Short Introduction to

Philosophy
Meaning of Philosophy
Philosophy
-refers to ideas, perspective, and principles.
-activity of reasoning (Pilosopo).
an academic course or degree.

Involves the activity of reasoning and distinguishes between correct and incorrect
forms of reasoning.
-engages in the activity only for the purpose of knowing and determining what is true.
Deals w/ ideas, principles, and the like at a certain level.
-serves as framework or bases for interpreting or making judgements about the
world.
Philosophy is not confined academically.
-primarily an activity that we can do in various aspects of our life.

Origin of Philosophy
Philosophy comes from two Greek words.
-Philo - Love, Sophia - Wisdom
-Philosophy is the love of wisdom, and a philosopher is a lover of wisdom.

Traits of a Wise Person/ Philosopher

1. Knows one's ignorance.

2. Has justified true beliefs.

3. Knows what is valuable in life.

4. Puts knowledge into practice.

5. Knows what should be done and acts accordingly.

Doing philosophy leads to the discovery of what is truth.

Philosophers vs Sophists

Short Introduction to Philosophy 1

 Pythagoras, Socrates, Protagoras
and Plato

Truth can be universal "Man is the measure of all things." (by

and objective Protagoras)

Truth is relative since it is determined by

Universal - true for all human interests. Vary from person-to-person,
humans. hence there is no truth that holds for all
humans.

Objective - independent
of human mind (interests
and desires).

Framework
-generally refers to our belief systems or worldviews (or conceptual schemes)
which serves as the bases or foundations of our interpretation of the things and
events in the world.
-how we make sense of our lives in relation to our natural and social
environment.

Internal/Scientific Questions
-questions that we ask we use or apply a framework to explain some events.
-can be answered using the rules and concepts of the framework.
ex: What causes an earthquake?

External/Philosophical Questions
-questions that we ask about a framework itself.
-whether it is a coherent or effective framework.
-cannot be answered using the rules and concepts of the framework.
ex: What is the nature of causation?

Ludwig Wittgenstein states that "Philosophy is not a body of doctrine but an

activity."
Philosophy itself is an activity.
-specific process of reasoning which one engages into.
Alan Turing, mathematician and philosopher, laid the foundations for the discipline
presently known as computer science.
-conceived a theoretical computing machine (called the Turing Machine) which
became the blueprint or general design for the construction of the modern digital
computers.

Short Introduction to Philosophy 2