Chapter 1 Philosophy

Introduction to
Arguments
Meaning and Nature of
Philosophy
Lesson 1
“Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher,
and philosophy begins in wonder”
- Socrates
Philosophy vs. Other Disciplines
• Philosophy deals primarily with issues.

• Contents in philosophy are not the
specific subject matters, but issues, which
are universal in nature
Etymology of Philosophy
• the word ―philosophy comes from two Greek words:

• ―philo MEANS love
• ―Sophia mean wisdom
• Thus, the literal definition of philosophy is “love of
wisdom”
Etymology of Philosophy
• Pythagoras(Gr.) was the first to use the word

philosopher to call a person who clearly shows a
marked curiosity in the things he experiences
• seeking wisdom is among the various essences of
philosophy that it has got from its etymological
definition
•What do you think is the
wisdom that philosophers
seek?
• Based on the Socratic understanding of
wisdom, philosophy, as a pursuit of wisdom,
is, thus, the development of critical habits, the
continuous search for truth, and the
questioning of the apparent.
• To interrogate the obvious means to deal
creatively with the phenomenal world, to
go beyond the common understanding,
and to speculate about things that other
people accept with no doubt
• Questioning/criticism is not the final end of
philosophy.
• “An active imaginary process of formulating
proper questions and resolving them by
rigorous, persistent analysis” - Vincent Barry
Basic Features of Philosophy
Lesson 2
•Philosophy is a set of views or

beliefs about life and the universe,
which are often held uncritically.
•Philosophy is a process of
reflecting on and criticizing our
most deeply held conceptions and
beliefs.
•Philosophy is a rational
attempt to look at the world
as a whole.
•Philosophy is the logical analysis

of language and the clarification
of the meaning of words and
concepts.
• Philosophy is a group of perennial

problems that interest people and for
which philosophers always have sought
answers
Core Fields of Philosophy
Metaphysics and Epistemology
Lesson 3
Metaphysics
•Metaphysics is the branch of

philosophy that studies the
ultimate nature of reality or
existence.
Metaphysics
• The term metaphysics is derived from the

Greek words “meta” means (beyond,
upon or after) and physika, means
(physics).
Metaphysics
• What is reality?
• What is the ultimately real?
• What is the nature of the ultimate reality?
• Is it one thing or is it many different
things?
Metaphysics
• Can reality be grasped by the senses, or it is
transcendent?
• What makes reality different from a mere appearance?
• What is mind, and what is its relation to the body?
• Is there a cause and effect relationship between reality
and appearance?
Metaphysics
• Does God exist, and if so, can we prove it?
• Are human actions free, or predetermined by a supernatural
force?
• What is human being? A thinking mind? A perishable body? Or
a combination of both?
• What is time?
• What is the meaning of life?
Metaphysical questions may be divided into
four subsets or aspects.
• Cosmological Aspect:
• Cosmology consists in the study of theories about the origin,
nature, and development of the universe as an orderly system.
• Questions such as these populate the realm of cosmology:
How did the universe originate and develop? Did it come
about by accident or design? Does its existence have any
purpose?
• Theological Aspect:
• Theology is that part of religious theory that deals with
conceptions of and about God. ―Is there a God? If so, is
there one or more than one? What are the attributes of
God? If God is both all good and all powerful, why does
evil exist? If God exists, what is His relationship to human
beings and the real‘ world of everyday life?
• Anthropological Aspect:
• Anthropology deals with the study of human beings and asks
questions like the following: What is the relation between mind and
body? Is mind more fundamental than body, with body depending
on mind, or vice versa? What is humanity‘s moral status? Are
people born good, evil, or morally neutral? To what extent are
individuals free? Do they have free will, or are their thoughts and
actions determined by their environment, inheritance, or a divine
being? Does each person have a soul? If so, what is it?
• Ontological Aspect:
• Ontology is the study of the nature of existence, or what it means for
anything to exist.
• Several questions are central to ontology: Is basic reality found in matter or
physical energy (the world we can sense), or is it found in spirit or spiritual
energy? Is it composed of one element (e.g., matter or spirit), or two (e.g.,
matter and spirit), or many? Is reality orderly and lawful in itself, or is it
merely orderable by the human mind? Is it fixed and stable, or is change its
central feature? Is this reality friendly, unfriendly, or neutral toward humanity?
Epistemology
• Epistemology is the other field of philosophy that

studies about the nature, scope, meaning, and
possibility of knowledge. It deals with issues of
knowledge, opinion, truth, falsity, reason,
experience, and faith. Epistemology is also referred
to as “theory of knowledge.”
Epistemology
• Etymologically, the word epistemology has been derived from the

Greek words episteme, meaning “knowledge, understanding”, and
logos, meaning “study of ”. In other words, we can say that
Epistemology is the study of the nature, source, and validity of
knowledge
Epistemology
• The following are among the questions/issues with which
Epistemology deals:
• What is knowledge?
• What does it mean to know?
• What is the source of knowledge? Experience? Reason? Or both?
• How can we be sure that what we perceive through our senses is correct?
• What makes knowledge different from belief or opinion?
Epistemology
• The following are among the questions/issues with which
Epistemology deals:
• What is truth, and how can we know a statement is true?
• Can reason really help us to know phenomenal things without being
informed by sense experiences?
• Can our sense experience really help us to know things beyond our
perception without the assistance of our reasoning ability?
• What is the relationship and difference between faith and reason?

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Chapter 1 Philosophy

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Introduction to

• Philosophy deals primarily with issues.

• the word ―philosophy comes from two Greek words:

• Pythagoras(Gr.) was the first to use the word

•Philosophy is a set of views or

•Philosophy is the logical analysis

• Philosophy is a group of perennial

•Metaphysics is the branch of

• The term metaphysics is derived from the

• Epistemology is the other field of philosophy that

• Etymologically, the word epistemology has been derived from the

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