Virgen Milagrosa University Foundation

2nd Semester
Academic Year 2018 – 2019
GRADUATE SCHOOL

Philosophy
of
Science and Math

Submitted by:
Noreen G. Patayan
MST Mathematics

Submitted to:
Dr. Armando S. Vinoya
Why Study Philosophy?

Since studying philosophy will not directly result in an ability to program a computer, manage a
company, or diagnose and treat a disease, perhaps one might wonder why it is worth studying at
all? The answer is simple. While the study of philosophy does not provide one with a particular
set of "skills for a trade," the lifelong benefits it inculcates are virtually limitless. Here are just a
few. The study of philosophy enhances one's ability:

 To think, speak, and write clearly and critically

 To communicate effectively
 To form original, creative solutions to problems
 To develop reasoned arguments for one's views
 To appreciate views different from one's own
 To analyze complex material
 To investigate difficult questions in a systematic fashion

What should be clear, even from this brief list, is that studying philosophy develops abilities that
are not only essential to almost any vocation, but instills qualities vital to one's growth as a
person. Moreover, for many students such qualities quite often produce practical benefits as
well. For example, because studying philosophy improves one's analytical skills, it affords a
greater probability of success on standardized tests.

What is Philosophy?

The term "philosophy" means, "love of wisdom." In a broad sense, philosophy is an activity
people undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the
world in which they live, and their relationships to the world and to each other.

 investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based

on logical reasoning rather than empirical methods (American Heritage Dictionary)
 the study of the ultimate nature of existence, reality, knowledge and goodness, as
discoverable by human reasoning (Penguin English Dictionary)
 the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics
(WordNet)
 the search for knowledge and truth, especially about the nature of man and his behavior
and beliefs (Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary)
 the rational and critical inquiry into basic principles (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia)
 the study of the most general and abstract features of the world and categories with
which we think: mind, matter, reason, proof, truth, etc. (Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy)
 careful thought about the fundamental nature of the world, the grounds for human
knowledge, and the evaluation of human conduct (The Philosophy Pages)

Many students of philosophy go on to pursue advanced degrees. A major or minor in philosophy

serves as excellent preparation for pursuing advanced degrees in law, theology, business, and of
course, the humanities.
In addition, studying philosophy is arguably essential for continued success in a career. This is
because the study of philosophy develops two general skills that are vital for success in virtually
any career field:

 the ability to think through a problem clearly

 the ability to communicate a solution effectively

Whether one manages a small business, sets up computer networks, serves in law enforcement,
or cares for terminally ill patients, these skills are crucial. Yet studying philosophy not only
provides general career preparation, but in many cases specific preparation as well. Here are just
a few examples:

 the student pursuing medicine will benefit from studying bioethics

 the student pursuing art, film, or music will benefit from studying aesthetics, of the
philosophy of music
 the student pursuing literature will benefit from studying the philosophy of literature
 the student pursuing law, or political science will benefit from studying the philosophy of
law, or political philosophy
 the student pursuing business will benefit from studying business ethics
 the student pursuing theology, or religion will benefit from studying the philosophy of
religion
 the student pursuing some arena of science will benefit from studying philosophy of
science
 the student pursuing computer science or engineering will benefit from studying logic
 the student pursuing psychology will benefit from studying the philosophy of mind
 Legendary Figures of Classical Philosophy

Much of Western philosophy finds its basis in the thoughts and teachings of Socrates,
Plato, and Aristotle.
SOCRATES: ATHENS’ STREET-CORNER PHILOSOPHER

Socrates was the big-city philosopher in ancient Athens. Accused and convicted of corrupting the
youth, his only real crime was embarrassing and irritating a number of important people. His
punishment was death.

Socrates didn’t write books; he just liked to ask probing and sometimes humiliating questions,
which gave rise to the famous Socratic Method of Teaching. This street-corner philosopher made
a career of deflating pompous windbags.

Socrates (469/470-399 BCE) was a Greek philosopher and is considered the father of
western philosophy. Plato was his most famous student and would teach Aristotle who would
then tutor Alexander the Great. By this progression, Greek philosophy, as first developed by
Socrates, was spread throughout the known world during Alexander's conquests.

