What is philosophy - philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, logic, values and reason, the mind and language. The word philosophy comes from two greek words: philein, which means to love, and sofia which means wisdom. Anthony Quinton wrote that philosophy is “thinking about thinking”. Philosophy shows a commitment to being open-minded and a search for truth. 

Origins of philosophy - there is an argument about  where philosophy originated. Some believe that it came from ancient egypt, asia, or ancient greece. It’s generally agreed that western ideas of philosophy originated from athens in 5th century BCE

Nature and aims of philosophy - in this forum, philosophy amounted to a willingness to pursue an argument to its conclusion, challenging it at every stage and seeing it as open to refutation

The philosopher’s approach - key to the philosopher’s approach is autonomy. Beyond understanding concepts, philosophers seek to understand what exists and the nature of existence, they reject anyone’s word that a thing is a certain way. Searching for meaning, not just explanations and observations. Practicing autonomy through, where people can freely make rational decisions. The philosopher’s approach involves a double commitment: firstly, to the truth, rejecting what could be false, and to moral values like honesty, openness, and impartiality

Skills philosophers need in the search for knowledge - language, definitions and clarity, critical thinking, and reading philosophy

First order language - more direct, is it wrong to day drink

Seconder order language - going deeper into the first order question. What does it mean to say day drinking is right or wrong? What does right even mean?

6 major areas of philosophy - logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, social/political philosophy

Logic - coming from greek word logos, the study or formal reasoning. Trying to differentiate between right and wrong or true and false through correct reasoning. Exposing faulty arguments and examining assumptions

Metaphysics - study of the basic structures of reality. Considered by many philosophers to be the ‘first philosophy”. 

Epistemology - study of knowledge and is worthy of belief by a rational person. Questioning what it means to know, how much we can trust our senses, and how/if we can be certain of what we know

Ethics - comes from the greek word ethos, meaning character. Often seen as synonymous with morals and can be defined as “moral philosophy” study what good/bad character traits are. 

Aesthetics - philosophy of art and beauty. Tries to explain how people perceive and assess the meaning, purpose, and impression of art/beauty

Social and political philosophy - asks questions of how society should be organized to meet people’s needs. 

The socratic method - cooperative dialogue created by socrates to stimulate critical thinking. poses a question about a complex issue or a commonly held belief, the response is scrutinized through further questioning. Process continues with rounds of questioning until a more precise definition or deeper insight comes along. 

Three main questions about human nature - are we altrusists or egoists? Are we good or evil? Do we desire knowledge or comfortable ignorance?

Altruist - will care for and help others even when it doesn’t benefit them

Egoist - person who cares only for their needs and what will benefit them

Hobbes on human nature - wrote in his book Leviathan the self-interest/egoism is human nature. We are inherently greedy and aggressive. We are naturally antisocial and cooperation/socialization is solely used to better one’s position. 

John Stuart Mill on human nature - countered Hobbes’s idea of human nature. Believed that while humans have a degree of self interest, he focused on the idea of kindness and benevolence within us. 

Aristotle on the desire to know - aristotle recognized the link between humans and animals. He called humans “rational/civilized animals”. To him we were animals capable of acquiring knowledge. We are unique because we pursue both knowledge and happiness, which are mutually supportive. 

John Stuart Mill on the desire to know - Mill argued that humans desire knowledge above all else and no one would prefer ignorant bliss over informed normality. 

The Good Brahman - philosophical short story by french philosopher Voltaire. Brahman is wise and knowledgeable but deeply unhappy. He lives next to an old lady who is ignorant and stupid but happy. Brahman still decides that he’d rather be himself, wise and unhappy. 

The experience machine  - thought experiment proposed by Robert Nozick. There is a machine that can provide any pleasurable or desirable experience you want. Once you are plugged in  you won’t know that this life is artificial, and you abandon your real life experiences. 

Socrates on good/evil human nature - socrates says that people don’t choose to do evil. “To know good is to do good”. 

Mengzi on good/evil human nature - said that people are naturally good and that the urge to conform is human nature. He also thought that if we don’t cultivate ourselves we can turn into bad people. 

Hsun Tzu on good/evil human nature - said that people were naturally evil, but also stressed that education can help humans control our natural evil tendencies. Desire to do good cannot be a motivator. We desire to do good due to our evil nature

Essentialists on human nature - things have a set of characteristics that define them. These qualities precede and coninicde with its existence and are necessary to the thing’s identity

Plato’s essentialist view on human nature - felt that reason is the necessary and defining part of humans

Plato’s tripartite theory of the soul - there are three elements of the soul. Spirit (as expressed through emotions and characteristics), appetite (base primal urges), and reason. Reason is the dominant trait because it balances conflict between the two other elements. Could of been the basis for freud’s iceberg and maslow’s hierarchy of needs. 

Essence - the fundamental nature of a thing, what makes it what it is. Shared by all members of a species but no two essences are the same. Essence or form gives matter its identity. Permanent, unalterable, and unchangeable in every possible world

Aristotle on essence - defined essence as things that members in a category all possess, without they cannot be members of the category

Freud on essence - defined the essence with his own theory of the ID, ego, and superego

Diana Fuss on essence - defined essentialism as a common belief in the real true essence of things. The “whatness” of a given entity

Classical humanism - an essentialist view of human nature as something eternal and unchangeable

Buddhist Challenge to essentialism - self is an illusion/doesn’t exist and searching for an illusion can cause pain and anxiety and destruction. All things move and change. Doctrine of impermanence

Scientific challenge to essentialism -  humans are biochemical/mechanical machines. Thinking and reasoning are just functions of the brain, there’s no ghost in the machine

Behaviourism - coined by BF Skinner, human behaviour/nature is controlled by our environment

