I.

Philosophy as the Mother of All Disciplines

Description:
In principle, philosophy as a mother gives birth to a field through asking questions, and
nurtures through study that field until it is established enough to live on its own and leave the nest
of philosophy.

Objectives:
1. Know how Philosophy was considered the mother of all disciplines as it gave birth to
and nurtured every other discipline that exists today.
2. Appreciate the value of doing philosophy in obtaining a broad perspective in life.
3. Discuss their thoughts regarding the importance of philosophy in their lives.

Lesson 1: What is Philosophy?

Description:

Discusses Philosophy as a Science, identifying its significant aspects and branches of study as
well as its implication in our daily life.

Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:
1. discuss philosophy as a science
2. identify the branches of philosophy
3. discuss the origins of philosophy (Western and Eastern Philosophy)
4. distinguish a holistic perspective from a partial point of view.
5. appreciate the importance of this subject in pursuing their dreams.

Activity:
The Six Blind Men and the Elephant (by John Godfrey Saxe )
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

II.

The First approached the Elephant,

And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me!—but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"
III.

The Second, feeling of the tusk,

Cried: "Ho!—what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 't is mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
 Is very like a spear!"

IV.
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

V.

The Fourth reached out his eager hand,

And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he;
"'T is clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

VI.

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,

Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

VII.

The Sixth no sooner had begun

About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

VIII.

And so these men of Indostan

Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

MORAL.

So, oft in theologic wars

The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!
Guide Questions:

1. Did anyone among the blind men give the correct answer? Why or Why not?
2. In the context of the story, what do you think is a holistic perspective? What is a partial
point of view?
3. What is the importance of a holistic perspective as pointed out by the writer?

A. The Meaning of Philosophy

Etymologically, the word "philosophy" comes from two Greek words , philo meaning "to
love," and sophia, meaning "wisdom." Philosophy originally meant "love of wisdom" and in a
broad sense, wisdom is still the goal of philosophy. Philosophy is also defined as the science that
by natural light of reason studies the first causes or highest principles of all things. Under this
definition four things are to be considered:
a. Science - It is called science because the investigation is systematic. It follows certain steps or
it employs certain procedures. In other words it is an organized body of knowledge just like any
other sciences.

b. Natural Light of Reason. Philosophy investigates things, not by using any other laboratory
instrument or investigative tools, neither on the basis of supernatural revelation, otherwise it
becomes theology; instead, the philosopher uses his natural capacity to think or simply, human
reason alone or the so-called unaided reason.

c. Study of All Things. This sets the distinction between philosophy from other sciences. All
other sciences concern themselves with a particular object of investigation. For example,
anthropologists study human beings in relation with the society; sociologists study society, its
form, structures, and functions; botanists focus their attention to plants, linguists limit themselves
with language; theologians investigate God; whereas, a philosopher studies human beings,
society, religion, language, God, and plants, among other concerns.
The reason is that philosophy is not one dimensional or partial. In short, a philosopher does not
limit himself to a particular object of inquiry. He questions almost anything, if not everything. It
is multidimensional or holistic.

d. First Cause or Highest Principle. A principle is that from which something proceeds in any
manner whatsoever. The First Principles:
 Principle of Identity - whatever is is; and whatever is not is not; everything is what it is.
Everything is its own being, and not being is not being.

 Principle of Non-Contradiction - it is impossible for a thing to be and not to be at the

same time, and at the same respect.

 Principle of Excluded Middle - a thing is either is or is not; everything must be either be

or not be; between being and not-being, here is no middle ground possible.

 Principle of Sufficient Reason - nothing exists without a sufficient reason for its being and
existence.

Since its beginnings, however, the scope of philosophy has changed. Early Greek
philosophers studied aspects of the natural and human world that later become separate sciences
—astronomy, physics, psychology, and sociology. On the other hand, certain basic problems—
the nature of the universe, the standard the other hand, certain basic problems—the nat or justice,
the validity of knowledge, the correct application of reason, and the criteria of beauty—have been
the domain of philosophy from its beginnings to the present.
These problems are the subject matter of the five branches of philosophy-metaphysics,
ethics, epistemology, logic, and aesthetics. These branches will be discussed in the next section.
There are also special branches of philosophy like philosophy of science, philosophy of state,
philosophy of politics, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of education, philosophy of law,
philosophy of language, and others.
Finally, in attaining wisdom, there is a need for emptying. Emptying can be intellectual.
For instance, the Taoist considers an empty cup more useful than a full one. This means
simplicity and humility. Emptying can be also spiritual. For Christian philosophy, poverty in
spirit means compassion. Emptying is also physical. The Buddhists refrain from misuse of the
senses, thereby emphasizing a unified whole (Elgin 2009). Without the virtue of emptying,
students will only learn partial philosophy that is knowledge-based, without becoming holistic
(i.e., acquiring wisdom through various dimensions of being human including the psychological,
social, emotional, and moral aspects).

