What is philosophy

1.

WHAT IS
PHILOSOPHY?
love, philein and sophia wisdom = philosophos,
one who loves wisdom.
Philosophy, then, is the love of wisdom.

2.

What is/are the Goal/s of
Philosophy?
2 major goals:
a. Find truth
philo- Love
b. Find goodness
sophia- wisdom
a. Theoretical, reach
knowledge
Philosophy= the love of wisdom
b. Practical, reach
happiness

3.

More specific Goals
Philosophy aims to give
• An account of the future and of the past;
• An account of what makes sense and what
doesn’t make sense;
• An account of morality
• An account of beauty;
• An account of the divine;

4.

Philosophers in pursuing these goals have
created theories sometimes intricate,
sometimes astonishing, sometimes
bizarre, sometimes eccentric.
Their work nevertheless has shaped our
intellectual lives!
CHECK THIS OUT:
https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/most-eccentricphilosophers-history?rebelltitem=9#rebelltitem9

5.

What is the Aim of Philosophy?
Wilfried Sellars: “The aim of philosophy, abstractly
formulated, is to understand how things in the
broadest possible sense of the term hang together in
the broadest possible sense of the term” (Sellars
1963)
Under “things in the broadest possible sense” I include
such radically different items as not only “cabbages and
kings,” but numbers and duties, possibilities and finger
snaps, aesthetic experience and death

6.

What is the Value of Philosophy?
The queen of the sciences
First, it’s natural to wonder, to be
inquisitive. Philosophy satisfies our
curiosity
There was a time when all the sciences where
Second,
philosophizing is pleasurable
historically subsumed
under philosophy.
but you might counter that it doesn’t
Think about Socrates,
Aristotle’s
lyceum,
suit
your tastes.
Plato’s academia.
Third, philosophy is useful.
the broadest sense,Nevertheless,
the nature of the you
worldmay not value
wisdom or knowledge unless it
and of reality.
engenders material reward.
Philosophy was the discipline used to study -in

7.

th
Most important
value
This understanding
was popular
until the 17 century –>
Newtons
seminal work teaches
that formed
the how
foundation
4. Philosophy
you
to of classical
mechanics
thinkis titled Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
(translated).
TheseMake
days, logic
peopleargument
tend to think of philosophy as purely
Resist ideology
metaphysical,
that is, dealing with abstract concepts such as the
nature
of being, knowledge,
Confront
authorityethics etc but philosophy tirelessly
drawsOppose
from scientific
discoveries.
Many general guiding ideas
unfounded
beliefs
that lie
at the foundation
of modern science were first enunciated
Resist
propaganda
by the perceptive force of philosophical thought.
Example: the idea of the atomic structure of things voiced by
Democritus.

8.

Method
Logic + analytic/critical reasoning to
answer deep questions.
).
B. Russell: ‘Philosophy begins with
premises that no one would ever
think of doubting and proceeds
through a careful process of valid
reasoning to conclusions so
preposterous to common sense that
no one could help doubting’

9.

Philosophy as the Queen of the
Sciences
Once all sciences were subsumed within
Philosophy. Philosophy was the discipline
used to study -in the broadest sense, the
nature of the world and of reality.

10.

This
th understanding was popular until the
17 century –>
Newtons’ seminal work Mathematical
Principles of Natural Philosophy
(translated).
These days, people think of philosophy as
purely abstract and metaphysical
endeavour, but in reality philosophy
tirelessly draws from scientific discoveries
and inspires scientific thinking
Example: atomic structure of things
(Democritus)

11.

Many great scientists were also great
philosophers
EINSTEIN : ‘Science without
philosophy is lame. Philosophy
without science is blind’.

12.

Heisenberg confessed ‘my mind was formed by
studying philosophy, Plato and that sort of thing’
(Buckley and Peat, 1996, p.6).
Russell (1914) argued that the difference between
philosophy and science is of the degree not of kind.
Dewey (1938/1991) echoed: that the roots of
philosophy and science are the same.
Poincaré (1905) and Duhem (1908/1991) spent
their whole lives developing a ‘scientific philosophy’.

13.

Is Philosophy a Unitary
Discipline?
NO!
• Metaphysics
• Logic
• Ethics/Aesthetics/Polit
ical Philosophy
• Epistemology

14.

Metaphysics
Meta- beyond/above
Physicoi- nature
The study of what there is above
nature.
What is the nature of God?
What is the nature time?
What is the relation between
thought/cognition?

15.

Logic
Philosophical logic: is the
application of formal
logical techniques to
philosophical problems.
Instrumental to guide,
direct and improve our
thinking!

16.

Practical Philosophy
Moral, Ethics, Political , Social =
Normative Philosophy
Normative
philosophy deals
with "should"
questions as
opposed to "is"
questions. act in an
altruistic manner
What is it worth?
What is Good? What
is Bad?

17.

Theoretical Philosophy
Essentially Epistemology
Epistemeknowledge
Logosstudy
of/discour
se the
study
knowledge

18.

Debates in epistemology are generally clustered around
four core areas:
1.Philosophical analyses of the nature of knowledge and of
the conditions required to achieve it
2.Analysis of sources of knowledge, such
as perception, reason, memory, and testimony
3. The study of the structure of a body of knowledge
4. Resisting scepticism

19.

In these debates and others,
epistemology aims to answer
questions such as:
-"What do we know?", -"What does it mean to say that we
know something?",
-"What makes justified beliefs
justified?", and
-"How do we know that we know?"

20.

In this course we look at a range of
epistemological theories that have
attempted to answer these important
questions (from the ancient time to
recent developments in cognitive
science).
So,let us look at the content of this
course in more detail…