Lesson 1

Lesson 1: What Is Philosophy?

Introduction             Translated literally from the ancient Greek word philosophia (φιλοσοφία), the word "philosophy" literally means "the love of wisdom."  While an adequate definition for the time of the ancient Greek philosophers, such as Pythagoras, who is sometimes credited with coining the term, it tends to be a bit vague on the details. After all, what does "love" really mean? What does "wisdom" mean, for that matter? Can we really know for sure?

            These last three questions for clarification point to a thinking process that, while rudimentary, still forms the basis of philosophical inquiry. In essence, the study of philosophy is the attempt to analyze and understand basic fundamental questions in a critical and sometimes systematic way. It is a mental discipline that seeks to make sense of the human condition and the nature of the universe.

            This lesson will present a working definition of philosophy that will be used throughout this course, as well as the major sub-disciplines within the field of philosophy.

 

A Working Definition

            Before we can begin an actual overview of philosophy, it is important that we have a functioning definition from which to work. While that may seem cut and dried in certain academic disciplines, including the hard sciences, it is far more difficult to pinpoint when it comes to the realm of the mind. Twentieth century philosopher Bertrand Russell once defined philosophy as follows: "Philosophy is the no-man's land between science and theology, exposed to attack by both sides" (Osborne, 1992).

            Indeed, philosophy deals with issues often associated with religion (the nature of the universe, whether or not God exists, the standards of moral behavior, etc.) and science (how the human mind functions, the nature of the universe, the limits of scientific inquiry, etc.), but is not confined to them. Throughout history, mankind has struggled with the "big questions", which have changed very little. However, "…what has been called philosophy has changed radically in scope…" (Honderich, 1995) since the very first known philosophers began pondering the major issues of existence.

            This change in scope has made a universally-accepted definition of philosophy elusive over the centuries. Some have called it a "love of wisdom" (a direct translation from the Greek), and a great deal many other things, but perhaps the most succinct and functional is simply: philosophy is "thinking about thinking". That is, it is a reflective process whereby humans think about themselves and the universe around them in an ordered and detached manner (Honderich 1995).

            For those that would like a more formal and extensive definition, philosophy can be considered as follows:

"The academic discipline concerned with making explicit the nature and significance of ordinary and scientific beliefs and investigating the intelligibility of concepts by means of rational argument concerning their presuppositions, implications, and interrelationships; in particular, the rational investigation of the nature and structure of reality (metaphysics), the resources and limits of knowledge (epistemology), the principles and import of moral judgment (ethics), and the relationship between language and reality (semantics)" (Dictionary.com 2011)

 

Philosophy Is Everywhere!

 

There is a feeling in modern popular culture that philosophy is a discipline of purely historical value or, if it is still in practice today, it is only engaged in by those with multiple graduate degrees on university campuses or various academic think tanks around the world. While there may be some truth to both of these views, the fact is that philosophy is much more common and pervasive than that.

The fact is, most people deal with philosophical issues every day, whether or not they recognize them as such. For example, most have an idea of what makes actions right or wrong, what types of things (or people) they find attractive, the value of learning, whether or not there is a God or ultimate authority in the universe, and so forth. Granted, most will not deem their thoughts on these issues as "doing philosophy", but these issues (and many others) are more than tangential parts of most human beings' lives.

A great deal of popular culture is built on philosophical observations and famous quotations from the philosophers of the near and distant past. "The unexamined life is not worth living" (Socrates/Plato), "God is dead" (Nietzsche), "What goes around comes around" (an American summation of the Buddhist concept of karma), "finding my soul mate" (Plato), and many others.

While this type of popular usage is fine, it is not true philosophy, but an altered, shorthand version. Thus, this course will periodically use some of these references as a springboard to the more refined concepts that birthed them.

 

Sub-Disciplines of Philosophy

Philosophy, like many other academic pursuits, has a number of sub-disciplines. Later in this course, each of these will be examined more closely, but for now, we will briefly introduce them and the areas of knowledge they concern. Here are the major commonly-accepted sub-disciplines of philosophy:

Aesthetics. This branch of philosophical study involves concepts of beauty and proportion--that is, what makes something beautiful or pleasing to the senses. Aristotle is credited as being the first to develop a comprehensive aesthetic philosophy.

Cosmology. As the name might indicate, cosmology deals with matters related to the cosmos or universe at large. More strictly defined, it is "[T]he study of the physical universe considered as a totality of phenomena in time and space" (Free Dictionary 2011).

Epistemology. This branch of philosophy concerns itself with knowledge and how things are known (i.e., what is known, what can be known, how can we know, etc.).

Ethics. Ethics is a sub-discipline of philosophy that relates to matters of morality. There are many measures of morality in the world that have developed over the centuries. Whether or not someone's actions are ethical depends on the measure being used and that person's behavior in context of that measure.

Logic: The part of philosophy concerned with making valid arguments. Often considered an indispensible tool in the field of epistemology.

Metaphysics. "The branch of philosophy that examines the nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, fact and value" (Free Dictionary 2011). Cosmological and epistemological concerns tend to overlap quite often in the study of metaphysics, as they are issues deemed "beyond the real (i.e. physical) world".

Ontology: An important area of study within metaphysics that relates to the nature of being, existence, and reality. Typically, this is considered a complimentary discipline to epistemology.

Philosophy of Mind. Simply put, this is the study of all things related to "…the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, and consciousness" (WorldIQ.com 2011).

Philosophy of Religion. The area of philosophy concerning questions regarding religion. Questions that often fall within this sub-discipline include the nature and existence of God, analysis of religious texts, the relationship between religion and science, the evaluation of religious experience (Free Dictionary 2011).

Semiotics. The study of language, symbols and meaning, also known as the study of signs and sign systems.