B. Branches of Philosophy
1. Metaphysics
Metaphysics is really only an extension of a fundamental and necessary drive in every
human being to know what is real. The question is how to account for this unreal thing in terms
of what you can accept as real. Thus. a very big part of the metaphysician's task is to explain that
part of our experience, which we call unreal in terms of what we call real.
In our everyday attempts to understand the world in terms of appearance and reality, we
try to make things comprehensible by simplifying or reducing the mass of things we call
appearance to a relatively fewer number of things we call reality.
 For instance, for Thales, a Greek philosopher, everything is water. He claims that
everything we experience is water—which we call "reality. Everything else is "appearance."We
then set out to try to explain everything else (appearance) in terms of water (reality). Clouds, for
example, or blocks of ice do not look like water, but they can be explained in terms of water.
When water evaporates, it becomes a cloud, and when water freezes, becomes ice.

Both the idealist and the materialist metaphysical theories are similarity based on
unobservable entities: mind and matter. We can see things of matter such as a book or a chair, but
we cannot see the underlying matter itself. Although we can experience in our minds thoughts,
ideas, desires and fantasies, we cannot observe or experience the mind itself that is having these
thoughts, ideas, and desires. It is this tendency to explain the observable in terms of the
unobservable that has given metaphysics abad name to more down-to-earth philosophers.

Plato, Socrates' most famous student, is a good example of a metaphysician who draws
the sharpest possible contrast between reality and appearance. Nothing we experience in the
physical world with our senses is real, according to Plato. Reality, in fact, is just the opposite. s
unchanging, eternal, immaterial, and can be detected only by the intellect. Plato calls these
realities as ideas of forms. These are meanings which universal, general terms refer to, and they
are also those things we are talking about when we discuss moral, mathematical, and scientific
ideals.

( Plato’s Allegory of The Cave- Video presentation)

2. Epistemology
Specifically, epistemology deals with nature, sources, limitations, and validity of
knowledge (Soccio 2007). Epistemological questions are basic to all other philosophical
inquiries. Epistemology explains: (1) how we know what we claim to know; (2) how we can find
out what we wish to know; and (3) how we can differentiate truth from falsehood. Epistemology
addresses varied problems: the reliability, extent, and kinds of knowledge; truth; language; and
science and scientific knowledge.
How do we acquire reliable knowledge? Human knowledge may be regarded as having two parts.
1. On the one hand, he sees, hears, and touches; on the other hand, he organizes in his mind
what he learns through the senses. Philosophers have given considerable attention to
questions about the sources of knowledge. Some philosophers think that the particular
things seen, heard, and touched are more important. They believe that general ideas are
formed from the examination of particular facts. This method is called induction, and
philosophers who feel that knowledge is acquired in this way are called empiricists (e.g.,
John Locke). Empiricism is the view that knowledge can be attained only through sense
experience. According to the empiricists, real knowledge is based on what our sight,
hearing, smell, and other sensenses tell us is really out there, not what people make up in
their heads.
2. Other philosophers think it is more important to find general law according to which
particular facts can be understood or judged. This method is called deduction: it
advocates are called rationalists (e.g., Rene Descartes). For instance, what distinguishes
real knowledge from mere opinion, in the rationalist view , is that real knowledge is
based on the logic, the laws, and the methods that reason develops. The best example of
 real knowledge the rationalist holds, is mathematics, a realm of knowledge that is
obtained entirely by reason that we use to understand the universe (Soccio 2007)
A newer school, pragmatism, has a third approach to these problems Pragmatists, such as
William James and John Dewey, believe that value in use is the real test of truth and meaning. In
other words, the meaning and truth of an idea are tested by its practical consequences.
( Womens’s equal right by Mary Wollstonecraft)

3. Ethics
How do we tell good from evil or right from wrong? Ethics is the branch of philosophy
that explores the nature of moral virtue and evaluates human actions.

Ethics is generally a study of the nature of moral judgments. Philosophical ethics attempts
to provide an account of our fundamental ethical ideas. Whereas religion has often motivated
individuals to obey the moral code of their society, philosophy is not content with traditional or
habitual ethics but adopts a critical perspective. It insists that obedience to moral law be given a
rational foundation. In the thought of Socrates, we see the beginning of a transition from a
traditional, religion-based morality to philosophical ethics (Landsburg 2009).

