Phil 1: An Introduction to
Philosophy
Instructor: Tim Butzer
Teaching Assistants:
Dillon Schultz
Jenna Schaal-O’Connor
Alex Dunn
Introductory Material
The word “philosophy” comes from Greek:
Introductory Material
The word “philosophy” comes from Greek:
“Philos”
“Love”
Introductory Material
The word “philosophy” comes from the
Greek:
“Philos”
“Love”
“Sophia”
“Wisdom”
Introductory Material
The word “philosophy” comes from the
Greek:
“Philos”
“Sophia”
“Love”
“Wisdom”
Literally translated, then, “philosopher”
means “lover of wisdom.”
Introductory Material
But what does “wisdom” mean?
Proposal 1: Knowing, and being able to
instruct others on how to lead a good,
fulfilling life.
Very few people who call themselves
“philosophers” today fit this description.
Introductory Material
But what does “wisdom” mean?
Proposal 2: Gaining “wisdom” just means
acquiring and/or discovering knowledge about
the world.
This definition doesn’t single out philosophers.
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Physicists
Historians
Anthropologists
Etc.
Introductory Material
What distinguishes philosophy from other
disciplines is its subject matter and
methodology.
Main Branches of Philosophy
1. Metaphysics
2. Epistemology
3. Ethics
Main Branches of Philosophy
1. Metaphysics
2. Epistemology
3. Ethics
Metaphysics
The study of the most fundamental features of
existence:
1. What is the nature of space and time?
2. Why is there something rather than nothing?
3. What does it take for something to persist over
time?
4. What is it for one thing to cause another?
5. Does God exist?
6. What are minds, and how do they relate to
bodies?
7. What is required for an entity to possess free
will? Do we possess free will?
Main Branches of Philosophy
1. Metaphysics
2. Epistemology
3. Ethics
Epistemology
“Episteme” is Greek for “knowledge.” Thus
epistemology is translated as “the study of
knowledge”
Epistemologists are interested in how we
come to know things, and how we come to
have justified beliefs.
Epistemology
Some questions that interest epistemologists:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
What is knowledge?
What does it take to possess knowledge?
Do we or can we know anything? If so, what?
What are good sources of knowledge and what
makes them so?
What makes a belief justified?
Are we or can we be justified in believing anything?
If so, what?
Do you have to always have reasons supporting a
belief in order for it to be justified/known?
How and when are you justified in believing
something that someone else tells you?
Main Branches of Philosophy
1. Metaphysics
2. Epistemology
3. Ethics
Ethics
Ethics is the study of morality. It is the study of what we
ought and ought not do (morally speaking) and why we
ought or ought not do it.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What makes an action right or wrong?
Do only the consequences of an action matter to its
moral status?
Are there objective moral facts, or are all such facts
relative to the society/culture/time in which one finds
oneself?
Are there moral facts at all, or is it the case that nothing is
morally permissible or impermissible?
Is abortion morally permissible? If so, under what
conditions?
Are we morally obligated to give to charity?
Is raising animals and slaughtering them in order to eat
them morally permissible?
Some other Disciplines
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Philosophy of Mind
Philosophy of Language
Logic
Political Philosophy
Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of Math
Aesthetics
Philosophical Methodology
While some of the preceding topics bleed
over a bit into various sciences (e.g.
physics, cognitive psychology, political
science) philosophers employ a different
methodology than these empirical
disciplines.
Philosophical Methodology
Instead of formulating hypotheses and
running experiments to test them,
philosophers typically conduct their
investigations using reason and arguments.
Philosophical Methodology
Philosophy, like math, is usually thought of as
an a priori discipline.
A priori knowledge: Knowledge that does not
require the senses or empirical evidence for its
justification.
A Posteriori knowledge: Knowledge that does
require sensory or empirical evidence for its
justification.
Some (Very Basic) Logic
Reminder: Thursday Sections are
cancelled
Vocabulary
• Argument: An attempt to present rational
support for a conclusion. This consists of
presenting a series of premises that
collectively support the desired conclusion
• Premise: A proposition which purports to
support a conclusion
• Conclusion: The proposition an argument
attempts to rationally support or prove.
Vocabulary
Argument 1:
1. The Bible is the word of God.
2. God is infallible, therefore the word of God is
infallible.
3. The Bible says that God exists.
4. Therefore, God exists.
What are the premises and conclusions of this
argument? Is this a good argument?
Vocabulary
Claims, sentences, propositions, or
premises are true or false.
Arguments are valid or invalid, sound or
unsound.
Vocabulary
An argument is deductively valid if and only
if the truth of its premises guarantee the
truth of the conclusion.
In other words, in a valid argument, if the
premises are true, the conclusions must be
true.
Vocabulary
Question: Can a valid argument have a false
conclusion?
Vocabulary
Answer: YES!
Argument 2:
(1)If I had woken up late today, then I would
have been late for lecture.
(2)I woke up late.
(3)Therefore, I was late to lecture.
Vocabulary
An argument is sound if it is both valid and
has true premises.
Vocabulary
An argument is sound if it is both valid and
has true premises.
Question: Can a sound argument have a
false conclusion?
Vocabulary
Answer: NO!
• An argument is valid just in case the truth
of the premises guarantees the truth of the
conclusion.
• If a valid argument also has true premises,
then the conclusion has to be true.
Two Good Argument Forms
Modus Ponens
1. If p then q.
2. p
3. Therefore, q.
Two Good Argument Forms
Modus Ponens (example):
1. If Adrian Peterson is healthy then the Vikings
will win the Superbowl.
2. Adrian Peterson is healthy.
3. Therefore, the Vikings will win the
Superbowl.
Two Good Argument Forms
Modus Tollens
1. If p then q.
2. ~q
3. Therefore, ~p
(“~” means “not”)
Some Basic Logic
Modus Tollens
1. If I ate at Cajun Kitchen for breakfast, I
would have had eggs for breakfast.
2. I did not have eggs for breakfast.
3. Therefore, I did not eat at Cajun Kitchen for
breakfast.