We refer to this meaning as the informal sense of

philosophy or “having” a philosophy. Usually when
a person says “my philosophy is,” he or she is
referring to an informal personal attitude to
whatever topic is being discussed.
 NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY
2. Philosophy is a process of reflecting on and
criticizing our most deeply held conceptions and
beliefs.

These two senses of philosophy— “having” and

“doing”—cannot be treated entirely independent
of each other, for if we did not have a philosophy
in the formal, personal sense, then we could not
do a philosophy in the critical, reflective sense.
NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY
2. Philosophy is a process of reflecting on and criticizing our
most deeply held conceptions and beliefs.
Having a philosophy, however, is not sufficient for doing
philosophy. A genuine philosophical attitude is searching
and critical; it is open-minded and tolerant—willing to
look at all sides of an issue without prejudice. To
philosophize is not merely to read and know philosophy;
there are skills of argumentation to be mastered,
techniques of analysis to be employed, and a body of
material to be appropriated such that we become able
to think philosophically. Philosophers are reflective and
critical.
NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY
3. Philosophy is a rational attempt to look at the
world as a whole.
Philosophy seeks to combine the conclusions of
the various sciences and human experience into
some kind of consistent world view. Philosophers
wish to see life, not with the specialized slant of
the scientist or the businessperson or the artist,
but with the overall view of someone cognizant
of life as a totality.
NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY
4. Philosophy is the logical analysis of language
and the clarification of the meaning of words
and concepts.
. Certainly this is one function of philosophy. In
fact, nearly all philosophers have used methods
of analysis and have sought to clarify the
meaning of terms and the use of language.
Some philosophers see this as the main task of
philosophy, and a few claim this is the only
legitimate function of philosophy.
NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY
5. Philosophy is a group of perennial problems that
interest people and for which philosophers always
have sought answers.
Philosophy presses its inquiry into the deepest
problems of human existence. Some of the
philosophical questions raised in the past have
been answered in a manner satisfactory to the
majority of philosophers. Many questions,
however, have been answered only tentatively,
and many problems remain unsolved.
NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY
5. Philosophy is a group of perennial problems that
interest people and for which philosophers
always have sought answers.

 “What is truth?”
 “What is the distinction between right and
wrong?”
 What is life and why am I here?
 Why is there anything at all?
 IMPORTANCE OF PHILOSOPHY
1. The study of Philosophy enables us to think
carefully and clearly about important
issues.
2. In studying Philosophy, we learn to take a
step back from our everyday thinking and
to explore the deeper, bigger question
which underpins our thought.
 IMPORTANCE OF PHILOSOPHY
3. The focus in the study of Philosophy is to
learn not what to believe, but how to
think.
4. Studying philosophy sharpens your
analytical abilities, enabling you to
identify and evaluate the strengths and
weaknesses in any position.
IMPORTANCE OF PHILOSOPHY
5. It hones your ability to construct and
articulate cogent arguments of your own.
6. It prompts you to work across disciplinary
boundaries and to think flexibly and
creatively about problems which do not
present immediate solutions.
7. Because philosophy is an activity as much a
body of knowledge, it also develops your
ability to think and work independently.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY

Science deals with problems that can be

addressed experimentally by
subsuming/considering the observable
events that puzzle us under the dominion of
natural laws and by showing how these
laws are related causally to those events
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy on the other hand deals with

problems that require a speculative rather
than an experimental approach. Such
problems require conceptual analysis(the
logical scrutiny of general ideas) rather than
observation or data gathering.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY

Science
Can we know why on rare occasion the
sun darkens at midday?

Philosophy
What is knowledge?
BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY

Historically, philosophical concerns have been

treated under these broad categories:
1. Logic
2. Metaphysics
3. Epistemology
4. Value theory
A. LOGIC
Logic is the systematic study of the rules for the
correct use of these supporting reasons, rules we
can use to distinguish good arguments from bad
ones. Most of the great philosophers from Aristotle
to the present have been convinced that logic
permeates all other branches of philosophy. The
ability to test arguments for logical consistency,
understand the logical consequences of certain
assumptions, and distinguish the kind of evidence a
philosopher is using are essential for “doing”
philosophy
B. METAPHYSICS

Another traditional branch of Philosophy

traditionally known as metaphysics. For
Aristotle, the term metaphysics meant “first
philosophy,” discussion of the most universal
principles; later the term came to mean
“comprehensive thinking about the nature of
things.”
B. METAPHYSICS

It means, usually, the study or theory of reality.

