Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region I
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF ILOCOS NORTE

Introduction to the
Philosophy of the
Human Person
Quarter 1 – Module 2:
Methods of Philosophizing
MELC: Distinguish opinion from truth (PPT11/12-Ic-2.1)
MELC: Realize that the methods of Philosophy lead to
wisdom and truth (PPT11/12-Id-2.2)
MELC: Evaluate truth from opinions in different
situations using the methods of philosophizing.
(PPT11/12-Id-2.3)

Prepared by:

ELIZABETH O. MABUTI
SHS Teacher III Sta. Rosa
National High School
 DANIEL C. OBRERO
SHS Teacher I
Bingao National High School

Introduction the Philosophy of the Human Person - Grade 11/12 Quarter 1 –

Module 2: Methods of Philosophizing

First Edition, 2020

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use these materials from their respective copyright owners. The publisher and
authors do not represent nor claim ownership over them.

Development Team of the Module

Writers: Elizabeth O. Mabuti

Daniel C. Obrero
Editor: Elizabeth O. Mabuti
Reviewer: Florante Riego Illustrators:
Layout Artist:
Management Team: Joann A. Corpuz
Joye D. Madalipay
Arnel S. Bandiola
Jenetrix T. Tumaneng
Milagros Sandra G. Malvar
Name of PSDS In Charge

Schools Division of Ilocos Norte

Office Address: Brgy. 7B, Giron Street, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte
Telefax: (077) 771-0960
Telephone No.: (077) 770-5963, (077) 600-2605
E-mail Address: ilocosnorte@deped.gov.ph

11/12
Introduction to
the Philosophy
of the Human
Person
Quarter 1 – Module 2:
Methods of Philosophizing
Introductory Message
For the Facilitator:

Welcome to the Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person 11/12

Module on Methods of Philosophizing. This module was collaboratively designed,
developed and reviewed by educators both from public and private institutions to
assist you, the teacher or facilitator in helping the learners meet the standards set
by the K to 12 Curriculum while overcoming their personal, social, and economic
constraints in schooling.
This learning resource hopes to engage the learners into guided and
independent learning activities at their own pace and time. Furthermore, this also
aims to help learners acquire the needed 21st century skills while taking into
consideration their needs and circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the

Note to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies that will help you in
guiding the learners

body of the module:

As a facilitator, you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this
module. Please note that Lesson 2 will have to be done for 2 weeks. You also need
to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to manage their own
learning. Furthermore, you are expected to encourage and assist the learners as
they do the tasks included in the module.
For the learner:

Welcome to the Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person Module

on Methods of Philosophizing. This module was designed to provide you with fun
and meaningful opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own
pace and time. Lesson 1 will be for 2 weeks. You will be enabled to process the
contents of the learning resource while being an active learner.
This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

What I Need This will give you an idea of the skills or competencies to
Know you are expected to learn in the module.

What I This part includes an activity that aims to check what

Know you already know about the lesson to take. If you get
all the answers correct (100%), you may decide to skip

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 this module. What’s In This is a brief drill or review to help you link the

current lesson with the previous one.

Whats New In this portion, the new lesson will be introduced to

you in various ways such as a story, a song, a poem, a problem opener,

an activity or a situation. What is it This section provides a brief

discussion of the lesson.

This aims to help you discover and understand new concepts and skills. What’s

More This comprises activities for independent practice to solidify your

understanding and skills of the topic.
You may check the answers to the exercises using
the Answer Key at the end of the module.

What I have This includes questions or blank sentence/paragraph

Learned to be filled in to process what you learned from the lesson. What I
Can This section provides an activity which will help you

Do transfer your new knowledge or skill into real life situations or

concerns. Assessment This is a task which aims to evaluate your

level of mastery in achieving the learning competency.

Additional In this portion, another activity will be given to you to

Activities enrich your knowledge or skill of the lesson learned.

Answer Key This contains answers to all activities in the module.

At the end of this module you will also find:

This is a list of all sources used in developing this

References module.

The following are some reminders in using this module:

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 1. Use the module with care. Do not put unnecessary mark/s on any part of
the module. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises.

