PHILOSOPHY 101SPRING 2010INSTRUCTOR: WILBURN

Lecture 1: Introduction and Problems

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Philosophical Problems:

• What sort of things are there? Ex: Matter and souls?

• How can we tell? Ex: Is sense experience the only source of knowledge.?

• What are our obligations to others? Ex: Duty to help or not to harm?

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Scientific Questions

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• How many different kinds of quarks are there?

• Where in the brain is visual experience processed?

• Do most people believe in contempory America that abortion is wrong?

Philosophy vs. Science

What’s the difference between scientific and philosophical questions?

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Now, think about importance?

We know why scientific questions are important. Why are philosophical questions important

Philosophy and Freedom?

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Branches of Philosophy

• Metaphysics: reality• Epistemology: knowledge• Axiology: value• Logic: good reasoning

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Philosophical Problems

• Some of our beliefs about the nature of reality, knowledge, and value seem inconsistent with one another.

• If two beliefs are inconsistent with one another, both cannot be true.

• In an attempt to discover the truth, philosophy attempts to eliminate the inconsistency.

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Classic Philosophical Problems

• The Mind-Body Problem• The Problem of Free Will• The Problem of Personal Identity• The Problem of Relativism and

Morality• The Problem of God and Evil• The Problem of Skepticism and

Knowledge

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The Mind-Body Problem

If the mind is immaterial, how can it interact with the body?

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The Problem of Free Will

If every event is caused, how can there be free will?

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The Problem ofPersonal Identity

If we are constantly changing, how can we retain our identity over time?

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The Problem ofRelativism and Morality

If everything is relative, how can there be objective moral standards?

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The Problem of God and Evil

If God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good, how can there be evil in the world?

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The Problem ofSkepticism and Knowledge

If our only source of knowledge is sense experience, how can we acquire knowledge of the external world?

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Solving Philosophical Problems

• Philosophical problems arise because the belief that certain concepts apply to certain things seems to conflict with other beliefs we have.

• To show how its possible (or why it’s impossible) for a concept to apply, we have to identify the conditions for applying it.

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Necessary and Sufficient Conditions

• Something x is a necessary condition for y if and only if it is impossible for y to exist without x.

• Something x is a sufficient condition for y if and only if it is impossible for x to exist without y.

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Socrates and the Socratic Method

• Identify a problem or pose a question.

• Propose a hypothesis.• Derive a test implication.• Perform the test.• Accept or reject the hypothesis.

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Science and the Scientific Method

• Science wants to know what makes an event occur.

• Philosophy wants to know what makes a concept apply.

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Logical vs. Causal Possibility

• Something is logically impossible if and only if it violates the law of non-contradiction.

• Something is causally impossible if and only if it violates a law of nature.

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Practice Possibilities

• Are the following situations causally possible? Are they logically possible?– A human with feathers– Traveling faster than the speed of

light– A cat speaking English– A bowling ball speaking English– A rabbit laying multicolored eggs– A soft-shelled prime number– A thinking machine– A computer with a soul

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