PHILOSOPHY

INTRODUCTORY TALK

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 WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY
• Philoso phobia; causes: terminologies, general perception, most original and fundamental subject
• Scoring trend
• Appreciation to students who are having interest in philosophy
• Definition
• Nothing is nobler than than the love of truth
• Generalizations, logical organization of Knowledge
• Mother of all subjects; Mansruwar lake
• Best combination with philosophy: European history, Political science, sociology, gender studies,

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 Why students should opt philosophy
• High scoring because of mathematical orientation
• Defined areas and expected questions( Modern Philosophers and
movements, Iqbal)
• Foundation of Ideological paradigms
• Overlaps with Political science, European History, sociology, gender studies
and
• Essay, IS and logic
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 How to Study Philosophy
• Division of Areas
• What is philosophy? Definition, questions, fundamental concepts, Branches,
Persons, differences ( 1-2 Questions)
• Past paper
• Chronological evolution
• Making charts

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 books

• Start: Sophie's world, The history of philosophy A.C Grayling

• Selective reading from philosophy: the power of idea, History of western
philosophy, story of philosophy and pleasure of philosophy
• For Islamic Philosophy : History of Islamic Philosophy by M.M Sharif
• For Logic: Logic by Hurley ( First three chapters)
• Notes available on Sophia educational services
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 Logic
• Construction and validity of arguments
• Concepts, Definition, Argumentation, Paragraphing
• Process of reasoning
• Inductive: proceeds from particular to general concepts
• Deductive: proceeds from general to particular concepts
• Avoidance of fallacies

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 Metaphysics
• What are the fundamental constituents of the universe: matter, idea, movement,
unknowable
• What is the origin and principle of movement of the Fundamental Constitution
• 10 basic categories of Aristotle: substance, relation, time, space, position, quantity,
quality, state, action and affection
• Idealism: Representative, Rational, Subjective, Transcendental , Absolute
• Materialism: Evolutionary, Empirical, Representative, Historical, Pragmatism

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 Ontology
• Meaning, essence and attributes of existence
• What is Being
• Difference between concrete and abstract concepts
• God, Soul, matter, forms

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 Epistemology
• “The origin, certainty and extent of human knowledge, together with the
grounds and degrees of beliefs, opinion and assent”
• Empiricism
• Rationalism
• Scepticism
• Dialect

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 Moral
• What is the purpose of existence? What is the criteria of good and evil?What
is happiness
• Divine/ Theology
• Consequentialism/ Pragmatism
• Moral Duty/ Categorical Imperative/
• Virtue/ Rational Determinism
• Relativism/ Deconstructivism
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 Politics
• What is the fundamental principle of human organization
• How power should be distributed
• Rights and duties of individual and state
• Justice, individualism, social contract, liberty, equality

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 Aesthetics
• What is beauty?
• Truth, Justice, Love, Intelligence,

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 How to start preparation
• Greek philosophy constitutes basic philosophical thesis, paradigms and equations
• What is philosophy and what are her branches
• Why philosophy originated in Greeks
• Greek Philosophy from Thales to Aristotle
• Islamic Philosophy
• Modern Philosophy
• Contemporary Philosophical schools
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 Greek Philosophy
• Thales: supernatural to natural explanation of the universe
• Anaximander: Indefinite matter( how forms appeared)
• Anaximenes: process of refraction and condensation( Air)
• Pythagoreans: Mysticism, Mathematics, cyclic change, Reminiscence
• Eleatic: Abstracted quantity and quality; Idealism; Xenophanes( Deism);
Parmenides( metaphysics and Logic)
• Zeno: Dialect
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 Greek Philosophy
• Heraclitus: conflict; eternity of movement
• Empedocles: Eclectic
• Anaxagorous: Nous ( Reason)
• Atomist: Materialism, Determinism
• Sophist: Epistemologist( primary of methodologist); experience
• Protagoras: Knowledge is premised on experience
• Gorgias: unbridgeable veil

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 CSS Paper 2021
• Mill’s Experimental Inquiry
• Kant’s Copernicus Revolution
• Representative Realism of Locke
• Utilitarianism
• Khudi of Iqbal
• Pragmatism; Relationship with religion
• Deductive; Empiricism; Social Contract
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 PMS 2020 (1)
• Logic +Aristotle
• Spinoza’ ethical theory
• Hume’s skepticism
• Nietzsche's Existentialism
• Logical Positvism
• Existentialism ( Kierkegaard and Sartre)
• Sartre

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 PMS 2020 (2)
• Mutazalites
• Asharites
• AL-Ghazali
• Rushd
• Religious Fundamentalism and Modernism
• Wahdat ul Wajood and Wahdat ul Shahood
• Ijtehad, Iqbal and modern state
• Naturalism of Sir Syed
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