PHILOSOPHY Notes | First Semester - We must have an open mind in order to

understand the TRUTH. For this reason, we

Lesson 1: Introduction to Philosophy need to embrace the love for learning.

What is Philosophy? Philosophy has Two Main Divisions:

- Philosophy searches for TRUTH. 1. Western – Socrates, Aristotle, Plato,
- Philosophy deals with how life must be lived. St.Thomas and Augustine, Descartes, Etc.
- Comes from Greek words "philo" that means 2. Eastern – Confucius, Lao Tzu, Hinduism,
love and "sophia" that means wisdom. Buddhism
Philosophy is Love of Wisdom.
- Pythagoras – the lovers of wisdom are called Philosophy and its Holistic Approach
“Philosophers.” - Philosophy produces “insights” which means
- Socrates (Greek) – one of the greatest seeing with the mind. (Ferriols, 2001)
Philosophers devoted his whole life in - Philosophers always asked questions.
searching the truth, as truth was value in - Question is more important than the answer.
itself. - Thales – The first Philosopher in western
history.
❖ Used the question and answer - Philosophy is concerned with how
method (Socratic method). philosophical mind moves (process of
❖ “Unexamined life is not worth thinking).
living.” - Doing philosophy means “looking what is
❖ Knowledge/Wisdom can only be beyond.”
attained through “doctaIgnorantia” - Holistic Perspective – learn to and see how a
❖ Knowing that I do not know. thing is related to everything else.
❖ Philosophy (question & answer) is
meant to awaken us. Lesson 2: Branches of Philosophy

- Philosophizing (knowing the truth) does not Definition and Branches of Philosophy
merely accepting what is already there, rather Branches of Philosophy
verifying (questioning) them. • Epistemology
- Philosophy gives us the full view of a • Metaphysics
philosopher is a man who thinks. • Logic
- Philosophy is concerned in finding of purpose • Ethics
and meaning. • Aesthetics
- A Philosopher's way of thinking can be • Religion
described as “Abstractive.” It rises from the • Politics
level of everyday life to a higher level that • Science
gives a Bird’s eye view of the whole.
- Philosophers from the past used their “minds Branches of Philosophy and its Definition
to see the whole.” 1. Epistemology
- Studies the nature of knowledge and the
What is Truth? rationality of belief, the means of production
- Truth is not something up there, rather, truth of knowledge.
is at the heart of human existence. - Originated from the word "episteme" which
means knowledge.
- Epistemology focuses on the boundaries of 4. Ethics/Axiology
our knowledge. - Ethics simply means “knowing what is right
- Explores the nature and limitations of from wrong.”
knowledge. - This branch focuses on virtues and morality.
- Definition of knowledge. - A philosophical study on the morality
- Investigates how knowledge is obtained. (goodness or badness) of human
- Explores the relationship between belief actions/conduct.
truth and knowledge.
Questions:
Questions: 1) How should we live?
1) What is knowledge? 2) What is good and evil?
2) How is knowledge acquired? 3) What is the best way to live?
3) How do we know what we know? 4) What is justice?
5) Is right and wrong the same
2. Metaphysics everywhere or different everywhere?
- Studies and asks questions about the essence
and existence of a being. 5. Aesthetics
- From the word "meta" which means beyond, - By definition, aesthetics deals with relating
metaphysics explores reality beyond science to beauty. Anything that deals with beauty, it
like the existence of beings, objects and their correlates to this branch if philosophy.
properties and purpose. - Explores the nature and appreciation of art,
- Explores the fundamental nature of reality beauty and taste.
and being.
Questions:
Questions: 1) What is beauty?
1) Real 2) What is art?
2) Time 3) What is the value of beauty and art?
3) Space 4) Who should judge what is beautiful or
4) Presentism artistic?
5) Relativistic Concept 5) How should art and beauty be judged?

3. Logic 6. Religion
- Concerned with "reasoning" or truth. - Centers itself on determining the reality of
- The most recognizable one out of the the divine and the standards of faith.
branches of philosophy. - Branch of philosophy with questions
- Logic situates itself in how we should do regarding religion:
systematic argument.
- A philosophical study on the correct
❖ Nature and Existence of God
processes of thinking.
- The systematic study of argument. ❖ Theology
- The rule of inference.
- Distinguishing valid from invalid argument. ❖ Examination of Religious Experience
- Examination fallacies.
❖ Analysis of Religious Language and
- Using correct argument patterns.
Texts
 - Started to question the world around them.
❖ Relationship between Religion and
- They sought to find a primary principle,
Science known as archê, which was the basic material
of the universe.
Questions:
1) Does God exist? What does Pre-Socratic mean?
2) What is God? - It means “before Socrates” during 1903 by
3) What is the nature of the relationship German scholar Hermann Diel.
between God and Humans? - Socrates was actually alive during the same
4) Is God active in the world? How? time as many of the pre-socratic philosophers.
5) Is there life after death? - This term relates to the differences in
6) What is the relationship between ideology and principles.
religion and ethics? Religion and science?
Pre- Socratic Schools
7. Politics • Milesian School
- Deals with the structural governance and its • Phytagorean School
influence on how the people mold and • Ephesian School
develop their ideals, principles and • Eleatic School
knowledge. • Atomic School
- Explores the relationship between citizens
and governments. Pre-Socratic Schools and its Beliefs
❖ Liberty 1. Milesean School (in the city of Miletus)
• Thales
❖ Legal Justice – for him, water is the archê.
(evaporation and condensation)
❖ Property Ownership

