PHL-1502 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Logical Consequence
13 Sep 2016
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The skill is not what to think, but how to think. Philosophers are interested in finding out the logical reason why we might believe something. 5 ways of acquiring a belief: evidence: direct observation that is publically available, ex. Inference: drawing a logical consequence from a previous belief: ex. If you observe that your fridge door was left open, you can infer that somebody might have left it open on accident. b. Inferences are not as solid as evidence because they involve interpretation: testimony: a belief formed based on the knowledge of another, ex. Beliefs about historical events are acquired through testimony: testimony is weaker than inference due to the reliability of the third-party, faith: a belief formed without evidence, inference, or testimony. a. Theory: the interpretation of evidence through inferential reasoning. Testimony and faith cannot be publically demonstrated, and are not considered to be proof. John locke, an essay concerning human understanding (book 2, ch.