Socrates was born c. 469/470 BCE to the sculptor Sophronicus and the mid-wife Phaenarete. He
studied music, gymnastics, and grammar in his youth (the common subjects of study for a young
Greek) and followed his father's profession as a sculptor. Tradition holds that he was an
exceptional artist, and his statue of the Graces, on the road to the Acropolis, is said to have been
admired into the 2nd century CE. Socrates served with distinction in the army and, at the Battle of
Potidaea, saved the life of the General Alcibiades.

When he was middle-aged, Socrates' friend Chaerephon asked the famous Oracle at Delphi if
there was anyone wiser than Socrates, to which the Oracle answered, "None." Bewildered by this
answer and hoping to prove the Oracle wrong, Socrates went about questioning people who
were held to be 'wise' in their own estimation and that of others. He found, to his dismay, "that
the men whose reputation for wisdom stood highest were nearly the most lacking in it, while
others who were looked down on as common people were much more intelligent"
(Plato, Apology, 22). The youth of Athens delighted in watching Socrates question their elders in
the market and, soon, he had a following of young men who, because of his example and his
teachings, would go on to abandon their early aspirations and devote themselves to philosophy.
Among these were Antisthenes (founder of the Cynic school), Aristippus (the Cyrenaic
school), Xenophon (whose writings would influence Zeno of Cithium, founder of the Stoic school)
and, most famously, Plato (the main source of our information of Socrates in his Dialogues)
among many others. Every major philosophical school mentioned by ancient writers following
Socrates' death was founded by one of his followers.

The diversity of these schools is testimony to Socrates' wide ranging influence and, more
importantly, the diversity of interpretations of his teachings. It has been said that Socrates'
greatest contribution to philosophy was to move intellectual pursuits away from the focus on
`physical science' (as pursued by the so-called Pre-Socratic Philosophers) and into the abstract
realm of ethics and morality. No matter the diversity of the schools which claimed to carry on his
teachings, they all emphasized some form of morality as their foundational tenet. That the
`morality' espoused by one school was often condemned by another, again bears witness to the
very different interpretations of Socrates' central message.

In ancient Athens, individual behavior was maintained by a concept known as `Eusebia' which is
often translated into English as `piety' but more closely resembles `duty' or `loyalty to a course'.
In refusing to conform to the social proprieties proscribed by Eusebia, Socrates angered many of
the more important men of the city who could, rightly, accuse him of breaking the law by
violating these customs.

In 399 BCE Socrates was charged with impiety by Meletus the poet, Anytus the tanner, and Lycon
the orator who sought the death penalty in the case. The accusation read: “Socrates is guilty,
firstly, of denying the gods recognized by the state and introducing new divinities, and, secondly,
of corrupting the young.” It has been suggested that this charge was both personally
and politically motivated as Athens was trying to purge itself of those associated with the scourge
of the Thirty Tyrants of Athens who had only recently been overthrown. Socrates' relationship to
this regime was through his former student, Critias, who was considered to be among the worst
of the tyrants and was thought to have been corrupted by Socrates.

Ignoring the counsel of his friends and refusing the help of the gifted speechwriter Lysias,
Socrates chose to defend himself in court. There were no lawyers in ancient Athens and, instead
of a solicitor, one would hire a speechwriter. Lysias was among the most highly paid but, as
he admired Socrates, he offered his services free of charge. The speechwriter usually presented
the defendant as a good man who had been wronged by a false accusation, and this is the sort
of defense the court would have expected from Socrates. Instead of the defense filled with self-
justification and pleas for his life, however, Socrates defied the Athenian court, proclaiming his
innocence and casting himself in the role of Athens' 'gadfly' - a benefactor to them all who, at his
own expense, kept them awake and aware. When it came time for Socrates to suggest a penalty
to be imposed rather than death, he suggested he should be maintained in honor with free meals
in the Prytaneum, a place reserved for heroes of the Olympic games. This would have been
considered a serious insult to the honor of the Prytaneum and that of the city of Athens. Accused
criminals on trial for their life were expected to beg for the mercy of the court, not presume to
heroic accolades.

