PHILO RECIT Flashcards
Philosophical discipline which deals with questions of what enables interpretation and understanding
Hermeneutics
Hermeneutical reflection which is in the service of skillful understanding and explication—and convincing and persuading
Philosophical Hermeneutics
Rules of Biblical Hermeneutics
Literal
Historical
Grammatical
Contextual
Each word is given the same exact basic meaning it would have in normal, ordinary, customary usage, whether employed in writing, speaking, or thinking
Literal
Each passage is put into its proper historical setting and surrounded with the thoughts, attitudes, and feelings prevalent at the time of writing
Historical
Words are given meanings consistent with their common understanding in the original language at the time of writing
Grammatical
Always taking the surrounding context of a verse/passage into consideration when trying to determine its meaning
Being open to the cultural, religious, or historical setting of the events described in the text
Contextual
Common flaws in reasoning that weaken or invalidate your argument’s logic
Logical Fallacies
Can be invalid arguments or irrelevant points
Logical Fallacies
Frequently discovered due to the absence of evidence to support the assertion
Logical Fallacies
2 Main Types of Logical Fallacies
Formal Fallacies
Informal Fallacies
Flaws in their structure
Formal Fallacies
Flaws in their content
Informal Fallacies
Common Logical Fallacies
Fallacy of Equivocation
Fallacy of Composition
Fallacy of Division
Argument from Ignorance
Appeal to Inappropriate Authority
Appeal to Pity
Appeal to Popular Will
Appeal to Force
False Cause
Begging the Question
Hasty Generalization
Ad Hominem
“To call by the same name”
One uses the same term in a different situation with different meaning
Fallacy of Equivocation
Something must be true of the whole because it is true of some parts of the whole
Fallacy of Composition
Something that is true for the whole is also true for the parts of the whole
Fallacy of Division
Your conclusion must be true because there is no evidence against it
Wrongly shifts the burden of proof away from the one making the claim
Argument from Ignorance
A statement is true because an authority says it is, without any other supporting evidence
Appeal to Inappropriate Authority
cause the acceptance of a conclusion
Attempt to distract from the truth of the conclusion by the use of -emotion
Appeal to Pity
One appeals to general, common, popular, or stereotypical prejudices or beliefs to cause the acceptance of some conclusion
Appeal to Popular Will
Appeal to Popular Will A.K.A ?
Bandwagon Effect
A person uses threat or force to advance an argument
Appeal to Force
Appeal to Force A.K.A ?
Ad Baculum
The effect is related to a cause because both events occur one after the other
False Cause
A conclusion is taken for granted in the premises
The conclusion is assumed to be true in the argument’s premises
Begging the Question
A conclusion is drawn from insufficient evidence
Making a broad claim based on limited or unrepresentative data
Hasty Generalization
Hitting the person below the belt instead of focusing on the issue at hand
Ad Hominem
“Man is always more than what he knows about himself”
who?
Karl Jaspers
one of the most prominent questions in philosophy. The man’s pursuit of discovering the self has always been a big part of man’s journey towards life.
“Who am I?”
German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy
Existentialist philosopher
Known in the philosophy of mind
Karl Jaspers
From being a psychiatrist, - turned to philosophical inquiry and attempted to discover an innovative philosophical system
Karl Jaspers
Our being is lost in a context of total determination. Thus, questions such as “who am I?” lead us to the depth of our being.
Discovering the Self
This task will call us to leave the ‘ordinariness’ of the given time and context in our existence
Discovering the Self
Generally and commonly defined to represent the entire human race
Man
Various classifications and species
For a living man, human is under the classification of Mammalia
Human
Term used to separate man from other human classifications like animals
Human Being
Individual who possesses self-awareness, self-determination, rational mind (rational beings know that you are a body and soul), and the capacity to interact with others and with himself/herself
Person
State of being a person with unique, sacred, and ethical status within himself/herself
Personhood
Deepest and natural behavior of a person that distinguish from animals
Human Nature
With a body, which is tangible and has 3 components: soul, mind, and spirit
Entitled and granted rights and privileges by the state which he or she legally belongs
Human Person
-Animating core living within each of us
-Driving force behind what we actually think, do, and say
-refers to the inseparable union of human and soul
-The body is not separate from the soul, just as the soul is not separate from the body
Embodied Spirit
-Karl Jaspers name the situations that is inevitable in our existence as ‘limited’ human beings
-It opens us an opportunity to engage in the philosophical question, “who am i?”