Feminist challenge to essentialism - aristotle thought that men’s superior reasoning makes them natural rulers over women, questioning the essential characteristics of men, women, and different races. Feminists challenges this notion, as well as the importance of reason over empathy/intuition

Existentialist challenge to essentialism - focusing on individual autonomy and one’s need to make decisions for themselves. Existence precedes essence; we are free to make ourselves, to decide our own nature or identity. Means life may have no meaning at all, creating existential angst

Existentialism - Movement that examines subjective individual meaning and purpose. Pursuing meaning in what seems meaningless. Focusing on the philosophy of death, reason, and ontology. Focusing on individual autonomy and the need to make reasoned decisions for oneself. Existence precedes essence

Existentialist thinkers - kierkegard, nietzshe, sartre, beauvoir, camus

What is philosophy - philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, logic, values and reason, the mind and language. The word philosophy comes from two greek words: philein, which means to love, and sofia which means wisdom. Anthony Quinton wrote that philosophy is “thinking

Name three philosophical system builders and explain what they built - Plato felt that reason is necessary and defining part of humans. From this he built the tripartite system of the soul to explain human nature. Socrates created the socratic method, a cooperative dialogue to stimulate critical thinking and gain deeper insight. Aristotle focused on the concept of essence, with substance as the primary reality. He defined essence as things that members in a category all possess, without they cannot be members of the category, placing all beings into categories, with substance being the most fundamental category. 

What is the socratic method - a cooperative dialogue created by socrates to stimulate critical thinking. poses a question about a complex issue or a commonly held belief, the response is scrutinized through further questioning. Process continues with rounds of questioning until a more precise definition or deeper insight comes along. 

What is a philosophical argument?  - a philosophical argument is a reasoned set of statements or propositions that work together to support a concluding statement. 

Name and explain all 6 areas of philosophical enquiry - the six areas are. logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, social/political philosophy. Logic comes from greek word logos, the study or formal reasoning. Trying to differentiate between right and wrong or true and false through correct reasoning. Exposing faulty arguments and examining assumptions. Metaphysics is the study of the basic structures of reality. Considered by many philosophers to be the ‘first philosophy”. Epistemology is the study of knowledge and is worthy of belief by a rational person. Questioning what it means to know, how much we can trust our senses, and how/if we can be certain of what we know. Ethics comes from the greek word ethos, meaning character. Often seen as synonymous with morals and can be defined as “moral philosophy” study what good/bad character traits are. Aesthetics is the philosophy of art and beauty. Tries to explain how people perceive and assess the meaning, purpose, and impression of art/beauty. social/political philosophy asks questions of how society should be organized to meet people’s needs. 

How is Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" representative of philosophy - the allegory of the cave represents philosophy because it illustrates the journey from ignorance to enlightenment. The cave symbolizes those who solely rely on empirical evidence, and the shadows are illusions of truth. Through the prisoners we see the futility of those who claim mastery as a result of empirical evidence without true knowledge or understanding. The escape is the philosopher’s quest for knowledge beyond the senses. The whole story highlights the resistance and fear people who towards philosophical truths and philosophers. 

What are altruism and egoism - altruism is the idea that humans will care for and help others even when it doesn’t benefit them. Egoism is the idea that humans only care for themselves and what will benefit them. 

What and what are essentialists - essentialist thinkers include Aristotle, Freud, Diana Fuss, and Saint Augustine of Hippo. Essentialists believe that  things have a set of characteristics that define them. These qualities precede and coninicde with its existence and are necessary to the thing’s identity

What is plato’s tripartite theory of the soul - there are three elements of the soul. Spirit (as expressed through emotions and characteristics), appetite (base primal urges), and reason. Reason is the dominant trait because it balances conflict between the two other elements. Could of been the basis for freud’s iceberg and maslow’s hierarchy of needs. 

What is essence - essence is the fundamental nature of a thing, what makes it what it is. Shared by all members of a species but no two essences are the same. Essence or form gives matter its identity. Permanent, unalterable, and unchangeable in every possible world

What is existentialism - Movement that examines subjective individual meaning and purpose. Pursuing meaning in what seems meaningless. Focusing on the philosophy of death, reason, and ontology. Focusing on individual autonomy and the need to make reasoned decisions for oneself. Existence precedes essence

Thomas Hobbes (intro) - english philosopher wrote Leviathan and believed that self-interest/egoism is human nature. We are inherently greedy and aggressive. We are naturally antisocial and cooperation/socialization is solely used to better one’s position. 

John Stuart Mill (intro) - english philosopher who countered Hobbes’s idea of human nature. Believed that while humans have a degree of self interest, he focused on the idea of kindness and benevolence within us. He argued that humans have a desire to know. We desire knowledge above all else and no one would prefer ignorant bliss over informed normality. 

Aristotle (intro) - greek philosopher who recognized the link between humans and animals. He called humans “rational/civilized animals”. To him we were animals capable of acquiring knowledge. We are unique because we pursue both knowledge and happiness, which are mutually supportive. defined essence as things that members in a category all possess, without they cannot be members of the category

Plato (intro)  -  greek philosopher who felt that reason is the necessary and defining part of humans. Came up with the tripartite theory of the soul. felt that the soul is different from the body, existing both before birth and after death. Felt that philsophers should prepare for life after death

Socrates (intro) - greek philsopher who said that that people don’t choose to do evil. “To know good is to do good”. interested in agreeing upon definitions in philosophical discussions. Created the socratic mehtod

Descartes (intro) - French philosopher who believed that humans are born with innate ideas such as God, the self, and mathematical truths. He also believed that the most important way to understand human nature is through studying consciousness and thought.