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Edmund Husserl’s Phenomenology: Key Concepts

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Phenomenology comes from the two Greek words phainomenon, which means “appearance,” and logos, which means “reason” or “study.” Hence, etymologically speaking, phenomenology means “study of phenomenon.” The term phenomenon means anything that exists of which the mind is conscious. A “book” is a concrete example of a phenomenon. A book is there existing materially, and the mind is conscious of it. However, phenomenology is formally defined as the investigation of the essence or the nature of material things or things that appear to us.

It is important to note that Husserl did not invent phenomenology out of a vacuum.

The context here is that realism and idealism had reached an impasse toward the end of the nineteenth century regarding that status of the knower and the thing known. As is well known, the realists argue for the independence of the “object” of knowledge, while the idealists argue for the primacy of the “subject,” that is, the knower. It is in view of this impasse that Husserl offered his phenomenology as a way out. But instead of making a philosophical speculation of the nature of reality, Husserl argued for the need for philosophy to turn to a pure description of the “what is,” of the thing as it appears to us. Thus, the famous Husserlian motto: “back to the things themselves.” In Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy, William Barrett writes: “For Husserl, phenomenology was a discipline that attempts to describe what is given to us in experience without obscuring preconceptions or hypothetical speculations.”

With this note, let me now briefly sketch Husserl’s notion of phenomenology as a method of philosophizing. Please note that I will not discuss in great detail Husserl’s model of phenomenology as our concern here is just to know the nature and dynamics of phenomenology as a method of philosophizing. For a detailed discussion on the nature and dynamics of Husserl’s model of phenomenology, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “The Phenomenological Reduction,” http://www.iep.utm.edu/phen-red/#SSH5a.i

Again, phenomenology for Husserl is a discipline that attempts to describe (or understand) what is given to us in experience. In other words, phenomenology for Husserl provides an account of how things (phenomena) appear to our awareness or, ultimately, how the world appears to us in terms of our subjective experience of it. That is why, according to Gerry and Rhiza, phenomenology deals primarily with the determination of the nature and structure of human conscious experience. Indeed, phenomenology is about reflecting upon our everyday immediate or lived experiences in order to gain some understanding of its underlying order, coherence, and structure.

To begin with, within Husserl’s model of phenomenology (which is called pure phenomenology, in contradistinction to the existential phenomenology of his followers, such as Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Jean-Paul Sartre) is the idea that we normally view reality from the vantage point of what Husserl calls “The Natural Attitude.” For Husserl, this natural attitude toward things suggests that people conduct their life with the common natural belief that the reality that they inhabit is fundamentally separable from their subjective experience of it. In other words, for those people with a natural attitude, the world is out there relative to their experience of it.

In contrast to this natural attitude, Husserl claims that it is possible for people to adopt a phenomenological attitude, wherein they suspend or “bracket” their belief and natural attitude, and eventually recognize that it is just a natural attitude―that the knowledge that they gained from this attitude is not real or true knowledge. This act of bracketing, which is also called epoche, allows people to turn their attention on the ongoing activity of their consciousness to which their experience of reality or things is ultimately constituted.

According to Husserl, the overall act of employing epoche, that is, suspending or bracketing all preconceived notions and prejudices about a particular phenomenon under study―and then record, identify, and then put to one side―in order for us to gain an understanding of the true nature of reality, is called phenomenological reduction. According to Richard Schmitt, it is called “phenomenological” because it transforms the world into a phenomenon, and it is called “reduction” because it leads us back to the source of the meaning and existence of the experienced world.

According to Frogstuff, “The concept [of epoche or bracketing] can be better understood in terms of the phenomenological activity it is supposed to make possible: the ‘unpacking’ of phenomena, or, in other words, systematically peeling away their symbolic meanings like layers of an onion until only the thing itself as meant and experienced remains. Thus, one’s subjective perception of the bracketed phenomenon is examined and analyzed in its purity.”

It must be noted, however, that in phenomenological reduction, the mind does not make up features of reality that everything must conform to. On the contrary, objects in the world (phenomena) already have some kind of structure or unity, and these objective meaningful features of the things (phenomena) are disclosed to us in our experience by means of the interpretations we can give to them. In this way, our mind can be viewed as active because it can create interpretations of our experience in meaningful ways. However, it must be remembered that there is already something meaningful in the objects (phenomena) themselves which can provide confirmation of or contradiction to that interpretation.

Now, with phenomenological reduction, people are able to have a shift in perspective.  And it is important to note that this basic shift in perspective as a result of the employment of phenomenological reduction enables us to assume a phenomenological attitude toward our experience. According to some scholars, this can produce some surprising insights into the fundamental nature of things. In other words, with phenomenological reduction, one is able to get at the pure phenomena from a user’s point of view. Put differently, through phenomenological reduction, we are able to know and understand the essence or meaning of things as they appear to us.

Let us take “man” as a phenomenon and apply a phenomenological reduction to it in order for us to know the essence of man.

The Natural Attitude may say: “Man is a rational animal.” Here, man is simply perceived as an animal that thinks.

But from the standpoint of a Phenomenological Attitude, the nature of man or the understanding of man depends on how one experiences man. Thus, with a phenomenological attitude, man can be viewed as a being that possesses freedom or a being that escapes definition. Here, man is more than a thinking animal. This means that the meaning of man can vary considerably depending on the way in which we view man, whether from the vantage point of a natural attitude or from a phenomenological attitude.

