THE NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY AND ITS OBJECTS

Augustine Mary F. Abellana

1st year class of Cristeros
Introduction

In its etymology, the term “Philosophy” comes from two Greek words Philo and Sophia
meaning, love for wisdom. As Phythagoras would say, I’m not a wise man, I’m just a lover of
wisdom. And as St. Thomas would say, “For one who seeks wisdom not for its sake and not for
any other motive loves wisdom”. The human being possesses a keen desire to know, that leads him
to seek the causes of events or happenings. He looks for answers that occur to him, and the answer
he gets frequently give rise to further questions.
 CHAPTER 1
THE NATURE, OBJECT, AND DIVISION OF PHILOSPHY
The Nature of Philosophy
“Philosophia est scientia rationalis omnium rerum per supremas causas”. Philosophy is
a rational science of all realities through their supreme/ultimate causes.
Why Philosophy is called a science? Philosophy is called a science because it is a
systematized body of universal knowledge derived from a demonstration of principles and is more
or less perennial (never changing).
It is a system of universal knowledge because all the knowledge in Philosophy are
coordinated with each other (interconnected) and what is perennial or never changing are its
principles. But why is it called a rational science? Does it make the other sciences irrational?
Philosophy is a rational science not because the other sciences are irrational, rather, philosophy
uses human reason alone as the principal or main instruments for studying.
What about the other sciences? Of course the other sciences are also rational, but they use
reason only as one of the instruments for studying and not as their main instrument for inquiry.
However, the other sciences make use of experimentation and other method as their main
instrument for studying.
Philosophy studies all realities (omnium rerum) through their supreme/ultimate causes
(supremas causas).
There are four causes of reality, namely: the formal cause, efficient cause, material cause
and the final cause. The formal cause asks the question “what is this thing?” The Efficient cause
asks the questions “who made this thing?” The material cause asks the question “what is this thing
made of?” The final cause asks the question “What is this thing for?”
The objects of Philosophy
Philosophy has three objects: the material object, formal object quod, and the formal object
quo. The material object is the matter being studied. The Formal object quod is the aspect under
which the material object is studied. Formal object quo is the main method or instrument of the
study.
The material object of Philosophy are all realities; all realities which can be known by
human reason. The formal object quod or the aspect being studied are its ultimate/supreme causes.
The formal object quo or the main instrument in Philosophy is pure human reason.
As far as the material object is concerned, Philosophy studies all realities while the other
sciences, like the experimental sciences, study only a partial of reality. Philosophy’s formal object
quod is higher in category than the other sciences because it studies up to the highest end or the
supreme/ultimate causes of things aside from the other sciences which are only contented of the
proximate. Philosophy uses pure human reason alone, unlike the other sciences which make use
of experimentations.
 In Revealed Theology, its material object is total reality that both can be known and cannot
be known by human reason. Its formal object quod is same as Philosophy which studies up to the
supreme/ultimate causes. Its formal object quo is Divine Revelation with the aid of human reason.
Thus, Philosophy is also the Pedagogus Theologiae, the tutor of Theology. Philosophy brings you
to the study of Theology. Thus, in analogy we say, “The bringer of child to school”
And so therefore, Philosophy is the Regina Scientiarum or the “Queen of All Sciences”
because while the other sciences study only part of reality and are only contented of the proximate,
Philosophy studies all realities up to their highest end or supreme/ultimate causes. Thus,
Philosophy is the highest as far as the formal object quod is concerned.
The three basic questions in Philosophy
There are three basic questions in Philosophy mainly, the question of life, the question of
reality, and the question of cognition/knowledge.
In the question of life, we ask what life is, what its purpose and what to do to obtain the
purpose of life. The question of life are not of an individual man, but man in general. However,
you cannot give an answer to the question of life unless you give an answer to the question of
reality. Reality questions “what is man? Your answer to the question of life depends on the answer
to the question of reality. But the question of reality also requires an answer to the question of
cognition. Cognition questions “can man know with certainty?”
Therefore, one must have a doctrine of cognition before answering the question of reality
and life.
Divisions of Philosophy
There are two main divisions in Philosophy, These are: Speculative Philosophy and
Practical Philosophy.
In Speculative Philosophy, speculative; from the word speculus, i.e to see, you see reality
as it is. Take for example when you look at the mirror; see yourself as it is. Speculative Philosophy
is the study of reality as it is. One example is Theodicy. You study theodicy as it is; therefore, you
cannot change something in the study of Theodicy.
Speculative Philosophy can be of three kinds, the Natural Philosophy, Philosophy of
Quantity, and the Philosophy of Being or Metaphysics.
Practical Philosophy studies reality as ought to be. Examples are Ethics, which studies the
behavior of man in order to be guided what is the good behavior; Logic aims to study the operation
of the mind in order to live with the truth; Aesthetics, which deals with the principles of art and
beauty in order to appreciate the beauty of a thing.
The degrees of abstraction
The degrees of abstraction means the “mental abstraction”. First is the abstraction of
singularity from reality, leaving you Mobility. Mobility is not just about the locomotion. It means
changes of the thing. For example, the mobility of the table due to oxidation. Mobility is what we
see in nature that leads to the study of natural Philosophy.
Second, is the abstraction of mobility from reality leaving you Quantifiability or
Measurability. It means that reality can be measured. Thus it leads us to the study of Mathematical
Philosophy.
Third, is the abstraction of Quantifiability/Measurability from reality leaving you the
Being/Metaphysics. Thus, one can reach the Metaphysics (beyond the physics).

