Scientific Thinking for Freshmen PDF Fall 2024

SCIENTIFIC THINKING FOR FRESHMEN By Prof. Hamada M. Mahmoud (Professor of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University) Fall 2024  How can we learn philosophy? Three ways into philosophy 1. Learning the...

SCIENTIFIC THINKING FOR FRESHMEN By Prof. Hamada M. Mahmoud (Professor of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University) Fall 2024  How can we learn philosophy? Three ways into philosophy 1. Learning the Great Thinkers who founded western philosophy, especially: Socrates Plato Aristotle The rest of the history of philosophy builds on the work of ancient Greeks.  How can we learn philosophy? … Three ways into philosophy 2. Surveying of the history of philosophy. Philosophy is 2,600 year-old conversation between individuals and generations. Its beginning is about 600 BC.  How can we learn philosophy? … Three ways into philosophy 3. Discussing the problems of philosophy. It consists of identifying, explaining, and attempting to solve philosophical problems. Problems that have to do with God, truth, morality, freedom, the mind, and more.  The Nature of Philosophy What is mind? There may be definition problem because they are abstract questions; part of the problem is epistemology (the nature and scope of knowledge). What is philosophy? What is the nature of the philosophy? There is no official definition of philosophy. The inquiry into the nature of philosophy is called “meta-philosophy”.  The Nature of Philosophy Philosophy is an open ended, pioneering discipline, forever opening up new areas of study and new methods of inquiry. -‐Philosophy is based on questioning not on answering!  A definition of Philosophy Philosophy = means love of wisdom (phil means love; Sophia means wisdom) It doesn't mean that having wisdom, it is loving wisdom. You can't have wisdom, it is unending, ambiguous thing, you cannot complete and package wisdom, you can only love wisdom.  A definition of Philosophy … Aristotelian way of understanding love of wisdom. Philosophy is the passionate pursuit of knowledge of the real (reality, existence what is this or that /physics and metaphysics) and the good (ethics/value) As an individual, as a society our essential goal is to looking for knowledge necessarily. If you have baby, you will need food knowledge for this.  A definition of Philosophy … Reality, value and knowledge constitute an interconnected enterprise that goes by the name “philosophy”. Philosophy is a way of being in the world, of questioning it, interacting with it and responding to it.  A definition of Philosophy … Philosophy is open ended, pioneering discipline (it is the leading discipline, everything can take something from philosophy), forever opening up new areas of study and new methods of inquiry. The art of forming, inventing and fabricating concepts. Concepts are building blocks of philosophy.  The Emergence of Philosophy One of the first and most interesting things to note about philosophy is that it had a definite historical beginning. In that way it differs from art and religion, which go back beyond our ability to trace. Philosophy has certain time and place, and it began about 600BC in Mediterranean world.  The Emergence of Philosophy What was that new thing which began then and was different from what had gone on before? Before about 600 BC, people understood what the world was like and explained how it came about and why many things happened as they did by relating stories about spirits or gods and goddesses and their actions. Then these stories were passed down uncritically from generation to generation. The Emergence of Abstract Thinking Protected geographical features, rivers, harbors may contribute to develop civilizations. Location/water Death and afterworld Irrigation/agriculture Mythology Craft/techne Mystical/religious cognition Surplus Philosophical thinking Trade Social stratification (hunters, gatherers, kings, leaders, bureaucrats, army, villagers) Defense/army All civilizations share theses common elements, philosophical thinking is result of these common characteristics of civilizations. What is Philosophy?: u https://youtu.be/1A_CAkYt3GY u https://youtu.be/nRG-rV8hhpU?t=1027 u Use your own words to write a short paragraph to summarize one issue that you have learned from one of these videos u If you like you may choose any other video to watch