THE SOUL OF PHILOSOPHY

Grace Shiella D. Fandialan

Reizel Laja

Althea Inocencio

Angelica Hernandez

John Amiel Paran

BSED-SSTU-1101

Michelle Cajuday

December 14, 2021

This paper aims to discuss the nature and significance of philosophy. Philosophy is a broad

field of knowledge in which one's reasoning ability, common sense, and knowledge of abstract

concepts such as God, the world, the soul, and the mind are enhanced. Epistemology, logic, and

metaphysics, and value theory including ethics, aesthetics and social, and political philosophy

are some of the subfields that are also discussed. Philosophy aids in improving a person's

problem-solving abilities helps us to understand concepts, definitions, arguments, and issues.

Introduction

If we heard the word philosophy what comes first to our mind? what is philosophy?

Philosophy is a non-scientific process of analyzing life and determining restrictions and

conditions for life, truth, and nature. It assists us in making meaning of what we do or believe, as

well as in learning why we believe or act the way we do. Philosophy is the critical examination

of the grounds for fundamental beliefs and an analysis of the basic concepts employed in the

expression of such beliefs. The word is from the Greek (by way of Latin, Philosophia) and means

"love of wisdom" (Martinich & Stroll 2004:17). According to Moore, (2016) philosophizing is

the activity of analysis. The nature of philosophy is philosophical. To understand the nature of

philosophy as philosophical, we will have to explain the philosophical problems, philosophical

attitudes, and philosophical activities, etc. Philosophical problems are the general problems of

different philosophical sciences. A philosophical attitude is reflective and curious guided by

experience and reasoning. Philosophical methods include induction, deduction, analysis,

synthesis, and dialectical methods. The philosophical activity starts with wonder and curiosity.
This activity may be individual as well as social, alone as well as in a group. The real nature of

philosophy is intellectual and purely logical. Philosophy is a way to study and understand the

world around us, though without going into religious topics (usually) and that world includes

both the external physical world and the internal mental world. Philosophy also has a branch

called epistemology. It is concerned with knowledge. If it refers to the study of the various uses

of the broad concept to help know reality and understand it, it is metaphysics. Logic is the study

of reason or the study of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration. And the

last branch of philosophy is value theory. It is concerned with theoretical questions about the

value and goodness of all varieties. In addition, value theory, also called axiology, has another

branch: ethics, which concerns the morally good; social and political philosophy concerning the

values related to a group of individuals, society, and nation. And aesthetic concerned with the

nature and appreciation of arts, beauty.

Body

Two answers are frequently given to the question ‘What is philosophy?’ A-One is that

philosophy is an activity rather than a subject, in other words, you do philosophy rather than

learn about it. The other is that philosophy is largely a matter of conceptual analysis, it is

thinking about thinking. Both these suggestions contain more than a germ of truth but are

unsatisfactory, giving little or no idea of the content of philosophy. It is all very well to say

‘Philosophize’ or ‘Analyze concepts’, but philosophize about what and in what sorts of ways;

analyze what concepts and how? The most direct way of seeing what philosophy is about is to

look at the sorts of questions that philosophers think are important and how they go about

answering them.
 Philosophy is the study of different theories about basic things that can help to answer the

curious minds of people. Through philosophy, we can understand why different things exist in

the real world and attempt to understand knowledge, life, morality, virtue, and human nature.

Now let us know how philosophy started. The root of philosophy is a sensation of wonder. It

started when we wondered about the facts and truth of certain things in the world. We can’t stop

thinking why does this thing exist? Or how did this happen? When we started to think about that

kind of question, obviously philosophy started. Because when we begin to think, it analyzes the

situation or an idea that helps people to improve their reasoning and critical abilities such as

proper judgment and decision making. Philosophy can answer all philosophical questions that

exist in our minds. Socrates didn’t claim to have any answers in his queries because as I

remember Socrates want to throw many questions to understand more the philosophy but his

views and method of philosophy created the basis of what philosophy is today.

According to Socrates philosophy should lead to practical results for the greater well-being

of society. In that idea, we can say that philosophy is not just focused on science but also on how

people think about the right thing to do to improve well-being. The nature of philosophy is based

on the thinking ability and thoughts of the human mind, and also the actual nature of philosophy

is to present the total world-view of its problems.

