PHILOSOPHY REVIEWER
Philosophy
- deals with the most complex, challenging and profound questions in human life
- originated in Greece as the “mother of all disciplines” covering the entire breadth of
inquiry about humans
- a process of personal reflection on the meaning of human life.
- term philosophy was first introduced by Pythagoras, and based in the language of
the Pythagorean nomenclature,
- originally philosophia, which is derived from two Greek words: philia meaning
“love” and sophia meaning “wisdom”.
- word philosophy means the love of wisdom.
- Pythagoras called himself a ‘lover of wisdom’ or “Philosopher”. From then on, the
term “philosopher” replaced that of “wise men” and the term “philosophy” replaced
that of “wisdom”
- will lead man to an in-depth progress in skills, abilities and insights that will
always be beneficial for the rest of his life.
Love of Wisdom - something which all human nature in some measures at least
participates in and which predisposes all toward sympathy for the philosopher’s
enterprise. (Scott et al., 1993)
Skills :
Philosophical Skills - Philosophers are generally endowed with skills borne of
experience and reflection in analyzing events, envisioning future, and gaining
insights into reality. These philosophical skills are concerned with analysis,
vision and insights.
Analytical Skill - ability to respond critically and evaluate what is good and what
is bad, what is moral or immoral regarding human action is called analytical skill
Visionary Skills - ability to enable a confused people to confront a raging social
volcano, to envision an alternative future instead of catastrophic ending is a
visionary skill.
Insightful Skill - Philosophy can reasonably guide you to think analytically to
develop a clear vision and obtain a sublime insight to a life and future worth
striving for. This is called insightful skill.
Thales - Father of Philosophy
Triumvirate - Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
Western Philosophy - started in Greece
Heraclitus - The cosmos is the unity of opposites
Miletus - birth of Western Philosophy
Branches of Philosophy
Metaphysics - Popularly known as the First Philosophy and is focused on the
study of reality.
Theodicy - which studies God as Subsistent Being and First Cause of all things.
It is called natural theology.
Epistemology - comes from the Greek word "episteme" which means knowledge,
deals with knowledge , study of knowledge.
Ethics - the study of how human acts are directed towards man’s purpose or end.
It is also called moral philosophy. concerned on human coduct or morality. Study
of Morality.General Ethics – which studies the basic principles regarding the
morality of human acts, Social Ethics – which studies the common good of
society
Logic - branch of philosophy that deals with rules or principles that govern
reasoning
Aesthetics - branch of philosophy that is concerned with analysis of what is
beautiful
Some Philosophers:
socrates 469-399 BC
- One thing only I know and that is that I know nothing.
- There is only one good, knowledge and one evil, ignorance.
(Motto: Know Thyself)
Ignorance - the greatest evil
Plato 427-347 BC
- Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
- Your silence gives consent.
- The measure of a man is what he does with power.
- Wise men talk because they have something to say, fools, because they have to say
something.
Aristotle 384-322 BC
- We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.
- The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
- Hapiness depends upon ourselves. Excellence is never an accident.
CONFUCIUS (551-478) BC
- Romanized form of this famous Chinese philosopher meaning Master Kong, who
lived from 551 to 479 BC
- He was from a noble family and his father died when he was three years old. He
worked as a teacher at 22 and became a governor when he was 52 years old. Due to a
professional jealousy against him, he went into a voluntary exile and returned at age
69 and died at 72
- "The Analects" the book of confucius
- . The Golden Rule of Christ is a positive command to "Do to others, what you
want others to do to you"
- “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest;
Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the
bitterest.”
- “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
- “Silence is a true friend who never betrays.”
- “Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in
others.”
- “What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in
others.”
- “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
Reflection - According to Confucius, the noblest method to learn is by
Lao Tzu
- his name means "Venerable Teacher"
- He lived in the sixth or fourth century BC Perhaps he was the author of the Tao Te
Ching Writings or "The Way and Law of Natural Goodness"
- His philosophy is a philosophy of "Non-Action" or "Wu Wei", the central concept of
the Tao Te Ching, a concept of harmony, simplicity and humility
- Tao - Chinese word means way
- “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply
gives you courage.”
- “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
- “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that
only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in
whatever way they like.”
- “When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete,
everyone will respect you.”
ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (354-430 AD)
- born on November 13, 354 AD in today's Souk Ahras, Algeria and died on August
28, 430 in Annaba, Algeria
- His father, Patricius, was a pagan and his mother Monica was a Christian
- a pagan and studied Greek and Latin and was very good in Rhetoric. The book
entitled "Hortensius written by Cicero, a famous Roman writer influenced his study of
philosophy
- “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
- “Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is
doing it.”
- “And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of
the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the
stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought.”
- “God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised
tomorrow to your procrastination.”
Book Pages:
What is Philosophy? (Page 3- 6)
Value of Truth (Page 28 -37)
Who is the human Person? (Page 40-43)
