ACMA01H3 – Lecture 10
What is Philosophy?
Philosophy
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The study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially
when considered as an academic discipline (OED)
The study of ideas about knowledge, truth, the nature and meaning of life, etc. (MW)
Philosophy and Ideas
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Philosophies are ways of understanding various aspects of human existence
o Systems of thought that guide such understandings
o Sets of ideas or principles regarding how one lives and behaves in the world
Basic philosophical questions:
o Why are we here?
o Is there any proof that God exists?
o Is there a purpose to our lives?
o Could our lives be just a dream?
o What does it mean to be a “good” person?
o Also, always, “so what?”
Philosophy and Truth
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“There are no whole truths; all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole
truths that plays the devil” – Alfred North Whitehead
Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and most philosophers after him, rejected the idea of
universal truths
o What we call “truth” is merely a representation composed of sets of stories and
metaphors, subjective preferences, cultural norms and customs
 In short, “truth” is whatever we are told is true
Beliefs and Truths
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From this philosophical perspective, beliefs are ultimately dependent on circumstance
o We believe what we believe largely due to the context in which we were born
 E.g. most people hold the same religious convictions as their parents or
guardians, right?
However…
o E.g. a person who identifies as Mennonite, born into a Mennonite family, raised
in that culture and attended worship services
 This person will very likely be a Mennonite believer for life
o If this same person, biologically identical in every way, had been born in raised
as Hindu, they would likely remain Hindu for the rest of their life
Our beliefs begin to form based entirely on context, and the positive recognition we get
but adhering to the rules and guidelines consistent with membership in that particular
context
o Social reinforcement
Is there Truth at all?
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Ancient philosophers were searching for this of Truth
o Aristotle: statements are True when they consistent with reality
 Philosophically superficial, but truthful
 Works well in practical and/or scientific context, but not always
so much in the wider realm of human existence
Absolute Truth v. Plurality of Truths
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More speculative statements or questions, particularly when related to morality and
ethics, are much more difficult, if not impossible, to respond to with an objective singular
Truth
o E.g. “is assisted suicide I patients receiving palliative care morally acceptable or
morally unacceptable?”
There are a variety of different – but reasonable – responses to this question, at all points
in the spectrum between yes and no
o Many valid response will be in complete contradiction to one another, while still
remaining valid
o The beliefs that support such responses are informed by our worldview, which
develops as a combination of all of our other beliefs
Ancient v. Modern Philo
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While an absolute truth would certainly be ideal and welcomed by philosophers, modern
philosophers admit that this is highly unlikely
The Truth is not necessarily required for cultivating an understanding, justifying a belief,
or finding meaning
o Often, justified are of grater importance to contemporary philosophy than
supposedly objective and universal truths
A New Kind of Philosophical Question
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What are the conditions of justifiable belief?
o Much of modern philosophy attempts to equip us with practical and theoretical
tools to offer a thoroughly reasoned response and to cultivate justifiable beliefs
 But we do this with the admission than a single, universal response, or
single, universal belief is not a realistic expectation
People can have philosophical defensible reasons for their beliefs, even if these beliefs
ultimately conflict with those of someone else
o Both can be sound reason simultaneously
o However, this does not mean that all reasons or beliefs are equal, nor that all
reasons or beliefs are justifiable
Philo can help us develop and examine justifiable beliefs
o But, as these develop into a broader worldview, the nuance of individual beliefs
gives way to the generalizations of perspective
o The precision needed to model reality exactly is beyond the capacity of
philosophy
The “Examined Life”
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“The unexamined life is not worth living” – Socrates
Questioning who we are
How we live
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Gender(s)
Our identity
Sense of reality
Vocation
Traditions
Symbols
Convictions
Speech or language
Morals and ethics
“Knowns”
Biases
We are the embodiment of all these things, and yet we rarely have occasion for critically
reflecting on them
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As well, such reflections are not always particularly comfortable
Philosophy as Method
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Philosophy is a method for examining questions about existence
o These are not questions unique to philosophy; philosophy is just one particular
way of taking part in such investigations
o These questions are ever-present
 Never wholly answered, always investigable from new or different
angles, through new or different lenses
Philosophy can teach us to ask new questions, and different responses to those questions
o “Although studying philosophy can illuminate fundamental questions about our
lives, it does not provide anything like a complete pictures, if indeed there could
be such a thing”
Doing Philosophy
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“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways: the point, however,
is to change it” – Karl Marx
o Although rooted in thinking, philosophy is also an activity
 A set of tools for enquiring about various aspects of existence, and also
the practice of making use of those tools
Morals and Ethics
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Morals: internal and individual principles, beliefs, habits regarding right or wrong
conduct. Based on ideals, belief in right and wrong. Violations can lead to a change in
internal state: guilt, regret, etc.
Ethics: external social rules for behaviour, either broadly, or within particular groups or
societies. Based on social norms –we behave in certain ways because our society dictates
that it is the right or wrong thing to do
Identifying what is considered right or wrong
o Asking why something is right or wrong
 So what?
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E.g. we cannot express why slavery is wrong, it is difficult to
justify the stance against it
Kantian Ethics
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Kant’s proposed morals as a basis for ethical reasoning
o “Categorical Imperative”
 The end does not justify the means, and we should behave in such a way
that our actions could be universalizable
E.g. Slavery uses persons as means to ends: forcing human labour to complete various
manual tasks
o It reduces human beings to their worth as free labourers
 Once that worth is depleted, the human has no other value
 Dehumanization
We ought to treat persons as ends in and of themselves; we ought to act in such a way
that our actions are universalizable
o If we were to universalize this principle of slavery, all persons would be defined
merely by their ability to work, and to do so without remittance