Unit I: Doing Philosophy

Overview of the Lesson:

One misconception about philosophy is that it is highly intellectual and speculative.  It is fitting only to individuals known to have a natural endowment of reason/intellect.  Students may think of philosophy as something strange and out-of-this-world since it deals with the realm where only philosophers are privileged to have perched and philosophized. 

This lesson, however, introduces philosophy as a mental activity in a form of insight, which is inseparably one with life.  So long as one has life –regardless of his color, race, and status, he is capable of philosophizing.    Playing with one’s insight is one of the ways of doing philosophy.  Thus, this lesson starts with initiating class activities such as story and picture analyses that will elicit insight from students.  It also covers the different courses in philosophy.  Towards the end, it highlights the importance of philosophical reflection in modern life.

Lesson Contents:

            1.     What is Philosophy? [click]

    1.1    Insight [click]

    1.2    Why do we philosophize? [click]

    1.3    When do we begin to philosophize? [click]

2.     Branches of Philosophy [click]

    2.1    Systematic Philosophy

    2.2    Historical Philosophy

3.     The Significance of Philosophizing in Modern Times [click]

Pre-test: [click] (Before you proceed, try to test your prior knowledge about philosophy.)

Motivational Activity 1: [click] Story-analysis.  This activity enhances students' ability to do conceptual analysis, which is one of the ways of playing insights.  The gist of the story entitled, Six Blind Men and An Elephant, is very relevant to the problem of truth, which troubled the minds of great philosophers.

Motivation Activity 2: [click] Song-analysis.  This activity enhances students' ability to analyze metaphors.  The title of the song is Who am I? by Casting Crown.  Asking the same question is a good start for the philosophical study of the human person.

Chapter Quiz 1:  Covers the first sub-topic, What is Philosophy?  There are two types: (1) objective and (2) essay --story analysis.  

Chapter Quiz 2:  Covers the second sub-topic, Branches of Philosophy.  

References:  [click]