PHILOSOPHY
 philos (love) + sophia (knowledge)
 term coined by Pythagoras
 study of knowledge / interconnection of different branches of knowledge
 first philosophers from the Greek empire (not necessarily Athens)
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
 Ancient Period
 Pre-Socratic
o Defined by relativisim – everything is subjective due to culture,
circumstance, personality, etc.
o Emphasis on oratorical expertise / free speech of citizens (rich
statesmen free from home economics [oikos])
o Nature of the universe
 Socratic
o Morality is not subject to whims
o There is “true” knowledge
o Understanding comes from within / all knowledge is within us
o “wisest is he who knows nothing” – once you think you are smartest,
you stop learning
o Philosophers / Ideas
 Plato
 The Theory of Ideas – World of Ideas, World of Forms
 The soul exists before birth and survives after death
 Aristotle
 Hellenistic philosophy
 Platonism, Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism
 Medieval Period
 Questions on the nature of God
 Morality
 Struggle to Christianize classical philosophy
 Renaissance – humanism (people who go back to being individuals and
to think for themselves)
 Philosophers
o Thomas Aquinas
 Cosmological argument – everything that exists has a cause
o St. Anslem
 Ontological argument – existence is good, and therefore
God has it, and therefore God exists
 Modern Period
 Age of reason
 Need to organize philosophy on rational, skeptical, logical, and axiomatic
grounds – to categorize new discoveries
 Systematic empiricism
 Scientific method
 Philosophers
o Marx
o Kant
o Descartes
o Wittgenstein
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o Darwin
o Picasso
o Matisse
 World War II caused people to question science
Contemporary Period
 Philosophy of science
 Philosophy of language
 Socio-political philosophy
 Epistemology
 Existentialism
 Analytic vs continental tradition
Analytic
Continental
Emphasis on clarity and argument
Reject scientism, the natural
via modern formal logic and
sciences are the only or most
analysis of language, and a respect accurate way to understand events
for natural sciences
Logical positivism – there are no
Considers conditions of natural
specifically philosophical truths and
science as variable and
the object of philosophy is the
determined by factors such as
logical clarification of thoughts
space, time, language, culture,
history
The logical clarification of thoughts
Unity of theory and practice,
can only be achieved by analysis
philosophical inquiries closely
of the logical form of philosophical
related to personal, moral, political
propositions
transformation
WORDS AND CONCEPTS
 Word
 Simplest unit of communication
 Arbitrary
 Artificial – can be invented
 Material – may be tangible by 5 senses
 Tangible symbols that represent something other than themselves
 Concept
 Made of ideas
 Native to our intellect
 Means to acquire knowledge
 Subsists in our minds
 Can be precise or vague, sufficient or insufficient
 Words and Concepts
 Have no truth values
 Terms – words to express concepts
THEORIES OF MEANING (where does meaning lie?)
 Referential Theory of Meaning (Plato and Aristotle)
 Ostensive definition – defining words by pointing to an object it refers to
 Meaning can be found in referent
 Sensible Theory (Frege)
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 Statements
o A: The morning star is the same as (or identical to) the evening star
o B: The morning star is the same as (or identical to) the morning star
 The referent of both statements are the same but the expression has
different meanings
o A: same in referent, but not in meaning
o B: same in statement and referent
 Every proper name expresses its sends and only stands for or designates its
reference
 Meaning lies in the sense
JS Mill
 Proper names are not connotative; they denote the individuals who are
called by them by they do not indicate or imply any attributes belonging
to these individuals
 All general names are connotative
 Connotative terms denote a subject and imply attributes
 Proper names cannot connotate
 Meaning lies in connotation
Wittgenstein’s Theory of Meaning
 Philosophical investigations
 Usage
o You can use a name to denote a bearer but the meaning should
not be confused with its bearer but only with its use
o Usage – actual usage of words by real people in actual linguistic
contexts
 Analysis
o Words have different uses
o As long as a word has a use, it is meaningful
o Philosophers are fond of using words artificially – these terms are
being used to explain language when in fact they are used in a
very specific way
 Terms
o Language game – using words for a particular purpose, brings into
prominence the fact that the speaking of language is part of an
activity or form of life
o Form of life – a language game that is playable by other real
people in real life situations
o Private language – a language game playable by only one person
 The meaning of a word is its use in the language
CONCEPTS – ESSENTIALISM
 Denotation and Connotation
 Denotation – dictionary meanings
 Connotation – actual association of words
 Intension and Extension
 Intension – set of traits or characteristics that members of the concept
possess
 Extension – range of the application of the intension
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Essential property
 When the intension of the concept becomes very precise / clearly defines
 Possession of a single trait is the necessary / sufficient condition to qualify
one to be a member of the extension
 Exclusive membership
Essentialism
 If there no essential property held in common by all the members of the
extension, then the term cannot be meaningful
Wittgenstein’s reaction
 When it comes to games, we do not find a single essence that would
characterize all games
 Family resemblances – complicated network of overlapping similarities
that may be general similarities or specific similarities
CONCEPTS – TYPES
 Empirical concepts
 Intentions are observable
 Extensions are found in space and time
 Passes the inter and intra subjectivity tests – observable through unaided
senses
 Ex. Table, chair, etc
 Abstract concepts
