Theoretical Analytic Philosophy

What is a necessary condition?

If A is not true, B cannot be true.

What is a sufficient condition?

B is true as long as A is true.

What is the essentialistic view?

The view that there is an essential way of doing philosophy. Not adhering to these standards leads to work being seen as “unphilosophical”

What is the Deflationary view?

We are simply doing philosophy, a more or less continuous science, we should ignore the distinction between analytical and continental philosophy.

What is a conceptual analysis?

A conceptual analysis of X seeks to increase our understanding of X by specifying principles which serves for providing a proper definition of a term, the relation between X another concepts, or how X has evolved over time.

What is carnapian explication?

Transforming an inexact concept into a more exact one, going from the explicandum to the explicatum. For example, fish is the everyday word for fish, but piscis is used as a scientific term and is more exact in its definition of what a fish is.

Ameliorative analysis

Articulating an idea connected to a word or a phrase in order to better pursue social or political goals. Example: what is a woman?

What does Haslanger want to use Ameliorative analysis and conceptual engineering to do?

1. To expain the persistent inequalities between males and females, as well as people of color.

2. The need for a framwork that will be sensitive to both the similarities and differences in these two groups.

How does Haslanger define a woman?

 i) S is regularly and for the most part observed or imagined to have certain bodily features presumed to be evidence of a female’s biological role in reproduction;

ii) That S has these features marks S within the dominant ideology of S’s society as someone who ought to occupy certain kinds of social position that are in fact subordinate (and so motivates and justifies S’s occupying such a position); 

iii) The fact that S satisfies (i) and (ii) plays a role in S’s systematic subordination, i.e. along some dimension S’s social position is oppressive, and S’s satisfying (i) and (ii) plays a role in that dimension of subordination

How does Haslanger define persons of color?

A group is racialized if and only if its members are socially positioned as subordinate or privileged along some dimension (economic, political, legal, social, etc.), and the group is “marked” as a target for this treatment by observed or imagined bodily features presumed to be evidence of ancestral links to a certain geographical region.

What is Foundationalism?

Non-basic beliefs inherit their epistemic status due to receiving support from basic beliefs.

• Our intuitions are wrong, and moral theories prevail.

What is Coherentism?

All beliefs have the same epistemic status, which they inherit by being coherent with other beliefs.

• We ought to adjust our moral theories to our intuitions.

What are the main characteristics of the Reflective equilibrium proposed by John Rawls?

It brings principles, intuitions and background facts into accord.

What are moral intuitions(considered judgments)?

Those judgements in which our moral capacities are least likely to be displayed with distortions. Essentially, it is our best, most reliable moral judgments.

What three conditions should be satisfied for judgements to be trustworthy?

Ability: The competence to make well-rounded moral judgments.

Opportunity: Need circumstances that allow for proper use of moral judgments.

Desire: We must want to reach accurate and truthful moral judgments, not use them for personal gain.

What is the confidence constraint?

Rawls believed that moral judgements that we lack confidence in should be discarded. Other philosophers later argued that we should not just discard them out of hand.

What are the epistemic constraint?

Modest version: exclude judgments that are logically inconsistent or empirically mistaken

Ambitious version: Exclude any unjustified beliefs

What is the difference between narrow and wide reflective equilibrium?

Narrow equilibrium: smoothing out certain irregularities.

Wide equilibrium: Looking thoroughly at the question using different lenses and concepts.

What are the two main challenges of the reflective equilibrium?

1. Relativism: two or more views are objectively justified.

2. Indeterminancy: People might reach different equilibria at different times because judgments are revisable.

What is a good argument?

Premises and conclusions should be valid, with premises giving a good reason for believing in the conclusion.

When is an argument monotonic?

When we add another premise to the argument and it is still a valid argument.

Abdusctive and inductive reasoning is not monotonic; deductive reasoning is.Abductive

What is a valid argument?

A good deductive argument - conclusion follows premises.

What is a sound argument?

An argument is sound when its both valid and the premises are true.

What is an atomic proposition?

The truth and falsity of the proposition do not depend on the truth or falsity of other propositions. All other propositions are called complex propositions.

What is the argument form for Modus Ponens?

If p, then q.

p

Therefore, q

What is the argument form for Modus Tollens?

If p then q.

not q

Therefore, not p.

What is the argument form for Explosion?

Explosion is when the propositions contradict, this leads to any conclusion being inferred.

Example:

a

not a

therefore, b

What is a tautology?

A statement that is true by necessity or by the virtue of its logical form.

What are three examples of methodologies historically used in analytic philosophy?

1. Logical analysis

2. Examining the nature of linguistic meaning

3. Naturalized philosophy - insisting on the continuity between philosophy and empirical science.

A hallmark of modern analytic philosophy is methodological diversity

What are negatives associated with analytic and continental philosophy?

Analytic:

Overemphasis on technical rigor leading to dryness and omissions of broader human concerns.

Narrow focus.

Ignoring historical and cultural influences on philosophy.

Not well equipped to handle questions on deep existential queries about human meaning and phenomenology of lived experience. Also has a potential disregard for social dimensions

Continental:

Lack of clarity.

Insuffient formal rigor.

Overuse of grand narratives and metaphors.

Potential political overreach.

How do the methologies of analytic and continental philosophy diverge?

Recurring patterns of reasoning diverge, different methods are favored, which results in the two sides not only speak differently, but also pursue overlapping sets of problems in systematically divergent ways. This can lead to mutual incomprehension.

