Confidential Customized for Lorem Ipsum LLC Understanding Reality in a Bigger Picture Ms. Em Charise C. Benedicto, RPm Version 1.0 Overview Revealing the Whole a. Disovering Philosophical Reflection b. The Universal and the Particular c. Truth and Dialectics 1 Philosophy is not only for philosophers. Every person has the capacity to find the value of philosophy in his/her own life. However, without a formal introduction to the discipline, you may not be aware that you have been engaging in philosophy. Activity: Mother and I In the empty box before each item, put a check mark (/) on the experience that you think expresses moments of being in the world of philosophy. Leave blank the item/s which you think are not. Afterwards share your answer to the class Your mother asked you to go to the market and you asked her what items you need to buy. Your mother asked you to go to the market and you asked how much is the budget to take with you. Your mother asked you to go to the market and you asked why it is wise to buy in the wet market than in supermarket. Your mother asked you to go to the market and you asked her why your family is buying meat when a vegetarian’s life is more ideal. Your mother asked you to go to the market and you asked yourself, “Why do people have to buy things when God created nature where these goods come from?” Revealing the Whole Discovering Philosophical Reflection ● At some point in your life, you may have asked difficult question through perhaps you never discussed them to anyone. ● To think about it is to engage in a philosophical reflection because it compels us to look at a particular experience from a wider perspective. ● It is not an ordinary question, but a truly difficult one. ● To reflect philosophically is to think about an important question that does not have a definite or ready answer. ● We are puzzled mostly about things we cannot fully know or understand because we can ask. ● One of the things human beings ask is “Why am I here?” which is a variation of the questions “Why was I even born?,” “What am I here for?” or “What is the purpose of my existence?” Many also ask “Why love when you only get hurt? and “What if there is no after-life?” ● Many also ask “Why love when you only get hurt?” and What if there is no afterlife?” ● Such questions usually come when we are going through a really difficult time in our life - perhaps when we are heartbroken, when we feel lost, or when we become conscious of our personal struggles in this world ● The thing is, no amount of research would be able to provide a definite and conclusive answer to some questions that puzzle us. Yet they are the kind of questions that endure. ● We ask them every now and then. Sometimes, we think we have found the answer, only to find ourselves asking the question again. ● At other times, we get distracted and evade the question until some situations bring us back to asking it again. ● Unless we deal with such kind of questions by engaging reflection, the problem such questions raise will not go away. ● Difficult questions that do not have definite answers like the ones we have been describing are significant. ● They are questions that matter to us for they reflect our desire to understand or at least make sense of our experiences. ● The answers we find directly affect the way we go through life. ● These sort of questions are called PHILOSOPHICAL. ● When we ponder on a philosophical question, we are engaged in a philosophical reflection. ● Philosophy allows us the freedom to ask even those questions that others believe to already have a definite answer. ● Movies, song, and literatures are examples of creative ways of asking a philosophical question. ● Philosophy, on the other hand, does not dictate conclusive or final answers to philosophical questions. As you perhaps already know, love is not something that can be exhausted with a definition. ● In social media, we are made to believe or defend the opposite that nothing lasts forever. This is mostly referring to the context of love relationships. When you begin to agree, or disagree, it calls for a philosophical thinking whether in jest or in a serious mode. ● When we ask a philosophical question, we do not simply inquire about a specific question that is triggered by certain situations. ● A philosophical question always contains a bigger problem. ● The answer one finds will determine his/her choices in life. ● Not to ask a philosophical question is to go through life confused and lost. ● There are things we encounter in this world that are simply puzzling and unsettling. Perhaps you can relate with some of these questions as examples of questions that keep us wondering. 01 | Why does man work at the expense of health? 02 | Why is love complicated? 03 | Why do people have to die? 04 | Why can’t my parents understand me?? 05 | Why do people say that ‘forever’ is not altogether real in love and relationships? The only solution to such philosophical questions is to ask them. The search for answers only begins the moment we ask a philosophical question. Metaphysics Big ideas arising from big questions are mostly metaphysical ones. Metaphysics is actually one of the main branches of philosophy and it deals with the so-called “being of beings.” Metaphysics When we ask about the origin of life and its destiny, or why a stone can never be water, it is surely covered by metaphysics. Metaphysics The word has its etymology in Aristotle’s book in Greek, ta meta ta physika, meaning beyond (meta) the physical (physika) things. Activity: Thinking Out Loud 01 | What philosophical questions have you asked in the past or is asking right now? 02 | What makes your questions personally significant?
