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studies the geneal and ultimate characteristics of reality and existence
what is the nature of reality?
what is the place of humans on the universe?
does life have meaning?
do we have free will?
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involves the theory of knowledge, identifying and developing criteria and methodologies for determining what we know and why we know it.
can we ever really know anything?
what is the truth?
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studies moral values and principles: the ways we ought to behave, the standards we should employ in our dealing with others.
how should we treat other people?
is there a "good life" for humans?
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| Political and social philosophy |
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studies the social value and political forms of government, including issues regarding the role of social justice and the nature of individual rights.
should we be governed?
are some people more valuable than others?
what is justice? |
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studies the nature of beauty and art, exploring whether there are standards for beauty in all its various manifestations
what is the nature of beauty?
what is art?
what is the purpose of art?
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| seeks to establish the rules of correct reasoning, clear understanding, and valid arguments |
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integrated attempt to define the thinking process of the human mind in order to strengthen and improve its functioning
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study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language
-Simply the love of wisdom |
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| To begin our journey of philosophical discovery, we must first distinguish between “ having” a philosophy and “ doing” philosophy. Every person “ has” a phi-losophy of life— a collection of beliefs that they use to guide their thoughts and actions. For example, you may believe that it’s wrong to needlessly kill living things, or you may believe that it’s good to be kind to people in difficult circumstances. Such beliefs— and countless others that you have formed over the years of your life— influence the way you see the world and the choices that you make. You may not be aware of all your beliefs— some may be deeply buried in your consciousness— but they can still influence you. For instance, you may instinctively help an elderly person cross the street, without being consciously aware that your action reflects a deeply imbedded belief of yours. |
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| “ Doing” philosophy— thinking philosophically— means thinking critically about your beliefs to ensure that they are the most accurate and enlightened beliefs possible. For example, if your philosophy of life includes stereotyped beliefs about other races or genders, |
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| Socrates probably came closest to capturing the essence of philosophy when he issued a startling challenge that has reverberated through the centuries: “ The unexamined life is not worth living.” The ability to reflect on one’s life and one’s self is a distinctly human ability. Philosophy provides us with the intellectual tools to reflect with clarity and discipline, to critically evaluate the choices we have made, and to use this knowledge to make more enlightened choices in the future. The stakes are high: if we fail to make use of this unique ability to think philo-sophically about ourselves, then, according to Socrates, our lives have diminished potential. |
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2 different realms: changeable, transient, imperfect and physica; unchanging, eternal, perfect, immortal and not physical
body- consisting of the appetites, and spirit/emotion, mortal, animal-like, a shell for the soul
soul- based on reason/the mind, independent of but connected to the body, tries to achieve communion with the ultimate reality, permanent, survives bodily death |
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| Dialectic/Socratic method |
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is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas
It is a dialectical method, often involving an oppositional discussion in which the defence of one point of view is pitted against the defence of another; one participant may lead another to contradict him in some way, strengthening the inquirer's own point |
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At the age of seventy, Socrates finds himself at the court of Athens on trial for his life due to allegations that he has “ corrupted the youth” of Athens and that he “ does not believe in the gods whom the state believes in, but in other new divinities.”
The trial of Socrates refers to the trial and the subsequent execution of the classical Athenian philosopher Socrates in 399 BCE. Socrates was tried on the basis of two notoriously ambiguous charges: corrupting the youth and impiety (in Greek, asebeia). More specifically, Socrates’ accusers cited two "impious" acts: "failing to acknowledge the gods that the city acknowledges" and "introducing new deities." |
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When we offer reasons to support a conclusion, we are presenting an argument.
In philosophy, an argument is a form of thinking in which certain statements ( reasons or premises) are offered in support of another statement ( a conclusion). |
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Arguments are evaluated in terms of their effectiveness or soundness through a process that investigates both the truth of the reasons and the validity of the con-clusion. This evaluation centers on the following questions: 1. How true are the reasons being offered to support the conclusion? 2. To what extent do the reasons support the conclusion, or to what extent does the conclusion follow from the reasons offered? 3. Does the argument pass the tests of both truth and validity?
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1. Truth: How True are the Supporting Reasons?
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| The first aspect of the argument you must evaluate is the truth of the reasons that are being used to support a conclusion. Does each reason make sense? What evidence is being offered as part of each reason? Do you know each reason to be true based on your experience? Is each reason based on a source that can be trusted? You use these questions and others like them to analyze the reasons offered and to determine how true they are. Typically, evaluating the sort of beliefs usually found as reasons in arguments is a complex and ongoing challenge. |
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| 2. Validity: Do the Reasons Support the Conclusion? |
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| In addition to determining whether the reasons are true, evaluating arguments involves investigating the relationship between the reasons and the conclusion. When the reasons support the conclusion so that the conclusion follows from the reasons being offered, the argument is considered to be valid. ( In formal logic, the term validity is reserved for deductively valid arguments in which the conclusions follow necessarily from the premises, which we will discuss in the next section.) If, however, the reasons do not support the conclusion so that the conclusion does not follow from the reasons being offered, the argument is considered to be invalid. For example, someone might make the following argument, which is invalid because the conclusion does not follow from the reasons offered. |
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| 3. Soundness: Does the Argument Pass the Tests of Both Truth and Validity? |
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| When an argument includes both true reasons and a valid structure, the argument is considered to be sound. When an argument has either false reasons or an invalid structure, however, the argument is considered to be unsound. |
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| An argument that has both true reasons and a valid structure. |
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| An argument that has either false reasons or an invalid structure. |
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fallacies: arguments that are not sound because of various errors in rea-soning. Fallacious reasoning is typically used to influence others. It seeks to per-suade not on the basis of sound arguments and critical thinking but rather on the basis of emotional and illogical factors. There are many different kinds of fallac-ies that have been identified and catalogued over the centuries.
