INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

EDU-505
B.Ed 1.5
year
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
INTRODUCTION
 Philosophy begins with a sense of wonder and awe
 Philosophy begins in wonder . And, at the end, when
philosophic thought has done its best, wonder
remains.(Alfred Whitehead)
 Philosophy is the science of sciences.
 It has been called mother of sciences
 A person who has taste for every sort of knowledge, who
is curious to learn and is never satisfied is termed a
philosopher. (Huxley)
Meaning of Philosophy
 The word philosophy is derived from the Greek words Philia/philos
(love) and Sophia (wisdom) and means “the love of wisdom.
 Philosophy :
 a rational attempt to formulate, understand and answer
fundamental questions
 is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those
connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and
language.
 is the rational attempt to formulate, understand, and answer
fundamental questions
 is a set of views or beliefs about life and the universe, which are often
held uncritically
Meaning of Philosophy

 Philosophy :
 is a rational attempt to look at the
world as a whole.
 is a process of reflecting on and criticizing our most
deeply held conceptions and beliefs.
 is a mental activity which involves the
problems of human life, its nature and purposes
 is a search for eternal truth and the
man who engages himself in this search is called
philosopher.
Essential Questions?
 What is truth?
 What is the distinction between right and wrong?
 What is life?
 Who am I ?
 Why am I here?
 What am I living for?
 What is reality?
 Is the universe real?
 What is good to do?
 How should I live life?
 What is human death and how can we determine that
it has occurred?
(Remember) The Tram Dilemma

 An out of control tram will soon kill 5

people who are stuck on the track.
 You can flick a switch to divert the tram
to another track where only one person
is stuck.
 Should you flip the switch?
 Should you kill one person to save five?

SWITCH
(Remember) The Surgeon’s Dilemma

 You are a surgeon with six

patients.
 Five of them need major
organ transplants.
 The sixth, an ideal donor for
all the relevant organs, is in
hospital for a minor
operation.

 Should you kill one person to

save five?
What’s going on here?

 Should you kill one person to save five?

 Trolley Dilemma = “yes”
 Surgeon Dilemma = “no”

 If you have two conflicting intuitions then either:

 there must be some morally relevant difference between the
two cases, or
 One or more of your intuitions is wrong
 So which is it?
Did Our Moral Common Sense get it
Wrong?
 Should you kill one person to save five?
 Metro Bus Dilemma = “yes”
 Surgeon Dilemma = “no”

 Does anyone think one answer is wrong?

Metaphysics

 Metaphysics is the study of the nature of things.

 Metaphysics is a comprehensive study of what is
fundamental to all existence, all knowledge and all
explanation. Metaphysics has two branches:
Ontology: It investigates the basic categories of
being and how they relate to each other.
Cosmology: It is the study of the totality of all
phenomena within the universe.
Epistemolog
y  Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the
sources, nature, and validity of knowledge.
1)What are the sources of knowledge? Where does
genuine knowledge come from or how do we know?
This is the question of origins.
2)What is the nature of knowledge? Is there a real
world outside the mind, and if so can we know it? This is
the question of appearance versus reality.
3)Is our knowledge valid? How do we distinguish truth
from error? This is the question of the tests of truth, of
verification.
Ethics

 Ethics is the study of the nature of right and

wrong and good and evil, in terms both of
considerations about the foundations of morality,
and of practical considerations about the fine
details of moral conduct.
 Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a
branch of philosophy that involves systematizing,
defending, and recommending concepts of
right and wrong behavior.
AESTHETICS

 Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with

the nature of beauty, art and taste, and with the
creation and appreciation of beauty
 It is the study of sensory emotional values,
sometimes called judgment of sentiment and
taste.
 Aesthetics involves "critical reflection on art,
culture and nature.
LOGIC

 Logic is the attempt to codify the rules of rational

thought. Logicians explore the structure of arguments
that preserve truth or allow the optimal extraction of
knowledge from evidence. Logic is one of the
primary tools philosophers use in their inquiries
 Logic is the study of the principles of valid inference and
correct reasoning
 It includes: 1) Deductive reasoning
2) Inductive reasoning
 Inductive reasoning

 Inductive reasoning is the opposite of deductive

reasoning. Inductive reasoning makes broad
generalizations from specific observations.
Basically, there is data, then conclusions are
drawn from the data. This is called inductive
logic.
 "In inductive inference, we go from the specific
to the general. We make many observations,
discern a pattern, make a generalization, and
infer an explanation or a theory.
 Deductive reasoning

 Deductive reasoning is a basic form of valid reasoning.

Deductive reasoning, or deduction, starts out with a
general statement, or hypothesis, and examines the
possibilities to reach a specific, logical conclusion.
 "In deductive inference, we hold a theory and based on it
we make a prediction of its consequences. That is, we
predict what the observations should be if the theory
were correct. We go from the general — the theory — to
the specific — the observations,
 Cont…

 The main difference between inductive and deductive

reasoning is that inductive reasoning aims at developing a
theory while deductive reasoning aims at testing an
existing theory.
 Inductive reasoning moves from specific observations to
broad generalizations, and deductive reasoning the other
way around.