2. Don’t forget to answer What I Know before moving on to the other activities
included in the module.

3. Read the instruction carefully before doing each task.

4. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the tasks and checking your
answers.
5. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next.
6. Return this module to your teacher/facilitator once you are through with it.
If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not
hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator. Always bear in mind that you are not
alone. We hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful learning
and gain deep understanding of the relevant competencies. You can do it!

What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help
you master distinguishing a holistic perspective from a partial point of view. This
module will develop you to become lover of wisdom and will understand the
importance of having a holistic perspective in coping with the 21st century
challenges. The scope of this module permits it to be used in many different
learning situations. The lessons are arranged to follow the standard sequence of the
course.

The module contains one lesson namely:

• Lesson 2 – Methods of Philosophizing

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. distinguish opinion from truth (PPT11/12-Ic-2.1)

2. realize that the methods of Philosophy lead to wisdom and truth
(PPT11/12Id-
2.2)
3. evaluate truth from opinions in different situations using the methods of
philosophizing. (PPT11/12-Id-2.3)

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What I Know
Activity 5: Opinion vs Truth

Direction: Answer the following essential questions: 1) What is the importance of

differentiating opinion from truth; and 2) How will you describe a person who
upholds truth and wisdom? Use your activity notebook to write your answers.

Lesson
2 Methods of Philosophizing
In the first lesson, the meaning and process of doing philosophy,
emphasizing the importance of holism, as well as learning how to construct
philosophical essays were introduced. 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.

A. Phenomenology on Consciousness

Phenomenology focuses on careful inspection and description of phenomena

or appearances. It is defined as any object of conscious experience, that is, that
which are conscious of (Johnston 2006)

Phenomenology comes from the Greek word phainómenon, meaning

“appearance”. Immanuel Kant, German Philosopher had used the same word to
refer to the world of our own experience. He intends a similar meaning except for
the crucial fact that for him, it does not imply a contrast between the appearance
and some underlying reality, between the phenomenon and a “noumenon” or
“thing-in-itself.” When one supposes that what one experiences is not or might not
be the truth (Solomon and Higgins 2010).

Phenomenology is the scientific study of the essential structures of

consciousness. By describing these structures, Husserl believes that we can find
certainty, which philosophy has always sought.

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 B. Existentialism: On Freedom

One’s search for truth might be based on one’s attitude or outlook.

Existentialism is not primarily a philosophical method unlike phenomenology. It is
neither a set of doctrines but more of an outlook or attitude supported be diverse
doctrines centered on certain common themes.

These themes include:

- the human condition or the relation of individual to the world;

- the human response to that condition;
- being especially the difference between the being of a person and the
being of other kinds of things;
- human freedom;
- the significance (and unavoidability) of choice and decision in the
absence of certainty and;

- the concreteness and subjectivity of the life as lived; against abstractions

and false objectifications.
C. Postmodernism: On Cultures

Postmodernism has become into vague as the name for a rather diffuse
family of ideas and trends that in significant respect rejects challenges, or aims to
supersede modernity, the convictions, aspirations and pretensions of modern
Wester thought and culture since the enlightenment.

Postmodernism is not a philosophy. It is at best a holding pattern, perhaps a

cry of despair. It highly talks about world philosophy, the philosophy of many
cultures, but such talk is not a philosophy either. (Shields 2012).

Postmodernists believe that humanity should come at truth beyond the

rational to the non –rational elements of human nature, including the spiritual.
Post Modernists consider that to arrive at the truth, humanity should realize the
limits of reason and objectivism.

D. Analytic Tradition

“Can language objectively describe truth.” Language cannot objectively

describe truth. According to Ludwig Wittgenstein, an analytic philosopher,
language is socially conditioned. We understand the world solely in terms of our
language games- that is our linguistic, social constructs. Truth, as we perceive it, is
socially constructed.

E. Logic and Critical Thinking

Logic is centered on 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. Critical thinking is
distinguishing facts and opinions or personal feelings. In making rational choices,
first, we suspend beliefs and judgements until all facts have been gathered and
considered.

We have two types of reasoning: deductive and inductive. Inductive

reasoning is based from observations in order to make generalizations. This

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reasoning is often applied in prediction, in forecasting, or behavior. Deductive
reasoning draws conclusion from usually one broad judgement and definition and
one more specific assertion, often an interference.

