What is Philosophy?

Minds and Machines

 3 Definitions of Philosophy
Philosophy is used in a variety of ways.
Indeed, dictionaries give multiple entries for
philosophy. Roughly, these entries can be
divided into 3 groups:
1. Philosophy as an academic discipline
2. Philosophy as a set of beliefs or worldview
3. Philosophy as a study or inquiry
 The Stereotype of Philosophy
Definition 1 merely states that philosophy is something
that is done at a university, and does not say what
philosophy actually is. This, however, easily leads to the
common stereotype of philosophy involving two distinct
elements:
1. Mental Masturbation: Philosophy is done at a university,
and at a university only. Indeed, philosophy is seen by many
as a kind of intellectual exercise in futility: absent-minded,
bearded, white guys discussing abstract topics having no
practical use whatsoever.
2. Intellectual Bullying: Philosophers always seem to know
better, and constantly plague us with questions.
 Philosophy as a Set of Beliefs
Definition 2 defines philosophy as a worldview or set
of beliefs. Notice that we can say a philosophy in this
case. Indeed, there can be multiple philosophies in this
sense of the word: My philosophy in this regard is ,
Platos philosophy, Eastern Philosophy, etc.
Philosophies provide answers to difficult questions, and
thus often serve as a kind of guide or compass to
conduct life and navigate the world.
All isms (and all religions) fall under this definition of
philosophy: Buddhism, Capitalism, Mysticism,
Existentialism, Dualism, etc.
 Philosophy as Rational Inquiry
Definition 3 expresses philosophy as we are
going to understand it in this class.
Philosophy in this sense is (like definition 1,
but unlike definition 2) an activity: it is
something you do. In particular, doing
philosophy is using our rationality in trying
to figure out the answers to difficult
questions (related to any subject matter).
 The Generation and Evaluation
of Ideas and Beliefs
Doing philosophy roughly consists of two
parts:
1. The generation of possible ideas, concepts,
views, beliefs, or answers with respect to some
issue or question.
2. The evaluation of those generated beliefs in
order to figure out which make sense and which
dont, which is true and which is false, which is
good and which is bad, or which we should
accept and which we should reject.
 Creativity and Reason
The two steps show that the philosopher should be
able to create as well as destroy ideas or beliefs. The
philosopher thus must be both imaginative as well as
reserved, liberal as well as conservative, artsy as
well as nerdy (indeed, there are links from
philosophy to literature as well as science), creative
as well as rational. In sum, the philosopher should be
open-minded but (as someone once nicely put it), not
so open-minded that his or her brain is going to fall
out!
 A Common Myth about Open-
Mindedness
Some people believe that they are open-minded
because they believe in things that are not commonly
accepted. However, this has nothing to do with open-
mindedness, as being open-minded has nothing to do
with what you believe (see next slide)!
Even worse, if you believe things to be true exactly
because they are not commonly accepted, you are in
fact quite narrow-minded, since apparently you are
unwilling to consider the commonly accepted answer
as a possible answer.
 Open-Mindedness: An Attitude
OK, so what makes one open-minded? Open-
mindedness has to do with your attitude towards
beliefs:
You are able to consider alternative beliefs.
You have no initial preference of one belief over the
other.
You accept the possibility that existing beliefs are
false.
In sum: You are critical towards existing beliefs.
 A Common Myth about Being
Critical
Many people incorrectly equate being critical with
being dismissive, cynical, or negative:
First of all, when you are critical of a certain belief, you
merely consider the possibility that a certain belief is
false; you do not automatically reject that belief.
Second, even if you do reject a certain belief, then that
is not automatically a bad thing; if you had good
reasons to reject that belief, then that belief was
probably false, and eliminating false beliefs may well
be considered a good thing!
 Being Critical: What it is
Being critical about a certain belief means to think about
that belief, and to decide whether to accept it, reject it, or
suspend judgment on that belief.
Thus, you consider alternative beliefs, and you make
arguments for or against any of those beliefs to figure out
whether the original belief was indeed the best belief or not.
In other words, being critical involves the same two
components as philosophy: the generation as well as
evaluation of alternative beliefs.
Indeed, philosophy can be understood as critical thinking
with regard to difficult issues.
 Why it is hard to be critical I

Habit
Its hard to change our thinking patterns
Difficulty
It can be hard to generate or evaluate alternative beliefs.
Sometimes we cant comprehend suggested ones
Laziness
We dont want to spend the time and effort
Futility
Being critical does not guarantee any kind of
improvement in our beliefs.
 Why it is hard to be critical II

