Personal Philosophy Chapter 1 Study Guide

1.1. The study of philosophy teaches students how to question and examine their own beliefs. It asks questions that force students to think, analyze, and evaluate different ideas to come up with an answer. It also teaches students the importance of critical thinking. Philosophy is incorporated in many aspects of our everyday lives; some examples include politics and ethical decision-making.

1.2. The Socratic method is the method that Socrates used. He used to asking very broad questions that he thought would bring about a very precise answer. This method is used for developing critical thinking skills and incorporates inquiry, analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of different thoughts and ideas. This method is useful because the process of

There are different areas of philosophy that all focus on different ways of thinking and different ideas. In this course we will be discussing a few different areas. We will be discussing metaphysics, which deals with the question “What is real?” and also with how the world is. We will also be studying Epistemology, which deals more with the question “How do you know?” and also with the nature and foundation of knowledge. Ethics is another very interesting field that we will be observing which deals with the question of what is right and wrong and the evaluation of human action. This course also covers the study of Aesthetics, which deals with contemplating and making judgment about beauty. Studying aesthetics will also help us decide what are the major key elements to consider something “art”. Lastly we will be looking into political philosophy, which deals with questions pertaining to the foundations, nature, and purpose of government. It is related closely to the philosophy of law, which has more focus on the foundation, and nature of laws and legal systems.

1.6. Materialism is the claim the reality, or being, consist of physical objects and their components. Materialist believes there is one substance, which is matter. Dualism is the claim that both the immaterial and material objects exist. Dualists believe that there are two substances mind and body. Idealism is the claim that reality is immaterial, something other than mater. Idealists believe that there is one substance

There are 4 different views to the nature of universals and particulars. The first is Plato’s argument, which states that reality consists of forms and that the forms exist in separate realms. This view is known as extreme or platonic realism. He thought that ideas are real and exist separately from thoughts. The form according to Plato is the essence of a thing and particulars are said to imitate or copy them in an imperfect way. He argued that physical objects are imperfect copies of Forms. Plato said that the world is always changing, so something that is true today can easily be false tomorrow and because of this he said that we must look towards the realm of Forms where the truth is constant. Aristotle is known for the view known as exaggerated realism. Exaggerated realism holds that universals exist in the particulars as a part of what makes them similar; in this view the particulars have the universals within them. The particulars are a mixture of idea and matter. Conceptualism is another view, which claims that ideas are real, but they are dependent upon a mind or thought. Conceptualism claims that universals or forms are objects concepts that we create I our minds by examining particulars. Lastly there is the view known as extreme nominalism. This view claims that universals do not exist and are not real