Method of Philosophizing

Philosophical method (or philosophical methodology) is the study of how to do philosophy. A common
view among philosophers is that philosophy is distinguished by the ways that philosophers follow in
addressing philosophical questions. There is not just one method that philosophers use to answer
philosophical questions. Philosophy is concerned with determining the concept of truth. Truth lies at the
heart of any inquiry.

Truth in metaphysics and the philosophy of language is the property of sentences, assertions, beliefs,
thoughts, or propositions that are said, in ordinary discourse, to agree with the facts or to state what the
case is. It is most often used to mean being in accord with fact or reality, or fidelity to an original or
standard. Truth is also sometimes defined in modern contexts as an idea of "truth to self", or
authenticity.

Propositions is a statement about the world or reality. Propositions may or may not carry truth.

Knowledge is the clear awareness and understanding of something. It is the product of questions that
allow for clear answers provided by facts.

Facts are propositions or statements which are observed to be real or truthful.

Claim is a statement that is not evidently or immediately known to be true. This means that any claim
can be proven by verification and experimentation.

Therefore, truthful statements can be considered as based on facts.

There are several views regarding truth. Philosophers emphasize the importance of belief as a basis for
determining truth. But as a philosopher, we do not assume that every statement is true. Remember the
famous French philosopher, Rene Descartes tracedtheneed to philosophize to doubt.

In philosophy, systematic doubt is employed to help determine the truth. This means that every
statement, claim, evidence, and experience is scrutinized and analyzed.

Doubt has a very important purpose in philosophy as it drives our desire to discover the truth. In
philosophy, systematic doubt is employed to help determine the truth.

Basis of determining truth lifted from the book for Roberto Abella

1. A belief is true if it can be justified or proven through the use of one’s senses.
2. A belief or statement is true if it is based on facts.
3. Getting consensus or having people agree on a common belief.
4. A statement should be proven through an action to determine its truth.
5. Claims and beliefs should be subjected to tests to determine truth.
Distinguish Opinion from Truth.

Examples of an opinion:

 Ann can have the opinion that Italian food tastes best, while Joe has the opinion that French food is
ideal.  Sue can have the opinion that reading is boring, while Mike can hahave the opinion that reading
is fun.  Penny can have the opinion that cold weather is better, while Tim can prefers hot weather.

The facts that form the bases of a conclusion may not be disputed but the conclusionitself could still be
contested or questioned. To judge the truthfulness of belief, we must alsoconsider things such a person’s
experiences and views. Facts are statements that are observed to be real or truthful.

Claims - are statements that require further examination to determine their truthfulness. Some
arguments may contain fallacies. We must be aware of the various kinds of fallacies as these affect the
validity of arguments.

Opinions - are often influenced by bias. We must be aware of bias that we can objectively and critically
examine points of view. Opinion is something intermediary between knowledge and ignorance.

Public opinion - is the intermediate faculty which seizes the things that float betweenthetwoextremes
(Plato)
Opinion - applies to what, being true or false, may be other than it is: in fact, opinion is the apprehension
of an immediate and unnecessary premise (Aristotle)

Opinion, founded in the probable, perhaps also the name of knowledge (Leibniz)

Opinion - is a belief that is conscious of being insufficient both subjectively and objectively (Kant)

An opinion gives for truth something that has been said, although sometimes they are absurd words,
which mean nothing, impossible to understand (Hobbes)

Public opinion - is the convergence of the opinions of the greatest number of people in a community, so
that they form a common and dominant feeling, exerting diffuse pressure (Freund).
Methods of Philosophy Lead to Wisdom and Truth

Philosophy - is an organized 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 dispute.
2. Philosophical questions cannot be settled by science, common sense, or faith.
3. Philosophical questions are of perennial intellectual interest to human beings.

Critical Thinking - methodology or method that philosophers use to address philosophical questions
- is the careful, reflective, rational, and systematic approach to questions of very general interest.
-means understanding if philosophy and refraining from merely giving claims but through careful thought,
one reason through to argumentation.

For Maboloc and Pascua (2008) critical thinking is a lifelong process of self-assessment that further consists of:
Defining, analyzing, and devising solutions,
Arriving at reasonable and informed conclusions
Applying understanding and knowledge to new and different problems.
Willingness to say “I don’t know.”

The attributes of a critical thinker include;

Evaluate Truth from Opinions in Different Situations Using the Methods of Philosophizing

Method of philosophizing - a process of determining the truth or drawing conclusions from a statement
using various philosophical methods, such as: Socratic, dialectic, scientific, and historical.

Socratic method – from the Greek word “elenchus” which means to inquire or cross-examine. It is a form
of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals based on asking and answering questions to
stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying assumptions.
Dialectic method – from the Greek word “dialektike” means the art of conversation. It is a discourse
between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to establish
the truth through reasoned arguments.
Scientific method (empirical method)- from the Greek word “scientia” to produce knowledge. It is a
process of determining truth or knowledge through experimentation, inductive and deductive reasoning,
and hypothesis or theory testing.
Historical method- from the Greek word “iotopia” means to investigate or to find out. It is a process of
gathering evidences, examining them, and formulating ideas from the past to come up with the present
truth.
Deductive Reasoning - conclusion comes first, followed by main points, and the last will be the supporting data,
facts, examples, and evidences. General idea comes first before the specific or particular idea.

Inductive Reasoning - supporting data, facts, examples, and evidence come first followed by the main points and
the conclusion will be the last part. This is the vice versa of deductive reasoning because a particular idea comes first
before the general idea.