Fundamentals Of Philosophy.

Notes for Course Title AHPH 100 (BS- Math) and

122 (BS- Physics)

1. Introduction to Philosophy:

I. What is Philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general
and fundamental questions concerning topics
like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It is a rational and
critical inquiry that reflects on its own methods and assumptions.

Historically, many of the individual sciences, such as physics and psychology,

formed part of philosophy. However, they are considered separate academic
disciplines in the modern sense of the term. Influential traditions in the history of
philosophy include Western, Arabic–Persian, Indian, and Chinese philosophy.
Western philosophy originated in Ancient Greece and covers a wide area of
philosophical subfields. A central topic in Arabic–Persian philosophy is the
relation between reason and revelation. Indian philosophy combines
the spiritual problem of how to reach enlightenment with the exploration of the
nature of reality and the ways of arriving at knowledge. Chinese philosophy
focuses principally on practical issues in relation to right social conduct,
government, and self-cultivation.

Major branches of philosophy are epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphysics.

Epistemology studies what knowledge is and how to acquire it. Ethics investigates
moral principles and what constitutes right conduct. Logic is the study of correct
reasoning and explores how good arguments can be distinguished from bad ones.
Metaphysics examines the most general features of reality, existence, objects,
and properties. Other subfields are aesthetics, philosophy of language, philosophy
of mind, philosophy of religion, philosophy of science, philosophy of
mathematics, philosophy of history, and political philosophy. Within each branch,
there are competing schools of philosophy that promote different principles,
theories, or methods.

Main Branches of Philosophy:

Epistemology

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Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge. It is also known
as theory of knowledge and aims to understand what knowledge is, how it arises,
what its limits are, and what value it has. It further examines the nature
of truth, belief, justification, and rationality.[95] Some of the questions addressed
by epistemologists include "By what method(s) can one acquire knowledge?";
"How is truth established?"; and "Can we prove causal relations?"[96]
Epistemology is primarily interested in declarative knowledge or knowledge of
facts, like knowing that Princess Diana died in 1997. But it also
investigates practical knowledge, such as knowing how to ride a bicycle,
and knowledge by acquaintance, for example, knowing a celebrity personally.[97]
One area in epistemology is the analysis of knowledge. It assumes that declarative
knowledge is a combination of different parts and attempts to identify what those
parts are. An influential theory in this area claims that knowledge has three
components: it is a belief that is justified and true. This theory is controversial and
the difficulties associated with it are known as the Gettier problem.[98] Alternative
views state that knowledge requires additional components, like the absence of
luck; different components, like the manifestation of cognitive virtues instead of
justification; or they deny that knowledge can be analyzed in terms of other
phenomena.[99]
Another area in epistemology asks how people acquire knowledge. Often-
discussed sources of knowledge are perception, introspection, memory, inference,
and testimony.[100] According to empiricists, all knowledge is based on some form
of experience. Rationalists reject this view and hold that some forms of
knowledge, like innate knowledge, are not acquired through experience.[101]
Many discussions in epistemology touch on the topic of philosophical skepticism,
which raises doubts about some or all claims to knowledge. These doubts are
often based on the idea that knowledge requires absolute certainty and that
humans are unable to acquire it.[104]
Ethics

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 "The utilitarian doctrine is, that happiness is desirable, and
the only thing desirable, as an end; all other things being only desirable as means
to that end." — John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism (1863)[105]
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, studies what constitutes right conduct. It
is also concerned with the moral evaluation of character traits and institutions. It
explores what the standards of morality are and how to live a good life.
[106]
Philosophical ethics addresses such basic questions as "Are moral obligations
relative?"; "Which has priority: well-being or obligation?"; and "What gives life
meaning?"[107]
The main branches of ethics are meta-ethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics.
[108]
Meta-ethics asks abstract questions about the nature and sources of morality.
It analyzes the meaning of ethical concepts, like right action and obligation. It
also investigates whether ethical theories can be true in an absolute sense and how
to acquire knowledge of them.[109] Normative ethics encompasses general theories
of how to distinguish between right and wrong conduct. It helps guide moral
decisions by examining what moral obligations and rights people have. Applied
ethics studies the consequences of the general theories developed by normative
ethics in specific situations, for example, in the workplace or for medical
treatments.[110]
Within contemporary normative ethics, consequentialism, deontology, and virtue
ethics are influential schools of thought.[111] Consequentialists judge actions based
on their consequences. One such view is utilitarianism, which argues that actions
should increase overall happiness while minimizing
suffering. Deontologists judge actions based on whether they follow moral duties,
such as abstaining from lying or killing. According to them, what matters is that
actions are in tune with those duties and not what consequences they have. Virtue
theorists judge actions based on how the moral character of the agent is expressed.
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According to this view, actions should conform to what an ideally virtuous agent
would do by manifesting virtues like generosity and honesty.[112]
Logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It aims to understand how to distinguish
good from bad arguments.[113] It is usually divided into formal and informal logic.
Formal logic uses artificial languages with a precise symbolic representation to
investigate arguments. In its search for exact criteria, it examines the structure of
arguments to determine whether they are correct or incorrect. Informal logic uses
non-formal criteria and standards to assess the correctness of arguments. It relies
on additional factors such as content and context.[114]
Logic examines a variety of arguments. Deductive arguments are mainly studied
by formal logic. An argument is deductively valid if the truth of
its premises ensures the truth of its conclusion. Deductively valid arguments
follow a rule of inference, like modus ponens, which has the following logical
form: "p; if p then q; therefore q". An example is the argument "today is Sunday;
if today is Sunday then I don't have to go to work today; therefore I don't have to
go to work today".[115]
The premises of non-deductive arguments also support their conclusion, although
this support does not guarantee that the conclusion is true.[116] One form
is inductive reasoning. It starts from a set of individual cases and uses
generalization to arrive at a universal law governing all cases. An example is the
inference that "all ravens are black" based on observations of many individual
black ravens.[117] Another form is abductive reasoning. It starts from an
observation and concludes that the best explanation of this observation must be
true. This happens, for example, when a doctor diagnoses a disease based on the
observed symptoms.[118]
Logic also investigates incorrect forms of reasoning. They are called fallacies and
are divided into formal and informal fallacies based on whether the source of the
error lies only in the form of the argument or also in its content and context.[119]
Metaphysics

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 The beginning of Aristotle's Metaphysics in
an incunabulum decorated with hand-painted miniatures.
Metaphysics is the study of the most general features of reality, such as
existence, objects and their properties, wholes and their
parts, space and time, events, and causation.[120] There are disagreements about the
precise definition of the term and its meaning has changed throughout the ages.
[121]
Metaphysicians attempt to answer basic questions including "Why is there
something rather than nothing?"; "Of what does reality ultimately consist?"; and
"Are humans free?"[122]
Metaphysics is sometimes divided into general metaphysics and specific or
special metaphysics. General metaphysics investigates being as such. It examines
the features that all entities have in common. Specific metaphysics is interested in
different kinds of being, the features they have, and how they differ from one
another.[123]
An important area in metaphysics is ontology. Some theorists identify it with
general metaphysics. Ontology investigates concepts like being, becoming, and
reality. It studies the categories of being and asks what exists on the most
fundamental level.[124] Another subfield of metaphysics is philosophical
cosmology. It is interested in the essence of the world as a whole. It asks
questions including whether the universe has a beginning and an end and whether
it was created by something else.[125]

