Absolutely. Since this covers a lot of material, I’d turn it into a master study note with simple definitions, key ideas, and what you should remember for the exam.
PHILOS 01 — Master Study Notes
1. Ideas of Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy means the love of wisdom. It is the study of big questions about reality, knowledge, morality, existence, and how we should live.
Philosophy begins in wonder
Philosophy begins when we become curious and ask “Why?” or “What is this?” instead of simply accepting things as they appear.
Example:
Instead of just seeing a tree, a philosopher might ask:
• What does it mean for something to exist?
• How do I know the tree is really there?
• What makes something alive?
Arguments
An argument is reasoning used to support a conclusion.
• Premises = reasons/evidence
• Conclusion = what the argument is trying to prove
Example:
• Premise: All humans are mortal.
• Premise: Socrates is human.
• Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.
2. Fallacies of Reasoning
A fallacy is a mistake in reasoning that makes an argument weak or misleading.
Important idea
A fallacy can sound convincing but still be logically wrong.
When studying fallacies, ask:
“Does the evidence actually support the conclusion?”
3. Branches of Philosophy
Branch Main Question
Logic How should we reason correctly?
Epistemology What is knowledge? How do we know?
Metaphysics What is reality/existence?
Ethics What is right and wrong? How should we live?
Aesthetics What is beauty/art?
Social & Political Philosophy How should society and government work?
Easy way to remember:
Logic = reasoning
Epistemology = knowledge
Metaphysics = reality
Ethics = morality
Aesthetics = beauty
Political philosophy = society/government
4. Socrates
5
Who was Socrates?
Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher who focused heavily on questioning people and examining their beliefs.
He did not write books himself. Much of what we know about him comes from Plato's dialogues.
The Delphic Oracle
The Oracle at Delphi reportedly declared that no one was wiser than Socrates.
Socrates questioned this because he believed he was not wise.
He eventually realized that his wisdom came from recognizing his own ignorance.
“One thing only I know, I know nothing.”
This expresses Socratic humility.
Socrates understood that recognizing what you do not know is an important form of wisdom.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Socrates believed people should examine their beliefs, choices, and lives rather than simply going along with everyone else.
Trial of Socrates
Socrates was charged with:
1. Corrupting the youth
2. Not believing in the gods of Athens
3. Introducing new gods/deities
He was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Metaphors of Socrates
Midwife
• Socrates compared himself to a midwife.
• A midwife helps someone give birth.
• Socrates believed he helped people give birth to ideas through questioning.
Gadfly
• A gadfly is an insect that annoys or stings.
• Socrates saw himself as someone who bothered Athens by challenging people to think.
Stingray
• A stingray can paralyze or numb someone.
• Socrates' questioning could leave people confused and unsure of what they thought they knew.
Remember Socrates:
QUESTION EVERYTHING + EXAMINE YOUR LIFE + RECOGNIZE YOUR IGNORANCE
5. Plato
5
Plato was a student of Socrates.
He wrote dialogues, many of which feature Socrates.
Plato's Two Realms
Physical realm
The world we experience with our senses.
Characteristics:
• Time
• Change/becoming
• Physical objects
• Opinion
Metaphysical realm
A higher, unchanging reality.
Characteristics:
• Eternity
• Being
• Forms
• Knowledge
Forms
Forms are perfect, unchanging realities or concepts.
Example:
You can see many different chairs, but Plato would say there is a perfect Form of Chair that individual chairs imperfectly represent.
6. Allegory of the Cave
The Allegory of the Cave explains the difference between appearance and reality.
Imagine prisoners chained inside a cave. They can only see shadows on a wall and believe the shadows are reality.
One prisoner escapes and discovers the outside world.
What it means:
Cave = ignorance
Shadows = appearances/opinions
Leaving cave = gaining knowledge
Outside world = higher reality
Sun = ultimate truth/the Good
Main idea:
People may mistake what they see or believe for reality. Education and philosophy can help people discover deeper truth.
7. Divided Line of Knowledge
Plato divides understanding into levels.
Lower levels:
Images → Physical objects
Higher levels:
Mathematical reasoning → Forms
The higher you move, the closer you get to genuine knowledge.
Easy idea:
Opinion → Reasoning → Knowledge
8. Aristotle
6
Aristotle was a student of Plato but disagreed with some of Plato's ideas.
Universals
A universal is a characteristic shared by many individual things.
Example:
Many different objects can be red.
The individual objects are different, but redness is something they share.
Third Man Argument
This is an argument that challenges Plato's theory of Forms.
If individual things and their Form are both “man,” then you may need another Form to explain what they have in common.
This could continue forever.
Basic idea:
Plato's Forms may create an infinite regress.
9. Potentiality and Actuality
Aristotle believed things have:
Potentiality
What something could become.
Actuality
What something is currently.
Example:
A seed has the potentiality to become a tree.
A grown tree is the actuality of that potential.
Remember:
Potential = could be
Actual = is
10. Aristotle's Four Causes
Aristotle used four causes to explain why something exists or what explains it.
1. Material Cause
What is it made of?
Example: A statue is made of marble.
2. Formal Cause
What is its form/design?
Example: The shape of the statue.
3. Efficient Cause
Who or what made it?
Example: The sculptor.
4. Final Cause
What is its purpose?
Example: The statue was created as a memorial.
Memory trick:
Material = matter
Formal = form
Efficient = maker
Final = purpose
11. Aristotle's Ethics
Aristotle asked:
How can human beings live a happy life?
He believed happiness comes from living excellently and developing virtue.
Eudaimonia
Eudaimonia = human flourishing / living well
It is more than temporary pleasure.
It means living a good, meaningful, virtuous life.
The Golden Mean
Virtue is often found between two extremes.
Deficiency ← Mean → Excess
Example: Courage
• Cowardice = deficiency
• Courage = mean
• Recklessness = excess
Important:
The mean is not always exactly halfway.
It is the appropriate amount for the situation.
Aristotle:
Virtue = finding the appropriate mean between extremes.
12. Ten Categories of Aristotle
Aristotle developed categories for describing what things are.
Important categories include:
• Substance
• Quantity
• Quality
• Relation
• Place
• Time
• Position
• State
• Action
• Passion
Most important:
Substance = what something fundamentally is.
13. Hellenistic Philosophers
After Aristotle, philosophy became strongly focused on:
How should I live?
Three important philosophers/traditions in your study guide are:
• Epicurus
• Epictetus
• Plotinus
14. Epicurus
5
Epicurus believed pleasure is the greatest good, but he did not mean constant partying or luxury.
For Epicurus, the best life is peaceful and free from unnecessary suffering.
Goals:
• Peace of mind
• Health of the body
• Avoid unnecessary pain
• Avoid unnecessary fear
Important:
Not every pleasure should be chosen.
Sometimes a pleasure can cause greater pain later.
Example:
Eating too much junk food might feel pleasurable now but make you feel sick later.
Types of Pleasures
Natural and necessary
Things necessary for basic well-being.
Examples:
• Food
• Water
• Shelter
Natural but unnecessary
Pleasures that are natural but aren't required.
Unnatural/unnecessary
Desires that can become excessive.
Examples:
• Extreme wealth
• Fame
• Status
Letter to Menoeceus
Epicurus explains his philosophy of living a peaceful and happy life.
Remember Epicurus:
Good life = simple pleasures + peace of mind + little fear
15. Epictetus
5
Epictetus was a Stoic philosopher.
Stoicism teaches that we should focus on what is within our control and accept what is outside our control.
What is in our power?
Things such as:
• Our judgments
• Our choices
• Our reactions
• Our attitudes
What is beyond our power?
Things such as:
• Other people's actions
• The past
• Other people's opinions
• Many external events
Famous idea:
“People are disturbed not by things but the views they take of things.”
Meaning:
The event itself isn't always what causes our emotional reaction. Our interpretation of the event matters.
Another important quote:
“Demand not that things happen as you wish…”
Meaning:
Don't demand that reality match exactly what you want.
Instead, learn to accept reality and respond wisely.
The Enchiridion
The Enchiridion is a handbook/summary of Stoic teachings associated with Epictetus.
