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Philosophy
Course Outline
Introduction ● philosophy = thinking ● love for knowledge or wisdom ● will challenge religious ideals ● man’s intellectual search for the ultimate meaning of life ● securement for the truth ● gaining knowledge on the wisdom of the truth ● encapsulates the essence of thinking ● all about the self Epistemology ● branch of Philosophy that deals with the study or theory of knowledge ● philosophers of epistemology ○ René Descartes ○ David Hume ○ Immanuel Kant Rationalism ● a type of philosophy that glorifies the power of human reason in achieving the knowledge of reality ● intellect > emotions Empiricism ● a type of philosophy that centers on experience ● the actuality of one’s own life ● David Hume ○ experience cannot give us knowledge on scientific principles ○ science is a belief with psychological clutches Critical Philosophy ● a combination of human reason and human experience ● Immanuel Kant ○ wisdom about life is a combination Philosophy of Religion ● arguments for and against God’s existence ● David Hume ○ religion is manmade ● Friedrich Nietzsche ○ religion is self-empowerment ● Søren Kierkegaard ○ religion motivates people ○ the meaning of life depends on the standpoint of self ● Arthur Schopenhauer ○ life is dark in all aspects Existentialism ● human freedom and individuality ● Albert Camus ○ a french philosopher, writer ○ absurdity = life is meaningless ○ if there is no God, humans can create their own path ● Jean-Paul Sartre ○ existence precedes essence ○ man has an opportunity to create their own meaning
Introduction to Philosophy
What is Philosophy? a) etymology ● philos = love or passion ● sophia = knowledge or wisdom b) classic definition ● the science through the light of natural reason alone studies the ultimate principles of all things ● science ○ theoretical, systematic discipline ○ based on this definition, philosophy is a theoretical, systematic discipline that uses the power of the human mind to understand the root causes of life ● the light of natural reason ○ the power of the human mind ○ not tangible c) simpler definition ● man’s quest for meaning ● we are philosophers by nature ○ we can’t help but ask questions about the meaning of life ● the act of philosophizing is what makes us human Philosophy is more than an act of thinking, it is a discipline that defines what thinking is all about The 8 Branches of Philosophy
- Metaphysics (reality)
- Epistemology (knowledge)
- Religion
- Logic
- Cosmology
- Ethics
- Aesthetics
- The Philosophy of the Person Metaphysics ● the study of reality ● distinction between knowledge and opinion, between what is true and what is false ● Plato ○ believes that the true reality is based on abstract plane ○ reality takes place in the mind ● Aristotle ○ what is real is not the abstract plane but the physical plane known through the senses ○ reality is tangible ● what society says is not the truth, more often it is based on power relations ● ignites a course of action Epistemology ● the study of knowledge ● to gain knowledge of what is true ● not generally isolated with Metaphysics Metaphysics and Epistemology are two complementary disciplines, connected in one’s quest in achieving knowledge Philosophy of Religion ● philosophical analysis or investigation for and against God’s existence ● St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274) ○ approved God’s existence ○ argues that God exists because the world is rational and logical ○ the argument from design ■ the world is ordered and complex that is must have had a design or a plan ■ there is something, some being that made life structured ● Ludwig Feuerbach (1804 - 1872) ○ disapproved God’s existence ○ God is a projection of the mind ○ God is an embodiment of what man aspires to be, an idealized version of perfection
Guide Questions
- What is the truth all about?
- What is the criteria for what is true?