The question of metaphysics is: what is reality?
What is real? Is reality some kind of “thing”. Is it
one or is it many? If it is one, then how is it
related to many things around us? Can
ultimate reality be grasped by five senses, or is
it supernatural or transcendent?
B. METAPHYSICS

Metaphysics undoubtedly is the branch of

philosophy that the modern student finds most
difficult to grasp. Metaphysics attempts to offer
a comprehensive view of all that exists. It is
concerned with such problems as the relation
of mind to matter, the nature of change, the
meaning of “freedom,” the existence of God,
and the belief in personal immortality.
C. EPISTEMOLOGY
The technical term for the theory of knowledge
is epistemology, which comes from the Greek
word episteme, meaning “knowledge.”

In general, epistemology is the branch of

philosophy that studies the sources, nature,
and validity of knowledge.
C. EPISTEMOLOGY
 There are three central questions in this field:
 (1) What are the sources of knowledge? Where
does genuine knowledge come from or how do we
know? This is the question of origins.
 (2) What is the nature of knowledge? Is there a real
world outside the mind, and if so can we know it?
This is the question of appearance versus reality.
 (3) Is our knowledge valid? How do we distinguish
truth from error? This is the question of the tests of
truth, of verification.
Traditionally,
most of those who have offered
answers to these questions can be placed in
one of two schools of thought—rationalism or
empiricism.

The rationalists hold that human reason alone

can discover the basic principles of the
universe.
The empiricists claim that all knowledge is
ultimately derived from sense experience and,
thus, that our knowledge is limited to what
can be experienced.
It should be clear that there is a necessary
relation between metaphysics and
epistemology. Our conception of reality
depends on our understanding of what can
be known. Conversely, our theory of
knowledge depends on our understanding of
ourselves in relation to the whole of reality.
D. VALUE THEORY

Value theory is the branch of philosophy that

studies values. It can be subdivided into ethics,
aesthetics, and social and political philosophy.
D. VALUE THEORY
In broad terms ethics concerns itself with the
question of morality. What is right and what is
wrong in human relations? Within morality and
ethics there are three major areas: descriptive
ethics, normative ethics, and metaethics.
Descriptive ethics seeks to identify moral
experience in a descriptive way. We seek to
identify, within the range of human conduct,
the motives, desires, and intentions as well as
overt acts themselves.
ETHICS
Descriptive ethics consider the conduct of
individuals, or personal morality; the conduct
of groups, or social morality; and the culture
patterns of national and racial groups.
ETHICS
A second level of inquiry is normative ethics
(what ought to be). Here philosophers try to
work out acceptable judgments regarding
what ought to be in choice and value. “We
ought to keep our promises” and “you ought
to be honorable” are examples of normative
judgments— of the moral ought, the subject
matter of ethics.
ETHICS

Third,there is the area of critical or metaethics.

Here interest is centered on the analysis and
meaning of the terms and language used in
ethical discourse and the kind of reasoning
used to justify ethical statements.
ETHICS

Metaethics does not propound any moral

principle or goal (except by implication), but
rather consists entirely of philosophical analysis.
What is the meaning of “good?” and Can
ethical judgments be justified? are typical
problems for metaethics.
AESTHETICS

Concerns the theory of art and beauty.

Questions of art and beauty are considered to
be part of the realm of values because many
philosophical problems in aesthetics involve
critical judgments.
AESTHETICS

There are wide differences of opinion as to

what objects call forth the aesthetic response,
and what beauty really is. Our concepts of
beauty may differ not because of the nature of
beauty itself, but because of varying degrees of
preparation in discerning beauty.
SO WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY THEN?

It teaches us to clarify our thoughts

SO WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY THEN?

Philosophy is about asking questions.

SO WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY THEN?

We need to look deeper

SO WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY THEN?

It teaches us to question things

WHAT ARE BIG QUESTIONS?
WHAT ARE BIG QUESTIONS?
 PHILOSOPHY AND COUNSELING
1. Critical thinking
2. Introspection.
3. Evidence-based thinking.
4. Search for meaning.
5. Attempt to unravel the mystery of human
existence by means of knowledge based on
reason.
6. Courage to dwell in the unknown.