Remember Epictetus:
CONTROL WHAT YOU CAN + ACCEPT WHAT YOU CAN'T
16. Plotinus
Plotinus developed Neoplatonism, which was influenced by Plato.
The One
At the center of Plotinus' philosophy is The One.
The One is the ultimate source of reality.
It is beyond ordinary description.
Mystical Experience
Plotinus believed people could experience a mystical union with The One.
The Enneads
Plotinus' philosophical writings are collecte in The Enneads.
Remember:
Plotinus = Neoplatonism + The One + mystical experience
17. Hypatia
4
Hypatia was a:
• Neoplatonist philosopher
• Astronomer
• Mathematician
• Teacher
• Counselor
She was a pagan and was murdered in Alexandria.
Remember:
Hypatia = philosopher + mathematician + astronomer + teacher
18. Metaphysics & Epistemology
Metaphysics
Studies reality and existence.
Questions:
• What exists?
• What is reality?
• What is the nature of being?
Epistemology
Studies knowledge.
Questions:
• What is knowledge?
• How do we know something?
• Can we be certain?
19. Important Terminology
Dualism
Reality consists of two fundamentally different kinds of things.
Example:
• Mind
• Body
Materialism / Physicalism
Everything that exists is ultimately physical/material.
Easy:
Only physical reality exists.
Idealism
Reality is fundamentally connected to mind, ideas, or consciousness rather than matter alone.
Pantheism
God and the universe are understood as closely identified.
Easy:
God = nature/universe
Monism
Reality ultimately consists of one fundamental substance or reality.
Easy:
One fundamental reality
Skepticism
Questions whether we can have certain knowledge.
Easy:
“How do I know that I really know?”
20. Descartes
5
Descartes wanted to discover something that was certain.
Skepticism as the Key to Certainty
He used methodological doubt.
He questioned:
• His senses
• His experiences
• The external world
• Even mathematical beliefs
He wanted to doubt everything that could possibly be doubted.
Cogito Ergo Sum
“I think, therefore I am.”
Even if Descartes doubts everything, he cannot doubt that he is thinking.
And if he is thinking, he must exist as a thinking being.
Remember:
Doubting = thinking → thinking proves existence
Clear and Distinct Ideas
Descartes believed ideas that are perceived clearly and distinctly can provide certainty.
Cartesian Dualism
Descartes believed there are two fundamentally different substances:
Mind
• Thinking
• Nonphysical
Body
• Physical
• Extended in space
Remember:
Descartes = mind + body
21. Spinoza
=
5
Spinoza disagreed with Descartes' idea of two separate substances.
One Substance
Spinoza believed there is only one substance.
He identified this with God/Nature.
This makes Spinoza a form of monism.
Remember:
Spinoza = ONE substance
22. Conatus
Conatus = the drive or tendency of everything to preserve and continue its existence.
Think:
“I want to keep existing.”
It is like a fundamental life force or striving.
23. Spinoza: Active vs. Passive Emotions
This is important.
Passive emotions
These happen to us.
We are being affected by something outside ourselves.
Examples:
• Fear
• Jealousy
• Anger
• Sadness
We don't fully understand the cause, so we are less in control.
Active emotions
These come from understanding and reason.
When we understand why something happens, we become more capable of responding rationally.
Easy comparison:
Passive = something controls my emotional response
Active = understanding gives me greater control
Spinoza's goal:
Move from passive emotions → active emotions through understanding.
24. Thought and Extension
Spinoza described two attributes’ humans can understand:
Thought
The mental/intellectual aspect.
Extension
The physical/material aspect..
They are not two separate substances.
Instead, they are different ways of understanding the same underlying reality.
25. Leibniz
Leibniz believed reality is made up of fundamental units called monads.
Monads
Monads are:
• Nonphysical
• Simple/basic units of reality
• Not physical atoms
Remember:
Leibniz = Monads
Principle of Identity
Something is itself.
A = A.
Example:
A dog is a dog.
Principle of Sufficient Reason
Everything that happens or exists must have a sufficient reason explaining why it is that way rather than another way.
Easy:
“Why is this the way it is?”
