The Concept of Philosophy Flashcards
Defining is…
“…enclosing a concept within limits.”
Philosophy doesn’t limit itself to anything. →
To delimit it is to cut its veins off.
[Anatomy of a Definition] What is a square?
definiendum
[Anatomy of a Definition] A square is a shape.
genus/category
[Anatomy of a Definition] A square is a shape that has four equal sides and four right angles.
differentia/distinguishing factor
[Anatomy of a Definition] A square is a shape that has four equal sides and four right angles. Examples of which include the face of a cube, the shape of a chess board or a game board, a slice of bread.
denotata/example
“___________” is sometimes used instead of “differentia.”
Intention
“Genus” and “differentia” as a set is called “_________.”
definiens
“_____________” is sometimes used instead of “denotata.”
Extension
In a nutshell, defining philosophy is a philosophical problem because…
● The term does not have a one-to-one correspondence
● To define is to limit
Philosophical Questions → Inquiry Questions has no _______ or _______ answers but requires __________________ to arrive at answers.
right, wrong, deep thinking
What are the 4 Characteristics of Philosophical Questions?
Fundamental, Universal, Natural, Vital
What is required to become a good philosopher?
Nothing is required to become one. But, to become a Good One, we need an intact Sense of Wonder.
4 scenarios that show the Sense of Wonder.
- Detective Story
- Watching a Magic Trick
- Babies not getting used to the world
- Stumbling upon a Martian
4 Metaphors
Babies, Detectives, Martian, Insect
What scenario is this?
you will feel that you are yourself an extraordinary being; we stop to think and realize how we are extraordinary beings → thus through more reflection, we get to come up with more philosophical questions
Stumbling upon a Martian
What scenario is this?
They slip out into a brand new reality. We have an innate curiosity, we feel like we are in a world with endless possibilities. The x takes it for granted before developing a philosophical mind. An active sense of wonder and the ability to ask questions is the main requirement of a philosopher.
Babies not getting used to the world
What scenario is this?
We cannot understand how it is done. In the case of the rabbit, we know that it was a trick, but we don’t know how it is done. We are like the white rabbit in the sense that we are a part of something mysterious. But the rabbit doesn’t know that it is part of a trick.
Watching a Magic Trick
What scenario is this?
who is the murderer? Police are able to solve a real crime or they might not be able to come up with a solution right away. However, there is only ONE ABSOLUTE truth.
Detective Story
What metaphor is this?
● Intact and active sense of wonder
● Naturally curious and inquisitive
● They will not stop until their questions are met with reasonable answers
Babies
What metaphor is this?
● They toil to find out the answers to their questions
● They use logic to find evidence and clues
● The world is a mystery to them
Detective
What metaphor is this?
● They toil to find out the answers to their questions
● They use logic to find evidence and clues
● The world is a mystery to them
Martian
What metaphor is this?
- little irritants
• sting and annoy people with their questions - philoso-fleas
• tries to climb until it reaches the tip of the rabbit’s fur
• philosophizing is like climbing – leads to enlightenment;
• Empedocles jumped in Mt. Etna to prove immortality of soul
• Heraclitus lost his sanity to philosophy - truth as the motivation
• philosophy is the search for truth (the flea wants to know what the magician knows)
• philosophers will risk it all in order to be close to the truth
Insect
2 Thought Experiments that prove how habituated men are to the world
- The Martian
2. The Floating Dad
4 Tasks of Philosophers
o Free oneself from the shackles of
o Pursue the truth
o Commit to the truth
o Sting other people
Tree Illustration
____________ (Roots) → ____________ (Trunks) → ____________ (Fruits)
Philosophy, Science, Technology and Advancements
What Illustration is this?
The disciplines of philosophy encapsulate many sciences.
The Buffet Illustration
If a question can be answered empirically, it is not a philosophical question.
- Statements of ______________________.
- Questions that the __________ can answer are not philosophical questions.
- Questions about ____________________.
- Questions in _______________________________________.
ordinary perception
sciences
what has happened in the past
arithmetic, algebra, and the other branches of mathematics
the study of correct reasoning
logic
the study of the justification of claims to knowledge (the constant attempt to answer the question “how do you know?”)
epistemology
the study of reality other than the reality studied by history and the empirical and mathematical sciences
metaphysics
the good (ethics) and the beautiful (aesthetics)
the study of values
Philosophical Questions
• Philosophy begins with ___________ questions.
• Our philosophizing can begin with a ___________ incident.
nagging, trivial
Philosophical Questions
• Philosophy simply stated, is the experience of asking such grand ____________ about life, about what we know, about what we ought to do or believe in.
o It the process of getting to the ______________, asking those basic questions about ideas that, most of the time, we simply take for granted, never think of questioning, and probably put into words.
• Philosophy proceeds through ____________, as when two philosophers or philosophy students argue with one another.
questions, bottom of things, disagreement
