Philosophy 1010
Hand in Class Syllabus Quiz.
Pop Quiz
Reading Assignment for Class #3:
Read Velasquez, Philosophy: A Text With
Readings, Chapter 2, pp. 50-71 (12e)
Writing Assignment
Worth 10 points in Participation Category
1) Compose a definition of “Philosophy” that
will work for you in this class.
2) Pose a philosophical question that is
important to you and attempt to answer it in
250 words or less. Please do not use any
sources. Just use your own reflection.
Philosophy Begins
with Wonder!
Wonder is an emotion comparable
to surprise and awe that people feel
when perceiving something rare or
unexpected. It is the emotion or
passion leading to philosophy and
science.
The feeling of wonder is the
mark of the philosopher, for
all philosophy has its origins
in wonder. …. Plato
What is a Philosophical Question?
What is true love? – Is beauty a matter of fact or a matter of taste?
– Is there a God? – What do I want to do with my life? – What is
the purpose of art? – Is there a difference between health and
beauty? – Do I want to be beautiful? – Is everything I think I know
true? -- Is lying always wrong? -- Does every question have an
answer? – Do I have to accept reality or can I determine my own
reality? -- Why can’t people just get along together? – Who should
take care of the environment? -- What would happen if there were
no government? – Why do bad things happen to people? -- What
is the meaning of my life? – Will getting married make me more or
less free? Is love more important than freedom? …. What is true
love? …..
Why are these questions philosophical questions?
What the characteristics of these questions so that we say they are
philosophical?
Is there a difference between philosophical questions and scientific
questions?
Is there a difference between philosophical questions and
speculation?
Questions, So Many Questions …
What Kind of Questions are These Anyway?
•
May be deeply personal
•
Answers cannot be “proven” but some opinions make more
sense than others and generally arguments can be given for
our views (thus, they are not entirely subjective)
•
Necessary to ask for our world to “make sense”
•
Often confuse us
•
We have to answer for ourselves.
•
We cannot expect everyone to agree with us and they may
also have good arguments for their views. Respect diversity
among cultures and gender.
•
Throughout our life we may have to reconsider our answers
Some Shots at Defining Philosophy . . .
•
Do these definitions give YOU a satisfactory
understanding of what the lady on the beach is
doing?
•
Philosophy is an activity people undertake when they
seek to understand fundamental truths about
themselves, the world in which they live, and their
relationships to the world and to each other.
…www.fsu.edu (Florida State University)
•
Philosophy studies the fundamental nature of existence,
of man, and of man's relationship to existence. … In the
realm of cognition, the special sciences are the trees, but
philosophy is the soil which makes the forest possible.
…Ayn Rand, Philosophy, Who Needs It (p. 2)
What is Philosophy?
Well, maybe….
•
Philosophy is the “audacity of hope” for obtaining
knowledge and wisdom about the world and about
ourselves. – Yes, we can! (Thanks, Barack.)
•
Philosophy is the application of critical reasoning to
our wonder about the world and ourselves.
•
Philosophy is the willingness to ask questions about
what we have assumed we already know.
•
Philosophy is each individual person’s opportunity
and responsibility to live their own life, to be who
they are, to become autonomous.
What is Philosophy?
“We can help one another to find out the meaning of
life. But in the last analysis , the individual person is
responsible for living his own life and for ‘finding
himself.’ Others can give you a name or a number,
but they can never tell you who you really are. That
is something you yourself can only discover from
within.”
….Thomas Merton
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
“The only thing I know is that I know nothing.”
….Socrates
Is Philosophy Important to Living a Good Life?
Some claims for Studying Philosophy –
Do you agree? Why or why not?
• Philosophy enlarges our understanding of the world
and expands freedom of thought. Philosophy can
release us from the "prejudices derived from common
sense", from the "habitual belief of an age or nation",
and from convictions that have grown up "without the
cooperation or consent of (our) deliberate reason".
(Russell)
• Philosophy may help develop the capacity to look at
the world from the perspective of other individuals
and cultures. It develops tolerance and critical sense.
• By discussing political and social issues,
philosophy raises public awareness and helps in
forming engaged and responsible citizens.
Is Philosophy Unavoidable?
Philosophy is not a bauble of the
intellect, but a power from which no
man can abstain. Anyone can say that
he dispenses with a view of reality,
knowledge, the good, but no one can
implement this credo. The reason is
that man, by his nature as a conceptual
being, cannot function at all without
some form of philosophy to serve as his
guide.
…Leonard Peikoff
Oh what the heck, philosophy is fun!!!
Video
What is Philosophy?
(15 minutes)
Graham Priest,
Professor of Philosophy
University of Queensland
Video
So How Should We DO Philosophy?
Not “just anything goes!” Philosophy is guided by
the commitment to careful reasoning which is
“playing by the rules.”
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five
players try to score points by throwing or "shooting"
a ball through the top of a basketball hoop ...
Critical Thinking Rule #1:
Identify your assumptions
and ask if you have reasons
to believe them.
Critical Thinking Rule #2:
Understand what it is to use
“valid or good reasoning.”
Ten Minute Break!
What Are the Major Fields of
Philosophy?
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
(or rather, in contrast to other areas of study
such as biology where biology studies a
particular domain, Philosophy does not
necessarily have agreed upon assumptions that
it can rely on to define any domain of study.
Thus, metaphysics is more accurately “a
collection of questions that seem to group
together about what is real and what reality is
like.”
NOTE: Biology is the study of life or living matter in all its
forms and phenomena. To do biology, scientists thus must
work with an agreed upon view of what is life.
What Are the Major Fields of
Philosophy?
1. Epistemology is “the study of knowledge.”
(or rather….)
What is the structure, reliability and kinds of
knowledge we have?
What is the meaning of truth?
Is scientific knowledge different than other forms
of knowledge?
Is the nature of knowledge different based on
gender?
In general, philosophers have
explained knowledge in two ways.
 Empiricists argue that all
knowledge begins with the senses.
 Rationalists argue that is
possible for the mind,
independently of the senses, to
gain knowledge.
Gail Stenstad argues that epistemology
historically (being largely a male
dominated activity) recognized only
Theoretical Thinking at the exclusion of
Anarchic Thinking.