“Philosophy and the Search of wisdom” Mrs. Karen Hernández 11th Grade

Learning Objectives What is Philosophy? What are the Primary Areas of Philosophy? What is an Archetype? How does an Archetype differs from an Stereotype? What is wisdom? What is knowledge? What is belief? Rers from an

Philosophy Philosophy is already an important part of our life. The word Philosophy comes from Greek roots meaning “ The Love of Wisdom’’, The earliest philosophers were considered wise men and women, or sages, because they devoted themselves to asking ‘’Big Questions’’. For a long time, most philosophers were considered wisdom seeking amateurs. That is philosophy was a way for living, for them, not a way of making a living. You dont have to be a philosopher to ask philosophical questions, you just have to be a naturally curious thoughtful person, these are some kinds of questions philosophers study:

Does God exist? What’s the meaning of life? Why do innocent people suffer? Is everything a matter of opinion? What is the best form of government? How are minds connected to bodies? Is there a standard for right or wrong for everyone, or are moral standards relative? Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

Areas of Philosophy The primary areas of philosophy are listed here: Metaphysics: encompasses the study of what is sometimes termed “ultimate reality’’, metaphysics raises questions about reality that go beyond sense experience, beyond ordinary science. Metaphysical questions involve free will, the mind-body relationship, supernatural existence, personal inmortality, and the nature of being, Episthemology: from the Greek for ‘’knowledge’’, is the branch of philosophy that asks questions about knowledge, its nature and origins, and whether or not it is even posible. Epistemological questions involves standards of evidence, truth, belief, sources of knowledge, gradations of knowledge, memory and perception.

Ethics: From the Greek word ‘’ethos’’, encompasses the study of moral problems, practical reasoning, right and wrong, good and bad, virtues and vices, character, moral duty, and related issues involving the nature, origins and scope of moral values. Ethical issues include truth-telling, relativism and universality. Social and Political Philosophy: Are concerned with the nature and origins of the state government, exercise of power, effects of social institutions on individuals, ethnicity, gender, social status and the strengths and weaknesses of different types of societies.

Philosophical Archetypes An archetype is an image that has been shared by the whole human race from the earliest times, it represents our conception of the essence of a certain kind of person. An archetype is a fundamental, original model of some type: mother, warrior, trickster, cynic, saint, pessimist, optimist, atheist, rationalist, idealist and so on. A Philosophical Archetype: Is a philosopher who expresses an original or influential point of view in a way that significantly affects subsequent philosophers and non philosophers.

The difference between an archetype and an ideal is that the archetype need not to be good or perfect. The difference between an archetype and an stereotype is in its depth, a stereotype is a simplistic distortion of a type of person. An archetype, by contrast, is a powerful representation of a fundamental response to universal experiences. Archetypes exemplify essential ways of copying with the universal aspects of life (suffering, death, loss, society, wealth, knowledge, love, purpose). There are archetypes of evil as well as good and of fools as well as of wise people.

One philosophical archetype is the “skeptic”: they believe that any claim to knowledge must be personally verified by their own sensory experience, they must see, touch, taste or measure everything. Another philosophical archetype is the utilitarian: they believe that pain is inherently bad, that pleasure is inherently good and that all creatures strive to be as happy as possible, thus utilitarian argue that our private and communal behavior should always maximize pleasure and minimize pain. You might recognize their famous principle: “Always act to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people”.

Wisdom, Knowledge and Belief The chief goal of wisdom is a fundamental understanding of reality as it relates to living a good life. At its core, wisdom is reasonable and practical, focusing on the true circumstances and character of each individual. Wisdom is good judgement about complex situations, it involves reflection, insight, a capacity for learning from experience and some plausible conception of human condition.

Knowledge Philosophers generally agree that knowledge is some form of true belief. Questions then arise as how to distinguish true belief from mistaken belief. Philosophers also distinguish and practical knowledge. Theoretical knowledge involves the accurate compilation and assessment of factual and systematic information and relationships. Practical knowledge consists of skills needed to things like playing the piano, remove a tumor and bake a cake.

Belief In contrast to knowledge, belief refers to the subjective mental acceptance that a claim is true. Beliefs unlike knowledge need not to be true. Because beliefs are subjective mental states. It is possible to be firmly convinced that a belief is correct when it is not, other times our beliefs are true but we cannot offer evidence for them. Although beliefs can be true or false, “false knowledge”, is impossible . Some beliefs are more reasonable than others, and there is a big difference between informed belief and mere belief.

Mere Belief: Refers to a conviction that something is true for which the only evidence is the cinviction itself. Mere belief validates itself or tries to. Most philosophers and scientists believe that truth cannot be reduced to merely believing something.