Etiological Questions - Past Paper
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This document discusses etiological questions, including what is reality, how to understand it, the concepts of good and evil, value, and beauty. It presents case studies on Yukushima, Japan, and "Dr. Death," exploring various perspectives on these issues. It further analyzes different approaches to truth through science, philosophy, and religion, and examines the origin of human existence, alongside different philosophical views, including essentialism and non-essentialism. Finally, the document includes examples of arguments, focusing on the relative nature of truth.
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# Etiological Questions ## Wednesday, 04 September 2024 22:09 ### Summary - What is reality? - How to understand reality? - What is good and what is evil? - What is value and how to assign it? - What is beauty? ### Discussion Points - Something can be valuable but can be evil. (eg: bribery, stolen...
# Etiological Questions ## Wednesday, 04 September 2024 22:09 ### Summary - What is reality? - How to understand reality? - What is good and what is evil? - What is value and how to assign it? - What is beauty? ### Discussion Points - Something can be valuable but can be evil. (eg: bribery, stolen land, money etc.) - Good≠Value≠Beauty ### Case Study: Yukushima, Japan - Tsunami came - Population: 2,000,000 - Nuclear Reactor broke - Investigated by a renowned scientist: - Only 10,000 affected severely - Rest are not significantly impacted - Free healthcare for severely affected people - Inhabitation of Yukushima by Government - Free travel for people of Yukushima ### Case Study: Dr. Death - Terminal Illness people crave death - Doctors normally reduce dosage for eventual death - Pain management is at head - Dr Death used to help people die - Used pain management - Switzerland made suicide legal - Man takes what he has for free for granted. ## Branches of Philosophy that Deal with Etiological Questions 1. Reality → Metaphysics 2. Knowledge → Epistemology 3. Good/Bad → Ethics 4. Value → Aesthetics # Etiological Questions and Approaches to Truth ## Wednesday, 04 September 2024 21:59 ### Summary - Three paths to truth which have different approaches - All answer the same fundamental questions in different ways. ### The Fundamental Questions 1. What is reality? 2. How to understand reality? 3. Concept of Good and Evil? 4. Concept of Value? 5. Concept of Beauty? ### Approaches to Truth - Science approaches truth by applying methods (eg Darwin's Theory of Evolution and criticism) - Philosophy approaches truth by assessing strength of argument - Religion approaches truth through revelations and saintly sayings, revealed by God - All three might contradict each other ### Origin of Human Being - *Science* →Fossil Examination→Theory of evolution: man evolved from apes and changes based on physical factors. - *Philosophy* : - Two views: Essentialist vs Non-Essentialistsa - **Essentialist** : - Man is in the same essence, despite age-related and physical changes. - _Essence_ is the aspect of human that never changes, the thing that makes humans human. - **Non-Essentialists**: - Man changes as his physical form changes - There is no essence of humans - *Religion*: _Major Religions' Point of View:_ - **Islam** - Allah created man in the best of structures. - Adam was created by Allah in the same form despite physical changes his progeny continues as humans. - **Christianity:** - Man is created in the same form as he is today by God - **Judaism:** - Man is created by God in same form as he is today. - These three approaches might contradict on what truth is: - You have to choose one as the ultimate truth. # Examples ## Monday, September 9, 2024 8:38 AM ### Summary: 1. In religion, truth precedes argument then method. 2. In philosophy, argument precedes method then truth. 3. In science, method precedes argument then truth. ### Argument 1. Metal expand when heat. - All matter expand when heat. - Exception: Anomalous Expansion of Water (4C concentrate then expand). ### The truth of science is relative. #### Geocentric Theory vs Heleo-centric Theory: - **Geocentric Theory**: Earth is stationary. - **Heleocentric Theory**: Sun is stationary. - First scientists believed in geocentric theory - Then they believed sun is stationary #### Quantum vs Classical Physics: - Light/ electrons travels in a wave. - Light/ electrons travels in quanta. - **Wave like Properties**: - Diffraction - Interference - Reflection - Polarization - **Matter like Properties**: - Quantum Theory of Light - Electron Theory of Light - Similarly, philosophy is also changing. - PhD Thesis-Augustinr # Metaphysics ## Wednesday, September 11, 2024 8:39 AM ### Summary: - Is the claim for all human beings - Very critically Evaluated - Allah says in the Quran, "We have Created in the Best of Structure. Then We return him to the lowest of the low" - Reality should be (Clearer than Sun.) ### Reductionism - All is water. (Thales) - Atomists: All is atom. - Empedocles: All is fire, earth, water, fire. - Anaximander: All is air. ### Abstract Metaphysics - Parmenides: All is rest. - Heraclitus: All is flux. - Plato: The reality is idea. (Change is permanence. Permanence is change.) - World of Ideas--> World of Things - Pythogoras: Reality is numbers: c² = a² + b² - There is no Son of God. (Quran) - Metaphysics is complex. ### Branches of Metaphysics - **Cosmology:** Order of Being - Allah is Real, Then Prophets then Angels, Then Books of Allah then Humans etc. (Islamic Paradigm) - Humans--> (Atheists) - Capitalism - **Ontology:** Analysis of Being: - Islamic: - Human beings are mortals, including the prophets, therefore the highest is Allah, as He Alone is Uncreated. - **Teleology:** Purpose of Being - Islamic: - And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. I do not want from them any provision, nor do I want them to feed Me. # Application of Metaphysics in Real Life ## Monday, September 16, 2024 8:39 AM ### Summary - **Types of Relationships**: - Hierarchical Relationship: One after the other e.g. friends. - Radial Relationship: Like a circle. Everybody knows everything about you. - You should know as much about your friend as he knows about you. - When you get to know about someone, you upgrade or downgrade them. - Order: Cosmological - Analysis: Ontological - "There is no harming nor reciprocating harm." (Prophet SAW) - "Man is on the religion of his close friend, so every one of you should see who he makes his best friends. " - There is an innate purpose of everything. - Purpose of Fruit is to get used by man or something under man. - Some say is to propagate trees/plants - "And He has subjected to you all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth; it is all (as a favor and kindness) from Him. Verily, in it are signs for a people who think deeply." - To understand real purpose is to understand the reality. # Epistemology ## Wednesday, September 18, 2024 8:46 AM ### Summary: - Purpose of Knowledge: - Some say to seek money. - Stability then Security - Security then Stability - Education is the weapon of mass instruction. - "Every system becomes obsolete after 30 years. (Abdul Wahab Suri.) - Every system demands education so that one becomes part of the system. - Education is a system of: - System Integration - System Discrimination - Exclusive to a selected few. - Depersonalization - Compartmentalization - I am seeking knowledge to please Allah only and to make my hereafter better, due to this hadeeth: - طلب العلم فريضة علي كل مسلم - العلماء ورثة الأنبياء - One who is more educated cannot be controlled. - Education is a number game. - Knowledge is in-depth - Knowledge is according to one's desire. It should be the Quran and the Sunnah. - Knowledge is the relation between the knower and the known. - 5 Senses and Experience - Reason/Rationality/Inference - Intuition - Authority - Reason is the ability to think, understand and form judgement logically. - Faculty of mind responsible - Categorization - Abstraction - Inference - Gut Feeling=Intuition: - Direct acquaintance of knowledge that is always true - You cannot tell whether intuition is correct or wrong? - What should be the primary confirmer? - Some say reason, some say intuition, some say 5 Senses - Knowedge acquired after 5 senses called aposteriori (after experience). You cannot confirm about future. It is true for past, but not necessarily for the future. - Empiricists consider 5 senses as foundation of knowledge. - Rational knowledge is absolute (True for all times), certain and universal. - A-priori is knowledge acquired using Aql (before experience) - These are called rationalists. - A-priori is considered very superior. - For the knowledge of intuition, it is totalitarian. - Intuition say certainty is the real thing. - The knowledge acquired using intuition is called apodictic. - Intuition believers called intuitionists. - Immediate, direct, necessarily true, self-evident - You are one with pain - Authoritarian - Source of Knowledge is Authority - Means of knowledge AQL, HAWAAS AND WIJDAAN. - Quran and Sunnah is the Ultimate Knowledge