❖ Citizen’s Rights • Anaximander

– for him, apeiron is an element of
❖ System of Law undefined, unlimited, and indefinite
substance.
Nature of Philosophy
Human being possesses a keen desire to • Anaximenes
know and that leads us to seek the causes of – for him, air is everywhere and has the
events or happenings. ability to undergo processes and become
Our search for knowledge is induced by transformed into other things, such as water,
theoretical considerations, as well as practical wind, fire, and even the earth.
reasons. We need to find the answers to many
questions about things existing around us. 2. Phythagorean School
• Pythagoras
Lesson 3: Western Philosophy – for him, (numbers) mathematical
relations and that it governs everything.
Pre-Socratic – everything could be measured and
The Origin of Western Philosophy predicted by the use of mathematics.
- The work of Greek philosophers during 5th
and 6th centuries.
3. Ephesian School 5. Atomic School
• Heraclitus of Ephesus – started by Leucipus and passed down by
– for him, change is constant. change his student, Democritus (460-370 B.C.),
represents FIRE element and that everything believed that every physical object is made up
was manifested by it. of atoms and void (empty space that atoms
– he popularized the notion that “one move in) that are arrange in different ways.
cannot step in the same river twice.”
Lesson 4: The Three Great Greek Triumvirate:
4. Eleatic School (was based on Colophon) Socrates , Plato and Aristotle
• Xenophanes of Colophon
– he believed there was only one god Socrates (The Game-Changer, 469-399 B.C.)
that, while it did not physically move, had the - Socrates was one of the most powerful
ability to hear, see, think, and controlled the thinkers in history. He encouraged his
world with his thoughts. students to examine their beliefs.
- Socrates asked them a series of leading
• Parmenides of Elea questions to show that people hold many
– for him, reason, not the senses, that contradictory opinions. This method of
one would be able to arrive at the truth. It teaching by a question-and-answer approach is
made no sense for Milesians to argue what is known as the Socratic method.
and what is not, for the intelligent thing to - He devoted his life to gaining self-knowledge
discuss and true, is what is (what exist). and once wrote, "There is only one good,
knowledge; and one evil, ignorance."
• Zeno of Elea
– the Paradoxes of Motion, he attempted Contribution to Philosophy
to show the ontological pluralism, the notion - “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
that many things exist opposed to one, will - An individual’s action were directly related to
actually lead to conclusions that are absurd. his intelligence an ignorance.
Parmenides and Zeno believed that reality - People should develop their self, rather than
existed as one thing, and that things like concentrate on material objects.
plurality and motion were nothing more than - He sought to understand the difference
an illusions. between acting good and being good.

• Melissus of Samos Socratic Method

– he supported Parmenides and Zeno by - A series of questions, Socrates would set out
distinguishing between is and seems. When a to discover the driving force behind how the
thing is X, it has to always be X (and never not individual’s beliefs and sentiments were shape
X). But since this is not the case, and and in so doing, get closer to the truth.
properties are not retained indefinitely, - Socrates was able to expose contradictions
nothing (except for the Parmenides Real, in the way an individual thought, which allow
reality existing as one continuous, him to come to a solid conclusion.
unchanging thing) actually ever is; rather, it - Elenchus – a method to refute the claims of
seems. the other person.
Plato (427-347 B.C.) Plato’s Cave [Knowledge versus Senses]
- Born into a wealthy Athenian family, Plato - Plato compares the prisoners chained inside
had careers as a wrestler and a poet before he of the cave to people that are unaware of his
became a philosopher. theory of Form. People mistaken the
- He studied with Socrates. appearance of what is in front of them as
- After his teacher died in 399 B.C., Plato left reality and live in ignorance (and quite happily,
Greece and traveled to North Africa and Italy. for ignorance is all this people know).
He later returned to Athens and founded a - For him, when people use language, they are
school called The Academy in 387 s.c. The not naming physical objects that can be seen;
school lasted for approximately 900 years. It rather, they are naming something that can’t
was Plato who once stated, "Philosophy be seen. These name can only be grasped in
begins in wonder." the mind. (e.g. the name Justice)
- “Reality is created by the mind, we can
Philosophy change our reality by changing our mind.”
- A process of continuous questioning and
dialogues. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
- A dialogues are his own opinion on the - Aristotle, the son of a physician, was one of
subject matters he wrote about were never the brightest students at Plato's academy. He
explicitly (though with in-depth research, one came there as a young man and stayed for 20
might be able to infer his stance) and that he years until Plato's death.
was never a character in his writing. - In 335 B.C., Aristotle opened his own school
- He wanted the reader to form their own in Athens called the Lyceum. The school
opinion and not to be told how to think. eventually rivaled the Academy. Aristotle once
- Plato’s dialogues dealt with variety of subject argued, "He who studies how things
matter such as art, theater, ethics, originated and came into being... will achieve
immortality, the mind, and metaphysics. the clearest view of them."
- His writings cover many subjects, including
Theory of Forms physics, metaphysics, poetry, theatre, music,
- In his book The Republic and Phaedrus, the logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics,
soul was divided into three parts: government, ethics, biology, and zoology.
Aristotle's writings were the first to create a
1. Reason – this part was responsible for comprehensive system of Western philosophy,
thinking encompassing ethics, aesthetics, logic,
2. Spirit – a soul responsible for all desires science, politics, and metaphysics.
that want victory and honor. The spirit - To Aristotle, the process of learning could be
should enforce reason so that reason place into three distinct categories:
leads. theoretical, practical, and productive.
3. Appetite – part of the soul where very
basic cravings and desires came from Aristotle as an Empiricist
(e.g. thirst and hunger). Empiricism is a theory of knowledge
which states that knowledge comes only or
- According to Plato, reason should rule an primarily from sensory experience.
individual’s decisions; spirit should aid reason; Aristotle is an empiricist because he
and appetite should obey. thinks that all knowledge comes to human
beings from and through sensation. Our minds
start out as blank slates and from sensation 2. The Law of Noncontracdiction. This law
we get our ideas or the so-called "contents" states X can't be an X and not C
of our minds. simultaneously. A statement can never be a
true and false at the same time.
"Whatever is outside all possibility of 3. The Law of Excluded Middle. This law claims
experience is nothing.” a statement can be either true or flase; there
– Aristotle cannot be a middle ground.

