PHI 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: The Butler, Lightning

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHI 1101
• Professor: Sardar Hosseini

Document Summary

Human being is a rational animal (aristotle) Non-human animals like dolphins or apes may exhibit a lower level of capacity to think, or reason, The ability to reason or to think is the most fundamental characteristics of human beings but the capacity to reason remains a central feature of what we are and how we think about ourselves. Certain conscious human activity involves reasoning (solving problems, making decisions, predicting elections, making discoveries, interpreting works of art, repairing cars, etc) Reasoning is the active and systematic process of analysis, evaluating, and formulating of beliefs, or statements, by rational standards. Reasoning is a conscious activity, but mere consciousness or mere thinking is not reasoning. For example, watching tv, or listening to others, or taking note of what is going around us, or experience feelings are conscious activity, but they are not reasoning. We are merely thinking when our thoughts occur to us one after another (sometimes in a passive manner)