There are some techniques of doing phenomenology, of the way to go about exploring our consciousness of reality. One way of doing this is to undertake what Husserl calls Eidetic Reduction. By the way, for Husserl, eidetic reduction is a second reduction, which follows the moment we have turned our reflective awareness toward experience by employing the phenomenological reduction. In fact, eidetic reduction is a way of understanding the essence of some experience. This precisely what Husserl calls the movement from fact to essence.

In must be noted that for Husserl, epoche has two fundamental moments, namely: 1) the reduction to the sphere of immanence and 2) the movement from fact to essence. The first moment involves a suspension of the natural attitude and placing in abeyance all beliefs in the transcendental world. It is important to note that Husserl did not use the term “transcendental” in the mystical sense, for example, the way it is used in the phrase “transcendent God.” In order for us to understand Husserl’s use of the word ‘transcendent” or “transcendental,” let us posit this word vis-à-vis the term “materiality.” In Husserlian phenomenology, materiality could mean the physical existence of things, such as tables, chairs, books, trees, cars and the like. On the other hand, transcendental phenomena are those phenomena that have transcended their materiality, such as feelings, thoughts, experiences, memories, and the like. It is for this reason that Husserl’s philosophy is “transcendental” because it is concerned with the conditions of possibility that make an experience possible. Indeed, thoughts, memories, experiences and feelings serve as the conditions of possibility that make an experience possible. The second moment, sometimes called eidetic reduction, involves a shift to consider things not as realities but as instances of idealities, that is, as pure possibilities rather than actualities. In this way, objects are no longer conceived as material things, but as essences―that is, meanings, categories, ideal types, and laws.

Let me give an example in order to drive my point clearly.

We may ask the question: “What is a table?”

Here, it is important to remember, according to some scholars on Husserl, that what Husserl is after is a special moment in the inquirer’s reflective awareness, a special moment which Husserl calls intuition. Husserl distinguishes between perception and intuition. In perception, a person may perceive and be conscious of the fact that she perceives an object, but without understanding its meaning and essence. Intuition, on the other hand, is an insight into the nature and meaning of something through the experience of that something. Now, according to Husserl, eidetic reduction helps bring about an intuition into something as essence by employing a method knows as Imaginary Variation.

In imaginary variation, the inquirer varies all the possible attributes of an experience as a way of exploring what is truly necessary for it to be what it is. Thus, in the question “what is a table,” we may raise the following points:

1. A table has four legs;

2. A table is made up of wood;

3. A table has a flat surface;

4. A table is rectangular in shape;

5. A table is used primarily for dining or putting things on it.

Or we may ask the following, as a way of varying all possible attributes of an experience:

1. Would it still be a table if it has no legs?

2. Would it still be a table if it has no flat surface?

3. Would it still be a table if it is not made up of wood?

4. Would it still be a table if it is not rectangular in shape?

5. Would it still be a table if it is not used for dining or putting things on it?

Eventually, according to Husserl, this kind of explanation helps the inquirer reach or attain a special moment of intuition about her experience of the table. Thus, she may say: “A table is a four-legged furniture, made up of wood, has a flat surface, rectangular in shape, and is used primarily for dining or putting things on it.” This is what makes a table “a table.” Indeed, this is the nature of the phenomenon (table in this case) as it appears to us, that is, as we experienced it. According to some scholars, this is a kind of “Aha” moment in which the inquirer realizes the overall essential nature of the experience. This is exactly what is meant by the dictum: “back to the things themselves” as that which characterizes Husserl’s project. It must be noted, however, that Husserl’s famous dictum “back to the things themselves” meant “the things as we experienced them rather than take them for granted.”

Finally, some of the implications as a result of doing pure phenomenology is the realization that consciousness is intentional. For Husserl, consciousness is understood as fundamentally intentional. This means that consciousness as an act is always a consciousness “of” or “about” something. Thus, consciousness in Husserlian phenomenology is not directed toward itself, but toward phenomena in the world. It follows, therefore, that any form of thinking is based ultimately on “phenomena in the world.” For this reason, consciousness or thinking is just secondary to the lived experience of phenomena as they show themselves. This explains why for Husserl, the world of immediate or lived experience takes precedence over the objectified world of natural sciences.

In the phenomenological parlance, intentionality denotes two things. First, the intentionality of consciousness means that consciousness is always an act of doing something. Thus, consciousness is an activity. This is what is meant when Husserl said that to be conscious is to experience an act of knowing (noesis) in which the subject is aware of an object. And second, intentionality of consciousness means that consciousness is always referential, that is, consciousness is always pointing or referring to something. That is also what is meant when Husserl said that a conscious act is an act of awareness in which the subject is presented with an object (noema).

Let’s take, for example, the act of thinking about the definition of a table.

Thinking about the definition of a table involves actual thinking (noises). At the same time, it involves a referent, that is, a table (noema). At the end of it all, for Husserl, consciousness is not like a box that contains some perceptions. On the contrary, consciousness is an active ongoing referential process.

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History of Ancient Greek Philosophy

In these notes, I will briefly sketch the history of ancient Greek philosophy, which is divided into four parts, namely:

  1. The Problem of the World (cosmology),
  2. The Problem of Knowledge (epistemology),
  3. The Problem of Freedom, and
  4. The Problem of Religion

It must be noted, however, that I will only schematically trace the development of philosophy in these periods because the main concern here is just to know the origin of Western philosophy and its development. Thus, I will not discuss in great detail the specificity of each period of philosophy.

