“The Thinker” sculpture by Auguste Rodin -critical reflection -a Qing Dynasty print showing Confucius presenting young Gautama Buddha to the Philosopher Lao-Tzu LAO-TZU -was an ancient Chinese philosopher and poet, well-known for penning the book Tao Te Ching – “the way of integrity” -in its 81 verses it delivers a treatise on how to live in the world with goodness and integrity 5 LESSONS BASED ON THE WRITING OF LAO TZU: 1. Don’t force anything –when we force, we go against the natural flow of things, which most likely to gets us in trouble 2. Don’t overburden yourself –pushing boundaries isn’t wrong itself, as it’s a way to grow 3. Stop controlling the world –Have you ever observed that many of our problems solve themselves? Intervening is not always necessary. 4. Enough is enough –as we tend overburden ourselves, we also have this nasty feature of gathering much more than we need 5. Don’t cling to life –life has become immensely serious and even painful. We’re anxious because we see death, the mother of all fears, in every corner. BUDDHA -he taught that wisdom, kindness, patience, and generosity and compassion were important virtues -teachings of karma, rebirth, and impermanence CONFUCIUS -the Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as one wants to be treated HOLISM -the theory that parts of a whole are in intimate interconnection such that they cannot exist independently of the whole -concept of approaching philosophy in a multidisciplinary manner. This involve all branches of life, whether at work or in school or even science or mathematical endeavors. PHILOSOPHY -Greek words philo meaning “to love” and Sophia meaning “wisdom”. “Love of Wisdom” remains the goal of philosophy. APPROACHES OF PHILOSOPHY: Scientific Approach –systematic, ordered body of learning as any other sciences Natural Light of Reason –natural to think or observe the world and people Study of All Things –since philosophy seeks knowledge of the whole, that is, of all things that are subject to disciplined inquiry PRICIPLES TO CONSIDER: Principle to Identity –it means that a thing, idea, or person always has a name, a concept, and a characteristics for that thing to exist Principle of Non-contradiction – denies that a thing can be and not be at the same time Principle of Excluded Middle – everything must either be or note be; there is no middle ground conceivable Principle of Sufficient Reason – nothing happens without a sufficient reason for its being and existence EMPTYING is suspending one’s judgement and conclusion about a matter and mentally exploring the pros and cons, the characteristics, and purpose of an idea or situation. METAPHYSICS - - is a study of nature of reality or what sorts of things are real; it also seeks basic criteria or first principles for determining what sorts of things are real. an enormous commitment of the metaphysician is to enlighten us in terms of what we identify is real. Reality here is referred to in metaphysics as “True Reality” meaning, it is the fundamental source and basis of all reality in the world and existence. Plato called the truth as considered in ideas or forms, also referred as the universals or absolute. Plato says that the soul is an idea. Plato conceived of the souk as an existing even prior to its incarnation in time. Souks exist in kosmos noetos: the world of ideas. The soul has no empirical qualities. When a person dies, the idea of immortality is clear and does not corrupt. (Polo 2008) Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is a reflection that distinguishes between appearance and reality. For Plato, there are two worlds: the world of appearances and the real word. ETHICS - branch of philosophy that explores the nature of moral virtue and evaluates the morality and virtue of human action - moral principles of a person -Religion has often helped motivate individuals to obey the law and moral code of their society. ETHICS HAS FIVE MAIN POSITIONS: a. Natural Law or Divine Command – What principles guide humanity toward happiness and ultimate destiny? Strong sense of individualism does not exist, but rather, the collective is emphasized. The actions and moral reasoning of St. Teresa at Calcutta and St. Lorenzo Ruiz exemplars of this theory. b. Technological Theory –are concerned with the consequences of actions which means the basic standards for our actions being morally right or wrong depends on the good or evil generated. c. Deontological Ethics (Duty Base or Kantianism) –This means that a person is bound to duty and does not focus on what a person thinks of feels about that situation d. Virtue Ethics –What does it mean to live a good life beyond material want? This theory ignores the consequences, duties, and social contracts. Instead, it focuses on character development of individuals and their acquisition at good virtue ethics (Tavani 2011) e. Relativism –What does my culture or society think is acceptable? SOCRATES -To be happy is to live a virtuous life. VIRTUE is an awakening of the seeds of good deeds that lay dormant in the mind and heart of a person which can achieved through selfknowledge. True knowledge = Virtue = Wisdom Courage as virtue is also knowledge. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois/W.E.B Du Bois Human knowledge may be regarded as having two parts: -an African-American who wanted equal rights for the blacks -His philosophy uses the same process as Hegel’s Dialectic (Thesis>Antithesis>Synthesis) a. The human sees, hears, and touches; he organizes in his mind what he learns through the senses. THESIS (White oppression) ANTITHESIS (Black Soul) -first argument (topic/issue) -oppose the thesis SYNTHESIS (Black Consciousness Freedom) -combination of the thesis and antithesis KNOWLEDGE -facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. -things you believe -that you can justify -that are true Introducing Epistemology Well, it shouldn’t surprise us that there are many alternative and competing methods for determining the truthfulness of our beliefs or knowledge. That is why we say there are multiple “Ways of Knowing”. The study of these alternative ways of knowing is called Epistemology. Specifically, epistemology