Philo Week 1 Notes
Philo Week 1 Notes
Philo Week 1 Notes
PHILOSOPHY-comes from the Greek word “philos” w/c means “love” and “Sophia” means “wisdom”
• It is the study of the basic ideas about knowledge, right and wrong, reasoning, and the value of
things.
• In a broad sense, philosophy is an activity that people undertake when they seek to understand
fundamental truths about themselves, to the world in which they live, and their relationship to
the world and to each other.
PHILOSOPHER
• A Philosopher is a lover of wisdom. He/she puts meaning to what is out there. He/she opens to
changes and discovery. He/she does not stop knowing, wondering, and asking questions.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PHILOSOPHY
• FRAMEWORK
• EXAMINATION OF KNOWLEDGE
• DISCIPLINE
PHILOSOPHY AS FRAMEWORK
FRAMEWORK
… a set of rules, ideas, or beliefs which you use in order to deal with problems or to decide what to do.
Philosophy then as a framework could lead the person to come up with something that may provide
solutions.
… principle of philosophy can also be use of other disciplines or particular areas of knowledge.
Example:
ORIGIN OF PHILOSOPHY
ANCIENT, GREECE
THALES OF MILETUS
Thales is the Father of Philosophy in the Western civilization. He lived between 624 and 546 BCE
What made Thales a philosopher is his desire to know the ultimate stuff that makes up the different
things we perceived.
THALES BELIEVE…..
• despite the different things we encounter there is one underlying stuff or substance in which
everything is composed.
• He believes that there is One in the Many.
• Thales was the first individual who tried to reduce the multiplicity in to a unity (Jones,1969).
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY
“RULE YOUR MIND, OR IT WILL RULE YOU. WITH OUR THOUGHTS, WE MAKE THE WORLD.”
-Gautama Buddha
• He proposed that everything that exists is based on a higher order or plan which he called
“logos”.
• For him, change is permanent aspect of the human condition as he was credited with the
saying, “No man ever steps in the same river twice”
• He was considered the foremost philosopher of the ancient times. He made great contributions
to the field of ethics.
• He believed that philosophy could enable a man to live a life of virtue.
• He was credited with formulating the Socratic Method-a means of examining a topic by devising
a series of questions that let the learner examine and analyze his knowledge and views
regarding the topic.
• Famous quote ““An unexamined life is not worth living”.
• A student of Socrates, he wrote down his mentor’s teaching and incorporated some of his own
ideas into them. His teachings and writings were considered the foundation of Western
Philosophy.
• Plato’s most significant ideas included his Theory of Forms, which proposes that everything that
exists is based on an idea or template that can only be perceived in the mind; these
nonphysical ideas are eternal and unchanging.
ARISTOTLE 384-322 BCE
• He was prominent student of Plato. Aristotle, however, disagreed with Plato’s theory of forms
and took a different stance in interpreting reality.
• For him, all ideas and views are based on the perception and our reality is based on what we
can sense and perceived.
BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
• LOGIC-is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of thinking and
reasoning.
It is the art of correct thinking.
2 TYPES OF LOGIC
DEDUCTIVE REASONING
from a general truth to specific truth
INDUCTIVE REASONING
from a specific truth to general truth
• METAPHYSICS-it comes from the word “meta” means beyond and “physicon”
means nature. It is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with the nature of
ultimate reality.
• ETHICS-it comes from the word “ethos” w/c means “character”. It is the science
of correct doing and the study of what is right and what is wrong in human
behaviour.
• AESTHETICS-is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and
taste, as well as the philosophy of art. It examines aesthetic values, often
expressed through judgments of taste.
“wondering”
“philosophizing’
-freedictionary.com
SOCRATES
PLATO