Transcript Class #2 - 6/17/10

Philosophy 1010
Class #2 - 6/17/2010
Title:
Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor:
Paul Dickey
E-mail Address:
[email protected]
Website:
http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/dickey.htm
Prefix/Section:
Begins/Ends:
Meeting Day/Time:
Phil 1010 – SA
6/10/2010 – 8/12/2010
TH 5:30 – 9:55 PM
Quia Class Website
www.quia.com
http://www.coursesmart.com/9780495103097
Assignment for 6/24/2010:
Read Velasquez, Philosophy: A Text With Readings (10e or
11e), Chapter 2 &
Appendix 1.8 in 9th edition, A Look at Logic. Available
online at
http://www.quia.com/files/quia/users/pauldickey77/Intro_Philosophy/velasq
uez26289_0534626289_02.01_chapter01---v9.pdf
Also do logic homework assignment on Quia website.
Plato
Plato is history's first great philosopher
because, among other reasons, he provided
the first set of answers to some of the largest
and most difficult questions: What is the
structure of reality? What can be known for
certain? What is moral virtue? What is the
nature of the ideal state?
No philosopher before Plato had ever
attempted such a wide and deep exploration
of philosophical problems.
Plato &
The Allegory of the Cave
•
To better understand what philosophy is, Plato
describes the nature of philosophy in the Allegory of
the Cave.
•
Plato compares the state of man’s ignorance to
living at the bottom of an underground cave chained
so that such men cannot move. All they see are
shadows created by a fire behind them.
•
Through this symbolism, he then describes the act of
philosophy which he likens to the prisoners being
freed from their chains.
•
Plato is suggesting to us that this process is the
“ascent of the mind into the domain of true
knowledge.” Plato suggests that the aim of
philosophy is freedom from unwarranted belief.
The Allegory of the Cave
Recommended Video
What Is
Philosophy?
Disk 1 from “The Examined Life”
Video Series
The Matrix / The Allegory of the Cave
The Matrix Trailer
Video
The Allegory of the Cave:
The Heavy Metal Version
Video
Content begins at 10:30
Ten Minute Break!
What Are the Major Fields or
Divisions of Philosophy?
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
(or rather, in contrast to other areas of study
such as biology where biology studies a
particular domain, Philosophy does not
necessarily have agreed upon assumptions that
it can rely on to define any domain of study.
Thus, metaphysics is more accurately “a
collection of questions that seem to group
together about what is real and what reality is
like.”
NOTE: Biology is the study of life or living matter in all its
forms and phenomena. To do biology, scientists thus must
work with an agreed upon view of what is life.
What Are the Major Fields of
Philosophy?
1. Metaphysics asks questions that
focus on “reality or existence.”
Does God Exist?
Does man have a soul? If so, is it
immortal?
Are humans free to choose for
themselves, or are all human acts
determined?
In general, there are two kinds of metaphysical questions:
- What is all of reality?
- What are important parts of reality?
On the first, a Christian and an atheist might differ like this:
Christian: All of reality is divided into two parts: a higher part,
the realm of God, that is eternal, perfect and non-material and
a lower part, the human realm, that exists in time, is imperfect
and material.
Atheist: All of reality is matter, that which the sciences can
measure and describe.
On the second:
Christian: God, Heaven, Hell, the physical universe, the
human body and soul are important parts of reality.
Atheist: The physical universe is the only reality and has only
two parts, the living and the non-living.
Monism
Monism is the view that all of reality is one kind of thing. If,
for example, you believe that all of reality is matter, or that
God is the only reality, then you are a monist.
The first philosophers (Pre-Socratics) like Thales (c. 600
BCE) Pythagoras (c. 550 BCE) and Heraclitus (c. 500 BCE),
were monists.
Thales' belief that "All is Water" is considered the first
philosophical statement because it explains reality, "All", in
non-religious terms. Every previous description of all of
existence relied upon stories rooted in religious traditions.
Typically, most monists are materialists. In other words,
they believe that the single unifying feature of reality is
matter. Holding this view, materialistic monists would be
expected to argue that there is no God, Heaven, Hell, soul,
or any other "spiritual" part of reality.
Dualism
Dualism is the view that all of reality is divided into two kinds
of things. Thus, if you believe that all of reality is divided
between the realm of God and the physical universe, or that
there is a "higher world" and a "lower world", or that reality is
composed of spirit and matter, you are a dualist.
In general, most Christians are dualists. They hold that
reality is divided into two parts. Our souls are eternal and
non-material; our bodies, like the physical universe, are
temporal and material.
Plato's view of reality is often termed dualistic, that is, he saw
reality "dual", divided into two parts. The higher part of reality
consisted of perfect and eternal truths which he called Forms.
Plato held that all physical things are imperfect copies of
Forms. Thus, all physical triangles are imperfect copies of
the Form of Triangle.
