MOTHER: A JEWEL IN OUR HOME

What is a mother? What makes a mother the best? Mothers look differently from other women. We ordinarily define a mother as a woman who has children to take care of.

From the first sign of life inside her womb, her big role begins. From birth to death, from sunrise to sundown, in sickness and in health, she plays her role well, looking at her children’s well being, acting as their guardian angel.

I remember a small gift we gave our mother during one Mother’s Day celebration many years back. It has a message that reads:

Mother
Where would I be without you,
How could I stand tall, were it not for my
Mother’s loving care
I would likely be nowhere at all.

But what makes them so especial?

A mother is dedicated. I think with few exceptions, no one is more dedicated than a mother. One thing that amazes me about mothers that I have known is the level of dedication they show towards their family and children especially some of the single mothers like my own mother. A mother works hard for the upkeep of her family. Single mothers work twice because of the absence of their husbands. My mother works hard everyday just to give us comfortable life. She goes home late in the evening and yet upon arriving, continues her works, sleeps late and still rises early to go to office. I cannot ask for more from my mother. She is so dedicated in her responsibilities. My mother and other mothers deserve a bundle of credit. Raising kids is tougher than it normally looks.

A mother is strong. Toughness does not only mean physical. A mother is tough inside. When you become a mother for the first time that is the time you start to realize your true inner strength. I do not know how much my mother can carry through, but I am sure it took some fortitude to squeeze out three kids. I do not think any woman realizes her true strength until she becomes a mother. You have another life to look after and it is not about you anymore. My mother is one of the strongest people I know – spiritually and emotionally. She carried on with grace when many people would give up or cop out. She is pretty strong physically too, for her age and although she had some real health problems and illnesses, she is still quite active but her biggest strength is her character.

Mothers are known to be strong spiritually and emotionally. Why? In the Philippines, mothers are the ones convincing other members of the family to celebrate Holy Eucharist on Sunday. They are also the ones who fill the church during weekdays. They are religious as the Spaniards taught them to be. They are also strong emotionally. In the family, mothers are the ones who can control their emotions. Mothers are the ones setting the tone if the emotions of the other members of the family are out of control. Mothers are the ones softening it. She is the one who stops any quarrel among her children. Mothers have amazing amount of strength for many reasons, the strength that fulfils the multi tasks; the strength to keep on going through sleepless nights, the strength to face the challenges of raising children and the strength to be a career woman, cook, housecleaner, seamstress, chauffeur, nurse, tutor, counselor, and wife. My mother is incredibly a strong woman. Despite the many hardships she faced she never gave up and always strived to be the best person she could be. We were very lucky to have her as a mother.

A mother is humorous. The funniest member of a family is the mother. A mother cracks jokes. My mother always changes the mode of the home by making jokes. We laugh with gusto whenever she makes jokes. Children always want the joke of their mothers. It may be common or not, but there is something that makes it humorous. I love to listen to mothers who are telling stories. They do not only tell stories. From what I heard, they also insert jokes. They entertain people with their words. In a house, the mother is always the one entertaining the guests. They are really icebreakers.

A mother is compassionate. Mothers give to others even what is supposed to be theirs. My mother did not coddle us, and did not let us make any excuses for ourselves. I may not know much about parenthood, but I do know that being a mother means not always being your kid's best friend, but being strict once in a while. Teaching your kids to squeeze once in a while is a valuable lesson. My mother is pretty compassionate. Many times, she makes me see someone else’s side when I get too judgmental. She always helps the down and out or unfortunate even when they may not be very thankful to her. She is still kind-hearted even to those who put her down during her young age. She still lends them money if they ask her some. She helps them when they are in trouble. This is my mother; she cared about others above herself.