-Leads us to sometimes question the answers that we usually associate with it
-The “I” will be the content of the question itself
Boundary Situations
This common human experience breaks us away from our
conventional and often mundane patterns of life
This common human experience breaks us away from our conventional and often mundane patterns of life
questions?
Why am I experiencing pain?
What is the meaning of these experiences?
Why should I suffer?
Theory that the mental and the physical – or mind and body or mind and brain – are, in some sense, radically different kinds of thing
Philosophy attributes the soul or spirit as the mind or our mental capacity
Dualism
The soul exists prior to the body and even after the body is gone
Theory of Forms
The body and soul are separable
The body and soul are different substances and have different functions (Dualism)
Improved by Rene Descartes
Theory of Forms
-It asserts that the physical realm is only a shadow, or image, of the true reality of the Realm of Forms
-Everything we see is just a reflection of those in the world of forms
World of Matter (Material Realm)
Unchanging
The place where sanctified souls are believed to live after death
World of Forms (Eternal Realm)
Immaterial, indestructible, immutable, unchanging; parang sperm cell; independent of the body; immortal
Soul
-Just a soul using a body
-After death, the body is left in the world of matter to rot, while the soul rises to the world of forms and wait for another body
Human Person
The soul and body are one. At birth, there is a soul and a body. The soul since birth is the same until death. A human person needs a soul and a body to live.
Body and soul are inseparable
Improved by St. Thomas Aquinas
who said?
Aristotle
Who Am I?
from?
Indian Philosophy
Mutable
Material
Destructible
Body = Matter
Immutable
Imaterial
Indestructible
Soul = Form
-Acknowledges the existence of his body, a figure that occupies space
-Recognizes the existence of his mind, spirit, or soul as he looks at his ability to think, move, and feel, which his mind or reasoning
Dualism
-A theory that there is only one fundamental kind, category of thing or principle
-It posits that reality is fundamentally composed of a single substance or essence
Monism
Catholic priest in the Dominican Order and is considered to be one of the most important medieval philosophers and theologians
Doctor of the Church
Summa Theologica
St. Thomas Aquinas
Recognized for his work giving 5 philosophical proof of God’s existence
In his study, he emphasizes the actuality and incorporeality of God as the “unmoved mover”
St. Thomas Aquinas
Body is the matter and the soul is the form which unity makes a being possible. It will cease to exist if one is missing. This is what we witness in death.
Monism
This holistic line of thinking can be explained by Aristotle’s idea that “the whole is the sum total of its parts.” Taking away one part will make the whole impossible
Monism
-We see this belief in Christianity where the body and soul are believed to be God’s creation. It sees humans as an embodied soul.
-Our body is an expression of what is within us
-And so, our soul is an essential part of our humanity that we should nourish and take care of well. Christians speak of a ‘judgement day’ the soul will be saved and united with our bodies again.
Christianity’s perspective on Body and Soul
Explores the notion of inner sense which we can understand as reflection or introspection. This activity engages us in our consciousness. This consciousness is the essence of our personal identity.
who??
John Locke
who?
-Discussed that ourselves consist of our thoughts and sensations that we our conscious or aware of
-The “I” or the self is conscious, using Descartes word the self is a thinking being
-English philosopher and political theorist
-“Essay Concerning Human Understanding” discusses about the self and knowledge
-Known for recognizing the self as tabula rasa or blank slate—we are innate and born clueless; we gain knowledge through experiences
-His political philosophy is known to be the basis of American constitute which is the model of our Philippine Constitution
John Locke
recognizes self as a rational agent who is responsible for his/her own thoughts and attitude; reasoning and thinking
Rationalist
consciousness is consciousness of something; life or state of the person
Existentialist
sees the self as an embodied subjectivity that exist and gives meaning; lived experience
Phenomenologist
often leads us to contemplate our existence and contemplating about our existence brings us terror or depressing thoughts.
Consciousness
Confronted with this reality, our - of our living and purpose in the world will be triggered, which can cause the feeling of distress or anxiety
Consciousness
-Thinking, reasoning, understanding, comparing, analyzing are all associated with our faculty of reason
-It enables us to discover more about ourselves and in the long run will help us endure and survive life
-The more we made use of this faculty, the more we live a fulfilling life
Reason
-A view that considers human to be the most important species with a superior worth than other species
-Human beings continually destroy and consume natural resources for their own interest to the point of degradation and worst to extinction
Anthropocentric Model
-Humankind is merely a portion of the biological system of community and that we have the vital role as guardians of nature
-Both living and nonliving organisms are reliant on the processes in the ecosystem
Ecocentric Model
Human Being’s Approaches to Environment
Instrumental Approach
Axiological Approach
Anthropological Approach
Utilitarianism
Natural Law Ethics
Virtue Ethics Perspective
Humans protect the environment because it has value or importance
Instrumental Approach
Human beings recognize the intrinsic value of the environment
Axiological Approach
Human beings unveil his or her being as human or what being human ought to be
Anthropological Approach
The right way of giving value to the environment boils down to the greatest happiness for majority
Utilitarianism
Human beings respect nature because God created it for divine purpose
Natural Law Ethics
The care and respect to the environment becomes a habitual performance
Virtue Ethics Perspective
The beauty, uniqueness, and complications of the nature are reflections of an organized, detailed, and perfect God
Sacredness of Environment
“symbolizes a possible encounter with the Divine”
Natural environment
Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ (Praise be to You) on the care of our common home
-Response to the cry of the earth
-Response to the cry of the poor
-Ecological economics
-Adoption of simple lifestyles
-Ecological education
-Ecological spirituality
-Community engagement and participatory action
task of supervising or taking care of something
Stewardship
Humans have the responsibility to take care, protect, and cultivate his or her potentialities, faculties, and functions, but this responsibility is not limited to his or her own self, instead it extends to his or her environment (Timbreza, 1982)
For the benefit of all
The Spirit of Stewardship
It does not mean that we have the freedom and authority to manipulate or control creations or environment
This is the responsibility as a creation that has the capability of thinking reasonably and a reflection of the Creator. In this context, he or she recognizes the “otherness” of the environment
Human = Summit of Creation
In this relationship between humans and the environment, one is being objectified by the other one
The Spirit of Nonexistence
The important matter to look at this point is that the problem in their relationship is when man chooses to act against the environment without considering its response resulting to uncontrolled natural calamities
The Spirit of Nonexistence
-Human recognized their dependency on the environment
-As we try to appreciate the nature and system of the environment, we get to care more and cultivate that understanding of its value
-This acknowledgement still is what benefits humans
The Spirit of Coexistence
Kinds of Relationship (Martin Buber)
I - It Relation
I - He/She
I - Thou Relation
-Environment is an object to be experienced and used which exists for technological processing in human eyes
-Humans are detached from the otherness
-A superficial and manipulative relationship
-Humans perceive environment as an object without considering its wholeness of capabilities
-Objectifies the people and things around them
I - It Relation
-Environment is considered as a - ; as a subject in its wholeness
-Human relates it with a - (You) to attain self-realization
-There is respect and acceptance of the possibilities and consciousness of the environment
-Acknowledgement of the environment as an entity or a subject that when taken care of reach its maximum potentials in this world
I - Thou Relation
“Man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains.”
who?
(Jean Jacques Rousseau)
“Freedom is the illusion of an imprisoned mind.”
(Leonid Sukhorukov)
Placed before a word to characterize, ‘wholeness,’ ‘all,’ ‘all-inclusive’
Pan
“All events, including moral choices, are completely determined by previously existing causes”
Determinism
Human behaviors are biologically, psychologically, and sociologically determined
Pan-Determinism
Biological Determinism
Genetics
Hormones
Man’s Biological Determinism
-What we are and what we will be, genes will play a big factor
-If you ask your doctor, they will probably agree that our body directly influences our attitudes and behavior
Genetics
Neuroscientists prove that they are chemical messengers released from endocrine glands to regulate behaviors such as aggression, mating, and parenting of individuals
Hormones
-All of this relates to a man’s biological make-up at work
-Something that a man doesn’t have a freedom to choose for himself, but just so happens to be present in his/her system
Man’s Biological Determinism
Sigmund Freud
Psychological Determinism
-Austrian neurologist who pioneered the study of psychoanalysis, psychodynamic, and psychosexual
-Known for his study about the 3 aspects of human personality (id, ego, and superego) and the 3 level of the minds
Sigmund Freud
-Today, he remains influential in the field of psychology and even in philosophy
-Libido: The passion that drives the motivation to continue and pursue what you want
-Agrees on the pretense that man is not free
-Highlights that man is governed by his/her mental state. In his study, he proposes that there are different dimensions in our mind, which he compares to an iceberg.
Sigmund Freud
-The small amount of mental activity we know about
-Thoughts
-Perceptions
Conscious (Ego)
Conscious
Ego
-Things we could be aware of if we wanted or tried
-Memories
-Stored knowledge
Preconscious (Superego)
Preconscious
(Superego)
-Things we are unaware of and can not become aware of
-Fears
-Unacceptable desires
-Violent motives
-Irrational wishes
-Immoral urges
-Selfish needs
-Shameful experiences
-Traumatic experiences
Unconscious (Id)
Unconscious
(Id)
-Most known American psychologist and social philosopher of the 20th century
-Pioneer and advocate of behaviorism, which he discusses through his approach of operant conditioning
-Known for his experiment “Skinner Box” or “BF Skinner:” The reward and punishment
Burrhus Frederic Skinner
-Specific consequences are associated with a voluntary behavior
-Rewards introduced to increase behavior
-Punishment introduced to decrease behavior.
Operant Conditioning
-Add good stuff
-Behavior is encouraged
-Encouragement to continue the behavior
Positive Reinforcement
-Stop bad stuff
-Behavior is encouraged
Negative Reinforcement
-Stop good stuff
-Behavior is discouraged
Negative Punishment
-Add bad stuff
-Behavior is discouraged
Positive Punishment
Groups consist of people, institutions consist of actions
Institutions
Economy, moral, spiritual value
Family
How to think
School
Morality, concept of afterlife
Church
What to do and what to avoid (by laws and constitutions)
State-
-Austrian psychiatrist and psychotherapist who is known for psychological approach of logotherapy
-Proposed that psychotherapy should help man find its meaning in life, since this is man’s primary motivation for living
Viktor Frankl
who?
-Published a book titled “Man’s Search for Meaning:” “Man will understand meaning of life once that person undergo with circumstances and suffering”
-Man cannot find meaning of his life if he is chained or does not have freedom
-Biological, Psychological, Sociological
-Characterized human freedom as man’s destiny
-We are all free and we must know our limitations
Viktor Frankl
-Death is the contradiction of life. While we want to exist and continue to exist, death put end to this desire
-Human freedom and death seem to be incompatible. This is an absurd condition; a condition where our intention is met with the silence and indifference of the world.
The Absurdity of Death
-The being of human beings can be established on a purely phenomenological basis without reference to a deity or the concept of immortality
-Addressed immortality, life after death, and the nature of death during one’s existence
who?
Martin Heidegger
-Man (which he named Existence) through death becomes aware of his finitude, and thus, he chooses human beings as the only way of understanding existence among creatures
-Death is the most original form of the possibility of Existence that threatens the entire universe, so the existence understood by the notions of he way to be in charge of his own life
who?
Martin Heidegger
-If man cannot face up to death existentially, he either preoccupies himself with worldly things or escapes into a mystical realm
-Death ‘Deathlessness’ and Existenz in- Philosophy: A human being is not merely a physical entity but a being with a transcendent aspect, which is in some sense ‘deathless’
who?