- How can the mind or reason arrive at the truth? 3 philosophical systems identified with Epistemology
- Rationalism (p. 93)
- Empiricism
- Critical Philosophy
Rationalism
● glorifies human reason ● human reason is ○ universal ○ the most important element in human nature ■ human reason is the defining trait of human nature ■ the ability of rationalizing makes us human ○ defining feature for the acquisition of knowledge ○ the only means to certainty ○ the only way to determine what is morally right or good (basis of morality) Modern Philosophy ● started in Europe ○ around 17th to 19th century ● not contemporary or new ● the concerns are all about epistemology (knowledge) and metaphysics (reality) ● direct reaction the medieval period ○ theocentric or God-centered ○ the dark ages, downfall of man ● wants to restore faith in humanity ● the rise of science ● man can gain access to the truth through science and math Rene Descartes ● studies in La Fleche ○ a jesuit university ○ he founds the subjects vague and ignorant ○ he found theology very flimsy ● created the discourse of method ● believes that theology is based on faith, not reason ○ faith is blind ● excelled in mathematics (geometry) ○ mathematics is clear and distinct ■ self evident ■ precise ■ constant ■ universally true ■ objective Theology teaches us something we know instead of something new Descartes: The Method of Mathematics ● intuition ○ ability of the mind to arrive at a certain principle or something absolutely true ● deduction ○ the ability of the mind to arrange certain facts in a chronological order ○ arranging truths in a proper sequence Descartes’ Epistemology The Meditations is his central work, contains six (6) chapters presented in a logical system
- objective: total demolition and reconstruction of human knowledge a. traditional knowledge is inadequate and should be falsified i. faith is blind, sense is deceptive b. once falsified, knowledge must be reconstructed according to principles known by reason i. recreate knowledge through human reason c. Descartes was a system builder of knowledge Foundation Principle ● starting point for the reconstruction of knowledge ● not theoretical ● has 3 criteria ○ clear and distinct
○ ultimate and not dependent ○ existence To arrive at the foundation principle
Method of Doubt: Skepticism
● methodological skepticism ○ we doubt things not because things are uncertain, we doubt to arrive at certainty ○ Descartes sees doubt as a tool to arrive at certainty ○ doubt is the beginning of wisdom ○ doubting is a form of thinking ● sophists ○ greek philosophers ○ things can be questionable ○ we doubt because things are uncertain Beliefs that Descartes overthrows ● senses ○ deceiving in life ○ manifestations of a dream ■ we fail to distinguish the difference between a dream and reality ○ humans have low sense perception ● material things or physical bodies ○ based upon perception therefore lacking certainty ● natural sciences ○ still based on sense perception therefore still untrustworthy ● mathematics ○ he doubted his own discipline ○ invented of artificial argument ○ we are deceived by a demon or the ‘hypothetical demon argument’ ■ a demon is persuading us to think what we can to think I THINK THEREFORE I AM
Cogito Ergo Sum
● Je pense, donc je suis ● absolutely certain ● the foundation principle he arrived at through skepticism ○ Descartes started to doubt his own self ○ the more you doubt yourself, the more you prove your existence ● proves that we are a thinking thing ○ it is in our nature to have thoughts, ideas, and beliefs ○ we exist through the act of thinking ● the self is the only thing that is certain The Foundation Principle: Cogito Ergo Sum
1. clear and distinct a. pertains to the existence of the self b. the more you doubt, the more you realize the ‘I’ exists 2. independent a. a universal truth to all of human nature b. all humans have the capacity to think, doubt, and realize 3. existence a. the existence of the self b. through the act of thinking, we can confirm we exist To achieve cogito, you must detach yourself from society; the outside world Descartes engages in a process called
Reversal of Doubt
● he stops doubting ● he hen constructs knowledge according to his baseline which is the mind or the cogito ● the cogito is defined by thinking ● I/MIND/COGITO ○ thinking ○ ideas ○ free will ○ soul ● Descartes identifies the mind as a soul which exists independently from the body ○ mind and soul are same in nature Subjectivism ● argues that the self is the only thing that is absolutely real, everything else can be doubted ● implications of subjectivism
- the mind does not create reality
a. correspondence of ideas to external objects or actual things b. the connection of existing ideas to physical objects or things outside the mind c. true objective reality is not based on imagination but on human reason d. e.g. the idea of an army refers to an army but the idea of a mermaid is not real Theory on Causes ● all ideas are the effects of causes and vice versa ● three self-evident propositions ○ there must be as much reality in the cause as in the effect ■ cause ∥ effect ○ something cannot proceed from nothing ■ everything happens for a reason ■ cause and effect magnitude should pe parallel there must be an explanation as to why it exists ○ what is perfect cannot come from the imperfect Additional Notes ● the best way to reconstruct knowledge is the existence of the mind or cogito ● the problem with the cogito is linked with subjectivism and solipsism so he tries to prove that other things exist other than the mind ● he tries to conduct his test of truth, which he got from the certainty of the cogito ● in conclusion, descartes test of truth is anything that is true and certain must be clear and distinct ● mathematics without foundation or basis is null and void ○ he wanted to create a ground that mathematics is certain ○ the best ground to make mathematics useful is the existence of God ■ to prove that God is not a deceiver Descartes’ Rationalist Proofs for God
1. First Proof (Doctrine of Innate Ideas) a. the idea of a perfect being cannot be created by the human mind because the mind of imperfect i. we are subject to doubting ii. we create errors and mistakes b. the idea of a perfect being which exists in the mind must be created by a perfect being i. that being is God himself Criticisms for the First Proof ● perfection can come from imperfection ● the idea of perfection can come from an imperfect entity ● Ludwig Feuerbach ○ the idea of perfection is a projection of the mind ○ man is imperfect, sinful, unwise, and weak ○ man pushes his imperfect attributes in order to achieve perfection ■ perfection is something that man aspires to be ● Postmodernism ○ influenced by Nietzsche and Feuerbach ○ perfection is a social construct ● Descartes assumes that the innate idea of God is universal ○ the idea of God or a god is relative ○ religious diversities 2. Second Proof a. Descartes enumerates all possible causes of why he or the cogito exists b. can we be the author of our own existence? i. Jean-Paul Sartre states our sense of identity comes from free choices ii. we could’ve created a perfect life but man is imperfect c. can other selves be the cause of our own existence?