What Are the Major Fields of
Philosophy?
2. Epistemology asks questions that focus
on our “knowledge” in some way.
What is the structure, reliability and kinds of
knowledge we have?
What is the meaning of truth?
Is scientific knowledge different than other forms
of knowledge?
Is the nature of knowledge different based on
gender?
In general, philosophers have
discussed knowledge in three ways.
 Empiricists argue that all
knowledge begins with the
senses.
 Rationalists argue that is
possible for the mind,
independently of the senses, to
gain knowledge.
 Skeptics explain knowledge by
saying that little if anything is truly
known.
If you believe that everything you know can be traced back
to information that you saw, heard, touched, smelled or
tasted, then you are an empiricist.
If you believe that you have knowledge of God, heaven, hell,
spiritual aspects of reality, or anything else that didn't come
to you through your senses, then you are a rationalist.
Some rationalists like Plato (427-348 BCE) hold that we are
born with knowledge; other rationalists like St. Augustine
(354-430) believe that God, during our lives, makes it
possible for our minds to know truths that could not be
gained through our senses.
If you don't know for certain that the material world exists, or
that the principles of science qualify as genuine knowledge
or that God exists (or doesn't exist) then, on each of those
issues, you are a skeptic.
What Are the Major Fields of
Philosophy?
3. Ethics asks questions that focus on
“values and morality and how they
relate to conduct.”
What is the nature of man’s obligation to
other men?
How should we live to be good?
What responsibilities do governments have
to their citizens?
Is man essentially selfish? Or can he be
motivated by principles beyond his own selfinterest?
Ethics comes from the Greek word ethos for character. Ethics
is the study of the nature of morality and immorality, of how
humans should, and should not, act. A central ethical
question is, what is the source of moral values?
Here are three of several possible answers:
1. Moral values come from
God. If you hold this position,
then odds are that you believe
that genuine moral values are
unchanging and universal.
What is right, has always been
right; what is wrong, has always
been wrong. God's laws apply to
everyone, in all cultures. This
position would make you a
moral absolutist.
2.
Moral values come from societies. If
you hold this view, then you probably
believe that moral values can
legitimately vary from culture to culture.
Each society can have its own
standards of ethical behavior. What is
right for the Chinese, may be wrong for
Brazilians, and vice versa. This position
would make you a moral relativist.
3.
Moral values are determined by the
utility or usefulness of an action to
promote everyone’s best interest. If
you hold this view, then you are a
utilitarian. Utilitarianism was
supported by, among others, John
Stuart Mill (1806-1873).
Ten Minute Break!
The Father of Western Philosophy
•
Socrates, 460-399 B. C.
•
Socrates was both a real philosopher and the major
character in Plato’s (his student’s) dialogues. Thus, it
is not clear to what degree Socrates was a precursor
to Plato’s ideas or was a mouthpiece for Plato to put
forward his own views.
•
There were many Greek thinkers (actually known as
“The Pre-Socratics”) prior to Socrates who developed
profound insights into the nature of the universe and
man’s place in it.
•
Most importantly though, Socrates' deserves credit for
inventing rigorous, ethical investigation. His
conversations with his fellow Athenians, as recorded
by Plato, are the first records we have of an individual,
by his own careful reasoning, trying to discover the
guiding principles of moral choices.
What is the Socratic method?
•
“Teaching by Asking Instead of by Telling”
•
More than anyone prior to him however,
Socrates built a reputation on questioning
conventional beliefs, thus embodying the nature
of philosophy itself.
Recommended Video
•
Socrates engaged himself in questioning
students in an unending search for truth. He
sought to get to the foundations of his students'
and colleagues' views by asking continual
questions until a contradiction was exposed,
thus proving the fallacy of the initial assumption.
•
This became known as the Socratic Method, and
may be Socrates' most enduring contribution to
philosophy.
Plato’s Dialogues &
the Socratic Method
•
Plato’s dialogues demonstrate the Socratic Method.
•
In The Euthyphro, Plato shows Socrates questioning
traditional religious beliefs and the nature of religious
duty. He asks: what makes a thing holy? Is an act holy
because it is loved by the gods or do the gods love
what is holy because it is holy?
•
Another way of asking basically this same question is:
Are acts moral because God commands them or does
God command them because they are moral?
•
If the first, are the gods capricious and random and be
able to select anything to be holy?
•
If the latter, then we have not answered the original
question at all.
Plato’s Dialogues &
the Socratic Method
•
In Plato’s Republic, Socrates questions
Thrasymachus who states that justice is whatever
is to the advantage of the strong, that “might
makes right.”
•
Socrates asks what if the powerful pass laws that
in error do not benefit themselves.
•
Would not justice then be following laws that do
not benefit the strong?