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A key topic in metaphysics concerns the question of whether reality only consists
of physical things like matter and energy. Alternative suggestions are that mental
entities (such as souls and experiences) and abstract entities (such as numbers)
exist apart from physical things. Another topic in metaphysics concerns the
problem of identity. One question is how much an entity can change while still
remaining the same entity.[126] According to one view, entities
have essential and accidental features. They can change their accidental features
but they cease to be the same entity if they lose an essential feature. [127] A central
distinction in metaphysics is between particulars and universals. Universals, like
the color red, can exist at different locations at the same time. This is not the case
for particulars including individual persons or specific objects.[128] Other
metaphysical questions are whether the past fully determines the present and what
implications this would have for the existence of free will.[129]
Other major branches
There are many other subfields of philosophy besides its core branches. Some of
the most prominent are aesthetics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind,
philosophy of religion, philosophy of science, and political philosophy.[130]
Aesthetics in the philosophical sense is the field that studies the nature and
appreciation of beauty and other aesthetic properties, like the sublime.
[131]
Although it is often treated together with the philosophy of art, aesthetics is a
broader category that encompasses other aspects of experience, such as natural
beauty.[132] In a more general sense, aesthetics is "critical reflection on art, culture,
and nature".[133] A key question in aesthetics is whether beauty is an objective
feature of entities or a subjective aspect of experience.[134] Aesthetic philosophers
also investigate the nature of aesthetic experiences and judgments. Further topics
include the essence of works of art and the processes involved in creating them.
[135]

The philosophy of language studies the nature and function of language. It

examines the concepts of meaning, reference, and truth. It aims to answer
questions such as how words are related to things and how language affects
human thought and understanding. It is closely related to the disciplines of logic
and linguistics.[136] The philosophy of language rose to particular prominence in
the early 20th century in analytic philosophy due to the works of Frege and
Russell. One of its central topics is to understand how sentences get their
meaning. There are two broad theoretical camps: those emphasizing the

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formal truth conditions of sentences[d] and those investigating circumstances that
determine when it is suitable to use a sentence, the latter of which is associated
with speech act theory.[138]
The philosophy of mind studies the nature of mental phenomena and how they are
related to the physical world.[139] It aims to understand different types
of conscious and unconscious mental states,
like beliefs, desires, intentions, feelings, sensations, and free will.[140] An
influential intuition in the philosophy of mind is that there is a distinction between
the inner experience of objects and their existence in the external world.
The mind-body problem is the problem of explaining how these two types of
thing—mind and matter—are related. The main traditional responses
are materialism, which assumes that matter is more fundamental; idealism, which
assumes that mind is more fundamental; and dualism, which assumes that mind
and matter are distinct types of entities. In contemporary philosophy, another
common view is functionalism, which understands mental states in terms of the
functional or causal roles they play.[141] The mind-body problem is closely related
to the hard problem of consciousness, which asks how the physical brain can
produce qualitatively subjective experiences.[142]
The philosophy of religion investigates the basic concepts, assumptions, and
arguments associated with religion. It critically reflects on what religion is, how to
define the divine, and whether one or more gods exist. It also includes the
discussion of worldviews that reject religious doctrines.[143] Further questions
addressed by the philosophy of religion are: "How are we to interpret religious
language, if not literally?";[144] "Is divine omniscience compatible with free will?";
[145]
and, "Are the great variety of world religions in some way compatible in spite
of their apparently contradictory theological claims?"[146] It includes topics from
nearly all branches of philosophy.[147] It differs from theology since theological
debates typically take place within one religious tradition, whereas debates in the
philosophy of religion transcend any particular set of theological assumptions. [148]
The philosophy of science examines the fundamental concepts, assumptions, and
problems associated with science. It reflects on what science is and how to
distinguish it from pseudoscience. It investigates the methods employed by
scientists, how their application can result in knowledge, and on what assumptions
they are based. It also studies the purpose and implications of science. [149] Some of
its questions are "What counts as an adequate explanation?";[150] "Is a scientific
law anything more than a description of a regularity?";[151] and "Can some special
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sciences be explained entirely in the terms of a more general science?" [152] It is a
vast field that is commonly divided into the philosophy of the natural sciences and
the philosophy of the social sciences, with further subdivisions for each of the
individual sciences under these headings. How these branches are related to one
another is also a question in the philosophy of science. Many of its philosophical
issues overlap with the fields of metaphysics or epistemology.[153]
Political philosophy is the philosophical inquiry into the fundamental principles
and ideas governing political systems and societies. It examines the basic
concepts, assumptions, and arguments in the field of politics. It investigates the
nature and purpose of government and compares its different forms.[154] It further
asks under what circumstances the use of political power is legitimate, rather than
a form of simple violence.[155] In this regard, it is concerned with the distribution
of political power, social and material goods, and legal rights.[156] Other topics
are justice, liberty, equality, sovereignty, and nationalism.[157] Political philosophy
involves a general inquiry into normative matters and differs in this respect
from political science, which aims to provide empirical descriptions of actually
existing states.[158] Political philosophy is often treated as a subfield of ethics.
[159]
Influential schools of thought in political philosophy
are liberalism, conservativism, socialism, and anarchism.
Socrates:

