Doing Philosophy - Module 1

Flashcards covering Module 1: Doing Philosophy, including the transition from muthos to logos, the significance of stupefaction and questioning, the real definition of philosophy, and historical/contemporary philosophical figures.

To what is the act of philosophizing greatly connected according to the module?

It is connected to one’s life and/or to one's core.

How is philosophy characterized in terms of its nature in the 'great scheme of things'?

Philosophy is itself an action.

When and where can the exact beginning of philosophy be traced?

It can be traced to Ancient Greece roughly at the end of the $6th$ century.

What specific work by Hesiod, published around $700$ BCE, helped the Greeks find their stride before the pre-Socratics?

Works and Days

Which three playwrights continued the literary idea of man's fate being indebted to the gods?

Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

What are the two magnum opus works of Homer that acknowledge the role of literature in philosophy's founding?

The lliad and The Odyssey.

How is the radical transition in the heart of philosophy's beginning described etymologically?

A transition from a penchant for story (muthos) to reason (logos).

According to the film Clash of the Titans ($2010$), what is noted as the 'mantra of philosophy's beginning'?

Rebellion against the gods.

What is defined as the moment a person is struck by the mystery of existence and begins to wonder about life?

Stupefaction

In what year and town did scholarship suggest philosophy formally started?

In $587$ BCE, in the seaport town of Miletus.

What Greek term is translated as 'wonder'?

thauma

How does the historian Oliver Feltham clarify the translation of 'thauma'?

He translates it as 'stupefaction,' a position of confusion that acts as reinforcement to ask questions.

What is required for questioning to ensure it does not end in simple awe?

A great degree of doubt.

What type of doubt is described as being in direct contrast to the spirit of philosophy?

Radical skepticism that leads to being myopic.

According to Alain Badiou, what three things do philosophical questions touch upon?

A. Choice, B. Meaning, and C. Life.

What were the birth and death years of Pythagoras?

$570-495$ BCE.

How did Pythagoras define a 'philosophus'?

A humble take meaning a person who is a 'perpetual student of wisdom' or 'someone who, in all his might, pursues wisdom.'

What is the 'telos' or goal of philosophy as defined by Pythagoras?

A love of wisdom.

Which contemporary philosopher wrote 'The True Life' to reclarify that philosophy should wake in us the value of living the right way?

Alain Badiou

In Badiou's work, which historical figure is used as a constant symbol of challenging societal ways?

Socrates

What concept did Giles Deleuze establish in 'What Is Philosophy?' to describe the coming in and out of philosophical concepts?

The plane of immanence

What is the 'real definition' of philosophy provided in the text?

The science of all things through its ultimate causes and principles acquired through the use of natural reason.

In the context of the definition of philosophy, what are the three fundamental components of any study?

The object (the one being studied), the subject (the one who studies), and the product (the effect of the interaction).

Why is philosophy considered a science?

Because it relates to the expectation of rigor, elements of observation, and hypothesis, following its own discipline.

How is the 'Science of All Things' component of philosophy's definition explained?

Philosophy can study literally everything and every-thing under the sun, including things that are possible to be known.

Which book by Jostein Gardner, translated into English in $1994$, is used as an introduction to philosophical musings?

Sophie's World

What are the two narrative sequences in Gardner's 'Sophie's World'?

One is the sequence of the unreal (fictional characters Sophie and Alberto Knox) and the other is the sequence of the real (Sophie and her parents).

What is the 'staple question of truth' highlighted at the end of Sophie’s story?

'Who am I?'