1. METHODS OF PHILOSOPHICAL THINKING
The Subject Matter
The Methods of Philosophical Thinking
The Question
How can you think philosophically about anything?
Anything of daily concern
Anything of ultimate concern

2. METHODS OF PHILOSOPHICAL THINKING
The Method
You are to practice the methods of philosophical thinking by thinking about this question:
What is an apple?
The Learning Objective
An exercise in thinking
Philosophical thinking skills
Non-philosophical thinking skills

3. How can I think philosophically?
The Question
What is an apple?
Student Answers

4. VIEWING THE APPLE The How Questions How should you view an apple?
How should you think about an apple?
Is viewing different from thinking?
Is thinking different from viewing?

5. VIEWING THE APPLE The Answers Viewing is essentially empirical.
Sensibility
Thinking is essentially intellectual.
Thinking is non-empirical.
Thinking can be rational & irrational.
Rationality

6. A Review Question The Questions The Student Answers
What is thinking according to Aristotle?
What is thinking according Allen Watt?
What is thinking according to Nishida?
The Student Answers
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3

7. Watt’s View of Thinking
What thinking is not.
A manipulation of symbols
Why is “thinking” not feeling and sensing?
Explain.
Feeling
Emoting
Sensing
Why is “feeling” or “sensing” not “thinking” and different from “thinking”?
Explain.

8. Aristotle’s View of Thinking
The Quote
The Analysis

9. Nishida’s View of Thinking
The Quote
The Analysis

10. VIEWING THE APPLE The Methodological Question The Answer
How should one address these two how questions?
How should an apple be viewed?
How should an apple be thought about?
The Answer
Status of the apple
Typology of viewing/thinking

11. VIEWING THE APPLE The Question What is the status of an apple?
The Answer
Non-Philosophical Status
A concrete thing
Philosophical Status
A particular
A universal
A general universal
The ultimate universal

12. VIEWING THE APPLE The Question What is a particular? The Answer
A philosophical concept used to represent each and everything concrete thing like an apple.

13. VIEWING THE APPLE The Question What is a universal? The Answer
A philosophical concept used to represent all particulars of one type/class/kind.

14. VIEWING THE APPLE The Question What is a general universal? The Answer
A philosophical concept used to represent all universals of all particulars.

15. VIEWING THE APPLE The Question What is the ultimate universal?
The Answer
A philosophical concept used to represent all particulars and all universals (all things that are).
The One

16. VIEWING THE APPLE A typology of viewing/thinking Philosophical Way
Philosophical Viewing
Philosophical Thinking
Non-Philosophical Way
Non-Philosophical Viewing
Non-Philosophical Thinking

17. What is an apple? VIEWING THE APPLE METHODS OF
NON-PHILOSOPHICAL THINKING
What is an apple?

18. NON-PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWING AND THINKING
The Question
How do people view and think about an apple non-philosophically?
The Answer
A practical view
A business view
An economic view

19. NON-PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWING AND THINKING
The Question
How do people view and think about an apple?
The Answer
A medical view
A literary/poetic view
A mathematical view

20. NON-PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWING AND THINKING
The Question
How do people view and think about the apple?
The Answer
A military view
A religious view
A scientific view

21. NON-PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWING AND THINKING
The Question
How can you view and think about an apple philosophically?
The Answer
Critical and creative uses of relevant fields, doctrines, and theories of Western philosophy.
Moving from descriptive thinking to theoretical thinking

22. Methods of Non-Philosophical Thinking
Method of Practical Thinking
The Question
How is “an apple” viewed and understood practically?
The Answer
A delicious thing to consume!
Taste
Nutrition

23. Methods of Non-Philosophical Thinking
Method of Medical Thinking
The Question
How is “an apple” viewed and understood medically?
The Student Answers
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3

24. Methods of Non-Philosophical Thinking
Method of Business Thinking
Method of Economic Thinking
Method of Literary Thinking
Method of Musical Thinking

25. Methods of Non-Philosophical Thinking
Method of Math Thinking
Method of Military Thinking
Method of Religious Thinking
Method of Scientific Thinking

26. What is philosophical thinking?
METHODS OF
PHILOSOPHICAL THINKING
What is an apple?

27. A METHOD OF DOING EASTERN PHILOSOPHY
The Question
What are we going to do in this class?
The Answer
CREATING A PHILOSOPHY?
No!
HOLDING A PHILOSOPHY?
PHILOSOPHIZING?
Sometimes.
DOING A PHILOSOPHY?
YES!

28. DOING PHILOSOPHY The Question
What tools do we need for doing Eastern philosophy?
The Answer
WESTERN TEXTUAL HERMENEUTICS
WESTERN DOCTRINES OF REALITY
FIELDS OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY
METHODS OF PHILOSOPHICAL THINKING
FIVE STEP FORMULA FOR DOING PHILOSOPHY

29. TOOLS OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY for doing EASTERN “PHILOSOPHIES”
TEXTUAL HERMENEUTICS
DOCTRINES OF REALITY
FIELDS OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY
THREE WESTERN LAWS OF THINKING
APPLICATIONS OF WESTERN TOOLS
Can these tools of Western philosophy be applied for scholarly studies of Eastern Dao, Dhamma, and Darshana?
YES. If they can be applied selectively and creatively.

