1. Unit 1 – What is Philosophy and Why do It?
Professor D’Ascoli
PHI 2010

2. Key people and terms Modern Philosophy
Jean Paul Sartre – 20th c. French Existentialist Philosopher – father of modern philosophy - Influenced by his relationship with the author Simone de Beauvoir
Friedrich Nietzsche – 19th c. German philosopher – most famous for his works on religion and morality

3. Key People and Terms Ancient Philosophy
William Arthur Butler – Irish historian of philosophy – first ‘complete’ history of philosophy – opened it as a new field of study
Thales of Miletus – pre-Socratic Greek philosopher/scientist. Considered first Western philosopher. Attempted for the first time to explain the natural world in terms of natural phenomenon and not supernatural explanations.

4. Key People and Terms
Identity – the relation each thing bears just to itself. The notion of identity gives rise to many philosophical problems including the identity of indiscernibles and questions about change and personal identity over time
Theory – a set of sentences in a formal language. Usually a deductive system and understood from context. Not a guess… a mathematical formula that can be proven

5. Key terms
Rational – the quality or state of being agreeable to reason. An action, belief or desire is rational if we ought to choose it. Rationality is a normative concept that refers to conformity of one’s beliefs with one’s reason to believe, or of one’s actions with one’s reason for action.
Natural Rights – as opposed to legal/civil rights made by men, natural rights are not contingent on laws or society, they exist independently

6. Key Terms
Political Philosophy – study of politics, liberty, justice, property rights, law and legal codes.
Institutional Theory – a widely accepted theoretical posture that emphasizes rational myths, isomorphism and legitimacy. 2 trends : (1) Old institutional – related to historical institutionalism; (2) New institutionalism – focuses on deeper and more resilient aspects of social structure.
Social Philosophy – study of questions about social behavior typical of humans. Concepts and principles of society

7. Key Terms
Analytic Philosophy – in the English speaking world it is the dominant type. A broad tradition characterized by an emphasis on clarity and argument, often achieved by modern formal logic and a respect for natural sciences.
Logic – the study of valid reasoning.
Aesthetic – study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. Critical reflection on art, culture and nature (a field of Axiology)

8. Key Terms
Inference – the act of process deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true.
Fallacies – misconception resulting from incorrect reason
Tautology – a formula which is true in every possible interpretation
Antecedent – first half of a hypothetical proposition
Post hoc – (after this) – logical fallacy that claims since an event followed this one, that said event was caused by this one

9. Key Terms
Continental Philosophy – 19th – 20th century philosophy from mainland Europe.
Deconstruction – a form of semiotic analysis derived mainly from Jacques Derrida (Grammatology). The proposal that all texts contain the binary opposition in constructing meaning and values. The first task is to overturn all binary oppositions

10. Pre- Socratics Thales of Miletus - Water Anaximenes of Miletus - Air
Anaximander of Miletus – Apeiron (Absence of limit, boundless, infinite) All 4 elements originally from within Apeiron
These 3 are also known as the Milesians
All concerned with fundamental question – What is the world made of?
Maintained world was constantly in flux
There are an infinite plurality of things in the world – everything is different – infinite variation
Everything is made of same ‘stuff’
Greeks thought this stuff was the Arche (source/beginning/ruler)
The Arche is alive, imbued with spirit, it was divine and intelligent – matter is alive

11. Pre-Socratics
Heraclitus – 540 BCE- Ephesus – He was very obscure intentionally. Anything worth having is worth ‘digging into.’ Famous for paradoxes.
A single principle guides mankind – The Logos – it contains an objective Truth – positivism – yet most people are too ignorant to see it.
3 main ideas
1) everything is in flux
2) the world is an ever living fire
3) war is the father of all.

12. Pre-Socratics
Parmenides – 5th century BCE, from Elea (sw Italy). Most influential of all pre-Socratics although also most ridiculous.
Our experience of the world is an unequivocal illusion. Nothing moves of changes, nothing is born or dies. There is in fact no separate things. Reality is one thing – never changing, never ending. No past, present or future – all continuous.
Something cannot emerge from nothing
Nothing can morph from one thing to another
Paradox – contrary to appearances

13. Pre-Socratics
Empedocles – 490 BCE in Acagras – most colorful of pre-Socratics. Strong scientific mindset alongside deep spiritual longing.
An innumerable number of earth, air, fire and water that are always existing, they cannot change but they do mingle.
This mingling causes all things to come into existence depending on the mixture of the particles – change occurs when particles are added or lost.
There are 2 forces in the Cosmos (universe) – Love (attraction) and Strife (repulsion)
Strife appears to be winning as the world is getting worse (Empedocles explained)

14. Pre-Socratics
Anaxagoras – first philosopher to separate mind and matter, created a theory of matter, considered himself a citizen of the universe (putting no preference on being Greek as others had)
Being alive is better because one can study the universe
He dismissed Empedocles explanation of particles
Everything is in Everything – literal interpretation. Everything preexists in everything. An apple has everything in it (blood, flesh, bone, rocks, etc). So why are things different?
The Principle of Predominance – each thing is what it is because of highest concentration of what is in it. An object has the most of itself in it (an apple is mostly made of apple, yet still have everything else in it).
Divides universe into mind and matter – matter does not have intelligence. Matter is moved by the mind (Nous) – it is the intelligent force that moves the universe.

15. Pre-Socratics
Democritus – 460 BCE, Abdura in Greece. One of the founders of atomism alongside Leucippus (his teacher)
Atomism – influenced mechanical philosophy of Descartes, Galilei, Newton – the universe is composed of tiny building blocks known as atoms (held until late 20th century). All things are made of atoms, little particles that move around in perpetual motion.

16. Socrates
Athenian Philosopher – Founder of Western Philosophy, BCE
The Socratic Problem – little can be known about Socrates without hesitation, many sources contradict one another. He wrote nothing himself.
Most of what we know comes from Plato, his student. Others wrote about him as well: Xenophon, Aristophanes and Aristotle

17. Socrates and Philosophy
Philosophy – love of wisdom
Why live if you don’t seek knowledge?
The unexamined life is not worth living.
The only thing I know is that I do not know anything.
Socrates has 3 periods of his teachings as per Plato – Early, Middle and Late
In these writings, Socrates philosophy changes and evolves
He starts as merely a moral philosopher, in the middle and late, he becomes concerned with all aspects of life and philosophy.
Epicurus and Zeno -
Pythagoras -