Methods

1. Is there an absolute truth ?

2. METHODS OF
PHILOSOPHIZING
MR. KWEK KWEK

3. INTRODUCTION:
•THIS CHAPTER SHALL DEMONSTRATE THE VARIOUS
WAYS OF DOING PHILOSOPHY. IN SEARCH FOR
WISDOM, THE LEARNER MUST EVALUATE ARGUMENTS
AND WAYS OF EXPRESSING ONE`S BELIEFS,
EMOTIONS, AND OPINIONS.
•THIS SECTION SHAL INTRODUCE METHODS OR WAYS
OF LOOKING AT TRUTH AND WHAT WILL BE
CONSIDERED AS MERE “OPINIONS.”

4. •Philosophizing means to think or express
oneself in a philosophical manner. It considers
or discusses a (matter) from a philosophical
standpoint. In phenomenology, truth is based
on the person`s consciousness; while in
existensialism, truth is based in exercising
choices and personal freedom; in
postmodernism, it is accepted that truth is
not absolute; and in logic, truth is based on
reasoning and critical thinking.

5. •PHENOMENOLOGY: ON CONSCIOUSNESS–
Edmund Husserl founded
phenomenology, which is essentially a
philosophical method. This focuses on
careful inspection and description of
phenomena or appearances, defined as
any object of conscious experience, that
is, that which we are conscious of.
(Johnston 2006)

6. •The condition of being conscious: the
normal state of being awake and able to
understand what is happening around
you. Merriam

7. •The word “Phenomenon” comes directly
from the Greek word Phainomenon
meaning “appearance.”
•Phenomenology is the scientific study of
the essential structures of
consciousness. By describing those
structures, Husserl believes that we can
find certainty, which philosophy has
always sought.

8. •His continuing effort was dedicated to
developing a method for finding and
guaranteeing the truth – that method
was phenomenology.

9. •EXISTENTIALISM: ON FREEDOM – One`s
search for truth might be based on one`s
attitude or outlook. Unlike
phenomenology, existensialism 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.

10. •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 the being
of person and the being of other kinds of
things;
•Human freedom;

11. •The significance of choice and decision in
the absence of certainty and;
•The concreteness and subjectivity of life
as lived, against abstraction and false
objectifications.

12. •If we may generalize for just a moment,
we might suggest that the existensialists
share a concern for the individual and
personal responsibility (chambers 2001)
•Existentialism is often thought to be
antireligious; nevertheless, there has
been a strong current of Christian
existentialism.

13. •Beginning with the 9th century Danish
philosopher Kiekegaard. As the first
existentialist, he insisted that the
authentic self was the personally chosen
self, as opposed to public or “herd”
identity.

14. •Existentialism, with Sartre, a 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. Satre argued that
consciousness is such that it is always
free to choose and free to negate the
given features of the world.

15. •One is never free of one`s situation,
Sartre tells us, but one is always free to
negate that situation and to change it. To
be human, to be conscious, is to be free
to imagine, free to choose, and
responsible for one`s life. (Solomon &
Higgins 2010).

16. •One may be shy or assertive, but such
behavior is always a choice and one can
always resolve to change. One can be
Asian or American, but it is an open
question how one will make oneself, how
these will be made into handicaps or an
advantage, become challenges to be
overcome, or excuses doing nothing.

17. •The notion of authenticity is not new.
Socrates already concerned himself with
the authenticity of the self – the
genuineness of his thoughts and actions,
“the good of his sould.” He sought not
mere opinions but knowledge, self-
knowledge in particular, and prescribed
not just right action but virtue, being
“true to oneself.”

18. •St. Augustine was concerned with the
spiritual nature of the “true” self as
opposed to the inauthentic demands of
desire and the body.
•Jean-Jacques Rousseau was adamant
about the essential goodness of the
“natural” self in contrast to the
“corruption” imposed by society. (Baird
& Kaufmann 1997)

19. •POSTMODERNISM: ON CULTURES – They
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.

20. •Beyond exalting individual analysis of
truth, postmodernists adhere to a
relational, holistic approach. Moreover,
it values our existence in the world and
in relation to it.

