This document discusses methods of philosophizing and acquiring knowledge. It begins by outlining the learning objectives and introducing epistemology, the branch of philosophy concerned with how knowledge is acquired and validated. It then describes the five steps of acquiring knowledge: 1) reality, 2) perception, 3) concepts, 4) propositions, and 5) inference. Next, it discusses three theories of truth: the correspondence theory which evaluates statements based on agreement with reality, the coherence theory which evaluates consistency within a system, and the pragmatist theory which deems beliefs true if they are practically useful. It emphasizes that truth is based on facts while opinions are open to interpretation.

1. Methods of
Philosophizing
QUARTER 1 –MODULE 2.1

2. Learning Objectives
1. Identify the meaning, importance, and
source of knowledge.
2. Describe, the steps/processes of acquiring
knowledge.
3. Explain how validating one’s knowledge
leads to truth.
4. Compare/contrast different theories of truth.

3. Activity
How do I know is under what
branch of Philosophy?

4. Do you believe in the idea that,
Love is Blind?

5.  According to philosophy if you want to know
the truth you have to use, not emotions, but
thinking.
 To think however is an act of choice which is
not always done properly. Sometimes we need
guidance to straighten our thoughts.
This is what Module 2 provides.
Welcome to the province of epistemology.

6.  Knowledge literally enabled mankind to
survive and reach the present level of our
civilization.
 It is the recognition of the supreme
importance of the knowledge that gave rise
to the branch of philosophy known as
epistemology.

7. WHAT IS EPISTEMOLOGY?
“Epistemology is a science devoted to
the discovery of the proper method of
acquiring and validating knowledge”
(Rand 1990).

8. The purpose of epistemology
therefore is two-fold:
To show how we can
acquire knowledge. To give us a method of
demonstrating whether the
knowledge we acquired is
really knowledge (i.e., true).

9. THE NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE
 According to Ayn Rand knowledge is a “mental grasp
of reality reached either by perceptual observation or
by a process of reason based on perceptual
observation” (Rand 1990).
 When you know something (be it the behavior of
your friend, the movement of the planets, or the origin
of civilizations) you understand its nature. You identify
what it is. And it stays with you. Knowledge is a
retained form of awareness (Binswanger 2014).

10. How do you acquire knowledge?
How do you
know that
the fire is
hot?
2+2=4
Because you
feel it?
You think of
it.

11. How do you acquire knowledge?
Empiricism-We
can acquire
knowledge using
our senses:
seeing, hearing,
tasting, feeling,
and smelling.
Rationalism-We
can acquire
knowledge by
thinking with the
use of our minds

13. Let us now explore the first part of epistemology:
the process of acquiring knowledge.
1.Reality
2. Perception
3. Concept
4. Proposition
5. Inference
ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE
.

14. What do you see
in the picture?
If your answer is
man then you
acquired your
knowledge by
Reality

15. 1. Reality
Existence is everything there is.It includes
everything we perceive (animals, plants,
human beings, inanimate objects) and
everything inside our heads (e.g., our
thoughts and emotions) which represents
our inner world.

16. How do you see
the man?
If your answer is “
the man is smiling”
or “The man is
wearing a blue
jacket” then you
acquired your
knowledge by
Perception.

17. Our first and only contact with reality is through our senses. At
first the senses give us knowledge of things or entities (what
Aristotle calls primary substance): dog, cat, chair, table, man.
Later we became aware not only of things but certain aspects of
things like qualities (blue, hard, smooth), quantities (seven inches
or six pounds), relationships (in front of, son of) even actions
(jumping, running, flying). These so-called Aristotelian categories
cannot be separated from the entities that have them. Red for
example cannot be separated from red objects; walking cannot
be separated from the person that walks, etc.
2. Perception

18. Compare the two
image, what do
you see? If your answer is “a
man and a
woman” then you
acquired your
knowledge by
Concept.

