Philosophy notes

These are notes from the "Great Ideas in Philosophy" course taken at RPI, covering the history of philosophy, questions of identity and ethics, Eastern and Western philosophical traditions, and key figures in both ancient and modern Philosophy.

What is philosophy?

Philosophy is the "love of wisdom" quite literally. Aristotle said:

"Philosophy begins in wonder."

The three big greats of ancient Greek philosophy were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Plato was an unofficial student of Socrates, and Aristotle studied at Plato's Academy.

Traditional fields of philosophy:

Western philosophy

Western philosophy began with pre-Socratic philosophers, who mostly worked on metaphysics and physics:

They believed that the world existed in tension between "chaos" and "cosmos" (order and disorder). Arché was considered to be the originator and sustainer of the cosmos.

A lot of disagreement about the fundamental composition of the Arché - from "everything is made of water" (thales) to "everything is made of indivisible particles in motion" (democritus) to "everything is made of mathematical constructs" (pythagoras).

Then came Socrates, who, unlike the pre-Socratics, was focused on human beings and society - that is, ethics. Socrates believed that these are objective right ways to live, and how to live human life should be the center of philosophical focus. He also believed in moral absolutism, and that objective knowledge about everything was possible, though he didn't claim to have definite answers to everything. He constantly questioned others and spoke to others, believing that doing so was necessary to conducting philosophy.

Philosophical argument

Any argument in philosophy has two parts: premises and a conclusion. Each premise is a statement or claim, and they are reasons or evidence given in support of the conclusion. In a good argument:

When both are satisfied, then the argument is said to be valid.

Arguments can be classified into deductive and non-deductive:

An important type of non-deductive argument is the inductive argument. Inductive reasoning is drawing on past experiences or observations to make a conclusion. Since it is non-deductive, the conclusion can only be said to be probable, not certain; however, the strongest inductive arguments can be nearly certain.

Another type is inference to the best explanation (IBE). IBE is based on coming up with an account that explain and ties together pieces of evidence/data, and is often used in crime investigations and historical analyses. IBE may involve combinations of induction and deduction.

Necessary and sufficient conditions often play a role in arguments. A necessary condition is a condition that something cannot occur without, but even if present, it does not guarantee something will occur. For instance, oxygen is necessary for starting a fire, but even if oxygen is present, a fire isn't guaranteed to occur.

The Value of Philosophy

There are many who consider philosophy to a futile discipline, given that it doesn't produce any seeming benefit. Such people are labelled by the philosopher Bertrand Russell as "practical people", and they measure everything in terms of material pursuits/benefits. Russell instead says that these people are mistaken in their belief that philosophy is only useful if it brings worldly success. He even goes to argue that these people are not truly practical, because they are missing out from so much of what is valuable about life.

Russell draws a distinction between philosophy and science. He claims that science is useful to "innumerable people who are wholly ignorant of it" - such as a child using a smartphone, though the child is unaware of the scientific principles of how it works. Meanwhile, philosophy is most useful to the (singular) person who studies it.

The allegory of the cave

In Plato's allegory of the cave, several people are chained in a cave. The people cannot move, but they can see the shadows cast on the wall in front of them. The people believe that the shadows are the sum of reality, because they are the only reality they have ever known.

"Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see." - MLK

Then, when a person is led out of the cave and sees reality, they are confused and scared, being unfamiliar with the new environment they are introduced to. This is a steep and rugged path, and must be accomplished by each person on their own. But once accustomed to the outside world, the person stays in the outside world voluntarily. The world hasn't changed, but the person is changed. Finally, the person sees the Sun - the representation of the illumination of true knowledge.

The ultimate idea is to illustrate the journey from being "in the dark" to being able to see - from having only belief to acquiring true knowledge, from dogma to thinking for oneself. And after truly being able to see for oneself, the thirst for knowledge has begun, and one cannot return back to the world of ignorance anymore.

Plato's Apology

Plato's Apology refers to Socrate's defense (of himself) at his trial. Socrates was charged with "corrupting the youth" (essentially being a public nuisance) as well as religious impiety.

Socrates first asserts he isn't going to be like the "polished speakers" who brought up the charges - people trained in emotional appeals, carefully arranged words, and rhetorical/persuasive techniques. He would speak plainly and simply speak the truth.

He says that some years ago, the Oracle had said that no human being was wiser than Socrates. Socrates says he was shocked by this and could not comprehend how this was true, because he did not believe himself to be wiser than anyone else. So he began doing philosophy to figure out what the Oracle meant. He questioned many people in search of someone who was truly wise. He encountered many people who thought they knew (seemed "sophisticated"), and many people who have expertise, but no one who could stand up to scrutiny and answer the questions of true wisdom.

Therefore, Socrates realized that the Oracle was correct, because he himself at least knew that he did not have wisdom, unlike others who were ignorant and pretended to have wisdom. And since his mission was divinely guided by the Oracle, he was showing respect to religion. Further, the process of questioning creates more alert, conscientious, and inquisitive citizens, which benefits the youth and the city.

