What is philosophy?

1. What is philosophy? • Inventory of some philosophical topics: • 1. Epistemology • 2. Metaphysics • 3. Value Theory • 4. Logic

2. Epistemology • Considers questions such as: • What is knowledge? • Is ‘justified true belief’ enough? • How do we acquire knowledge? • What does ‘rational means’ include? • How much knowledge do we have? • What is it for a belief to be justified or rational? • Open question

3. Metaphysics • A highly general or abstract issue about the nature of reality • A main subdivision of metaphysics is ‘ontology’, which concerns what sorts of things exist. • Do numbers exist? • Do non-physical minds exist? • Is everything in the universe interconnected/interrelated?

4. There are other general issues about the nature of reality, including • Do human beings have free will?

5. Value Theory [Axiology] • This topic includes issues about ethics [moral and ethical values] and issues about aesthetics [artistic values].

6. Logic • This is the study of the principles of right reasoning. Logic is the basic tool that philosophers use to investigate. • What makes an argument valid/strong? • What is a sound/cogent argument?

7. Attempt to Define • Philosophy concerns issues which for one reason or another have not lent themselves to scientific investigation. In some cases this may only be that we haven’t developed the right scientific techniques.

8. For instance, issues in cosmology [has the universe a beginning in time; is the universe infinite in extent] used to be regarded as philosophical because there didn’t seem to be any way to settle them empirically. Now, however, they are thought to belong to physics, and empirically supported answers have been offered.

9. Tentative definition: • Philosophy is • [1]The attempt to acquire knowledge; • [2]By rational means • [3]About topics that do not seem amenable to empirical investigation.

10. Is this definition adequate? • There are two questions to ask about any definition— • Does it include all the cases it should? • Does it exclude all the cases it should?

11. Socratic method (dialectic) • Socrates asks what ___ is • Someone answers • Socrates analyzes the definition and asks questions to show that • It’s unclear • It’s too narrow • It’s too broad • Someone proposes another definition, etc.

12. What is a chair? • Chairs

13. Let’s try to define it • Things satisfying our definition

14. Good Definitions • We want the definition to pick out all and only chairs

15. What is a chair? “A kind of furniture” Unclear: What kind? “A piece of furniture with four legs and a back” Definitions: Problems Chairs Too narrow Too broad Things satisfying the definition

16. What is a chair? “A kind of furniture” Unclear: What kind? “A piece of furniture with four legs and a back” Too broad: stools, divans, sofas, benches Too narrow: bean bag chairs, chairs suspended from ceiling Definitions and their problems Chairs Too narrow Too broad Things satisfying the definition

17. How about condition [1]?“attempt to acquire knowledge” • This condition may rule out some writings that are often treated as philosophy. For example, it rules out activism, writing or speech whose goal is to effect change rather than to acquire knowledge. But Marx wrote,” the philosophers have attempted to understand the world, the point, however, is to change it.

18. Kierkegaard seems to have as a goal to help his readers become religious. • Still, both of these writers also were concerned with acquiring knowledge, and it could be argued that it is only this aspect of their writing that is philosophical.

19. How about condition [2]?“by rational means” • This condition is rather vague. It may rule out some Eastern and Native American thought, though certainly much of these philosophies is eminently rational. • Even the sciences are known to place some reliance on ‘intuition, hunches, etc”.

20. How about condition [3]?“not. . .empirical methods” • This condition certainly rules out some topics that have traditionally been thought of as part of philosophy, such as whether the universe is deterministic, whether it has a beginning in time, whether it is infinite in extent, and so on.

22. Another candidate: • Philosophy is critical thinking about presuppositions. A presupposition is a claim we take for granted and usually don’t analyze. For philosophy, presuppositions are controversial.

23. Some questionable presuppositions • There is a world independent of my mind. • The future will resemble the past. Mankind is by nature ‘good’ Mankind is by nature ‘evil’ Human cultures develop/evolve/age following patterns that are basically identical.

24. I can know what the world is like using my senses. • My senses are not systematically deceiving me.

25. Some persons are morally better than others. • Humans are more important than non-human animals. • Some arguments are better than others. • Something is either ‘true’ or ‘false’.

26. All people are equal under the law. • The universe operates in an orderly way, that the future will resemble the past. • There is a specific female nature, or gender is socially constructed.

27. Such is the broad picture of philosophy.

28. Quantitative vs. Qualitative • Experimental • Laboratory-like control • Logical Positivism Field research Ethnography or phenomenology Constructivist Both are empirical!

