CAS PH 100 Lecture Notes - Richard Dawkins
3 Jul 2018
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Course
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1. PH100: Intro to Philosophy
Textbook: Thinking Philosophically by David Roochnik
What makes philosophers tick?
In his book, Roochnik begins by referring to philosophy as a “peculiar enterprise, a
strange form of conversation”.
oIn order to better define the subject of philosophy, he compares philosophers to
natural scientists (biologists, astronomers, meteorologists etc.).
Natural scientists, in simple terms, are people who attempt to
understand nature.
Philosophy: derived from the Greek word philosophia, where phila means love and
sophia means wisdom.
Socrates believes that he must know himself, and be aware of himself, before he tries to
comprehend and acquire knowledge about extraneous matters (like the natural
sciences).
Some may argue against Socrates, who considers Philosophy to be the study of human
nature.
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Document Summary
In his book, roochnik begins by referring to philosophy as a peculiar enterprise, a strange form of conversation : in order to better define the subject of philosophy, he compares philosophers to natural scientists (biologists, astronomers, meteorologists etc. Natural scientists, in simple terms, are people who attempt to understand nature. Philosophy: derived from the greek word philosophia, where phila means love and sophia means wisdom. Socrates believes that he must know himself, and be aware of himself, before he tries to comprehend and acquire knowledge about extraneous matters (like the natural sciences). Richard dawkins, a believer of darwin"s evolutionary theory, states that human nature is simply another part of nature. There"s no such thing as human nature, there is just nature. We (human beings) are made of the same molecules as other organisms. We need to study the fundamental chemistry of our bodies to understand that human beings are essentially just like other organisms.
