Invitation
Welcome to Introduction to Philosophy. I hope you're ready for a challenging and exciting semester. This class may be unlike anything else you've ever experienced. At least it will be if I do my job right. Interesting really that such a class is available online. As we will see, this raises serious philosophical questions. All you will know of me will be words on a page. Does this constitute knowledge of another? This class only exists in the online world. Is this a "real" world? Is this a world that transcends our ordinary world of sense experience? Is our world of sense experience real? Perhaps you feel that you have just entered The Matrix! Indeed, there are many philosophical issues raised by the movie. I will save elaborating on these for a later time. For now, let me introduce myself.
My name is Kevin Browne. I will be your instructor and tour guide for the world of philosophy. I have been teaching philosophy for over 20 years. I earned my Master's Degree in Philosophy from the University of Louisville in 1995. Since then I have taught courses in philosophy at U of L, Indiana University Southeast, and Jefferson Community & Technical College.
As you will quickly see, talking about philosophy is the best way to learn it. Many philosophers, including Plato, David Hume, and George Berkeley, viewed philosophy primarily as a dialogue and often wrote their philosophy using this literary genre. Others, such as Rene Descartes and Ludwig Wittgenstein meant for their philosophy to inspire dialogue.
At this point you may be asking yourself: What does philosophy have to do with me? This is a common question for students to ask especially after a brief exposure to some of the concepts in philosophy. However, philosophy has a direct bearing on much of everyday life. Let's look at it in terms of the major questions we'll address this semester.
Is knowledge innate or learned from sense experience? If you have children this question and the search for an answer has a direct bearing on your life since the question has major implications for education. Nearly every educator has been a philosopher or influenced by a philosopher for whom this was an important question. The origin of knowledge and how it is acquired is important to know or have some idea about if you are at all concerned about effective education. For adults, the question has bearing as well in terms of being able to learn new things. In an economy driven by information and information technology how we process this information is directly relevant to our everyday lives. So, philosophers like John Locke, Immanuel Kant, and John Dewey who investigate this question are also relevant.
Is the mind independent of the brain? Philosophers and scientists have been investigating the mind, the brain, and their interaction for centuries. We'll see many competing theories on this question but how is any of this relevant to you? One very big word can answer that: psychopharmacology. Do you or anyone you know take some medication for ADHD, ADD, depression, bipolar disorder? If so, then questions about how the mind and brain work and interact are directly relevant to your everyday life not to mention your overall mood, happiness, and general mental state. These drugs could not have been discovered and developed without some idea about how the mind and brain worked. While these may seem like exclusively scientific questions, much of the work in the area of neurology has been done and continues to be done by philosophers. Some of the philosophers we'll look at in this area include Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, John Searle, and J.J.C. Smart.
Is there an objective reality independent of appearance and perception? This question sounds very esoteric and perhaps far removed from and irrelevant to everyday life. But, like most philosophical concepts, relevance lurks just below the surface if you know where to look. Many of you may be familiar with the prayer of serenity:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Embedded in this prayer is the notion that there is a difference between what you can change and what you cannot. This is simply the distinction between objective reality and perception. Though not all philosophers we'll study agree that there is a difference between the two, the notion that there is a difference is the basis of at least one major school of philosophy called Stoicism. The notion that there is a difference between what you can change or control and what you cannot is a central idea in Stoicism and as such has formed the philosophical basis for much of self-help psychology. One consistent piece of advice contained in almost every volume of self-help literature is the importance of recognizing this distinction.
Is there a God? For many of you, this will be one of the easiest questions to relate to everyday life especially if you practice some form of religion. But, it may also seem irrelevant since you may be thinking that it can only be answered by faith and therefore is not worth asking. But, these sentiments themselves are philosophical in nature and bear examining (which we will do!). One philosopher we'll be studying named Thomas Aquinas pointed out that the question of God's existence is fundamental to every other religious question one can ask. If God's existence cannot be established the remaining religious questions are moot. At the very least an examination of the historical ideas related to these questions might be enlightening and lead to a deepening of one's religious sentiments.
On the subject of talking I want to assure you that my purpose in this class is not to tell you what to think. I want to show you how to think philosophically but I do not want to change your beliefs. Philosophy may challenge them but it need not destroy them. You may find that it will strengthen them. In any case, I want to encourage you to share your own thoughts on these questions. Don't worry if you think I won't agree with you. That is not the point and your grade is not based on agreeing with my views. In many cases, you may not know what my views are. We will be primarily focusing on the views of various philosophers and you will be tested on your understanding of them.
