Philosophical Methods I AM YOUR TEACHER Philosophical Methods

ARGUMENT I AM YOUR TEACHER When you tried to justify why you believed I am your teacher, you were actually creating an…… ARGUMENT

This is Not a philosophical argument! -A philosophical argument is not a dispute. -Arguments are the way we think and reason. -When we are reasoning something out, we are actually forming a series of arguments in our heads.

Example: “It is now time for bed.” Umm…No it’s not! Wait, wait, wait! Before you jump to any conclusions, take a few moments to think or even talk to your neighbor about some possible conflicting thoughts or arguments that you may be forming in your head.

Vocabulary time! Arguments consist of both a conclusion and premises The conclusion is what the argument is meant to support as being true; it is the claim being made, i.e.: I am your teacher – It is now time for bed The premises provide support for the conclusion There can be any number of premises, from 0 to an infinite number The premises + the conclusion = propositional statements. They are sentences which express facts (propositions) about the world which may be true or false What do you think? Does having many premises mean there’s more support for the conclusion?

Logic is a Primary tool of a philosopher Logic is essentially rules for avoiding inconsistency in our beliefs Think about this… If someone believes something and also it negation (the opposite), we would call that person IRRATIONAL

Consider this logic “Lady GAGA is the best-dressed Pop Star” To follow the rules of logic, we would have to be committed to a plethora of other propositions, like: “It is not the case that all of the best-dressed pop stars have been men.” Suppose I responded and said, “I think Lady Gaga is the best- dressed pop star, and also that all of the best-dressed pop stars have been men.” Using logic, you could demonstrate to me that my beliefs are inconsistent and compel me to give up one of those beliefs. If I just shrug my shoulders and say, “I don’t care.” Really, there’s nothing more you can say to me. Huh? Why? Because at that point, I’m choosing to be… IRRATIONAL

What does a Philosophical argument look like? Let’s take a look at an example of a philosopher taking a fundamental question and try to pursue the answer. https://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=3HAMk_ZYO7g Can you point out the conclusion? What are the premises?