Jong BagayDe La Salle University Dasmarinas

From The Nature of Philosophical Inquiry, by Robert O Johann, Readings in Philosophy of Man,Vol 1 Ateneo de Manila University, 1984

Ontological- because in philosophy knowing does not only imply the veil between us and reality, but a progressive discerning of its nature.

Pragmatism- because philosophy views thematic knowledge as an instrumental function of experience aimed at the transformation of knowledge through testing via consequence and validity by their success.

What does inquiry mean?It is man’s effort to integrate his experience as responsible agent. By experience we mean the interactive process itself, that is, the human self in dynamic relation with the whole range of the other.

1. Man must react and respond to the external problems around him, keeping in mind that his responses will have impact to both the present as well as to the future.

2.Man must be aware of the inadequacies of past habits which give rise to hesitancy and uncertainty.

3. Man must be aware of uncertainty. The uncertainty is a positive and pervasive quality of the interactive process itself. It is this incoherence which calls for inquiry.The unsureness of an action is not private and subjective, nor is it merely negative. It is an all-embracing situation between man and his environment.

Communal Life: the responsible self exists and responds only in a community of selves. Thus philosophical inquiry includes:

1. Shared experiences. There is cooperative activity in inquiry. As man lives in a community he is affected by his culture, thus it affects the way he sees his problem and his choice of a solution.

2. A shared experience which creates a community. Though ones’ experience may be enough for him to survive, once it is shared, such experience evolves into a tradition thus enriching humanity.

3.Considerations beyond common sense. Sooner or later, man recognizes that common sense(set of regulative meanings and ways applied to particular instance) is not enough, hence he needs to transcend conventionalities to effect change.

Philosophical inquiry then looks to all meanings in the experiences of man and his community, both on their relationships and quality of life.

It emerges in response to tensions and conflicts inherent in human life itself.

It lifts life to a level of integrity and coherence that cannot be reached without it.

Thus Philosophy cannot divorce itself

from the ongoing course of human life and the actual concerns of man. Because

it bears the quality of life itself, it must begin there and end there.

But how does one cope with the fact that culture shapes ones’ outlook in life?

Haven’t philosophers since time immemorial disgareed with each other

due mainly to their differing cultural miliue? Where have man gone by the

help of philosophical inquiry?

Though it is a fact that no two men are alike in conviction and points of view, such difference is the decisive factor in shaping philosophical convictions.

The ideal of course is the ultimate integration in universal communion, but man still has a long way to go with this.

For now, we can only grope towards communion through dialogue and discussion in an effort to purify our separate visions.

1.LOGIC: Inquiry should be structured coherently. One must make sense of what his self-awareness unfolds of his environment to him. This means making a logical whole to make sense of them on the level of thought. This brings about self-consistency.

2.PHENOMENOLOGY: Logical theoretical coherence may not be enough and should be continually tested by what is called phenomenological adequacy. This means that one must live his thought. In addition to self-consistency, an adequate philosophic stance must also conform with what is disclosed in direct experience, which a man has and can become aware of in union with others in the community.

3.META-PRAGMATICS: philosophical inquiry must be planned towards the context and service to human life by controlling its own conduct of inquiry and by measuring the adequacy of results. It must formulate an ideal of human wholeness and should work for continuous criticism guided by its vision.

How do you respond to a particular happening around you?

Think through your own life: My experience is a shared experience.

Why is said that a thinker or a philosopher is shaped by his own cultural milieu? Is it inevitable?

Do you think there really is a need for philosophical inquiry?