PHI 1103 Fundamental
Philosophical
Winter
2026
Questions
What is philosophy?
What is philosophy?
• Most broadly: Anti-Dogmatism
•
Dogmatism refers to an attitude or approach characterized by the
unwavering assertion of beliefs or principles as unquestionably true,
without consideration of evidence, reason, or alternative perspectives.
•
The idea that some things are beyond questioning
• Nearly all fields of study have their roots in philosophy
• Wissenschaft (17th – 18th Century) – literally “knowledge craft” or
“knowledge making”
• German word for “science” = refers to any systematic, organized body
of knowledge or scholarly inquiry. The term emphasizes the systematic
pursuit of knowledge through rigorous methods, critical analysis, and
logical coherence.
What is philosophy?
(Sub-Disciplines)
• Metaphysics: The study of the fundamental structure of reality,
examining what makes something real, what establishes existence,
and the properties of existence or reality itself, rather than focusing on
specific entities. It seeks to answer foundational questions such as
"What does it mean to be?" and "What is existence?“
• Ontology: : The study of what exists and the assumptions about the kinds of
entities that make up reality, held by an individual, group, or belief system. For
example, a materialist ontology includes atoms but excludes ghosts, while a
theological ontology might include spirits, atoms, and God. Animist
ontologies might consider inanimate objects as possessing spirits.
What is philosophy?
(Sub-Disciplines)
• Epistemology:
• The branch of philosophy that investigates the nature, scope,
and justification of knowledge. It asks fundamental questions
such as: What is knowledge? What distinguishes knowledge
from mere belief? How do we come to know things? Under what
circumstances is a particular claim justified as knowledge?
Epistemology evaluates the standards and criteria by which
we assess whether something qualifies as knowledge and
explores the processes and conditions that warrant or establish
it.
What is philosophy?
• Ethics:
(Sub-Disciplines)
• The branch of philosophy that investigates questions about the right and
the good. It asks: What does it mean to do the right thing? What makes
one action or decision morally right and another wrong? What makes
one thing good and another bad? Ethics explores the principles, values,
and criteria that guide human behavior and moral judgment.
• Normative ethics: Aims to establish prescriptions of behaviour rather than
mere descriptions
• Meta-Ethics: Questions the nature, meaning, and foundations of ethical
concepts and judgements.
• What does it mean for something to be morally “good” or “bad”?
• Are moral values objective (universal truths) or subjective (relative to a particular
individual or culture)?
• Are moral values real?
What is philosophy?
(Sub-Disciplines)
• Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that studies
beauty, art, and taste, as well as the nature of aesthetic
experience and judgment. It asks questions such as:
What is beauty? What makes something a work of art?
Why do we find certain things pleasing or meaningful?
• Is concerned with the criteria or evaluative standards for
assessing what is beautiful.
• E.g., is beauty in the eye of the beholder?
What is philosophy?
(Sub-Disciplines)
• Logic: is the branch of philosophy that studies the
principles of correct reasoning. It seeks to ensure that we
understand the rules for ensuring that our arguments
are, “truth preserving”.
• For the purposes of this course, we can understand reasoning as the capacity to
understand, evaluate and produce ARGUMENTS
• An argument is not just a dispute or a desire to prove that you are right
• We will use the word “argument” here to describe a group or set of
statements in which one or more of those statements called PREMISES
support, justify, or make it reasonable to believe that another one of
these statements called the CONCLUSION is true.
Reasoning is a Bullsh*t Detector
(Logic vs. Rhetoric)
• Sometimes people think arguments are just attempts to
convince or persuade someone of some belief
• This is closer to what is called “rhetoric” or even “sophistry”
• Rhetoric: is the art of convincing or persuading someone of
some claim or another regardless of whether the claim is true
or whether the person believes it to be true
• E.g. advertising, propaganda, being convinced to believe in Santa
Claus, etc.,
• Sophistry: the sort of rhetoric that relies on fallacious
(incorrect) reasoning to convince others. It has the connotation
of being necessarily dishonest
Evaluating Arguments
• There are two ways to evaluate arguments
• One is to question the quality of their reasoning (inferences) from
premises to conclusion
• The other is to question the truth of their premises
• Questioning the quality of inferences is questioning the validity
of the argument
• An argument is valid IF the premises WERE true the conclusion would
be guaranteed also to be true
• Questioning the truth of premises is questioning the soundness
of the argument
• A sound argument is one in which the premises ARE TRUE and the
argument as a whole is valid
Validity and Soundness
Valid
• Premise 1: all Pigs can fly
Premise 2: Sammy is a pig
Conclusion: Sammy can fly!
• Premise 1: All goats are
fascist
• Premise 2: Sammy is a goat
• Conclusion: Sammy is a
fascist
Sound
• Premise 1: All mammals have hearts
Premise 2: All humans are mammals
Premise 3: John is a human
Conclusion: John has a heart
• Premise 1: All triangles have three
sides
Premise 2: X is a triangle
Conclusion: X has three sides
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Valid and Invalid Argument Forms
• Some valid Argument forms:
1. Modus Ponens (Affirming the
Antecedent)
1. If P, then Q
2. P
3. Therefore Q
• Some invalid Argument forms:
4. Affirming the consequent
1. If P, then Q
2. Q
3. Therefore P
5. Denying the Antecedent
2. Modus Tollens (Denying the
Consequent)
1. If P, then Q
2. Not Q
3. Therefore, not P
1. If P, then Q
2. Not P
3. Therefore, not Q
Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
For all conditional statements (if then statements) the antecedent
serves as a sufficient condition, and the consequent serves as
a necessary one
• E.g., If I have 4 quarters  I have 1 dollar
• This means that having 4 quarters is sufficient to make a dollar
(but not necessary) and having 1 dollar is necessary for having 4
quarters (but not sufficient)
• Another way of putting this is:
• If it's true that I have 4 quarters, then it must be true that I have a dollar.
• If it’s false that I have a dollar then it must be false that I have 4 quarters.
Why Study Philosophy?
“Evidently then we do not seek it for the sake of
any other advantage; but as the man is free, we
say, who exists for his own sake and not for
another's, so we pursue this as the only free
science, for it alone exists for its own sake.”
• Aristotle’s Metaphysics, Book I, Chapter 2
It’s More Intimidating Than it is Difficult!
Evaluation of the Course
Midterm 1: 25%
Midterm 2: 35%
Final Exam: 40%
PLEASE NOTE: If you are absent from a midterm for any reason, the
weight of this midterm will be dropped. This means that the final mark
will be determined by the midterm you attended as well as the final.
Nonetheless, you must come to all midterms unless you have an
authorized declaration of absence form. Furthermore, if you miss both
midterms, you must contact me by the end of day (midnight) on the date
of the second midterm. I will schedule a deferred exam that you must
attend to pass the course.
Next Class
• Please read Meno by Plato by next class
and review the syllabus!