4 What is Philosophy?
Introduction: What is Philosophy? What is Rationality?
Philosophy , derived from the Greek ‘philo’ (love) and ‘sophia’ (wisdom), is literally defined as “the love of wisdom.” (2) Philosophy, in the West, began in the Greek colony of Miletus. (3)
Who are we? How can we be happy? Does the universe have a purpose? (3) What is knowledge? What is really real? Does art have value? Are animals conscious? (1) Ancient Greek philosophers approached the big questions of life sometimes in a genuinely scientific way, sometimes in a mystical way, but always in a rational and an imaginative fashion. They dared to question traditional conventions and to challenge the prejudices of their ages; sometimes putting their own lives at stake.
Originating in Miletus, but spreading outward in the works of subsequent thinkers and writers, Greek philosophy was to reach its heights in the works of Plato and his pupil Aristotle . But if tradition is accurate, we can thank the mathematician and mystic Pythagoras(famed for his Pythagorean Theorem) for being the first to call himself not a sage, but rather a lover of wisdom; that is, a philosopher.(1/2/3)
What do Philosophers Do?
Many fields can be studied and learned without ever actually working with the tools in the field. Philosophy, however, is at much about the methodology behind deriving answers as it is about the answers themselves. (4/1) As such, students studying philosophy must use the methodology of philosophy on the philosophy they are learning as they are learning it. Doing philosophy involves asking the right questions, critically examining the work of previous philosophers, truly understanding the works and the reasoning behind the works, and possibly building on the works of previous philosophers by expanding or testing this methodology. (4)
Rationality in Philosophy
Can there be more than one right answer? How do we judge how we know or what to evaluate?
Thinking about how we make decisions is another aspect of philosophy to consider; there are manners in which we evaluate evidence, question assumptions, and establish frameworks for assessing knowledge through methods of questioning and critical reflection. These activities are aspects of rationality.
Foundationalism
Foundationalism holds that basic beliefs exist, which are justified without reference to other beliefs, and that non-basic beliefs must ultimately be justified by basic beliefs, which, in the case of Classical foundationalism, are those that are self- evident. Mental states and immediate experience can be examples of basic beliefs. (5)
Law of Non-Contradiction
The Law of Non-Contradiction states that contradictory statements cannot both be true in the same sense at the same time, e.g. the two propositions ” A is B ” and ” A is not B ” are mutually exclusive. (6)
Constructivism
Constructivism stems from a number of philosophies. Constructivist epistemology is a branch in philosophy of science maintaining that scientific knowl