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PHI 109 Intro - Fall 2020
PHI 109 - Introduction
Why do philosophy?
As you suspect, this is controversial. I see three main reasons.
Why do philosophy?
Because it's fun!
Once you get interested in a question, it's hard to stop thinking about it!
Fun
Because it's useful
Exercise
Thinking, talking, and writing about complex and abstract stuff really helps us think clearly about other things, other problems and issues.
Because it makes us better
Self-Improvement
The traditional goal of a liberal education is to make you more free - to find out for yourself what you think, and to be better equipped to make these decisions for yourself. But being an open-minded, rigorous thinker might also make you a better citizen, neighbor, friend, and a better person.
What is philosophy?
Subjects
Basically, philosophy is maximally general: there can be philosophical questions about any subject.
Here are some areas of interest to philosophers. Of course, all of these can bleed together at certain times!
Subjects
Theory of Value
How should we live and treat others, and why? What makes a life worth living? How should society be organized? What should the role of the law and the state be towards the individual?
History of Philosophy
What did people think long ago, and why? How do their thoughts influence us today?
History of Philosophy
Language and Logic
How does language work? What are meanings? What is the correct way to reason? What counts as a proof?
Language and Logic
Philosophy of Mind
What is the mind, and how does it work? What is consciousness? How do we think? Do non-humans have minds?
Philosophy of Mind
Epistemology
What do we know, and why?
Epistemology
Metaphysics
What is all this - what is reality? What are we?
Metaphysics
Methods
Philosophy is all about asking tough questions and giving rigorous answers that stand up to intellectual scrutiny.
Methods
What is lying?
Consider these cases.
An Exercise - What is lying?
An Error
Error
I misread the weather report I just looked up. By mistake, I think that the forecast calls for rain tomorrow, but it calls for rain today.
I tell my friend that the forecast calls for rain tomorrow.
Have I told a lie?
Sarcasm
I hate beets. My family knows this. I'm at my grandmother's house for a family dinner. My sister hands me a plate of beets with a smirk. "Oh, great, I love beets!" I tell her.
Have I told a lie?
Fiction
I've been cast as the lead in the local community theater production of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman". In Act II, in character, I speak the lines "I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman!" to my castmate Rob.
I am not Willy Loman, and he is not Biff Loman. Have I told a lie?
Omissions
Omission
Suppose I robbed a bank in Cleveland on Thursday.
I'm brought down to the station for questioning, and the detective asks me: "were you in Cleveland on Thursday?"
I respond: "I was in Buffalo on Thursday."
What I'm saying is true: I was in Buffalo on Thursday, very briefly, because I stopped there for lunch on my way to rob the bank in Cleveland.
Have I lied to the detective?
The Sleazy Car Salesman
Trying but Failing
A crap car has recently arrived on his lot: a silver Honda with a busted radiator.
I come in looking to buy a car, and, being a sleazy salesman, he realizes that I’m a sucker who knows nothing about cars, and decides that he’ll deceive me about the busted radiator.
Standing next to a silver Honda, he slaps the roof and says “this baby’s got another 80,000 miles in it, no problem”.
But the car salesman, in his greed, has forgotten that there already was a silver Honda, which had been meticulously maintained and taken care of by its previous owner, on his lot before the crap car showed up. In fact, he’s slapping the roof of that car, and what he says is true, even though he thinks that he’s lying.
Is he?
Politeness
My friend just got an awful haircut, even though he seems excited about it. He asks me if I think that it's good. I tell him that I do, even though I don't, so that I don't hurt his feelings.
Am I lying?
Self-Deception
I tell myself "starting tomorrow, I'm not eating any more pizza and working out", even though I know, deep down, that I probably won't, because I love pizza and I hate working out.
Am I lying?
No Words
I post a poorly photoshopped picture of me having a great time in Ibiza, and tag myself there. I've never been to Ibiza.
Am I lying?