(What constitute a human according to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle)

4. Logic
Reasoning is the concern of the logician. This could be reasoning in ence and medicine, in
ethics and law, in politics and commerce, in sports and games, and in the mundane affairs of
everyday living. Varied kinds of reasoning may be used, and all are of interest to the logician.
The term "logic" comes from the Greek word logike and was coined by Zeno, the Stoic
(C.340-265BC). Etymologically, it means a treatise on matters pertaining to the human thought. It
is important to underpin that logic does not provide us knowledge of the world directly, for logic
is considered as a tool, and, therefore, does not contribute directly to the content of our thoughts.
Logic is not interested in what we know regarding certain subjects. Its concern, rather, is the truth
or the validity of our arguments regarding such objects.
Aristotle was the first philosopher to devise a logical method. He drew upon the emphasis
on the universal" in Socrates, negation in Parmenides and Plato, and the reduction to the absurd
of Zeno of Elea. His philosophy is also based on claims about propositional structure and the
body of argumentative techniques (e.g., legal reasoning and geometrical proof).
Aristotle understood truth to mean the agreement of knowledge with reality; truth exists
when the mind's mental representations, otherwise known as ideas, correspond with things in the
objective world. Logical reasoning makes us certain that our conclusions are true, and this
provides us with accepted scientific proofs of universally valid propositions or statements. Since
the time of Aristotle, the study of lies or fallacies has been considered an integral part of logic.
Zeno of Citium is one of the successors of Aristotle. He is also the founder of a movement
known as Stoicism, derived from the Greek Stoa Poikile (Painted Porch). The Painted Porch
referred to the portico in Athens where the early adherents held their regular meetings. Other
more influential authors of logic then are Cicero, Porphyry, and Boethius, in the later Roman
Empire; the Byzantine scholar-Philoponus and Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes in the Arab
world.
Even before the time of Aristotle down to the present, the study of logic has remained
important. We are human beings possessed with reason. We use it when we make decisions or
when we try to influence the decisions of others or when we are engaged in argumentation and
debate. Indeed, a person who has studied logic is more likely to reason correctly than another,
who has never thought about the general principles involved in reasoning.
( On Artificial Intelligense)
5. Aesthetics
When humanity has learned to make something that is useful to them, they begin to plan and
dream how to make it beautiful. What therefore is beauty? The establishment of criteria of beauty
is the function of aesthetics.
Aesthetics is the science of the beautiful in its various manifestations- including the sublime,
comic, tragic, pathetic, and ugly. To experience aesthetics, therefore, means whatever experience
has relevance to art, whether the experience be that of the creative artist or of appreciation. As a
branch of philosophy, students should consider the importance of aesthetics because of the
following:

 It vitalizes our knowledge. It makes our knowledge of the world alive and useful. We go
through our days picking up a principle as fact, here and there, and too infrequently see
how they are related. It is the part of a play, a poem, or a story to give us new insight to
help us see new relationship between the separated items in our memories.

 It helps us to live more deeply and richly. A work of art-whether a book a piece of music,
painting, or a television show-helps -helps us to rise from purely physical existence into
the realm of intellect and the spirit. As being of body and soul, a human being needs
nourishment for his higher life as well as his lower. Art, therefore, is not something
merely like craft or applied arts, but something of weight and significance to humankind.
It is what Schopenhauer meant when he said, "You must treat a work of art like a great
man. Stand before it and wait patiently until it deigns to speak." (Scruton et al. 1997)

 It brings us in touch with our culture. Things about us change so rapidly today that we
forget how much we owe to the past. We cannot shut ourselves off from the past any more
than we can shut ourselves off geographically from the rest of the world. It is difficult that
the great problems of human life have occurred over and over again for thousands of
years. The answers of great minds in the past to these problems are part of our culture.
Hans-Georg Gadamer, a German philosopher, argues that our tastes and judgments
regarding beauty, work in connection with one's own personal experience and culture. Gadamer
believes that our culture consists of the values and beliefs of our time and our society. That is
why a "dialog" or conversation is important in interpreting works of art (White 1991).
A conversation involves an exchange between conversational partners that seek
agreement about some matter at issue; consequently, such an exchange is never completely under
the control of either conversational partner, but is rather determined by the matter at issue.
Conversation and understanding involve coming to an agreement. In this sense, all understanding
is, according to Gadamer, interpretative and insofar as all interpretation, involves the exchange
between the familiar and the alien, so all interpretation is also translative.
Out-put
After discussing the meaning and the branches of philosophy, what does the term "philosophy'
mean to you now? Fill in the acrostics table below with ideas, phrases, or even images that come
to mind relating to the concept of philosophy.
The only rule is that it must start with the letter on the first column.
P-
H-
I-
L-
O-
S-
O-
P-
H-
Y-