LESSON 2:

METHODS OF
PHILOSOPHIZING
Lesson Objectives

1. Distinguish opinion from truth

2. Analyze situations that shows the difference
between opinion and truth.
3. Realize that the methods of philosophy leads
to rational thinking, wisdom, and truth.
4. Evaluate opinions; and
5. Apply the theories of critical thinking in
making strong and valid decisions.
Methods of Philosophizing
This section shall introduce methods or
ways of looking at truth and what will be
considered as mere “opinions”.

PHILOSOPHIZING – is to think or express

oneself in a rational and logical manner.
 In today’s society, we encounter a lot of information

• Media and our interactions with our friends,

family, and members of the community.
• Most of the information we receive is helpful,
but some may mislead us or may even be utterly
false.
• Every day we are confronted with news,
claims and announcements from our peers,
family members, figures of authority, the
government, and media.
• How do we know if they telling the truth?

4
 In today’s society, we encounter a lot of information

• Philosophers often wrestle with the concept of

truth.
• Knowledge must be truthful to gain validity
and acceptance.
• For example, when we answer a “True or False”
test, we judge if the statements we read are
true or false. This means that statements may
have truth or may not have truth.
• Statements about the world or reality are
called “propositions” and these propositions
may or may not carry truth. Propositions are
usually stated as short statements
5
or sentences.
WHAT IS TRUTH
& WHY IS IT
IMPORTANT?

6
1.
KNOWLEDGE
 The clear awareness and understanding of
something. It is the product of questions that
allow for clear answers provided by facts.
 Our knowledge is comprised of ideas and
beliefs that we know to be true.
 “
I know that...
I know
why... I
know how...

One important aspect of knowledge- it is based on

reality. This simply means that what we know is
what is observable or evident in the real world.
2.
facts

 Propositions or statements which

are observed to be real or truthful
 “
Example: “I know that fish live in water.”

How do we know?

Because fish really do live in water.

9
3.
CLAIM
 Statements that are not evidently or
immediately known to be true
 They require further examination to
establish whether it is true or
false.
 “
Example:
“I know that my school is the best school in the
city.”

You may know that reading is a better activity than

playing basketball but the truth of your statement
will be contested by other people.
12
How do we know if something is TRUE?

■ Ancient Greek Philosophers approached the

problem of truth by looking at the nature
of knowledge and how we know what we
know.
■ We assume that everything we know about
this world is true. But philosophers who
pondered upon the origins of knowledge
doubted everything there is to know
about themselves and the world.

13
EXAMPLE:
■ I am alive.
■ I have a body.
■ I can breathe.
14
 Doubt has very important purpose in philosophy

■As it drives our desire to discover truth. In

philosophy, systematic doubt is employed to
determine truth. This means that every
statement, claim, evidence, and is scrutinized
and analysed.
■Nothing is taken as true unless there is
sufficient reason and evidence to prove that
is indeed true.

15
EXAMPLE:
■ Am I alive?
■ Do I have a body?
■ Can I breathe?
16
 Now, Examine yourself

■Do you have a pulse? Can you feel your

heartbeat?
■ Do you have arms, legs and feet?
■Try to take a deep breath, then exhale.
Were you ble to do it?
■If your answer is “yes” then you
can conclude with certainty that.....

17
you can now say...
■ I am alive!
■ I have a body!
■ I can breathe!
18
 1.
A BELIEF is true if...
it can be justified or provE THROUGH
the use of one’s senses.

19
EXAMPLE:
■ I am a Filipino.
Can we use our senses to prove this
satements as fact?
20
 We can look at a dictionary

■ Filipino (noun):
-A native of the Philipine Island.
-A citizen of the Reublic of the
Philippines

21
 2.
A BELIEF is true if...
it is based on facts.

22
Are you now convinced that you
are a filipino?
If not....

23
We can try the following...

Look for
Ask your official
parents
or other
relatives.
& document
s that
prove you
are a
Filipino.

24
 �
�
When all of your family members
answered “Yes!”...
Then you are a Filipino.

25
 3.
A BELIEF is true if...
you Get a consensus and people agree on
a common belief.
26
BUT
this approach has certain limitations.

Getting everyone agree on

something
may not make that belief true.

27
 4.
A BELIEF is true if...
there are official documents/ supporting
facts.
28
Looking at official documents

Birthcertifiate Since it is BUT,

shows factual issued by an
information istitution that
this also
regarding your the has a
birth. documens limitation
are truthful.

