Philosophy

1. Philosophy Chapter 1

2. Homework • www.jesusrosas.com/philosophy-class • Check homework page • Email: teacher@jesusrosas.com

3. Philosophy • Philia • love • Sophia • wisdom • Philosophy = love of wisdom

4. What is philosophy about • Philosophy is thinking • Philosophers think about life’s most basic questions: • What is the purpose of life? • Is there a God? • How do we know the difference between right and wrong? • Are our actions free or determined? • Doing philosophy is one of the most common activities of life • Philosophy is active, not passive

5. The Basic Issues • Fundamental issues • Reality • What is the nature of reality? • Personhood • What does it mean to be a person? • Free Will • How free are we? • Knowledge • What is involved in knowing something? • God, Life After Death, The Purpose of Life • Where did it all come from? • What is the purpose of life?

6. The Basic Issues • Practical issues • Right and Wrong • How do we separate right from wrong? • Community organization • What kind of government do you want?

7. The Basic Issues • The subject matter of Philosophy • Philosophical Questions • Involve conceptual issues • Philosophical “Answers” • Generally more than one plausible answer

8. Why Studying Philosophy Is Valuable • Analytical Abilities • Development better analytical abilities • Useful in a variety of professions • Vision and insight • Socrates-“The unexamined life is not worth living”

9. Parts of Philosophy

10. MetaPhysics • Popular Metaphysics • Pure and applied Methaphysics • Academic Metaphysics

11. Popular MetaPhysics • Mysticism • Occultism • Telepathy • Clairvoyance • Precognition • Retrocognition • Mediumship • New Thought • Christian Science • Theosophy • Spiritualism

12. Pure and applied MetaPhysics • Theoretical and applied • One describes the other applies the description to practical problems

13. Academic MetaPhysics • Materialism • Idealism • Dualism • Existentialism • Pragmatism • Post Modernism

14. Review Questions • Philosophical questions are primarily_____. • factual • empirical • conceptual • subjective

15. Review Questions • Philosophical questions _____. • have a single, correct, logical answer • are solved by using a scientific, empirical methodology • are solved by appealing to philosophical authorities • generally have more than one plausible answer

16. Review Questions • The value of studying philosophy is that it _____. • teaches you how to argue so well that you can make a bad case look good • develops your analytical abilities and your capacity for abstract thought • strengthens your emotions • makes you a more ethical person

17. Review Questions • The Greek philosopher Socrates said, _____. • “He who dies with the most toys wins” • “The examined life is not worth living” • “The unexamined life is not worth living” • “Philosophy makes the examined life unnecessary”

18. Review Questions • Philosophy studies life’s most basic questions. • True • False

19. Review Questions • The word philosophy derives from two ancient Greek words: philia, which means love, and_________, which means wisdom. • sophia

20. Review Questions • A major philosophical concept, ________________, deals with basic human characteristics and similar traits in other beings like chimpanzees and dolphins. • personhood

21. Chapter 2

22. Critical Thinking • Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally. • Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following : • understand the logical connections between ideas • identify, construct and evaluate arguments • detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning • solve problems systematically • identify the relevance and importance of ideas • reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values

23. Critical Thinking Is Not a Matter of… • …accumulating information • …having good memory • …knowing a lot of facts

24. Analytical Thinking

25. Analytical Thinking • Analytical thinking uses necessary and sufficient conditions to show something is an example of that concept. • Necessary and sufficient conditions

26. The concept of a square • Four sides b) a) c) d)

27. The concept of a square • Four sides • Two pairs parallel b) a) c) d)

28. The concept of a square • Four sides • Two pairs parallel b) a) c) d)

29. The concept of a square • Four sides • Two pairs parallel • Sides equal b) a) c) d)

30. The concept of a square • Four sides • Two pairs parallel • Sides equal b) a) c) d)

31. The concept of a square • Four sides • Two pairs parallel • Sides equal • Four 90 degree angles b) a) c) d)

32. The concept of a square • Four sides • Two pairs parallel • Sides equal • Four 90 degree angles b) a) c) d)

34. Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind, Two of us will help you, whichever you would find, One among us seven will let you move ahead, Another will transport the drinker back instead, Two among our number hold only nettle wine, Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line. Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore, To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four: First, however slyly the poison tries to hide You will always find some on nettle wine's left side; Second, different are those who stand at either end, But if you would move onward, neither is your friend; Third, as you see clearly, all are different size, Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides; Fourth, the second left and the second on the right Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.

