WHAT IS

PHILOSOPHY
?
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL S.Y. 2019-2020
What Philosophy is. . .

Philosophy is fun, practical and

exciting subject because the
lessons that you will learn can
ultimately help you in making
sense of things or issues that
you previously find to be too
complicated to grasp.
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY???
 Dr.
Bob Zunjic points out that
philosophy is difficult to define
because of the following factors:
 It has no specific subject matter
It may deal with every dimension of human
life and can raise questions in any field of
study or endeavor.
 Philosophy
pursues questions rather
than answers
It is not bound by any particular “truths”
that set limits to the desire to continue
asking questions.
WHY DO WE NEED TO
STUDY PHILOSOPHY?
THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THE
STUDY OF PHILOSOPHY IS FOR
US TO LEARN FROM ITS
TEACHING AND APPLY IT IN
OUR LIFE.

“An unexamined life is not

The Natural
Philosophers
 These are the earliest Greek
philosophers who were mainly
concerned with the natural world
and its processes.
 The Greek marveled at how live
fish could come from water, and
trees and flowers from the dead
earth.
 The Greek observed that nature
is in constant state of
The Natural Philosophers

 Howcould such transformation

occur?

 How could something change from

being substance to being a living
thing?

 All
the earliest philosophers
shared the belief that there had to
Thales of
Miletus
 He was from Miletus, a Greek Colony in
Asia Minor.
 He is a traveler.
 Calculated the height of a pyramid.
 Heis also said to have accurately predicted
a solar eclipse in the year 585 B.C.
 Hebelieved that the source of all things
was water.
Anaximand
er
 He thought that
the world was only
one myriad of
words that evolve
and dissolve in
something he
called the
“boundless.”
Anaximenes (570-526 B.C.)
 He thought that the
source of all things
must be “air” or
“vapor.”
 He thought that
water was condensed
air.
 He believed that air
was the origin of
earth, water and fire.
The “Eleatics” (500 B.C.)
Problem of Change
Parmenides (540-480 B.C.)
Everything that exists had
always existed
“Nothing can came out of
nothing.”
Everything that existed from the
world is everlasting.
Everythingthat exists is
permanent, indestructible and
Heraclitus (540-480 B.C.)
 Ephesus in Asia Minor
 Everything is in constant flux
 He thought that constant
change, or flow, was in fact
the most basic characteristic
of nature.
 Theworld is characterized by
opposites.
 “You cannot step on the same
river twice.”
 “Oneness” or “logos”
Parmenides Heraclitus
Nothing can
change Everything
changes
Our sensory
perceptions Our sensory
must perceptions
therefore be are reliable.
unreliable.
Empedocles (490-430 B.C.)
Sicily
He thought that nature
consisted of four elements:
Earth
Air
Water
Fire
Anaxagoras (500-428
 First philosopher from B.C.)
Athens
 Hebelieved that nature is
built up of an infinite
number of minute
particles invisible to the
eye.
 Hecalled this miniscule
particles “SEED”
 Moon has no light of its
own.
Democritus (460-370 B.C.)
 Heassumed that everything
was built up of tiny invisible
blocks , each of which was
eternal and immutable.
 He called these smallest
units “atoms.”
 Allatoms were firm and
solid.
 When something died and
disintegrated, the atoms
dispersed and could be used
again in new bodies.
Zeno of
Elea
We should
 Pythagoras
be
 The study of
concerned
Mathematics is
with the far most
study of relevant. All
Logic. reality can be
understood and
is govern by
Things to note:

 He never wrote down

any of his teachings, his
student, Plato, did this
for him

 Socrates’ philosophy
arose out of his
negative feelings in
relation to the teaching
of the Sophists . . .
The Sophists

Who were they?

 Intelligent
men, who travelled from place
to place, teaching subjects like grammar,
rhetoric (debating, argument, logic) and
literature
 Athens was an emerging democratic
centre and educated people were needed
 The Sophists charged for their services,
usually employed by the wealthy and
powerful – what the Sophists taught was
in demand
 Born around 470 B. C.
 Lived in Athens at the height
of its civilisation
 Described as a very ugly
man, who often walked
barefoot and wore the same
kind of clothes whatever the
weather
 He was a very disciplined
person
 He was interested in the
development of a person’s
moral character
 He lived a virtuous life
 He considered himself as Socrates
Gadfly
 We knew him because of the
The Philosophy of Socrates
 Socrates was concerned with the question of
ETHICS (moral behaviour)
 Unlike the Sophists, he believed that there was
definite right and wrong
 He believed that people could accept it and
apply it into their daily lives
 He said that it was up to people (society), as a
whole, to establish those things that are right
and those that are wrong
 Dedicated his life to searching for standards by
which people could live a virtuous/good life
The Philosophy of Socrates
 Socrates was also concerned with justice
 He wanted life to be fair for all
 It was a person’s duty to explore the truth
regarding right and wrong, justice and injustice,
courage and cowardice
 He worked to find principles and laws that all
could live by and be happy
 Universal: these truths would be applicable for
all people, at any time, everywhere and in all
cases
Socratic Method
 He questioned people through
discussions or dialogues

 He chose people who were experts

in their field and who fully
understood the topic being
discussed

 He adopted the role of ignorant

questioner
Execution of Socrates

 Socrates was executed in 399 B. C.