Socrates then ridicules Meletus's arguments by showing that he didn't truly care about the things he was apparently so concerned with. He points out Meletus has never done anything to benefit the youth or honor the gods, and is only pretending to care about such things. He further points out that Meletus's claim that Socrates was the only one who corrupted the youth was ridiculous - essentially "the opinions of ten thousand people mean nothing if those ten thousand don't know anything". Finally, he states that Meletus's charges are unclear and contradictory - first to charge him with impiety, then to charge him with being an atheist.

Finally, Socrates says that the best life can be accomplished with virtue alone. He ultimately does live up to this belief - when he is executed, he comes to the execution willingly. Even if he doesn't make people feel good, he makes people better by questioning them, being a mirror to their faults and their ignorance, and exhorting them to improve.

Identity

Ethical and philosophical issues around brain transplants, cloning, and consciousness uploading raise the question of identity. For instance, with the Ship of Theseus, how much of a person must stay the same for the person to be considered the same person? Locke, for instance, argued that individuality - one's own perception of themselves - stayed with the mind but personhood - others' perception of oneself - depended on the body. Is it true that "you can never step in the same river twice?" Is it true that the identity doesn't exist, given the fact that people grow, and their bodies appear drastically different through life?

Descartes

Descartes was a mathematician, philosopher, and physicist, influenced primarily by the Skeptics. He discovered the method of analytical geometry, and philosophically he believed in the notion of reaching certainty through skepticism. One of his core ideas was that senses were the ultimate sources of our beliefs, and since senses are not fully reliable (e.g. how do you know you aren't dreaming?), and knowledge is based on beliefs, there can be no certainty in knowledge.

Descartes asks how we could be sure our mind isn't deceived by some sort of external agent. He recognizes we can't be sure - therefore there is no way to say for certain that the external world we perceive is actually reality. And to have knowledge, there must not only be a belief, but also rational account that it is true.

So is there is a belief that can be certain, even if our minds are deceived? Descartes realized that while the entire world may be illusionary, the person must still exist to be able to perceive the world and think about the world. Even if the perceptions are wrong, the ability to perceive itself is a certain truth. Descartes put it elegantly as follows:

"I think, therefore I am." - Descartes

From this one absolute proof that a person exists, Descartes builds up a number of other truths by deduction.

Locke and personal identity

Locke's main work was in epistemology and political philosophy. Locke's ideas influenced American thinkers in the creation of the United States. In terms of

Locke regarded consciousness as the key component of identity. That is, the continuity of memory is what allows a person to say they are themselves. For instance, if a person was teleported, then there is a transferral of the person's consciousness at one location and the person's consciousness at the new location, even there is an interruption of bodily continuity. Locke is also a physicalist; he does not believe there is a special immaterial soul, he believes consciousness is just the product of a thinking brain and is of a biological nature.

Locke uses the metaphor of the prince and the cobbler, whose brains are switched. He says that since the cobbler wakes up with the memories of the prince, he is the prince. Similarly, he says that since the prince wakes up with the memories of the cobbler, he is the cobbler.

Hume and personal identity

Hume was a skeptic who didn't believe in the assumption that consciousness implies the self. Hume says he can't perceive himself directly - he can only perceive memories, reflections, and current perceptions - the stream of consciousness, essentially. He does not believe any of that constitutes evidence of an invariant self. He observes:

"I never can catch myself at any time without a perception and never can observer anything but the perception..."

Hume believes in a pragmatic approach - what we conceive of something is all in the name. For instance, an oak tree has no permanent essence - it is only an oak tree because we say so.

Reid and personal identity

Reid was a philosopher who disagreed with both Locke and Hume. He believes some things cannot be proven and have to be taken by faith.

Aesthetics

The classical philosophers had different views on the criteria to judge art by. Plato emphasized whether or not art will inspire or motivate people towards higher things, to move "out of the cave" so to speak. Aristotle, by contrast, emphasized whether art would allow the catharsis or purging of emotions from people and "purify" them in that way.

Modern aesthetics have moved to the fact that "there is no substitute for individual judgement". For instance, an artist could showcase technical skill and be judged mechanically (i.e. using a set of rules) based on them. However, the aesthetics of a work of art is ultimately only capable of being perceived - and judged - by the beholder.

Music and its aesthetic qualities

Music is particularly interesting, especially classical music, given its expressively ambigious nature and its ability to arouse emotions. In fact, it is theorized that music bypasses our higher thought processes and directly reaches our subconscious and stimulates autonomic reactions. We associate music with:

Emotion and expectations

In writing about the aesthetic qualities of music, philosopher Jennifer Robinson writes that:

"Emotion is generated by appraisals of match or mismatch with the agent's goals and interests."

This refers to the theory that emotions stem from an evolutionary perspective, where a matching expectation conveyed safety, and thus was associated with calm and relief, while a mismatching expectation conveyed danger, and thus was associated with fear and restlessness.

Political philosophy

John Stuart Mill

Utilitarian philosophy - state provides the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Duwey and political philosophy

Sydney Hook

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