Week 1 Lecture Notes PDF

Lecture 1 Humanities is studying the lived experience of being human Social sciences is studying the society using scientific methodology. Philosophy is part of humanities. At an advanced level of studies there is no watertight boundaries in these disciplines What is philosophy? 1. A method,...

Lecture 1 Humanities is studying the lived experience of being human Social sciences is studying the society using scientific methodology. Philosophy is part of humanities. At an advanced level of studies there is no watertight boundaries in these disciplines What is philosophy? 1. A method, an attitude: to examine the foundations, to question the current 'obvious', to articulate why the evident' is 'self-evident'. 2. Second-order study: Philosophy of. 3. To believe in the possibility of articulation and argumentation. To look for the fundamentals of learning and knowledge. 4. Transcendental: Transcend in time & perspective. This is to go beyond the current scenario. Coming out of the nowness and observing the broader values. Philosophers want to know why things are the way they are Look beyond existing practices Why philosophize? 1. First, can we help but not philosophize to be aware of oneself and one's awareness of this ability (aka self-consciousness) is the foundation of philosophy. 2. So, philosophizing is inevitable to the thinking person. We are fundamentally curious. 3. Transcended immediate needs of the moment and think 4. Curiosity about the world, our place in it and the structure of it - the spark to seek. 5. To make sense of it all, to reconcile and revel in the human condition. 6. Truth is not absolute. They are true in their frame of reference. Policies change overtime. This does not make them self contradictory 7. And if you are looking for a practical reason to philosophize - it is to bring about change! 8. CHANGE 1. Change is brought about by reflection 2. How to change the current way of things. 3. 400 years ago, community values were more valued. Now privacy and individual liberty is more valued. 4. Individuals who have brought change have had a philosophical streak to challenge the current world order and envision a new world order. 9. To understand why things (and systems) are the way they are and then, how to make them better. 10. So, philosophy is the primal urge to learn and make s of the world - outer and inner. The foundation of all knowledge endeavours. How to Philosophize? 1. Have an open mind 2. Think for oneself: Question, question and question 3. Look at established answers but do not follow them blindly 4. Resist simple explanations. 5. Art & Craft: Techniques of learning and intuitive leaps Techne - is a technique or skill. Learning the skill to drive a car. Knowledge how Episteme - is knowledge. Why do we need to follow traffic rules? Learning the mechanism of and ICE in a car. Knowledge that. Philosophers have been known to ask very self evident and embarrassing questions also Lecture 2 Craft is governed by techniques. There are methods and techniques of doing a piece of art. Art has intuitive leaps. Artists break rules and boundaries. Techniques may bind us. Art breaks through. Art is about not being limited by technique. Following intuition is one. So, summing up: 1. Philosophy deals with the most fundamental questions is questioning the obvious. What makes the obvious? 2. Philosophy is a study of foundations of knowledge and various knowledge endeavours. Hence philosophy as a second order study. 1. Foundational questions are philosophical 2. Non philosophical questions are those which can be empirically resolvable. That which can be solved by evidence is not philosophical. 3. Philosophical questions are not empirically resolvable questions although they help and are helped by empirical enquiries. 4. Philosophy attempts at articulating assumptions - making the implicit explicit. 1. Journals and introspection are an exercise that does this. 5. Philosophy as spirit, core, motto of any project - articulates the fundamental values of the project. 6. Philosophy as an ever-self-correcting endeavour, is the property of knowledge too - not looking for eternal answer, but rather the best possible answer in the current situation. Fallibility of knowledge. 1. Knowledge is open to revision. E.g. nutritional science. Heliocentric model People become philosophical in despair. People ask existential questions about life. Why philosophize? 1. Why climb the Everest? 2. Curiosity, making sense of the world and oneself as an individual, a community, a species... 3. But that isn't enough, is it? 4. To philosophize is to reach and articulate the axioms of any knowledge endeavour, and having a better understanding of the foundations, one can know better. 5. Fallibility of knowledge - a philosophical outlook strong] resists dogmatism (unquestioned belief) and is ever open revision when presented with better more compelling evidence. 6. Conflicts often occur when dogma prevails, with the fallibility of knowledge as a background, conflicts lessen, and knowledge enhances.  1. Families or organisations without a philosophical backing fall prey to dogma and are often more dissatisfied. 7. Knowledge has a seesaw history - seesawing between paradigms: Paradigm Shift - results from perpetual conceptual examination. 1. Knowledges change over time and come back into vogue. 8. As a student of philosophy, and a budding philosopher (not only as an academic philosopher but a philosopher in spirit) you should be: 1. Able to identify the foundational/philosophical positions in the most empirical of all questions 2. Unearth the fundamental assumptions of any claim and become aware of the limitations owing to the assumptions 3. And thus, debate better and gain from debate. Debate for progress of knowledge not to push bias beliefs. Lecture 3 Philosophy Metaphysics Epistemology Axiology o Ethics o Aesthetics Ontology talks about existents. Monism, dualism and pluralism talks of different foundational substances. Monism- physicalism (allopathy) Dualism - mind body (Ayurvedic, Yoga) Epistemology Empiricism- experience Values are present in all disciplines Values are the axioms we start with Policies or process as to how these values can be achieved. Freedom advocates would hold individuals would be self reliant. Those who do well deserved it. Equality advocates would say everyone started at a different level. It is a debate between competing rights. Look at the values of institutions or even a UI of a mobile app. Values in the domain of the moral world are called ethics. Moral philosophy/thinking Moral science Ethics - code of conduct The assumption of this course is very Socratic. Moral philosophy will help you to understand the debate in values so a position can be taken. Moral philosophy asks you to interrogate values. It does not give you values to follow. Lecture 4 Two obstructions towards moral thinking 1. Moral relativism 2. Egoism Moral relativism- to each his own and no one can reach a consensus. Egoism- I’ll do what I want to do I follow my own rules From Benn piers “ethics” fundamentals of philosophy John Shand Moral Relativism When we look at contrary practices across cultures, we think there is no objective way to it. A moral fundamentalist holds absolute truths. Mahatma Gandhi is fundamentalist regarding non-violence Is a trans-cultural perspective possible in MR? No! Because they can’t interact. Everyone has their own way. No one can be judged without a trial - UDHR Intellectual humility- we don’t know what one should exactly to do. While MR says do anything. Intellectual humility is not to be dogmatic; it is not denial of knowledge but revisable knowledge Moral toleration- listening to a racial slur. If one is tolerating a value, one does not approve of. Is he being an MR or making a judgement but not expressing it. Sometimes on low threshold one does not react. If you look at law books, why is murder wrong. In an MR framework, there can be no definite laws. Some laws are however universal but are revisable. UDHR have been universalised. How do differ between tolerant and being non judgemental? Intellectual humility and moral toleration do not entail MR MR is a claim about Moral reasoning and the claim is that there can be no conclusion. “I may be wrong” is not same as “there is no right answer” Fallibilism- when one holds one view as revisable. For MR, all cultures will be morally equal To be MR is to discard all laws The moral fallibilist says: there is a best way to live, but I may be mistaken as to what it is. The relativist says: there is no best way to live, because that very idea is inherently culturally relative.' (p.98) For the relativist there is no destination while fallibility is on the journey Self-reflexivity - the bane of any relativist commitment! The claim that all claims relative makes the claim itself relative. Egoism All actions are motivated only by desire. Altruism and hedonism can both give one satisfaction. When we look at what I wish for, like emotivists. Egoism is a catch all theory, which explains everything, however wrongly Lecture 5 Egoism doesn’t differ between self-interested desire and other interested desire. This way even Mother Teresa is an egoist Egoism states that we only act on desires leaving no room for random acts Only an irrational person would not act in accordance to their satisfaction. Egoist claim is trivially true. However not all wishes are our own wishes. For Hume reason is inert For Kant reason is freedom Formally, the structure of the egoist argument is (p. 101): 1. All I do is motivated exclusively by my desires. | 2. All my desires are for the satisfaction of my interests. Conclusion: …..my actions are exclusively self-interested Premise 1 - reason as inert (Hume) or reason as freedom (Kant) Premise 2 -I act in only what gives me satisfaction or happiness...but then what is it to act otherwise - random acts? I do what I wish to do, so, to be an un-egoist, do I have to act contrary to my wishes? Self-satisfaction can be hedonistic or altruistic. Everyone does work to satisfy one’s desires. So, we cannot arrive at proper satisfactions, self-oriented or other oriented. 1. Psychological egoism (PE): ' all our motivations are exclusively self-interested, whether or not we acknowledge the fact.' 2. Ethical egoism (EE): One ought to work only in self-interest. 3. Yes, we need to look out for our own interests, but is it that an individual should be concerned with? 4. If PE is true, EE loses force - 'For there is little point in recommending that we be self-interested, if we have no other choice. (p. 103) If we morally theorize, we need to be aware of the obstacles. Constitution and laws show that fallible moral claims can be made. Lecture 6 Value Theory What is to value? Logic of the argument- Premise → Conclusion Conclusion follows from the Premise If the Premise is true, the argument is not just true but also “sound” The premise is the core of value. The weight assigned to the premise comes from the value one holds. Value theory is to pay attention to the questions that surround valuing things and qualities Examples of different Valuations in different disciplines Valuation is intrinsic to all Knowledge claims that we make The premise is the core of the value and we make our choices depending on the premise In the domain of Ethics We have valuations as intrinsic or extrinsic (Instrumental) Intrinsic are things which are valuable in themselves Extrinsic valuable for the things is brings about When a politician in his speech talks of rights to something which is intrinsically valuable, the politician is appealing to an intrinsic sense of Ethics When the politician promises development and infrastructure that will bring about a flourishing economy the politician is promising extrinsic rewards. Which is the consequence of the action. value theory is less about the distinction between the right and wrong or the desirable and undesirable. it is more about what is desirable and more desirable 1. In Political theory, to choose between Freedom and Equality changes where one is positioned in the political spectrum. Both are desirable but, Freedom over equality is considered right from the centre while while equality over freedom is considered let from the centre. 2. In Finance one can choose from value or growth. Both being equally desirable.  3. Companies have to choose between high volume and low profit margins or niche product and high profit margins. 4. An Architect has to choose between form and function. The skill is in deciding the equilibrium between equally competing desirables. The classical example of choosing between loyalty and honesty. This should help you to be able to observe value choices in everyday life. The world can be seen in terms of classical binaries and dichotomies of which we need our value decision apparatus to arrive at an equilibrium and that basically defines the character of the decision being taken so when we look at when we look at any any decision made or any organization we can understand and back calculate the kind of value thinking that has taken place.