Example:

All philosophers are wise. (Major premise)

Confucius is a philosopher (Minor Premise)

Therefore, Confucius is wise. (Conclusion)

F. Fallacies

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 committed errors in reasoning and
thus, coming up with false conclusion and worse,
distorting the truth.
Photo by: Google images
Appeal to Pity (Argumentation and misericordiam)

A specific kind of appeal to emotion in someone tries to win support from an

argument or idea by exploiting his or her opponent’s feeling of pity or guilty.

Appeal to ignorance (Argumentation and Ignorantiam)

Whatever has not been proved false must be true, and vice versa.

Equivocation

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 pitcher of water; he is a baseball pitcher.

Composition

Something is true with the whole from the fact that it is true of some part of
the whole. The reverse of this fallacy is division.

Division

One reasons logically that something true of a thing must also be true of all
or some of its parts.

Against the Person (argumentum ad hominem)

Attempts to link the validity of a premise to a characteristic or belief of the

person advocating the premise. Questions about personal conduct, character,
motives, etc. are legitimate if relevant to the issue

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Appeal to force (Arguentum ad baculum)

An argument where force, coercion, or threat of force, is given as a

justification for a conclusion.

Appeal to the People (Argumentum ad populum)

An argumentum that appeals or exploits people’s vanities, desire for

selfesteem, and anchoring on popularity

Example: “I will pray on line”

“Why not go to church”

“Who will tag my prayer there

False Cause

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.

Example: “Tumaas na naman ang presyo ng bilihin”.

“Siguro kaya konti alng ang nakakain.”

“Dahil sa presyo.”

“Hindi, dahil mataas ang cholesterol.”

Hasty Generalization

One commits errors if one reaches an inductive generalization based

on insufficient evidence. It is based on a broad conclusion upon the
statistics of a survey of a small group that fails to sufficiently represent the
whole population. Begging the question (petitio principili) in which the
preposition to be proven is assumed implicitly or explicitly in the premise.

What’s In

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Activity 6: Experiential Learning
Direction: Share your experiences on the times you did not use reason in your life
but rather, you relied more on emotions or opinions of other people. What did you
learn from the experience? Include drawings or illustrations if needed. Use your
activity notebook for your output.

What is New

Note the Teachers

The teacher must consider the prerequisite skills needed in
the development of this competency including the schema or
background knowledge which may reinforce learning. This module
will help the learners bridge the gap of learning to attain mastery
of the lesson in its spiral progression.

Realize the Methods of Philosophy that Leads to

Wisdom and Truth

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 According to Double (1999), although philosophy is an organize body of
knowledge, the subject matter of philosophy is questions; which have three major
characteristics:

1. Philosophical questions have answers, but the answers remain in the dispute.

2. Philosophical questions can not be settled by Science, common sense of faith.

3. Philosophical questions are of perennial intellectual interest to human beings.

Critical thinking is the careful, reflective, rational, and systematic approach

to questions of very general interest. Critical thinking means understanding of
philosophy and refraining from merely giving claims but through careful thought,
one reasons through argumentations. One tries to become a philosopher because
one possesses and cherishes above the rest of humanity the love of wisdom which
is a part of human nature and because one more reflectively and critically brings to
light and examines the largest and wildest implications of the life of all human
beings.

For Maboloc and Pascua (2008), critical thinking is a lifelong process of

selfassessment that further consists of:

• definining, analyzing, and devising solutions;

• arriving at reasonable and informed conclusion;

• applying, understanding and knowledge to new and different problems;

• willingness to change point of view;

• continually examining and re-examining ideas; and

• willingness to say “I don’t know”.

The attributes of a critical thinker include:

• Look for evidence to support assumption and beliefs

• Looks for proof

• Examines problem

• Rejects irrelevant and incorrect information.

What is It
The journey of philosophizing is a very special journey. There is no specific
method to follow. Whatever glimpse of the truth we get will always be partial and
different from others because we all look at truth differently and use different

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approaches to arriving at truth. No one has the final answer to everything. That is
why it is important that we constantly engage others to help us examine and reflect
on these truths that we hold.

