D OI NG P HI L OS OP H Y

TOPICS

• DEFINITION
• BEGINNINGS OF DOING PHILOSOPHY
• APPROACHES IN DOING PHILOSOPHY
OBJECTIVES

• DEFINE PHILOSOPHY.
• EVALUATE THE IDEAS OF EARLY PHILOSOPHERS.
• UNDERSTAND THE APPROACH OF PHILOSOPHY.
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?

•IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS IN

PHILOSOPHY IS ITS DEFINITION ITSELF.
DEFINIENDUM VS DEFINIENS
• 2 PARTS OF A DEFINITION

• DEFINIENDUM – THAT WHICH IS DEFINED

• DEFINIENS – THAT WHICH DOES THE DEFINING

• “A STUDENT IS A HUMAN WHO GOES TO SCHOOL.”

• STUDENT – DEFINIENDUM
• HUMAN WHO GOES TO SCHOOL - DEFINIENS
RULES FOR EVALUATING AND CONSTRUCTING
DEFINITIONS
• 1. A DEFINITION PROVIDES BOTH NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT CONDITIONS FOR
APPLYING A TERM.
• IF A DEFINITION’S DEFINIENS FAILS TO INCLUDE STUFF THAT IT SHOULD, THEN IT DOESN’T PROVIDE
APPROPRIATE NECESSARY CONDITIONS; IN THIS CASE, IT IS TOO NARROW.
• SOME STUDENTS DO NOT GO TO SCHOOL.
• IF A DEFINITION’S DEFINIENS INCLUDES STUFF THAT IT SHOULD NOT, THEN IT FAILS TO PROVIDE
APPROPRIATE SUFFICIENT CONDITIONS; IN THIS CASE, IT IS TOO BROAD.
• THERE ARE HUMANS THAT ALSO GO TO SCHOOL BUT ARE NOT STUDENTS.
RULES FOR EVALUATING AND CONSTRUCTING
DEFINITIONS
• 2. A DEFINITION’S DEFINIENS WILL INCLUDE BOTH A GENUS AND A DIFFERENTIA.

• GENUS: THE BROADER CLASS TO WHICH A DEFINED CONCEPT BELONGS

• DIFFERENTIA: THE FEATURES THAT SET THE DEFINED CONCEPT APART FROM OTHER MEMBERS OF ITS
GENUS.
RULES FOR EVALUATING AND CONSTRUCTING
DEFINITIONS
• 3. DEFINITIONS NEED TO BE BASED UPON ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS.
THE RIGHT CHARACTERISTICS THAT MAKES SOMETHING BELONG TO A CERTAIN CONCEPT

• 4. DEFINITIONS OUGHT TO AVOID METAPHOR AND OBSCURITY.

• 5. DEFINITIONS OUGHT TO AVOID CIRCULARITY.

• 6. DEFINITIONS OUGHT (AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE) TO AVOID NEGATIVE DEFINITIONS. [WHAT A CONCEPT IS NOT]
ACTIVITY

• CONSTRUCT A DEFINITION FOR PHILOSOPHY!

• RELY ON THE RULES WE HAVE DISCUSSED.

BEGINNINGS OF DOING PHILOSOPHY
• THINK OF THE QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASKED AT THE ONSET OF TIME. OF PEOPLE IN THE STONE AGE? OF THE BRONZE AGE?
• SINCE PHILOSOPHY STARTED WHEN PEOPLE ASKING QUESTIONS, IT IS NOW IMPORTANT TO DISTINGUISH WHAT
PHILOSOPHY IS AND WHAT PHILOSOPHY IS NOT BACK THEN.

• THUS, THE DISTINCTION:

•MYTHOS AND LOGOS
• MYTHOS – OF THE GODS; LOGOS – OF REASON
BEGINNINGS OF DOING PHILOSOPHY
• THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE APPROACH USING LOGOS IN SEEK OF THE SOPHOS
(WISDOM) GENERATED WHAT PHILOSOPHY AS WE KNOW IT TODAY.