 No physical referents
 Extension cannot be found in this world
 Usually used in formal sciences
 Clearly defined but not observable
 Ex. Infinite, point, line, tautology
 Fictitious concepts
 Imagined / invented by people for various purposes
 Clearly defined with imaginary extensions
 Ex. Plants vs zombies
 Dispositional concepts
 Do not designate a directly observable trait
 Exhibit a certain observable disposition of certain operations are
performed
 Ex. Elasticity, magnetism, gravity
 Theoretical concepts
 Borders on the line between observable and unobservable
 Can only be observable through human intervention using sensory
extending devices
 Ex. Atom
 Evaluative concepts
 Moral – concept of good and bad
 Aesthetics – beauty and ugliness
 Religious – heaven and hell
 Concept of value plays an important role in evaluative concepts
 Definition may be unclear
 Metaphysical concepts
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 Has no physical or observable traits
 Ex. The mind, god
DEFINITIONS
 Definition
 Linguistic device that provide explanations or demonstrations for terms
 Characteristics
 The use a term is highlighted in its intension or extension in the context of
the language game
 All definitions should contain the same essential property
 Clear statement of intension + examples of extension
 Types of definition
 Synonyms
o Unfamiliar term defined with simpler term (ordinary language)
o Susceptible to circular definitions
 Ostensive
o Give examples of extension
o Leads to generalization / wrongful association of concepts
o Cannot be used on concepts other than empirical concepts
 Reportive (lexical)
o How a term is being used in numerous language games
o Standard or conventional use of terms
o Cannot fully explain esoteric terms
o Doesn’t take into account the technical usage of a term in specific
language games
 Stipulative
o Use of a term in special ways in a specific context
o Those who use the term must abide to the proposal in order to play
the language game
o Used in research, legislation, investigation, invention, etc.
 Operational
o Anchoring theoretical / dispositional terms to observational
evidence
o All scientific concepts are defined operationally
o Instrumental – various devices for observation and measurement
o Paper and pencil – verbal / thought experiments
 Analytic
o 3 categories
 Definiendum
 The term to be defined
 Definiens
 Description of the defining property of the
definiendum
 Genus – wider concept
 Differentia – traits that distinguish the definiendum
 Denotata
 Typical examples of extensions of the definiendum
o Rules for a good analytic definition
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 Rule 1
 Members must possess the trait
 The trait must not be too brad or too narrow
 No need for essential trait; family resemblance
enough
 Rule 2
 Must not be circular – avoid synonyms
 Rule 3
 Define what a concept is rather than what it is not
 Exception on negative terms
 Rule 4
 Should not use figurative, obscure, or metaphysical
language
STATEMENTS
 Sentences
 Material
 Not bearers of truth or falsity
 Vague and ambiguous
 Statements
 Made of concepts
 Known as prepositions / knowledge
 Contained within sentences
Rationalism
Mind / 5 senses
Empiricism
Reason
Source of knowledge
Experience
Formal
Type of knowledge
Empirical
Analytical
Type of knowledge
Empirical
claim
 Rationalism and Empiricism
 Rationalism
o Knowledge comes from reason
o Formal knowledge (logic, math, language) with system of rules
o Stagnant
o Concept of substance
o Descartes – I think, therefore I am.
 Empiricism
o Knowledge comes from experience / 5 senses
o Empirical knowledge (biology, diagnostics) which is concrete and
leads to new knowledge
o Possible to add to existing knowledge
o Experience can give false information
o Locke – the baby’s mind is a blank slate
 Analytic and Empirical Statements
 Analytic
o Predicate is contained within the subject
o The denial of the differentia or predicate leads to absurdity
o Ex. All bachelors are unmarried males. Oranges are segmented
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 Empirical
o Descriptions of the state of affairs in the world
o Observations that can be heard, tasted, seen, felt, etc
o Ex. Her hair is long. It is raining outside
Theories of Truth
 Coherence Theory of Truth
o A relational term must relate at least 2 philosophical categories
 1st category – analytic statements
 2nd category – systems
 Correspondence Theory of Truth
o A relational term must relate at least 2 philosophical categories
 1st category – knowledge claim
 2nd category – theory of reality
Wittgenstein – Tractatus Logico Philosophicus
 Elementary principles and atomic facts have the same logical structure
 The logical structures of both are isomorphic / identical
 When there is isomorphism, the elementary proposition can become the
logical picture of atomic facts
 If they are identical, then the proposition is true
 Language is the mirror of the world
Limitations
 How to apply the theories to past events and history
 How to apply the theories to universal claims (ex. Karl Popper’s Falsifiability
Principle)
EVALUATIVE STATEMENTS
 Definition
 Judgments about the positive or negative worth of something
 Prescriptions of what ought to be done, statements of what actions are
obligatory or prohibited
 May be shared by many individuals, and not just personal sentiment
 Derive their meaning from various language games in which they are
accepted as norms of behavior
 Part of the intra & inter subjective consensus of players in a language
game
 The Logical Positivist’s View
 Evaluative statements are meaningless because they are neither true nor
false
 These statements cannot be guaranteed by the two sources of
knowledge and cannot be verified by the theories of truth
 No cognitive content = cognitively meaningless
 Pragmatic Criterion of Truth
 A proposition is true if it leads to good and practical consequences, and
false if it does not
 Workability, satisfaction, consequences
 Problems
o Relativism – "good” can vary
o The Criterion doesn’t pass the inter subjectivity test
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