19. 3. Concept
After we perceive things, we began to notice that some of
the things we perceive are similar to other things.
For example, we see three individuals let’s call them Juan,
Pablo, and Pedro who may have nothing in common at
first glance. But when we compare them with another
entity, a dog for example, suddenly their differences
become insignificant. Their big difference in a dog
highlights their similarity to one another (Binswanger
2014)

20. Let us describe the two types of abstraction
from abstractions:
wider
generalizations
(or simply
widenings)
subdivisions (or
narrowings)

21. Wider generalization is the
process of forming wider and
wider concepts. For example,
from Juan, Pedro, and Pablo we
can form the concept of “man”.
Then from man, dog, cat, and
monkey, we can form a higher
and wider concept of “animal”.

22. Subdivisions consist of identifying
finer and finer distinctions. For
example, “man” is a first level concept
that we can subdivide according to
profession (doctor, entertainer, fireman,
teacher), or race (Asian, Caucasian
[white], black), or gender (man,
woman, lesbian, gay), or nationality
(Filipino, Chinese, American) among
other things.

23. “Men are mortals”
“Men are not mortals”
I am making an assertion of men which are affirmative in
nature (thus the statement is an affirmative
proposition).
I am denying something about men and thus my
statement is negative in nature (thus the
proposition is called a negative proposition)

24. 4. Proposition
When we use concepts in order to classify or
describe an “existent” (a particular that exist be it
an object, a person, an action or event, etc) (Rand
1990) we use what philosophers call a proposition
(Binswanger 2014).
A proposition is a statement that expresses either
an assertion or a denial (Copi, 2002) that an existent
belongs to a class or possess certain attribute

25. 5. Inference
How do we demonstrate that the statement is true?
By providing an argument.
According to Hurley an argument “is a group of
statements, one or more of which (the premises)
are claimed to provide support for, or reason to
believe one of the others (the conclusion) (Hurley
2011). To clarify this definition let’s give an example
using the famous Socratic argument:

26. Here we have three related statements (or
propositions). The last statement beginning
with the word “therefore” is what we call a
conclusion.
A conclusion is a statement that we want to
prove. The first two statements are what we
call premises (singular form: premise). A
premise provides justification, evidence, and
proof to the conclusion.

27. All men are mortals.
Socrates is a man.
Therefore, Socrates is
mortal
Premises
Conclusion

29. All Grade 12 in this building are HE students
HE 12E are Grade 12
Therefore, HE 12E are HE students

30. An argument expresses a reasoning process which
logicians call inference (Hurley 2011). Arguments,
however, are not the only form of inference but
logicians usually used “argument” and “inference”
interchangeably.
There are still many things to be discussed on the
topic of knowledge acquisition. We only provided a
brief overview of the topic.

31. Group activity: Give a statement from following
process of acquiring knowledge by using the given
picture. Write in a one whole sheet of paper.
1.Reality
2. Perception
3. Concept
4. Proposition
5. Inference

32. 1.Reality-
2. Perception
3. Concept
4. Proposition
Inference-
All Flowers are beautiful.
Daisy is a flower.
Therefore, Daisy is beautiful.

35. Knowledge
It is the theoretical or practical understanding of a topic. It is
the understanding of a concept or idea; however, it may or may
not be true
Truth
The truth is considered as a fact and something verifiable. It is
real and authentic.

36. For example, in other times it was believed that the Earth was
flat and if a navigator came to the end, it would fall from it.
This was common knowledge, but it was not the truth. Truth
will continue to be true, even if it is not known; while the
knowledge one has may prove to be true or not.

39. Jose Rizal is the Philippines’ National
Hero.

40. Ang mundo ay flat.

41. THE NATURE OF TRUTH
Now that we know how we know, it’s
time to see whether the knowledge we
acquired is “really” knowledge i.e., is
true. This is the second part of
epistemology: validating one’s
knowledge.

42. Validating one’s knowledge
1. Statements is true if you observed yourself using your
senses.
2. Statements is true if you provided “multi-step process of
validation called proof’ .
3. Statement is true by determining through a consensus.
4. Statement is true if determined by means of action.

43. Group activity-explain the example of steps in
validating knowledge assigned to your group
explain to your groupmates.
Write the example on the board and each
member should be ready for sharing in front
of the class. (15 points)

44. The first step in validating one’s knowledge is to ask oneself the following question:
“How did I arrive at this belief, by what steps?” (Binswanger 2014).
This is what Dr. Peikoff calls reduction (Peikoff 1990). One will therefore realize that the
steps you took to acquire knowledge (perception-concept-proposition-inference) are the
same steps needed to validate knowledge (but in reverse order).
I am alive.
I have a body.
I can breathe.
You can only validate the above statements if you observed yourself using your senses.
Feel your body. Are you breathing? Feel your pulse. Observe your body. Is it moving?
These and countless examples provided by your senses proved that you’re alive (Abella
2016).

45. Not all statements however can be validated directly
by the senses. Some beliefs or ideas need a “multi-
step process of validation called proof’ (Binswanger
2014). Nevertheless proof rests ultimately on sense
perception.

46. A third way to determine if the statement is true is
through a consensus (Abella 2016). If the majority
agrees that a statement is true then it is true.
For example the vast majority of Germans during the
time of Adolph Hitler believed that Jews are racially
inferior. The result of this false consensus is the
extermination of millions of Jews in many parts of
Europe.

47. A fourth way to determine whether a
statement is true is to test it by means of
action (Abella 2016).
For example you want to know if a person
is friendly. Well the best way to find out is
to approach the person.

49. TRUTH VS OPINION
Identifying truth however can sometimes
be tricky. The reason is that there are
times when we strongly held an idea that
we feel “deep down” to be true.
For example:
Religious people strongly believed that
there is life after death.
Some people who embraced democracy
may passionately embraced the idea that
the majority is always right.

50. However we must not confused strongly held
beliefs with truth. Truth is knowledge validated
and when we say validated we mean they are
based on the facts of reality.
You must understand dear student that the facts
of reality are independent of your thoughts,
feelings or preferences

51. To summarize an opinion has the following
characteristics:
1. Based on emotions
2. Open to interpretation
3. Cannot be confirmed
4. Inherently biased
While truth is:
1. Based on the facts of reality
2. Can be confirmed with other sources
3. Independent of one’s interpretation, preferences and biases

52. THEORIES OF TRUTH

54. THEORY
- it is a formal idea or set of ideas that is
intended to explain something.
- a set of principles on which the practice is
based on.
- an idea used to account for a situation or
justify a course of action.

55.  A fact is some set of circumstances in the
world. A fact cannot be either true or false
because it simply the way the world is.
 Belief is an opinion about what those facts
are. It is capable of being true or false
because it may or may not accurately
describe the world.

56. 1. The Correspondence theory of Truth
assumes that a belief is true when we are able to confirm it with
reality.
For example:
 If I say, “The sky is blue” then I looked outside and saw that
it is indeed blue, then my statement is true.
 On the other hand, if I say, “Pigs have wings” and then I
checked a pig and it does not have wings, then my
statement is false.

57. 2. The Coherence Theory of Truth
Deals with the consistency of the truth of statements
being claimed within the system that is being used or
employed.
For example: the use of a formula for a certain
mathematical problem.

58. Consequently, by using this method, we establish
that the statement “coheres” with the larger system.
In a sense, the Coherence Theory is similar to the
Correspondence Theory since both evaluates
statements based on their agreement with reality.
The difference lies in the method where the former
involves a larger system while the latter relies on a
single evidence of fact.

59. 3. The Pragmatist Theory of Truth:
The Pragmatic Theory of Truth states that a
belief/statement is true if it has a useful (pragmatic)
application in the world.
Example:
There are some people who think that there are
“ghosts” or “vampires” because they find it useful in
explaining unusual phenomena and in dealing with
fears (Mabaquiao, 2016).