An Introductory Course On

Perspectives Of Western

And Islamic Philosophy

Agenda

• Initiate session 10:25

• About the lectures10:25 – 10:40

• Western perspectives

10:40 – 11:25

• Break11:25 – 11:40

• Islamic perspectives 11:40 – 12:25

• Questions and answers

12:25 – 13:00

Lecture SeriesA total of nine lectures are

anticipated to be delivered on a monthly basis over a period of

nine consecutive months

Each of the lectures shall provide a rudimentary understanding of various philosophical concepts

Please refer to the provided handbook for further details and

additional readings

Sessions Date and Time Subject Matter Western

Perspectives Islamic

Perspectives

1 of 924th August 2014

10:15am - 1.00pm Introduction to philosophyWhat is philosophy?Why study philosophy?Meaning and definition

2 of 921st September 2014

10:15am - 1.00pm

What can we know? Knowledge[Epistemology 1/2]

What is knowing?What is knowledge?Belief, truth and evidenceThe sources and concepts of knowledge,reason and experience

3 of 919th October 2014

10:15am - 1.00pm

What is the world like? Perceiving the World[Epistemology 2/2]

RealismIdealismOur knowledge of the physical world

4 of 923rd November 2014

10:15am - 1.00pm

The way the world works Scientific Knowledge[Philosophy of Science]

Laws of natureExplanationTheoriesPossibilityThe problem of induction

5 of 921st December 2014

10:15am - 1.00pm

What is and what must be? Freedom and Necessity[Metaphysics]

CausalityDeterminism and freedom

6 of 918th January 2015

10:15am - 1.00pm

What am I?Mind and Body[Philosophy of Mind]

The physical and the mental,The relationship between the physical and the mental,Materialism

7 of 915th February 2015

10:15am - 1.00pm

What else is there? [Philosophy of Religion 1/2]

Ontological, cosmological and teleological arguments for the existence of God

8 of 922th March 2015

10:15am - 1.00pm

What else is there? [Philosophy of Religion 2/2]

The concept of GodThe problem of evilReligious concepts

9 of 919th April 2015

10:15am - 1.00pmThe is and the ought[Problems in Ethics]

Meta-ethicsTheories of goodnessTheories of conduct

And Once Again . . . The Objective

The primary aim and overall objective, among other

subsidiary benefits, is to assist in familiarising and acquainting its recipients with the conceptual [and

intellectual] perils, predominantly encountered by religion in todays society, which are propelled by [or

in the name of] philosophy.  

Lecture 4/9

Philosophy of Science

The Way the World Works

What is ‘Philosophy of Science’?

Some DefinitionsThe branch of

philosophy that is centered on a

critical examination of the

sciences: their methods and their

results

The investigation of questions that

arise from reflection upon

science and scientific practice

The discipline of philosophy of

science investigates how

scientific knowledge works – its goals and its

methods, its achievements and

its limitations

Questions Concerning Philosophy of Science

How is a scientific language

constructed?

What are the rules of correct

scientific reasoning?

What are the distinctive

features of a scientific

observation?

What is a scientific law, or

what does a scientific theory

consist of?

How are hypotheses and

theories empirically

tested?

What is achieved by

scientific explanation and

what is causality?

Most General Questions of

Philosophy of ScienceIs there an objective reality, and an objective truth?

• This lies on the border between philosophy of science and epistemology

What connection exists between science and value judgements?

• This lies on the border between philosophy of science and meta-ethics

Philosophy of Science is Divided into Two

Areas• Discusses the justification

and objectivity of scientific knowledge

• A central issue is the problem of induction

[1]Epistemology of Science

• Discusses philosophically puzzling aspects of the reality uncovered by science

• A central issue is the analysis of causation

[2]Metaphysics of Science

What is ‘Science’?

From the Latin ‘scientia’

[Knowledge]

At times science has been regarded as a part of philosophy,

and at others, separate from

philosophy

Sometimes looked upon as a single discipline, and at other times as a plural discipline

Sometimes it is regarded as having to

do with reality; the phenomena or the

appearances of things

The sciences are sometimes divided into deductive and inductive types, or

sciences of reason and sciences of fact

The Scientific Method

A set of procedures that scientists follow in order to gain knowledge about the world.

