Content No.

2: METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING

TRUTH AND OPINION

A. REALITY--the locus where we get our knowledge. It is

where things (physical or nonphysical) appear to us,
objects we try to figure out.
• Physical reflection always investigates a
phenomenon; the world is constituted as lived, as
experienced, though of, understood, and
investigated as phenomenon.
• Philosophy and Science investigates phenomenon
in a different way. In science, phenomenon is
investigated through experiments and calculations while philosophy uses
phenomenon as a raw experience for the basis of truth.
o Science narrows phenomenon while philosophy broadens it.
• Example: The phenomenon of Love. Love is an invisible reality with external
manifestation. A “kiss” is one of these external manifestations. Kiss is a physiological
event of mutual and interlocking voluntary muscular contraction of the mouth.
However, this definition isolated kiss from that reality of love.
• A “kiss” was reduced to a simple biological event separated from that reality it tries to
signify.
• Reality, where phenomenon is taking place is also being filled with various
information. How can we know the validity of these information?

B. DOXA AND EPISTEME

• What is opinion? What is truth? How can we distinguish one from the other?
• It is a dangerous mistake to identify opinion as knowledge. Opinion is not knowledge!
• Philosophy will show you the path to a good life. The skills and values that philosophy
present will equip you with the mental training required to distinguish the false from
true.
• To know the truth is different from believing something to be true. Something that
appears to be true is not automatically means it is true.
• Every person has a set of beliefs or opinions. Everyone is entitled for his/her own
belief. No one will be in a position to correct us in our beliefs because there would be
no need to verify them.
• It is a different case, however, when we claim that a belief is true, we are required to
explain why we know it to be true.
o There should be a rational justification.
o They should pass the test of verification.
• Truth is not easily accessible to the human person, we should exert mental effort to
know some of these truths.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person | 7

Content No. 2: METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING

1. Ancient Roots
➢ Plato is the first one to differentiate
knowledge from opinion. Knowledge are certain
while opinion is not.
➢ For him, appearances are unreliable and
deceptive. The challenge for us is to see the real
from the illusory.
➢ Our intellect alone enables us to surpass
appearances and see the truth.
o Plato’s dialogue, similar to Socrates’ dialectics starts in an opinion as
interlocutors of truth. The process of question and answer tends to purify
these opinions in order to achieve the truth.
o Aristotle on the other hand uses syllogism (a deductive argument of a
certain form where a conclusion is inferred from two premises). For him,
syllogisms as proof or demonstration of truth.
o Example: All Men are Mortal, Socrates is a man, and therefore Socrates is
mortal.
2. Modern Legacy
➢ Rene Descartes gave the most important
contribution. He is known as the father of modern
philosophy.
➢ The method of doubt: it is a test to
distinguish the dubitable from the indubitable.
➢ Statements that cannot be doubted are
those that are so clear and so distinct that one cannot rationally doubt or reject.
➢ Opinions are those that can be doubted and are often confused in our thought.
3. Contemporary Period
➢ Contemporary period is a reaction against the views of
the modern world.
o Postmodernists attack the notion of an objective reality. It
is just a conceptual construct.
o There is no such thing as truth with a capital “T”.
➢ Jacques Derrida (1930-2004), introduce the method of
deconstruction on which we challenge traditional views in
philosophy in looking at structures of language to open up
limitless interpretations. Example: sign and signifier.
o To destruct traditional beliefs in order to construct a foundation for a new
knowledge.
o His desire is for a more democratic society. Knowledge is no longer viewed
as held by a privileged view.
➢ However, there is a danger to fall in a trap of relativism.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person | 8