So I invite you to enter the world of philosophy. It is entirely your choice to accept this invitation or not. As Morpheus said in "The Matrix:"
"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes… Remember, all I'm offering is the truth, nothing more… Follow me...."
My name is Kevin Browne. I will be your instructor and tour guide for the world of philosophy. I have been teaching philosophy for over 20 years. I earned my Master's Degree in Philosophy from the University of Louisville in 1995. Since then I have taught courses in philosophy at U of L, Indiana University Southeast, and Jefferson Community & Technical College.
As you will quickly see, talking about philosophy is the best way to learn it. Many philosophers, including Plato, David Hume, and George Berkeley, viewed philosophy primarily as a dialogue and often wrote their philosophy using this literary genre. Others, such as Rene Descartes and Ludwig Wittgenstein meant for their philosophy to inspire dialogue.
At this point you may be asking yourself: What does philosophy have to do with me? This is a common question for students to ask especially after a brief exposure to some of the concepts in philosophy. However, philosophy has a direct bearing on much of everyday life. Let's look at it in terms of the major questions we'll address this semester.
Is knowledge innate or learned from sense experience? If you have children this question and the search for an answer has a direct bearing on your life since the question has major implications for education. Nearly every educator has been a philosopher or influenced by a philosopher for whom this was an important question. The origin of knowledge and how it is acquired is important to know or have some idea about if you are at all concerned about effective education. For adults, the question has bearing as well in terms of being able to learn new things. In an economy driven by information and information technology how we process this information is directly relevant to our everyday lives. So, philosophers like John Locke, Immanuel Kant, and John Dewey who investigate this question are also relevant.
Is the mind independent of the brain? Philosophers and scientists have been investigating the mind, the brain, and their interaction for centuries. We'll see many competing theories on this question but how is any of this relevant to you? One very big word can answer that: psychopharmacology. Do you or anyone you know take some medication for ADHD, ADD, depression, bipolar disorder? If so, then questions about how the mind and brain work and interact are directly relevant to your everyday life not to mention your overall mood, happiness, and general mental state. These drugs could not have been discovered and developed without some idea about how the mind and brain worked. While these may seem like exclusively scientific questions, much of the work in the area of neurology has been done and continues to be done by philosophers. Some of the philosophers we'll look at in this area include Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, John Searle, and J.J.C. Smart.
Is there an objective reality independent of appearance and perception? This question sounds very esoteric and perhaps far removed from and irrelevant to everyday life. But, like most philosophical concepts, relevance lurks just below the surface if you know where to look. Many of you may be familiar with the prayer of serenity:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Embedded in this prayer is the notion that there is a difference between what you can change and what you cannot. This is simply the distinction between objective reality and perception. Though not all philosophers we'll study agree that there is a difference between the two, the notion that there is a difference is the basis of at least one major school of philosophy called Stoicism. The notion that there is a difference between what you can change or control and what you cannot is a central idea in Stoicism and as such has formed the philosophical basis for much of self-help psychology. One consistent piece of advice contained in almost every volume of self-help literature is the importance of recognizing this distinction.
Is there a God? For many of you, this will be one of the easiest questions to relate to everyday life especially if you practice some form of religion. But, it may also seem irrelevant since you may be thinking that it can only be answered by faith and therefore is not worth asking. But, these sentiments themselves are philosophical in nature and bear examining (which we will do!). One philosopher we'll be studying named Thomas Aquinas pointed out that the question of God's existence is fundamental to every other religious question one can ask. If God's existence cannot be established the remaining religious questions are moot. At the very least an examination of the historical ideas related to these questions might be enlightening and lead to a deepening of one's religious sentiments.
On the subject of talking I want to assure you that my purpose in this class is not to tell you what to think. I want to show you how to think philosophically but I do not want to change your beliefs. Philosophy may challenge them but it need not destroy them. You may find that it will strengthen them. In any case, I want to encourage you to share your own thoughts on these questions. Don't worry if you think I won't agree with you. That is not the point and your grade is not based on agreeing with my views. In many cases, you may not know what my views are. We will be primarily focusing on the views of various philosophers and you will be tested on your understanding of them.
So I invite you to enter the world of philosophy. It is entirely your choice to accept this invitation or not. As Morpheus said in "The Matrix:"
"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes… Remember, all I'm offering is the truth, nothing more… Follow me...."
The Main Points to Take Away From This Course:
We'll be covering a lot of ground in the course but above all when the course is over remember these points: