Rethinking Our World

Rethinking our world Linguistic analysis: * Claims that almost all philosophical problems can be dispensed with once their underlying linguistic basis is exposed * No matter how hard we try to solve a problem we fail, then we are dealing with a false problem/ meaningless set of words * 2 British philosophers = Bertrand Russell & AJ Ayer * Focused on logic, linguistic meaning & verifiable facts Help us do: * Think more clearly * Be precise in what we mean * Spot hidden assumptions & dishonesty in all forms of propaganda Can’t help us with: * Moral problems * Life choices * Facing own mortality Seeing the people we love suffer * Our own suffering Logical symbolism & argument: * Arrive at the basic structure of truth * Process is facilitated by representing objects & relationships symbolically * Any statement that is true/false by definition can be expressed in form of symbolic logic Empiricism: * Gained through traditional 5 senses(seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting) gives us our most reliable form of information * Concerned with establishing the truth by means of scientific testing * Searching for objective truth * Linguistic analysis, logical symbolism & empiricism = logical mpiricism Can help us: * Understand how our physical world operates * Test truth of certain claims * Refute what is false * Respect natural laws of the Universe * Learn from experience Failings: * Places too much emphasis on science * Ignores human values * Views human beings as machines * Tend to ignore anything that can’t be explained scientifically * Confines truths to that which can be experiences through senses Critical Rationalism: * Encourage questioning & open-mindedness * Socrates, 470-399 BC * Challenge existing ideas & beliefs by questioning them * Essential for the future of true democracy Emphasis that scientists must be objective * Completely against societies where people can’t speak their minds freely & discuss things openly * Focuses on avoiding falsity Help us to do: * Question what people in authority tell us * Be more open to what other people think * Examine our own opinions more carefully * Be more tolerant & understanding * Solve problems Can’t help us to do: * Make quik decisions * Find meaning of life * Can make us feel insecure * Solve problem of suffering Types of false argument: * Name-calling * False cause & effect Falsely representing an opinion in order to discredit it * Appeal to emotion * Falsely claiming that, because a point of view is popular, it must be true Existentialism: * What is meaning of life? * Modern believe that “our duty” is to decide for ourselves what life is about Can help us to do: * Question other people’s ideas & values * Be more open about ourselves * Trust our instincts * Spot fakes * Enjoy life more Failings: * Too trusting * Can be confusing * May lead to despair * May leave us feeling helpless & angry * May be seriously disruptive Nihilism: * Philosophy of nothing No purpose in life = waste of time * Can lead to violence & chaos, but also free people who have grown up in very repressive religious environments African philosophy: * Holistic philosophy which shares certain ideas with Buddhism philosophy: it stresses the importance of human community & community’s place in the Universe * Claims that happiness at least partially consists of living for others, supporting each other * It’s an anti-materialistic philosophy Can do: * Build communities * Encourage human beings to be more humble * Give deeper understanding of ourselves * Help us appreciate mystery Re-examine need for tradition in human life Can’t help us do: * Doesn’t challenge power structures * Unable to accept women as men’s equals * Doesn’t encourage critical thinking * Tends to ignore needs of individual person * Tolerates cruel superstitious practices System theory: * Sees things as a whole rather than splitting things into parts & encourages us to keep the objective of a system in mind The enneagram & Human personality: 1. Reformer 2. Helper 3. Movie star 4. Individualist 5. Scientist 6. Loyal supporter 7. Pleasure-seeker 8. Achiever 9. Peacemaker Critical theory: Most famous version = Maxism – wants to abolish all inequalities of wealth & all social inequalities Influences: * Maxism * Feminism * Black rights movements * Postmodernist thinking * Socialism Help us do: * Realistically assess power * Identify those who have power & those who don’t * Identify weaknesses in existing power relations * Define own, personal power & weaknesses * Re-examine our priorities * Re-assess our lives Fails: * Become fanatical * Sometimes too simplistic in its analysis of power * Too idealistic * Lead to despair & violence * Ignore human emotions & desires * Very grim philosophy
Religious Leaders & social criticism: * Buddha- Buddhism: search for reality using, primarily powers of the mind Path consists of: * right thinking * right attitude * right means of earning a living * right conduct * right views * right speaking * right effort * right concentration * Moses: on a call for social justice under the One God. * Mohammed: vision of society was of all humankind united under Allah * Jesus of Nazareth: radical criticism of oppressive social & economic structures & His single-minded focus on what He called “The Kingdom of God” * Karl Marx: stood for hope & better tomorrow
Feminism: * Sexual stereotyping * Creating bigger place for women in the world * Rejecting view that women are inferior to men Type of feminism: * Critical rasionalism: questions traditions * Critical theory: challenges all forms of power * Empiricism: asks us to look at reality objectively & social reality * African philosophy: attempts to decolonise the efforts of domination by white males * Logical empiricism: feminism precisely define problems women face Claims: * Women people in own right * Women should reject men’s definitions of what makes a women valuable * Not make defensive claims to “equality with men” Women’s happiness doesn’t depend on having a romantic/marital relationship with a man * Have right to pronounce an abortion – men don’t get pregnant & bear children Phenomenology: * Look at things & ourselves as they really are * Believes theories about themselves, life & Universe can be very misleading – lead to falsehood & deep unhappiness * Promote religious belief * Confront ourselves in all our ambiguity & complexity & thus get nearer to “real me” * Encourages us to resist power structures by a process of retreat & non-engagement rather than confrontation Hermeneutics: * Greek – interpretations Similar to existentialism * Take imaginaryy & symbolism seriously * Claims that arts & crafts are important in human life * Believes happiness is linked to our own creativity in whatever form thet takes * Encourages us to be poets, writers, authors, actors, painters, designers Main ideas: * Emphasis the importance of listening & observing * Claims that individual’s life-experience influences the way he/she understands world * Affirms importance of dialogue in arriving at an understanding of any issue * Is anti-authoritorian & encourages the individual to create his/her own meaning & understanding

Help us do: * Create meaning * Discover own hidden artistic abilities * Resist scientific arrogance & domination * Understand each other * Be more tolerant of each other Can’t help us with: * Define problems * Overcome injustice * Be decisive * Take action * Be more logical Modernism: * Science, reason & technology will fix it all Postmodernism: * Doesn’t believe in definitions Examines following aspects of human condition: * Way in which we see ourselves * Failure of science to solve many problems Fact that reason may not be a good guide to solving certain problems * Power of large, modern institutions over individual * Need to experience all our emotions to the full * Our inner needs * Mental anguish & illness * Where we get our standards of right/wrong * Trust these standards * Criminality & delinquency * Technology is morally neutral Methods of enquiry in philosophy: * Phenomenology: who are we? * Hermeneutics: symbols & images speak to us * Empiricism: what is actually going on * Some forms of feminism: who says the male is the “norm”?