There must be a reason.
— FINAL CRASH NOTES: PART 2
JOHN LOCKE
Tabula Rasa = “Blank Slate”
Locke believed the mind is not born filled with ideas.
Instead, the mind starts like a blank slate, and knowledge develops through experience.
Tabula rasa = blank slate
“Nothing exists in the mind that was not first in the senses.”
Meaning:
We first experience things through our senses, and those experiences become ideas in our minds.
Easy example:
Baby sees → hears → touches → tastes → experiences the world → develops knowledge.
🔑 Remember:
LOCKE = EXPERIENCE
GEORGE BERKELEY
Idealism
Berkeley believed that reality is fundamentally connected to perception/mind.
He rejected the idea that physical matter exists independently of perception in the way people usually assume.
Famous phrase:
Esse est percipi
Meaning:
“To be is to be perceived.”
Simple example:
You see a chair.
Berkeley focuses on the chair as something perceived rather than saying there is a completely independent material chair existing exactly as we imagine it outside perception.
🔑 Remember:
BERKELEY = PERCEPTION
DAVID HUME
Skepticism
Hume was skeptical about what we can know with certainty.
He argued that what we directly experience are perceptions.
Famous quote:
“The only existences of which we are certain, are perceptions.”
What does that mean?
You experience:
• sights
• sounds
• feelings
• thoughts
• sensations
But Hume questions whether we can be absolutely certain about things beyond those perceptions.
Modified Skeptic
Hume does not necessarily say:
“Nothing is real.”
Instead, he recognizes that humans naturally believe things based on experience, even though we cannot always prove them with absolute certainty.
🔑 Remember:
HUME = SKEPTICISM
Think:
“Can I really be certain?”
🧠 LOCKE vs. BERKELEY vs. HUME
This is VERY important.
Philosopher Main Idea Memory Word
Locke Knowledge comes from experience Experience
Berkeley Being is connected to perception Perception
Hume We should be skeptical about certainty Skepticism
Memorize this:
Locke → Experience
Berkeley → Perception
Hume → Skepticism
IMMANUEL KANT
Kant is probably one of the more difficult philosophers on your study guide, so don't overcomplicate him.
Copernican Revolution in Philosophy
Before Kant, philosophers often asked:
How does our mind understand the world?
Kant changed the way people thought about the relationship between the mind and reality.
His basic idea:
Our minds help structure the way we experience reality.
Instead of the mind simply receiving information from the world, the mind actively organizes experience.
Easy way to think about it:
World → Mind doesn't just receive it → Mind organizes experience
Phenomena vs. Noumena
This is VERY important.
Phenomena
What we experience/perceive.
It's reality as it appears to us.
Think:
Phenomena = appearance/experience
Noumena
Things-in-themselves.
Reality as it exists independently of how humans experience it.
Kant called this:
Das Ding-an-sich
German for:
“The Thing-In-Itself”
Think:
Phenomena = what I experience
Noumena = thing as it is in itself
🚨 SUPER EASY KANT MEMORY TRICK
P = Phenomena = Perceived
N = Noumena = Not directly known
So:
P = what appears
N = thing-in-itself
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
This is Kant's major idea in ethics.
The categorical imperative basically says:
Act according to principles that you could want everyone to follow.
Example:
You want to lie to get something.
Ask:
“What if everyone lied whenever it benefited them?”
If everyone did that, trust and communication would break down.
Therefore, lying isn't something you could consistently want as a universal rule.
Easy version:
Would it be okay if EVERYONE did this?
If not, don't do it.
🔑 Remember:
KANT = UNIVERSAL MORAL RULE
🧠 KANT IN ONE MINUTE
Kant:
Copernican Revolution
→ Mind helps organize experience.
Phenomena
→ Reality as we experience it.
Noumena
→ Things-in-themselves.
Categorical Imperative
→ Act according to rules you could want everyone to follow.
Memory sentence:
Kant says our minds organize experience, we experience phenomena rather than directly knowing noumena, and morality requires universal principles.
🌎 CONTINENTAL TRADITION
Now your study guide moves into:
Existentialism
Existentialism focuses heavily on the individual person and their experience of existence.
