Subject: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person Section: Grade 11-TVL

Chapter 1: Doing Philosophy

Lesson 2: The Philosophical Enterprise

Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to:
1. recognize human activities that emanated from deliberate reflection.

 Quotation:
One thing I know is I know nothing. ---Socrates

Entry Point:
In the box before each item, put a check (/) only on the statements that are likely to be
true.

1. Ignorance in philosophy is taken in the same sense that an ignorant person is

likely to commit mistake.
2. Plato is a great philosopher from Greece.
3. Knowledge is also found in people who are wise.
4. Aristotle is also a great philosopher from Greece.
5. Ignorance will make us wise, but arrogance will not make wisdom possible.

Thinking out Loud:

Get a piece of paper, ask yourself “What do I know about myself? What do I still have to
figure out?
By group, have a representative and share it with the class.

A. Wonder, Knowledge, Ignorance

 Plato-one of the best philosophers who ever lived, and claimed that “philosophy
begins in wonder.”
 Wonder- is the beginning for it stimulates us to venture into philosophy.
 Philosophy- the etymology (a generic sense when one wants to find out the
meaning of the word through its origin or its roots.) of the term in Greek, “philo” as
love and “sophia" as wisdom
- lovers of wisdom.
- To be wise is to know the truth.
 Wisdom, according to Aristotle, is of 2 kinds: a. Theoretical and b. Practical
A. Theoretical wisdom-is to know necessary truths and their logical consequences.
B. Practical wisdom- deals with knowledge in the realm of action.
 * To have practical wisdom is to know truths that have to do with our dealings
with fellow human beings.
 *both desirable and valuable
Reason#1:
Philosophers believe that to be wise is the best we can be.
- Devote their time to examine their beliefs and opinions that are also called
“intuition” to arrive at truth.
Reason #2:
Philosophy is carried out through the use of reason.
- Proper exercise of our rational faculty allows us to answer our questions
and overcome our ignorance.
- It becomes a search for knowledge that compels us to seek the truth
because it matters to use personally.
- The answers we find greatly influences our life.
Know the Philosopher:
Aristotle- student of Plato.
- tutored a 13 yrs old boy who came to be known as Alexander the Great.
Subject: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person Section: Grade 11-TVL
- put up a school in Athens called Lyceum.
The Oracle of Delphi
- the holy places during the time of Socrates. Socrates left with
indispensable insight. Seeking to prove that Oracle of Apollo at Delphi was
wrong in saying that he was the wisest man.
- The story is told that a friend of his went to the Oracle and asked the
question: “Who is the wisest man in Athens?
- Socrates went on a mission and asked best politicians and the best
craftmen only to find out that they claim to know more than what they in
fact know.
- In admitting that he knows nothing, he is wiser than those who claimed
to know a lot of things.
 The reason why we engage in philosophy so that we can find answers and become
wise.
 We ask questions precisely because we are looking for good answers-answer that are
true or at least likely to be true.
B. Philosophical Thought in Three Views
Ancient Philosophy (600 B.C.-600 A. D)- ancient philosophers wondered about the
world.
1. Cosmocentric View- questions that concerned them was the origin of the universe
–the arche (Greek for “starting point”)
-their desire for truth was reflected in the question “ Where did all things come
from?”
IN Western Philosophy:
Thales of Miletus- “water is the underlying principle of all things.”
Anaximander – he claimed that the answer is “Boundless”.
Anaximenes- fundamental principle must be air.
Pythagoreans- group of philosophers, identified numbers as the first principle
because they observed how the world is governed by mathematical ratio.
Atomist- in contrast, there must be tiny, indivisible entities, invisible to the naked
eye that make up everything.
2. Medieval Period,
Theocentric view- the church sustain man’s intellect, the world became secondary
to God (theos in Greek) and Christianity greatly influences philosophy.
Medieval Philosophers: Avicenna (1st Muslim philosopher, argued that the in this
world, the existence of beings can be traced to another being responsible for its
existence.) and St. Thomas Aquinas.
3. Modern Period (1500-1900)
Anthropocentric View –characterized by subjectivity and individualism.
-centered man (anthropos in Greek)
-According to Berthrand Russell, he explained that progress in the scientific field
made man realize the practical utility of science as a technique rather than of a
doctrine that explained the nature of the world.
-This idea sheds light on the philosophies characterized in this period-rationalism
and empiricism.
A. Rationalism
- view that knowledge is acquired through reason independent of sense experience.
-held by the foremost modern philosophers: Rene Descartes(1596-1650), clear and
distinct ideas cannot be doubted unlike the data of the senses.
Other rationalist: Plato, Benedict Spinoza and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
B. Empiricism
- holds that all knowledge is ultimately derived from sense of experience.
- Modern Philosophers: John Locke (claimed that the human mind at birth is like a blank
sheet of paper (tabula rasa) and is later filled through sense experience) and David Hume

