Chapter
1
DOING
PHILOSOP
What is
Philosophy?
Comes from a Greek
Philosophia means the
word
“love of wisdom”.
Plato
Socrates Aristotle
Western
Philosophy
Socrates
Socrates was born about 470
B.C. in Athens, Greece. His
appearance was frequently
described as grotesque. He was
short, thick-set, and ugly. His
clothes were old and poor, which
Socrates
However, these descriptions
have something to do with his
philosophy. His looks were the
least of his concern because
one’s intellectual activity is far
more important for him.
Socrates
This is why, despite his
undesirable physical features,
many young men would still
gather around him to learn from
his intelligent discussions.
Indeed, his philosophy emanated
Socrates
Socrates, as some scholars
would argue, was never
concerned about philosophy in
the academic sense. His way of
doing philosophy was by making
dialogues with various people.
Socrates
His concern was to discuss with
them profound ideas, such as
justice, virtues, morality, life,
and death. The philosophy of
Socrates was focused on getting
at the answers to the questions
Socrates
Consequently, he helped many
people examine how they lived
and understood their lives
because, for him, “An
unexamined life is not worth
living" (Tarrant, 2010).
Socrates
Unfortunately, Socrates was
charged with corrupting the
minds of the youth. It can be
said that his manner of doing
philosophy became the cause of
his death. In the end, he willfully
Plato
One of the students who
gathered around Socrates was
Plato. He was born on about 428
and died about 347 B.C. It is said
that Plato served as a transcriber
of the past. This means that he
Plato
Contrary to some critics who
argued that Plato merely copied
other thinkers' thoughts, Plato
was, of the highest degree, an
original thinker. His
appropriations of Socrates's
Plato
Through Plato’s works, the
thoughts of the past have
become ostensible and vibrant in
his new and original principles
(Stace, 2010).
Plato
One of Plato's famous stories
and allegories is called the
"Allegory of the Cave," which can
be found in his book The
Republic. The allegory of the
Cave explains the two worlds of
Plato
For example, consider the digital
world as the “unreal world,”
while the actual world is the
“real world”. What appears on
social media is only a picture or
a copy of the real; hence, unreal.
Plato
In Facebook, if there are
fraudulent cases that go viral,
the authority's primary impulse
is to look for the person behind
such actions, not the person that
appears on the screen or device.
Plato
Although the person's digital
account may be taken down, the
one who would suffer the
consequences is the person
responsible, not the copy of
himself. Thus, the human
Plato
Plato's way of doing philosophy
sought to solve the question of
the real and unreal. In other
words, it seeks the truth. One
sometimes is tempted to capture
a copy of something since the
Plato
For Plato, the truth is often
forgotten at birth. However, a
recollection of such truth
happens when we encounter
actual objects.
Aristotle
Aristotle was born about 384
B.C. He studied under Plato, and
later on, put up his school called
Lyceum. There were only a few
of Aristotle’s works that
survived. However, from his
Aristotle
Aristotle learned much of Plato’s
philosophy but the path he took
was different from his mentor’s
interests.
Aristotle
For one, he opposed Plato’s
Theory of Forms. He did not
reject the idea of the form itself
but claims that Plato was more
concerned with the abstract,
referring to the world of ideas
Aristotle
Thus, he maintained that things
can be known and proven using
the senses and the faculty of
reason (S. M. Cohen et al.,
2016).
Aristotle
Aristotle put forward the notion
that the forms have two
categories, namely, the
substance and accidents. A
substance can subsist on its
own, while accidents need
Aristotle
Unlike Plato's theory of forms,
the form for Aristotle exists in
this world, which has substance
and accidents.
Aristotle
To elucidate Aristotle's ideas, let
us take this example: as a
human person, you are
composed of body and mind.
