YOU CAN DO IT! YOU ARE GREAT!

PHILOSOPHY REVIEWER

EVERYDAY LIFE IS PRECISELY WHAT PHILOSPHY IS FOR. THE REAL VALUE OF

PHILOSOPHY STARTS WITH THE ACT OF ASKING QUESTIONS. BY IMPROVING THE
QUALITY OF YOUR THINKING ABOUT EVERYDAY LIFE, YOU CAN IN TURN IMPROVE THE
QUALITY OF YOUR LIFE. HOW YOU THINK INFLUENCES HOW YOU ACT. IF WHAT YOU
THINK IS RIGHT, YOU WILL GET TO WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. IMPROVING YOUR
THINKING LEADS TO MAKING BETTER DECISIONS, MAKING BETTER DECISIONS LEADS
TO A BETTER LIFE. IF YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL OF YOUR THOUGHTS AND BELIEFS,
THEN THEY MAY BE CONTROLLING YOU. THE ACT OF QUESTIONING IS THE STARTING
POINT OF PHILOSOPHY. THINKING PHILOSOPHICALLY INVOLVES STUDYING THE IDEAS
OF GREAT THINKERS. PHILOSOPHY DISTURBS OUR MIND IN SEARCHING FOR THE
TRUTH.

PHILOSOPHY- (COMES FROM THE GREEK WORD ‘PHILO’ WHICH MEANS LOVE AND
‘SOPHIA’ WHICH MEANS WISDOM’) PHILOSOPHY MEANS LOVE OF WISDOM. To have a
love for wisdom is to have an undesirable quest for truth.

PHILOSOPHY IS THE SCIENCE OF ALL THINGS BY THER ULTIMATE PRINCIPLES AND

CAUSES AS KNOWN BY NATURAL REASON ALONE.

PYTHAGORAS COINED (OR INVENTED) THE TERM PHILOSOPHY.

ARISTOTLE SAID THAT “MAN IS A RATIONAL ANIMAL.”

WISDOM- REFERS TO THE DEEPER APPRECIATION OF REALITY. IT USES KNOWLEDGE

AS A TOOL TO UNDERSTAND OUR LIFE AND CREATE A BETTER WORLD.

SOCRATES SAID:

 “WISEST IS HE WHO KNOWS HE DOES NOT KNOW.”

 “THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING.”
 “KNOW THYSELF”
 SOCRATES IS ALSO KNOWN FOR HIS SOCRATIC METHOD OF TEACHING AND
LEARNING. SOCRATIC METHOD USES THE QUESTION AND ANSWER PORTION
IN ORDER TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE AND VERIFY ESTABLISHED FACTS.

PHILOSOPHY IS A SCIENCE BECAUSE IT IS BASED ON EVIDENCE.

SCIENCE IS A SYSTEMATIZED AND ORGANIZED BODY OF KNOWLEDGE THAT DEALS

WITH FACTS AND THINGS THAT HAS EVIDENCE. IT IS AN EMPRICAL STUDY OF THE
WORLD. SCIENCE IS INVESTIGATIVE in its approach in searching for knowledge.
 YOU CAN DO IT! YOU ARE GREAT!

WE CAN SAY THAT THROUGH THE ORIENTAL PHILOSOPHY, PHILOSOPHY STEMS

FROM A HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE.

THROUGH BUDDHA’S DOCTRINE OF PRATITYASAMUTPADA (SERIES OF QUESTIONS),

WE HAVE LEARNED THAT HUMANS HAVE SENSE EXPERIENCE THAT IS WHY WE HAVE
THE TENDENCY TO ENJOY AND ATTACHED OURSELVES TO THE MATERIAL WORLD.

RELIGION USES DIVINE REVELATION IN DEALING WITH MATTERS ABOUT GOD. IT

DOES NOT USE REFLECTIVE METHOD OR APPROACH.

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY:

 ETHICS- THE PRACTICAL SCIENCE OF THE MORALITY OF THE HUMAN

CONDUCT. IT DEALS WITH HUMAN ACT, MORALITY, FREEDOM, AND
RESPONSIBILITY.
 EPISTEMOLGY- THE BRANCH OF PHILOSOPHY THAT DEALS WITH KNOWLEDGE.
 AESTHETICS- THE BRANCH OF PHILOSOPHY THAT DEALS WITH ART AND
APPRECIATION OF BEAUTY.