As everyone knows that the term philosophy is derived from the two Greek words Philo and

Sophia which mean “true love of wisdom” when the ancient Greek thinkers referred to wisdom,

they usually meant the knowledge of fundamental principles and laws, an awareness of that

which was basic and unchanging as opposed to those things that are transitory and changing. The

term philosophy and philosopher was coined by Pythagoras. Philosophy as we all know is the

study of wisdom and one who loves this wisdom is called a philosopher. So, everyone can be a
philosopher once they love the field of philosophy. The philosopher knows every problem from

its root and interprets it through a rational basis. Philosophy, the mother of all sciences, is the

foundation and the touchstone of every subject whether physics, mathematics, or humanities.

Gareth Matthews (2003), suggests that we can better understand the nature of philosophical

inquiry if we recognize the central role played by perplexity. The seminal representation of

philosophical perplexity is in Plato's dialogues; Matthews examines the intriguing shifts in

Plato's attitude to perplexity and suggests that these may represent a course of philosophical

development that philosophers follow even today.

Philosophy attempts to develop a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world.

Philosophy seeks to integrate the knowledge of the sciences with that of other fields of study to

achieve some kind of consistent and coherent worldview. Philosophers do not want to confine

their attention to a fragment of human experience or knowledge, but rather, want to reflect upon

life as a totality. In speaking of this particular function, Charlie Dunbar Broad, an English

twentieth-century philosopher, says: "Its object is to take over the results of the various sciences,

to add to them the results of the religious and ethical experiences of mankind, and then to reflect

upon the whole. The hope is that, by this means, we may be able to reach some general

conclusions as to the nature of the universe, and as to our position and prospects in it." (Scientific

Thought, New York: Harcourt, 1923, p. 20)

Like the other fields of study, philosophy is an essential body of knowledge that tackles

reality. To understand the foundation of philosophy, it’s necessary to first examine philosophy’s

four main branches. The four main branches of philosophy are metaphysics, epistemology, value

theory, and logic. According to Aristotle, Metaphysics is considered as ‘first philosophy, or ‘the

study of ‘wisdom’, or ‘theology’. Aristotle says that “everyone takes what is called ‘wisdom’
(Sophia) to be concerned with the primary causes (aitia) and the starting-points (or principles,

archai)” and it is these causes and principles that he proposes to study in this work. Metaphysics

is a philosophy that considers the physical universe and the nature of ultimate reality. It asks

questions like, what is real? What is the origin of the world? What is beyond the stars? Your

consideration of reality as an external creation or an internal construct can influence your

metaphysical beliefs and perspectives and teaching.

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that considers how people come to learn what they

know. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, is the theory or science of the method and

ground of knowledge. It is a core area of philosophical study that includes the sources and limits,

rationality, and justification of knowledge The word epistemology is derived from the Greek

word “episteme”, meaning knowledge or understanding, it also refers to the nature and origin of

knowledge and truth. It proposes that there are four main bases of knowledge: divine revelation,

experience, logic and reason, and intuition. Duncan Pritchard from the University of Edinburgh

defines epistemology as the “Theory of Knowledge”. He says that true knowledge can be defined

as when you believe something and that belief of yours is true (Pritchard, 2016, p. 4). The study

of epistemology in philosophy is important because it helps us evaluate what we see or perceive.

It helps us determine the true from the false and helps us gain productive knowledge i.e.

knowledge that we can use to benefit ourselves and others. With improper epistemological

knowledge, we would just be perceiving a bunch of images flashing in our minds. We would not

be able to think about it.

According to Learn Religions, Logic is the science of how to evaluate arguments and

reasoning. Critical thinking is a process of evaluation that uses logic to separate truth from

falsehood, and reasonable from unreasonable beliefs. If you want to better evaluate the various
claims, ideas, and arguments you encounter, you need a better understanding of basic logic and

the process of critical thinking. Logic is not a matter of opinion: When it comes to evaluating

arguments, there are specific principles and criteria that you should use. If you use those

principles and criteria, then you are using logic; if you aren’t, then you are not justified in

claiming to use logic or be logical. This is important because sometimes people don’t realize that

what sounds reasonable isn’t necessarily logical. This reasoning process—using principles of

logic in your reasoning, thinking, and arguments—is critical to the practice of philosophy. Logic

is the branch of philosophy that seeks to organize reasoning. Students of logic learn how to think

in a structurally sound manner. Logic has two types: deductive and inductive reasoning.