A mother is a warrior. A warrior is a protector of the people. Like a warrior, a mother creates a safe place for a child to be comforted. We, children, feel that the safest place is being with our mothers. Even a baby recognizes this safest place for him or her through his or her mothers’ arm where the baby sleeps well. We feel safe with our mother even when we grow old and have problems. When in trouble, the very person that we look for is our mother. The touch of the mother removes the pain of a wound. She is a doctor. She heals every sickness there is that her child has, she watches her child every second. She sometimes does not sleep just to check the condition of her child. I often see mothers visiting their sick sons in the seminary. They do not even wait to finish whatever they are doing when they hear that their son is ill. They are like warriors who secure their children from harm.

A mother is beautiful. By becoming a mother, a woman is nearly assured of one thing for the rest of her life. There will always be someone who thinks she is beautiful. Every child thinks that his or her mother is pretty. Their looks are undeniable, and their vanities have become a running gag in a family. Some people think that the meaning of beauty is wearing high heels and a mini-skirt, but beauty can be emulated via many things. A woman can be beautiful trying to raise a man, a woman can be beautiful trying to make money out of a coin or telling her child their a gift and not a burden – they made that choice to have them after all. It is not just an external thing. It is internal, too. My mother is a beautiful lady. She is beautiful inside as well as outside. She has the most beautiful smile and a wonderful laugh. I was blessed with a beautiful mother; in fact all the mothers are beautiful to their children. The beauty of a mother is not with the clothes she wears. It is not the skin she has. We can see the beauty of a mother through her eyes where it is connected to her heart. It is her loving care to her family that makes her beautiful.

A mother is pure. When we talk about purity, we come out at once with the idea that babies are the only ones who are pure. But purity does not only connote having no sin. Mothers for me are pure. They are pure in a sense that they do not tell their children that one thing is wrong if they are doing it. The greatest example here is our Mother Mary. She taught Christ how to live in harmony and become an example not only to her son but to others also. She is pure not because she has no sin but because she is an example to all. My mother is pure. She lives a life for a model for us her children. She does not teach something which is against the will of God. As one poem says: “And that is why in this world there could not be another who could fulfill God's purpose as completely as a MOTHER.[1]” It is their heart that makes them pure, a heart of gold.

A mother is influential. No one is more close to us than that of our mother. We obey what our mothers say. We accept advices of our mothers and even the sayings are acknowledged. A word of a mother can make a difference. In reality and movies, a mother has great influence to her powerful sons or daughters. Their words are important. A man listens more to his mother rather than his wife for his mother had influence d him so much. As a quote says, “A man loves his sweetheart the most; his wife the best, but his mother the longest.[2]” When a mother dies, it is very hard to accept. Memories of care and love will strike one’s life. Her teachings will live forever to her children. It always amazes me the great influence of a mother to a child.

In the seminary, one of the most influential people in the life of a seminarian is that of his mother. A mother is very supportive to the vocation of her son. As I observe, most of the visitors of the seminarians are their mothers. They always want their sons to become priest. One of the priests said that he became priest not because only of his own calling but because of his mother’s influence. Mothers are really influential to their children’s decision. Whoever will try to convince a child, mothers will win.

A mother is wise. We sometimes say that wisdom comes with age and experience. My mother is very wise, and so are many mothers I know. We can all learn much from listening to our mothers. They taught us since we were babies. They tried several times to teach us our first word. And most of the baby’s first word is that of the name of the mother. They educated us before we enter schools and up to the time we are studying in schools, they still help us in our assignment. They become our private tutor when we are lagging behind. Mothers have a stronger connection to the earth. They know what nurturing is all about, and they intuitively know how foolish it is to abuse the eco-system and march off to war when it is not an absolute necessity. I wish more World Leaders were mothers. My mother like other mothers has a way at looking at things that always make everything easier to deal with. She always manages to stay calm and reasonable. She always looks at the world with understanding and compassion which sometimes I have trouble doing. Mothers are really wise.

A mother loves lifetime. No one can explain the depth of love of a mother. We say that it has no beginning or no end. The love of a mother is so much precious. We children sometimes think that we are not loved by our mother when they whip us. But at the back of it, a mother never wants to hurt her son. If necessary she does not want to hit her son. It is more painful for a mother to hit her son. I always smile when I see a mother trying to hit her son but she is only forced to do such. The love of a mother cannot be destroyed or can be taken away by others. A mothers’ love is a life long commitment.