Karl Jaspers
A person’s death is not seen as the end because the soul is regarded as immortal
Religious View of the Significance of Death
Tenets of this Religious View
- Man’s being is non-finite in that existence continues beyond death both bodily and spiritually, however not as a disembodied soul
- What comes after death is valued higher than ‘being-in-the-world’ here and now
- Belief in resurrection and judgement by God is closely tied up with the significance of the individual’s actions during his lifetime. After death, the individual’s life is judged, the good are rewarded, and the bad are punished.
2 Specific Forms of Existence After Death
Peaceful existence in heaven
Suffering in hell
-Our knowledge of our death may not be experiential but it is with certainty that we will die
-Everyone dies. It is an ultimate truth. A truth that no one can deny and no one can defy. The unfortunate thing about this truth, however, is that it remains to be revealed.
Certainty of Death
-Death is uncertain as to its time, place, and the way it happens
-It always catches people unaware as the Boholanos observe, “Death comes to us whether we are standing or sitting” (Mabaquiao)
-There is one thing uncertain about it and that is, we do not know whether life continues after death, and so, we ask “does the death of our body mean the death of our life or is there a truth to the promise that there is life after death?”
Uncertainty of Death
The Paradox of Death
Certainty of Death
Uncertainty of Death
2 General Views on Death
Materialist
Spiritual
When the body dies, the soul continues to live
Materialist
To die is to be home in Heaven with God. It should be embraced with a joyful heart.
Spiritual
-We live for a purpose and we commit ourselves to that purpose, believing that it can be realized, which, in turn, brings meaning to our lives
-Our reasons for existence are anchored on that purpose. Our strengths lie on our faith that that purpose will be realized.
-Life becomes meaningful because of death. Life—situations offer us opportunities to discover meanings in life and create values.
The Meaning of Death
who? believes meaning can be found through creativity and work, human interaction and experience, and the manner in which we respond to inevitable suffering
Frankl
means to be aware of the meanings that concrete and singular situations bring us
conscious
is to seize the opportunity to experience or to create a meaning offered by the situation
responsible
Frankl believes that to exist as a human is to be ? and ?
conscious and to be responsible
-Human person may have gone but the meanings they created stay forever; they are not lost but they are stored in eternity
-For Aristotle, life is a potency that has to be actualized. It is by living our lives that this potency is converted into an act. Life, then, is a process of becoming, attaining being in death.
-For Frankl, our death does not render the meanings we have fulfilled meaningless. Meanings are not lost with our death.
Death Actualizes Man’s Potentials
Attitudes Toward Death
Know Thyself
Live a Meaningful Life
Live Fully in the Present Moment
Live Calmly
Live Courageously
-For Socrates, we are afraid of death because we think that death is evil. This sort of thinking is ignorance. If it is the root of the fear of death, then knowledge must be the antidote.
-Buddha also believes that the way out of fear of death is through understanding human nature
Know Thyself
-Believing that life has a purpose or meaning makes death bearable. If life indeed has a purpose or a meaning, fulfilling that purpose or meaning would give us the same relief when Jesus says “It is finished.”
Live a Meaningful Life
-To live a full life is to celebrate life and to celebrate life is to conquer death
-Rather than being consumed by the fear of death, live a full life—a life of full awareness, lived at present, appreciating, cherishing, and enjoying everything the world offers at the present moment
Live Fully in the Present Moment
-Death is a human event that happens for a reason, that is is not within our control, and that it is only our mind we can control
-The right attitude in life is to mind not about those things beyond our control and to take charge of those things within our control
-Mabaquiao (2016): Stoics believe that the universe is governed by reason. All phenomena exist for a reason, therefore, everything is alright.
-We should not interfere with the natural occurrence of things.
Live Calmly
-Confronted with courage, death does not only become bearable but it becomes a source of spiritual transformation
-True courage is born out of understanding
-One who truly understands life is not afraid to die
Live Courageously
