What Is Philosophy?

[steve_bank]

What is Philosophy?

Some on the forum use the term philosophy as a kind of active agent, philology does one thing or another.

From my Phil 101 class the first thing the intro sid was the root meaning of the term. Love of knowledge.

Philosophy was a catch all phrase for knowledge seekers.

With the rise of modern science what is left is covered by the course listings at the UW.

In a broad sense you can say science or a branch like linguistics or anthropology are philosophies in that it is a search for knowledge. That does not mean philosophy is science.

I never new any engineer or scientist who quoited any philosophy as a part of the work.

All of course use logic which can be inductive or deductive. I had four classes in philosophy, one of which was logic. The others were Phil 101, comparative religion, and ethics.

The courses were useful in the long run. A professor told me to be competent in philosophy I would need to absorb about 20 books and pickup French or German. Not very appealing, I needed to make a living.

Pythagoras
Philosophy (from Greek: φιλοσοφία, philosophia, 'love of wisdom' is the study of general and fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. The term was probably coined by Pythagoras (c. 570 – 495 BCE).

Philosophy Major | Department of Philosophy | University of Washington

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy In addition to the College of Arts & Sciences General Education Requirements, candidates for a B.A. in Philosophy must meet the following requirements:

phil.washington.edu

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

In addition to the College of Arts & Sciences General Education Requirements, candidates for a B.A. in Philosophy must meet the following requirements:

50 Philosophy credits, to include:
PHIL 115 - Practical Reasoning OR
PHIL 120 - Introduction to Logic
PHIL 320 - History of Ancient Philosophy OR
PHIL 330 - History of Ancient Political Philosophy OR
PHIL 335 - Plato's Republic OR
PHIL 340 - History of Ancient Ethics
PHIL 322 - History of Modern Philosophy OR
PHIL 332 - History of Modern Political Philosophy OR
PHIL 342 - History of Modern Ethics
An upper-division course in the same areas may be substituted for the first three requirements.
The department must approve any substitutions.
Four courses at the 400-level, excluding transfer credits and reading courses (PHIL 484), which normally cannot be used to satisfy this requirement.
At least 25 of these credits must be from the University of Washington.
Minimum Philosophy GPA of 2.00


Course Course Title (click for details) Instructor
PHIL 100 A Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 100 AA Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 100 AB Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 100 AC Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 100 AD Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 100 AE Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 100 AF Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 100 AG Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 100 AH Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 102 A Contemporary Moral Problems
PHIL 102 AA Contemporary Moral Problems
PHIL 102 AB Contemporary Moral Problems
PHIL 102 AC Contemporary Moral Problems
PHIL 102 AD Contemporary Moral Problems
PHIL 102 AE Contemporary Moral Problems
PHIL 102 AF Contemporary Moral Problems
PHIL 118 A The Ethics and Psychology of Persuasion
PHIL 118 AA The Ethics and Psychology of Persuasion
PHIL 118 AB The Ethics and Psychology of Persuasion
PHIL 118 AC The Ethics and Psychology of Persuasion
PHIL 118 AD The Ethics and Psychology of Persuasion
PHIL 118 AE The Ethics and Psychology of Persuasion
PHIL 118 AF The Ethics and Psychology of Persuasion
PHIL 118 AG The Ethics and Psychology of Persuasion
PHIL 118 AH The Ethics and Psychology of Persuasion
PHIL 118 AI The Ethics and Psychology of Persuasion
PHIL 120 A Introduction to Logic
PHIL 120 AA Introduction to Logic
PHIL 120 AB Introduction to Logic
PHIL 120 AC Introduction to Logic
PHIL 120 AD Introduction to Logic
PHIL 120 AE Introduction to Logic
PHIL 120 AF Introduction to Logic
PHIL 120 AG Introduction to Logic
PHIL 120 AH Introduction to Logic
PHIL 120 AI Introduction to Logic
PHIL 205 A Philosophy for Children
PHIL 240 A Introduction to Ethics
PHIL 301 A Intermediate Topics in Philosophy
PHIL 320 A Ancient Philosophy
PHIL 322 A Modern Philosophy
PHIL 322 AA Modern Philosophy
PHIL 322 AB Modern Philosophy
PHIL 322 AC Modern Philosophy
PHIL 401 C Advanced Topics in Philosophy
PHIL 401 D Advanced Topics in Philosophy
PHIL 406 A Philosophical Topics in Feminism
PHIL 412 B Ethical Theory
PHIL 431 A Philosophy of Plato
PHIL 448 A Philosophy and Video Games: I Play Therefore I Am
PHIL 452 A Statistics and Philosophy of Voting
PHIL 453 A Philosophy of Language
PHIL 484 A Reading in Philosophy
PHIL 484 B Reading in Philosophy
PHIL 498 A Undergraduate Internship
PHIL 502 A Pre-Dissertation Workshop I
PHIL 504 A Topics in Teaching Philosophy I
PHIL 510 A Seminar in Social and Political Philosophy
PHIL 550 A Seminar in Epistemology
PHIL 584 A Reading in Philosophy
PHIL 600 A Independent Study or Research
PHIL 800 A Doctoral Dissertation

 

[pood]

Philosophers don’t say philosophy is science.

What they do say, correctly, is that science is shot through with philosophy.

And that science itself is a branch of philosophy, which used to be called natural philosophy. Einstein was one such.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

“I am sitting with a philosopher in the garden; he says again and again 'I know that that’s a tree', pointing to a tree that is near us. Someone else arrives and hears this, and I tell him: 'This fellow isn’t insane. We are only doing philosophy.”
― Ludwig Wittgenstein, On Certainty

 

[bilby]

science itself is a branch of philosophy, which used to be called natural philosophy

It still is.

