Doing Philosophy
An Introduction through
Thought Experiments
Theodore Schick, Jr.
Lewis Vaughn
McGraw-Hill
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 1
The Philosophical Enterprise
1.1-2
Section 1.1
Explaining the
Possibility of the
Impossible
Philosophical Problems and
Theories
Philosophy begins in wonder:
 What sort of things are there? Is the
universe composed solely of matter or
does it contain immaterial things like
souls?
 How can we tell? Is sense experience
the only source of knowledge or are
there other ways of knowing?
 What are our obligations to others? Do
we have a duty to help them or just not
to harm them?
1.1-4
Philosophy: Love of
Wisdom
From the Greek, philo meaning
“love” and sophia meaning
“wisdom”
1.1-5
“The Unexamined Life is not
Worth Living”--Socrates
If our philosophy
is flawed, we may
spend our lives
pursuing false
ideals,
worshipping false
gods, and
nurturing false
hopes.
1.1-6
Philosophy and Freedom
If we haven’t freely
chosen the principles
upon which our
thoughts and actions
are based, our
thoughts and actions
aren’t truly free.
1.1-7
Branches of Philosophy
 Metaphysics: the study of reality
 Epistemology: the study of
knowledge
 Axiology: the study of value
 Logic: the study of the good
reasoning
1.1-8
Philosophical Problems
 Some of our beliefs about the nature of
reality, knowledge, and value seem
inconsistent with one another.
 If two beliefs are inconsistent with one
another, both cannot be true.
 In an attempt to discover the truth,
philosophy attempts to eliminate the
inconsistency.
1.1-9
Classic Philosophical
Problems
 The Mind-Body Problem
 The Problem of Free Will
 The Problem of Personal Identity
 The Problem of Relativism and Morality
 The Problem of God and Evil
 The Problem of Skepticism and
Knowledge
1.1-10
The Mind-Body Problem
If the mind is
immaterial, how
can it interact
with the body?
1.1-11
The Problem of Free Will
If every event is
caused, how
can there be
free will?
1.1-12
The Problem of
Personal Identity
If we are
constantly
changing, how
can we retain
our identity over
time?
1.1-13
The Problem of
Relativism and Morality
If everything is
relative, how
can there be
objective moral
standards?
1.1-14
The Problem of God and
Evil
If God is allpowerful, allknowing, and
all-good, how
can there be
evil in the
world?
1.1-15
The Problem of
Skepticism and Knowledge
If knowledge
requires certainty,
and if our only
source of
knowledge is sense
experience, how
can we acquire
knowledge of the
external world?
1.1-16
Solving Philosophical
Problems
 Philosophical problems arise because
the belief that certain concepts apply to
certain things seems to conflict with
other beliefs we have.
 To show how its possible (or why it’s
impossible) for a concept to apply, we
have to identify the conditions for
applying it.
1.1-17
Necessary Conditions
 A necessary condition is a requirement;
it’s a condition that must be met in order
for something to occur or exist.
 For example, your taking the required
number of courses is a necessary
condition for graduating because you
graduate only if you took the required
number of courses.
1.1-18
Sufficient Conditions
 A sufficient condition fulfills all the
requirements of something.
 For example, graduating is a sufficient
condition for completing all of your
course requirements because if you
graduate, you have fulfilled all of the
requirements.
1.1-19
The Logic of Necessary and
Sufficient Conditions
 If X is a necessary condition for Y, then
Y implies X.

For example, being a cow (Y) implies
being an animal (X). (Something is a cow
only if it is a mammal.)
 If X is a sufficient condition for Y, then X
implies Y.

For example, being the Pope (X) implies
being a bachelor (Y). (If someone is the
Pope, then he is a bachelor.)
1.1-20
Possibility and Necessary and
Sufficient Conditions
 If X is a necessary condition for Y, it is
impossible for Y to occur without X.

For example, being a citizen of the US is a
necessary condition for being President.
 If X is a sufficient condition for Y, it is
impossible for X to occur without Y.

For example, getting your head chopped
off is a sufficient condition for dying.
1.1-21
Socrates (469 – 399 B.C.)
 Thought to be the
wisest man in ancient
Greece by the Oracle at
Delphi
 Accused of corrupting
the youth and
worshipping false gods.
 Sentenced to death by
drinking hemlock.
1.1-22
Euthyphro on the Nature of the
Holy
 Something is holy if and only if it is
pleasing to the gods.
 But what’s pleasing to one god may not
be pleasing to another.
 The same thing can’t be holy and unholy
at the same time and in the same
respect.
 So Euthyphro’s analysis of the holy must
be mistaken.
1.1-23
Scientific vs. Philosophical
Problems
 Scientists want to know how it’s possible
for certain events to occur.

For example: how is it possible for Uranus
to have the orbit it does given Newton’s
laws of motion.
 Philosophers want to know how it’s
possible for certain concepts to apply.

For example: how is it possible for us to
have free will given that every event has a
cause.
1.1-24
Science and the Scientific
Method
 Scientists solve scientific problems by
explaining what makes an event occur.

For example, scientists explained Uranus’s
orbit by discovering Neptune.
 Philosophers solve philosophical
problems by explaining what makes a
concept apply.

For example, philosophers can explain free
will by discovering the conditions under
which the concept free will applies.
1.1-25
Socrates and the Socratic
Method
 Identify a problem or pose a question.
(“What makes the concept x apply?”)
 Propose a hypothesis. (“Concept x applies if
and only if y is present.”)
 Derive a test implication. (“If the hypothesis
in question is true, then one would expect to
find x or y in these circumstances.”)
 Perform the test.
 Accept or reject the hypothesis.
1.1-26
Science and the Scientific
Method
 Identify a problem or pose a question.
(“What causes something x to occur?”)
 Propose a hypothesis. (“X occurs if and only
if y is present.”)
 Derive a test implication. (“If the hypothesis
in question is true, then one would expect to
find x or y in these circumstances.”)
 Perform the test.
 Accept or reject the hypothesis.
1.1-27
Logical vs. Causal Possibility
 Something is logically impossible if and
only if it violates the law of noncontradiction.

For example: a round square.
 Something is causally impossible if and
only if it violates a law of nature.

For example: a cow jumping over the
moon.
1.1-28
Thought Probe: Possibilities
 Are the following situations causally possible?
Are they logically possible?








A human with feathers
Traveling faster than the speed of light
A cat speaking English
A bowling ball speaking English
A rabbit laying multicolored eggs
A soft-shelled prime number
A thinking machine
A computer with a soul
1.1-29