method of philosophy

1. GOOD MORNING

2. Dear Lord and Father of all, thank you for today.
Thank you for ways in which you provide for us all.
For your protection and love we thank you.
Help us to focus our hearts and minds now what
we are about to learn.
Inspire us by your Holy Spirit as we listen and
write.
Guide us by your eternal light as we discover more
about the world around us.
We ask all this through our Lord Jesus Christ your
Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, One God forever and ever.
Amen.

3. THE METHOD OF PHILOSOPHY
Sem. John Raymund
Anog

4. OBJECTIVES
Continuity with Ordinary Knowledge
Philosophy & Intellectual Evidence
Philosophy & Experimental Proof
The Specialized study of Philosophy

5. I. CONTINUITY WITH ORDINARY KNOWLEDGE
• Philosophy carries out its endeavor, in continuity
with ordinary human knowledge, it begins from
sense experience, through which it obtains
abstract universal knowledge with the use of the
intellect and advances in knowledge by making
use of inferences, whose significance is
ultimately determined by sensible or intellectual
evidence.

6. •We use our intellect, and we
reason by means of it relying on
knowledge supplied by the
senses and there are no special
faculties of human nature for
certain types of knowledge.

7. • Hence, it is not correct to say that
philosophy is just only a task
exclusively meant for people who
possess some special capacity for
knowing.

8. 3 Types of Knowledge
Ordinary knowledge
Particular Science
Philosophy

9. Ordinary Knowledge
accessible to everyone
Includes all matters, theoretical as well as
practical
That is why it is also tackles issues that
philosophy studies in a systematic manner

10. Practical Science
Study in Greater Detail of some specific aspects of
reality.
By making use of experimentation and Diverse Logical
Processes (Such as the Hypothetical- Deductive
Method) in orderly and systematic manner
They obtain conclusions that are beyond the reach of
ordinary knowledge.

11. Philosophy
Studies Reality by seeking its ultimate causes.
It bases itself on ordinary & scientific
knowledge, examining the degree of certainty
that they attain in each particular case.
It makes use of the power of reason, in
accordance with the Rules of Logic, valid for all
types of Human Knowledge.

12. II. PHILOSOPHY & INTELLECTUAL EVIDENCE
The intellectual Knowledge starts from sense data; however
the intellect is able to reach the essences of things. Whose
external accidents are grasped by the senses.
Universal judgements are known through induction, by
means of which the intellect grasps what is universal and
necessary.

13. Thus starting from sensible images, we obtain universal
judgements, all the sciences abstracts the universal &
necessary from the particular.
But while the sciences rely in some way on sense
evidence, on what is shown by the senses, Philosophy
concentrates on intellectual evidence.

14. ABSTRACTION
 Is a process by which the intellect grasps the essences of
things, expressing them through ideas or concepts, such
as man, plant, color, and so on.
 Ideas are universal since they apply to many individuals.

15. For example, the idea “ man” is
attributed to every individual man.
Images are individual for they are
sensible and concrete
representations produced by the
imagination.
FOR EXAMPLE, the image of “THIS”
Man.
Thales ; the First Philosopher

16. Following Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas affirmed that
speculative sciences are distinguished from one
another by the degree of “immateriality” of their
respective objects.
• In the first place, natural science or physics studies
what depends on matter in its being --- material
beings or natural bodies, which necessarily includes
matter in its definition.

17. •In the second place, mathematics studies what
can be grasped without matter, although it
cannot exist independently of matter.

18. •In the third place, metaphysics studies
everything that does not depend on matter in its
being, either because it is spiritual or because it
can be found both in material and spiritual
realities.

19. III. Philosophy and Experimental Proof
As philosophy seeks the deepest causes of
reality, it frequently touches upon realities that
are beyond the reach of senses. That is why it
makes more frequent use of intellectual
evidence.

20. The intellect, freedom, good and evil, are example
of such realities.
whoever tries to base the value of all knowledge
on sense evidence will run into serious difficulties,
not only in philosophy, but also in many aspects
of ordinary knowledge referring to realities that
cannot be seen or imagined

21. Particular Sciences also makes use of intellectual
evidence, but they also habitually rely on
experiments planned in such a way that the results
obtained guide or decide solutions to problems.
Frequently utilize the hypothetical- deductive
method.

22. These General truths are presupposed by
particular sciences, which studies specific aspects
of beings and their proximate causes.
Hence it is not all surprising that in philosophy,
one can face the difficulty of not having to rely
on imagination.

23. The imagination can only represent material
realities that have been grasped through the
senses.
Spiritual realities are not Imaginable.
Nevertheless, they possess a more perfect being
than material things; this is the case with God, the
Angels, and the human soul
The metaphysical aspects of reality are not
imaginable either.

24. IV. The Specialized Study of Philosophy
The study of philosophy requires a certain
familiarity with philosophical terms.
There is a need to grasp their precision and the
wealth of meaning they contain. This demands
constancy and going back time and again to
sense experience, which provides the starting
point in formulation of philosophical topics that
should be studied.

25. •EPISTEMOLOGY
•MATERIALISM
•METAPHYSICS
•ONTOLOGY
•PHENOMENOLOGY
What are the philosophical terms?

26. Just as in any specialized field of study, there is of course,
a philosophical terminology.
One who wants to delve into philosophy must have a
good grasp of it, besides, there is a need to master this
terminology in order to express concepts with precision
and avoid long-winded explanations.
However, after achieving adequate familiarity with
philosophical terminology, one has to watch out against
danger of creating unreal problems.

27. To understand philosophy, one should ask himself
or herself before tackling a particular topic: What
is the real issue involved here?
For this, one needs to constantly take into account
data supplied by experience, and thus avoid
falling into merely terminological discussions.