Introduction to the Christian What is Philosophy?

Philosophy of Man •Philosophy is about:

–Finding answers to serious
Definition of Philosophy questions about ourselves and
• Philosophy is a thinking about the world we live in:
mode or a method which asks
questions about the nature and •What is morally right and wrong?
essence of various realities And why?
appearing on our earth (Laehy, •What is a good life?
2008) •Does God exist?
•What is the mind?
Philosophy concerns with •What is art?
questions such as: •Is the world really as it appears
– What is the meaning of to us?
life and activity, freedom and •What can we know?
love?. What does one speak about •…and much, much more
universe, man, God? – Questioning existing
knowledge and intuitions to get
What is Philosophy? closer to the truth
Philo + Sophia = Love of Wisdom
(love) (wisdom)
What will you do when studying
“Philosophy is about gaining
Philosophy?
insights into the Big Questions •Philosophy is different from
which culminate in a life well- many other arts subjects:
lived.”
–To study philosophy you have to
PHILOSOPHY do philosophy
•(FROM Greek philos, meaning •We analyze and criticize existing
“lover” and sophia, meaning arguments
“wisdom”) •We construct our own arguments

The great virtue of philosophy is that
it teaches not what to think, but how
to think. It is the study of meaning, of
the principles underlying conduct,
thought and knowledge.
What will you get out of
Philosophy?
•Skills that will help you:
–With your other studies
–Good career prospects
–Understand yourself and the
world around you.
–Prevent being conned and duped
•The skills are:
– Critical thinking,
– Argument skills,
– Communication,
– Reasoning,
– Analysis,
– Problem solving…
•Which allow you to:
– Justify your opinions
– Spot a bad argument, no
matter what the topic
– Explain to people why
they are wrong and you
are right
– Philosophy basically
teaches you to think!
•Philosophy of Man?
• Philosophy of man which
considers what man himself
means. It tries to articulate as best
as it can what the being or
creature we call “man” really is.
• In the past, Philosophy of Man
called:
– Philosophical of
psychology or rational
psychology
– Term “psychology” is
difficult because
etymologically
“psychology” is “a science
of the mind”.
– Philosophical
anthropology (anthropos
in Greek means “man”. It
appears more exact
because it denotes the
whole human being, spirit
and body, mind and flesh.
Philosophical method
•The Socratic Method
– Dialectic
– Socratic Ignorance
– The pursuit of virtue
• Defining Terms
• Using Arguments
• Identifying
Presuppositions
The Three Laws of Thought
– Law of Non-Contradiction
– Law of Excluded Middle
– Law of Identity
Arguments
– Deductive
– Inductive
Validity = a property of deductive
arguments in which, if the
premises are true, the conclusion
must be true.
Soundness = a property of
deductive arguments that are
valid and have true premises.
Some valid argument forms The Question of Truth
Categorical Syllogisms Is Anything True?
 All M are P  Relativism – the view that
All S are M there are no objective truths.
herefore, All S are P  Subjectivism – what
counts as true is a
 No M are P matter of individual
All S are M preference
Therefore, No S are P  Conventionalism –
what counts as true is
 All M are P a matter of cultural
Some S are M preference
Therefore, Some S are P  Objectivism – the view that
truth is a real feature of the
Disjunctive Syllogism
world that is independent of
 Either P or Q
personal or cultural
not-P
preference.
Q

Constructive Dilemma What is Truth?

 If P then Q
If R then S Correspondence Theory of Truth -
Either P or R A proposition is true if and only if
 Q or S it corresponds to the way things
actually are.
Some Informal Fallacies

 Begging the Question The Coherence Theory of Truth - A

 Argument from Ignorance proposition is true if and only if it
 Equivocation coheres with the set of beliefs that
 Attacking the Person a person holds.
 Appeal to Popularity
 Composition
The Pragmatic Theory of Truth - A
 Division
proposition is true if and only if it
 False Cause
is useful to the believer in
 Hasty Generalization
achieving desirable results.
 Biased Generalization