1. © 2013 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.
Doing Philosophy
An Introduction through
Thought Experiments
Theodore Schick, Jr.
Lewis Vaughn
© 2013 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.
McGraw-Hill

2. Chapter 1 The Philosophical Enterprise

3. Section 1.1 Explaining the Possibility of the Impossible
Philosophical Problems and Theories

4. Philosophy begins in wonder:
What sort of things are there? Is the universe composed solely of matter or does it contain immaterial things like souls?
How can we tell? Is sense experience the only source of knowledge or are there other ways of knowing?
What are our obligations to others? Do we have a duty to help them or just not to harm them?

5. Philosophy: Love of Wisdom
From the Greek, philo meaning “love” and sophia meaning “wisdom”

6. “The Unexamined Life is not Worth Living”--Socrates
If our philosophy is flawed, we may spend our lives pursuing false ideals, worshipping false gods, and nurturing false hopes.

7. Philosophy and Freedom
If we haven’t freely chosen the principles upon which our thoughts and actions are based, our thoughts and actions aren’t truly free.

8. Branches of Philosophy
Metaphysics: the study of reality
Epistemology: the study of knowledge
Axiology: the study of value
Logic: the study of the good reasoning

9. Philosophical Problems
Some of our beliefs about the nature of reality, knowledge, and value seem inconsistent with one another.
If two beliefs are inconsistent with one another, both cannot be true.
In an attempt to discover the truth, philosophy attempts to eliminate the inconsistency.

10. Classic Philosophical Problems
The Mind-Body Problem
The Problem of Free Will
The Problem of Personal Identity
The Problem of Relativism and Morality
The Problem of God and Evil
The Problem of Skepticism and Knowledge

11. The Mind-Body Problem
If the mind is immaterial, how can it interact with the body?

12. The Problem of Free Will
If every event is caused, how can there be free will?

13. The Problem of Personal Identity
If we are constantly changing, how can we retain our identity over time?

14. The Problem of Relativism and Morality
If everything is relative, how can there be objective moral standards?

15. The Problem of God and Evil
If God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good, how can there be evil in the world?

16. The Problem of Skepticism and Knowledge
If knowledge requires certainty, and if our only source of knowledge is sense experience, how can we acquire knowledge of the external world?

17. Solving Philosophical Problems
Philosophical problems arise because the belief that certain concepts apply to certain things seems to conflict with other beliefs we have.
To show how its possible (or why it’s impossible) for a concept to apply, we have to identify the conditions for applying it.

18. Necessary Conditions
A necessary condition is a requirement; it’s a condition that must be met in order for something to occur or exist.
For example, your taking the required number of courses is a necessary condition for graduating because you graduate only if you took the required number of courses.

19. Sufficient Conditions
A sufficient condition fulfills all the requirements of something.
For example, graduating is a sufficient condition for completing all of your course requirements because if you graduate, you have fulfilled all of the requirements.

20. The Logic of Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
If X is a necessary condition for Y, then Y implies X.
For example, being a cow (Y) implies being an animal (X). (Something is a cow only if it is a mammal.)
If X is a sufficient condition for Y, then X implies Y.
For example, being the Pope (X) implies being a bachelor (Y). (If someone is the Pope, then he is a bachelor.)

21. Possibility and Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
If X is a necessary condition for Y, it is impossible for Y to occur without X.
For example, being a citizen of the US is a necessary condition for being President.
If X is a sufficient condition for Y, it is impossible for X to occur without Y.
For example, getting your head chopped off is a sufficient condition for dying.

22. Socrates (469 – 399 B.C.)
Thought to be the wisest man in ancient Greece by the Oracle at Delphi
Accused of corrupting the youth and worshipping false gods.
Sentenced to death by drinking hemlock.

23. Euthyphro on the Nature of the Holy
Something is holy if and only if it is pleasing to the gods.
But what’s pleasing to one god may not be pleasing to another.
The same thing can’t be holy and unholy at the same time and in the same respect.
So Euthyphro’s analysis of the holy must be mistaken.

24. Scientific vs. Philosophical Problems
Scientists want to know how it’s possible for certain events to occur.
For example: how is it possible for Uranus to have the orbit it does given Newton’s laws of motion.
Philosophers want to know how it’s possible for certain concepts to apply.
For example: how is it possible for us to have free will given that every event has a cause.

25. Science and the Scientific Method
Scientists solve scientific problems by explaining what makes an event occur.
For example, scientists explained Uranus’s orbit by discovering Neptune.
Philosophers solve philosophical problems by explaining what makes a concept apply.
For example, philosophers can explain free will by discovering the conditions under which the concept free will applies.

26. Socrates and the Socratic Method
Identify a problem or pose a question. (“What makes the concept x apply?”)
Propose a hypothesis. (“Concept x applies if and only if y is present.”)
Derive a test implication. (“If the hypothesis in question is true, then one would expect to find x or y in these circumstances.”)
Perform the test.
Accept or reject the hypothesis.

27. Science and the Scientific Method
Identify a problem or pose a question. (“What causes something x to occur?”)
Propose a hypothesis. (“X occurs if and only if y is present.”)
Derive a test implication. (“If the hypothesis in question is true, then one would expect to find x or y in these circumstances.”)
Perform the test.
Accept or reject the hypothesis.

28. Logical vs. Causal Possibility
Something is logically impossible if and only if it violates the law of non-contradiction.
For example: a round square.
Something is causally impossible if and only if it violates a law of nature.
For example: a cow jumping over the moon.

29. Thought Probe: Possibilities
Are the following situations causally possible? Are they logically possible?
A human with feathers
Traveling faster than the speed of light
A cat speaking English
A bowling ball speaking English
A rabbit laying multicolored eggs
A soft-shelled prime number
A thinking machine
A computer with a soul