1. Jez Echevarría 6th September 2013
PHILOSOPHY AS
Jez Echevarría
6th September 2013

2. OBJECTIVES To give you a taste of the content of the course
To dispel some myths about what Philosophy is about
To give you a flavour of the style of teaching/lecturing that you are likely to experience

3. What is Philosophy?

5. What is ‘Philosophy’? Philia =“love” sophia = “wisdom.” (Pythagoras.)
Love for wisdom
Knowledge + Action = Wisdom
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing ."
(Socrates)
Definition 3 expresses philosophy as we are going to understand it in this class. Philosophy in this sense is (like definition 1, but unlike definition 2) an activity: it is something you do. In particular, doing philosophy is using our rationality in trying to figure out the answers to difficult questions (related to any subject matter).

6. Philosophical questions
Who created universe?
What is the nature of reality? Is the world really as it appears to be
What makes an action right or wrong? Is the universe interested in good or evil?
The process of reflecting and criticizing basic belief

7. Methods of Philosophy Reasoning to evaluate an argument
Knowledge should be used with the present context
Power of Voice
Dialectic: an interchange of ideas.
Dialogue: an exchange of argument
Argument = A claim with reasons offered in support of it

8. A Good Argument

9. Branches of Philosophy
Epistemology
Logic
Metaphysics
Ethics

10. What is Epistemology?
How knowledge relates to truth, belief, and justification.
The means of production of knowledge
Skepticism about different knowledge claims)
Epistemology
(from Greek ἐπιστήμη - episteme-, "knowledge, science" + λόγος – logos “word, logic” )
Also known as Theory of Knowledge is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope (limitations) of knowledge
Epistemology (from Greek ἐπιστήμη - episteme-, "knowledge, science" + λόγος, "logos") or theory of knowledge
is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope (limitations) of knowledge.[1]
Much of the debate in this field has focused on analyzing the nature of knowledge and how it relates to similar notions such as truth, belief, and justification. It also deals with the means of production of knowledge, as well as skepticism about different knowledge claims.
The term was introduced into English by the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier (1808–1864).[2]
Wiki

11. Epistemological Questions
What is knowledge?
How is knowledge acquired?
What do people know?
How do we know what we know?
Is human knowledge trustworthy?
Can our senses be trusted?
Difference between opinion, knowledge and wisdom
It addresses the
questions:
• What is knowledge?
• How is knowledge acquired?
• What do people know?
• How do we know what we know?
Wiki

12. Logic A philosophical study on the correct processes of thinking.
The systematic study of argument
The rule of inference
Distinguishing valid from invalid argument
Examination fallacies
Using correct argument patterns
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy which assesses world views.
A world view is any more or less complete enumeration of the most general categories of being, coupled with a definition of each of those categories, an account of the way in which things in those categories are related to each other, as well as an account of the ultimate origins of things.
Metaphysics (G. meta ta physica – “after the Physics”) ~ a science that studies all beings insofar as they are beings.
Ontology (G. ontologia; onto – “being” and logia – “talking”; “talking about being”) ~ a metaphysical study of all realities/beings insofar as they exist.
Real ~ extra-mental or that whose existence is independent of the human mind.
Logical ~ one which is considered as intra-mental (e.g., numbers, geometrical points, mathematical objects, time); they don’t have “real existence” in the outside world.
Ideal ~ one which is purely intra-mental; those whose existence lies only inside the human mind (e.g., flying-horse, golden mountain, square-circle) Approaches to Philosophy
Special Metaphysics ~ studies beings specially or specifically, when it studies the world (cosmology), God (theodicy), and man (rational psychology).
Cosmology ~ a metaphysical science which studies the general nature of the world or the structure and history of the universe.
Theodicy or Natural Theology ~ a metaphysical science which studies the nature, operations, and attributes of God or the study about God in the context of reason, not of faith.
Rational Psychology ~ a metaphysical science which treats man’s nature as a being endowed with reason and intellect which studies the rational metaphysics of the human soul

13. Metaphysics
Beyond or after Physics – deals with areas that cannot be easily dealt with science
Deals with first principles, especially of being and knowing
Concerned with the nature of reality, the existence of God, the external world, etc.
Ontology – concerned with being
Cosmology – concerned with the existence of the Universe
Theodicy or Natural Theology - the nature, operations, and attributes of God or the study about God in the context of reason, not of faith
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy which assesses world views.
A world view is any more or less complete enumeration of the most general categories of being, coupled with a definition of each of those categories, an account of the way in which things in those categories are related to each other, as well as an account of the ultimate origins of things.
Metaphysics (G. meta ta physica – “after the Physics”) ~ a science that studies all beings insofar as they are beings.
Ontology (G. ontologia; onto – “being” and logia – “talking”; “talking about being”) ~ a metaphysical study of all realities/beings insofar as they exist.
Real ~ extra-mental or that whose existence is independent of the human mind.
Logical ~ one which is considered as intra-mental (e.g., numbers, geometrical points, mathematical objects, time); they don’t have “real existence” in the outside world.
Ideal ~ one which is purely intra-mental; those whose existence lies only inside the human mind (e.g., flying-horse, golden mountain, square-circle) Approaches to Philosophy
Special Metaphysics ~ studies beings specially or specifically, when it studies the world (cosmology), God (theodicy), and man (rational psychology).
Cosmology ~ a metaphysical science which studies the general nature of the world or the structure and history of the universe.
Theodicy or Natural Theology ~ a metaphysical science which studies the nature, operations, and attributes of God or the study about God in the context of reason, not of faith.
Rational Psychology ~ a metaphysical science which treats man’s nature as a being endowed with reason and intellect which studies the rational metaphysics of the human soul

14. Ethics
A philosophical study on the morality (goodness or badness) of human actions (conduct)
What should one do?
Descriptive – Sociology
Normative – Prescriptive
Meta-ethics – How do we arrive at moral judgment?
Ethics is a branch of philosophy which assesses explanatory theories concerning the moral rightness or wrongness of different kinds of actions, as well as the moral goodness or badness of different kinds of emotions, intensions, volitions and states of character.

15. Any Questions?

16. International Philosophy Germany v Greece