Intro to Philosophy

• Philein means "to love"
• Sophia means "wisdom"
• Wisdom equates to autonomy
• Autonomy involves pursuing freedom using reason
• Autonomy is the freedom to decide personal beliefs

3 Branches of Philosophy

• Epistemology is the study of knowledge
• Epistemology examines the extent and reliability of knowledge, truth, logic, and possibility of knowledge
• Metaphysics studies reality and existence
• Metaphysics considers humanity's place in the universe and the nature of reality, mind, self, and consciousness
• Ethics is the study of morality
• Ethics encompasses moral obligations, virtues, principles, morally good actions/behaviors, social polices, and social institutions

Allegory of the Cave

• People exist in a world where they do not question the images they are exposed to
• Life lacks self-reflection, and there is a blind acceptance of conventional wisdom
• The cave represents a world of illusion and ignorance
• The outside world represents truth and understanding
• Prisoners symbolize people
• Puppeteers symbolize those who manipulate (political figures and media)
• Chains represent ignorance, biases, and social conditioning, stopping the pursuit of truth
• Teacher/liberators symbolize educators guiding others to truth
• Fire symbolizes false light/distorted truth or incomplete knowledge
• Echoes and shadows represent misinformation and false realities
• Adjustment to the sun represents the difficult journey towards truth and wisdom
• The sun symbolizes truth, enlightenment, and the form of the good

Philosophy According to Plato

• Activity involves moving from the dark cave towards the light
• Hard work is a difficult activity involving questioning commonly shared beliefs
• Freedom means breaking the chains that imprison people (sometimes without their knowledge)
• Examines Basic Assumptions aims to discover the truth

Deductive Argument (G+G=S)

• Premises show that the conclusion is true and allows for absolute certainty
• Valid Arguments have conclusions that logically follow the premise
• Example of a valid argument: "all men are mortal. Socrates is a man, socrates is mortal"
• Invalid Arguments have conclusions not logically entailed in the premise
• Example of an invalid argument: "Brampton is a city in Ontario. Christian lives in Ontario. Christian lives in Brampton"
• Reasoning process can be described as a "sudoku"

Inductive Arguments (S+S=G)

• Stereotypes make a generalized conclusion based on specific premises/evidence
• The conclusion is probably true, but with no certainty
• Strong Inductive Argument example: "1839 students said they believe in God. Jeremiah is a student at the hs. Jeremiah believes in God"
• Weak Inductive Argument Example: "I have been on 6 dates this month. 2 were with lawyers. All lawyers are single"

Abductive Argument

• Best guess (can be true or false)
• Judges from the most plausible explanation, given little information
• Example: "The street is wet. It was raining last night."

Structure of a Syllogism

• Premise + Premise = Conclusion

Preposition

• A group of statements considered true
• A group of statements that the arguer takes as true

Premise

• Reasons used to accept the conclusion (relate to body paragraphs)

Conclusion

• The statement that an argument intends to demonstrate or prove

The Socratic Method

• Question and answer approach, named after Socrates
• Used to focus on knowledge by challenging commonly held assumptions
• Breaks down a problem into a series of questions
• A statement is only true if it cannot be proven wrong

Athens vs. Sparta

• Sparta had little philosophical thought
• Sparta was a military oligarchy (wealthy people) meaning citizens had little to no power
• They threw deformed babies and old people off cliffs since they were no use to war
• They did not fight for money, rather to know they can right vs. Athens who went to war for resources
• Sparta's business revolved around war, and their army was the best in Greece
• Commercial democracies like Athens fostered philosophical thought
• No other Greek city developed philosophy (because they were not commercial or democratic)

Socrates

• Considered the father of Western Philosophy
• All information about him comes from Plato's "The Dialogues"
• He questioned the beliefs of Athenians, causing doubt and exposing ignorance
• The youth saw value in Socrates and philosophy, dropping their beliefs
• Athens became unstable after being defeated by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War
• Athenian and political leaders told citizens society must revert back to old ways
• Socrates was arrested and charged with denying the gods and corrupting the youth (sentenced to death)
• He died by poisoning (intoxication)
• His students founded one of the major philosophical schools after his death
• "An examined life is not worth living"

Plato

• A student of Socrates
• Teacher of Aristotle
• Developed the Theory of Forms: Reality has perfect eternal forms outside material world
• Wrote "The Republic," discussing justice and an ideal society
• He was an idealist
• Believed philosophers should be rulers
• Established The Academy: one of the first higher learning institutions

Aristotle

• He was a student of Plato
• Tutor of Alexander the Great
• Rejected Plato's Theory of Forms: Believed knowledge comes from experience
• Classified living organisms, influencing biology
• Dualism - body and soul
• YOLO

Confucius

• A Chinese Philosopher
• Founder of Confucianism
• Focused on ethics, morality, and social harmony
• Emphasized filial piety (respect for family), duty, and proper conduct
• Believed in the importance of education and leading by example

Thales

• Everything is made of water
• Reality = senses

Parmenides

• The universe is frozen
• Senses are what "changes"

Heraclitus

• Analogy of the river