deals with nature, sources, limitations and validity of knowledge (Soccio 2007). Epistemological questions are basic to how we explain philosophical inquiries, for instance moral values. Empiricism is the view that knowledge can be attained only through sense experience. Knowledge for empiricists is based on facts and evidence that we can see and perceive in the world Induction -general ideas are formed from the examination of particular facts. Examples: • Every quiz has been easy. Therefore, the test will be easy. • The teacher used powerpoint in the last few classes. Therefore the teacher will use powerpoint tomorrow. b. Other philosophers think it is more important to find a general law according to which particular fact can be understood or judged. This method is called deduction; its advocates are called rationalists. The rationalist view, is that real knowledge is based on the logic, the laws, and the methods that reason develops. Pragmatists, such as William James and John Dewey, believe that value is the real test of truth and meaning. In other words, the meaning and truth of an idea are tested by its practical consequences. Mary Wollstonecraft • Wrote: Vindication of the Rights of Woman • Men and women are equal. • Envisioned education for women. • Feminism LOGIC - comes from the Greek word “logike” which means thought. - treatise on matters pertaining to the human thought. Aristotle -first philosopher to devise a logical method. -understood truth to mean the agreement of knowledge with reality; truth exists when the mind’s mental representations known as ideas, corresponds with things in the objective world. Zeno of Citium -one of the successors of Aristotle. - Founder of a movement known as Stoicism, derived from the Greek Stoa Poikile (Painted Porch) Painted Porch - Referred to the portico in Athens where the early adherents held their regular meetings. Other more influential logicians include Cicero and Boethius of Rome, the Byzantine scholarPhiloponus, and Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes in the Arab region. Other more influential logicians include Cicero and Boethius of Rome, the Byzantine scholarPhiloponus, and Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes in the Arab region. Turing is widely considered to be the father of computer science and artificial intelligence (Carr 2009). Aesthetics - is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste. - It is closely related to the philosophy of art, which is concerned with the nature of art and the concepts in terms of which individual works of art are interpreted and evaluated. Importance of Aestethics a. It vitalizes our knowledge - makes our knowledge of the world alive and useful. - Part of play, a poem, or a story that gives us new insight. b. It helps us to live more genuinely and completely - whether a book or a piece of musichelps us to rise from purely physical existence into the realm of intellect and the spirit. c. It brings us in touch with our culture - The Commission on higher education and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) offer creative project grants to faculty engaged in arts research or creative projects. Vicente Manansala, Jose Joya and Napoleon Abueva - Made lasting contributions to local and international scenes. - “Pila sa Bigas” fetched 30 million pesos. Hans- Georg Gadamer -German philosopher, argued that our tastes and judgements regarding beauty work in connection with one’s own personal experience and culture. Still life -describes a work of art that shows inanimate objects from the natural or man-made world. (ex: foodstuff, flowers, eyeglasses, cylinders) -drawings/paintings of non-living objects, arranged in a specific way, to create meaning or a visual effect. To attain a holistic view in philosophy, this section looks at how each society or culture has its own idea of itself, a definition of what is important in life, and its own notions of what the world is like in general terms; thus, each society or culture can be said to have its own “philosophy” (Quito 1991) These are the three attitudinal imperatives for the Eastern and Western philosophies: 1. Oriental thought runs in a circular manner in which the end conjoins the beginning in a cyclic style. 2. East does not make a rigorous distinction between religion and philosophy. Basic philosophical concepts are shrouded in religious belief and myths. 3. Acceptance of the validity of intuition and mysticism, the readiness to revert to extra logical, if not illogical modes of thinking. The West • Theorize and speculate • No application to life is necessary • Representing dualistic distinctions (me/you;subject/object) 3 dimensions of Filipino thought are: • Loob • Filipino philosophy of time • Bahala na Loob: Holistic and Interior Dimensions Kagandahang- loob, kabutihang loob, and kalooban are terms that show sharing of one’s self with others. Filipinos generally believe in the innate goodness of the human beings. Filipino philosophy of time Filipino time is mistakenly interpreted as Filipinos’ tendency to always show up late in the committed time of arrival. This notion can be misleading since the Filipino farmers are early risers tending to their field and waste no time for work. The concept of “siesta time” or “power naps” is also important for Filipino culture that must not be necessarily considered negative. Bahala na The Filipino subconsciously accepts the bahala na attitude as a part of life. Bahala na literally means to leave everything to God who is Bathala na in the vernacular. Filipino thought and values: Progressive and Undesirable traits Utang na loob - reciprocating debts of gratitude between coordinates and subordinates holds the whole group together. The Filipino gives great value to endurance and hard work as a means to economic selfsufficiency. This self-sufficiency refers not to the individual self, but to the family to which one owes a special debt of gratitude for having brought him or her life and nurtured him or her. Bayanihan - Helping others in times of need. - Another moving spirit of Filipino people. - Belief that whatever good one has done will be returned to one’s benefit.