In the first part of these notes, I will focus on the problem of the world, which is the first problem that the ancient Greek philosophers attempted to address.

Part 1
The Problem of Cosmology:
From Thales to Anaxagoras

The first problem of Greek philosophy was about cosmology, that is, the explanation of the nature of the world as it was experienced by the perceiving mind. Thus, the first question being posed was:

What is the basic material of which the world is formed?

This question was answered by the three most illustrious philosophers of Ionia, namely: Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes.

Thales (c. 620 BCE – c. 546 BCE), the acclaimed first philosopher of the Western world, claimed that the basic stuff or material of which the world is formed is water. Thus, for Thales, “all is water” and that everything comes from and arises out of water. Again, as I already mentioned, I will not present the details of Thales’s (and other philosophers discussed here) philosophy because my concern here is simply to trace the historical development of philosophy. For a detailed discussion on the life and works of Thales, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/thales/.
Anaximander (c. 610 BCE – 546 BCE), who was known to be one of Thales’s students, was not convinced that water is the basic stuff of the world. For this philosopher, thebasic material upon which the world is formed cannot be determined. Anaximander calls this Apeiron, the Greek word for that which is “unbounded” or “indefinite” or “infinite”. For more on Anaximander’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/anaximan/.

Anaximenes (d. 528 BCE), also known to be another student of Thales, disagreed with Anaximander and argued that the basic stuff of the world can be determined; yet it is not water, as Thales would have us believe. For Anaximenes, “all is air”, and that everything comes from and arises out of air. Anaximenes argued that the life of the universe resembled that of man, that air, the breadth of life which the human soul is made, is its principle. For more on Anaximenes’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/.

As we can notice, the first question of philosophy deals with matter only, that is, again, the basic stuff of the world. It did not address the question concerning substance, that is, the principle upon which order or creation is based. Thus, the second question was posed:

In what consists its fundamental form, its principle of order?

This is where Pythagoras (c. 570 BCE – c. 495 BCE) came in. To be specific, this was the question that Pythagoras attempted to address and not simply the basic material upon which the world is formed. Again, this is what I meant when I said above that we need to know the intellectual history that surrounds a particular scholarship, that is, we need to know the historical development of philosophy so that we will know where to situate a particular philosopher in a specific context and time. In this way, we do not just lump philosophers together in discussing their philosophies in a specific historical period. To reiterate, all philosophers are addressing a specific problem or problems in a specific time and context.

For Pythagoras (and, of course, the Pythagoreans), the essential reality of things can be completely expressed in numerical terms. Thus, the formal order of the universe can be conceived mathematically. For Pythagoras, therefore, “all is number.” In other words, numbers are the principle of order (of the universe). Thus, for Pythagoras, everything can be explained in numbers. It is also important to note that the Ancient Egyptians also conceived numbers as the underlying principle of all things. For a detailed discussion on the life and works of Pythagoras, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/pythagor/.

Now, the combination of the first two questions in philosophy necessarily led to the third one:

How do things arise?

This question relates to world-process, that is, the origin of the world. This is a necessary question for the ancient Greek philosophers because when the principle and the real ground of all things are determined, the next question would be “How do things result

from their real ground and principle?”

This is precisely where Heraclitus and Parmenides entered in the scene. Heraclitus attempted to address this problem of world-process, while Parmenides (and the Eleatics, such as Xenophanes and Zeno) denied the idea of the world-process.

Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 500 BCE) argued that Logos-Fire, that is, fire or perpetual change, is the universal principle. Logos-Fire, therefore, is the cause of order, proportion, harmony, and rationality in the continual flow of things. As is well known, Heraclitus said that everything is change, that “we cannot step twice in the same river”. Thus, for Heraclitus, the world arises out of the Logos-Fire.

Some scholars would say that for Heraclitus, the basic stuff or material of which the world is formed is fire. I argue that this is a mistake because Heraclitus’s concern was not to determine the basic stuff of the world, but to determine the principle that could explain the arising of things, that is, world-process.

However, for Heraclitus, we cannot exactly know the specificity of the arising of things. He simply claimed that the world-process or the arising of things is governed by the principle of Logos-Fire. For more on Heraclitus’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/heraclit/.

Parmenides of Elea (Late 6th century – to Mid 5th century BCE), unlike Heraclitus who claimed that everything is change, that nothing is permanent, argued that change is impossible. For Parmenides, reality is one. He said that “what is, is and it is impossible for it not to be.” This is is existing fully and completely; and if it is full and complete, it is impossible for it to change. Thus, for Parmenides, this is is the real One, which remains forever and immovable. Finally, for Parmenides, therefore, the idea of world-process is an illusion for nothing can come out of that which is. For a detailed discussion on Parmenides’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,http://www.iep.utm.edu/parmenid/.

Heraclitus and Parmenides’s thoughts on the issue of world-process did not satisfy the inquiring mind. Hence, Heraclitus’s answer to the problem of world-process and Parmenides’s reaction did not suffice. The problem of philosophy after them was still occupied with the world-process as nature. Thus, for the inquiring mind, this problem must be solved: the world-process and the origin and formation of all things must be explained once and for all.

This is the reason why Empedocles, the Atomists, and Anaxagoras came to the fore. They insisted that the problem of the world-process needed to be pushed further. The basic contention of Empedocles, the Atomists, and Anaxagoras is that there is something that lies at the foundation of world-process, which has not and cannot become; something, therefore, that is original and unchangeable.