21. •In google, Postmodern philosophy is a
philosophical direction which is critical
of certain foundational assumptions of
western philosophy and especially of the
18th-century enlightenment. It emphasize
the importance of power relationships,
personalization and discourse in
construction of truth and world views.

22. •ANALYSIS TRADITION – “can language
objectively describe truth?” for the
philosophers of this tradition, language
cannot objectively describe truth. For
Ludwig Wittgenstein, an analytic
philosopher, language is socially
conditioned.

23. •We understand the world solely in terms
of our language games – that is our
linguistic, social constructs. Truth, as we
perceive it, is itself socially constructed.

24. •LOGIC AND CRITICAL THINKING: TOOLS IN
REASONING – logic is centered in 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 half-truths and
deceptions.

25. •Critical thinking Is distinguishing facts
and opinions or personal feelings. In
making rational choices, first, we
suspend beliefs and judgement until all
facts have been gathered and
considered.

26. •Though facts are important, critical
thinking also takes into consideration
cultural systems, values, and beliefs.
Critical thinking helps us uncover bias
and prejudice and open to new ideas not
necessarily in agreement with previous
thought.

27. •In general, there are two basic types of
reasoning: deductive and inductive.
Inductive reasoning is based from
observations in order to make
generalizations. This reasoning is often
applied in prediction, forecasting, or
behavior. Deductive reasoning draws
conclusion from usually one broad
judgement or definition and one more
specific assertion, often an inference.

28. •VALIDITY AND SOUNDNESS OF AN
ARGUMENT – based on the previous
example, if the two premises are
constructed logically, then the conclusion
must follow logically, the deductive
argument is valid. This does not
necessarily mean that the conclusion is
true or false. Validity comes from a logical
conclusion based on logically constructed
premises. (Reed 2010)

29. •STRENGTH OF AN ARGUMENT –On the
other hand, inductive arguments cannot
prove if the premises are true which will
also determine the truth of the
conclusion. Inductive reasoning proves
only probable support to the conclusion.
An inductive argument that succeeds in
providing such probable support is a
strong argument.

30. FALLACIES

31. •On the other hand, a fallacy is a defect in
an argument other than its having false
premises. To detect fallacies, it is
required to examine the argument`s
content. Here are some of the usually
committed errors in reasoning and thus,
coming up with false conclusion and
worse, distorting the truth.

32. A. APPEAL TO PITY (argumentum
ad misercordiam) A specific kind of
appeal to emotion in which
someone tries to win support for
an argument or idea by exploiting
his or her opponent`s feelings of
pity or guilt.

33. •B. APPEAL TO IGNORANCE
(argumentum ad ignorantiam)
whatever has not been proved
false must be true, and vice
versa.

34. C. EQUIVOCATION – This is a logical
chain of reasoning of a term or a word
several times, but giving the particular
word a different meaning each time.
Example: human beings have hands;
the clock has hands. He is drinking
from the pitcher of water; he is a
baseball pitcher.

35. D. COMPOSTION – This infers that
something is true of the whole from the
fact that it is true of some part of the
whole. The reverse of this fallacy is
division.
E. DIVISION – one reasons logically that
something true of a thing must also be
true of all or some of its parts.

36. F. AGAINST THE PERSON (argumentu,
ad hominem) This fallacy attempts to
link the validity of a premises to a
characteristic or belief of the person
advocating the premise. However, in
some instances, questions of personal
conduct, character, motives, etc,. Are
legitimate if relevant to the issue.

37. G. APPEAL TO FORCE (argumentum ad
baculum) An argument where force,
, or the threat of force, is given as a
justification for a conclusion.
H. APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE (argumentum
ad populum) An argument that appeals or
exploits people`s vanities, desire for
esteem, and anchoring on popularity.

38. I. FALSE CAUSE (post hoc) – 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.

39. K. BEGGING THE QUESTION (petition
principii) this is a type of fallacy
which the proposition to be proven is
assumed implicitly or explicitly in the
premise.

40. APPLYING LOGIC AND FALLACIES IN
DETERMINING TRUTH FROM OPINION.