WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN COMMON…

HZT 4U PHILOSOPHY A QUICK INTRO

WITH THESE PEOPLE?

They studied Philosophy!

WHAT’S YOUR STARTING POINT?

What do you think philosophy is all about?

What makes philosophy different from other courses?

What do we mean when we say things like:

“I’m being philosophical about _____________________

(my life, this situation…)

WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?

• The use of reason and argument to search for truth and knowledge about reality.

• Philia = “love”

• Sophia = “Wisdom”

• Literally, the “love of wisdom”

THE STARTING POINT OF PHILOSOPHY

• Awe

• Wonder

• A question

• A puzzle

• A riddle

“Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains.”

-Alfred North Whitehead

BEGINNING WITH WONDER…

Philosophers use thoughtful reflection to investigate:

• The meaning of life

• What decisions should we make

• How should we live our lives

AS WELL AS ON OTHER TOPICS LIKE…• Education

• Family

• Business

• Work

• Play

• Sports

• Medicine

• Health

• Aging

• Happiness

• Friendship

• Law

• Ethics

• Punishment

• Rewards

• Social class

• Euthanasia

• Abortion

• …

PHILOSOPHERS

• Study questions not easily answered by other methods

• Continue studying areas where thoughtful reasoning and argument are important

• Study:

• The nature of the universe & the place of humans in it

• Humans as members of society• What can we know and understand, and why• Issues where observation alone can’t help

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY

• Logic

• Metaphysics

• Ethics

• Epistemology

• Social & Political Philosophy

• Aesthetics

• Philosophy of ______________

MAIN PERIODS IN PHILOSOPHY

• Ancient• Classical period: 700 BCE-300 CE

• Middle Ages• Medieval period: 900 – 1400 CE

• Modern• Renaissance: 1500 – 1600 CE• Enlightenment: 1687 – 1789 CE• Early Modern: 1500 – 1800 CE• Late Modern: 1800’s• Contemporary: 1900 – present

CLASSICAL PERIOD• Ancient Chinese:

• celestial & earthly realms• Order within heavens order in kingdom, family• Lao Tzu (604 BCE): Taoism

• Ancient Indian:

• Upanishads• Underlying reality behind mere appearances

• Illusions, Maya

• Yajnavalkya, Gargi Vachaknavi

CLASSICAL CONT.• Ancient Greece

• Plato, b. 428/427 BCE – d. 348/347 BCE• Student of Socrates• Teacher of Aristotle• Plato: basis of western Phil.• “Socratic” dialogues mastery in rhetoric• Topics: metaphysics & ethics

• Aristotle, 384-322 BCE• Topics: aesthetics, logic, physics, biology, politics,

theatre, poetry

• Stoicism, 301 BCE – 180 CE• Zeno, Panaetius, Posidonius, Seneca, Marcus

Aurelius• “spiritual” philosophy: reflect on good/evil, logic

CLASSICAL…• St. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430 CE)

• North African Scholar• Catholic Theologian & Philosopher• Used Stoicism: City of God, City of Man

• Hypatia of Alexandria (370-415 CE)

• Philosopher, mathematician, astronomer• Neo-Platonist• No writings left, strong following, placed high

value on science

MEDIEVAL PERIODGreat thinkers: logic, physics, theology, politics

• Ibn Rushd (Averroes) 1126-1198

• Thomas Aquinas 1225-1274

• Shri Madhvacharya 1238-1317

• William of Occam 1288-1348

RENAISSANCE

Philosophers embraced a rebirth of classical ideas

Neoplatonism: a religious, mystical philosophy from the 3rd C CE.

Humanism: included changing educational systems

• French humanist: Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

• English philosopher: Francis Bacon

ENLIGHTENMENT

• Isaac Newton 1643-1727), Principia

• John Locke 1632-1704

• David Hume 1711-1776

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778

• Immanuel Kant 1724-1804

• Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797

EARLY MODERN 1500-1800René Descartes 1596-1650

Thomas Hobbes 1588-1679

Blaise Pascal 1623-1662

LATE MODERN

Massive industrialization, developments in science & technology

John Locke 1632-1704

David Hume 1711-1776

Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778

Immanuel Kant 1724-1804

Gottfried Leibniz 1685-1783

Jeremy Bentham 1748-1832

CONTEMPORARY PERIODKey beliefs that developed:

• Deconstruction

• Existentialism

• Structuralism

• Naturalism

• Quietism

Thinkers:

• Jean-Paul Sartre 1905-1984

• Simone de Beauvoir 1908-1986

• Michel Foucault 1926-1984

• Jacques Derrida 1930-2004

• Ludwig Wittgenstein 1889-1951

• Martin Heidegger 1889-1976