PHI 101 (Spring 2016) Lecture-1 Professor Dr. Mostofa N.

Mansur

▆▆ Philosophy is a peculiar subject in the sense that it is hard to define it. If one asks an instructor of

an introductory biochemistry course: “what is biochemistry?”, the instructor will not have much
trouble to give a definition of biochemistry. Of course, different instructors of biochemistry may
give slightly different definitions of biochemistry, but probably none of their definitions will
involve a significant controversy about the nature of the subject. But the case of philosophy is
different; the issue of defining it is a tough task that involves lot of significant controversies.

▆▆ In order to define philosophy, we can look at the etymology of the word “philosophy”. The word

“philosophy” has come from the Greek word “philosophia” which is a combination of two words:

Philos Loving

Sophia Knowledge/wisdom

★ So, philosophy might be defined as love of knowledge/wisdom.

★ But this definition won’t work. This definition does not give us any real idea about

philosophy. It is a too broad and too general definition which does not specify the distinct
characteristics of philosophy. For example, all sciences and other disciplines involve love
of wisdom/knowledge. One can love knowledge/wisdom without doing any philosophy.

★ What we actually need is a definition which will give us ideas about the nature and

characteristics of philosophy and which will make us able to distinguish philosophy from
other disciplines.

▆▆ Instead of defining philosophy, let us, then, consider the nature of the problems philosophy

deals with.

★ It is claimed that philosophy deals with what sometimes called fundamental problems or

fundamental issues. But what is a fundamental problem or a fundamental issue? Roughly,

a fundamental problem is an issue our thought about which contributes in building

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PHI 101 (Spring 2016) Lecture-1 Professor Dr. Mostofa N. Mansur

our worldviews. So, a problem about a particular event which does not affect our
worldview is not a fundamental problem, and hence, is not an issue with which philosophy
deals. For example:

✅ Whether or not a particular article of a particular country’s constitution protects human

rights is not a fundamental problem, and hence, is not a philosophical issue. But
‘human rights’ in general is a fundamental problem, because our idea about human
rights affects our worldview. Hence, ‘human rights’ in general is a philosophical issue.

✅ Whether or not you and I or our community know about a particular thing is not a
philosophical issue as it is not a fundamental problem and consequently does not
constitute our worldview; but ‘what knowledge is’ and ‘whether or not we can know
anything at all’ are fundamental problems that contribute in constituting our
worldviews, and hence, they are issues with whom philosophy deals.

★ The following quotation depicts how philosophers deal with fundamental problems:

That man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were
achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his
beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no
heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling can preserve an individual life
beyond the grave; that all the labors of the ages, all the devotion, all the
inspirations, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to
extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the temple of Man's
achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of the universe in
ruins-all these things, if not beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no
philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. [A Free Man’s Worship,
Bertrand Russell]

✅ Let us call it the Russellian Worldview. According to this view everything whether it
is material object or a living being is nothing but a collection of atoms. So, we are just
machines; we act mechanically on the basis of inputs (stimulus) we receive. All of our
actions can be given a mechanical-causal explanation and are theoretically predicable.

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PHI 101 (Spring 2016) Lecture-1 Professor Dr. Mostofa N. Mansur

✅ Now, one who agrees with the Russellian worldview may be tempted to go with the
ideas that there is no free will, no spirituality, no rightness/wrongness of our actions;
and we are not praiseworthy or blameworthy for our actions. So, we see, whether or
not we are simply collections of atoms is an issue that affects our views about whether
we responsible for our actions or not. So, the issue raised in the above quotation
involves our worldview. Hence, it is a fundamental issue/problem.

★ Another worldview:

Humans are central to all of their actions; that they are not merely predictable machines made
of atoms; rather, they have free will and are responsible for their actions.

✅ Let us call it the Human Centered Worldview.

✅ Now, one who agrees with the Human Centered Worldview will adopt the idea that
there are rightness/wrongness of our actions; that we are responsible for our actions, and
we are praiseworthy and blameworthy for what we do. So, we see, the above statement
affects our worldview, and hence, is a fundamental issue/problem. Philosophy deals
with this sort of issues that affects our worldviews.

★ Naturally, these fundamental issues/problems that affect our worldviews involve lot of
debates and controversies.

