Intro To Philo Flashcards
What does holistic thinking refer to?
A perspective that considers large-scale patterns in systems.
What does partial thinking focus on?
Specific aspects of a situation.
What is the etymology of the word philosophy according to tradition?
A compound of the Greek philos and the Latin sophia.
What is philosophy according to the Aristotelico-Thomistic definition?
The science which inquires into the ultimate reasons, causes, and principles of all things in the light of the human reason alone.
What are the 3 key elements of the definition of philosophy according to Aristotle?
Science, ultimate reason, cause, and principle, human reason.
What distinguishes philosophy from other sciences?
It does not rely on sense experience or empirical data alone.
What is the division between the Eastern and Western traditions of philosophy called?
Theoria Praxis Continuum.
What are two widely known maxims credited to Socrates?
Know thyself.
East-West Synthesis: Theoria Praxis Continuum
This division between the Eastern (theoria) and the Western (praxis) traditions of philosophy can be seen at the root of almost all misconceptions about philosophy.
The division between the Eastern (theoria) and the Western (praxis) traditions of philosophy.
The Socratic Method: A Deliberate Reflection
Two things are widely known about Socrates. The first is a couple of maxims credited to him:
“Know thy self” (quoted from the oracle at Delphi)
“Wisest is he who knows that he does not know.”
On the second, the accusations upon which his trail and subsequent execution were based on:
impiety (questioning the traditional religion)
corrupting the minds of the young.
The aforementioned two things have something in common, and this is the fact that Socrates’ life, and the life which he wanted people to have, was a life of deep reflection.
Jasper’s Definition: Questions Over Answers
Another aspect of philosophy is the dynamics by which it operates. According to Karl Jaspers, Philosophy is a discipline wherein questions generate answers, as a matter, of course, but answers instead of clarifying things will become questions themselves seeking for further answers in a never-ending inquiry.
Philosophy is a discipline wherein questions generate answers.
Doing Philosophy is every man’s vocation
The problem with most people today is that they think doing philosophy or just engaging with philosophy is only for a chosen few; that it is only for those people who are very much gifted either intellectually or financially. After all, the popular belief is that philosophy deals basically on matters that are too deep for the common mind and too impractical for an empty pocket.
However, the popular belief is unfounded. As previously discussed, philosophy is very much about practical knowledge or knowledge that is used in day to day living.
Philosophy entails digging into the roots
Taxing as it may be, it is a necessity. Another problem one may see today is that people tend to focus only on the superficial. Be it in regard to matters about money, love or even life, most people fail to really examine the roots of things.
Problems, for example, are dealt with hastily. Though hasty solutions are not necessarily wrong. However, if hastiness becomes a more important consideration than careful examination, more often than not, problems would intensify and multiply instead of being solved.
Doing Philosophy Involves the marriage of both theoria and praxis
Simply put, doing philosophy is neither about theory alone nor about practice alone. It has to have both.
Approaching a problem via the ‘practical’ way, as is the custom today, is tantamount to providing a hasty solution; it is dangerous, to say the least. Such a manner of dealing with problems creates more problems than solve one.
What does doing philosophy involve?
Doing philosophy involves the marriage of both theoria and praxis
Simply put, doing philosophy is neither about theory alone nor about practice alone. It has to have both.
Why is it dangerous to approach a problem only through the ‘practical’ way?
Approaching a problem via the ‘practical’ way, as is the custom today, is tantamount to providing a hasty solution; it is dangerous, to say the least. Such a manner of dealing with problems creates more problems than solve one. It is because the solution so conceived is often unfounded or unanchored. In Ethics, for example, if one is to ignore standards in favor of expediency then the world would lose much of what humanity holds valuable.