Deductive reasoning involves examining a general case, deducing a general set of rules or

principles, and then applying these rules to specific cases. Inductive reasoning involves taking

specific examples and considering the general principles, rules, or cases that caused them

According to Research Guide, University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries, Value theory

also called axiology is concerned with theoretical questions about the value and goodness of all

varieties, questions that often cross the boundaries between normative ethics and the

mathematical. It asks how and why people value something, be it a person, idea, or object; thus

both moral and natural goods are equally relevant to value theory. Under the value theory is

ethics, Ethics is based on well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans

ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific

virtues. (Manuel V., Andre C. et al) Ethics is two things. First, ethics refers to well-founded

standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights,

obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those

standards that impose reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault,
slander, and fraud. Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of honesty,

compassion, and loyalty. And, ethical standards include standards relating to rights, such as the

right to life, the right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy. Such standards are

adequate standards of ethics because they are supported by consistent and well-founded reasons.

Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards. As mentioned

above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from what is ethical. So it is necessary to

constantly examine one's standards to ensure that they are reasonable and well-founded. Ethics

also means, then, the continuous effort of studying our own moral beliefs and our moral conduct

and striving to ensure that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are

reasonable and solidly based. According to Wikipedia, Aesthetics, or esthetics is a branch of

philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own

area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed

through judgments of taste. The Social-political philosophy is the study of people living in

societies, governed by institutions and practices that mold, constrain, and in many ways

constitute their lives. It constructs theoretical accounts of the meaning and justification of social

practices and institutions. The most important of such institutions is the state, with its various

legal, political, and economic functions.

Results

Philosophy can help everyone to think properly because it can improve the critical abilities

that help us to solve different problems or struggles that we encounter. As a result, we conclude

that philosophy helps us make better judgments by allowing us to choose what is good and what

is bad. We can also understand what is our role in this world and why certain things exist in it.
We also find that philosophy is not just concerned with science, but may also benefit a person’s

well-being. Our quality of life may increase if our critical thinking improves. People can also

benefit from philosophy since it teaches them the value of persuasion. You may apply

philosophy in an argument by presenting several bits of evidence that our reality contains. As we

all know evidence makes our argument reliable. And last, philosophy can help you become

confident in what you believe in life because there is evidence that supports it.

Discussion

Can we really know everything? Or does something in our minds that are really need help

for a certain answer? These are some of the questions that no one can provide exact point but

philosophy, its nature, its soul and branches can. In our world where happenings are not beyond

our understanding and beliefs, we should be more aware and be the philosopher of ourselves. To

sum up, philosophy is the study of different theories about basic things that can help to answer

the curious minds of people. Through philosophy, we can understand why different things exist

in the real world and attempt to understand knowledge, life, morality, virtue, and human nature.

The term philosophy is derived from the two Greek words Philo and Sophia which mean "true

love of wisdom". According to Socrates philosophy should lead to practical results for the

greater well-being of society. The nature of philosophy is based on the thinking ability and

thoughts of the human mind. Philosophy attempts to develop a comprehensive conception or

apprehension of the world. The four main branches of philosophy are metaphysics,

epistemology, value theory, and logic. According to Aristotle, Metaphysics is considered as 'first

philosophy, or 'the study of 'wisdom'. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that considers how

people come to learn what they know. The study of epistemology helps us evaluate what we see
or perceive. It helps us determine the true students of logic learn how to think in a structurally

sound manner. Critical thinking is a process of evaluation that uses logic to separate truth from

falsehood. Using principles of logic in your reasoning, thinking, and arguments is critical to the

practice of philosophy. Logic has two types: deductive and inductive reasoning from the false

and helps us gain knowledge that we can use to benefit ourselves and others. Value theory asks

how and why people value something, be it a person, idea, or object. Under the value, the theory

is ethics, which are based on well-founded standards of right and wrong. In aesthetics, judgments

are made about "beauty" — an ideal, or value, like "truth" or "goodness". Social-political

philosophy is the study of people living in societies, governed by institutions and practices that

mold, constrain, and in many ways constitute their lives.

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