30. Philosophical Views of an Apple
Metaphysics
Metaphysical
View
Epistemological View
Cosmology
Epistemology
Cosmological View
Ontological View
Ontology

31. Methods of Philosophical Thinking
Epistemological Thinking
Epistemology
A field of Western philosophy
A study of knowledge
Western theories of knowledge
Epistemological theories

32. Methods of Philosophical Thinking
The Epistemological Question
How do we know that an apple exists?
The Epistemological Answer
Identify Western theories of knowledge
Empiricism
Idealism
Rationalism

33. Methods of Philosophical Thinking
Empiricism
Empiricist Theory of Knowledge
An Empiricist View
An apple exists because it can be experienced empirically.

34. Methods of Philosophical Thinking
Rationalism
Rationalist Theory of Knowledge
An Rationalist View
The idea of an apple is innate in one’s mind.

35. Methods of Philosophical Thinking
Idealism
Idealist Theory of Knowledge
An Idealist View
An apple is inherently mental because it is a (mental) projection of one’s mind.
“To be is to be perceived.”

36. Methods of Philosophical Thinking
A Buddhist Idealist Theory of Knowledge
Textual Hermeneutics (an exercise)
A Mahayana (Buddhist) Text
The Lankavatara Sutra
Phan 2002:

37. Methods of Philosophical Thinking
A Textual Analysis
The Mahayana Thesis
Textual citation
Phan 2002:
Textual interpretation

38. Methods of Philosophical Thinking
A Textual Analysis
The Mahayana Arguments
Textual citation
Phan 2002:
Textual interpretation
The Critique
Students

39. PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWING AND THINKING
Which of the following is a Western doctrine of reality?
Dualism
Materialism
Creationism
Evolutionism
Ontology
Cosmology
Metaphysics

40. PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWING AND THINKING
Which of the following is a field of Western philosophy?
Dualism
Materialism
Creationism
Evolutionism
Ontology
Cosmology
Metaphysics

41. PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWING AND THINKING
The Question
How to distinguish a doctrine/theory from a field of philosophy?
The Answer
A “logy” clue
An “ism” clue

42. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
Materialism
A Western theory of reality
A materialist View
An apple is material because it is made up of matter.
All things are material.
All things are derived from primal matter.

43. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
Dualism
A Western theory of reality
Everything is composed of two distinct aspects, mind and matter, forming a duality.
A Jain Doctrine of Reality
All things are derived from Jiva (Soul) and Ajiva (Not-Soul).

44. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
The Question
What is an apple?
A Jain Answer
An apple is constituted by its Jiva and its Ajiva.
An apple deserves one’s respect for what it truly is.

45. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
Test Questions
Can the Jain view of an apple be characterized theoretically as dualistic or a dualistic view?
Can the Jain view of an apple be characterized theoretically as metaphysical or a metaphysical view?
Student Answers

46. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
Cosmology
A field of Western philosophy
Study of the cosmos
Origin of the cosmos
Cosmic laws, structures, processes
Fate/future of the cosmos

47. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
Student Exercises
Pose a cosmological question
Offer a cosmological answer using the following doctrines:
Creationism
Evolutionism
The Big Bang Theory

48. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
A Cosmological Question
How did an apple come into being/existence?
A Creationist Answer
An apple is one of the proofs of divine creation.
Oh God! Thank you for all the delicious apples I have enjoyed.

49. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
A Cosmological Question
How did an apple come into being/existence?
A Evolutionist Answer
An apple is one of the cosmic manifestations of world evolution and the on-going evolutionary processes.

50. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
Ontology
A field of Western philosophy
A study of reality (that which is)
The being of reality
What is real?
What is unreal?

51. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
Student Exercises
Pose an ontological question
Offer an ontological answer using the Laoian theory of the natural dao (Phan 2002: 73.[1]) as a theoretical resource.

52. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
A Textual Citation
“Therefore let there always non-being [wu-ccp] so we may see their subtlety,
And let there always be being [you-ccp] so we may see their outcome,
The two are the same,
But after they are produced, they have different names.” (The Daodejing, cited in Phan 2002: 73)

53. PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWING AND THINKING
A Textual Citation
“Therefore let there always non-being [wu-ccp] so we may see their subtlety,
And let there always be being [you-ccp] so we may see their outcome,
The two are the same,
But after they are produced, they have different names.” (The Daodejing, cited in Phan 2002: 73)
A Textual Analysis
Key concepts
Key ideas
Interpretation
The thesis
Theoretical nature
Is the Laoian view of an apple ontological or metaphysical?

54. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
The Question
What is an apple?
A Laoian Answer
An apple is constituted of its own being (you) and non-being (wu), forming into one organically unified thing.
An apple is that which is constantly self-becoming.

55. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
The Question
What are the two key points that the Laoian answer emphasizes as essentially for a correct view of an apple?
The Answer
A theoretical distinction (you-wu)
Self-change/transformation

56. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
Test Question
Is the you-wu distinction metaphysical or ontological?
The Answer
Ontological
Why?
Each student should know how to answer this “why” question correctly by now.

57. How to think metaphysically about an apple?
Metaphysics
A field of Western philosophy
A study of reality
The nature of reality
What is real?
What is unreal?

58. A Metaphysical View of an apple
A Philosophical Question
What is an apple?
A Methodological Question
How to answer the “What is an apple?” question metaphysically?
What is a metaphysical answer for this philosophical question?
Is this a methodological question?

59. A Metaphysical View of an apple
The Methodological Question
How to make a metaphysical answer?
A Metaphysical Answer
Step 1
One must make a metaphysical distinction by using two pairs of philosophical concepts:
“form” and “essence” (pair 1)
“appearance” and “reality” (pair 2)

60. A Metaphysical View of an apple
A Metaphysical Answer
Step 2
One distinguishes the external “form” of an apple from its internal “essence” and vice versa.
Externality vs. Internality
One perceives and contemplates about the “nature” of the “form” and the “nature” of the “essence” of an apple.

61. A Metaphysical View of an apple
A Metaphysical Answer
Step 3
One determines that the external “form” of an apple is “unreal” because it is only the “appearance” of an apple.
Appearance = Unreality
One now has to justify this metaphysical determination by explaining why the “form” of an apple is simply its “mere appearance” and therefore ultimately unreal (not real).

62. A Metaphysical View of an apple
A Metaphysical Answer
Step 4
One then determines that the internal “essence” of an apple is “real” because it is the “reality” of an apple.
Essence = Reality
One now proceeds to justify this metaphysical judgment by explaining why the “essence” of an apple is its “true reality” and therefore ultimately real.

63. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
The Question
How would Plato (an ancient Greek philosopher) answer the “What is an apple?” question?
A Platonic Answer
To be addressed by semester end

64. VIEWING/THINKING ABOUT THE APPLE
The Question
What is an apple?
Student Answers
First student
Second student
Third student

65. A METHOD OF DOING EASTERN PHILOSOPHY
The Question
What are we going to do in this class?
The Answer
CREATING A PHILOSOPHY?
No!
HOLDING A PHILOSOPHY?
PHILOSOPHIZING?
Sometimes.
DOING A PHILOSOPHY?
YES!

66. THE METHOD OF DOING EASTERN PHILOSOPHY
The Question
How do we do Eastern philosophy?
The Answer
The Five Step Formula
There are two versions

67. THE METHOD OF DOING EASTERN PHILOSOPHY
FORMULA 1 OF A METHOD OF
TEXTUAL HERMENEUTICS
1_ Research
2_ Interpretation
3_ Evaluation
4_ Application
5_ Self-Reflection

68. THE METHOD OF DOING EASTERN PHILOSOPHY
FORMULA 2 OF A METHOD OF TEXTUAL HERMENEUTICS
1_ Research
2_ Interpretation
3_ Critique
4_ Resolution
5_ Self-Reflection

69. DOING PHILOSOPHY The Question
What tools do we need for doing Eastern philosophy?
The Answer
WESTERN TEXTUAL HERMENEUTICS
WESTERN DOCTRINES OF REALITY
FIELDS OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY
METHODS OF PHILOSOPHICAL THINKING
FIVE STEP FORMULA FOR DOING PHILOSOPHY

70. TOOLS OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY for doing EASTERN “PHILOSOPHIES”
TEXTUAL HERMENEUTICS
DOCTRINES OF REALITY
FIELDS OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY
THREE WESTERN LAWS OF THINKING
APPLICATIONS OF WESTERN TOOLS
Can these tools of Western philosophy be applied for scholarly studies of Eastern Dao, Dhamma, and Darshana?
YES. If they can be applied selectively and creatively.

71. TOOLS OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY for doing EASTERN “PHILOSOPHIES”
The Question
What is textual hermeneutics
The Answer
Different types of hermeneutics
Textual hermeneutics is herein understood as the science of textual interpretation.
Textual interpretation shall be carried out by the procedures of the Five Step Formula.

72. PHILOSOPHICAL THINKING
THE QUESTION
IS THERE WHAT CAN BE CALLED THE WAY OF PHILOSOPHICAL THINKING?
THE THREE LAWS OF THINKING IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY
The Law of Identity
The Law of Noncontradiction
The Law of the Excluded Middle

73. PHILOSOPHICAL THINKING
THE THREE LAWS OF THINKING
The Law of Identity
“A true statement is a true statement.”
The Law of Non-contradiction
“A statement cannot be both true and false at the same time and in the same respect.”
The Law of the Excluded Middle
Student’s responsibility: Please search for an explanation of this third law of thinking.