Unsound arguments that are often persuasive because they usually appeal to our emotions and prejudices, and because they often support conclusions that we want to believe are accurate. |
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| a way to refer to cause; when B cannot occur in the absence of A, A is said to be a necessary condition of B |
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| also a way to refer to cause; A is said to be a suffiecient condition of B if, without exception, whenever A occurs, B occurs |
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| What makes up personal identity |
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family/friends (relationships)
culture/society/race/citizenship
my interests
gender/sex/age/sexual orientation
what i buy/own (or refuse to buy)
what i do of my own choosing
my profession (or major)
how my friends and family perceive me
religious beliefs and practices
what i like and don't like
economic class or income
my experiences
my thoughts
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The view that every event, including every human action, is casually necessary, i.e., has a preceding cause that makes that event inevitable
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| General argument for determinism |
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P1. if determinism is true, then humans are not free (in the sense important for holding people morally responsible for their actions)
P2. Determinism is true
C. therefore, humans are not free |
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| The notion that determinism and freedom of the will are not inconsistent with each other |
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| Argument for compatibalism |
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P1. If determinism is true, humans are not free
P2. Determinism is true
C. Therefore, humans are not free |
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| the advocacy of individual liberty, especially freedom of thought and action |
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| Arguments for Libertarians |
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P1. Accept premise
P2. Deny premise
C. Deny conclusion |
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self improvement
morality
raising children
religion
crime and punishment
understanding personal and social history |
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| the "matter" of which a thing is made |
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| the embedded form that gives shape and purpose to the matter |
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| the triggering action that sets the thing in motion |
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| the ultimate purpose for which a thing exists |
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one part is better than the other and more important; the soul with its reason is higher than the body with its emphasis on apetites and emotions; soul and reason need to reign in the bodies appetites and emotions, sometimes in conflict;
the soul IS self
the body is an instrument of perception
physical exisetence is an imperfect reflection of ultimate and eternal reality
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| St. Augustine soul and self |
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accepted separation between soul and body
body as a cage or slave to the soul
when body dies, soul lives in an "eternal and transcendent realm of Truth and Beauty"
the thinking/reasoning part of one's being is their identity |
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-both material substance (body) and immaterial substance (mind/soul) exist
a compromise to allow for the spiritual, immortal soul, AND the physical body
a spiritual, nonmaterial, immortal realm that includes conscious, thinking beings, and • a physical, material, finite realm that includes human bodies and the rest of the physical universe.
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| John Locke and Conscious self |
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understood knowledge and self differently from Descartes and others
took and empirical approach
rationalism- view that reason is the primary source of all knowledge
empricism- view that sense experience is the primary source of all knowledge
knowledge, and hence self identity, based on perception using sense experience |
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examining our experience we find:
-impressions: basic sensations of our experience, they are lively and wild
-ideas: copies of our impressions less lively and vivid
we never find a stable unified self
we only experience changing sensations of "self"
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tried to find the best of rationalism and empricism, avoiding the problems of each
agreed with Hume that we start to look for our identity in observing the world and our physical bodies
Hume went too far into empricism, never took next step
our primary experience of the world is not in terms of disconnected stream of sensations
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multi-level selves, some more accessible than others
in addition to conscious self, there are a pre-conscious self and unconscious self
most interested in the unconscious self
unconscious believed to be the primary mode of operation, prelogical, and prerational
not observable directly, but evident in certain phenomena or neurotic symptoms |
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-view that self is defined by observable behavior
Ryle argues that self is the best understood as a pattern of behavior, the tendency or disposition for a person to have in certain circumstances
no inside self, but there is a real self
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| Paul Churchland and materialism |
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-the self is explainable or reducible to the brain
-churchland argues for this understanding of self
mind=brain, self=brain+material elements
no soul, spirit, or non-material substance
-believes science in time will be able to make sense of thoughts, feelings, and perception all by the brain |
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| Baron d’Holbach and determinism |
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-we are an integral part of nature in every respect, it is logically consistent to conclude our states of mind and actions are casually determined the same way everything else in the universe is
-the will is a modification of the brain, behaves like any other bodily organ, receives chemical pulses before we are conscious of them
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| A.J. Ayer and compatibilism |
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his conception of freedom directly comes from his analysis of the difference between kleptomaniac's act of stealing and the ordianary thief's act of stealing
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