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Chapter 1

Logic

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11 views6 pages

Chapter 1

Logic

Uploaded by

Joseph Orellano
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
Chapter 1 PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC . ee yrRoDUCTION The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cock and the intelligent are full of ache ~ Bertrand Russell Human beings tend not to be very good at reasoning logicalh It doesn't come naturally to us. We make mistakes. And it's a ae nat argument surrounds us. It plays with our emotions, changes our attitude, talks us into a decision and lures us to something ynthought-of. Argument lies behind political labeling, advertising jorgon. voices, gestures and guilt trips; it forms a real-life matrix, the supreme software that drives our social lives. And rhetoric serves as arguments decoder. By teaching the tricks we use to persuade one another, the art of persuasion reveals the matrix in all its manipulative glory. There is a need to recapture the joy of understanding life, of examining Our place under the sun. Reading this book will expose you toa wide range of possibilities in life, and of challenging ideas and issues. Philosophy has striven to give a comprehensive answer ese challenging problems and has continued fo bring a fresh to th oe spit of urgency and optimism to this awesome world of philosophicol inquiry. It begins not in certainty but in doubt, not in judgment but in questions. In this book, | encourage you to always keep the inquiry real. This is the invitation of philosophy: Dare to know the truth. Give Philosophy and Logic a try. | tell you, you'll never regret it. DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY Philosophy is not merely another field of learning. It serves as a framework for all knowledge, and its study is invaluable for acquiring the skill of critical thinking that is the mark of a well educated person. It also serves as a way of integrating knowledge. Chapter 1 - Philosophy and Logie The term * ophy" was invented by Pythagoras, a g Philosopher, tnaepied that there are three types of man: g lk of Pleasure, g jover of success, and a lover of wisdom; the ig According to him, is the superior type. The word comes from 4p” Greek philig, which means love, and sophia which means wisdo, 8 Philosophy, therefore. literally means, “love of wisdom”. It gives th impression of someone who is seeking wisdom, not one who p,~ found it, thus we would only call someone a Physicist, say, if on Actually had some knowledge of physics; but we call someong Philosopher if he is one who is aiming at wisdom with . Necessarily achieving it. Pythagoras, as ancient tradition lai 7 thought that man could never perfectly Possess a comprehengi,., Understanding of all that is meant by wisdom but is only A Continuous and ardent pursuit of it. As it is said, only God can, a led wise. We can only be lovers of wisdom: we can never be call wise. Philosophy, in its real definition, is the science of all things y their first causes as known in light of reason. We shall now this definition. discus, a. Philosophy as Science The word science comes ftom the Latin verb scire, whjg means to know. Science, however. is not just any king : knowledge: it is a scientific knowledge. Now, a scienting knowledge is knowledge of causes of things. Someone truly hy fy the science of something only if one has knowledge of its causee To advance in one's understanding, the “why" of things must be addressea, not merely the “what”, The mere knowledge that ice t cold and that stone is hard, for example, is not science. Byt the knowledge why ice is cold and why stone is hard is science. We know only the fact, then we have mere knowledge of it but if oe know the reasons for the fact, then what we have is scientific knowledge. When a person knows the causes of things, one has attaineg certitude. Cerfitude is the natural result of knowing not only the facts but also their causes. Now since scientific knowledge i, knowledge of causes, it must, therefore, be certain. It is not mere) an opinion, a conjecture or a belief. Rather, it is a cen, knowledge that results from an analysis of Causes of things, wis jt therefore mean that all the findings of science possess certitudee No, we do not mean to say this. What we only say is that certitug and not mere probability, is what we want to achieve. Astronomy Chapter 1 - Philosophy and Logle 3 evertheless, Unlike the instance: has theories that are uncertain; ,, for in: my is still regarded as a science because gsttone! mythologies, it aims at certitude and no; mi jon inion or belief. Itis impossible for any humgr "eo! developing to arrive at cerfitude in its initial slonee tno! eof science os cognifo per causas ('a knowied, the definl gttained by an investigation of their causes") strictly pie = jnings ON nce in its perfect, ful-blown stage, os on ae regard, we can say that philosophy is a science decays In ys to acquire the knowledge of the causes of things. It ¢ . irsee! “ton opinion or belief but pursues the causes of thine: r ver, when philosophy reaches its final stage and brings ison more rfectiOn. it attains absolute certitude. 