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Philosophy 1

Philosophy 1. Introduction to Philosophy Spring, 2002 Dr. G. J. Mattey. What is Philosophy?. Three kinds of answer Philosophy treats a certain subject-matter Philosophy uses a certain method Philosophy is the sort of thing people called “philosophers” have done. The Subjects of Philosophy.

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Philosophy 1

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  1. Philosophy 1 Introduction to Philosophy Spring, 2002 Dr. G. J. Mattey

  2. What is Philosophy? • Three kinds of answer • Philosophy treats a certain subject-matter • Philosophy uses a certain method • Philosophy is the sort of thing people called “philosophers” have done

  3. The Subjects of Philosophy • Metaphysics: the general nature of reality • Epistemology: the nature of knowledge • Ethics: the values of human action • Aesthetics: the nature of beauty • Logic: the forms of inference • History of Philosophy • Philosophy of X (e.g., science)

  4. The Methods of Philosophy • Analysis of language or concepts • Analysis of mental activity • Theorizing about what is beyond experience • Theorizing about methods • Theorizing at a high level of generality • Posing and trying to solve puzzles • Support of claims through argumentation

  5. The History of Western Philosophy • Hellenic philosophy (Plato) • Hellenistic philosophy (Epicurus) • Medieval philosophy (Aquinas) • Modern philosophy (Descartes) • Analytic Philosophy (Russell) • Continental philosophy (Sartre)

  6. Time Line • 6th to 4th cent. BC: Hellenic • 3rd cent. BC to 2nd cent. AD: Hellenistic • 3rd cent. to 4th cent.: Neo-Platonic • 5th cent. To 14th cent.: Medieval • 15th cent. to 16th cent.: Renaissance • 17th cent. to 18th cent.: Modern • 19th and 20th cent.: Analytic, Continental

  7. Plan for the Course • Part One: Metaphysics and Epistemology • Part Two: Ethics • Each class will cover reading from a classic text in the history of Western philosophy • Emphasis will be on the most influential philosophical theories and the basic arguments supporting them

  8. Philosophy’s Greatest Hits • Plato: The Republic • Aristotle: Metaphysics, Nichomachean Ethics • Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy • Hume: A Treatise of Human Nature • Kant Critique of Pure Reason, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals

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