35. Fallacies • incorrect reasoning in argumentation resulting in a misconception.

36. Ambiguity • A term that has more than one meaning • Billy is a good tennis player. • Therefore, Billy is 'good', that is to say a 'morally' good person.

37. Hasty Generalization • Trying to prove too much from your evidence (It argues from a special case to a general rule) • Argument: Every person I've met speaks English, so it must be true that all people speak English. • Problem: Those one has met are a subset of the entire set.

38. Ad Hominem (to the man) • Arguing against the person • "You can't believe Jack when he says the proposed policy would help the economy. He doesn't even have a job."

39. Begging the Question • Demonstrates a conclusion by means of premises that assume that conclusion • Argument: Billy always tells the truth, I know this because he told me so. • Problem: Billy may be lying.

40. post hoc ergo propter hoc • “After this, therefore because of this" • Since that event followed this one, that event must have been caused by this one • Argument: After Mike was vaccinated he developed autism, therefore the vaccine caused his autism. • Problem: This does not provide any evidence that the vaccine was the cause. The characteristics of autism may generally become noticeable at the age just following the typical age children receive vaccinations.

41. Questionable Cause • Drawing an unwarranted conclusion about the cause of something • Argument: More cows die in India in the summer months. More ice cream is consumed in summer months. Therefore, the consumption of ice cream in the summer months is killing Indian cows. • Problem: It is hotter in the summer, resulting in both the death of cows and the consumption of ice cream.Also called causation versus correlation.

42. Denying the Antecedent • If the antecedent is not true, then neither is the consequent • Argument: If it is raining outside, it must be cloudy. It is not raining outside. Therefore, it is not cloudy. • Problem: There does not have to be rain in order for there to be clouds.

43. Appeal to the Authority • Relying on the authority of its source • Argument: The president believes that war is justifiable, therefore it must be justifiable. • Problem: The president can be wrong. 

44. False Dilemma • Claiming there are fewer options than is actually the case • Argument: The country of the United States: Love it or leave it. • Problem: Nobody is obligated to love the country in order to be there. Nobody is obligated to leave a country based on love for such country.

45. Appeal to emotion • It manipulates people’s emotions to get them to accept a claim as being true. Very common in politics and marketing. • Argument: I know I didn’t do the assignment and turn it in on time, but my grandmother is visiting from out of the country, and I am her only grandchild! • Problem: This claim appeals or preys upon the emotions of the listener to obtain something from him/her.

46. Emotional language • It manipulates people’s emotions to get them to accept a claim as being true. Very common in politics and marketing. • Argument: The new PowerMangocomputer gives you the super wonderful and amazing power you need and want. If you buy one, people will desire and envy your fantastic and fabulous power. They will look up to you and wish they were as just as fantastic like you. You will know the true and unmatchable joy and glory of power. PowerMango! • Problem: This claim uses words such as wonderful, amazing, power, envy, joy, glory (and more) in order to get someone’s attention, but it doesn’t provide evidence of their claim.

47. Accent, Unknowable fact • Accent refers to the stress placed upon a word in a sentence or a syllable in a word. Depending on it the meaning can change. Many times there is an ambiguous meaning. • Argument: Dan told me “I've never seen you looking better!” so he really liked me. • Problem: Dan could have been sarcastic or could have also mean that the other person has improved his or her image regardless whether Dan likes the other person or not.

48. Slippery Slope • Asserting that some event must inevitably follow from another without any argument for the inevitability of the event in question. • Argument: We have to stop the tuition increase! The next thing you know, they'll be charging $40,000 a semester! • Problem: There is no evidence that the semester will increase to $40,000 based on the fact that the tuition will increase. Many more factors come to play (data, patterns, current increase, etc).

49. Appeal to Ignorance • A fallacy based on the assumption that a statement must be true if it cannot be proved false. • Argument: There is intelligent life in outer space, for no one has been able to prove that there isn't. • Problem: Nobody knows all the confines of the outer space to conclude that there is in fact no life.

50. Straw Man • A straw man is a component of an argument and is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position.To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by substituting it with a superficially similar yet unequivalent proposition (the "straw man"), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position.. • Argument:  • Person A: Our society should spend more money helping the poor.Person • B: Studies show that handouts don't work; they just create more poverty and humiliate the recipients. That money could be better spent. • Problem: Person A never said handing out money to the poor.