The five main branches of Philosophy

Logic is the first subject of Philosophy. It is the science and art of correct reasoning.
Logic studies the operations of the mind. Logic equips you with the right tools for
studying philosophical categories. Good logic includes the use of good thinking skills and
the avoidance of logic fallacies.
Epistemology is the study of “knowledge.” Epistemology deals with the process by
which we can know that something is true. It addresses questions such as: What can I
know? How is knowledge acquired? Can we be certain about anything?
Metaphysics is the study of “reality.” More specifically it is the study of reality that is
beyond the scientific or mathematical realms. (The term “metaphysics” itself literally
means “beyond the physical.”) The metaphysical issues most discussed are the existence
of god, the soul, and the afterlife.
Ethics is the study of moral behavior or conduct of a human person as viewed from the
ultimate principles in so far as these principles are known by human reason. Ethics
attempts to answer the questions pertaining to the last end of the human person and the
meaning of his/her life.
Aesthetics is the study of art and beauty. It attempts to address such issues as: “What is
art?” “What is the relationship between beauty and art?” “Are there objectives
standards by which art can be judged?” “Is beauty in the eyes of the beholder?”
 Chapter II
SAMPLING THE DOCTRINES OF PHILOSPHY

Pre-Socratic Period
The Philosophers, during the time before Socrates, were not called by the term
“Philosophers” rather, they were called the naturalists because they study about nature and reality.
However, in today’s time, as history would say, we call them as Philosophers. And as Pythagoras
would say; I’m not a wise man, I’m just a lover of wisdom. The Pre-Socratic philosophers answer
to the question of reality.
Thales
Thales of Miletus believed that the principal element of reality is water. Thales observed
that creatures, plants and other sentient, were nurtured by moist or water. With this, he believed
because of the ability of water to be transformed into nearly all things with its rarefication and
condensation.
Anaximander
Anaxemander was the student of Thales. Anaximander rebuked the claim of Thales about
water as the principal element of reality. He believes that the primary principle of reality and the
primary element of the universe should be indeterminable by our language, and therefore not
limited by our reality. So, he proposed that the primary principle is boundless or, as he called it,
apeiron. Apeiron is eternal and ageless. It encompasses all. It is powered by the constant
revolutions of the cosmos through constant contradiction.
Anaximenes
For Anaximenes, the primary element should be within the bound of our languages and,
consequently, our reality. He proposed that indeed the primary element of the universe is more
basic than water but he finds it definable. He called it “air”. This is out of respect for the inability
of human beings, and all living things in general to survive without air. This is also because in his
observation, like water, air is transformable through its rarefication and condensation.
Pythagoras
Pythagoras believed that the soul is immortal. He also taught and believed of the series of
birth and rebirth or the transmigration of soul. Shockingly, the belief of incarnation which was
taught by Pythagoras, was also a belief in the East, a thousands of miles away from the place of
Pythagoras. For Pythagoras, reality can be measured. Pythagoras was the very first to coin the term
“Philosophy”. As Pythagoras would say, “I’m not a wise man, I’m just a lover of wisdom” He
believed that balance in reality could be achieved through numbers.
Heraclitus
Heraclitus believed that the reality of the world is in constant change. He believed that the
only permanent in this world is change. He used the imagery of the raging fire – always renewing.
The way up and the way down is the same, cold and hot, long and short are similar because it is
subject to change and the force responsible for the motion of change is the Logos. Heraclitus
thought that the earth was an ever living fire. Fire can turn into any of the elements.
Parmenides
Parmenides believed that reality is one. He also believed that everything is permanent;
nothing changes. In his notion of being, he says that there is only one being. Parmenides’ central
philosophy which is the permanence of existence and the absence of change. Nothing is capable
of changing because the primal matter of reality is unchangeable.
Protagoras
In his philosophy, he believed that all truth are relative because man is the measure of all
things. Morality is dependent on man and he is not bound to any universal truth. He also believed
that nothing exists or is certain beyond the cognition of man.

Socratic Period
The Pre-Socratic philosophers answer to the question of life and cognition.
Socrates
Socrates believed that the philosophies and inquiries of thought that a philosopher makes
must be applied in his way of living. Knowledge, for him, is virtue and ignorance is vice. One of
his greatest quotes is “The unexamined life is not worth living”. This mirrors his belief that to fully
practice the virtue filled life, one must know his/her individual weaknesses and strengths in order
to have a virtuous, away from ignorance, and a meaningful life.
Aristotle
Aristotle believed that the final end is happiness which can be attained through having an
active life as a rational being; Aristotle further expands the notion of happiness. The human soul
has an irrational element shared with the animals which is responsible for nutrition and growth –
a person who have done well in nutrition will attain nutritional virtue- and rational element which
makes man capable of contemplating, reasoning, and formulate scientific formulas; the mastery of
the rational abilities is called intellectual virtue.
Plato
Plato believed that true reality is not found through the senses. Phenomenon is that
perception of an object which we recognize through our senses. Plato believed that phenomena are
fragile and weak forms of reality. They do not represent an object’s true essence. The senses are
not trustworthy. Plato believed that there was a higher realm of existence accessible only through
using your intellect to go beyond your senses.

Post Socratic
The Post-Socratic Philosophers answer to the question of cognition.
Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas believed that everything is created by God and governed through the “eternal law”
and because the rational creature’s relationship is different from the other creature, Thomas called
the law that governs the rational being as the “natural law”. Natural law is the eternal law as it
applies to human beings.
Immanuel Kant
Kant believed in the transcendental idealism which states that there is a distinction between
“what we can experience” and “what we cannot”, and so, one can have the knowledge of what is
observable only. Man can only know the natural and observable world, but cannot have answers
to the many questions of Metaphysics.