What is philosophy?
Philosophy is concerned with trying to make sense of ourselves and the world we live in. If you think at all about what you are doing and why, you cannot avoid asking yourself philosophical questions and trying to sort out how best to answer them.
The questions philosophy starts with are reflective questions like:
- Can there be a life after death?
- How does knowing something differ from just being sure of it, and how much do we really know about our world?
- What is so special about people that we need to talk about human rights so as to do justice to them?
- I know what the time is, but what is time?
- Can we explain human behaviour scientifically? and so on.
Such questions involve rational argument, and philosophy is the study of what sorts of argument work for what sorts of questions. Every branch of university study bumps into such problems sooner or later. The sciences try to find out what goes on in the natural world, and then to see what sense we can make of our discoveries. Art and literature study human creations, and try to make sense of what makes them important to us. Languages lead us to ask what communication is and how it is possible. The histories reveal what people have done at other times, and leave us wondering how much we really understand them. Philosophy as a study in its own right is the attempt to see what is involved in all such questions and how we can improve our answers to them.
For more details Mr Mike Arrowsmith.
Philosophy has three traditional components—metaphysics, logic and moral philosophy.
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a form of enquiry into the very general features of the world and humanity's place in it, dealing with questions like:
- Is the universe, including mankind, simply a giant machine in which every event is predetermined?
- How can meaning be attached to human freedom and responsibility?
- What is the nature of mind and consciousness, and how are they related to brain processes abd neuro-physiology?
- Does the idea of an immaterial immortal soul make sense?
- Can it be shown to be reasonable or rational to believe in God?
- Is time travel possible, or is it at best a mere fantasy?
- What is the nature of space?
These questions are inevitable concerns of anyone who thinks at all seriously about humanity and its place in nature.
Logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning of the difference between good and bad arguments. Modern logic is very sophisticated indeed: it is taught from introductory to advanced levels at St Andrews.
A good grasp of its character and of its value in sharpening reasoning skills can be obtained from the introductory course, which presupposes no special technical knowledge or mathematical ability.
Moral Philosophy
Moral Philosophy deals with questions about people as social, moral, political and creative beings, and tries to sort out sense about them from muddle.
- What kind of question is being asked and what kind of assumptions are being made when people seek to defend other people, animals or landscapes against torturers, scientific experimenters or town planners?
- Can people make mistakes about how to run their lives?
- Are there rational ways of dealing with national or international problems, or is it just a matter of who is powerful enough to impose a solution?
- Do we need artists about us, and if so can we say generally which artistic objects give us what we need and which do not?
Moral Philosophy also involves rational discussion of pressing contemporary moral problems, such as abortion, animal rights, capital punishment and so on.
History of Philosophy
Philosophy (especially Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy) has always paid attention to its own historical roots. This part of the discipline, known as 'History of Philosophy', engages with questions and answers proposed by great philosophers of the past from the ancient Greeks onwards. Such investigation is critical and philosophical, as well as historical.