Overview of Philosophy

 

Definitions of Philosophy

• From the Greek philosophia, “love of wisdom” (philo = “love,” sophia = “wisdom”)

• Commonly defined as “thinking about thinking”

• Philosophers generally debate the views held by earlier philosophies in such a way that “philosophy is the study of its own history” (Hegel)

 

Overview of Metaphysics

Metaphysics is concerned with the ultimate structure of reality

• Typical questions include: Does life have a meaning? Does God exist? How does one event cause another? What is essential and what is accidental in something’s nature? What can we say exists? (Ontology)

  1. The mind-body problem: How are mental processes related to physical states?

     • Traditionally answered with some form of dualism: mind and matter are two distinct aspects of reality

  2. The question of universals: Do general attributes exist independent of particular examples? Example: Is there a universal “tree” that exists independent of any actual tree? (see Plato’s Theory of Forms)

     • Creates a traditional divide between

       • Essence: The required characteristics of a given object (or the “ideal” version of that object)

       • Appearance: A unique manifestation of an object

     • Also expressed as the problem of individuation: How do we pick one individual thing out of a group of things?

• Contemporary metaphysics

  Following Kant, many thinkers consider metaphysics only within the bounds of reason, collapsing it into epistemology.

  • Analytic philosophy dissolves metaphysical questions through logical and linguistic analysis.

• Some contemporary mind-body positions (usually studied as philosophy of mind rather than metaphysics):

  1. Epiphenomenalism: Only physical events can influence other physical events. Mental activity is a by-product, and not the cause, of physical activity. Nevertheless, thoughts and sensations exist as distinct from physical being.

  2. Type-identity theory (or reductive materialism): Every mental state corresponds to a specific neural state that has yet to be identified. Eventually, all thoughts and sensations will be connected with a specific type of brain activity.

  3. Phenomenology: Metaphysical assumptions about the world should be bracketed, or set aside, to allow for objective investigation of consciousness. Reduces metaphysics to a descriptive project.

 

Overview of Epsitemology

Epistemology is concerned with the nature of knowledge

• Typical questions include: How is knowledge justified? What are the different sources of knowledge? What different kinds of knowledge are there? How can we know anything at all?

  1. Creates traditional divide between:

     • Rationalism: Pure reason is the most reliable source of knowledge. (see Descartes)

     • Empiricism: Experience is the most reliable source of knowledge. (see Locke)

  2. Skepticism: various forms of doubt about the status of knowledge

     • External world skepticism: We cannot know that there is a world external to the mind.

     • Other minds skepticism: We cannot know that there are minds other than our own.

     • Solipsism: “Only I exist”: Nothing exists outside the mind of the thinking subject.

• Logic: abstract study of the principles of reasoning

  1. Deduction: assumes certain general premises without justification and draws a particular conclusion

     • Syllogism: A basic unit of logical argumentation, where a valid conclusion is deduced from two connected premises. Example: All trees have leaves. The oak is a tree. Therefore the oak has leaves.

     • A deduction is valid if the conclusion follows from the premises.

     • A deduction is sound if the conclusion follows from the premises and the premises are true.

  2. Induction: draws general conclusions from particular premises

     • Hypothesis: a speculative explanation that is then tested against evidence

• Positions in contemporary epistemology

  1. Analytic philosophy applies logic to language and studies logical rules that govern statements of truth.

     • Correspondence theory: Propositions are true only if they correspond with facts about the world.

       • Critics of this theory counter that “facts” are not discrete, worldly things but themselves can be considered propositions; the relationship between a proposition and the world is not so easily established.

     • Coherentist theory: Statements are true that “cohere” with other statements, especially those derived from axioms in a system.

       • Critics of this theory charge that the truth of a statement must be determined independently, or else it leads to circular thinking, such as “A is true because it coheres with B, and B is true because it coheres with A.”

  2. Structuralism: The truth of particular words or cultural products must be understood within the context of larger structures of meaning.

     • In response, post-structuralism emphasizes the fluidity of meaning; doubts any absolute system of truth.

 

Overview of Ethics

Ethics is concerned with human will, action, and responsibility, evaluating what is right and what is wrong

• Typical questions include: Are there objective rules for moral conduct? On what grounds can we say an action is right or wrong? Do we have free will? To what extent are we responsible for our actions? Should our moral decisions be indifferent to those affected by them (agent-neutral) or should we behave differently toward those close to us (agent-relative)?

  1. Creates traditional divide between:

     • Absolutism: There are universal moral standards.

     • Relativism: No moral standards exist universally.

  2. Free will vs. determinism: If everything in the universe obeys unchanging physical laws (determinism), how can we say that humans have free will? And without free will, how can we be morally responsible for our actions?

     • Incompatibilism: Free will and determinism are incompatible

     • Compatibilism: Free will and determinism are compatible; free will is not dependent on freedom from physical laws.

  3. Normative (or prescriptive) ethics argues for particular standards, or norms, for behavior.

  4. Meta-ethics studies the nature of morality and questions the abstract meaning of ethical terms.

• Positions in contemporary ethics

  1. Consequentialism: Actions are right or wrong by virtue of their consequences.

     • Utilitarianism: Actions are right if they promote happiness in society and wrong if they produce unhappiness.

     • Pragmatism: Whether something is right or wrong is determined by its practical effects; people should test opposing moral positions to see which creates the most desirable practical results.

     • Ethical egoism: An act is right if it promotes the agent’s own happiness (see Epicurus).

  2. Deontological ethics: We are morally bound to certain duties and obligations irrespective of their consequences.

     • Kant’s categorical imperative: Act only in such a way that you could want the motivating principle of your action to become a universal law.

     • Rights theory: Everyone has certain rights that cannot be violated by others or by the state. The exercise of one person’s liberty cannot infringe upon another’s rights.