philosophers views for p3

plato: philosophy and the contemplative life

“the unexamined life is not worth living” → the simile of the cave implies that philosophy is liberating, an upwards movement away from ignorance - the sun represents plato’s highest ideal of goodness - philosophy reveals hidden truth, which is not accessible to all → proposal of philosopher king one of the more radical applications ever suggested for the philosophical activity → absolute faith in contemplation could be philosophical fanaticism

nietzsche: philosophy as creativity

it is necessary to tear down the existing moral and metaphysical consensus → philosophy begins with a complete re-assessment of the table of values → with total disbelief in objective moral and metaphysical realities he shifts the emphasis onto the individual, making philosophy a creative and subjective process → but not everyone can have the power and will to redraw the table of values

aquinas: the harmony of faith and reason

significant emphasis on theology and metaphysics → continuing focus on big questions in philosophy → goal of philosophy to help explain the created order → philosophy provides definitive answers to ultimate questions → truth can be discovered through a harmony of faith and reason where the abstract reasoning of philosophy is integrated with belief and revelation → philosophical activity underpins beliefs/values/truths

Marx: philosophy and social action

proposed a radical departure from the tradition of contemplation “philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways. the point however is to change it” → Marx highly critical of traditional objects of philosophical contemplation - major goal of philosophy is reclaiming human dignity and social revolution → philosophical activity needs to be defined in terms of social action because it can bring people to consciousness and revolution

Russell: philosophy as systematic uncertainty

philosophy is a kind of outlook or way of seeing the world → its answers are usually uncertain or provisional → philosophy should not be judged by its end-products → by raising significant, abstract, second-order questions about life, philosophy prevents us from taking things for granted → it is not so much defined by the object of study as by the mindset of the one practicing it

David lewis

one comes to philosophy already with a stack of opinions → it is not the role of philosophy to undermine or justify the opinions but to try and discover ways of expanding them into an orderly system

W.V.O. Quine

philosophy is continuous with science - they are “in the same boat’ → you can use scientific findings in philosophy

Thomas nagel

philosophy is different from science and maths → it does not rely on experiments but on thoughts and has no formal methods of proof unlike maths

John campbell

“philosophy is thinking in slow motion” → it breaks down our natural motivations and beliefs to make it evident that alternatives are possible

Robert nozick

philosophy means the love of wisdom but what philosophers really love is reasoning

Bertrand russell

philosophy is able to suggest many possibilities which “enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of custom” → it keeps alive our sense of wonder

Karl popper

there is only one way to do philosophy which is to meet a problem and “fall in love with it”

Geoffrey Warnock

the aim of philosophy is to be “clear-headed rather than confused”

wittgenstein

without philosophy thoughts are “cloudy and indistinct” → its task is to make them clear and give sharp boundaries