Socrates was convicted and sentenced to death. The last days of Socrates are chronicled in
Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, Crito and Phaedo, the last dialogue depicting the day of his death (by
drinking hemlock) surrounded by his friends in his jail cell in Athens.

Socrates' influence was felt immediately in the actions of his disciples as they formed their own
interpretations of his life, teachings, and death, and set about forming their own philosophical
schools and writing about their experiences with their teacher.
 Basic Philosophical Issues and Concepts

As an academic discipline philosophy is much the same. Those who study philosophy are
perpetually engaged in asking, answering, and arguing for their answers to life’s most basic
questions. To make such a pursuit more systematic academic philosophy is traditionally divided
into major areas of study.

Metaphysics (the study of existence and the nature of reality)

At its core the study of metaphysics is the study of the nature of reality, of what exists in the
world, what it is like, and how it is ordered. In metaphysics philosophers wrestle with such
questions as:

 Is there a God?
 What is truth?
 What is a person? What makes a person the same through time?
 Is the world strictly composed of matter?
 Do people have minds? If so, how is the mind related to the body?
 Do people have free wills?
 What is it for one event to cause another?

Metaphysics is concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world.
Cosmology and ontology are the two traditional branches of metaphysics. Cosmology seeks to
understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the universe at large, as well as
the natural laws that keep it in order. Ontology is the investigation into what types of things there
are in the world and what relations these things bear to one another. Ontology deals with
questions concerning what entities exist or can be said to exist, and how such entities can be
grouped, related within a hierarchy, and subdivided according to similarities and differences.
Before the development of modern science, scientific questions were addressed as a part of
metaphysics known as "natural philosophy." The scientific method, however, made natural
philosophy an empirical and experimental activity unlike the rest of philosophy, and by the end
of the eighteenth century it had begun to be called "science" in order to distinguish it from
philosophy. Thereafter, metaphysics became the philosophical enquiry of a non-empirical
character into the nature of existence.

Epistemology (the study of knowledge, and how and what we know)

Epistemology the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope (including
limitations) of knowledge. It addresses four main questions.

 What is knowledge?
 How is knowledge acquired?
 What do people know?
 How do we know what we know?
Ethics (the study of how people should act, and what is good and valuable)

Ethics also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address
questions about morality; that is, about concepts like good and bad, right and wrong, justice,
virtue, etc.

The study of ethics often concerns what we ought to do and what it would be best to do. In
struggling with this issue, larger questions about what is good and right arise. So, the ethicist
attempts to answer such questions as:

 What is good? What makes actions or people good?

 What is right? What makes actions right?
 Is morality objective or subjective?
 How should I treat others?

Logic (the study of good reasoning, by valid inference and demonstration)

Logic is the study of reasoning. Logic is often divided into two parts, inductive reasoning and
deductive reasoning. The first is drawing general conclusions from specific examples, the second
is drawing logical conclusions from definitions and axioms.

It answers the question: What is good thinking?

Aesthetics (the study of basic philosophical questions about art and beauty)

Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, taste, and the
creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or
sensory-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste.

Typical aesthetic questions:

 What is a work of art?

 What is artistic creativity and how does it differ from scientific creativity?
 Why are works of art considered to be valuable?
 What do works of art communicate (if anything)?
 What is beauty?
 Does art have any moral obligations or constraints?
Political Philosophy (the study of how people should interact in a proper society)

Political Philosophy is the study of concepts such as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the
enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why (or even if) they are needed, what
makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form
it should take and why, what the law is, and what duties citizens owe to a legitimate government,
if any, and when it may be legitimately overthrown, if ever. Three central concerns of political
philosophy have been the political economy by which property rights are defined and access to
capital is regulated, the demands of justice in distribution and punishment, and the rules of truth
and evidence that determine judgments in the law.

Typical Social/Political Philosophy questions:

 What form of government is best?

 What economic system is best?
 What is justice?
 Are we obligated to obey all laws of the State?
 What is the purpose of government?

References:

 https://www.dummies.com/education/philosophy/socrates-plato-and-aristotle-the-big-
three-in-greek-philosophy/

 https://philosophy.fsu.edu/undergraduate-study/why-philosophy/What-is-Philosophy

 https://www.ancient.eu/socrates/