Empedocles (c. 492 BCE – c. 432 BCE) attempted to explain the world-process and its derivation. For Empedocles, the world-process is derived from the combination of the four basic elements, namely: fire, water, earth, and air. Empedocles calls these four elements as the Fundamental Materials of the world. Thus, for Empedocles, the world- process and the formation of things resulted from the combination of these four

elements. For more on Empedocles’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/empedocl/.

The Atomists, particularly Leucippus (5th century BCE) and Democritus (460-370 BCE), found that the four elements of Empedocles are changeable and divisible. Therefore, they cannot be the primary beings that lie at the foundation of world-process. Hence, Leucippus and Democritus argued that atoms, which are numberless, are the primary beings that lie at the foundation of the world-process. In fact, for these philosophers, mechanical motion in the world-process resulted from the weight of the combined atoms. For more on the life and works of Leucippus, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/leucippu/. For the life and works of Democritus, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/democrit/.

Finally, if mechanical motion results from the weight of the combined atoms, the question of Anaxagoras (c. 500 BCE – 428 BCE) was: what is the explanation of the form and order of things? Thus, Anaxagoras argued that there must be a primordial being that is responsible for the form and order of things. For Anaxagoras, this primordial being is Nous or Mind. According to Anaxagoras, this Nous is the law-giving motion, without which motion in the universe is impossible. This is likened to Hegel’s notion of “Reason” as the driving force of history.

Now, it is important to note that with Anaxagoras, the first period of Greek philosophy naturally closes. This period, which is usually called as the period of natural philosophy―because it addresses the problem of world-material, that of the world- order, and world-process―has so far thought of the problem of the world, and from its answers, Mind necessarily resulted.

Just a final note. As we can notice, the ancient Greek philosophers did not ask the question as to who created the world, as we normally do today. The notion of a Creator, at least in the history of philosophy, was picked up later by the Medieval thinkers, particularly St. Augustine, the acclaimed philosopher of the Medieval period. This is exactly what makes this intellectual endeavor truly philosophical: it used reason in explaining reality.

Part 2
The Problem of Knowledge:
The Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

In Part 1 of this series of discussions about the history of Greek philosophy, we learned that for Parmenides and the Eleatics, there is no world-process. Now, if there is no world-process, then this means that there is no “process” or any “change” that actually happens in reality. The implication of this argument in epistemology is that there is no mental process and, for this reason, knowledge is impossible to attain.

If there is nothing but process or change, and nothing whatsoever is permanent, as Heraclitus would have us believe, then neither subject nor object continues. Hence, there is neither a knowing subject nor a thing to be known. If this is the case, then the same conclusion can be arrived at, that knowledge is impossible to attain.

If there is nothing but mechanical process, nothing but the union and separation of the four basic elements, as Empedocles and the Atomists believed, then there is also no mental process, and so, knowledge is also impossible to attain.

And if a mental process depends upon a being (Nous or Mind) outside the world, as Anaxagoras maintains, then there is no natural process of knowledge. For this reason, human knowledge is impossible to attain.

The overall implication of Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, the Atomists, and Anaxagoras’s philosophy in epistemology is that knowledge cannot be attained. More importantly, if there is no knowledge, then this implies that there is no truth.

And if there is no truth, then nothing whatsoever is “in itself”, that is, there is nothing that exists as universally valid being or truth, neither in science nor in philosophy. At the end of it all, nothing remains but subjective opinion; nothing but the individual as the measure of all things. This is precisely the theme of the Sophists, particularly Gorgias and Protagoras.

As is well known, the Sophists in general were convinced that knowledge is impossible to attain. As Protagoras claims: “Man is the measure of all things, of the reality of those which are, and the unreality of those which are not.” Another famous line of Protagoras reads: “As to the gods, I cannot know whether they exist or not; too many obstacles are in the way, the obscurity of the subject and the shortness of life.” For more on the life and works of Protagoras, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/protagor/.

It is important to note that Sophism as a philosophical movement (philosophical movement because it’s not a branch nor a sub-branch of philosophy) is partly an expansion of the philosophies of Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, the Atomists, and Anaxagoras, but in the realm of knowledge.

Now, with the contention of the Sophists that knowledge is impossible to attain, Socrates came into the fore, which gave way to Plato and, later, Aristotle. Needless to say, this is where Socrates, Plato and Aristotle entered the scene.

Socrates (469 BCE – 399 BCE), indeed, was the first to see the problem with Sophism. In fact, the primary question that preoccupied Socrates was nothing else than the genesis of knowledge, the passage of the mind from the stage of “not-knowing” into that of “knowing”, and the seeking of truth, with a factual refutation of the Sophists who declared that knowledge is impossible to attain.

One of the proofs why the Sophists believed that knowledge is impossible to attain is the continual contradiction of human opinions about anything. Thus, the Sophists believed that knowledge and truth are impossible to attain because people disagree on almost everything.

However, Socrates was convinced that “harmony” or “agreement” is inherent in any disagreement. Thus, Socrates believes that “harmony” or “agreement” can be produced out of the contradiction. This made Socrates conclude that truth and knowledge are possible, and that they can be found in intercourse with men, that is, in a dialogue with men. Thus, for Socrates, with dialogue, universal concepts―those in which all men agree―are made possible. For more on the life and works of Socrates, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/socrates/.

Plato (427 BCE – 347 BCE), as we know, was Socrates’s most brilliant student. Plato was a philosopher in his own right. However, Plato’s philosophy began with his attempt to write or record Socrates’s philosophy. As we know, Socrates never wrote his philosophy. Later, however, as he expands Socrates’s philosophy, Plato developed his own way of philosophizing and, eventually, his own philosophy.

