PHIL 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Special Sciences, Human Enhancement, Applied Ethics
21 May 2018
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CHAPTER 1- PHILOSOPHY AND YOU
What is a fundamental belief?
• A belief which supports many other beliefs.
o Eg. someone believing in God is a fundamental belief
▪ Beliefs that support this: what happens after death, right or wrong
etc.
The good and peril of Philosophy
Good:
• Philosophy is caring for the soul
• Philosophy helps us creates us into authentic humans by creating our own
beliefs
• Philosophy molds and constructs the soul
Perils:
• Thinking too much (intellectual neurosis)
• Philosophy may give you the impression that you can attain knowledge about the
world by pure thinking alone
• Might give you the impression that you have the final answer to everything
Definitions of Philosophy → look at slides
** Philosophers do not agree on how to best define their discipline.
Philosophy- the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as
existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.
Branches, areas and traditions in Philosophy
BRANCHES:
Logic-
What makes an argument correct (valid)? What is an argument? How many kinds of
valid argument are there? What are the logical principles? Does logic describe how the
world is, or just how our minds work?
Metaphysics-
the study of reality in the broadest sense… eg. mind –body relation, free will, does god
exist?
Epistemology-
Episteme = knowledge; What is truth? What is knowledge? When is an opinion
justified? How is knowledge possible? Can we ever know anything? Does knowledge
require certainty? What are the sources of knowledge?
Ethics-
If an action is wrong (or right), what makes it so? Where does morality come from?
What things are intrinsically good? What is the good life? What is virtue? What are the
virtues? What gives life meaning? What makes someone good (or bad)? Applied ethics:
abortion, euthanasia, cloning, human enhancement, etc.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
What is a fundamental belief: a belief which supports many other beliefs, eg. someone believing in god is a fundamental belief, beliefs that support this: what happens after death, right or wrong etc. Good: philosophy is caring for the soul, philosophy helps us creates us into authentic humans by creating our own beliefs, philosophy molds and constructs the soul. Perils: thinking too much (intellectual neurosis, philosophy may give you the impression that you can attain knowledge about the world by pure thinking alone, might give you the impression that you have the final answer to everything. ** philosophers do not agree on how to best define their discipline. Philosophy- the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Applied ethics: abortion, euthanasia, cloning, human enhancement, etc. History of philosophy, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind ,philosophy of.
