Introduction to Philosophy

“Philosophy”… a word which comes from the Greek: philo sophia philo means “love” sophia means “wisdom”

The love of wisdom… What does that mean? Well, if you love a person, a dog, or a book, song, or movie… what does loving mean?

Pythagoras was the ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician who (some say) coined this word. He added that humans can’t be wise. Only the gods are wise. But we can be lovers of (or friends of) wisdom.

loving wisdom has something to do with enjoying it, getting to know it, understanding it a little bit, sharing it with others, protecting it, and benefitting from it. loving wisdom has something to do with enjoying it, getting to know it, understanding it a little bit, sharing it with others, protecting it, and benefitting from it.

Philosophy can be done, or it can be studied, or both. As with music… you can study it and you can play it. You should do both, of course.

Philosophy can be compared to other subjects: science, religion, poetry and literature, psychology, logic, religion and cooking.

To be good at cooking you must do it… and also study it. They feed on each other.

Science… you can be a scientist, and you can study science. Science as we usually think of it, seeks to learn about nature. Doing science is asking questions and finding answers to those questions… about nature.

Poetry: you can study it, and you can do it. That is, you can write poetry. What is poetry about? What do you think?

In doing poetry, you are able to express your thoughts and feelings about anything whatsoever. Is it necessarily wisdom? Is it science? Could it be either of these?

Cooking: you can study it, and you can do it.

So how does philosophy differ from these other subjects?

Science, religions, music, poems, and cooking each have a fairly well known subject matter. But what is the subject matter of philosophy?

We could say that philosophy’s subject matter is simply a “deeper understanding” of all of those other subjects… it is trying to understand the foundations of any and all subjects. The “foundations” … what are those? A foundation … that which comes first, and supports all the rest.

We mean the ideas, the concepts, the definitions and assumptions which are the starting points and the context of everything else which is to follow.

Honesty is good and so is generosity. Courage and unselfishness are good. But what do you mean by “good” ? Is goodness real… can you see it or smell it or weigh it? Is it only a bunch of rules made up by human beings to control each other, or to bring some kind of peace and harmony to their lives?

A movie is good… what does that mean? A cheese sandwich is good. And so was Mother Theresa. A clean floor is good and so is football. So, what does “good” mean?

What is “technology?” Why do we want it? When is it good for us? When is it harmful? Is there a point of diminishing returns? Can we ever refuse to use some technologies?

The sciences… what do they study? Nature… the universe, the atoms, animals, plants, and bugs and fish and birds and microbes. Throw in featherless bipeds (man and woman) and society and politics and economy… What are the foundations of science? That’s where philosophy comes in. What is Nature? and how can we go about discovering things about it? If we look through a telescope or a microscope, how do we know what it is we are looking at?

Religions… Define God, the soul, Nirvana, Brahman, Tao, Tien. Do any of these actually exist? Is there an after-life? What does “salvation” mean in different religions?