40 P Philosophy as the Science of All Things le Tel ne stil b. losophical enterprise deals with all intellectual endeavors. A t matter of philosophy is so vast; it is limited only by the ity of the human mind to ask new questions and to late old ones in some novel way. formugophy is the science of things. But what kind of thingse resophy deals with concrete. real, contingent things. Many are rrhe belief that philosophy deals only with the abstract that is of ‘ond the physical. But this is not completely true. It is true that C eye ake use of abstract concepts in philosophy but only to aid us bid ur understanding of concrete things. o what is this concrete, real, contingent thing? It is a thing that is not sell-existent. A being that is not self-existent owes its existence fe something other than itself. itis that which has its own cause for its existence. And this is precisely what philosophy concems itself with: not only that things are but also why things are. In the analysis of the definition of contingent being, it is only God that is excluded in its scope since by definition, God is considered a Necessary Being, one whose existence depends on itself. Philosophy is the science of all contingent things. Does this mean that God is outside the scope of Philosophy? Not at alll We have to understand that the main subject matter of philosophy is not God but contingent being, as only a contingent being has its cause. But the consideration of God enters into the picture because contingent beings cannot be understood without positing the existence of this self-sufficient Being we call God. The inclusion of God, therefore, in this whole philosophical enterprise. Phil subjec capac! Wie, "TO. 4 Chapter 1 - Philosophy and Logic Oses “not on gecount of God, but on account Of the wp, ole Contingent worig." ©. Philosophy as Known in Light of Reason | __ Philosophy is the science of all things by theit fit causes kn in light of natural reason. The italicized phrase means Own Philosophy seeks the first causes of things as far as they cq, thoy || (ationatly established by the human mind unaided by pj, Pe Revelation. ‘ving The branch of philosophy that deals with God is Ng, Theology (Theodicy), a subject that is distinct from Revetuar Theology. The former studies God not by faith, but by rend lone; the latter treats of God not by reason, but by faith, Nate” | Theology treats of contingent beings as its principal subject may! | and secondarily treats of God as the first Cause of the exislena | these contingent beings. Revealed Theology, on the other Nike treats of God as its principal subject matter, and secondarily 4, of contingent beings as His effects. : There is no opposition in the realms of Natural Theolog Revealed Theology. In fact, faith and reason can co-exist . Paul I in his encyclical Fides ef Ratio which was released ino middle of October 1998, treated of the compatibilly of faith ¢°® reason when he said: end Cats The fundamental harmony between the knowledge of icy and the knowledge of philosophy is once again contin!” Faith asks that ifs object be understood with the help of rene | and at the summit of ils searching reason acknowledges tno” cannot do without what faith presents. (Fides et Ratio, 42) 1" A philosopher uses his power of logic. reason i ; " . |, percepti interpretation in order to make a more qualified judgment ee making the ‘leap of faith’ in a given ditection. This doar ee! eradicate the need for faith but rather removes the uncertaint is! Y of which faith to accept, and gives the falth isnot unfounded, Sie, aol DivisiONs oF PHILOSOPHY Phi in is llosophical inquiry is divided into major branches based on the objects th h oph\ ey address, The di a: aa iscipline of philo: ‘ditionally been broken into six main branches or reas of Hf ; yy: —. Chapter 1 - Philosophy and Logic etaphysics is the study of reality (beings Ond Being) «_ of the questions that Metaphysics deals with are: (a) yw, the ultimate reality? (b) Is reality one or many Gitte ® things? (c) Can reality be grasped by the senses o, . transcendent? (d}) What is a substance? Wha} se accidents? Epistemolo! is the study of validity Of Huma, gnowiedge. AMONG the questions that EpisteMOlogy deg, with are: (2) What is knowledge? (b) Is knowledge SCQUiteq wclusvely through the senses or by some other means? (c} row do we know that what we perceive through OUF senses ” > is corect? ethics is the study of