▆▆ Now, let us consider the particular sort of problems philosophy deals with. There are four main

branches of philosophy. These are: epistemology, meta-physics/ontology, axiology and

philosophy of religion.

▆▆ Epistemology: the word ‘epistemology’ has come from two Greek words:

Episteme Knowledge

Logos Study of/science of

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PHI 101 (Spring 2016) Lecture-1 Professor Dr. Mostofa N. Mansur

► Epistemology is the study of knowledge.

► Again, this definition is too broad and general. It does not give a real idea about
epistemology.

★ Thus, instead of defining epistemology, let us see what sort of issues epistemology deals

with.

★ One issue with which epistemology deals is how to define knowledge. We generally think

that we know what knowledge is; that we have knowledge about many things; that we do
not have knowledge about many other things. But do we really know what knowledge is? If
one is asked to answer the question: “What is knowledge?”, one may find oneself in an
awkward position, as it is really difficult to define knowledge. Philosophers try to do this
difficult task; they have proposed their definitions of knowledge; and naturally all of these
proposed definitions involve debates and controversies.

★ Other issues with which epistemology deals include: what is the sources of knowledge?

What is the limit of knowledge? What is truth? etc.

▆▆ Meta-physics/ontology: The word meta-physics and ontology have come from Greek words:

Meta After

Physics Physics

► The study that begins after physics.

Ontos Being

Logos Study of/science of

► The study of being (existence).

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PHI 101 (Spring 2016) Lecture-1 Professor Dr. Mostofa N. Mansur

★ Issues metaphysics/ontology deals with include: what is the nature of the ultimate stuff of

the universe? Is the universe made of some ultimate kind of being such as matter, spirit,
energy? etc.

▆▆ Axiology: The term “Axiology” is a modern term. Axiology includes the general theory of value,

ethics and aesthetics.

★ The problems axiology deals with include: supreme norms of human life, nature and kinds of

values, whether values are subjective or objective, what beauty is, etc.

▆▆ Philosophy of religion: It deals with issues related to God believed and explained/described in

religions.

★ Issues with which philosophy of religion deals include: proof of the existence of God, how

to reconcile between the idea of an all-good and all-powerful God and the unexpected
existence of extreme evils, etc.

▆▆ Now, recall that we have not yet got a definition of philosophy. What we have seen so far, are just

few examples of the problems and issues with which philosophy deals. But giving such examples is
not a good alternative to giving a definition of philosophy.

★ Examples are examples, and by any sense, they are not alternative to definitions.

✅ For example, someone asks you: “What is the definition of mammal?”

• You replied: “A human is a mammal, a dog is a mammal, and a cat is a mammal”. In

addition to that you have also shown him a man, a dog and a cat.

• You have not defined “mammal”. It won’t give him the information that a definition
of “mammal” would give.

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PHI 101 (Spring 2016) Lecture-1 Professor Dr. Mostofa N. Mansur

★ But by giving him the examples of mammals, you have done one thing; you have given a

hint about what a mammal is. Likewise, by giving examples of some philosophical issues, I
have tried to give you a hint about what philosophy is.

★ What was the hint I gave?

✅ Philosophy is a subject that deals with fundamental issues; it analyzes those issues, tries
to answer questions related to them. When a philosopher analyzes an issue, he does not
do it by means of observation or experiment like a scientist. Even if he uses some
results of observations and experiments, still those are not his actual method of
analyzing his topic. Rather, his method may be called logical analysis. Sometimes, it
may be a sort of linguistic analysis.

▆▆ So, by giving examples of philosophical issues, I have given a hint about what sort of problems

philosophy deals with. But I have not yet given a definition of philosophy. Neither am I going to define
it now. For, as we see, every issue of philosophy involves lot of controversies and debates. And, the
issue that “What philosophy is” is a philosophical issue. Hence, it also involves debate and
controversies.

▆▆ So, I do not have a widely accepted definition of philosophy at hand. But, when we will come to

the end of this course, we will probably have a good grasp of philosophy. And, we will learn how to
deal with philosophical issues. That time, we will be able to deal with the philosophical issue that
“What Philosophy Is”. And, then, we will have our own definition of philosophy. So, in the last lecture
we will address this issue again.

۞۞۞

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