The love of a mother is full of dreams, pains and pleasure. It is full of dreams because a mother always thinks of the future of her sons or daughters. A mother’s love is full of pain because a mother accepts all the pain just to relieve her son from other pains. A mother will accept all just for her children. A mother’s love is full of pleasure because a mother always shows her children that they are in comfort. She never lets her children feel that they are in hardship. The love of a mother can never be compared to others. It is a love of lifetime.

Most of us neglect the importance of a mother. We are blind of the reality that the works of a mother is difficult. We can even say how much we appreciate their loving care. Let this be a lesson to us all. Let us not then close our eyes to see the importance of mothers in our life.

We sometimes see that the works of a mother is so much easy but we are actually wrong. They just act as if it is easy but at the back of it, it’s not. We cannot do what they are doing.

In the seminary for instance, we see most of the time mothers who attend our school gatherings. This helps in building confidence of their seminarian sons as well as a moral booster. Mothers are the best. They are dedicated, strong, compassionate, humorous, pure and influential.

Despite the things they do, they are still pure and beautiful. Let us then show our gratitude to our mothers by saying how much we love them for the only thing that will gladden the heart of a mother is the phrase “I love you” coming from her sons or daughters.

In our prayers, let us not forget to pray for our mothers, too for her unconditional love. That is one great thing to do because she is and will always be—one of the great treasures in life; a jewel in our home.

Bibliography

[1] Http://www.fathershands.com/Whatisamother/
[2] Http://mothersday.about.com/od/entertainment/a/motherhood_quot.htm

PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH ON THE PROBLEM OF THE ONE AND THE MANY

I. Introduction

In the History of Philosophy, we can view that many were trying to answer problems and one of it is the problem of the one and the many. What is this problem of the one and the many? We can relate here how beings are alike and yet are different. For example, James and John are beings. Now with the problem of the one and the many, how come James and John are the same and yet they are also different.

It is fitting to begin with Ancient Greek Philosophy, which originated from the correct realization that there must be One that is common to and connect the Many.

The early Greek philosophers primarily concerned with the problem of the one and the many. They simply stated the problem involves explaining the infinity of things in the universe. We can see that many separate things can be related to single; unifying thing (the One) was some material substance, like water, or air. Later Greek philosophers would conceive of this one thing as something more abstract, like number.

The Problem of the One and the Many is at the very foundation of all human knowledge. It is a problem that has been known for many thousands of years without solution. It is surprising that it is now accepted by many that we can never solve the Problem of the One and the Many, thus we can never directly know what exists, what reality is (what we are).


II. Statement of the Problem

There is one (1) main problem that the researcher seeks to answer in the endeavor namely: How can Reality or Being be one at the same time many?

To understand more the problem presented, it is sub-divided into different questions:
1. How did the problem of the one and the many begun?
2. Who are the philosophers involve in the problem?
3. What are their (philosophers) solutions to the problem?
4. How did they come out with their (philosophers) solutions?
5. What is the difficulty of their solutions?

III. Definition of Terms

Being – is the most abstract of all terms, for it means everything that is; as such Reality is a synonym for Being.[1]

One – refers to the similarity of beings.

Many – refers to the differences.

Monism (from greek μονοσ - monos - one) – is a term that describes any philosophy that denies that there are many separate beings in the universe.[2]

Radical monism – denies all multiplicity and diversity in being as illusion.[3]

Mitigated Monism – does not admit real diversity, but only as modes or parts of a single all-bracing being or substance, not as distinct in their own right with their own autonomous existence.[4]

Pluralism – is the theory that reality is not one or two but many. Pluralism stands in contrast with monism.[5]

Essence – is the attribute (or set of attributes) that make an object or substance what it fundamentally is, and that it has necessary, in contrast with accident, properties that the object or substance has contingently and without which the substance could have existed.[6]

Existence – For Thomists, existence is the act of being as contrasted with essence.[7]

IV. Methodology

This work is primarily a philosophical reflection and exposition of the solutions to the problem of the one and the many. The researcher went through series of research in library and in internet to gather adequate resources and data in order to present in a comprehensive and a careful manner the solutions to the questions stated in the statement of question.