Having these two as your
substance, it is expected from
Aristotle
What you become by using your
capacity would be the accident
of your being; either you become
a priest, doctor, policeman or
fireman. But your substance,
that is, being a human person
Aristotle
Aristotle did not reject the idea
of the form itself. Aristotle
purports to convey that Plato
was concerned with the abstract,
referring to the world of ideas
that can only be reached by
Aristotle
Aristotle introduced his ideas
about empirical evidence or
things that can be achieved and
proven by using the senses.
Centuries later, this was picked
up by St. Thomas Aquinas who
Aristotle
Unlike Plato, Aristotle did not
subscribe to innate ideas. (S. M.
Cohen et al., 2016)
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
believed that human beings are
endowed with reason. This
rational capacity facilitates a
person to discover his/her true
potentials.
As students, you dream of becoming
a better version of yourself and a
successful human person someday.
You know for a fact that if you use
your intelligence and capacity to
learn new things, it will eventually
bring you somewhere in the world.
For instance, if you want to become
Who and What am
I?
Chapter
1
DOING
PHILOSOP
Buddhism
Indian
Confucianis Philosoph
m
y
Eastern
Philosop
hy
Confuciani
sm
Being one of the greatest
traditions in ancient China,
Confucianism started by Kongzi or
Confucius over 2500 years ago.
He was born about 551 B.C. in
Tuo, and died about 479 B.C. in
Qufu. Confucianism includes a
Confucianism attempts to craft a
philosophy of peace that could
conceivably reach every corner of
the world, guided by the aim to
restore peace among men and
nations.
Confucius believed that if a leader
sets a good example to his
constituents, to his family, and
people with whom he would have
a relationship, they, in turn, will
do the same. This, for him, could
For this reason, Confucianism is
considered a social philosophy
that is grounded on the
assumption that proper social and
political behavior is cultivated in
the family. For him, the love and
This philosophy is connected to
the common idea today, which
says that peace starts at home.
Confucianism has similarities with
the Filipinos’ concept and
experience of family. Filipinos
have close family ties. Even if
there’s a feud within the family, a
Real changes should start from
the top, from the brightest, and
the ruling class to realize societal
reforms. Moreover, for Confucius,
a good ruler should have perfect
virtue. If a ruler is like a sage
He wrote three principles that a
ruler should abide by: “First,
manifest a clear character,
second, show concern for the
people, and third, aim for the
highest good. Under this mode of
thinking, morality and politics are
To know the human person as a
potential leader, one must go
back to the question of character,
which presupposes that a person
has inculcated in his being some
essential virtues.
Two notable Confucian virtues are
expected from each and every
human being of character. First is
Jen (ren), which means human
heartedness, which denotes a
compassionate person. The
second is called Yi, or
Remember that these two virtues
are the sources of other virtues.
The Chung Tzu or Junzi means
that a gentleman should possess
the virtue of Jen and Yi. In other
words, a human person
And since a Chung Tzu or a
gentleman bears the possibility of
becoming a leader, becoming a
superior is not because of one’s
status in the social hierarchy, but
because of his knowledge of the
Buddhis
m
Buddhism is a living tradition
whose roots can be traced from
the life and teachings of
Siddharta Gautama, who is also
known as the historical Buddha.
Buddhism is anchored on the idea
that human person lives in
suffering and that he should
Human beings naturally cling to
things that are impermanent and
changing due to our self-centered
pursuit of happiness. However,
the human person experiences
aging, sickness, and death, which
Buddhism teaches that “all
phenomena are conditioned,
transitory, devoid of any
‘essence’ or ‘self’ that remains
unchanged over time.” This
means that a person is composed
of different causal patterns rather
Moreover, Buddhism teaches the
Four Noble Truths. The first noble
truth is that human life is
pervaded by suffering. Second,
suffering is a result of craving.
Third, there is a state of freedom
from suffering - called Nirvana -
that we can all attain by realizing
Right View: It consists of
knowing the noble truths and
Buddha's teaching as a whole.
Right Resolve: It consists of the
intention to renounce sexual
drive and the intention of non-
ill-will, and non-cruelty.