Plato agreed with Socrates’s claim that universal concepts―those in which all men agree―are true concepts, which are the objects of knowledge. The strong proviso that Plato added is that everything that exists is just a copy of the real. Thus, the world of ideas (in contradistinction to the world of matter or the material world) is the only real world and, consequently, the only real knowledge. For sure, this is the step from Socrates to Plato.

Plato’s notion of the world of ideas and the world of matter laid down the notion of the dualism of matter and form. And this dualism implies the opposition of ideas and matter, that is, of the intelligible world and the material world. For more on Plato’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/plato/.

But the question of the inquiring mind was: how does matter acquire form? In other words, how is the union of matter and form possible? This question gave way to the philosophy of Aristotle.

Aristotle (382 BCE – 322 BCE) got rid of Plato’s dualism. For Aristotle, form and matter are inseparable. This is because, according to Aristotle, we cannot think of anything without matter and form. Indeed, for Aristotle, something cannot exist if it does not have both matter and form, that is, if it is not complete. This is the reason why Aristotle argues that anything that exists is perfect, is complete, because it has matter and form. For example, a table cannot exist as a table in reality if it does not have a form of a table and matter of which it is made.

However, Aristotle argues that it is form that actualizes the potentialities of matter. This explains exactly Aristotle’s principle of act and potency. Furthermore, Aristotle introduces the idea of a Prime Matter. According to Aristotle, Prime Matter is the source of everything, and this Prime Matter has the possibility of becoming something. For more on Aristotle’s life and works, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/aristotl/.

Lastly, but most importantly, it must be noted that with Aristotle, the classic period of Greek philosophy ends.

Part 3
The Problem of Freedom:
Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism

In Part 2 of this series of discussions about the history of the development of Greek philosophy, I have traced the development of Greek philosophy from the Sophists to Aristotle, with emphasis on the problem of knowledge. In this post, I will present the development of Greek philosophy, particularly ancient Greek philosophy, from the Stoics to the Skeptics, with emphasis on the problem of freedom.

To reiterate, the classic period of ancient Greek philosophy ends with Aristotle. Now, after Aristotle, philosophy took a different direction. Here, the problem of philosophy was no longer on cosmology, that is, the problem of the world-stuff, world-order, and world-process, but on the person’s freedom from the world. This desire for freedom from the world, which came after Aristotle, was viewed as the restoration of the divine perfection of the human person―an inner perfection which approximate divinity. It is important to note that the human person was conceived in antiquity as an entity that can approximate divinity. It is also important to note that the background here is that the world is full of evil, of debaucheries, of wickedness, which had corrupted the human soul―thus, the need to free oneself from the world.

Those who attempted to free the human person from the world, at least in the context of ancient Greek philosophy, were represented by the Stoics, Epicureans, and the Skeptics. Let me briefly sketch the key concepts in Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism.

According to The Basics of Philosophy, “Stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy (developed by Zeno of Citium around 300 B.C. as a refinement of Cynicism) which teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions. It does not seek to extinguish emotions completely, but rather seeks to transform them by a resolute Asceticism (a voluntary abstinence from worldly pleasures), which enables a person to develop clear judgment, inner calm and freedom from suffering (which it considers the ultimate goal).” See The Basics of Philosophy, http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_stoicism.html.

Thus, according to the virtue of the Stoics, to free oneself from the world, one must cease to desire, to suffer, to struggle, i.e., to strive for the solution of the problems of the world. In a sense, one must put herself in a condition in which there is nothing worthy of desire, in which the will is affected and influenced by nothing. For more on nature, meaning and dynamics of Stoicism, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/stoicism/#H1.

On the other hand, Epicurus (341 BCE – 271 BCE) suggests that in order for one to protect herself against the world, one must lead a life that is free from suffering. One way of doing this is not to ask too much from nature. In this way, one suffers a little and enjoy as much as possible.

However, it is a mistake to equate Epicureanism with hedonism. As we know, hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure, sensual pleasure so to speak. Thus, the famous hedonist motto: eat now, drink now, be merry for tomorrow you will die. On the contrary, Epicureanism urges one to seek modest pleasure in order to attain the greatest good, which is the attainment of tranquility and freedom from fear (ataraxia), as well as the absence of bodily pain (aponia). For more on Epicurus and Epicureanism, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/epicur/.

Lastly, we have the doubt of the ancient Greek Skeptics. Ancient Greek Skepticism “is generally applied either to a member of Plato’s Academy during its skeptical period (c. 273 B.C.E to 1st century B.C.E.) or to a follower of Pyrrho (c. 365 to 270 B.C.E.).

Pyrrhonian skepticism flourished from Aenesidemus’ revival (1st century B.C.E.) to Sextus Empiricus, who lived sometime in the 2nd or 3rd centuries C.E. Thus the two main varieties of ancient skepticism: Academic and Pyrrhonian.” See Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/skepanci/.

It is known that almost every form of ancient Greek skepticism has something to do with the claim that humans have the inability to gain knowledge of the world, and so the need to suspend judgment. In the case of Pyrrho, who was overwhelmed by his inability to determine rationally which competing schools of thoughts during his time was correct, doubt then is the key to attaining peace of mind (ataraxia). In fact, after admitting to himself that indeed he could not attain absolute truth, Pyrrho gained peace of mind. For more on the life and works of the Skeptic Pyrrho, see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/pyrrho/.