What do people think the "Ph" in "PhD" stands for?

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

“There is nothing so absurd that some philosopher has not already said it.” ​

― Marcus Tullius Cicero

 

[rousseau]

From the Oxford dictionary:

philosophy - the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline

Also the reason why one of my good friends can't get himself a date.

 

[Testy Calibrate]

Over the years, I have gradually found that i am fitting all the philosophy that interests me within Kuhn's paradigm concept.

 

[Politesse]

"Love of wisdom" would be a better translation than "love of knowledge". A love of knowledge would be philognosis, philepisteme or some such construction. So, love of wisdom. And as I do love the pursuit of wisdom, I see no need to dress that turkey in further verbiage, it's fine the way it is. I love science, also. Enough so that I dedicated my life's work to teaching a branch or two of it! But, that does not contradict my wider experience of loving knowledge, and learning, for their own sakes. Science is my favorite methodology for seeking wisdom from the material world, not a replacement or substitute for wisdom as a general principle.

 

[steve_bank]

Pood

I suppose my questions will berehetprcal with you.

Hive you been in an ethical situation with negative consequences for you for being ethical? A sanitation where you have drawn on a particular moral or ethical philosophy?

Do the eds justify the means if you think it serves the greater good? How does one choose between contradictory philosophies?

Machiavellianism is a political philosophy that originated from the writings of Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian diplomat, statesman, and philosopher:

Political philosophy
Machiavelli's philosophy is often associated with realism in foreign and domestic politics. It emphasizes that rulers should prioritize the stability of the regime over ethical concerns. Machiavelli's best-known work, The Prince, argues that rulers should use any means necessary to achieve their goals, even if that means committing immoral acts.

Arte there absolute truths in philosophy? If so how can they be rproven?

 

[Elixir]

Is this thread about the philosophy of philosophy? Philosophology?
Is by pragmatism the opposite of philosophy, or its outcome?

 

[bilby]

I dunno. I am just asking berehetprcal questions here.

 

[steve_bank]

How many -isms and -ologies are there in philosophy?

I thought I was going to be clever and coin the term philosohism, but it already exists when I checked.

1. spurious or deceitful philosophy
2. a false or contrived argument, esp. one designed to deceive

In science on of the deliverables is a working theory.

In philosophy it appears one one of its deliverables are -isms and -ologies.

It becomes similar to a theology. Fiction as an art form.

In modern terms , what are the deliverables of philosophy? First defining what is meant by the term philosophy.

 

[Politesse]

-ism comes from Greek ισμός, a structural suffix that denotes an abstract noun, just as its counterpart in English does.

-ology is likewise a borrow word from Greek, λογίᾱ, usually translated as "the study of". A more literal translation would be "words about", as its root word , λόγος, means "word".

Both suffixes are employed routinely in the sciences.

 

[pood]

In modern terms , what are the deliverables of philosophy? First defining what is meant by the term philosophy.

I believe I already started a thread on this, citing specific examples where philosophy has aided and bolstered science. And, of course, there is much more to philosophy than the philosophy of science or metaphysics.

 

[pood]

Why science needs philosophy

It ought to be remembered, though, that the goals of philosophy are not the same as those of science, though I consider science a branch of applied philosophy.

 

[Politesse]

Is this thread about the philosophy of philosophy? Philosophology?
Is by pragmatism the opposite of philosophy, or its outcome?

There is already a word for that, no need to coin one. The study of philosophy itself as a whole phenonemon is called metaphilosophy. The academic journal of the same name is generally an interesting read. You correctly mention pragmatism, which our friend Steve is also accidentally espousing. Pragmatism is considered a metaphilosophical school. Naturalism, also perennially popular with atheists, is also considered metaphilosophy. In both cases, because they stretch beyond particular claims to propose a general set of assumptions about the scope and limitations of philosophy as a whole regardless of topic.

 

[Politesse]

Why science needs philosophy

It ought to be remembered, though, that the goals of philosophy are not the same as those of science, though I consider science a branch of applied philosophy.

Philosophy is a branch of applied theology though, which in turn is a branch of literature, itself the applied branch of the humanities, which can be conceived of as an application of the social sciences, which are of course a specialization within the sciences. So you get back to science eventually, you just have to keep digging.

 

[pood]

Here is another deliverable of philosophy, duly delivered: Hume wrote that it was not “possible for time alone ever to make its appearance,” as “time is nothing but the manner, in which some real objects exist.” There is much else besides.

Albert Einstein read David Hume. He later stated that he might never have developed the theory of relativity except for Hume.

Note too that Hume demolished the argument to design long before Darwin.

 

[pood]

Why science needs philosophy

It ought to be remembered, though, that the goals of philosophy are not the same as those of science, though I consider science a branch of applied philosophy.

Philosophy is a branch of applied theology though, which in turn is a branch of literature, itself the applied branch of the humanities, which can be conceived of as an application of the social sciences, which are of course a specialization within the sciences. So you get back to science eventually, you just have to keep digging.

This is somewhat true, everything is historically intertwined. I say somewhat because philosophy predates the whole lot of the above. Some aspects of LATER philosophy became a branch of applied theology, such as debates over the meaning of free will in the presence of God. But then so too did science become a branch of applied theology. Newton believed God was the lawgiver who made the “laws” that he was discovering/inventing.

 

[pood]

Most scientists, many of whom disdain philosophy, identify as “naturalists.” But what is naturalism? It’s a metaphysical assumption. Strictly it is even called metaphysical naturalism, and usually this is in counterpoint to metaphysical supernaturalism. But those are not the ony two metaphysics on offer. There are also metaphysical idealism, monism, dualism, etc. So science aso has its isms and ologies, obviously. BiOLOGY, anyone? NaturalISM, anyone?