Philosophy is defined as the love of wisdom. It uses reason and various faculties to contemplate fundamental questions in order to promote understanding. Philosophers clarify concepts, analyze arguments and theories, often challenging common beliefs. While philosophy uses reason, it acknowledges reason's limits. The goal is arriving at a rationally justified worldview to guide one's life and society. Philosophy aims to develop a person fully through broadening knowledge, clarifying values, and cultivating critical thinking.

2.  A.) Etymology:
 It was Pythagoras who coined the
term Philosophia, from the Greek
philos, meaning “love” and Sophia,
meaning “wisdom” thus,
 Philosophy is the Love of Wisdom.

3. In the Philippines, there is the word, “pilosopo” from
the Spanish, “ ” which means depending upon
the context, either,
A.) a Philosopher, when the context is positive. Ex.
Pilosopong Tasyo advised Crisostomo Ibarra to
construct a school for the children, then pilosopo is
used to mean “philosopher”.
B.) a Sophist, when the context is negative or
pejorative. Ex. After studying philosophy course, you
can already argue as if you know everthing, pilosopo
ka talaga, then the term “pilosopo” is used to mean
the “sophist”.

4. B.) The meaning/connotation/implication of
Philosophy:
Philosophy is the contemplation or study of the
most important questions in existence with the
end of promoting illumination and
understanding, a vision of the whole.
•It uses reason, sense- perception, the
imagination, and intuition in its activities of
clarifying concepts and analyzing and
constructing arguments and theories as possible
answers to these perennial questions.

5. •Aristotle said, Philosophy begins with
Wonder at the marvels and mysteries of
the world. It begins in wonder in the
pursuit of truth and wisdom and ends in a
life lived in passionate moral and
intellectual integrity.

6. •It is revolutionary and important to the good
life. It starts from an assumption, first
announced by the founder of moral philosophy,
Socrates, “the unexamined life is not worth
living.
• It is revolutionary because its deliverances often
disturb our common sense or our received tradition.
• It usually goes against the stream or the
majority.
•There is often deeper truth, better and new evidence
that disturbs the status quo and that forces us to
revise or reject some of our beliefs.

7. •This experience can be as painful as exciting.
The pain may lead us to retreat into unreason
and obey the commandment of Ignorance.
•But in the end, the philosopher’s faith is that
Truth is good and worth-pursuing for its
own sake and for secondary benefits.
•Intelligent inquiry which philosophy
promotes, is liberating, freeing us from
prejudice, self deceptive notions, and half-
truths.

8. •As Bertrand Russell put it: “The person who
has no tincture of philosophy goes through life
imprisoned in the prejudices derived from
common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his
age and from the convictions ... without the co-
operation or consent of his deliberate reason.”
•Philosophy should result in a wider
vision of life, in which the impartial use of
reason results in an appreciation of other
viewpoints and other people’s rights and
needs.

9. •One of the tasks of philosophy is
clarifying concepts. Ex. William James
found his two friends engaged in a fierce
dispute. The problem about the squirrel.
The question was: “Did you go around the
squirrel?” Half of the group said yes, the
other said no.
James said, “which party is right depends
on what you practically mean by “going
around the squirrel”. Thus all dispute
ceased.

10. •The hallmark of philosophical method is
argument. Philosophers clarify concepts,
analyze and test propositions and beliefs, but
the major task is to analyze and construct
arguments. It is a rational activity.
•Philosophical reasoning is closely allied to
scientific reasoning in that both look for
evidence and build hypotheses that are tested
with the hope of coming closer to the truth.
• Ex. Approach of SSP.

11. •The question, “ ” implies a reason is
called for, so that even a question about
appropriateness of reason must be
addressed by reason.
•Sometimes reason does recognize the
limits of reason. Soren Kierkegaard used
rational argument to show that sometimes
it is rational even to go against reason.

12.  Practical reason has to do with acting in
order to realize a goal. Ex. You desire to
be healthy, you have to do exercise and
general moderation. You become
rational in the practical sense.
 Theoretical Reason has to do with
beliefs. It asks what is the evidence for
such and such a proposition or belief?

13. But sometimes these two types of reasons
may conflict. Ex. I may have evidence that
my friend has committed a crime. For
practical reasons, I may ignore the
evidence against him or her, reasoning that
to believe my friend is guilty would be an
act of disloyalty or greatly damage
relationship. I may use theoretical reason
to conclude that I should not use reason
while I am playing basketball or, while I am
reading literature.

