FILO BLOQUE 1 - Revisión para Examen
Etymology and the Search for Wisdom
The word philosophy originates from Ancient Greece and literally translates to the "love of wisdom," derived from the Greek terms "philo" and "sophia." In the historical context of Ancient Greece, wisdom was synonymous with "theoria" or "examen," representing the act of observing and examining the world. Pythagoras is credited with being the first individual to use the word philosopher to describe himself. According to José Antonio Marina, there are specific attitudes one can take toward experience, which he categorizes as "Linces" and "Almajes." The philosophical spectator is defined by an active engagement with reality, constantly analyzing, examining, and interacting with their surroundings.
A sage, or "Sophos," is characterized by several traits. First, they possess encyclopedic knowledge, meaning they possess a vast and comprehensive understanding of many things. Second, they have special authority that spans both private and public life, as well as the universe. Third, they possess eminent knowledge, which is considered highly reliable. Finally, they are an expert in a specific field, which allows them to teach and participate in the education and political life of their society. The philosophical attitude requires both effort and courage to leave one's comfort zone and share knowledge. This involves changing one's perspective, a concept famously illustrated by the myth of the cave. Historically, this shift is often described as the movement from myth to reason, where myths provided coherent and plausible yet ultimately irrational answers, while reason sought logical justification.
Philosophical vs. Academic Philosophy
There is a distinction between philosophy in a general, mundane sense (represented as phi) and academic philosophy (represented as PHI). Philosophia undana (phi) is based on beliefs and information gathered through hearing (oido). It is unorganized, uses everyday or vulgar language, is oriented toward practical application, and is practiced by everyone. In contrast, Philosophia academica (PHI) is based on ideas and visual evidence (visto). It is systematically organized and uses technical or cultured language. Its primary function is critical reflection, and it is practiced by a few specialized agents.
General philosophy is defined by four core characteristics. It is rational, relying on logic and discipline. It is universal, seeking a total knowledge of common elements. It is radical, as it seeks to generate methods and understand the root or fundamental causes of things. Finally, it is critical, providing the criteria necessary to value things and thoughts accurately.
Relationship Between Philosophy and Other Forms of Knowledge
Human knowledge takes several forms depending on the origin, method, object, and language used. Vulgar or ordinary knowledge originates from common experience and is subjective and non-systematic, focusing on everyday things through ordinary language. Scientific knowledge originates from observation and utilizes experimental and systematic methods to understand natural phenomena using technical language. Religious knowledge is based on revelation and follows a dogmatic, systematic method focused on transcendent matters using sacred language. Artistic knowledge is an expression of creativity, using symbolic and creative methods to communicate through symbolic language. Philosophical knowledge originates from the rational question; it is characterized by a critical and argumentative method that explores the foundations of being, acting, and knowing through clear and rigorous language.
Philosophical Disciplines and Paths of Thinking
René Descartes famously described the structure of knowledge as a tree where metaphysics forms the roots, physics or mechanics forms the trunk, and morals, medicine, and mechanics are the branches. Immanuel Kant summarized the scope of philosophy through four central questions: "What can I know?", "What should I do?", "What may I hope for?", and finally, "Who am I?", which encompasses all previous questions.
Philosophy is divided into technical and practical disciplines. Technical disciplines include Epistemology, which studies human knowledge; Metaphysics, which examines reality and the distinction between being and appearance; and Logic, which studies reasoning. Practical disciplines include Aesthetics, which studies beauty; Ethics, which examines morality and values actions as right or wrong; Political Philosophy, which reflects on and analyzes social organization; and Anthropology, which studies the human being. Plato emphasized several paths for thinking philosophically, which include the use of dialogue, conceptualization (defining concepts), argumentation (providing answers), text analysis (understanding intention), and the philosophical attitude of applying what has been learned.
Nature, Culture, and the Human Dimension
Plato metaphorically described human beings as featherless bipeds. He held a dualistic view of the human person, consisting of a body and a soul. His myth of the charioteer illustrates this: the soul is a chariot driven by a charioteer (representing reason) with two horses. The black horse represents impulses, and the white horse represents will. The objective is for reason to always lead and control the body.
Biologically, a species is defined by the capacity to have fertile offspring. There are two major perspectives on the origin of species: Fixism (Creationism), which argues that species do not change and is often used to explain fossils found on mountains, and Evolutionism. Lamarck proposed evolution through the use and disuse of organs and the inheritance of acquired characteristics, famously illustrated by the giraffe's neck. Charles Darwin proposed evolution through natural selection and gradual modifications. Darwin's theory is based on five laws: genetic variability, overproduction of offspring, the struggle for survival, natural selection, and adaptation through gradual change from a common ancestor. Neodarwinism, or the synthetic theory of evolution, integrates Gregor Mendel's genetic information, beneficial mutations and recombinations, natural selection, genetic drift, genetic isolation, and the theory of punctuated equilibrium or "great jumps." The origin of man involves both hominization (biological changes like bipedalism and increased cranial capacity following Darwin) and humanization (cultural changes like symbolization and behavioral control following Lamarckian-style cultural transmission).
