PHILOSOPHY

What is philosophy?

The love of wisdom

Attempt to answer question by using reason or reflection

Ex: Is war ever justified?

Ex: Do things have value only because we value them?

Characteristics of a Philosophical question

Two kinds of truth

Contingent truth - a statement is continently true if it “could” have been false

“could” means logically possible and conceivable

Since contingent truth could have been false we must rely on sense experience to know them

sense experience - seeing, hearing, touching etc … physical evidence

Necessary truths -a statement is necessarily true if they must be true

Eternal truths & true by definition

Contradictions - “ I an not talking right now”

Traditional Picture of reality

By a large there is a mind independent world that exists has the charectoristics does independently……

A statement is true when it corresponds to a fact