Primary and Secondary Reflection

3. SIX BLIND MEN
AND AN ELEPHANT

5. Partial vs Holistic view
Partial - existing only in part; incomplete.
Holistic - relating to or concerned with complete
systems rather than with individual parts

6. PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy is, first of all, reflection.
It is stepping back, listening to yourself and other
people and trying to understand and evaluate what it
is that you hear, and what it is that you believe.

8. Break
It is a discontinuity, or a jarring disturbance, in our
everyday life.

17. WHAT IS REFLECTION?

18. Philosophical Reflection
Philosophical reflection is an examination about
the existential and practical issues in life (Aguas,
2017). The ultimate end is to find the underlying
meaning and reasons behind our life experiences. It
can be applied to one’s practical concerns especially
when it comes to solving practical problems.

20. TWO TYPES
OF REFLECTION

21. Primary Reflection
It is analytic; it breaks the unity of experience and is
the foundation of scientific inquiry.
It is the instrument of scientific knowledge; it
understands its objects by abstraction, which implies
a breaking into constituent parts.
It is interested with definitions and with technical and
methodical solutions to problems.

24. Primary Reflection
As such, its answers and judgments are objective.
It is interested with that which is outside of me or
before me; it dissects the experience into parts.
It dissolves the unity of experience by emphasizing
the parts, rather than approaching it as a whole.

26. Secondary Reflection
It is synthetic; it unifies rather than divides.
It highlights the reciprocal connection between object
and subject.
It is concerned with that which is in me, which I am,
or with those areas where the distinctions “in me” and
“before me” tend to break down; it recuperates the
unity of the original experience.

28. Secondary Reflection
This is the attempt to see parts in relation to the
whole – to interpret the parts with the whole in sight.
As such, it is the instrument of philosophical
reflection.

29. PRIMARY REFLECTION SECONDARY REFLECTION
Interested with that which is outside
of me
Concerned with that which is in me
Deals with problems Deals with mysteries
Analytic: breaks the unity of
experience
Synthetic: unifies rather than divides
Dissects the experience into parts Recuperates the unity of the original
experience
Emphasizes the parts, rather than
approaching it as a whole
Attempts to see parts in relation to
the whole
Instrument of scientific knowledge Instrument of philosophical reflection

44. 1. Jove Jim S. Aguas. (2017). Philosophy: Toward an
Understanding and Appreciation of the Human Person.
Quezon City: Abiva Publishing House, Inc.
2. Mark Joseph Calano, Marc Oliver Pasco and Marie Chris
Ramoya. (2016). Philosophizing and Being Human.
Quezon City: Sibs Publishing House, Inc.
3. Robert Solomon and Kathleen Higgins. (2014). The Big
Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy, Ninth
Edition. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning