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Brit Studies 8- Philosophy (Purpose of Philosophy (Questions (Is there a…
Brit Studies 8- Philosophy
Purpose of Philosophy
Philosophy =
Love of Wisdom
Questions
is the world entirely physical?
Does the World have a purpose
Is our knowledge certain?
Epistemology
Critical examination of the nature, limits and validity of knowledge
are man(people) free?
Do Absolute values exist?
Is there a specifically English Philosophy?
Yes because it reflects and analyses political and social life within a state
No because as the love of wisdom it is furthermore usually generalized
Method
Study nature of reality and existence by means of rational enquiry
Truth
Correspondence
Correspondence(Similarity) of ideas to reality(Moore)
Coherence
Coherent interrelated system of propositions(judgment/opinion) (Spinoza)
pragmatic
True ideas can be validated, assimilated, verified
Semantic Theory
Certain relations between expressions of language and the objects referred to(sentences)(Tarski)
Existential Theory
inner possibility of rightness which enables man to receive the uniquely essential truth(Heidegger)
Philosophers
Socrates(*469 BC)
dialectical method
truth is relative to opinion and can therefore also be absolute!
Plato(428 BC)
Replace injustice with justice
Good society depends on (cardinal) virtues(
eudaemonistic
)
Excellence
wisdom
courage
moderation
individual priority over state
eudaimonia
highest aim of moral thought and conduct
happiness = state of perfection
Communal life demands subordination of individual wishes and aims
Moral values
must be based on appropriate political order maintained only by leaders with a rigorous scientific training
later
PHILOSOPHY
Unity between the microcosm of human life and the order of the entire universe
Dualism of Mind and Body
Aristotle(384 BC)
Syllogism
Reality as the empirically possible
Major premise
All
humans
(middle term) are
mortal
(major term)
Minor premise
Socrates
(minor term) is a human
Conclusion
Socrates is mortal
Good State
Good government
relative matter(subjective)
GOOD STATE
rulers seek welfare for their people)
BAD STATE
rulers are interested in selfish ends
In Contrast to Plato:
State
prioritised over individual
English philosophical thinking
The Great/Renaissance
chain of being
Macbeth's violation of the law of nature
(
RENAISSANCE/Early Modern
)
results in his decay and death
Life's but a walking shadow.. tale told by an idiot signifying nothing
Essence: AGNOSTIC
Early Modern period
Descartes(1596)
Scientific
Concept of the World
interrelation of mind and body
Consequences
Shifted to one's private belief/disbelief
Subject-Object Relationship made absolute
true=
objectively and mathematically true
non-objective
questions
senseless
AGNOSTICISM
neutral view on the question of God's existence(no fact available)
Atheism
Availability of proof regarding gods existence or non existence while
evidence
favours the latter
Samuel Beckett's Endgame
(1957)
Prayer which didn't result in fulfilling wishes resulted into Atheistic thinking
Social,Political and Legal Philosophy
Thomas Hobbes'(1588*)
(VS. Karl Marx)
Leviathan
absolutist government
as the only means of ensuring order and security
social contract theory
justification of political principles/arrangements made by free and equal persons(democracy?)
obedience to an unaccountable sovereign
otherwise state of war
resulting from human ego
Karl Marx's(1818*)
Materialism
Consciousness is determined by life
NOT the other way around
dialectical Materialism
each era the
economic system
produces the germs of its
own
destruction
process of dialectical conflict repeated until
Communism
emerges(
final stage
)
Inherent class struggle
Proletariat
clashes with
Bourgeoisie
(Dictatorship of Proletariat)
justification of violent overthrow(revolution) of a regime to institute PROLETARIAN DICTATORSHIP
Metaphysics
John Locke
(*1632)
Empiricism
All Knowledge obtained through senses(NOT inherited)
-> Senses Have to be used for Philosophy
INDIFFERENCE
to
spiritual exploration and meta-physical speculation
religious/philosophical truth located in the common sense of modern man
founder of theory and practice of economics(personal property)
and of
liberal tradition of political philosophy
Two Treatises on Government(1690)
: inalienable rights of the individual
government may be rightly overthrown(revolution) if it infringes fundamental rights of its citizens
influence on Newton's experimental Science
Source for many empiricists etc.
Essay Concerning Human Understanding
(1690)
Polemic
against theory of innate ideas and principles(Leibniz)
The mind = blank
all ideas stem from sense impressions
Shaftesbury's(1671)
Natural Morality
Man = naturally
sociable and good
(VS Hobbes)
natural affections
capable of going
beyond individuals self interest(Ego)
supernatural elements
of Christianity NOT necessary to acquirement of true religion
INBORN MORALITY
deist and platonic idealist
great influence on ROMANTICS
(ideas about Nature and artist)
GOD
=
immanent,creative mind within Nature
ARTIST
=
CREATOR
= PRIEST
true religion based on NATURE
Theory of State≃ Locke's right division and balance of power
Berkeley's(1685*)
IDEALISM
carries Locke's premises to Ultimate
ALL KNOWLEDGE STEMS FROM EXPERIENCE
To be is to be experienced(
esse est percipient
)
PRIMACY OF MIND OVER MATTER
(VS Locke)
All experience =
of mental nature
matter must have an ideal or mental nature
1 more item...
EPISTEMOLOGICAL DUALISM
:
the experiencer and the experienced are two distinct entities
David Hume's
(1711*)
Scepticism
Knowledge based on Experience
(=Locke/Berkeley)
What man cannot perceive CANNOT exist
(HUME)
God cannot be perceived-> God cannot exist
Soul,Science,laws of causation cannot be perceived-> they do not exist
KNOWLEDGE OF ULTIMATE REALITY DOES NOT EXIST
VS
NEWTON
When you observe something fall to earth, you see a change taking place, you do
NOT sense gravity itself
-> gravity does not exist
1 more item...
Ethics and Philosophies of Life
Bentham
(1748*)
UTILITARIANISM
1st recognises fundamental role of pain and pleasure
(Zuckerbrot und Peitsche)
2nd Consequences of Actions measured in amount of pain or pleasure
3rd Good=Pleasurable, Evil = Pain
4th Pleasure and pain are capable of quantification and hence of measure
object of individual and government action:
to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people
QUANTITATIVE HEDONISM
(Pursuit of Pleasure):
ALL Pleasure is physical and of one kind
Pleasure only differs in
quantity, NOT quality
THE SUMMUM BONUM
= PHYSICAL PLEASURES
measurable(hedonistic calculus)
MATERIALISM
spiritual pleasures
=
pseudo-pleasures
4 SANCTIONS to prevent CHAOS
1st physical sanction
2nd political sanction
3rd moral/popular sanction
4th religious sanction
Mill's
(1806*)
UTILITARIANISM 2
QUALITATIVE HEDONISM
(VS BENTHAM)
pleasures also differ in quality
difference between
PIG VS HUMAN
Each person is entitled to happiness
NO CLASS DIFFERENCE(
DEMOCRACY
)
ON LIBERTY(1859): defence of Human Rights
George E. Moore
(1873*)
ETHICAL REALISM
VS.
IDEAL UTILITARIANISM
person unable to know whether actions will turn out as best possible
good = UNDEFINABLE
Scientific explanation of good things =
NATURALISTIC FALLACY
(GIVE A BLIND PERSON A DEFINITION OF COLOR YELLOW AND CONCLUDE TO HAVE ENABLED HIM TO EXPERIENCE YELLOW COLOUR HIMSELF)