Introduction to
Philosophy
“Philosophy”… a word which comes
from the Greek: philo sophia
philo means “love”
sophia means “wisdom”
The love of wisdom…
What does that mean?
Well, if you love a person, a
dog, or a book, song, or
movie… what does loving
mean?
Pythagoras was the
ancient Greek
philosopher and
mathematician who
(some say) coined this
word. He added that
humans can’t be wise.
Only the gods are wise.
But we can be lovers of
(or friends of) wisdom.
loving wisdom has something to
do with enjoying it, getting to
know it, understanding it a little
bit, sharing it with others,
protecting it,
and benefitting from it.
Philosophy can be done,
or it can be studied, or
both. As with music…
you can study it and you
can play it. You should do
both, of course.
Philosophy can be compared to
other subjects: science,
religion, poetry and literature,
psychology, logic,
religion and cooking.
To be good at cooking
you must do it…
and also study it.
They feed on each
other.
Science… you can be a scientist, and you
can study science. Science as we usually
think of it, seeks to learn about nature.
Doing science is asking questions and
finding answers to those questions… about
nature.
Poetry: you can study it, and
you can do it. That is, you can
write poetry. What is poetry
about? What do you think?
In doing poetry, you are able to
express your thoughts and
feelings about anything
whatsoever. Is it necessarily
wisdom? Is it science? Could
it be either of these?
Cooking: you can study it, and
you can do it.
So how does philosophy
differ from these other
subjects?
Science, religions, music,
poems, and cooking
each have a fairly well known
subject matter.
But what is the subject matter
of philosophy?
We could say that philosophy’s subject
matter is simply a “deeper understanding” of all
of those other subjects… it is trying to
understand the foundations of any and all
subjects. The “foundations” … what are those?
A foundation … that which
comes first, and supports all
the rest.
We mean the ideas,
the concepts, the
definitions and
assumptions which
are the starting
points and the
context of
everything else
which is to follow.
Honesty is good
and so is generosity.
Courage and unselfishness
are good.
But what do you mean by “good” ?
Is goodness real… can you see it or smell it or weigh it?
Is it only a bunch of rules made up by human beings
to control each other, or to bring some kind of
peace and harmony
to their lives?
A movie is good… what does that mean?
A cheese sandwich is good.
And so was Mother Theresa.
A clean floor is good and so is football.
So, what does “good” mean?
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
What is “technology?”
Why do we want it?
When is it good for us?
When is it harmful?
Is there a point of diminishing returns?
Can we ever refuse to use some technologies?
The sciences… what do they study?
Nature… the universe, the atoms, animals, plants,
and bugs and fish and birds and microbes.
Throw in featherless bipeds (man and woman) and
society and politics and economy…
What are the foundations of science?
That’s where philosophy comes in.
What is Nature? and how can we go about
discovering things about it? If we look
through a telescope or a microscope,
how do we know what it is
we are looking at?
Religions…
Define God, the soul, Nirvana,
Brahman, Tao, Tien.
Do any of these actually exist?
Is there an after-life?
What does “salvation” mean in
different religions?