The scientific method is the process by which scientists, collectively and over time, endeavour to construct an

accurate (that is, reliable, consistent and non-arbitrary) representation of the world.

[1]Ask a

question?

[2] Form a

hypothesis

[3] Test the

hypothesis

[4] Analyse

the results

[5] Draw

conclusions

The Scientific Method

Ask a question

Form a hypothesis

Test the hypothesis

Analyse the results

Draw conclusion

s

[1] Epistemology of Science

What is Induction?The process which

leads us from observations of

particular cases to universal

conclusions

Inference from a finite number of

particular cases to a further case or

to a general conclusion

Inductive Inferences

If a number of ravens have been observed, all of which are black

And if no raven has been

encountered that is not black

The inference to the conclusion that the next

observed raven will be black

Or the general conclusion that all ravens are

black

Induction is Used to Form Hypothesis and

Theories

David Hume & the Problem of InductionThe rational basis of any such inference was challenged by

HumeHe believed that induction presupposed belief in the

uniformity of nature

but that this belief had no defence in

reason

and merely reflected a habit or custom of

the mind

David Hume & the Problem of Induction

Thus Hume suggests that the idea of necessity, essential to the

concepts of both causation and of natural law cannot be drawn from

our observation of the external world, but must instead be derived from the felt force of our habitual associations of “perceptions of the

mind”.

The Problem of Induction

‘All bodies fall with constant acceleration’

Such arguments are not logically

valid

The truth of the particular premises does not guarantee

the truth of the universal conclusion

That all bodies observed so

far have fallen with constant acceleration

does not guarantee that all future ones will do so too

One Response to the Problem of Induction

Popper’s Falsifiability

Science does not rely on induction in

the first place.

Rather it puts forward hypotheses

in a conjectural spirit, and then strives to refute

them.

Thus, as long as such hypotheses are falsifiable, in

the sense that there are possible observations that would disprove them, then the objectivity of

science is assured.

Critique of Popper’s Falsifiability

It offers no account of our entitlement to

believe in the truth of scientific theories,

rather than their falsity.

And so it fails to solve the problem of

induction.

Is This True?

Break

15 Minutes

Islamic Perspectiv

e

Science Through the Eyes of Islam

Contrast Between Western & Islamic Approaches to ScienceWestern science is

atomised and manipulative in its

relationship to nature, since it does not see it as having any spiritual

meaning. It is just there to be used and

observed.

Islam encourages the view that the world is a

product of God, so a deeper reality lies behind it, and its

structure reveal to those who approach it

in the right way an inner meaning.

The Role of Science in Islam

All have a legitimate role to play in the scientific

enterprise of Islam. As long as Muslims are faithful to the

true spirit of Tawḥīd

Logical Thinking

Mathematical Analysis Observation/

Experimentation

The Role of a Muslim Scientist

A Muslim’s religious

consciousness influences his intellectual

attitude toward the reality and the study of it.

A Muslim knows that the physical world does not have

an independent existence of its

own.

The physical world, like all other worlds,

owes its existence to

God.

The spirit of Muslim observation and

experimentation is shaped by this religious consciousness.

Muslims carry out observations and

experimentations with the firm conviction that they are seeking to know an aspect

of the reality of God.

Scientific Methodology In Islam

Islamic science has always sought to apply different

methods in accordance with the nature of the

subject in question and modes of

understanding that subject.

Muslim scientists, in their cultivation and development

of the various sciences, have

relied upon every avenue of

knowledge open to man, from

ratiocination and interpretation of sacred scriptures

to observation and experimentation.

A Contrast in Methodologies

Modern Science

• Cannot retain its present epistemological foundation and adopt revealed scriptures along with intellectual intuition

• It would otherwise fall into a philosophical contradiction

Islam

• Adopts a Pluralistic methodology

• Possess a unified and coherent vision of what the multiplicity of methodologies mean

Metaphysical Developments in

Science

Developments made by Muslim Intellectuals and

Luminaries

Analysis of Causation

and Necessity

The Problem of Induction

The Theory of

Occasionalism

The Problem of Induction Introduced

by MuslimsIt provided an elaborate

explanation of God’s Omnipotence and His constant act of creation

It demonstrated the level of contingency of

the world and its phenomenon

It provided a metaphysical

understanding of the reality of the world

Next LectureFreedom & Necessity

[Metaphysics]

21st December 201410:15 – 13:00