Download Lecture Notes Intro Fall 03 - U of L Class Index

University of Lethbridge --- Department of Philosophy
Philosophy 1000B: INTRODUCTION TO
PHILOSOPHY
Spring 2005
Prof. Kent Peacock
Lecture Notes
NOTE: The following lecture notes are keyed closely to Gary E. Kessler's
Voices of Wisdom: A Multicultural Philosophy Reader, Fifth Edition,
2004, Wadsworth. This is a really excellent introductory text that I have
used in a number of courses, and I highly recommend it.
Week 1 (Jan. 6, 11):
Introduction to the course.
Definition of "philosophy"
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Greek roots philia, friendly love, and sophia, wisdom; so philosophy is love of, or
friendship with wisdom.
"Wisdom" is difficult to define but could include the following qualities: ability to set
priorities, ability to know what is important; understanding of human nature/behavior;
sense of humour; intellectual humility (but not necessarily cynicism!); willingness to
admit that you might be wrong, to see the other person's point of view; curiosity;
whatever benefits one gains from experience; respect for others, for those who are wiser
themselves; intellectual confidence that is not arrogant
knowledge answers “how?” and “what?”; wisdom answers “why?”
wisdom is normative, knowledge is descriptive
a big part of philosophy is that it is supposed to be rational; attempt to find reasons and
foundations for one’s views; faith is not enough
good philosophical writing develops an argument (note spelling!!)
What is the "use" of philosophy?
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A tricky question; not all philosophers agree.
Not “just your opinion”; to do philosophy well is actually quite difficult
Job prospects: Uof L’s dept. has produced several distinguished philosophers, but jobs as
professional philosophers are scarce; however, philosophy degree or concentration very
valuable in managerial, professional work; ability to “think outside the box,” intellectual
flexibility, general literacy, skills of reasoning and communication are very marketable.
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Area where we study questions of deepest principle; often study questions where we don't
even know what would constitute an adequate answer (such as "what is the nature of the
good," "what is consciousness?”).
Rethinking of basic principles by which we live and cope with the world; hence I view it
as just as practical as engineering or medicine, only longer-term
It has taken so long to make progress on many philosophical problems not because they
are “useless,” but because they are very hard
Philosophers often undertake preliminary "scouting" of difficult questions that are later
taken over by the sciences; Bell’s Theorem as recent example (“experimental
metaphysics”)
Philosophy can produce an overview of other subjects; often, specialists don’t have time
to do this or are too close to a subject to see it in perspective
Teaches us tolerance, humility; when philosophical analysis teaches us that much or all of
our knowledge is uncertain, we are more aware that we could be wrong about our own
beliefs, and we are more likely to be tolerant of others; hence, philosophy serves a
valuable political function in that it makes people more tolerant, patient, and conciliatory
Lifts our minds up to higher matters; from the slime to the sublime
Teaches us to live with uncertainty; an important part of personal maturity is learning to
cope with the fact that the comfortable verities that we imbibed as a child may not be
quite right
It can be a lot of fun to do philosophy; Aristotle said that “philosophy begins with
wonder;” curiosity could be a survival tool (even though it can get us into a lot of trouble,
too!)
Organization of the subject of philosophy:
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There are three main divisions:
o metaphysics
ƒ nature of reality itself
ƒ does God exist?
ƒ nature of human mind, consciousness
o epistemology
ƒ what is knowledge and perception?
ƒ how do we distinguish between reality and illusion?
o axiology (value theory)
ƒ ethics; seeks the Good
ƒ aesthetics; seeks the Beautiful
Also closely associated with logic, which is usually taught by philosophy departments.
(Logic: the art and science of reasoning).
Philosophy overlaps with literature and other arts and humanities at one end, and with
science and mathematics at the other
Some branches of philosophy apart from pure studies in the three main divisions:
o philosophy of science (biology, physics, math)
o applied ethics (biomedical, engineering, law, environmental)
o phil of religion (overlaps with theology, but not quite the same thing)
o political philosophy
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Parable of the cave (in Kessler, 382–384)
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selection from Plato's Republic
basic story:
o prisoners are chained in a cave, forced to view a shadow play;
o they think that it is reality; unaware of their true state, not only because they can’t
turn their heads, but because they have no terms of reference or language that
would allow them to think about any other possibility
o one prisoner is set free; she is confused, dazzled by the firelight
o she is dragged up out of the cave
o suffers great pain from bright light outside at first; she can only cope with
shadows and reflections
o gets used to it; can finally see things as they really are
o if she went back into the cave could not cope with the shadow reality; would be
considered a fool or subversive by the prisoners and might even be killed by them
o why should she go back into the cave to help his former friends down there?
could be taken to illustrate difficulties faced by anyone who attains unusual knowledge or
understanding: how can their knowledge ever be of benefit to the rest of society? -- and
yet, where would society be without them?
appearance/reality distinction: the way the world seems to us could be very different
from the way it really is
notion of levels of reality, as in Matrix (the movie)
notion that there is a highest reality where we can see things in their true light; also, that
it is delightful and pleasant to be there (“heaven”?)
notion that the Good is the deepest explanation
raises tricky political question of why are the prisoners being kept in the dark?
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