Fear and Desire

We fear or desire the consequences of the truth
of a belief
We desire acceptance and fear rejection by
people around us
We hate to lose the investment we have put in
our beliefs
We like certainty and hate uncertainty
We love to be right and hate to be wrong
 Wishful Thinking
We often like certain beliefs to be true. For
example, it would be nice if there is a God,
if there is life after death, etc. Wishful
thinking frequently makes us believe
exactly that what we want to be true, and at
the same time makes us uncritical of those
beliefs as well.
 Herd Instinct, Partisan Mindset,
and Leadership
Humans are very social animals, and we have a lot to gain or lose
depending on our social status. Thus, we tend to do three things:
1. Herd Instinct: We are quick to accept the beliefs of those around us
(family, friends, culture, etc.): we would hate to come off as being critical of
those beliefs, as they may result in being rejected from our support group.
2. Partisan Mindset: We reject the beliefs of other groups, since they are, as
a group, in competition with our group. Thus, we adopt a Us vs Them
Mindset: We are right, and they are wrong!.
3. Leadership: Within the group that were in, it is best to be on top. To be
a leader, however, you must take control, and act as if you know what you
are doing. As such, believing something (whether it is true or bad), and
holding on to that belief, is better than trying to figure out whats best.
Indeed, admitting that you dont know whats best is often considered a sign
of weakness.
 Beliefs and Actions
Whenever, we make a decision, we rely on our
beliefs: Beliefs are what we act upon. This makes
us uncritical of our beliefs in 2 ways:
1. We hate to find out that in the past we have acted on
bad beliefs, since as such we may have to admit that we
have done harm.
2. We hate to change our daily routines as the result of
changing our beliefs (laziness), especially if they seem
to work fine (futility).
 Certainty and Uncertainty
We like to have a sense of certainty, even if that is a
false one, for having a definite belief means:
1. that we dont have to spend time and effort to really think
about what were doing: we can just do it.
2. that we can take control, which is good for our social
status within the group that we live in.
Especially when it comes to the big questions in life
(What should I do with my life?, What happens
when I die? etc.), we grasp for whatever answer is
able to relieve us from the uncomfortable feeling of
not knowing the answer.
 Being Right and Being Wrong
We love to be right, and hate to be wrong! Our
beliefs are a big part of who we are: how we see,
define, and identify ourselves. Thus, we hate to be
critical of our beliefs, as that would amount to
being critical of ourselves!
Also, there is again a lot of social status to be lost
if we would admit that we were wrong about
something: Leaders are strong-headed (even if that
means pig-headed!).
 Critical Thinking and Evolution
As you can see, there are many obstacles to critical
thinking, and some of those have a straightforward
evolutionary explanation:
habit and a sense of certainty allows us to act quickly
(the Perfect Deliberator will simply not survive in a
hostile world)
there is strength in numbers (herd instinct), there is
competition between groups (partisan mindset) and
within a group, it is good to be on top (status)
the benefit of wishful thinking is not so clear: maybe it
relieves stress
 Why Critical Thinking isnt
much liked
Many of the reasons for why it is hard to be
critical explain also why we associate
critical thinking with negativity. We simply
hate to be critical of our own beliefs, and
we also hate others to be critical of the
beliefs we have.
 Revisiting the Stereotype of
Philosophy
It should now be clear why many people have
such a negative stereotype of philosophy:
Philosophers are critical thinkers, and we dont like
critical thinkers. In fact, by being critical, philosophers
always seem to know better (intellectual bullying).
Since the questions that philosophers ask are big,
progress will be slow, and seemingly non-existent.
Thus, philosophy seems like a waste of time (mental
masturbation).
 The Value of Philosophy
What, then, is the value of philosophy? Here are some answers:
First, philosophy may provide answers to difficult questions, even if this
takes a lot of time. In fact, science is one example where philosophy
became very successful (natural philosophy).
Second, even if philosophy does not provide one with any clear answers,
it may still be able to say that certain answers are better than others.
And third, even if philosophy seems to be going absolutely nowhere, just
the act of doing philosophy can still be very useful:
Doing philosophy will improve your critical thinking skills, and those can be
successfully applied to almost any aspect of life.
Philosophy will open your mind, and get us out of our rut. It is, as Bertrand
Russell called it, liberating doubt.
Philosophy forces one to be precise, clear, and rigorous. These are all useful
qualities to have as well.