Plato’s Dialogues &
the Socratic Search for How to Live
•
Plato’s dialogues demonstrate Socrates’ pursuit of
how one should live.
•
In The Apology, Socrates claims that the wisest
man is he who knows he does not know. The
unexamined life is not worth living. It is better to
obey God than man. His pursuit of philosophy is
following the instruction of God.
•
In Crito, Socrates is awaiting execution in his
prison. Crito arrives and tries to persuade Socrates
to escape. In order he says to act on reason alone,
he asks Crito what is right and wrong. Socrates
argues we must obey the laws of the society in
which we live.
Recommended Video
A Second Opinion…
What is Philosophy?
Graham Priest,
Professor of Philosophy
University of Queensland
Recommended Video
Logic and Critical Thinking:
An Overview
The background of philosophical and
all rational discussion.
The Fundamental Principle of Critical
Thinking is The Nature of an Argument
•
Making a claim is stating a belief or opinion
-- the conclusion
•
An argument is presented when you give a
reason or reasons that the claim is true. -the premise(s)
•
Thus, an argument consists of two parts,
and one part (the premise or premises)
is/are the reason(s) for thinking that the
conclusion is true.
Two Kinds of Good Arguments
•
A good deductive argument is one in which if
the premises are true, then the conclusion
necessarily (I.e. has to be) true.
•
Such an argument is called “valid” and
“proves” the conclusion.
•
For example – Lebron James lives in the United
States because he lives in Nebraska.
All men are mortal.
Socrates is a man.
____
Socrates is mortal.
•
A sound argument is a valid, deductive
argument in which the premises are in fact true.
Two Kinds of Good Arguments
•
A good inductive argument is one in
which if the premises are true, then the
conclusion is probably true, but not
always. The truth of the premises do not
guarantee the truth of the conclusion.
•
Such an argument is called “strong”
and supports the conclusion.
•
For example: Dan lives in Nebraska
and he loves football, so he is a
Nebraska Cornhusker fan.
•
“Strong” inductive arguments still
can be made “stronger” or “weaker”
by adding or removing premises.
What is “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” vs “Proof?
•
PROOF requires a valid deductive
argument.
•
“Beyond a reasonable doubt” requires a
level of evidence in an inductive
argument such that if someone were to
believe it were not true, they might still
possibly be right, but that probability is
so remote that reasonable, critical
thinking, people will be satisfied to act
and claim to know without a proof.
How Do Premises Support Conclusions?
For an Deductive argument, premises prove or
demonstrate a conclusion based on if the premises
make the conclusion certainly true.
Consider the argument:
(P1) If it’s raining outside, the grass near the
house gets wet.
(P2) It’s raining outside.
_________________________
The grass near the house is wet.
In a Deductive argument, premises prove a conclusion
based on the logical form of the statement or based on
definitions. It would be a contradiction to suggest that
the conclusion is false but the premises are true.
What is Logical Form?
Consider the following argument:
A good God cannot exist. There is evil in the world and
any God who is good would not permit evil to exist.
This argument can be stated as follows:
(Premise 1) There is evil in the world.
(P2) A God who is good would not permit
evil to exist.
____
(Conclusion) A God who is good does not
exist.
What is Logical Form?
Note that we can symbolize this argument with
variables. In this case, say for example, this
argument could be represented as:
G = A good God exists, E= There is no evil in the
world.
This argument is of the form:
If G  E
~ E (i.e. NOT E or “E is false”)
_____
~G
(NOT G or “G is false”
Thus, it is a valid deductive argument. This is
the deductive rule of Modus Tollens. EVERY
argument that can be represented in this form
is valid, regardless what G and E represent.
How Do Premises Support Conclusions?
For an Inductive argument, premises support
(never prove) a conclusion based on how strongly
the premises provide evidence for the conclusion.
Consider the argument:
(P1) If it’s raining outside, the grass near the house
gets wet when the wind is not blowing strongly
from the North (which doesn’t often occur).
(P2) It’s raining outside.
_________________________
The grass near the house is wet.
How Do We Evaluate an Argument?
There are generally two requirements (and only
two) logically to evaluate a claim –
1) Do the premises support or prove
the conclusion? Or is the argument valid
(if deductive) or strong (if inductive)?
2) Are the premises true?
-- It would be nonsense for you to object
with, for example, “I don’t want to believe
that” or “You shouldn’t say that”, or “Where
did you come up with that?” “That’s not
what my girl friend says,” etc, etc.
Writing Assignment
Worth 5 points in Participation Category.
Re-evaluate your answer to the philosophical
question that you posed last week in light of
what we have learned tonight about the
nature of philosophy & critical thinking.
Propose a philosophical argument for your
view as we just described the nature of an
argument in 250 words or less. As before,
please do not use any sources. Just use your
own reflection.