What Is Philosophy Flashcards
love - strong desire for a physical object
Philia
wisdom - correct application of knowledge
Sophia
The love of wisdom
Strong desire of a person to posses knowledge and apply it correctly
Philosophy
Science that studies beings in their ultimate causes, reasons, and principles through the aid of human reason
Philosophy - traditional meaning
all things that exist, material or immaterial (stone, trees, God, soul, spirit)
being/beings
Questions are more important than answers because answers themselves will in turn become questions
Karl Jaspers
Major Branches of Philosophy
Metaphysics
Epistemology
Logic
Ethics
The study of things beyond the physical or concepts of things that cannot be experienced
The foundation of philosophy
Metaphysics
beyond/after
Meta
physical/nature
Physika
Studies beings in their ultimate causes, reasons and principles through the aid of reason alone
General Metaphysics/Ontology
being or that which is
Onto
knowledge or study - can have many meanings though (Heraclitus understands it as reason or the underlying principle of all that is)
Logos
Studies the world/universe, including its origin, dynamics, and characteristics, as well as the laws that govern its order
Special Metaphysics/Cosmology
world
Kosmos
study
Logos
Study of the nature and dynamics of the human person as a whole with emphasis on the way the person’s mind functions and the way they behave
Psychology
soul/mind
Psyche
study
Logos
Study of God
Justification of the goodness of God in the face of the existence of evil
Theodicy/Natural Theology
God
Theos
theodicy was coined by
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
theodicy was coined by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in his 1710 work
Theodicee
Study of the nature and scope of knowledge and justified belief
Epistemology
knowledge
Episteme
study
Logos
Study of the principles and criteria of a valid argument
Distinguish sound or good reasoning from unsound or bad reasoning
Logic
science of correct thinking
Logos
custom or habit
Morality of human actions
How human persons ought to act, and the search for a definiton of a right conduct, and good life
Ethos
wonder is the beginning of philosophy
Plato
It is owing to their wonder that men both now begin and at first began to philosophize
Aristotle
Wonder as the beginning of philosophy
Philosophic Wonder
Miletus, Ionia hometown of Thales
Asia Minor (now Turkey)
Western Philosophy
(1st Philosopher)
First to put his philosophy into writing
Thales
- good life
Discovering the nature of happiness - Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
Being happy
Greek Tradition
- righteousness before God
Love of God and neighbor
doing what is right
Judeo-Christian Tradition
Morality is characterized as an “end-governed rational enterprise” whose object is to equip people with a body of norms that make for peaceful and collectively satisfying coexistence by facilitating their living together and interacting in a way that is productive for the realization of the general benefit.
Terrance McConnel
science of morals
Ethics
practice of ethics
Morality
2 Types of Ethics
Normative Ethics
Metaethics
Seeks to set norms or standards that regulate right and wrong or good and bad conduct
Normative Ethics (Prescriptive)
Aims to understand the nature and dynamics of ethical principles, and the way we learn and acquire moral beliefs
Metaethics (Descriptive)
actual application of ethical or moral theories for the purpose of deciding which ethical or moral actions are appropriate in a given situation
Applied Ethics
adherents of applied ethics
Casuists
etymology: customary behavior
latin: mos (mores)
one who is good and does the right thing
Moral person
one who is bad and does what is wrong
Immoral/Unethical
refers to the principles of right and wrong behavior or rightness and wrongness of human actions
Morality