Thus, doubt for the Skeptics is the key to freeing oneself from the wicked world. In fact, the Skeptics claim that in order for one to get rid of the “unrest of mind”, one must cease to strive, and must give up the solution of the problems of the world, being convinced that these problems cannot be solved.

To reiterate, the Stoics, Epicureans, and Skeptics have one common goal: freedom from the world. The Stoics seek to become free from the world through “virtue”, the Epicureans through “happiness”, and the Skeptics through “doubt”.

Part 4
The Problem of Religion:
Plotinus to Jesus Christ

In Part 3 of this series of discussions about the history of ancient Greek philosophy, I have presented the development of Greek philosophy from the Stoics to the Skeptics, with emphasis on the problem of freedom. In this concluding part, I will discuss briefly the last problem of ancient Greek philosophy, namely: the problem of religion.

As we have seen, the means of the Stoics, the Epicureans, and the Skeptics in attaining freedom from the world seemed to have failed. It is for this reason that the problem of the world, that is, the evil it contains, requires a deeper solution: religion.

It is important to note, therefore, that after the Stoics, the Epicureans, and the Skeptics, the desire for freedom from the world took another direction, and this is now religious in nature. It is now viewed as the desire for salvation. Grecian philosophy soon met with Christianity, which broke through the limits of Judaism. For this reason, the desire for freedom now seeks union with God. Here, God must be conceived in such a way that the human person can say that if she were with Him, she would be happy―that in God’s presence, there is nothing that disturbs and oppresses. For this reason, it is only through God that salvation is possible.

The idea of salvation in late ancient Greek philosophy was introduced by the Ascetics, the Neo-Platonists, and Jewish Philosophy.

The Ascetics, such as the monks, want to attain divine illumination through a continued renunciation of the world and control of their natural desires, even to the extremist abstinence. Thus, the Ascetics normally withdraw from the world and voluntarily renounced worldly pleasures in the pursuit of spiritual goals. According to The Basics on Philosophy, http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_asceticism.html, “The justification behind Asceticism is usually that spiritual and religious goals are impeded by indulgence in pleasures of the flesh, although it does not necessarily hold that the enjoyment of life is bad in itself. Thus, ascetic practices are not usually regarded as virtuous as such, but merely a means towards a mind-body transformation, or a purification of the body which enables connection with the Divine and the cultivation of inner peace. It aims to achieve freedom from compulsions and temptations, bringing about peacefulness of mind and an increase in clarity and power of thought.”

The Neo-Platonists, such as Ammonius Saccas (175 CE – 242 CE) and Plotinus (204 CE – 270 CE) believed that the doctrine of the order of the world can be conceived as thoughts of God. For one, Plotinus believes that the rational soul participates in the divine eternal world; thus, the rational soul directly originates from the divine essence. Plotinus believes that the rational soul is in constant communion with the One, and for this reason, the rational soul continually receives from the One. Thus, for Plotinus, salvation is possible only if the rational soul is connected to the One (or God). For more on the life and works of Plotinus, see “Plotinus,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plotinus/.

Jewish philosophy

Jewish philosophy has a spiritual kinship with Neo-Platonism. This is because its chief problem was the salvation of the world. The fundamental thought in which its solution is sought is that of a world-saving principle, that is, the Logos. The Logos, which was regarded by the ancient Greek philosophers as the principle of world-order, is now viewed as the Mediator between God and the human person. Indeed, the Logos was viewed by the Jewish thinkers as the creative word of God.

Indeed, when Jewish philosophy met Grecian philosophy, the idea of the Logos of the latter, which was understood as the principle of world-order, was now understood by the Jews as Messiah. Thus, the Logos-Messiah becomes the Mediator and Savior of the world.

Now, the problem of salvation demands a personal solution. This solution is possible only if a man appears who can actually overcome the world in himself, and who is truly free from the world. This man should then be the Savior of the world. Thus, the Logos has to become a flesh, that is, God the Savior has to become a man. And only though faith in this man can the person’s desire for salvation be satisfied. Thus, Jesus Christ has come into the fore. Indeed, it is precisely in this late period of Greek philosophy that Jesus Christ emerged.

What comes after this late stage of Greek philosophy was the development of philosophy in the Medieval period. But I will not discuss this part because this is no longer our main concern here. It is enough that we now know the origin and development of Western philosophy, particularly Greek philosophy.

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Origin of Philosophy: A Brief Sketch

 

According to Socrates, as Plato reports, “Wonder is the only beginning of philosophy.” Later, Aristotle, in response to his predecessors, especially the Ionian philosophers, said that “It is owing to their wonder that men both now begin and at first began to philosophize.” (See John Llewelyn, “On the saying that philosophy begins in thaumazein,” Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry, Issu3 4 (2001), pp. 48-57. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20711438?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.

This is precisely the context and basis of the now famous claim that philosophy begins in wonder.

But what kind of wonder is this? For sure, wonder includes the feeling of surprise coupled with admiration, that is, when one is being curious or being in awe. But this is not enough. Wonder as the beginning of philosophy is precisely “philosophic wonder,” that is, the feeling of being perplexed. For example, the ancient Greek philosophers were perplexed about the origin and nature of the world. As Aristotle writes:

“For men were first led to study philosophy, as indeed they are today, by wonder. Now, he who is perplexed and wonders believes himself to be ignorant…they took to philosophy to escape ignorance…(Aristotle, Metaphysics 982b, tr. A.E. Taylor).”