It asks questions like:
• Why am I here?
• What does my life mean?
• How should I live?
• How do I deal with suffering?
• Do I have freedom?
• How do I deal with uncertainty?
PHENOMENOLOGY
Phenomenology focuses on conscious experience.
Basically:
What is it like to experience something from the first-person perspective?
Instead of immediately asking whether something objectively exists, phenomenology examines how it appears in our experience.
Remember:
Phenomenology = experience/consciousness
EXISTENTIALISM — MAIN CONCEPTS
Your study guide gives you several phrases.
Let's translate them into normal language.
Focus on the individual
Existentialism focuses on your individual existence and choices.
Not just:
“What does society tell me to do?”
But:
“What am I going to choose?”
Confrontation with the world
Humans have to deal with a world that doesn't always give us clear answers.
Life can be confusing, difficult, and unpredictable.
Existential predicament
The difficult situation of being a human being who has:
• freedom
• responsibility
• uncertainty
• mortality
• choices
THE WORLD IS ABSURD
Absurd does not simply mean “funny.”
It means there can be a conflict between:
Our desire for meaning
and
A world that doesn't provide obvious meaning.
THE WORLD IS IRRATIONAL
The world doesn't always operate according to what seems fair or logical to us.
Bad things can happen to good people.
Good things can happen to bad people.
We don't always get answers.
EXISTENTIAL EMOTIONS
Your study guide lists:
• Senselessness
• Anxiety
• Dread
• Self-doubt
• Despair
These are connected to confronting existence and uncertainty.
Easy way:
“What am I supposed to do with my life when there aren't easy answers?”
That is an existential question.
SØREN KIERKEGAAR
4
Kierkegaard is considered an important precursor/foundational thinker of existentialism.
He focused heavily on:
• Individual existence
• Choice
• Anxiety
• Despair
• Faith
• Personal responsibility
Important idea:
Kierkegaard believed that individuals must personally confront the difficult choices of existence.
You cannot simply let society make all your choices for you.
NOLOGY
🌎 1. Continental Tradition
The Continental tradition focuses heavily on questions about:
• Human existence
• Meaning
• Freedom
• Individual experience
• Anxiety
• Society
• What it means to be human
Two major areas in your guide:
Existentialism
Focuses on the individual and their existence.
Phenomenology
Focuses on conscious experience and how things appear to us.
Easy memory:
Existentialism = How do I live?
Phenomenology = How do I experience?
EXISTENTIALISM
Main Concepts
Focus on the individual
Existentialists are interested in the individual people:
• Choices
• Freedom
• Responsibility
• Meaning
• Identity
Confrontation with the world
People must face a world that doesn't always give them easy answers.
Existential predicament
Humans must deal with:
• Freedom
• Choices
• Death
• Uncertainty
• Responsibility
• Meaning
The world is absurd
Absurd means there is a conflict between our desire for meaning and a world that may not provide obvious meaning.
The world is irrational
Life doesn't always make sense.
Things don't always happen according to what seems fair or logical.
Existential emotions
You may experience:
Anxiety → dread → self-doubt → despair
These can come from confronting freedom, uncertainty, death, and meaning.
🧔 2. SØREN KIERKEGAARD
4
⭐ Main idea:
The individual must personally choose how to live.
Kierkegaard is an important early existentialist thinker.
Three Stages of Life
1. Aesthetic Stage
Living for:
• Pleasure
• Entertainment
• Immediate experiences
The person avoids deeper commitment.
Think:
“I just want to enjoy myself.”
2. Ethical Stage
The person begins taking:
• Responsibility
• Commitment
• Morality
more seriously.
Think:
“I have responsibilities, and my choices matter.”
3. Religious Stage
The individual develops a personal relationship with God/faith.
This requires a leap of faith.
Leap of Faith
A leap of faith means making a commitment to faith even though you cannot prove everything through reason.
Important:
Kierkegaard believed faith involves personal commitment, not simply intellectually knowing facts about religion.
Importance of the Individual
Kierkegaard emphasized that truth and faith must become personally lived.
Remember:
Kierkegaard = Individual + stages + leap of faith
🧔♂️ 3. FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
4
Nietzsche is VERY important.
⭐ Main ideas:
Will to power + master/slave morality + Ubermensch + eternal recurrence
Eternal Recurrence
Nietzsche asks you to imagine:
What if you had to live your exact life over and over again forever?
Every decision.
Every mistake.
Every happiness.
Everything.
Why does he ask this?
It challenges you to ask:
“Am I living my life in a way that I could accept repeating forever?”
🐪 Camel → 🦁 Lion → 👶 Child
This represents stages of transformation.
🐪 Camel
The camel carries burdens.
Represents:
• Obedience
• Accepting traditional values
• Carrying expectations
Think:
“I will carry what society tells me.”
🦁 Lion
The lion fights against old values and expectations.
Represents:
• Rebellion
• Saying “No”
• Rejecting imposed values
Think:
“I refuse to simply accept what society tells me.”
👶 Child
The child represents:
• Creativity
• New beginnings
• Creating new values
• Freedom
Think:
“I can create my own values.”
⭐ Memorize:
Camel = obey
Lion = rebel
Child = create
Will to Power
The will to power is the drive to:
• Grow
• Overcome obstacles
• Develop oneself
• Express strength
• Create and achieve
It is more complicated than simply wanting political power.
Think:
“Become stronger and overcome yourself.”
Slave Morality vs. Master Morality
Slave Morality
Values associated with:
• Humility
• Weakness
• Submission
• Compassion
• Turning the other cheek
Nietzsche criticized morality that he believed glorified weakness.
Master Morality
Values associated with:
• Strength
• Achievement
• Confidence
• Excellence
• Self-assertion
Easy:
Slave morality → weakness/submission
Master morality → strength/self-assertion
Ubermensch
Ubermensch = Overman / Higher Human
A person who:
• Overcomes themselves
• Creates their own values
• Does not blindly follow society
• Strives for excellence
Important:
Don't think “superhero.”
Think:
Someone who creates and lives according to higher values rather than blindly following the crowd.
☕ 4. FRANZ KAFKA
5
The Metamorphosis
Kafka's famous story about Gregor Samsa, who wakes up transformed into a strange insect-like creature.
The story explores themes such as:
• Isolation
• Alienation
• Identity
• Meaning
• Family
• Absurdity
Remember:
Kafka = Metamorphosis = alienation/absurdity
🧔 5. ALBERT CAMUS
5
Camus is one of the most important existential/absurdist thinkers.
The Myth of Sisyphus
Sisyphus is condemned to push a huge rock up a hill.
Every time he gets near the top:
The rock rolls back down.
He has to do it again.
And again.
And again.
Why is this important?
It represents the human condition:
We search for meaning, but life may not give us a clear ultimate meaning.
Life is Absurd
Camus believed there is a conflict between:
Human desire for meaning
and
A universe that doesn't provide obvious meaning.
That's the absurd.
Revolt Against Absurdity
Camus' response isn't:
“Give up.”
Instead:
Recognize the absurd and continue living anyway.
We should live fully even without a guaranteed ultimate meaning.
Suicide as a Philosophical Question
Camus asks:
If life is absurd, is suicide the logical response?
His answer is essentially no.
Instead, we should confront absurdity and continue living.
Need for Clarity
Camus values honestly recognizing reality rather than comforting ourselves with false certainty.
Need for social warmth and contact
Humans still need:
• Connection
• Friendship
• Community
• Relationships
Even in an absurd world, relationships can make life richer.
Remember Camus:
Absurdity → don't give up → revolt/live → relationships
🧔♂️ 6. JEAN-PAUL SARTRE
6
Sartre is another VERY important philosopher.
Existence Precedes Essence
This is probably Sartre's most important phrase.
Traditional idea:
Something has an essence that determines what it is.
Sartre flips this for human beings.
Humans exist first.
Then:
We define ourselves through our choices.
So:
You are not born with a predetermined purpose that completely defines you.
You create yourself through your actions.
Memory:
Existence → choices → essence
Condemned to Be Free
Sartre believed humans are free.