• We can not validate an invisible world. Aristotle and Metaphysics

• Any reference to an invisible world, is mere Metaphysics is composed of fourteen
empty talk. books As he contradicted Plato's theory of
• Believing in the existence of an invisible Form, Aristotle understand the nature of
world has no good reason since it probably being was metaphysics (thou he never use
does not exist. this word, instead calling it "first philosophy").
The material world and world of forms
Aristotle and Logic cannot be separated on the concept of truth.
The term logic came from the Greek word He believed that the world was made up
“logos”, which is sometimes translated as of substance that could either be form, matter,
sentence, discourse, reason, rule, and ratio. or both, and that intelligibility was present in
Logic as the study of the principles of all thing and beings. Knowledge was made up
correct reasoning. Actually quite a of specific truths that people gain from
controversial matter. experience.
It is a tool used to attain knowledge, and Wisdom as opposed to knowledge, is
was therefore the very first step in the when one understands the fundamental
learning process. It enable us to discover principle that governs all things and then
errors and establish truths. translates this information into specific
In his book Prior Analytic, he use expertise.
syllogism (a type of reasoning whereby a
conclusion can be deduced based on a series of Aristotle and Ethics
specific premises or assumptions) and later Aristotle taught that virtue has to do with
turned out to had a great contribution in the the proper function of a thing. An eye is only a
field of logic. good eye in so much as it can see, because.
the proper function of an eye is sight.
for example: Aristotle reasoned that humans must have a
- All Greek people are human. function specific to humans, and that this
- All human are mortal. Therefore, all function must be an activity of the soul in
Greek people are mortal. accordance with reason.
- To sum up, if all X are Y, and all Y are Z,
then all X are Z. "All men by nature desire to know."
– Aristotle
Three Rules Applied to All Valid Thoughts
1. The Law of Identity. This law states that X is Aristotle's Four Causes:
X, and this holds true because X has certain 1. Material Cause
characteristics. answers:
"What is it made of?"
2. Efficient Cause
answers: Again, Who is Aristotle?
"What actually does or makes it?" - First philosopher to develop the study of
Logic and the Philosophy of Science.
3. Formal Cause - He was the pioneer in deductive inference.
answers: - He defined syllogism.
"What gives it the shape by which it is - One of the four giants in Philosophy.
identified?" - One of the most influential persons in ancient
history.
4. Final Cause
answers: "Man is by nature a political animal."
"What is the ultimate reason for it all?" – Aristotle

If we ask what caused a house to exist.

Aristotle would give you the following
answers:

Material Cause:
It is made of bricks and concrete.

Formal Cause:
The bricks and concrete have been assembled
so that a structure has emerged.

Efficient Cause:
A builder put all its parts together.

Final Cause:
Its function is to be a place where we can
sleep and be warm.

PLATO vs. ARISTOTLE

• Rationalism – Plato
- Our knowledge of the world as it
presents itself to our senses has only a
secondary value.
- Our concern needs to be something that
lies behind.
- Often we believe that the knowledge of
the surface of things given to us by our sensory
experience is very often deceptive.

• Empiricism – Aristotle
- Reliable information can be based only notes by: nora :))))
on direct examination of objectionable facts.