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Subject: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person Section: Grade 11-TVL
Post Test. Answer Key
Test 1.
Instruction: Identify the following sentences.
1-2. The Greek terms form “Philosophy”. Philia-love; sophia-wisdom
3. He was the student of Plato. -Aristotle
4. He was one of the best philosophers who ever lived, and claimed that “philosophy
begins in wonder.” - Plato
5. The holy places during the time of Socrates.- Oracle of Delphi
Test II.
Instruction: Identify if the quotation below demonstrates either Anthropocentric View,
Cosmocentric View or Theocentric View. Write A for Anthropocentric View, C for
Cosmocentric View
or T for Theocentric View
Write the corresponding letter only in the box provided.
Quotations Answer
1 “Man is the measure of all things.” -Protagoras A
2 “God is that than which no greater can be T
conceived.”—St. Anselm
3 “I think, therefore, I am. I am, therefore, I exist.”- Rene A
Descartes
4 “Fire lives in the death of earth.”-Heraclitus C
5 “Man is condemned to be free.” –Jean Paul Sartre A
Subject: Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person Section: Grade 11-TVL
Test 1.
Instruction: Identify the following sentences.
1-2. The Greek terms form “Philosophy”.
3. He was the student of Plato.
4. He was one of the best philosophers who ever lived, and claimed that “philosophy begins in wonder.”
5. The holy places during the time of Socrates.
Test II.
Instruction: Identify if the quotation below demonstrates either Anthropocentric View, Cosmocentric View or
Theocentric View. Write the corresponding letter only in the box provided; A for Anthropocentric View, C
for Cosmocentric View or T for Theocentric View.
Quotations Answer
1 “Man is the measure of all things.” -Protagoras
2 “God is that than which no greater can be conceived.”—St. Anselm
3 “I think, therefore, I am. I am, therefore, I exist.”- Rene Descartes
4 “Fire lives in the death of earth.”-Heraclitus
5 “Man is condemned to be free.” –Jean Paul Sartre
Test 1.
Instruction: Identify the following sentences.
1-2. The Greek terms form “Philosophy”.
3. He was the student of Plato.
4. He was one of the best philosophers who ever lived, and claimed that “philosophy begins in wonder.”
5. The holy places during the time of Socrates.
Test II.
Instruction: Identify if the quotation below demonstrates either Anthropocentric View, Cosmocentric View or
Theocentric View. Write the corresponding letter only in the box provided; A for Anthropocentric View, C
for Cosmocentric View or T for Theocentric View.
Quotations Answer
1 “Man is the measure of all things.” -Protagoras
2 “God is that than which no greater can be conceived.”—St. Anselm
3 “I think, therefore, I am. I am, therefore, I exist.”- Rene Descartes
4 “Fire lives in the death of earth.”-Heraclitus
5 “Man is condemned to be free.” –Jean Paul Sartre
Test 1.
Instruction: Identify the following sentences.
1-2. The Greek terms form “Philosophy”.
3. He was the student of Plato.
4. He was one of the best philosophers who ever lived, and claimed that “philosophy begins in wonder.”
5. The holy places during the time of Socrates.
Test II.
Instruction: Identify if the quotation below demonstrates either Anthropocentric View, Cosmocentric View or
Theocentric View. Write the corresponding letter only in the box provided; A for Anthropocentric View, C
for Cosmocentric View or T for Theocentric View.
Quotations Answer
1 “Man is the measure of all things.” -Protagoras
2 “God is that than which no greater can be conceived.”—St. Anselm
3 “I think, therefore, I am. I am, therefore, I exist.”- Rene Descartes
4 “Fire lives in the death of earth.”-Heraclitus
5 “Man is condemned to be free.” –Jean Paul Sartre
Test 1.
Instruction: Identify the following sentences.
1-2. The Greek terms form “Philosophy”.
3. He was the student of Plato.
4. He was one of the best philosophers who ever lived, and claimed that “philosophy begins in wonder.”
5. The holy places during the time of Socrates.
Test II.
Instruction: Identify if the quotation below demonstrates either Anthropocentric View, Cosmocentric View or
Theocentric View. Write the corresponding letter only in the box provided; A for Anthropocentric View, C
for Cosmocentric View or T for Theocentric View.
Quotations Answer
1 “Man is the measure of all things.” -Protagoras
2 “God is that than which no greater can be conceived.”—St. Anselm
3 “I think, therefore, I am. I am, therefore, I exist.”- Rene Descartes
4 “Fire lives in the death of earth.”-Heraclitus
5 “Man is condemned to be free.” –Jean Paul Sartre