Right Action: It means not
killing living beings, not taking
what is not given, and avoiding
misconduct in sexual pleasures.
Right Livelihood: It consists of
the resolve not to earn one's
living in a way that violates the
Right Effort: It means
eliminating and preventing
unwholesome states and
develop meditative practice.
Right Mindfulness: It includes
various contemplations of the
body, feelings, and mind.
Another fundamental feature of
Buddha’s ethical teaching is
“Karma and Rebirth”. “It is said
that on the night of his
enlightenment, the Buddha had
attained the three kinds of “true
knowledge": First, knowledge of
past lives. Second, the cycle of
We have adopted the word karma
in the Filipino (Visayan) language,
often with a bad connotation.
Thus, “Makarma pa unta ka”
would mean “may bad things
befall on you.” Karma is often
used interchangeably with “gaba”
when we say “magabaan pa unta
This physical world we are living
in now is full of complicated and
distinct ideas. Things could be
rough, and some people would be
unforgivable to us, especially
when we have caused pain and
The freedom from pain and
suffering may be so elusive when
we lack the knowledge of easing
ourselves from it. As we
experience sadness, sorrow,
disappointments, heartbreaks,
and many other negative things
Buddhism is neither optimistic nor
pessimistic, but rather realistic as
it describes life as it is. Yes, life
includes suffering. However, it
also teaches that we can attain
freedom from suffering through
total non-attachment. In other
Indian
Philosoph
y
Indian philosophy responds to the
question, "Who am I?" This
question goes into the deeper
meaning of the self. Many
scholars argue that, like
Buddhism, Indian Philosophy is
essentially spiritual. It is said that
But this philosophy is also associated
with practice in everyday life. This is
why Indian philosophy is pursued not
as an academic endeavor but rather
as a vital guide to one’s life.
The manner of living a life is the
principal priority in Indian philosophy.
It promotes a reflective approach to
reality. The physical world is not as
important as the knowledge of the
inner self. Thus, the common theme of
all schools of Indian Philosophy is to
“see the self”. The realization of the
The theoretical aspect of living is
augmented with the obvious praxis of
living. Thus, the philosophy devoid of
praxis is futile. One needs his mental
capabilities to face this sophisticated
world bravely. Still, if one fails to see
the value of his/her inner self, the
Each human person has something in
his/her mind to pursue. This idea of
something enables the person to
direct himself/herself to a certain
goal.
A student trying to cope with the
rapid dynamic change of technology,
but lacks the resources, tends to do
undesirable things, like stealing to
provide the caprices or hurting people
just to feed one's ego. Consider a
teenager who wants another
smartphone but his parents could not
In so doing, he/she forgets the real
situation; he/she refuses to care about
his/her parents' feelings. The device
probably will make him/her happy,
most especially when it has become a
ticket for him/her to be accepted in
However, a series of questions will
hunt him/her after pursuing his/her
wants, e.g., does having a thing
ultimately make him/her a better
person? Does being attached to the
world enable him/her to examine
himself/herself? And is it worth it to
Indian Philosophy reminds us that the
physical world is not as important as
knowing the inner self and the right
practices of living.
The brand of philosophizing in Indian
philosophy, making it an essential
enterprise, is fundamentally centered
on the notion of the self. For this
discipline, the value of the self is the
paramount priority.
Consequently, there are two of the
most pivotal issues in Indian
Philosophy that one should encounter
in studying their philosophy, namely,
the nature of causation, and the
nature of the self. It has been
acknowledged in their philosophy that
one of the central metaphysical
PERFORMANCE TASK 1 (Long Coupon
Bond)
1. Elucidate the line of Socrates, "An
unexamined life is not worth living.”
2. Compare and contrast the
Philosophy of Plato from Aristotle.
3. What are the commonalities of
Western Philosophy with Eastern
4. Articulate at least five questions
from your everyday life that you want
to inquire about. How are these
questions connected to the various
philosophical ideas presented in the
chapter?
5. As a Filipino, what kind of
philosophizing you are inclined to