INTRODUCTION
TO PHILOSOPHY
EXAM #1 STUDY REVIEW
Exam Date: 3/21/03
I) CONTENT
A. What is Philosophy? (See two relevant handouts)
Ludwig Wittgenstein
(1889-1951): definitional concept of family
resemblance
Etymology: Greek,
philosophia (love of wisdom)
Theoretical wisdom (Greek, sophia): science, knowledge, truth,
reality.
Practical wisdom (Greek,
phrónęsis): ethics, life, virtue, character,
conduct.
Basic branches: metaphysics (inquiry into reality, see also speculative
metaphysics below), epistemology (theory of knowledge), ethics, and
logic.
Historically Prominent Attitudes:
1. Independence, self-sufficiency. Cf. autonomy
(Greek, autarkia)—heteronomy distinction
2. Doubt, suspicion toward any position or theory that lacks sufficient
evidence (de Montaigne)
3. Impartiality, rational objectivity, logical
4. Adherence to principle over narrow self-interest and pragmatic utility
(Socrates)
5. Reflective (Royce, Dilthey); cf. to our typical form of
intentional consciousness
6. Theoretical comprehensiveness: synoptic,
speculative, synthetic
7. Practical way of life (Epicurus)
8. Critical examination of what is taken for granted or naively assumed
(Dewey, Schopenhauer)
9. Wonder, theoretical curiosity (Plato, Aristotle)
10. Radicality: getting at the roots, persistent
11. Hypothetical attitude, the capacity to suspend judgment
12. Open-minded, not dogmatic, willing to consider counterevidence
13. Universalistic, cosmopolitan orientation
Value of philosophy:
1. Social-political, legal, and
cultural (critical function)
2. Educational
3. Moral/ethical
4. Psychological: antirational attitudinal impediments to philosophy:
- prejudice, bias,
partiality
- provincialism,
narrow-minded
- egocentrism, narcissism
- superstition
- dogmatism
- traditionalism
- ethnocentrism
- rationalization
5. Personal
6. Practical or pragmatic
Non Sequitur:
Latin, it does not follow
Worldview (German,
Weltanschaunng): comprehensive framework of interpretation, meaning, and
intelligibility; philosophy of life
Historical definitions: #s 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 13, 17, 22, 24, 27, and 36.
B. Historical Origin of Western
Philosophy: From Mythos to Logos
Matrix: generative context,
framework, or soil
Mythos: story, tale, fable, account, or legend
Logos:
language, articulated speech, account, reason, explanatory principle,
intelligible law
Mythical worldview:
general characteristics (10); Homer and Hesiod; anthropomorphism; analogical
reasoning: human action model of explanation.
Greek Philosophical Revolution:
Thales of Miletus
(624-546 BC):
Archę: origin, beginning,
first principle, primary element
Physis: nature as an
impersonal, dynamic process knowable through methodical and evidential
inquiry
Naturalistic-causal explanatory
model (“all is water”)
Speculative metaphysics:
reality/appearance, permanence/change, being/becoming, theoretical reduction
of multiple appearances to the unity of an underlying primary element (archę),
cosmology, metaphysical dualism
Xenophanes (c. 565-c.470
BC):
- Applied consequences of
philosophical revolution to the mythic gods
- Polytheistic gods as
anthropomorphic, idealized projections
- Movement toward
monotheism
- Mythic gods as immoral
- Philosophical theology
and ethics
II) FORMAT
1. 10 T/F questions (20 points)
2. 25 multiple-choice questions (50 points)
3. 4 short answer questions (20 points)
4. 1 essay question (10 points)
5. Extra credit? |