In this sense, philosophic wonder seeks clarity by trying to understand the perplexities or vagueness or confusion that shrouded the inquiring mind. In other words, philosophic wonder seeks answers to or at least make sense of the mysterious world. Thus, when one begins to make sense of the questions regarding, for example, the origin of the world, or the meaning and purpose of life, one begins to philosophize. Thus, in philosophic wonder, one is not merely amazed by the mysteriousness of the world or of life, but seeks to understand this mystery. In a word: one thinks!

Given the above brief discussion on the origin of philosophy on the conceptual level, it is therefore reasonable to suppose that Western philosophy originated in Miletus, because Thales, the acclaimed first philosopher in the Western world, was from Miletus. Miletus during the time of Thales was the richest and the most powerful of all the Ionian cities, and was the first center of scholarship in ancient Greece. Ionia was a Greek city- state on the coast of Asia Minor, now Turkey.

It is worth noting that with the decline of Ionia, which began with its conquest by the Persians in 546 BCE, the intellectual life of Greece moved to Croton in southern Italy in 530 BCE. Croton was a splendid and powerful city-state of Greece to where Pythagoras emigrated from Samos and founded the Pythagorean Brotherhood [See Arthur Hilang Armstrong, An Introduction to Ancient Philosophy (London: Little Adams Quality Paperbacks, 1989), p. 5].

However, if philosophy begins in wonder, how do we exactly know that Thales was the first philosopher, that he was the first one to wonder, that is, the first one to attempt to make sense of the mysteriousness of the world? In fact, we cannot deny the occurrence of other pre-philosophical rumblings in Egyptian and Babylonian cultures, as well as in India and China. For sure, there were great thinkers that existed in each of these cultures, and there are evidence that some of the earliest Greek philosophers had come in contact with at least some of the products of Egyptian and Babylonia thought. And, of course, we cannot absolutely determine the first person who wondered or philosophized. But it is commonly believed that Thales was the first philosopher because he was the first, at least in recorded history, to put his philosophy into writing. In fact, we find in Thales, and many philosophers after him, some reasoned arguments for the origin and development of the world. Indeed, this is a unique feature of ancient Greek philosophy that distinguishes it from the pre-philosophical rumblings of other cultures.

To reiterate, Western philosophy begins in wonder, and that the origin of philosophy in terms of place is said to be in Miletus, Ionia.

 

 

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What is Philosophy? Meaning and Major Branches

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In these notes, I will briefly sketch the definition of philosophy, its origin, and its major branches. Specifically, it will address the question: What is Philosophy?

Meaning of Philosophy

Philosophy, particularly Western philosophy, comes from the two Greek words philia, which means “love” and sophia, “wisdom”. Thus, etymologically speaking, philosophy means the love of wisdom.

As is well known, love in this context is understood as a strong desire for a particular object; while wisdom is understood as a correct application of knowledge. Thus, philosophy as the love of wisdom, at least in this context, could refer to the strong desire of the human person to possess knowledge and apply it correctly. It’s not a coincidence, therefore, that most philosophers in the Ancient World, particularly in Greece, India, and China were sages or wise men. Think for example of Socrates, Gautama Buddha, Confucius, and Lao Tzu.

Traditionally, however, philosophy is defined as a science that studies beings in their ultimate causes, reasons, and principles through the aid of human reason alone. And when we speak of “being” or “beings” in philosophy in this context, we mean all things that exist, material or immaterial. An example of beings are “stones”, “trees”,

“persons”, “cars”, air, water; and the notions of “God”, “soul”, “spirit”. All of these are beings, and philosophy studies their ultimate causes, reason, and principles through the aid of reason alone.

In other words, philosophy is concerned with the reason and principles that account for everything that exists. Thus, some of the basic questions in philosophy are:

  1. What is the origin of the world, of everything that exists?
  2. Why do these things exist, rather than not exist at all?
  3. Is there God? If so, how can we justify the goodness of God in the face of evil?
  4. What is the meaning and purpose of life? Why do we have to suffer?
  5. If one is suffering from an unbearable pain, such as cancer, is it morally right to resort to euthanasia or assisted suicide?

These are just some of the questions that philosophy attempted to address. And in doing so, philosophy uses reason as a tool, which can be expressed in many forms, such as the ability to reflect, question, articulate one’s thought, and analyze certain phenomenon or event. In short, philosophy attempts to understand things in a critical and logical manner.

It is important to note, however, that philosophers do not agree on a single definition of philosophy. In fact, philosophers differ in their basic understanding of philosophy. For example, Karl Jaspers, a famous German existential philosopher, understands philosophy as a discipline in which questions are more important than answers because answers themselves will, in turn, become questions.

Major Branches of Philosophy

After addressing the question “what is philosophy?”, let us now discuss the major branches of philosophy. Philosophy is normally divided into four major branches, namely: Metaphysics, Epistemology, Logic, and Ethics.

Metaphysics comes from the two Greek words meta, which means “beyond” or “after” and physika, “physical” or “nature”. Hence, etymologically speaking, metaphysics means the study of things beyond the physical, that is, concepts or things that cannot be experienced, such as the concepts of God, freedom, and soul.

Metaphysics is commonly understood as the foundation of philosophy. In fact, Aristotle calls it the “first philosophy”. Originally, the Greek word metaphysika, which literally means “after physics”, actually designated that part of Aristotle’s works, which came after those chapters that dealt with physics. However, it was misappropriated later by the Medieval commentators on classical texts as that which is beyond the physical. Thus, over time, metaphysics has been understood as the study of that which exists beyond the physical.