What’s More

Activity 7: Do You Know Them?

Direction: Research on the following Philosophers and write your answers in your
Philosophy Activity Notebook.

1. Aristotle 6. Friedrich Nietzsche

2. Plato 7. John Locke
3. Rene Descartes 8. Karl Marx
4. Karl Jaspers 9. Jean Jacques Rosseua
5. Immanuel Kant 10. Confucius

What I have Learned

Activity 8: Time to Reflect!
Direction: Write a reflection paper about these questions: How do you feel about
knowing that there is no single method in arriving at truths? Do you feel
uncomfortable? Or does it give you a sense of freedom? Why? Place your reflection
answers in your activity notebook.

What I Can Do
Activity 9: How To Determine Fake News?
Since we tackled in this lesson about truth and opinion, make 3 statements
about: “How to Determine Fake News?” Let your subject teacher in Philosophy
check your answer and after that post your answers in Facebook account.

Assessment

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 Direction. Fill in the blanks. Choose your answer from the box and write your
answer on the space provided. Use your activity notebook
to fill-up the answer.
Hasty Generalization Phenomenology Critical Thinking

Equivocation False Cause Existentialism

1. is also referred to as coincidental correlation, or

correlation not causation.
2. Logical chain of reasoning of a term or a word several times, but giving the
particular word a different meaning each time is called .

3. means understanding of philosophy and refraining

from
merely giving claims but through careful thought, one reasons through
argumentations.
4. One commits errors if one reaches an inductive generalization based on

insufficient evidence is what we call

5. is the scientific study of the essential

structures of consciousness.

6. focuses on careful inspection and description of phenomena or appearances.

7. is not primarily a philosophical method unlike

phenomenology. It is neither a set of doctrines but more of an outlook or
attitude supported be diverse doctrines centered on certain common themes.

Additional Activities
Activity 10: Interview Using a Video Blog

Direction: Conduct an interview and highlight the question: How do you define
freedom? Choose to interview other students, professionals or family members.
Take pictures and video of the entire proceeding. Cite philosophical insights
regarding the interview.

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 RUBRICS FOR ASSESSMENT

Rubrics for Activity 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

CRITERIA POINTS
Content 10

Organization 10
Originality 10
Quality/Creativity 10

Writing Mechanics 10
Total 50

References
Ramos, C. (2016). Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person.
www.rexpublishing.com.ph

Corpuz, Brenda, Corpuz, Ruben, Paclibar, Maria, Paclibar, Socrates. Introduction

to the Philosophy of the Human Person, pp. 39-40

Guevara, G. (2016) Pambungad na Pilosopiya ng Tao.

www.rexpublishing.com.ph

MABUTI, E. (2018) Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person. SDOIN

WHOLE BRAIN LEARNING SYSTEM OUTCOME BASED EDUCATION

Department of Education. "K To 12 Most Essential Learning Competencies With

Corresponding CG Codes". Pasig City: Department of Education Central Office,
2020.

Media/Websites/Internet Sites:

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https://www.allabout philosophy.org>wiki https://en.m.wikipedia.org>wiki
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yin_yang.svg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqqyq6Yo67E
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=methods+of+philosophizing
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=transcendence+in+the+global+age

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths
https://tricycle.org/magazine/noble-eightfold-path/
https://www.slideshare.net/kazekage15/the-human-person-in-their-environment
https://www.britannica.com/topic/anthropocentrism
https://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/models/Ethnocentrism
http://www.takepart.com/flashcards/what-is-a-carbon-footprint/index.html
https://www.tamera.org/deepecology/?
gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkuKJxW65gIVh3ZgCh1cjgEmEAAYASAAEgJPNPD_B wE
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-environmental/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/social-ecology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yCcXgbKrE

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For inquiries and feedback, please write or call:

Schools Division of Ilocos Norte – Curriculum Implementation Division

Learning Resource Management Section (SDOIN-CID LRMS)

Office Address: Brgy. 7B, Giron Street, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte
Telefax: (077) 771-0960
Telephone No.: (077) 770-5963, (077) 600-2605
E-mail Address: ilocosnorte@deped.gov.ph