V. Body

Our common experience tells us that we live in a world of many real beings. I am only one of those beings. These beings can be understood according to their different natures, and they come into being and go out of being.

We sometimes compare ourselves with others. We either look for our similarity or our differences. But what we will tackle about the similarity or unity and multiplicity is much different from our everyday concepts.

The problem of the one and the many originated with the Greek philosophers who tried to answer where the world is made of? The first among Ancient Greek philosophers is Thales. He opens out the problem of the one and the many with his novel inquiry concerning the nature of the things. “What is everything made of, or what kind of ‘stuff’ goes into the composition of things?[8]” With this question, we can see clearly that Thales agree that there are different kinds of things and yet he believe that there is the One that all things are similar.

Thales recognizes that the world is not just what it appears to be and asks about its fundamental nature. Change is apparent. Thales asks about the nature of that which endures change.

What is the nature of the underlying substance that goes through changes? The question here raises a metaphysical issue and does so in a way that invites rational investigation rather than mere speculation or appeal to myth and the supernatural. Is his idea must be taken seriously? Yes, although his concept is only in the chrysalis state, the idea: everything is one must be taken seriously. From it, the other philosophers develop the answers of the problem.

Like Thales, his contemporaries and fellow Greek Pre-Socratic philosophers, Anaximander and Anaximines believed that there is the one that all things are similar. But these philosophers have different concept of the One. These philosophers did not really think of the problem of the one and the many but their importance is that they come out with the idea of a thing which beings are similar.

Among the Pre-Socratic philosophers, Heraclitus and Parmenides were the great figure with the problem. They tried to answer the question with their observation and logical argument. Heraclitus answered the problem with his chief idea that “all things in flux.[9]” He defined reality as in constant change. He said that all things change and has no similarity. He tries to answer the problem from his observation. To illustrate his idea, you get two stone and try to observe both. You may notice that the two stones are different from each other. Heraclitus found change itself to be the only thing that was permanent. The search for a permanent material substratum is illusory, he thought.

Parmenides rejects Heraclitus and agrees with Xenophanes on the unity and no changeability of all being. Being is everywhere indivisible and the same, motionless and unchangeable. Reason gives us the only true idea of the world as unchanging being. The senses mislead us in presenting the world as manifold and changing. This view demands an “error theory”, an explanation of the ordinary person’s apparent experience of change and diversity. In our ordinary experience of the world, our senses erroneously place Not-Being on a-par with being. We get our perceptions of individual things by representing them as separated by void. But in reality, there is no Not-Being. He denies the reality of change.

For Parmenides, change is impossible. The very notion is incoherent. This is not just an assumption that Parmenides makes. Nor is it based on observation. Rather, it is the conclusion of a strictly deductive argument, from more basic premises. And it is not only the startling conclusion Parmenides draws. He also holds that there is no coming into existence, or ceasing to exist.

“According to traditional interpretation, Parmenides goes even further, denying that there is such a thing as plurality. On this view, Parmenides denies that there are many things, maintaining instead that only one thing exists.[10]”

This interpretation was no longer universal accepted but still common. It is not clear but they believe that Parmenides thought that this one thing is.

The atomists, such as Democritus (c. 460-360 BC), Leucippus, and Lucretius, did not say that there was one being, but that there was really only one kind of being, the atom (ατομοσ, atomos, individisible).[11]

The atomists like the other pre-Socratic philosophers such as Parmenides and Heraclitus were monist. The atomists use the atoms to answer the problem of the one and the many wherein beings are made up of atom, “small lumps of stuff which may be logically analyzable into parts.[12]” The beings now are one in the case of they are made up of atoms and to explain the differences is that the atoms are in constant movement in different direction.

