Module 01 Flashcards
What is philosophy?
- Thinking about the world and your place in it
- What and why you value things
- Trying to make sense of the world.
What is the task and its aim for philosophy?
- to make thoughts clear and give sharp boundaries
- aims at the logical clarification of thoughts
The study of philosophy is an ______________ and an ______________.
- Invitation (explore what some of the most profound thinkers have said about the fundamental questions)
- Opportunity (to cultivate own answers to these questions)
What is the etymology of philosophy?
Philos = love
Sophia = wisdom
- love of wisdom
What does Sophia more specifically mean in Greek?
Any exercise of intelligence or curiosity so all activities that increases one’s knowledge or skills like in art, lit, music, math, etc.
Ultimately, philosophy is the _________ of all disciplines. What does phD stand for?
- parent of all disciplines
- Doctor of Philosophy
What is conceptual analysis?
Breaking down concepts into constituent parts for a better understanding of an issue
What is the aim of conceptual analysis?
- to clarify ideas and sharpening definitions
Who are the conceptual analysts?
Philosophers
What strategy or method do we use for complicated problems/questions?
Conceptual analysis
What is the method of conceptual analysis?
- approach problem by taking apart key concepts pertaining the problem and seeing how they interact
What does it mean to analyze a concept?
- to expose, examine, clarify the ideas of which it is composed
Is conceptual analysis strictly for philosophy?
Nope! Not exclusive to philosophy. IE) giant pandas
Are red pandas racoon or bear?
scientific concept bear was not fine-grained enough to classify all bears as bears and to keep non-bears from being classified
Cartographers
construct maps
What do philosophers do?
- understand how concepts form
- chart out boundaries of concepts
Morality of Abortion
- killing same as murder?
- abortion involves killing something that is alive
- define human being and is fetus a human?
- what rights does a fetus have if it is a human
What are the 5 main branches of philosophy?
- history of philosophy
- value theory
- epistemology & metaphysics
- logic
- discipline-specific philosophies
History of philosophy
Looks at philosophical Qs and movements from historical perspectives
- contributes key philosophers from diff eras
- ancient, medieval, early-modern, contemporary
Value Theory
- aesthetics
- political philosophy
- ethics (moral philosophy)
What does the value theory look at?
- looks at practical and theoretical questions involved in moral, political, and aesthetic judgements connected to human values
Aesthetics (Philosophy of Art)
Studies nature of beauty cus we value art and beauty
- what counts as art?
- what does true beauty consists
- what is the relationship btwn moral and aesthetic values of art?
Political Philosophy
- political order in a state of nature
- how should property be divided?
- who should rule?
What are the 3 ethics (moral philosophy)?
1) Normative ethics
2) Meta-Ethics
3) Applied Ethics
What is Moral Philosophy?
Ethics
- how do we know what is right and wrong?
- evaluates human conducts and how humans should live with each other
Normative Ethics
- study of ethical questions
- sets of Qs that arises when considering how one should act (what to do?)
- how should principles, duties, and intentions shape behaviour?
Meta-Ethics
Enquire into foundations of morality itself
- what is goodness?
- relationship between morality and religious conviction
- morality a human construct?
- morality depend on human psychology?
Applied Ethics
- Philosophical examination from moral standpoints of particular issues in private and public life that are matters of moral judgement
- attempt to use philosophical methods to identify morally correct course of action in various fields of human activities
- apply it into fields
- business ethics, health ethics, legal ethics, etc.
Epistemology
Nature of knowledge (study of knowledge)
- what is knowledge and how is it acquired?
- relationship between knowledge and perception
- relationship between belief, evidence, and truth
Metaphysics
Nature of reality
- what exists in universe?
- mental events?
- how is consciousness generated by the brain?
- what sense can we make of personal identity, freedom of will, and immortality?
- nature of good and evil?
- God? What basis can we assign attributes to this God?
Logic
Philosophers use logic in answering Qs in clear and systematic way
When do we use logic?
When we need to understand and critically evaluate different world views
What are the 2 sub-branches of logic?
Formal (Symbolic) Logic and Critical Thinking (Informal Logic)
What do the 2 sub-branches of logic deal with?
They deal with analysis and evaluation of arguments but in different ways
Formal (Symbolic) Logic
- takes argument expressed in natural language
Ie. spoken language one learns as an infant and translates it into a symbolic language that has specific rules and assessment procedures - evaluates argument in accordance with these rules and procedures
Critical thinking (Informal Logic)
- evaluates arguments in natural languages without translating them into symbolic forms
- more versatile and practical but tend to be less precise than formal logic
Fallacy
Failure in reasoning/flawed reasoning —> invalid argument
Principle of Charity
Try to understand the strongest more persuasive version of an argument
Discipline-specific Philosophies
The 5th branch of philosophy:
- philosophy of education
- philosophy of language
- philosophy of psychology
- philosophy of history
- philosophy of law
Philosophy of Education
- nature and aims of education?
- to what extent are gov’t responsible for educating citizens?
Philosophy of Language
- how do words acquire their meaning?
- relationship between meaning, interpretation, truth?
Philosophy of Psychology
- distinction between perception and cognition?
- what is the scope and limitations of common sense psychology?
Philosophy of History
- is history a science?
- are historical investigations based more on objective evidence or subjective interpretation?
- does language distort truth in historical accounts?
Philosophy of Law
- relationship between law, rights, and justice?
- how should law serve society and individual?
- connection between rules, order, and morality?
What are the 2 steps in philosophy?
1) Try to understand using the principle of charity
2) subject understanding to serious critical evaluation (basically knock down what you know about a particular view of the world whether you agree with it or not)
What are some basic questions that contemplated in the field?
What gives life meaning? What makes it beautiful? Where does evil come from? What is the nature of reality itself?
What is the problem of free will in philosophy?
It involves various key concepts of freedom, moral responsibility, determinism, ability, etc.
