Philosophy Lesson 2: Methods of Philosophy

Teacher: Mr. Ferdie Tamayo

Distinguishing Opinion from Truth

The methods or ways of looking at truth and what will be considered as mere opinions
Phenomenology truth is based on the persons consciousness
Existentialism truth is based on exercising choices and personal freedom
Postmodernism accepted that truth is not absolute (i.e., cultural)
Logic truth is based on reasoning and critical thinking

Philosophy is the search for truth

Opinion something you believe or hold but not necessarily held by others
Example:
The earth is a sphere (truth)
I think the earth is a flat disk (opinion)

Phenomenology

Phenomenology was founded by Edmund Husserl

Edmund Husserl
1859-1938

Phenomenology focuses on careful inspection and description of phenomenon or appearance,

defined as any object of conscious experience, that is, that of which we are conscious of
The word comes from the Greek word meaning appearance
Phenomenology is the study of the essential structures of consciousness. By describing these
structures, Husserl believes that we can find certainty, which philosophy has always sought
This process entails a method, or series of continuously revised methods, for taking up a
peculiarly phenomenological standpoint; bracketing out everything that is not essential, thereby
understanding the basic rules or constitutive process through which consciousness does its work of
knowing the world
Husserls phenomenology is the thesis that consciousness is intentional; every act of
consciousness is directed at some object or another, possibly a material object or an ideal object
(e.g., mathematics)
The phenomenologist can distinguish and describe the nature of the intentional acts of
consciousness and the intentional objects of consciousness, which are defined through the content of
consciousness

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The inspection and description are supposed to be effected without any presuppositions,
including any as to whether such objects of consciousness are real or correspond to something
external, or to what their causes or consequences may be
This method uncovers the essential structures of experience and their objects
The phenomenological standpoint is achieved through a series of phenomenological reductions
that eliminate certain aspects of our experience from consideration
The first and best known is the epoche or suspension (of judgment until proven or
otherwise), in which the phenomenologist brackets all questions of truth or reality and simply
describes the contents of consciousness
The second reduction eliminates the merely empirical contents of consciousness and
focuses instead on the essential features, the meanings of consciousness
In sum, what interest the phenomenologist are the contents of consciousness, not on things of
the natural world as such

Existentialism

Unlike phenomenology, existentialism is not primarily a philosophical method. Neither is it exactly

a set of doctrines but more of an outlook or attitude supported by diverse doctrines centered on
certain common themes
Existentialist themes:
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-person (which is existence) and
the being-of-other-kinds-of-things
Human freedom
The significance (and unavoidability) of choice and decision in the absence of certainty
The concreteness and subjectivity of life as lived, against abstractions and false
objectifications
Existentialism is often thought to be antireligious, but there has been a strong current of Christian
existentialism, beginning with 19th Century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard
As the first existentialist, Kierkegaard insisted that the authentic self was the personally chosen
self, as opposed to the public herd identity

Soren Kierkegaard
1813-1855

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Existentialism, with Jean-Paul Sartre, a 20th Century French philosopher, emphasizes the
importance of free individual choice, regardless of the power of other people to influence and
coerce our desires, beliefs, and decisions

Jean-Paul Sartre
1905-1980

Postmodernism

Postmodernism has come into vogue as the name for a rather diffuse family of ideas and trends
that in significant respect rejects, challenges, or aims to supersede modernity; the convictions,
aspirations, and pretensions of modern Western thought and culture since the Enlightenment
Postmodernism is not a philosophy
Postmodernists believe that humanity should come at truth beyond the rational to the non-rational
elements of human nature, including the spiritual
Postmodernists consider that to arrive at truth, humanity should realize the limits of reason and
objectivism

Portland Building (1982), by architect

Michael Graves, an example
of Postmodern architecture

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Analytic Tradition

Can language objectively describe truth?

For the philosophers of this tradition, language cannot objectively describe truth
For Ludwig Wittgenstein, a 20th Century Austrian philosopher, language is socially conditioned

Ludwig Wittgenstein
1889-1959

We understand the world solely in terms of our language games that is, our linguistic, social
constructs
Analytical philosophy is the conviction that to some significant degree, philosophical problems,
puzzles, and errors are rooted in language and can be solved or avoided by a sound understanding
of language and careful attention to its workings
Analysis refers to a method ; owing a great deal to the pioneers, Bertrand Russell, G.E. Moore,
J.L. Austin, and Wittgenstein

Bertrand Russell
1872-1980

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Logic

Logic is centered in the analysis and construction of arguments

Logic and critical thinking serve as paths to freedom from half-truths and all-out deceptions
Critical thinking is distinguishing facts and opinions or personal feelings
Though facts are important, critical thinking also takes into consideration cultural systems, values,
and beliefs
In general, there are two types of reasoning:
Inductive reasoning based on observations to make generalizations, for example,
predictions or forecasting
Deductive reasoning draws conclusions from usually one broad judgment or definition
and one more specific assertion

Aristotle
384BC-322BC

Fallacies:
Appeal to pity an attempt to win support for an argument by exploiting feelings of pity
or guilt
Appeal to ignorance whatever has not been proven false must be true, and vice versa
Equivocation a logical chain of reasoning of a term or word several times, but giving a
different meaning each time
Composition infers that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of
some part of the whole
Division something true of a thing must also be true for all or some of its parts
Against the person linking the validity of a premise to a characteristic of the person
advocating the premise
Appeal to force force, coercion, or the threat of force is given as a justification for a
conclusion
Appeal to the people appeals or exploits peoples vanities, desire for esteem, and
anchoring on esteem
False cause since the event followed this one, that event must have been caused by
this one
Hasty generalization an inductive generalization based on insufficient evidence
Begging the question the proposition to be proven is assumed implicitly or explicitly in
the premise

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Analyze situations that Show the Difference Between Opinion and Truth

Words have cognitive meaning if the purpose of the sentence is to inform or state a fact
Words also have emotive meaning, they may also have emotive whether positive or negative
overtones
Con artists take advantage of the emotive side of language
Ignorance can be cloaked in a false aura of authority

Realize that Methods of Philosophy Lead to Wisdom and Truth

The subject matter of philosophy is questions, which have three major characteristics:
Philosophical questions have answers, but the answers remain in dispute
Philosophical questions cannot be settled by science, common sense, or faith
Philosophical questions are of perennial interest to human beings
The method used by philosophers to address philosophical questions is critical thinking
Critical thinking is the careful, reflective, rational, and systematic approach to questions of very
general interests
Critical thinking means understanding philosophy and refraining from merely giving claims but
through careful thought, one reasons through argumentation
Attributes of a critical thinker:
Looks for evidence to support assumptions and beliefs
Adjusts opinions
Looks for proof
Examines problems
Rejects irrelevant and incorrect information

Evaluate Opinions

An opinion can be a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce certainty
It is a personal view, attitude, or appraisal or personal feelings
Asking relevant questions, assessing arguments and statements, looking for evidence to support
assumption and beliefs, and deciding rationally whether to believe or not are important to evaluate
opinions

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