i. if our parents caused us to exist, who caused them to exist? ii. it is an infinite regress d. can God be the creator of our existence? i. there must be an uncaused cause and that is God ii. there must be a perfect being that created the existence of the cogito Criticisms for the Second Proof ● the uncaused cause does not come from God, but from energy ○ law of conservation of energy ■ energy cannot be created nor destroyed ○ existence comes from matter ● according to Sam Harris (U.S.) and Richard Dawkins (U.K.), existence comes from the evolution of animals or the lower species ● God creating energy is an authoritative faith, which is a fallacy
3. Third Proof (Ontological Argument) a. a proof for God’s existence where a person can prove God through ideas of God b. proves God through the idea of God as a perfect being c. existence is a necessary quality of a perfect being, thus, God exists because he is in essence, a perfect being d. St. Anselm Criticisms for the Third Proof ● The Cartesian Circle ○ a wrong or repetitive way of thinking Aftermath of Proving God ● God is the ultimate cause of the self ● On human error, misuse of free will ○ we make mistakes, not because of God, but the misuse of free will ○ to choose the bad or the good ● God as the basis for the ideas of mathematics and logical reasoning Descartes’ Proof for Material Bodies or Physical Substances ● used reason in doing the process of elimination ● when he goes back to the mind or the cogito there is an adventitious idea of a material body ● the possible causes that will account to the idea of a material body ○ if actual material bodies can be the cause of the adventitious idea of a material body ● the mind cannot be the cause of the ideas of physical things ○ it violates descartes’ view that the effect must be parallel to the cause ○ the idea of a material body cannot be caused by the mind—a thinking thing—instead, an external factor or a material body ○ concept of material things ≠ material things Why can’t God be the ultimate source of our ideas of material bodies? God cannot be the cause of the adventitious materials of material bodies because if it was true, then God would be deceiving us in thinking that ideas of material bodies come from actual material bodies The Kalam Cosmological Argument By al-Kindi and al-Ghazali (1058 - 1111) ● This argument states that everything that begins to exist has a cause of its existence ● The universe began to exist, therefore the universe must have a cause This argues that... ● the existence of the world can not come from nothing, because if it came from nothing, it must not be real ● the world is real and therefore there is a first uncaused cause ○ the uncaused cause is God
Hume’s Philosophy of Religion
Against Descartes’ Three Rationalistic Proofs ● first proof: the doctrine of innate ideas ○ we have no impression of the idea of a perfect being ○ agrees with John Locke that the mind is a tabula rasa ● second proof: an uncaused cause ○ causality is just a psychological association of ideas ○ causality is a formulation of the human mind ○ hume argues that descartes’ second proof is also manmade ● third proof: ontological argument ○ too theoretical and detached from experience, something abstract ○ hume argues that all ideas are based from experience ○ if we have ideas that is not relative to our experience then that is wrong Against Aquinas’ Arguments from Design ● deism ○ rational order ○ scientific laws ● hume argues that the world is purposeless and irrational in contradiction with Aquinas’ argument from design ○ this negates God’s existence ○ this argument involves causality ■ causality is manmade ■ causality and order is a mask for the irrational nature of the world ● our ideas reach no further than our experiences ○ experience and ideas are within the context of space and time, anything beyond space and time is not guaranteed to be real ● because there is evil and suffering in the world ○ destroys the idea of God as an all good being ○ man has free will but are we really free if God defines our purpose in life? is God really good? Against Miracles ● miracles are fictitious events for the reason that it violates the constant conjunction of experiences ● everything about miracles (burning bush, walking on water) defies what we really experience in the world ● there are scientific and natural explanations Against The Origin of the Idea of God ● the idea of God comes from experience ○ it comes from what we learn from society ○ we must use experiences to countercheck experiences ● it is a social conditioning ○ society tells us that there is a God ■ religious authorities (e.g. priests, preachers) ■ if you don’t believe in God there will be eternal punishment ○ we have no choice but to accept ● people invented God as a remedy to the idea of death and anxiety ○ security reasons Ludwig Feuerbach ● born in Landshut, Germany ● German atheistic thinker ● philosopher-anthropologist, empiricist ● influenced Karl Marx ● wrote The Essence of Christianity ● the abstract plane of existence is not true but what is true is the materialistic conditions of human life ● the way we live determines the way we think ● to gain logical knowledge about our life we must use empirical knowledge or sense perception God as a projection of the Human Mind ● God is a manifested inward nature of man ○ God is illusory because God is nothing but an impression of what man aspires to be ○ man’s ideals ■ perfection ■ wise
■ powerful ■ good ■ existence ○ man pushes these ideals to create the existence of God ■ all perfect ■ all wise ■ all powerful ■ all good ■ omnipresent ○ Satan is a man-made entity where evil comes from ○ existence of heaven, hell, and the soul is a projection of the human mind ■ heaven is man’s desire for eternal peace ■ hell is man’s experience of suffering ■ soul is man’s expression of survival The secret of Theology is Anthropology When you study about God, you’re really studying about human nature Nietzsche’s Life and Background ● influenced modern psychologists Sigmund Freud and B.F. Skinner ● religion came from a religious folk ○ misinterpreted by many ● had an affair with a russian woman named Lou Salome ○ introduced by one of his best friends, Paul Ree ○ horse wagon concept ○ pain and pleasure are not separated ● Nietzsche’s central works ○ Thus Spoke Zarathustra ■ zarathustra or zoroaster is a persian sage of the religion zoroastrianism ○ Beyond Good and Evil ■ master morality and slave morality ○ The Birth of Tragedy ■ he voiced out his fascination on the greek culture ■ Jesus Christ is a weak God because he centered on martyrdom ○ Twilight of the Idols ■ criticism on social norms ○ The Antichrist ■ centers on his criticisms on the christian religion ■ christiany leads to decadence ● decadency is the state of digression ■ christianity is based on universality ■ universality leads to martyrdom Arthur Schopenhauer ● born in Danzig, Germany ● was influenced by Plato, Kant, and Buddhism ● wrote World as Will and Representation ● discovered the philosophy of pessimism ○ pessimistic views are negative views Schopenhauer’s pessimism was derived from his concept of the will which is... ● the essence of the inner nature of man ○ man’s choices and decisions ● a blind incessant impulse ○ endless thriving will ○ to achieve self-satisfaction ■ the main objective of our will is to exist ■ to exist is a form of self-satisfaction Schopenhauer’s view of human nature ● man is egoistic and selfish ○ operating on instinct ○ the act of morality and conscience is a disguised form of selfishness ○ when you practice moral virtues, you do it for the benefit of your own self Schopenhauer’s proposal ● negation of the will ○ escaping our desires ○ life is evil because life operates on instincts
○ those who are ruled by this element are the noblemen ■ neutral for all women and men ■ challenges traditions and uses social ideals to his own advantage ■ one who asserts power and enslaves society and not the other way around ■ self-glorification ● they pass judgements upon themselves ● they do not look outside of themselves ● creators and determiners of their own values and way of living ■ individualistic ● a virtue in becoming a nobleman ● they often create virtues and morals that do not align with society’s expectations ■ generosity ● they will help the unfortunate, not out of pity, but out of abundance power ● generosity out of excess happiness ■ one who strives for constant self-empowerment and development ● through self-regulation ● taking risks and living dangerously lmao ● evil is not a mistake but a necessary element in learning about life ● slave morality ○ practiced by the lowest element in society, the slaves, the abused, the oppressed ○ slaves are resentful, devaluing that which the master values and the slave does not have ○ out of envy, they perceive power as something evil ■ they translated the virtue of the noblemen to something that which is bad ○ the morality of utility ■ the concept of that which is useful ■ goodness refers to whatever is beneficial to those who are weak ■ practices altruism ○ good is identified with weakness ■ good is what is most useful for the whole community, not just the strong ■ we must concern ourselves with those who are weak and helpless ○ bad is identified with power ■ one that has power is an outcast ○ crab mentality ■ if i can’t have it, neither can you Master Morality Slave Morality ● the noblemen ● powerful is good ● weakness is bad ● self-glorification ● generosity is excess ● the slaves ● weakness is good ● powerful is bad ● morality of utility ● altruism The dominant element was master morality but there was a reversal of values during the revolt of the slaves ● the number of slaves increased ● they implemented their set of moralities as values and the moralities of the noblemen as vices ○ noblemen values = vices ○ slave values = virtues ● slave morality became the basis for social norms and Christianity
