PHILOSOPHY FINAL REVIEWER
Language is a system of signs through which individuals
communicate. These signs can be sonorous (speech), corporeal
(gestures), or graphic (writing).
Language in human beings has a variety that allows the
following:(ENUMERATION)
1. It allows human thinking to be complex.
2. Language allows us to describe the past or speculate about
the future, thus deliberating and planning in light of one’s
beliefs.
3. It allows us to imagine abstract objects, events, and states of
affairs, and is thus intimately related to intentionality.
4. It helps us share information and communicate our beliefs,
speculations, attitudes, and emotion.
5. Language helps us to create the human social world by
framing people in a common history and life experience.
Agnosticism deals with knowledge
The Greek roots of the term combine a (without) and gnosis
(knowledge)- literally means “without knowledge.” In the
context where it is normally used, the term means: without
knowledge of the existence of gods.
 Monotheism- Greek monos (one) and theos (god). The
belief in the existence of a single god.
 Polytheism is a belief in many gods, and with atheism,
which is an absence of any belief in any gods.
 Deism is belief in God based on reason rather than
revelation or the teaching of any specific religion.
 Henotheism is devotion to a single primary god while
accepting the existence or possible existence of other
deities. Monotheism in principle and polytheism in fact.
 Pantheism is a doctrine which identifies God with the
universe or regards the universe as manifestation of God.
Major Figures in the History of Philo of Science
• Aristotle: father of Western philosophy, and his work
on logic, metaphysics, and ethics has had a profound influence
on the development of philosophy of science.
• René Descartes: A French philosopher who lived from
1596 to 1650. Descartes is best known for his method of doubt,
which he used to question the foundations of our knowledge.
His work on scientific method has also had a significant impact
on philosophy of science.
• David Hume: best known for his skepticism about the
possibility of knowing anything for certain. His work on
induction and causation has also been influential in philosophy
of science.
• Immanuel Kant: metaphysics and epistemology. His
work on the nature of scientific knowledge has been
particularly influential in philosophy of science.
• Karl Popper: An Austrian philosopher who lived from
1902 to 1994. Popper is best known for his work on the
falsifiability of scientific theories. His work on scientific method
has been very influential in philosophy of science.
• Thomas Kuhn: An American philosopher who lived
from 1922 to 1996. Kuhn is best known for his work on the
structure of scientific revolutions. His work on the history of
science has been very influential in philosophy of science.
• Paul Feyerabend: An Austrian-American philosopher
who lived from 1924 to 1994. Feyerabend is best known for his
work on the epistemology of science. His work on the limits of
scientific method has been very influential in philosophy of
science.
PRE-MODERN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
The origins of philosophy of science trace back to Plato and
Aristotle, who distinguished the forms of approximate and
exact reasoning, set out the threefold scheme of abductive,
deductive, and inductive inference, and also analyzed reasoning
by analogy.
The eleventh century Arab polymath Ibn al-Haytham (known
in Latin as Alhazen) conducted his research in optics by way of
controlled experimental testing and applied geometry,
especially in his investigations into the images resulting from
the reflection and refraction of light.
Roger Bacon (1214–1294), an English thinker and experimenter
heavily influenced by al-Haytham, is recognized by many to be
the father of modern scientific method. His view that
mathematics was essential to a correct understanding of
natural philosophy is considered to have been 400 years ahead
of its time.
MODERN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Francis Bacon was a seminal figure in philosophy of science at
the time of the Scientific Revolution. In his work Novum
Organum (1620)—an allusion to Aristotle's Organon—Bacon
outlined a new system of logic to improve upon the old
philosophical process of syllogism. Bacon's method relied on
experimental histories to eliminate alternative theories.
René Descartes established In 1637, a new framework for
grounding scientific knowledge in his treatise, Discourse on
Method, advocating the central role of reason as opposed to
sensory experience.
MODERN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Isaac Newton published his 2nd edition of Philosophiae
Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1713, He argued that "...
hypotheses ... have no place in experimental philosophy. In this
philosophy[,] propositions are deduced from the phenomena
and rendered general by induction." This passage influenced a
"later generation of philosophically-inclined readers to
pronounce a ban on causal hypotheses in natural philosophy".
In particular, later in the 18th century, David Hume would
famously articulate skepticism about the ability of science to
determine causality and gave a definitive formulation of the
problem of induction.
The 19th century writings of John Stuart Mill are also
considered important in the formation of current conceptions
of the scientific method, as well as anticipating later accounts
of scientific explanation.
What is the main idea of aesthetics?
Aesthetics considers why people like some works of art and not
others, as well as how art can affect our moods and our beliefs.
Both aesthetics and the philosophy of art try to find answers to
what exactly is art and what makes good art.
At its core, aesthetics asks what is valuable in life, what is
valuable beyond mere survival, and specifically, how art and
beauty are defined. Ideas about aesthetic value are really
judgments about what art, beauty, and good taste are.
What is important about aesthetics?
Aesthetics is a core design principle that defines a design's
pleasing qualities. In visual terms, aesthetics includes factors
such as balance, color, movement, pattern, scale, shape and
visual weight. Designers use aesthetics to complement their
designs' usability, and so enhance functionality with attractive
layouts.
What is the value of aesthetics?
Aesthetic value is the value that an object, event, or state of
affairs (most paradigmatically an artwork or the natural
environment) possesses in virtue of its capacity to elicit
pleasure (positive value) or displeasure (negative value) when
appreciated or experienced aesthetically.
Aesthetic universals
The philosopher Denis Dutton identified six universal signatures
in human aesthetics:
Expertise or virtuosity. Humans cultivate, recognize, and
admire technical artistic skills.
Nonutilitarian pleasure. People enjoy art for art's sake, and do
not demand that it keep them warm or put food on the table.
Style. Artistic objects and performances satisfy rules of
composition that place them in a recognizable style.
Criticism. People make a point of judging, appreciating, and
interpreting works of art.
Imitation. With a few important exceptions like abstract
painting, works of art simulate experiences of the world.
Special focus. Art is set aside from ordinary life and made a
dramatic focus of experience.

As defined by Ambrose, Bierce

 “a strife of interest masquerading as a contest of principles”
 He speaks for the cynics
 But in politics, we cannot avoid questions of truth or falsity,
good or bad.
 He is partly wrong;
 Politics is also the contest of moral
principles
Antisthesis – The Father of Cynicism

Problems dealt IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

 HUMAN CONFLICT
 PURSUIT OF POWER
 BEST SOCIAL ARRANGEMENTS
 WHO WOULD GOVERN
 Moral foundations of legitimacy, liberty, equality, justice &
human rights
 State, its nature, purpose, & limits

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
It begins with the assumption that such public questions as
obedience to the law, the best possible government, or the
justice of public policies are in need of justification.
Dimensions:
factual (descriptive), diagnostic (causal), and evaluative
(prescriptive)