The Death of Socrates, oil on canvas by Jacques-Louis David, 1787; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York City.

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What is Socratic Method:
I know I know nothing. called Socrates paradox
The unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. Socrates
The Socratic method is a form of cooperative dialogue whereby participants make
assertions about a particular topic, investigate those assertions with questions
designed to uncover presuppositions and stimulate critical thinking, and finally
come to mutual agreement and understanding about the topic under discussion
(though such mutual agreement is not guaranteed or required).
In more formal educational settings, the Socratic method is harnessed by teachers
to ‘draw out’ knowledge from students. The teacher does not directly impart
knowledge, but asks probing, thought-provoking questions to kickstart a dialogue
between teacher and student, allowing students to formulate and justify answers
for themselves.
The great philosopher Bertrand Russell once commented, “As usual in
philosophy, the first difficulty is to see that the problem is difficult.” Being an
inquisitive dialogue, the Socratic method is particularly effective here, revealing
hidden subtleties and complexities in subjects that may otherwise appear obvious
or simple, such as whether the world around us is ‘real’.
According to the philosopher Plato, the Socratic Method was conceived by his
mentor, the early Greek philosopher Socrates, in which the facilitator assumes
an ignorant position so that students can take the active and more
knowledgeable position in the search for an answer.

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Actually, Socrates is said to not have seen himself as a teacher, rather he tended to
see his role in the process as that of a midwife, as a means to assist others in
giving birth to their ideas and sparking curiosity to achieve new insights through
dialog and critical inquiry. He wanted to inspire his students to seek real truths
through logic instead of defending mere opinions through rhetoric. In our
knowledge and innovation-driven society, this has become a critical skill set.
Though things ended rather morbidly for Socrates, his method of questioning has
evolved and lived on as a brilliant way to draw people out of ignorance,
encourage critical thinking, and cooperate in the pursuit of knowledge. Socrates is
a martyr not just for philosophy, but for educational dialogue and productive,
stimulating exchanges of different perspectives around interesting subjects of all
kinds.
Any time you ask questions to get people to think differently about things, any
time you participate in healthy, productive debate or problem solving, any time
you examine principles and presuppositions and come to an answer for yourself,
you channel the same principles Socrates championed all those years ago.
Conducting a Socratic Dialog – Bringing your inner philosopher to life
There are five stages of which the Socratic Dialog is composed:
1. Wonder or receive what the other person has to say, listen to their view or
premise
2. Reflect. Sum up the person’s viewpoint and clarify your understanding of
what you have heard.
3. Refine and cross-examine. Ask the person to provide evidence that
supports their view. Discover the thoughts, assumptions and facts underlying
their beliefs. Challenge these assumptions to test their validity. “Why”
questions are frequently used in this stage to identify any fallacies in their
reasoning.
4. Restate the new assumption resulting from the inquiry.
5. Repeat. Start back at the beginning with the new assumptions. This iterative
process helps drill the premise down to the core issues in an attempt to strip
away all fallacies and to arrive at the truth, best answer, most appropriate
decision – whatever you happen to be looking for.

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11
The Socratic Method has a number of dialog rules to facilitate the emergence of
the conversation. Here are a few of them:
 Postpone your own judgment.
 Reflect with each other rather than against each other.
 Keep things concrete, stick to the facts.
 Postpone reflection.
 Postpone empathy.
 Listen carefully.
 Refrain from interpreting or paraphrasing, and come back to what the other
person has literally said.

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