Metaphysics is subdivided into two, namely, General Metaphysics and Special Metaphysics. General Metaphysics is also referred to as Ontology. Under Special Metaphysics, we have Cosmology, Psychology or Anthropology, and Natural Theology or Theodicy.

Ontology is derived from the two Greek words onto, which means “being” or “that which is”, that is, everything that exists; and logos, which means “knowledge” or

“study”. (Note, however, that the term logos in ancient Greek scholarship have different connotations. For example, Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher of the late 6th century BCE, understands Logos as reason or the underlying principle of all that is.) Ontology, therefore, is the specific branch of philosophy that studies beings in their ultimate causes, reasons, and principles through the aid of reason alone. In other words, Ontology studies the first principles or the essence of all things.

Some of the basic questions in ontology are:

  1. What is being?
  2. Why do things exist, rather than not exist at all?
  3. What is the meaning and nature of reality?
  4. What is the underlying principle of all that exist?
  5. Is there nothing?

Please note that my concern here is just to describe very schematically the four major branches of philosophy. If you want to know more about the nature and dynamics of Ontology per se, see John Rickaby, S.J. General Metaphysics. https://www3.nd.edu/~maritain/jmc/etext/gm.htm.

Cosmology, from the Ancient Greek words kosmos, which means the “world” and logos, meaning “study”, is the specific sub-branch of philosophy that studies the world (or universe), including its origin, dynamics, and characteristics, as well as the laws that govern its order.

Some of the basic questions in cosmology are:

  1. What is the origin of the world?
  2. What is the basic material of which the world is formed?
  3. How do things arise?
  4. In what consists its (the world) fundamental form or principle of order?
  5. Is the world or universe infinite?

Psychology comes from the two Greek words psyche, which means “soul” (but loosely understood as mind) and logos, study. Thus, psychology is the specific sub-branch of philosophy that studies the soul or mind. Broadly construed, though, psychology is the study of the nature and dynamics of the human person as a whole, with emphasis on the way the person’s mind functions and the way she behaves.

Some of the questions in psychology are:

  1. What is the nature of the human person?
  2. Is there such thing as human nature?
  3. What is the meaning and purpose, if any, of life?
  4. Is there life after death?
  5. How do we account for the existence of sufferings in the world?

Theodicy (Natural theology) is derived from the Greek word theos, which means God. The word theodicy was coined by the famous 18th century German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in his 1710 work titled Théodicée. Broadly construed, theodicy is the study of God. But specifically, theodicy is concerned with the justification of the goodness of God in the face of the existence of evil in the world.

Some of the questions in theodicy are:

  1. Is there God?
  2. What and who is God, if He exists at all?
  3. How do we prove the existence of God?
  4. If God exists, how do we justify the existence of evil and suffering in the world?
  5. Does a belief in God really necessary?

For a detailed discussion on special metaphysics, see Louis de Poissy, Special Metaphysics. https://maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/cp27.htm.

The second major branch of philosophy is Epistemology.

Epistemology comes from the two Greek words episteme, which means knowledge, and logos which means study. It is formally defined as the study of the nature and scope of knowledge and justified belief. Specifically, it analyzes the nature of knowledge and how it relates to similar notions, such as truth, belief, and justification.

Some of the basic questions in epistemology are:

  1. What is knowledge?
  2. What do we know?
  3. How is knowledge acquired?
  4. What is the structures and limits of knowledge?
  5. What makes justified beliefs justified?

For an in-depth discussion of epistemology, see The Basics of Philosophy, http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_epistemology.html.

The third major branch of philosophy is Logic. Logic comes from the Greek word logos, which, as I already mentioned, has different meanings. It is defined as the science of correct thinking or the study of the principles and criteria of a valid argument. More specifically, logic attempts to distinguish sound or good reasoning from unsound or bad reasoning.

Some of the basic questions in logic are:

  1. What is correct reasoning?
  2. What distinguishes a good argument from a bad one?
  3. How can we detect a fallacy in an argument?
  4. What are the criteria for determining the validity of an argument?
  5. What are the types of logic?

Ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, which originally means custom or habit. Broadly construed, ethics is the morality of human actions. Ethics, therefore, is concerned with questions of how human persons ought to act, and the search for a definition of a right conduct and the good life.

It is important to note that ethics is not the same with morality. This is because ethics denotes the theory of right action and the greater good, while morality indicates practice, that is, the rightness or wrongness of a human action.

Some of the questions in ethics are:

  1. What is a right conduct as that which causes the realization of the greatest good?
  2. How do we determine a right conduct? In other words, what makes a right conduct right?
  3. What is a good life and can we attain it?
  4. What is the difference between human act and actions that are based on instinct?
  5. What do people think is right?

It is important to note that some scholars argue that there are five major branches of philosophy, namely, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic, and aesthetics. While there is nothing wrong with this contention, in these notes, I adhered to the classical understanding of the major branches of philosophy, namely, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and logic. The argument is that “aesthetics”, which is the study of beauty, is under metaphysics.

It is also important to note that some scholars put ethics and aesthetics under axiology, the philosophical study of value. There is also nothing wrong with it. It’s just that, as intimated above, I adhered to the classical understanding of the major branches of philosophy, namely, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and logic.

As we can see, there is no absolute, one-size-fits-all understanding of the major branches of philosophy. Hence, our understanding of the major branches of philosophy depends entirely on a specific tradition one is coming from.

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