WESTERN CONCEPTIONS OF MAN

 ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY- IS ALSO KNOWN AS ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHY-IT IS

DESCRIBED AS A COSMOCENTRIC PHILOSOPHY BECAUSE THE SEARCH FOR THE
TRUTH AND KNOWLEDGE IS CENTERED ON THE NATURE AND UNIVERSE.
o SPA: (SOCRATES, PLATO, ARISTOTLE)
o PLATO: IS KNOWN FOR HIS ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE. HE BELIEVES THAT
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF WORLD. THE MATERIAL WORLD AND THE
IDEAL WORLD
o MATERIAL WORLD- OUR WORLD-COPY OF THE IDEAL WORLD
o IDEAL WORLD-PERFECT WORLD
o According to Plato, man has two components: the body and the soul. The
body is the material and the soul is perfect because it came from the ideal
world. The soul got united to the body. The soul is imprisoned in the body
and therefore temporarily forgot the knowledge it acquired from the
ideal world. (In Christianity and Catholicism, the body is the home of
the holy spirit.)
o ARISTOTLE:
 3 TYPES OF SOUL ACCRDNG TO ARISTOTLE:
 VEGETATIVE SOUL-SOUL OF THE PLANTS
 SENTIENT SOUL-SOUL OF THE ANIMALS
 RATIONAL SOUL- SOUL OF THE MAN
VEGETATIVE FACULTY OF MAN:NUTRITION, AUGMENTATION, REPRODUCTION
 YOU CAN DO IT! YOU ARE GREAT!

BECAUSE OF THE VEGETATIVE FACULTY, WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO GROW,

CHANGE, AND DEVELOP
SENTIENT FACULTIES OF MAN: SENSES AND APPETITE
o SENSES: MATERIAL COGNITIVE FACULTY OF MAN
 TWO TYPES OF SENSES: EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL
 EXTERNAL SENSES: SIGHT , TASTE, SMELL, HEARING
 INTERNAL SENSES: COMMON SENSE, IMAGINATION,
MEMORY.
RATIONAL FACULTY OF MAN: INTELLECT AND WILL
 MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY- IS DESCRIBED AS A THEOCENTRIC PHILOSOPHY
BECAUSE THE SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH AND KNOWLEDGE IS CENTERED ON GOD
 MODERN PHILOSOPHY- IS DESCRIBED AS AN ANTHROPOCENTRIC PHILOSOPHY
BECAUSE THE SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH AND KNOWLEDGE IS CENTERED ON MAN
 CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY-IS CONCERNED WITH THE NEW CONCEPTION
OF MAN. THEY EMPHASIZE MAN’S SUBJECTIVITY, HIS FREEDOM, AND HIS
RELATION TO HIS FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS.

Rene Descartes: the father of modern Western philosophy. He formulated the

famous methodic doubt.
Methodic Doubt: the first rule is to accept nothing as true, to avoid prejudice in my
judgments. To achieve truth we must doubt our senses since our senses are fallible
(capable of making mistakes) and unreliable.
MARTIN BUBER: In I and Thou, Buber introduced his thesis on human existence.
Ich-Du ("I-Thou" or "I-You") is a relationship that stresses the mutual, holistic existence of two
beings. It speaks of the experience and dialogue between two embodied subjects.

On Man’s Limitation:

 A MAN IS FINITE AND TEMPORAL. FINITE MEANS LIMITED. TEMPORAL MEANS

OF RELATING TO TIME. THEREFORE, MAN IS LIMITED. MAN IS LIMITED
BECAUSE DEATH AWAITS HIM. HIS LIFE IS LIMITED BECAUSE HIS TIME IS
LIMITED. MAN IS LIMITED BECAUSE HE IS A MATERIAL BEING.
 The body serves not only as a bridge towards reality, but also an obstacle
towards the world. The body becomes an obstacle because the body has
limitations. The human body refers to the limitations of man in the sense that the
existence of human body is limited by space and time.

How to think about truth:

 YOU CAN DO IT! YOU ARE GREAT!

 TO KNOW SOMETHING IS TO DOUBT. THE SKEPTIC BELIEVES THAT THERE IS

NOTHING TRUE OR FALSE. SKEPTIC BELIEVES THAT HUMAN BEINGS DO NOT
HAVE POSSESS THE TRUTH

 TRUTH IS DEPENDENT ON THE PERSON. THEREFORE, TRUTH IS RELATIVE IN

THIS SENSE. WHAT MAY BE TRUE FOR ME MAYBE FALSE FOR YOU.

 TRUTH IS WHAT IT WORKS. TRUTH IS PRACTICAL. THEREFORE, TRUTH IS

PRAGMATIC IN THIS SENSE. PRAGMATIC MEANS PRACTICAL. PRACTICAL
KNOWLEDGE IS SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN APPLY IN DAILY LIVING.

 TRUTH IS WHAT CORRESPONDS FROM THE MIND WITH THE REALITY

 TRUTH IS IMMUTABLE. THEREFORE, IT IS UNCHANGING.

 TRUTH IS OBJECTIVE AND ACCEPTED BY EVERYONE. THEREFORE TRUTH IS

ABSOLUTE.