How do analytic and continental philosophy diverge in writing style?

Analytics prize clarity historically and care more about the logical structure and scientific constraints. Continental philosophers can sometimes purposefully write in an innovative, poetic or disruptive way to reveal what normal language structure might hide. Continental philosophers sometimes justify difficult language as necessary to avoid reproducing normalized power structures in language.

How can philosophy be strengthened by continental and analytic philosophers working more together?

Continental concerns can give analytically oriented philosophers new angles on well-worn problems, while analytic rigor might strengthen continental arguments about consciousness or intersubjectivity.

How can evaluating methods contribute to bridging the divide between continental and analytic philosophy?

It can help find places of partial compatibility, and make disagreements more fruitful.

What are the problems with the essentialist and deflationary accounts of the analytic continental divide?

Essentialists overstate the uniformity within each tradition and risk creating artificial barriers. Deflationists overlook how genuine methodological differences make certain texts, questions, and arguments look alien from one side or the other.

What are the three historical views of analysis proposed by Daly?

1. Moore’s meaning analysis: decomposition of a concept into simpler component parts.

2. Russell: distinguishing grammatical form and logical form.

3. Quine: analysis replaces messy fragments of natural language with a cleaner artificial language that resolves ambiguity or philosophical puzzles.

What did Daly propose as a working model of philosophical analysis?

1. Biconditional form (if and only if)

2. Necessarily true

3. Informative/fruitful

4. A priori knowable

5. Testable by hypothetical cases

What are some skepticisms regarding thought experiments?

1. They are too unconstrained, imagining scenarios that have little to do with the real world.

2. Philosophers question if the intuitions of the thought experminets elicit any epistemic authority.

What are some criticisms of the use of intuitions in experimental philosophy?

1. Intuitions do not reliably track the truth.

2. Intuitions are fallible - capable of being mistakes.

3. People differ widely in their intuitions. There can be cultural, gender or intrapersonal differences.

How can experimental philosophy be done in the future to improve results?

1. Do more surveys and work together with psychologists to test how widely shared intuitions are.

2. They can create a map of intuitions and incorporate empirical results into their studies and to refine conceptual analysis.

What is the difference between simple and complex Thought Experiments?

• Simple TEs: Evaluate a single scenario in isolation

• Complex TEs: combine two or more scenarios to compare or highlight conflicts.

What are the conditions for well-posed thought experiments?

1. Philosophical respectability. Non-question begging: meaning the scenario cannot assume the conclusion it purports to test. The TE should be valid as well, following a coherent argument without logical fallacies.

2. Argumentative relevance: The TEs scenario must truly test or illuminate the principles at stake.

How can wacky/far-fetched thought experiments be useful?

1. They let us see the principle’s core due to stripping away confounding details.

2. They challenge our intuition in ways that everyday scenarios cannot.

3. They do not have to be practically plausible to yield insights into fundamental moral or political principles.

What are the four conditions for a successful carnapian explication?

1. Similarity: The explicatum should resemble the explicandum sufficiently so we still consider it “the same” conceptual target, but it need not coincide exactly

2. Exactness: The explicatum must be more precise than the original notion

3. Fruitfulness: The explicatum must be theoretically useful.

4. Simplicity: All things being equal, a simpler explicatum is preferred.

What are the conditions for a good ameliorative analysis according to Haslanger?

1. Semantic condition: It must keep high enough continuity in order to still address the concept's key social functions and phenomena.

2. Political condition: It must promote legitimate moral/political ends rather than universal rules.

What is the main difference between Ameliorative analysis and carnapian explication?

Carnapian explication is more methodologically rigorous - a more formal, scientific result. The ameliorative analysis is a more overtly social-political method.

What is the argument form of a disjunctive syllogism?

A or B,

not A,

hence B

What is a deductive argument?

The premises (if true) guarantee the conclusion.

All humans are mortal.

Socrates is a human.

Therefore, Socrates is mortal.

What is an inductive argument?

 If the premises are true, the conclusion is probable or likely based on statistical data or observations. Often works by taking particular observations and generalizing them to form a broader conclusion.

I have observed 1000 crows, and all of them have been black.

Therefore, all crows are black.

What is an abductive argument?

Chooses the most plausible conclusion through explanation given the available evidence. 

There are footprints in the fresh snow in my front yard.

The best explanation is that someone walked across my yard recently.

Therefore, someone probably walked across my yard.

What is a complex proposition?

All propositions that are not atomic. So propositions built on other premises as well, e.g: if utilitarianism is true, the organs should be harvested.

What is the invalid argument form of denying the antecedent?

If A then B

Not A

Not B

What are some other valid types of arguments not based on propositional form?

It can still have a valid logical form, even without a valid propositional form.

All musicians read music (for every obect x: if x is M then x is R)

John is a musician. (j is M)

So, John reads music (j is R)

Why does logic use formal languages?

Logic studies the (in)validity of arguments. The (in)validity of an argument is determined by its form. The form of an argument can be expressed in a formal language. So, logic uses formal languages to study the (in)validity of arguments and argument forms.

What are the three characteristics of a syllogism?

(i) A syllogism has two premises, one conclusion. (ii) The premisses and conclusion are syllogistic judgements, i.e. have of the following four forms: All A are B, All A are not B, Some A are B, Some A are not B. (iii) The premisses and conclusion of a syllogism contain three different predicates in total.

When is something vacuously true?

When a premise has a false antecedent, sayings can be true. E.g. “Messi is the King of the Netherlands”