The pre-Socratic philosophers can be considered as monist or more specifically radical monist. Among them, Parmenides was the major figure of radical monist in the period.
Plotinus, a contemporary of Aristotle, tried to answer the problem of the one and the many with his two-act theory and the doctrine of procession or reversion. In his two-act theory he presented two arguments:

“Two aspects to all things: an ‘inner act’ and an ‘outer act’. The inner act is the substance or essence of the thing. The outer act is a distinct entity; an image or likeness of the inner act.[13]”

In the first argument, he presented the one as the inner act and the many as outer act. For example, the heat is the essence of fire (its inner act) and the heat that flows out from fire (its outer act). We can see that there are different structures or shapes of fire which he calls the outer act.

“Each hypostasis is the complete cause of the next lower one. The lower one emanates from the higher as the outer act of the higher. This accounts only for the existence or "matter" of the lower level.[14]”

This matter is then informed, and the lower hypostasis comes into being, through the act of contemplating the higher one. The characteristics, procession and reversion are non-temporal events. Procession is necessary, not deliberate and not diminishing.
In his two-act theory, his idea is not well accepted but his importance or contribution to the problem was that through his idea the great philosophers develop his idea into a more convincing one.
Let us then move further to a modern philosopher, Spinoza. He defines reality as:

There simply is no other reality than reality as mathematically described: anything which presents itself as "reality" - but which is not mathematically "capturable" - is simply illusion.[15]

From his definition of reality, Spinoza develops a radical monism. As we shall see, his monism will exclude "ordinary reality" as illusory. While this saves him from the Cartesian problem of explaining relation, it is hardly more satisfactory as a philosophy. Those of you with some history of philosophy background might compare Spinoza in this way to Parmenides.
Baruch Spinoza is like Parmenides in his solution. He is also consider a monist but quite different with Parmenides. He is a mitigated monist. He considers the diversity as modes of the one substance or reality.

Another solution to the problem is that of Baruch Spinoza. He contended that everything that exists in nature is one Reality (substance) and there is only one set of rules governing the whole of the reality which surrounds us and of which we are part. This reality that he is talking is God and he concluded that the rest are just modes of the Substance.

The most popular solution is that of Thomas Aquinas. We can also include here the concept of Aristotle where it is the basis of Thomas. Thomas answers the problem with his Essence and Existence. In his concept, the one is the existence. We are beings and beings exist therefore we all exist. What unites us is our act of existence and what differentiates us is limiting essence. It is like a stair, the whole stair is the act of existence, what differentiates is the level on each stair. One is different from other level.

The difficulty of the solution of Thomas is the distinction of existence and essence. Much of the philosophers after him have criticized his theory. They would not accept that the existence and essence has a real distinction for the existence makes essence real.

The different solution discuss are just a glimpse of the problem of the one and the many. We can not disregard the Ancient Greek philosophers for their contribution to the problem. Yes, their answers are not satisfactory but from their answers were became the basis of the great philosophers to the problem of the one and the many. Among the solutions above, the most regarded as the popular and question by many is the solution of Thomas Aquinas. He did not actual formulated new idea but he base it to that of Aristotle. He somewhat further elaborates it.

The essence and existence are the best way to explore the content of the intuition of being. Their outside meanings are easy to grasp. Essence is what a thing is, and existence is that it is or that it exists, and what a thing is not the same as that it is. There are two distinct attitudes of mind involved, one when we name something and the other when we assert that it exists.
We distinguish one thing from another and even oppose one thing to another. An elephant is not a carrot, and we don't expect anyone to confuse the two. But we rarely if ever stop and consider the ultimate nature of the “whats” we are constantly making use of.

The problem of the one and the many influence much of other philosophical and theological thoughts. It illuminates the existence of God like what St. Thomas did and it further develops some major philosophical questions.