29
EVIDENCE
especially documents can be forged or
falsified.

A person may be issued

with documents
but it may contain wrong information
or typographical error.
30
if your name is mispelled in your
birthcertificate
DOES YOUR IDENTITY CHANGE?

31
Example:
 I can ride a bike/ Can I ride a
bike?
 I can fry an egg/ Can I fry an egg?
32
 How will you prove that you can really cook an egg?

■The obvious answer would be, is to

actually ride it cook it.--- BUT, some would
argue that the proof is not only in the act but
also in the product.
■This means that you should not only show
that you can fry an egg but that also you can
make delicious fried eggs.

33
 5.
A BELIEF is true if...
a person can prove a statement through
an action.
34
 6.
philosophers argue that a bELIEF is true if...
it is subjected to tests to determine the
truth

35
2nd JOURNAL
OUTPUT
Apply systematic doubt
in analyzing the
PAGE: 25
following sentences.

36
 Let us Analyze…

1. It takes me 30 minutes to walk from my home to

school.
2. Living near the school is better because we
don’t have to spend much for transportation.
3. My sister ate the last piece of pizza.
4. My sister is a selfish person because she ate the
last piece and didn’t share it with me.
5. The police firmly pushed the suspect to his
kneed and placed him in handcuffs.
6. The aggressive manner by which the police
arrested the suspect is an example of brutality
that characterizes our p3o6 lice force.
Which of the following statements are
similar?
Let's rearrange them.
 Which column has statements that are more factual?

Living near the school is

It takes me 30 minutes to walk
better because we don’t
from my home to school.
have to spend much for
transportation.

.
OPINION
FACTUAL

39
How can philosophy guide us
in distinguishing truth from
opinion?
OPINION

 Comprised of statements which not

only give facts but also provide
conclusions or perspectives regarding
certain situations.
 They may advance a belief about
certain things or provide
explanations.
 The bases for making arguments
and convincing people that a
certain claim is a fact. They are
often influenced by bias.
CONCLUSION
 Judgement based on certain facts.
beliefs
 Statements that express convictions that are not
easily and clearly explained by facts.
 To judge the truthfulness of a belief, we must also
consider things such as the person’s experiences
and views.
beliefs
 Example: “I believe that God put me on this Earth
to spread his message of love.”
Explanation
 Statements that assume the claim to be true and
provide reasons why the statement is true.
 Example: Statement 4: My sister is selfish
because...
Arguments
 Series of statements that provide reasons to convince
the reader or listener that a claim or opinion is
truthful.
 They often take the form of statements that are
either claims of facts and are phrased in such a way
that they seem reasonable.
Arguments
 Example: Encountered in formal debates.
LOGIC
- Is the branch of philosophy that focuses on the
analysis of arguments.
3rd JOURNAL
OUTPUT
A. Imagine that you are part
of the conversation, how will
you react to the statements?
PAGE: 28-29
B. Give a reaction to the
article Describe how you will
determine the truth of the
claims given

49
What should we
consider when
looking at
ARGUMENTS or
OPINIONS?
50
Arguments
 Series of statements that provide reasons to convince
the reader or listener that a claim or opinion is
truthful.
 However, a number of arguments may be based on
faulty reasoning.
FALLACY
(Kamalian)

 An idea that a lot of people think is true but is

in fact false
 A misleading argument
 FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE
Ad hominem Attacking the person Of course he believes that the
instead of the government is flawed, he is a
argument itself rebel and a Communist

Ad baculum Using the threat of force If you do not agree with my

(appeal to force) or an undesirable event political opinions, you will
to advance an argument receive flat 70 on your
Ad misericordiam Using emotions such as cYaorudc.ant fire me, I have a
(appeal to pity) pity and sympathy
wife and 12 kids who will
go hungry if I lose this job.
Ad populum The idea is presented as
Every boy your age already has
(appeal to majority acceptable because a
a girlfriend, you should go
or bandwagon) lot of people accept it
find one!
Ad antiquitatem The idea is acceptable Marriage has traditionally been
(appeal to because it has been between a man and a woman;
tradition) true for a long time therefore, gay marriage should
not be allowed.
Ad verecundiam ‘misusing’ an 4 out of 5 dentists agree that brushing your
(appeal to authority teeth makes your life meaningful.
Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and
authority) perhaps the foremost expert in the field, says
that evolution is true. Therefore, it's true.
 FALLACY CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE
Fallacy of Assuming that what is true Each brick in that building weighs less than
a pound. Therefore, the building weighs
Composition of a part is true for the less than a pound.
whole Hydrogen is not wet. Oxygen is not wet.
Therefore, water (H2O) is not wet.

