Methods of Philosophizing

INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPY CHAPTER 2: METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING PHENOMENOLOGY ON CONSCIOUSNESS Phenomenology focuses on careful inspection and description of phenomena or appearances. It is defined as any object of conscious experience, that is, that which are conscious of (Johnston 2006). It comes from the Greek word phainómenon, meaning “appearance”, it refers to the world of our own experience. He (Immanuel Kant, German Philosopher) intends a similar meaning but, it does not imply a contrast between the appearance and some underlying reality, between the phenomenon and a “noumenon” or “thing-in-itself”. Phenomenology is the scientific study of the essential structures of consciousness. By describing theses structures, Husseri believes that we can find certainty, which philosophy has always sought. EXISTENTIALISM: ON FREEDOM One’s search for truth might be based one one’s attitude or outlook. Unlike phenomenology, existentialism is not primarily a philosophical method. It is neither a set of doctrines but more of an outlook or attitude supported by diverse doctrines centered on certain common themes. These themes include: • • • • • • the human condition or the relation of the individual to the world; the human response to that condition; being especially the difference between the being of a person and the being of the other kinds of things; human freedom; the significance (and unavoidability) of choice and decision in the absence of certainty and; the concreteness and subjectivity of livd as lived; against abstractions and false objectifications. POSTMODERNISM: ON CULTURES POSTMODERNISM: ON CULTURES Postmodernism has become into vague as the name for a rather diffuse family of ideas and trends that in significant respect rejects challenges, or aims to supersede modernity, the conviction, aspirations, and pretensions of modern Western thought and culture since the enlightenment. Postmodernism is not a philosophy. It is at best a holding pattern, perhaps a cry of despair. It highly talks about world philosophy, the philosophy of many cultures, but such talk is not philosophy either (Shields 2012). Postmodernists believe that humanity should come at truth beyond the rational to the nonrational elements of human nature, including spiritual. They consider that to arrive at the truth, humanities should realize the limits of reason and objectivism. ANALYTIC TRADITION “Can language objectively describe truth.” Language cannot objectively describe truth. According to Ludwig Wittgenstein, an analytic philosopher, language is socially conditioned. We understand the world solely in terms of our language games- that is our linguistic, social constructs. Truth, as we perceive it, is socially constructed. LOGIC AND CRITICAL THINKING Logic is centered on the analysis and construction of arguments. In the first chapter, logic is discussed as one of its main branches. Logic and critical thinking serve as paths to freedom from halftruths and deceptions. Critical thinking is distinguishing facts and opinions or personal feelings. In making rational choices, first, we suspend beliefs and judgements until all facts have been gathered and considered. We have two types of reasoning: deductive and inductive. Inductive reasoning is based on observations in order to generalize. This reasoning is often applied in prediction, in forecasting, or behavior. Deductive reasoning draws conclusion from usually one broad judgement and definition and one more specific assertion, often an interference. FALLACIES A fallacy is a defect in an argument other than it having false premises. To detect fallacies, it is required to examine the argument’s content. 1 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPY CHAPTER 2: METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING Here are some of the committed errors in reasoning and thus, coming up with false conclusion and worse, distorting the truth. APPEAL TO PITY (Argumentation and Misericordiam) A specific kind of appeal to emotion in someone tries to win support from an argument or idea by exploiting his or her opponent’s feeling of pity or guilty. APPEAL TO IGNORANCE (Argumentation and Ignorantism) Whatever has not been proved false must be true, and vice versa. EQUIVOCATION Logical chain of reasoning of a term or a word several times but giving the particular word a different meaning each time. DIVISION One reasons logically that something true of a thing must also be true of all or some of its parts. AGAINST THE PERSON (Arguentum ad hominem) Attempts to link the validity of a premise to a characteristic or belief of the person advocating the premise. Questions about personal conduct, character, motives, etc. are legitimate if relevant to the issue AGAINST TO FORCE (Arguentum ad baculum) An argument where force, coercion, or threat of force, is given as a justification for a conclusion. APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE (Arguentum ad populum) An argumentum that appeals or exploits people’s vanities, desire for self-esteem, and anchoring on popularity One commits errors if one reaches an inductive generalization based on insufficient evidence. It is based on a broad conclusion upon the statistics of a survey of a small group that fails to sufficiently represent the whole population. Begging the question (petitio principili) in which the preposition to be proven is assumed implicitly or explicitly in the premise. METHODS OF PHILOSOPHY THAT LEADS TO WISDOM AND TRUTH According to Double (1999), although philosophy is an organize body of knowledge, the subject matter of philosophy is questions, which have three major characteristics: 1. Philosophical questions have answers, but the answers remain in the dispute. 2. Philosophical questions cannot be settled by Science, common sense of faith. 3. Philosophical questions are of perennial intellectual interest to human beings. Critical thinking is the careful, reflective, rational, and systematic approach to questions of very general interest. Critical thinking means understanding of philosophy and refraining from merely giving claims but through careful thought, one reasons through argumentations. One tries to become a philosopher because one possesses and cherishes above the rest of humanity the love of wisdom which is a part of human nature and because one more reflectively and critically brings to light and examines the largest and wildest implications of the life of all human beings. For Maboloc and Pascua (2008), critical thinking is a lifelong process of self-assessment that further consists of: • • • • FALSE CAUSE Since that event followed this one, that event must have been caused by this one. This fallacy is also referred to as coincidental correlation, or correlation not causation. HASTY GENERALIZATION defining, analyzing, and devising solutions; arriving at reasonable and informed conclusion; applying, understanding and knowledge to new and different problems; willingness to say, “I don’t know”. The attributes of a critical thinker include: • • • • Look for evidence to support assumption and beliefs Looks for proof Examines problem Rejects irrelevant and incorrect information. 2