,
Instructor: Prof. Tara M. Zrinski, M.A.T.S., M.A.P.C
Email: tzrinski@northampton.edu
Phone: (610) 349 – 9858
Office: Virtual
Office hours: By appointment
Solomon, Robert. Big Questions: A Short
Introduction to Philosophy (10th edition).
Cengage: Massachusetts, 2017.
ISBN: 978-1-305-95544-8
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Plagiarism
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Students may consult
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assignment
Discussion Board (1 – 5)
250 points A = 930 – 1075
A = 900 – 930
Short Essays (1 & 2)
200 points B+ = 870 – 900
Logic Assignment 1
75 points B = 830 – 870
B- = 800 – 830
Logic Assignment 2
75 points C+ = 770 - 800
Quiz 1 – 4
Final Exam
Extra Credit Collaborate Live
(3)
TOTAL POINTS
200
C = 730 – 770
C- = 700 – 730
points
200 points
75 points D+ = 670 – 700
1075 points
D = 630 – 670
D- = 600 – 630
F = 000 – 599
PHILOSOPHY is a verb
• Actively Stating What We Believe
• Developing Ideas
• Making Connections & Comparisons
• Resolving Difficulties
• Coordinating Many Ideas into a Single World View
• Defending or Refuting Your Arguments
Primary Features of
DOING PHILOSOPHY
•A r t i c u l a t i o n : p u t t i n g y o u r i d e a s i n c l e a r , c o n c i s e a n d
readily understandable language
•A r g u m e n t - s u p p o r t i n g y o u r i d e a s w i t h r e a s o n s f r o m
other ideas, principles and observations to establish
your conclusions and overcome objections
•A n a l y s i s - u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n i d e a s b y d i s t i n g u i s h i n g
and clarifying its various components
•S y n t h e s i s - g a t h e r i n g t o g e t h e r d i f f e r e n t i d e a s i n t o a
single unified vision
CONCEPTS & FRAMEWORKS
 Concept- the basic unit of Philosophical projects which
define the form of our experiences, or empirical
knowledge
A priori knowledge- is knowledge
Independent of any particular
Experience; i.e. number
 Priori knowledge– knowledge
that is dependent on experiences

4 legs
Breeds
o f dog
 Framework- web of abstract concepts
that form the basis and organization of
our perspective




Lifestyle
Ideology
Climate of opinion
World view
Dog
barks
Not
dog
BUZZWORDS
FREEDOM
TRUTH
REALITY
MORALITY
LOVE
GOD
SCIENCE
ART
DEFINE YOUR TERMS!
Doing Philosophy with STYLE
What you will need should you choose to complete this
adventure. . . .
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Your Ideas
Critical Thinking
Argumentation
A Problem
Imagination
Style
“The examined life is not worth living” ~ Socrates
A little logic
EXAMPLE: syllogism
ARGUMENTS BY
DEDUCTION
DEDUCTION – one
argues for the truth
of a conclusion by
deducting a
statement from a
number of others
Axioms- true
statements whose
proof is obvious
Inference- process of
reasoning from one
set of principles to
another
(Premise 1) All philosophers are wise
(Premise 2) Socrates is a philosopher
(Conclusion) Therefore, Socrates is wise
 Valid Argument- follows the rules of
inference
(Premise 1) All cows are purple
(Premise 2) Socrates is a cow
(Conclusion) Therefore, Socrates is purple
 Sound Argument- when and
argument is both valid and all of its
premises are true statements
ARGUMENTS
BY INDUCTION
INDUCTION- the
process of inferring
general conclusions
from a sufficiently
large sample of
particular
observations.
Formal Fallacyviolates the rules of
inference
Informal Fallacyincludes ambiguous
terminology, biased
language, evasion of
the facts and
distractions.
 Example
 (Hypothesis) God exists.
 (Premise) The Bible says God exists.
 (Conclusion) Therefore, God exists.
An inductive argument that is well
supported by its evidence or
assertions is STRONG.
An inductive argument that
contains false, distorted or
otherwise unsupportable
evidence is WEAK.
CRITIZING ARGUMENTS
 Examine each statement
 For deductive arguments– Are all the premises true?
 For inductive arguments – Is the evidence false or distorted?
 Use counterexamples to refute a statement
 Point out contradictions or inconsistencies
 Create a paradox (reductio ad absurdum)
 “This sentence is false?” (If that is true then it is false)
 “God is all-powerful, so he could create a mountain so huge that even he could
not move it.”
 Check if statements are incoherent, having nothing to do with each
other.
 Begging the question or repeating the problem as the solution in an
attempt to resolve the problem.
 Ad hominem or ad feminam- accusation against the person
 Tautology a trivially true statement that repeats the same statement
in different ways; circular argument