PHL100Y1 Lecture Notes - Political Philosophy, Mathematical Logic, Metaphilosophy
Document Summary
The trial and death of socrates (what is philosophy) Normal ways of finding out don t work: etymology, dictionary definitions. Part of the problem is that the nature of philosophy is itself a philosophical question: part of metaphilosophy". Instead, look at what philosophy covers: its character, its relation to other disciplines, etc. Philosophy can be set apart from other endeavors by the fundamental or foundational character of the question it asks (and sometimes answers: principles, what is the point of existence, what sorts of things exist, etc. But that s not enough, other activities also claim to be fundamental in the same way ie: religion. How should you act, what does it all mean. What sets philosophy apart is its use of and its appeal to reason: specifically to reasoned argument, philosophy will try to give reason and arguments (differ from religion)