29. Qualitative "All research ultimately has a qualitative grounding"- Donald Campbell Quantitative "There's no such thing as qualitative data. Everything is either 1 or 0"- Fred Kerlinger

30. Qualitative Quantitative • The aim is a complete, detailed description. • The aim is to classify features, count them, and construct statistical models in an attempt to explain what is observed.

31. Qualitative Quantitative • Researcher may only know roughly in advance what he/she is looking for. • Researcher knows clearly in advance what he/she is looking for.

32. Qualitative Quantitative • Recommended during earlier phases of research projects. • Recommended during latter phases of research projects.

33. Qualitative Quantitative • The design emerges as the study unfolds. • All aspects of the study are carefully designed before data is collected.

34. Qualitative Quantitative • Researcher is the data gathering instrument. • Researcher uses tools, such as questionnaires or equipment to collect numerical data.

35. Qualitative Quantitative • Data is in the form of words, pictures or objects. • Data is in the form of numbers and statistics.

36. Qualitative Quantitative • Subjective - individuals� interpretation of events is important ,e.g., uses participant observation, in-depth interviews etc. • Objective � seeks precise measurement & analysis of target concepts, e.g., uses surveys, questionnaires etc.

37. Qualitative Quantitative • Qualitative data is more 'rich', time consuming, and less able to be generalized.  • Quantitative data is more efficient, able to test hypotheses, but may miss contextual detail.

38. Qualitative Quantitative • Researcher tends to become subjectively immersed in the subject matter. • Researcher tends to remain objectively separated from the subject matter.

39. Main Points • Qualitative research involves analysis of data such as words (e.g., from interviews), pictures (e.g., video), or objects (e.g., an artifact). • Quantitative research involves analysis of numerical data. • The strengths and weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative research are a perennial, hot debate.  The issues invoke a classic 'paradigm war'.

40. The personality / thinking style of the researcher and/or the culture of the organization is under-recognized as a key factor in preferred choice of methods. • Overly focusing on the debate of "qualitative versus quantitative" frames the methods in opposition.  • It is important to focus also on how the techniques can be integrated, such as in mixed methods research.  More good can come of science researchers developing skills in both realms than debating which method is superior.

41. Qualitative mode Quantitative Mode • Assumptions • Reality is socially constructed  • Primacy of subject matter  • Variables are complex, interwoven, and difficult to measure  • Emic (insider's point of view) • Assumptions • Social facts have an objective reality  • Primacy of method  • Variables can be identified and relationships measured  • Etic (outside's point of view)

42. Qualitative mode Quantitative Mode • Purpose • Contextualization  • Interpretation  • Understanding actors' perspectives • Purpose • Generalizability • Prediction  • Causal explanations

43. Qualitative mode Quantitative Mode • Approach  • Ends with hypotheses and grounded theory  • Emergence and portrayal  • Researcher as instrument  • Naturalistic  • Approach  • Begins with hypotheses and theories • Manipulation and control  • Uses formal instruments  • Experimentation  • Deductive 

44. Qualitative mode Quantitative Mode • Inductive  • Searches for patterns  • Seeks pluralism, complexity  • Makes minor use of numerical indices  • Descriptive write-up • Component analysis  • Seeks consensus, the norm  • Reduces data to numerical indices  • Abstract language in write-up

45. Axioms About The Nature of Reality • Naturalist Paradigm (Qualitative) • Realities are multiple, constructed, and holistic.  • Positivist Paradigm (Quantitative) • Reality is single, tangible, and fragmentable. 

46. Axioms About The Relationship Of Knower To The Known • Naturalist Paradigm (Qualitative) • Knower and known are interactive, inseparable. • Positivist Paradigm (Quantitative) • Knower and known are independent, a dualism. 

47. Axioms About The Possibility of Generalization • Naturalist Paradigm (Qualitative) • Only time- and context-bound working hypotheses (idiographic statements) are possible.  • Positivist Paradigm (Quantitative) • Time- and context-free generalizations (nomothetic statements) are possible. 

48. Axioms About The Possibility of Causal Linkages • Naturalist Paradigm (Qualitative) • All entities are in a state of mutual simultaneous shaping, so that it is impossible to distinguish causes from effects.  • Positivist Paradigm (Quantitative) • There are real causes, temporally precedent to or simultaneous with their effects. 

49. Axioms About The Role of Values • Naturalist Paradigm (Qualitative) • Inquiry is value-bound. • Positivist Paradigm (Quantitative) • Inquiry is value-free.

50. Research with Informants (Qualitative) • 1. What do my informants know about their culture that I can discover? • 2. What concepts do my informants use to classify their experiences? • 3. How do my informants define these concepts? • 4. What theory do my informants use to explain their experience? • 5. How can I translate the cultural knowledge of my informants into a cultural description my colleagues will understand?