We may want either answer the problem with radical monism like the Ancient Greek philosophers did, with mitigated monism like Baruch Spinoza did, or with pluralism either radical or mitigated. The problem of the one and the many is one of the most controversial issues in metaphysics from it the other sub-topics in metaphysics exist like God and evil.

VII. Conclusion

In the problem of the One and the Many, Philosophies are monistic, dualistic or pluralistic, and no one point of view has been able to eliminate the appeal of the other positions to some philosophers. This is the difference or division that cut across the classical types of philosophy.

The problem of the one and the many is a question which all the philosophers both from East and West tried to answer. And through our own experiences, we can clearly see that Being is both one and many. All beings are one in the act of existence and they only differ from their essence.

Perhaps, the problem of the one and the many is the central and most important theme of all traditional philosohy.

[1] http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Metaphysics-One-Many-Infinite-Finite.htm.%20March%206, 2007
[2] http://www.hyoomik.com/phi205/pluralism.htm.%20March%207, 2007
[3] W. Norris Clarke, Sj, “Central Problems of Metaphysics” (Manila: Ateneo de Manila University, 2001) p.10.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Harold H. Titus, “Living Issues in Philosophy” (New York: American Book Company, 1953) p. 485
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essence.%20March%207, 2007
[7] Harold H. Titus, “Living Issues in Philosophy” (New York: American Book Company, 1953) p. 480
[8] Ibid. p. 310
[9] http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2b.htm.%20March%209, 2007

[10] http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/parm1.htm.%20March%207, 2007
[11] http://www.hyoomik.com/phi205/pluralism.htm.%20March%207, 2007
[12] A.H. Armstrong, Introduction to Ancient History of Philosophy (Rowman & Little Pub. Inc, 1981) p. 18
[13] http://ls.poly.edu/~jbain/mms/handouts/mmsplotinus.htm.%20March%208, 2007
[14] Ibid.
[15] http://www.drury.edu/ess/history/modern/spinoza.html.%20March%2010, 2007

METHODS OF PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH

I. Introduction

Research has come to be employed in contemporary academic life as a generic term referring to forms of inquiry pursued in all the many disciplines, from the natural sciences to the humanities.[1] Philosophers have been engaged in research throughout the entire history of philosophy, and continue to be so engaged today. They search for information which will lead to the truth. But what is information? Information has been given different meanings by various writers in the general field of information theory.

According to Claude E. Shannon, “The word ‘information’… is likely that at least a number of these will prove sufficiently useful in certain applications to deserve further study and permanent recognition.[2]”

To gain the information need, we shall have to use methods of research. There are lots of methods of philosophical research that will help one to make his search easier. It is hard to search in the field of philosophy. There are lots of topics that can shift from one idea to another. To locate the philosophy that we are looking for, we must use a specific method, a research method.

What is a research method? A research method is a strategy of inquiry which moves from the underlying philosophical assumptions to research design and data collection. The choice of research method influences the way in which the researcher collects data. Specific research methods also imply different skills, assumptions and research practices. This is why many works of today often include a section on the methodology of the researchers. Let us then enumerate some philosophical research methods.

II. Methodology

1. Historical Method

The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history.[3] The question of the nature, and indeed the possibility, of sound historical method is raised in the philosophy of history, as a question of epistemology…

There are four divisions of history of philosophy namely Ancient, Medieval, Modern and Contemporary. These divisions help the researcher to find about the transitions of thought from one age to another. It also helps the researcher to know who the philosophers are or what the popular topics are on each period.