the morality of human act. Some Of the vestions treated by thé field of Ethics are: (a) What is morally sight? (b) Are there any objective standards of right Mad wrong? (c) Are moral values absolute or relative? Logic is the study of correct reasoning, Logic is the basic tool that philosophers use to investigate reality. Among the questions raised by Logic are: (a) What makes an argument valid or invalid? (b) What is a sound argument? (c) What is the difference between truth ond validity? Cosmoloay is the science of the universe. Its questions are oe What are space and time? (b) How is the world related 10 human beings? (c} Is the world created or has it existed frorr all eternity? i A ernie theodicy '5 0 Phil losophical study of God. Questions it raises are the following: (a) Does God exist? (b) What are the proofs for God's existence? (c) What is the problem of evil? id) How do we reconcile the existence of a benevolent God nd the unmerited misery in the world? v these broad divisions are a number of sub-disciplines of The most fully developed of these is Philosophy of 'e also have Philosophy of History, Philosophy of Religion # Law, Philosophy of Education, Philosophy of Art, and within philosophy. science. W' Philosophy | many others METHOD OF PHILOSOPHY Philosophy accomplishes knowledge of the world by means of human reason, This human reason is the method used by philosophy in inquiring about the nature of things. Her counterpart. God and the world on the basis of a Theology, treats of ee ee : Chapter 1 - Philosophy and Logic SuPematural revelation. Even though Philosophy is o progy, Ch eQK0n, it is not a creature of dangerous rationalism. for re! Of Ns ‘Self is an integral part of man's makeup. ®n OBJECT AND Goal OF PHILOSOPHY The object and goal of philosophy becomes clearer when i Compared with other sciences. Like them. philosophy is knowieg. Of the cause of things, but in a very special way. For aly gs Sciences are particular science because they Concern themsej\* With just @ port of really and look for the Causes Operative win the one restricted area of the real. Philosophy. however, ig" Universal science because it considers the totality of realty invesigates the basic causes of all beings. The oim of phlosgor is not this ruth oF that truth, my truth oF your truth, but "the tru! The truth that philosophy searches for is @ truth that applies tg People Gt ll times. This truth has been refered to gy. transcendent truth. : MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT PHILOSOPHY While "many philosophy textbooks offer varied definitions philosophy, very few examine some misconceptions abot Philosophy. Uniess they are resolved we can never make eu Progress. Let's have some of these misconceptions. i Misconception #1, Philosophy makes no progress. Comment: “Stop Philosophizing. | don't want to waste my timer Argument: People think that when one engages in Philosophy, one simply wastes his time. Philosophy, after all, never makes any Progress. Philosophers are arguing about some of the pale Aestions that concemed the ancient Greeks: “What is truth ‘and Now does one distinguish it from falsehood?" “How con disagreements be rationally settled?" like these are still being deb: Philosophical progress at alll Response: 1) ond fight ing Ne tuth is that by watching philosophers lock hoins wrestle in an interdisciplinary intell pa y intellectual‘arena of ‘ pate does no!’ mean that philosophy is a waste of lime and thot © Progress. Even wher philosophers debate on the Moral If the answers 10 questions ‘ated today, then there has been no Chapter 1 - Philosophy and Logic 7 ;s to some questions. they hope that their discussions clarify gnsWer sand highligh! useful techniques for pursuing the topics Un provides Us better oppreciation of subllely and prios0P i of the issues wilh which philosophers are struggling, comPle"'in a debate harnesses the full communicative powers cf Engg exchange by identiying basic issues clantying ec. fying assuMpLIONS, and testing arguments for depth tency. Doesn't this spell progresse ions. | osilio peg consi Misconception #2 Philosophers disagree with one another, ment; Philosophers seldom, if ever, agree with each other com sent iftefutable arguments in support of their and cannot Pre’ opment: In every period, philosophers have challenged their “arguments. They have not only disagreed about predecessor coswers given to philosophical questions they have 0 been unable !o agree among themselves about the eture of philosophy t while phil Re: The truth is that while philosophers seldom, it ever Lee ‘one another this is due to the fact that philosophers agree wil interested in issues about which there és little consensus tend te De mronceming themselves with areas of agreement Instead Of

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