• WHILE IN THE EASTERN TRADITION, THE GAP BETWEEN THE MYTHOS AND THE LOGOS IS
BLURRED; IN THE WESTERN TRADITION, THAT GAP IS STRIKING.
BEGINNINGS OF DOING PHILOSOPHY
• MILESIAN PHILOSOPHERS (THEY STARTED IT)
• THALES (ARCHE: WATER)
• ANAXIMENES (ARCHE: AIR)
• ANAXIMANDER (ARCHE: APEIRON/ NOTHINGNESS)
• ARCHE – A THING THAT IS IN ALL THINGS
• OTHER PHILOSOPHERS (WHO ALSO STARTED IT)
• PYTHAGORAS (DEVELOPMENT OF MOST OF MATHEMATICS)
• EUCLID OF ALEXANDRIA (DEVELOPMENT OF GEOMETRY)
BEGINNINGS OF DOING PHILOSOPHY
• MONIST PHILOSOPHERS (PLURALITY IS AN ILLUSION)
• PARMENIDES (“ALL IS ONE, ONE IS ALL”)
• ZENO OF ELEA (PARADOXES IN PLURALITY)
• PLURALIST PHILOSOPHERS (PLURALITY RULES)
• HERACLITUS (CHANGE IS CONSTANT; ARCHE: CHANGE)
• ANAXAGORAS (LOVE AND STRIFE AS DIVISOR OF ALL THINGS)
• EMPEDOCLES (ARCHE: EARTH, AIR, FIRE AND WIND)
BEGINNINGS OF DOING PHILOSOPHY
• LATER PLURALIST PHILOSOPHERS
• LEUCIPPUS & DEMOCRITUS (ATOMS)
• THE SOPHISTS
• PROTAGORAS (“MAN IS THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS”)
• GORGIAS (“NOTHING IS TRUE”)
• THRASYMACHUS (“MIGHT IS RIGHT”)
BEGINNINGS OF DOING PHILOSOPHY

•THE ROCKSTARS (AS WE KNOW TODAY)

•SOCRATES (DEADT)
•PLATO (DEVELOPED HIS OWN SCHOOL: ACADEMY)
•ARISTOTLE (DEVELOPED HIS OWN SCHOOL: LYCEUM)
APPROACH IN DOING PHILOSOPHY
•PHILOSOPHY AS THE MOTHER SCIENCE Learning of
Science

Undergraduate:
Familiarization
Science/ Masters:
‘Study’ Mastering
Systematic Doctoral: Rigorous Practice
Method PhD: Rigorous Philosophical Practice

Philosophy:
Problems and
Solutions Return to
Philosophy
APPROACH IN DOING PHILOSOPHY
• HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND PSYCHOLOGY/SOCIOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGY? THROUGH
BIOLOGY.
• HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND BIOLOGY? THROUGH CHEMISTRY.
• HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND CHEMISTRY? THROUGH PHYSICS.
• HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND PHYSICS? THROUGH MATHEMATICS.
• HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND MATHEMATICS? THROUGH PHILOSOPHY.
APPROACH IN DOING PHILOSOPHY
•CHARACTERISTICS OF A PHILOSOPHIC QUESTION
• BROAD
• FROM EPISTEMOLOGICAL TO ETHICAL TO METAPHYSICAL, AND SO ON.
• NO SINGLE METHODOLOGY IN DERIVING AN ANSWER
• NOT OBJECTIVE AND NOT SUBJECTIVE; TO ANSWER WITH A PRESCRIBED METHOD IS TO DO SCIENCE.
• TENDS TO BE IMPORTANT
• IT SEEKS THE FUNDAMENTAL AND THE COMPREHENSIVE.
APPROACH IN DOING PHILOSOPHY
•FIRST ORDER VS SECOND ORDER INQUIRY
• FIRST ORDER INQUIRY “PLAY BY THE RULES”. IT FOLLOWS AN EXACT METHOD
• SECOND ORDER INQUIRY INQUIRES UPON THAT EXACT METHOD. IT DEVIATES ITSELF AWAY FROM THE
RULES. THIS MAKES THE DISCIPLINE A ‘META-DISCIPLINE’. SECOND ORDER INQUIRY IS PHILOSOPHY

•THE SAME DISTINCTION CAN BE MADE BETWEEN SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY (FIRST ORDER) AND
PHILOSOPHIC INQUIRY (SECOND ORDER).
ACTIVITY

•DESCRIBE HOW PHILOSOPHY WILL CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR

FUTURE CAREER.
•WHAT MAKES PHILOSOPHY DIFFERENT FROM EVERY
OTHER SUBJECTS?