Content No. 2: METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING

C. QUESTIONS OF TRUTH AND OPINION

• When opinion is presented to us, how can we verify its veracity or truthfulness?
• The following are the different techniques common in our time to test the veracity of
an opinion.
• These techniques are part of theories of truth. For our lesson we will only discuss three;
Correspondence theory, Linguistic turn, Phenomenology-Existentialism.
A. Correspondence Theory
➢ The oldest model of truth which can be
traced back to the time of Plato.
➢ True proposition statements are those
that corresponds to the reality.
➢ The idea in our mind should corresponds
with the object in the reality.
➢ If the idea does not corresponds with the
object in the reality, therefore it is false.
o Process of knowing in logic: Perception-Abstraction-Judgment
➢ This theory is the beginning of other theories of truth in philosophy. Some truths
turned to language (e.g. linguistic turn) others focused their inquiry on the subject
(e.g. phenomenology-existentialism).
B. Linguistic Turn
➢ Prominent philosophers who develop this theory is Bertrand Russel (1872-1970)
and Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947).
➢ These philosophers used language to solve epistemological problems.
o Context-principle—it is only in the context of a sentence that a word has a
meaning (text-context-interpreter).
o The Notion of sense and reference (in the philosophy of language we refer
these terms as semantic and literal meaning)—the sense is to be understood
as connotation in logic. The reference on the
other hand is the denotation.
➢ Language allows us to talk about several things and yet
disagree because we can mean different things.
➢ Hence, the meaning of a word depends on how it is
used in a sentence—the context.
➢ Linguistic turn opened several avenues in
philosophical investigations: the positivists’
verification analysis (meaningful propositions are
either true or false) and Ludwig Wittgenstein’s
Language games (the meaning of a word or a
statements depends of the people who are using it

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person | 9

Content No. 2: METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING

C. Phenomenology-Existentialism
i. Phenomenology
➢ Edmund Husserl (1885-1938)—Founder of the
Phenomenological movement.
➢ Phenomenology is a philosophical theory which believes
that the essence of every object can be thought of, investigated
and understood. “Back to the things themselves”
➢ Phenomenology claims that every consciousness is
consciousness of something. We are always involved on
whatever we are thinking.
➢ Phenomenology is against the objectivity which Science
is proposing. Science claims that the observer should separate
himself from the object which is being object in order to know it.
However, phenomenology assists us to see the true and real meaning of the every
experiences.
➢ As Descartes gives importance on the ideas in our mind, the same with Husserl (as
a Cartesian philosopher) even the objects are no longer present we can still access
them through our mind—intellectual sediments.
o The noesis (objects as we mean it) and noema (objects as they are or what
they are meant to be).
➢ The process of phenomenology according to Husserl:
o First, we must bracket our biases and prejudices in order for us to know the
things themselves. Husserl called this bracketing as Epoche.
o Reduction—separate the essences from the accidents. Contents of the
actions that was left in our memory.
o Lebenswelt or the lived world—is the phenomenological world on which the
person was able to find the meaning of his/her consciousness or experience
of the world. This is the meeting point of phenomenology and
existentialism. The person is now seeking the existential meaning of a
particular experience.
ii. Existentialism
➢ Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980)—known for his contributions
in this field.
➢ Existentialism—the being and his/her experience of the
world. The meaning of the person’s existence.
➢ An existentialist believes that any person can create
meanings and he/she must be responsible for it.
➢ Subjectivity—I as person creates meaning for myself.
➢ Existentialism restores the freshness of every
experience, and learning from it involves the learning of
everyone.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person | 10

Content No. 2: METHODS OF PHILOSOPHIZING

➢ “what make man truly human?”—existence precedes essence.

➢ This theory helps us to see the meaning of every experience we encounter daily.

References:

Camiloza, L. G., Garnace, E. B., Mazo, R. M., Perez, E. D., Philosophy of the Human Person,
Phoenix Publishing House, Inc.: Quezon City, 2016.

Caraan, A. M., Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, Diwa Learning Systems Inc.:
Makati City, 2016.

Mabaquiao, Jr., N. B., Making Life Worth Living, padayon series, Phoenix Publishing House,
Inc.: Quezon City, 2016.

Ramos, C. C. R., Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, 1st edition, Rex Printing
Company, Inc.: Quezon City, 2016.

Sioco, M. P. G., Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person, Vibal Group, Inc.: Quezon
City, 2016.

Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person | 11