GST 211

INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY,
LOGIC AND HUMAN EXISTENCE.
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY.

•Contemporary
philosophy.
 Philosophy today.

• Man, having tasked his brain and mind from

ancient times has become a revolving
machine – visiting and revisiting already
discussed themes.
• Having avoided metaphysics after medieval
times, thinkers consciously maintained
materialism as the acceptable.
 Contemporary philosophy.

• Names associated with this period include:

Fredrich Feuerbach, Karl Marx, Engels,
G.E. Moore, Wittgenstein, Whitehead,
Bergson, Heidegger, … .
• Main themes are pragmatism, logical
atomism, logical positivism,
phenomenology, existentialism, … .
 Contemporary philosophy.
• PRAMATISM: is an American philosophy,
antagonistic to metaphysics and dry intellectualism.
Pragmatism is the drive towards practicalizing of
postulations.
- Cash value must be derived from a theory or it is
useless.
- Theories must solve existing problems which is the
acid test or they are not true/valid.
 Contemporary philosophy.
• Dewey the pragmatist insists that education is true if all
studied targets solving imminent problems in society.
• Logical atomism: a product of B. Russell and A. Whitehead
is the philosophy of mathematical logic or symbolic logic.
• Its concept is that mathematics is an aspect of logic, and
English Language should be patterned like logic thereby
clarifying the meaning of every word used – no ambiguities.
 Contemporary philosophy.
• Logical positivism: here philosophers, scientists and
mathematicians met at Vienna and postulated the
empirical enterprise aimed at unifying all sciences and
their findings.
• For them, statements of fact are either:
- Mathematical or
- Scientific. Every other type is sentiment, emotions,
pictures depicting.
 Existentialism, contemporary philosophy.
• Is contemporary reaction against abstract, objective
knowledge.
• It holds to man as the key player in nature. (the
investigator, interpreter, …)
• It stands against metaphysics.
• It insists in existence superceding essence.
• Proponents are Soren Kierkegaard, J. P. Sartre, … .
 XMAS HOME ASSIGNMENT.
• What does the statement “he who stays in glass house does
not throw stones” mean? Are you staying in glass house?
• In preparing for the elections of 2023 in Nigeria, who are the
Presidential candidates available?
• Trace their academic qualifications, previous political
experiences, successes and failures. Is their present manifesto
pragmatic?
• Who is your choice? Why?
 Further reading.

•Chapter 4, 10, 11.

 GST 211

•Merry xmas and happy new year in

advance in Jesus’ name.
•Spiritual leave is a risk, be in touch with
Jesus all through and it will be well with
you.