But freedom is difficult because:
We are responsible for our choices.
You cannot completely escape responsibility by saying:
“I had no choice.”
Bad Faith
Bad faith = lying to yourself about your freedom/responsibility.
Example:
“I'm just this way. I can't change.”
Sartre might say you're denying your freedom.
Remember:
Bad faith = pretending you aren't free/responsible
Authenticity
Authenticity = honestly accepting your freedom and responsibility.
Instead of:
“Everyone else expects me to do this.”
You ask:
“What do I genuinely choose?”
Abandonment
Sartre's atheism means there is no God providing a predetermined moral rulebook.
Therefore, humans experience abandonment.
We are responsible for choosing our values.
Atheism
Sartre was an atheist existentialist.
Without God determining our essence or purpose:
We must create meaning through our choices.
Fundamental Project
Each person has an overall direction or project through which they try to make sense of their life.
It represents the way someone chooses to live and define themselves.
Remember Sartre:
Freedom + responsibility + choices + authenticity
👩 7. SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR
6
Simone de Beauvoir applied existentialist ideas to women's lives and social roles.
The Second Sex
Her famous book examines the ways women have been treated as the “Other” in society.
She challenged the idea that women's roles are simply natural or predetermined.
Free to Choose
Existentialism emphasizes that people have freedom and responsibility.
Beauvoir applies this to women:
Women should have the freedom to determine their own lives rather than being restricted by social expectations.
Remember:
Beauvoir = Existentialism + women + freedom
📚 8. EDMUND HUSSERL
4
Husserl is the major philosopher you need to associate with:
PHENOMENOLOGY
Phenomenology studies conscious experience.
Instead of immediately asking:
“What is the object really?”
Husserl asks:
“How does this object appear in my experience?”
Transcendental Phenomenology
Husserl wanted to investigate the structures of consciousness that make experience possible.
Bracketing
This is important.
Bracketing = temporarily setting aside assumptions about whether something objectively exists.
You're focusing on:
Your experience of the thing.
Example:
Instead of asking:
“Does this chair objectively exist?”
You ask:
“How do I experience this chair?”
Phenomenological Reduction
You reduce your attention to the experience itself.
Think:
Set aside assumptions → examine experience → understand consciousness
Consciousness
For Husserl, consciousness is always consciousness of something.
You're conscious of:
• A thought
• An object
• A memory
• A sound
• A person
Remember:
Husserl = Phenomenology = consciousness + experience + bracketing
🧔♂️ 9. MARTIN HEIDEGGER
5
Heidegger is focused heavily on:
BEING
His major question:
What does it mean to be?
Thrown Into the World
Humans don't choose:
• When they're born
• Where they're born
• Their family
• Their historical situation
We are thrown into a world that already exists.
Example:
You didn't choose:
“I want to be born in this country, during this year, into this family.”
You simply find yourself already here.
Remember:
Thrownness = I find myself already in a world I didn't choose.
Sinn
Sinn = sense / meaning
Heidegger is interested in how human beings understand and interpret meaning.
Everydayness
Most of the time, people simply go through everyday routines:
• Wake up
• Go to school
• Work
• Eat
• Scroll
• Sleep
We can become absorbed in everyday life without deeply questioning our existence.
Think:
Everydayness = ordinary routine life
Care
Care is central to Heidegger's understanding of human existence.
Humans are always concerned with:
• Their lives
• Other people
• Their future
• Their responsibilities
• What matters to them
Simple:
Being human means caring about things.
Chatter
Chatter means the constant talk/opinions circulating around us.
It can keep us from genuinely thinking for ourselves.
Example:
“Everyone says college is supposed to be like this.”
“Everyone says success means this.”
“Everyone says I should do this.”
Heidegger asks whether you're actually thinking for yourself.
The Question of Being
This is Heidegger's BIG question:
What does it mean to be?
Not simply:
“What things exist?”
But:
“What is Being itself?”
Poetry
Heidegger believed poetry can help reveal Being and meaning in ways ordinary everyday language may not.
Remember:
Heidegger = Being + thrownness + everydayness + care
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