2. Interview

People of today rarely use this kind of research. It is quite difficult, today, to find a person knowledgeable about philosophy. This is the least reliable method of research. But to enlighten our knowledge of it, let us define interview. What is interview?
“A research interview is a structured social interaction between a researcher and a subject who is identified as a potential source of information, in which the interviewer initiates and controls the exchange to obtain quantifiable and comparable information relevant to an emerging or previously stated hypothesis.[4]”

3. Action Research

There are numerous definitions of action research, however one of the most widely cited is that of Rapoport’s, who defines action research in the following way:

“Action research aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to the goals of social science by joint collaboration within a mutually acceptable ethical framework.[5]”

This definition makes clear that it is concerned to enlarge the stock of knowledge and it is this aspect of action research that distinguishes it from applied social science. Action research is research that each of us can do on our own practice, that we can do to improve its practice, or that larger organizations or institutions can conduct on themselves, assisted or guided by professional researchers, with the aim of improving their strategies, practices, and knowledge of the environments within which they practice.


5. Grounded Theory

Grounded theory is a research method that seeks to develop theory that is grounded in data systematically gathered and analyzed.[6] It is the most commonly use method. The major difference between grounded theory and other methods is it is specific approach to theory development – grounded theory suggests that there should be a continuous interplay between data collection and analysis.

4. Case study method

A case study is a research strategy, sometimes likened to an experiment, a history, or a simulation, though not linked to any particular type of evidence or method of data collection.[7]

Case study provides a systematic way of looking at events, collecting data, analyzing information, and reporting the results. As a result the researcher may gain a sharpened understanding of why the instance happened as it did, and what might become important to look at more extensively in future research. Usually case studies are employed where the behavior or situation is so rare that other methods, involving larger groups of participants, are not possible.

6. Survey Method

The survey is made from data collected via interviews or questionnaires.[8] A survey is a structured list of questions presented to people. Surveys may be written or oral, face to face or over the phone. It is possible to cheaply survey large numbers of people, but the data quality may be lower than some other methods because people do not always answer questions accurately.

A survey may focus on opinions or factual information depending on its purpose, and many surveys involve administering questions to individuals. When the questions are administered by a researcher, the survey is called a structured interview or a researcher-administered survey. When the questions are administered by the respondent, the survey is referred to as a questionnaire or a self-administered survey.

The weakness or disadvantage of survey is that it only measures the existing phenomenon without inquiring into why it exists. In this method you do not answer questions such as why or how but your main intention is to use the data for solving some problems not formulating new ideas.

7. Categorization Method

Categorization is the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood.[9] Categorization implies that objects are grouped into categories, usually for some specific purpose. Ideally, a category illuminates a relationship between the subjects and objects of knowledge. There are different ways of approaching categorization.

Categorization can be likening to classification. In a way, philosophy is divided under different classification or what we know as branches like Logic, Ethics, Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Cosmology and so on. In the method, a researcher can easily look for what category is his or her subject matter and can find the different philosophers involved on the topic whatever is their period.

8. Questionnaires Method

Questionnaires offer researchers a quick, easy way to collect a great deal of information.[10] In this method, a researcher can easily access to the subject matter but one weakness of this method is that it reduces variety, creativity, and individuality of responses. It can also cause the researcher like young men to focus not on the subject but more on the questions.

III. Best Method

The best method that I will prefer to use is the Categorization method. Why? It is because in philosophy, most of ideas are divided or categorize according to the field. It is quite simple to look at the ideas if it is divided accordingly to their views. Categorization helps a researcher to look at different philosopher regardless of the period as long as its topic is in accordance with the field or branch.

IV. Conclusion

There are lots of research methods that we can use in philosophy. We need to know what kind of method to use to simplify our job of researching. The methods must be in accordance with the type of research like interview is not for formulating new hypothesis but only for solving problem.
Remember that a method can never be useful if it is used in a different manner. To be an effective researcher, you need to know what kind of method that you must use on the subject matter.
While lots of information maybe available to a researcher, it is important that he selects the best method that will best answer the kind of work he is trying to explore into.


Bibliography

[1] http://www.apa.udel.edu/apa/governance/statements/research.html.%20March%204, 2007
[2] Ibid.
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research.%20February%2025, 2007
[4] Ibid.
[5] Http://www.qual.auckland.ac.nz/. February 26, 2007
[6] Ibid.
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research.%20February%2025, 2007
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/devresearch.htm.%20February%2027, 2007