14. •If all this is accurate, it is sometimes rational not to
be rational. Paradoxical? Yes, but explainable and not
contradictory. We are practically rational in not always
using theoretical rationality when engaged in some
activities.
•Philosophy is a practice of giving reasons in support
of one’s beliefs and actions. Its ultimate goal is to
arrive at a rationally justified position on one’s beliefs
about the important issues of life, including what is
the best way to live one’s life and organize society.
Philosophy consists in the rational examination of
world-views, metaphysical theories, ethical systems
and even the limits of reason.

15. •Importance of Philosophy to Man:
•Philosophy aims to make man a full man—rational,
cultured, refined, and well-rounded. It deepens
thinking, reasoning and analytical powers of the
mind.
•It broadens one’s knowledge and clarifies values.
•With the study of various philosophers, a student
can develop his/her personal philosophy which would
give necessary direction to his/her life.
•It also develops critical and reflective mind and
provides an individual a wholistic view as an integral
part of human development.
•It helps direct our actions toward self-actualization.

16. Philosophy as the love of wisdom has a polar
opposite.
Sophistry is the art of subtly attempting to
make an incorrect reasoning appear as the
correct one. Ex. God is love, love is blind, then
God is blind. Here “love” is equivocal, used as
agape and as eros.
The sophist then is not a lover of wisdom but
may probably be considered a lover of fallacious
thinking.

17. 1.) Allow the spirit of Wonder to
flourish in your breast.
Philosophy begins with deep wonder
about the universe, about who we are
and where we came from and where
we are going. Speculate and explore
different points of view and world
views. Do not stifle childlike curiosity.

18. 2.) Doubt everything unsupported be evidence until
the evidence convinces you of its truth.
Be reasonably cautious, a moderate skeptic,
suspicious of those who claim to have the truth.
Doubt is the soul’s purgative. As Goethe said, “The
masses fear the intellectual, but it is stupidity that
they should fear, if they only realized how dangerous
it really is.”
3.) Love the truth. “Philosophy is the eternal search
for truth, a search which inevitably fails and yet is
never defeated; which continually eludes us, but
which always guides us. (W.T. Jones)

19. 4.) Divide and conquer. Divide each problem and
theory into its smallest essential components in order
to analyze each unit carefully. This is the analytic
method.
5.) Collect and construct. Build a coherent
argument or theory from component parts. One
should move from the simple, secure foundations to
the complex and comprehensive. The important
thing is to have a coherent, well-founded,
tightly reasoned set of beliefs that can
withstand the opposition.

20. 6.) Conjecture and refute. Make a complete survey of
possible objections to your position, looking for
counterexamples and subtle mistakes. According to
Karl Popper, “Philosophy is a system of conjecture and
refutation”. Seek to understand your opponent’s
position, for as John Stuart Mill wrote, “He who
knows only his side of the case knows little of that. If
he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the
opposite side..., he has no ground for preferring
either opinion.”
7.) Revise and rebuild. Be willing to revise, reject, and
modify your beliefs and the degree to which you
hold any belief. Acknowledge that you have many
false beliefs and be grateful to those who correct you.

21. 8.) Seek simplicity. This is the Principle of
Parsimony, sometimes known as “Occam’s
razor.” Prefer the simpler explanation to the
more complex, all things being equal. Of course,
all things are not always equal. Sometimes the
truth is complex, but where two explanations
are of relatively equal merit, prefer the simpler.
9.) Live the truth! Appropriate your ideas in a
personal way, so that even as the Objective Truth is a
correspondence of the life to the thought to the
world, this Lived-Truth will be a correspondence of
the life to the thought.

22. 10.) Live the good! Let the practical conclusions
of a philosophical reflection on the moral life
inspire and motivate you to action.
Let moral truth transform your life, so that you
shine like a jewel glowing in its own light amidst
the darkness of ignorance.

23. Nature: Means: Natural
End:
Supernatural
End:
Reason Know truth Truth
Free Will Love Good/Beauty Summum Bonum
Conscience Should Do Moral Good Beatitude
Body Basic
Needs
Health/Life Eternal Life
Man’s Nature and True End: