Love and War

Chapter 1: What is Philosophy?

* Examples

o Metaphysics- the part of philosophy that attempts to describe, in general terms, what there is.

o Philosophical Problems to be examined

 Whether God exists

 Knowledge vs true belief

* Having knowledge extends farther than just having a true belief.

* Philosophical skepticism-

 Mind/Body Problem

* Dualism- the mind and the brain are different things

 Human Freedom

* Humans do not choose their own genes or environment

* Can we be called free agents or are our personalities the result of factors outside our control.

 Ethics

* Subjective realm is where clashes of opinion occur and objective realms is where the physics exist

* Ethical subjectivism- there are no ethical facts, only ethical opinions

* Utilitarianism- the action you should perform in a given situation is the one that will produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

* Three Theories about What Philosophy Is

o Fundamental questions of justification- things that we believe without hesitation or reflection sometimes called common sense.

o Philosophical Questions are general

 Solipsism- the idea that your mind is the only thing that exists

o Philosophy is the enterprise of clarifying concepts.

* The Nature of Philosophy Has Changed Historically

o Many things that were once thought of a philosophy are now generalized as psychology and even science.

* Philosophical Method

o Philosophy is not about sounding important, but attempting to answer questions