Philosophy

MR BOSHOFF ( A N D M R VA N D E R B E E K )
What is
philosophy?
What is it really all
about?
What do we know? Inquisitiveness?
How we know what we know (Epistemology)?
What should we do (Ethics)?
Different points of view. The connection
between the mind and the world.
Philosophy
deals with
the BIG
questions
 Why do you do what you do?

Why do you do think what you

think?

Why do you feel what you feel?

Philosophy is not a
subject, it’s an
activity.
What’s in
a name?
Or who?
PHILOSOPHIA noun / phi∙los∙o∙phi∙a
How do we do
philosophy?
You
already
do it!
Everyday, you
evaluate the world
around you.
To evaluate the world around us
as a philosopher we need to…
try to see the
accept that set our
world as we’ve
nothing is a assumptions
never seen it
given aside
before

be open minded, tolerant, and non-judgmental

Philosophy
helps us do
this better.
So how can we best
define philosophy?
The study of questions that
don’t presently lend
themselves to clear cut
solutions.

The rational attempt to

come up with, understand,
and answer the
fundamental questions
about our lives.
What do we study
when we do
philosophy?
Branches of Philosophy
METAPHYSICS
EPISTEMOLOGY
(THE REALITY OF NATURE)
(THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF
KNOWLEDGE)

AESTHETICS
ETHICS
(THE NATURE OF BEAUTY)
(THE STUDY AND EVALUATION
OF HUMAN CONDUCT)
LOGIC
(THE STUDY OF CLEAR SYSTEMATIC REASONING)
Let’s try it
out!
The Trolley
Problem
 Consequentialism
whether an act is morally right
depends only on its consequences

Utilitarianism Ethical Egoism

an act is morally right if it leads to an act is morally right if it is in the
the greatest happiness for the self-interest of the agent
greatest number of people

The Trolley
Problem
The Trolley
Problem
You’re all
Philosophers!
Thanks to
Mr Van
Der Beek