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Outlines of these slides may be viewed at www.creighton.edu/~eeselk

• or people.ceighton.edu/~ees33175Choose this course and follow the links.I highly recommend that you print the

outlines of the slides before each class & then use your printed copy for filling in notes of the classroom discussion.

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General introduction

1. Why philosophy at Creighton?A distinctive feature of Jesuit,

Catholic higher education: (1) addressing ultimate questions & (2) doing so from two viewpoints

– revelation– critical reason

with the goal of?

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General introduction

Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) established this as one of the distinctive goals of the universities he founded.Ignatius assumed that these two

perspectives are harmonious

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General introduction

2. The two principal parts of the course: • Historical - will study some

classics– What is the value of studying

classics? • Problems

– What problems will we cover in this course?

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General introduction

(1) the legitimacy of the state(2) justice(3) civil disobedience(4) existence of God(5) theories of truth(6) liberty & its bounds(7) choice vs knowledge(8) cognitive, ethical, &

aesthetic relativism

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General introduction

3. The nature of philosophy7 traits(1) Types of issues are very general

& very fundamental• e.g., truth

– morality– foundations of knowledge– limits of liberty– existence of God– See Blackburn’s list on p. 3

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General introduction

(2) Is critical – in the sense that philosophy

raises questions, very basic questions

– quote from Stuart Hampshire– Socrates in the Apology

compares himself to a fly buzzing around a lethargic horse.

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"Almost all the philosophers who have survived and are still read were to some degree subversive and unsettling, loosening the hold of accepted categories and habits of classification, and suggesting a scheme of description of their own design. This radical resistance to the usual certainties, and particularly to the usual pictures of the mind, is the beginning of philosophy. . . .”

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General introduction

“After all, our adherence to customary categories and classifications are largely a result of family inheritance. It is a contingency of birth. Thus at a certain stage in our lives it seems proper to leave our familiar home and look the strange clothing that will fit a deviant and unsocialized consciousness." (Stuart Hampshire, "Philosophy and Fantasy," NYRB, 26 Sep. 1968: 51.f)

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General introduction

(3) Philosophy is integrative– attempts to build grand visions

of human life and the world which include all dimensions

(4) The method of philosophy – argumentation– empirical vs conceptual

questions (Blackburn 3)– Blackburn’s notion of

philosophy as “conceptual engineering” (2)

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(5) Philosophy is primarily reflective rather than practical

• Philosophy “bakes no bread”• So why study philosophy or any

subject which bakes no bread?• The “high ground” reply (Blackburn

6)– Philosophy seeks answers to big

questions because it wants to understand. It seeks knowledge for its own sake rather than for utility.

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• The “middle-ground reply” (Blackburn 7)

– Reflection is continuous with practice, and practice can get worse or better depending on the soundness of our reflections.

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• The “low-ground” reply (Blackburn 10)

– Continuation of point made in middle-ground reply but brought to the level of life & death.

– Ideas about rights, the value of other persons affect how we treat others. “In the end, it is ideas for which people kill each other” (Blackburn 11).

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(6) The history of philosophy is an essential part of doing philosophy

• This is true of all of the humanities• Why?

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General introduction

(7) The similarities & differences between philosophy and theology

• Similarity both are concerned with big and fundamental questions (e.g., the existence of God, meaning of human life, ultimate destiny).

• Difference but philosophy & theology approach these questions from different perspectives: reason & revelation.

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• Difference some branches of theology, especially systematic theology, are parasitic with respect to philosophy. The reverse does not seem to be the case.

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4. The areas (sub-disciplines) of philosophy

(1) Epistemology(2) Metaphysics(3) Ethics(4) Logic(5) Philosophy of studies(6) Historical studies