Philosophy People Hunt

1. Philosophy People Hunt • 1. Find someone who can tell you what philosophy means. • 2. Find someone who can tell you something about a particular philosopher. • 3. Find someone who can tell you what wisdom is and identify a wise person. • 4. Find someone who can give you a reason why someone would want to prove the existence of God. • 5. Find someone who can tell you about a philosophical question he/she is particularly interested in. • 6. Find someone who can tell you his/her goal in taking this course and how it will be achieved.

2. What is Philosophy? • Etymological definition from Greek: “the love of wisdom” • We sometimes use the term “philosophy” to refer to a person’s code of values or the beliefs by which they live • An academic discipline • A methodology which lies at the root of all subjects • The practical activity of raising fundamental questions and attempting to answer them in thinking and writing

3. The Branches of Philosophy • Metaphysics – literally, “after or beyond the physical,” the study of “ultimate reality” or how things really are. • Epistemology – the study of knowledge or how to tell when we really know something. • Ethics – the study of moral problems, right and wrong, and practical reasoning. • Logic – the study of the rules of correct reasoning. • Aesthetics – the study of feelings and judgments related to beauty and art. • See also Fields of Philosophy

4. The Goal of Wisdom: Who is Wise? • The chief goal of wisdom is a fundamental understanding of reality as it relates to living a good life. • A wise person practices calm and serene judgment in everyday life. • The attainment of wisdom involves reflection, insight, learning from experience, and a plausible conception of the human condition.

5. The History of Philosophy • Ancient Philosophy (7th century B.C. to 5th century A.D.) • Medieval Philosophy (500 to 1500) • Modern Philosophy (16th to 19th centuries) • Postmodern or Contemporary Philosophy (20th century to present)

6. The Search for Truth • Philosophy is perhaps the most “open” of all subjects, since no question or point of view is off limits. • The history of philosophy has been described as “the history of heresy,” since it challenges us to question even our most cherished beliefs. • As one famous philosopher put it, “I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of the peace.” – Baruch Spinoza

7. What is your goal? How will you achieve it? • Be active and responsible • Ask questions • Read, reflect, reread, discuss, self-recite • Reading strategies • PQRST • How to Read a Book, by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren • Inspectional, Analytic, and Syntopic • Be mindful and confident!

8. Why try to prove the existence of God? • Alleviate doubt, have certainty and increase knowledge • Reconcile faith and reason • Convert non-believers • Increase the power of the Church • Avoid “begging the question”

9. Begging the Question • A type of logical fallacy involving circular reasoning in which the conclusion of an argument (what is to be proved) is already assumed in the premises. For example, the following argument can be said to beg the question: “God exists. This is true because the Bible says that God exists, and the Bible is the Word of God.” The existence of God, which this argument purports to prove, is assumed in the premises. The phrase “begging the question” is frequently misused in conversation and popular media. However, begging the question is not equivalent to raising the question.