You come from a family of doctors and lawyers! Surely,

Fallacy of Division Assuming that what is true you can do better in this course!
for the whole is true for its I heard that the Catholic Church was involved in a sex
scandal cover-up. Therefore, my 102-year-old Catholic
parts neighbor, who frequently attends Church, is guilty as
well!
Hasty The generalization is You can't speak French. I can’t
Generalization reached too hastily. There speak French. Carla can't speak
are too few instances or French; therefore, nobody in this
evidences to support such a school can speak French.
conclusion.

Post Hoc Assuming a ‘cause-and- Every time you wear your red
(false cause) effect’ relationship scarf, you cry. You should
between unrelated events get rid of it.
BIAS (PAGKILING)
 The personal views of the person presenting it.
 They are not necessarily errors in reasoning, but
refer to tendencies or influences which affect
the views of people.
 BIAS CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE
Correspondence Tendency to judge a The soldiers who fought
bias person’s personality by in the war are all
(Fundamental his/her actions bloodthirsty murderers.
attribution without regard for
error) external factors or
situations
Confirmation bias the tendency to look for How can I accept his view
and accept information in that there is no God? I am a
a way that confirms one's Christian!
own beliefs and reject
ideas that go against it
 BIAS CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE
Conflict of interest A person or group is As the daughter of the
connected to or has a accused, I believe that I have
vested interest in the right to express my
the issue opinion on the issue of his
alleged corrupt practices.
Cultural bias Analyzing an event or I do not agree with this
issue based on one’s Western practice of placing
cultural standards the elderly in retirement
homes.
We Filipinos take care of
Framing Focusing on a certain oPurerlifmaimnaliryymeveimdeb
aspect of a problem
while ignoring other necsre.has still not pointed
aspects out the actual cause of the
plane crash, but
investigators are currently
focusing on the possibility
of pilot error.
Hindsight Is when, after an event When you put a glass on the
(knew-it-all-along occurs, we feel we edge of a table and you start
phenomenon) already knew what was cleaning and bumped the glass
going to happen and it fell to the ground and
 HOW CAN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE
DIFFERNCE BETWEEN TRUTH AND
OPINION LEAD US TO WISDOM?
 Understanding of opinions and facts and the
means to distinguish one from the other
can further improve our understanding and
appreciation of varied views and ideas.
The ability to determine truth goes hand
in hand with the holistic perspective and
enables us to make wiser decisions,
especially in choosing the ideas and views
which we find acceptable.
58
 HOW CAN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE
DIFFERNCE BETWEEN TRUTH AND
OPINION LEAD US TO WISDOM?
 An individual cannot live his or her life
just agreeing with everybody he or she
meets. A
critical mind aided by philosophy can help us form
our own personal point of view that can guide us
in making decisions and actions when faced with a
problem.
 Philosophy can help us determine ideas that are
truthful and acceptable which we can then use
to form our own views regarding certain
matters.
59
 Let us imagine several individuals reacting to a
news in television and radio about teh recent
killings of drug pushers and addicts throughout the
country

MANG ATTY. MACARAIG MRS.

ANTONIO LOPEZ

FATHER MR. MRS.

GOMEZ TOLENTINO ALONZO

60
 NOW, LET'S LOOK AT THEIR BACKGROUND

MANG ANTONIO ATTY. MACARAIG MRS. LOPEZ

A citizen who lives in a A lawyer and a citizen A housewife
barangay where the whose family lives
presence of drugs addicts in a community
is a problem

FATHER MR. TOLENTINO MRS. ALONZO

GOMEZ A father whose daughter A mother whose son
was raped and is
A priest
murdered by drug a drug addict.
addicts.
61
 Figuring out the backgrounds of the people
who made the statements allows us to
understand the context by which they formed
their views and opinions on the issue.
VIEWS REGARDING DRUG ADDICT

63
VIEWS ON THE KILLING OF THE DRUG ADDICTS

64
Which among the opinions is most similar to your
own personal bias regarding the issue of the
drug addicts?
 PHILOSOPHY CAN HELP US EXAMINE VARIOUS VIEWS
ON RELEVANT ISSUES AND OUR LIVES. AN OBJECTIVE
EVALUATION OF OPINIONS AND AN AWARENESS OF
OUR OWN PERSONAL BIASES CAN HELP US MAKE WISE
CHOICES RAGRDING THE MOST ACCEPTABLE VIEWS TO
ADOPT AND THE RIGHT ACTIONS TO UNDERTAKE.

66
Thanks!
Any questions?

67