Philosophy Notes

Immanuel Kant was a deontological philosopher (Deontology: d.e.o.n.t.o.l.o.g.y.).
Deontology: The study of duty or obligation to do something.
Modern society's emphasis on not owing anything to anyone may indicate a lack of deontology.
The idea of not owing anything to anyone is not inherently negative, especially towards those one doesn't respect.
Spider-Man's sense of responsibility to help everyone in Queens is an example of deontology.
Selfishness is the opposite of deontology, where individuals don't feel obligated to help others.

Immanuel Kant started Kantian philosophy.
Central idea: Obligations to be moral and just.
Means to an end: Treat people as ends in themselves, not as means to an end.
Heteronomous: Acting because of external factors or rewards (e.g., blessings from God).
Autonomous: Acting for the sake of it, without expecting personal benefit.
Heteronomous individuals treat people as a means to their own benefit.
Autonomous individuals treat people as ends in themselves; there is no ulterior motive.

Kant's famous book, The Critique of Pure Reason, studies thinking itself.
Pure reason: Unadulterated thinking.
Two categories of thinking:
- A priori: Knowledge independent of external experience (e.g., math, $1+1$ ). This is intuitive.
- A posteriori: Knowledge gained through experience.
Metaphysics: Thoughts independent of the physical.
Honesty, truth, and morality are a priori.
Learning through experience after the fact is a posteriori.
A priori is the baseline knowledge; a posteriori is how one learns about it.
Subdivisions of a priori and a posteriori into analytic and synthetic judgments:
- Analytic judgments: Derived from one's own experiences.
- Synthetic judgments: Combining two ideas.
- Example:
  - A priori analytical: Killing is wrong.
  - Synthetic a posteriori: Killing in self-defense might be right.

The study of knowledge.
From Greek: Episteme (knowledge) and logi (study of).
Study of knowledge, where we get our knowledge, is the knowledge valuable, is it worthy, is it true?
Thinking about thinking.
Theory of knowledge.

Philosophical question: What is man? What is everything?
Two answers in ancient Greece:
- One world: Philosophers before Socrates (pre-Socratics) like Democritus. They viewed the world as composed of elements (fire, water, earth, wind).
- Two worlds: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Plato believed in the world of forms, where perfect examples of things exist.
World of forms: Metaphysical place containing perfect things (e.g., a platonic chair).
Platonic solids: Perfect dimensional shapes like the cube, icosahedron, and tetrahedron.
Sacred geometry and Pythagoras influenced Plato.
In Plato's time, math was like witchcraft.
Mystical and mathematical were intertwined in philosophy.
Plato may have been influenced by the Pythagoreans and their perfect shapes.
World of forms contains perfect a priori ideas like truth and beauty.

Many paths can lead to the same truth in philosophy.
Plato's philosophy serves as a base for Western philosophy.
Art flourished in caliphates during Europe's darker periods.
House of Wisdom in Baghdad: Rediscovered works of Euclid and Pythagoras; invented algebra.
Humans' ability to start from nothing and progress.

Two influential cities in Western civilization.
Athens (Plato, Socrates): Democracy and secularism.
Jerusalem: The Bible and religious thought.
Logos meant human rationale in Athens but the rationality of God in Jerusalem.
The Bible starts with the word, emphasizing its importance in Jerusalem.
Athens was about freedom and rationality, while Jerusalem focused on reverence and faith.
The Western world has a religious base towards God, while the Eastern world emphasizes family obligations.
New Testament (Gospel of John): "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God."
Athens (democracy, politics) contrasts with Jerusalem (the word, scripture).