 Heclaimed he was the wiser one
since he was the only person
aware of his own ignorance
 Put on trial and found guilty
 heresy
 corrupting the minds of the youth
 Hewas forced to drink a lethal
poison
Summary
 Virtue (knowledge) is the most valuable of all
things
 Life should be spent in search of goodness.
 Truth is possible to achieve
 People should focus on self-development rather
than material wealth
 Itis the job of the philosopher to show people
how little they really know
 An action is right when it promoted true
happiness
Who was
Plato?
 He lived 429-347 BCE
 He was the student of Socrates
 Teacher of Aristotle
 Name means “high forehead”
 Left Athens when Socrates died but
returned to open a school called the
Academy in 385 BCE
 Wrote 20 books, many in the dialectic
style (a story which attempts to teach a
specific concept) with Socrates as the
main character
Plato’s Ideas
 Idealist,
believes in order and
harmony, morality and self-denial
 Immortality of the soul
 Virtue as knowledge
 Theory of Forms – the highest
function of the human soul is to
achieve the vision of the form of the
good
 When Plato returned to
Athens in 387 B.C., he
started a school of
learning called the
Academy, which was
eventually described as
the 1st European
University

 At the Academy, he
taught his subjects
astronomy, biology,
mathematics, political
theory, and philosophy.
Plato’s Metaphysical Dualism
 Plato divided the universe into two
different realms

 1.The intelligible world of Ideas or

Forms (Being)

 2.The perceptual world we see around

us (Becoming)
Platonic Ideas of Forms
 The perceptual world, and all
things in it, are imperfect copies of
the intelligible Forms or Ideas that
exist in an ideal (spiritual) world.

 The Forms or Ideas are

unchangeable and perfect, and are
only known by the use of the
intellect (not sense-perception or
imagination).
Comparison Between the Sensible
world and the world of Forms
Sensible World World of Forms

 reality (is real)

 appearance (seems
real)
 known by
intellect/reason
 perceived by senses
 objective (exists
 subjective (dependent
independently of my
upon my perception)
mind)
Allegory of the Cave
 In the perceptual world, the objects we
see around us bear only a dim
resemblance to the ultimately real forms
of Plato's intelligible world.

 Itis as if we are seeing shadows of cut-

out shapes on the walls of a cave—mere
representations of the reality outside the
cave, illuminated by the sun.
 Plato died in 347 B.C., leaving
the Academy.
 The Academy remained a model
for institutions of higher learning
until Emperor Justinian closed it
Aristotle
 He was not a native of Athens
 He was born in Macedonia and came to
Plato’s Academy when Plato was 61.
 Hisfather was a respected physician and
therefore a scientist.
 He was not only the last of the great
Greek philosophers, he was Europe’s first
great biologist.
 Was
engrossed in
his eternal
form or Hewas
“ideas” preoccupie
d with the
 Took very changes in
little notice nature.
of the
changes in
nature.
Plato Aristotle
 He turned his
 He go back
back on the
sensory world to the
“cave” or to
 Shut his eyes to the sensory
everything we
world.
see around us.

Plato Aristotle
Aristotle’s Philosophy
 He criticizes Plato’s theory of ideas.

 If Plato believed that the highest

degree of reality was that which we
think with our reason. . .
 For Aristotle, the highest degree of
reality is that which we perceive with
our senses.
 Things that
 Allthings we
are in the
see in the world of
natural world ideas were
were purely purely
reflections of reflections
things that
existed in the of natural
higher reality object.
of the world of  Natureis
ideas.
the real
world.
Plato Aristotle
Aristotle’s Philosophy
 He held that all our thoughts and
ideas have come into our
consciousness through what we
have heard and seen.
 Our reason is completely empty
until we have sensed something.
 Man has no innate ideas.
GUESS WHO SKIT
(PHILOSOPHERS)
Eastern and Western
Philosophies
Eastern Philosophy Western Philosophy
 “Thenail that “The
stands out gets
hammered
squeaky
down.” wheel gets
the grease.”
 One who is not
part of the
majority gets to
One who is
be punished. different
I LEARN & SHARE ACTIVITY

 SPEECH PA MORE
 The screening committee will be expecting a
qualified speaker who has in-depth thought,
enthusiasm, and confidence in delivering the
speech with laudable verbal and non-verbal
communication skills while observing the time
limit.
I LEARN & SHARE ACTIVITY
 GOAL
 To prepare a personal speech and speak in front of TI’s screening
committee
 ROLE
 You are the company’s representative expected to deliver a personal
speech in front of TI’s screening committee.
 SITUATION
 Toastmasters International (TI) is a non-profit educational
organization that operates various clubs worldwide. Its main purpose
is to allow its members to realize and maximize their communication,
public speaking, and leadership skills. TI is currently looking into
recruiting new members who will be trained to become trainers
themselves in public speaking in their respective fields of interest.
I LEARN & SHARE ACTIVITY
 PRODUCT

 Speech (Written & Oral)

 STANDARDS

 The screening committee will be expecting a

qualified speaker who has in-depth thought,
enthusiasm, and confidence in delivering the
speech with laudable verbal and non-verbal
communication skills while observing the time
limit.
I LEARN & SHARE ACTIVITY
DATE OF
OUTPUT
SUBMISSION/PRESENTATION

Written Speech August 1, 2019

Speech Delivery October 1 & 3, 2019