Dimensions of the Human Person
The human person consists of various dimensions: nature (biological and genetic), temperament (innate and inherited, based on the nervous system, and emotional), and character (learned, cultural, and social, based on habits and values). While temperament is relatively stable and involuntary, character is modifiable and voluntary. Transhumanism is a movement suggesting that humans can choose their own development, aiming for immortality through technology, including cybernetics (cyborgs and AI) and genetic manipulation.
Psychologically, the human psyche involves action, feelings, desire, and thought, symbolized by the winged soul (Psyché). B.F. Skinner and behaviorism suggest human behavior is a product of causes and consequences. Memory is classified into sensory (rapid forgetting), short-term (used for attention and exams), and long-term (emotional and modified over time). Basic emotions include joy, surprise, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. Howard Gardner identified multiple intelligences, including linguistic, mathematical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical, kinesthetic, spatial, naturalist, and emotional intelligence. Socially, humans are "zoon politikon" or social animals, existing within structured groups or societies characterized by culture and elements like language, ideas, values, objects, and institutions. The process of socialization is carried out by agents such as the family, school, media, and peers.
Culture, Social Contracts, and the Philosophies of Suspicion
Responses to cultural variety include cultural relativism, which views all cultures as equally valid; ethnocentrism, which views some as superior or inferior (often linked to aporophobia as discussed by Adela Cortina); and integration, which involves rejecting intolerable practices while accepting diverse cultures. Philosophers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Hobbes explored the social contract, where individuals trade liberty for security. Rousseau believed humans are naturally good but corrupted by society, while Hobbes believed humans are naturally selfish and require a totalitarian society for order.
Justice is the act of giving each person their due, which can be legal, equitable, or distributive. Ethics involves seeking the good, with theories like Utilitarianism (seeking the greatest good for the most people) and Kant's Categorical Imperative (treating every human as an end in themselves). Punishment can be viewed as either a learning tool or a form of coercion.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the "Philosophers of Suspicion" challenged traditional views of the human person. Karl Marx emphasized the concrete human in concrete circumstances rather than an abstract concept, arguing that unequal conditions lead to alienation. Friedrich Nietzsche defined man by the will to power, driven by instinct rather than reflection. Sigmund Freud identified the unconscious parts of the mind that define human actions and desires, utilizing psychoanalysis to study these fragmented elements and manifesting them through dreams and theories like the Oedipus and Electra complexes.
Knowledge, Logic, and Rhetoric
Knowledge is achieved through a process of abstraction. Logic is the tool used to analyze language, which can be natural (colloquial and ambiguous) or artificial (codes and formal logic). Inference is the process of moving from observations or premises to a conclusion. This includes deduction (general to particular, providing total support), induction (particular to general, providing partial support), and abduction (moving from a fact to the best possible explanation).
A syllogism is a form of logical reasoning consisting of premises and a conclusion. It involves terms: the subject (), the predicate (), and the middle term (), which appears only in the premises. Syllogisms follow four structural figures based on the placement of the middle term. To aid in memorizing valid structures, Pedro Hispana created mnemonic rules like "Barbara," "Celarent," "Darii," and "Ferio" for the first figure, and others like "Cesare," "Camestres," "Festino," and "Baroco" for the second. Rules for valid syllogisms state that there must be exactly three terms, no term in the conclusion can be more extensive than in the premises, and the middle term must be universal ( or ) at least once. From two negative or two particular premises, no valid conclusion follows. The conclusion always follows the "weaker" premise, meaning if one premise is negative or particular, the conclusion must also be negative or particular. Fallacies are errors in reasoning, categorized as formal (structural) or informal (content-based), including arguments such as Ad Hominem, Ad Baculum, Ad Misericordiam, and Post hoc ergo propter hoc.
Language disciplines include Rhetoric (the art of using language effectively to persuade), Oratory (the art of public speaking with eloquence), and Dialectic (debate to reach the truth). Ancient university education was divided into the Trivium (Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic) and the Quadrivium (Music, Astrology, Geometry, Arithmetic). Aristotle divided discourse into three types: Deliberative or Political (future-oriented, focused on utility), Forensic or Judicial (past-oriented, focused on justice), and Epidictic (present-oriented, focused on praise or blame). A successful discourse follows five steps: Inventio (finding ideas through Logos, Ethos, and Pathos), Dispositio (organizing the material into Exordium, Narratio, Argumentatio, and Peroratio), Elocutio (choosing the language style: high, medium, or simple), Memoria (memorizing the ideas), and Actio (delivering the speech including non-verbal language).