Western Philosophy Debate Guide

From PhiloWiki

Western philosophy is a term that refers to philosophical thinking in the Western or Occidental world, as opposed to Eastern or Oriental philosophy and the varieties of indigenous philosophies.

Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of western civilization, beginning with Greek philosophy in ancient Greece. The word philosophy itself originated in Greece: philosophia (φιλοσοφια), literally, "the love of wisdom" (philein = "to love" + sophia = wisdom, in the sense of knowledge and the courage to act accordingly). The ancient Greek word for wisdom was probably related to ideas about universal knowledge claims in mathematics, astronomy, natural philosophy, music, and many other subjects as indicated by Plato's and Aristotle's works, along with many other ancient and medieval philosophers.

In contemporary terms, Western Philosophy refers to the two main traditions of contemporary philosophy: Analytic philosophy and Continental philosophy.

Western philosophy has had a strong influence on, and has been greatly influenced by, Western religion, science, and politics. Indeed, the central concepts of these fields can be thought of as elements or branches of Western philosophy. To some of the ancient Greeks, these fields were often one and the same. Thus, philosophy is an expansive and ambiguous concept. Today, however, what generally distinguishes philosophy from other Western disciplines is the notion that philosophy is a more fundamental, classical, and universal form of thought than the other disciplines which sprouted from it.

Western Philosophy from Wikipedia

Contents 1 Epistemology, Logic, and Truth – the study of knowledge 2 Ethics and Philosophies of Life – the good life, the life worth living 3 Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy – the rule of law 4 Philosophy of Religion – the existence and nature of God 4.1 God 4.2 Evil 5 Metaphysics – the study of ultimate reality 5.1 Pre-Cartesian 5.2 Continental Rationalism 5.3 British Empiricism 5.4 Idealism

Epistemology, Logic, and Truth – the study of knowledge

• Epistemology [knowledge] - What is the nature of knowledge? How much can we know? Is knowledge possible?
• Correspondence [Arist, Aquinas] - Do abstract ideas correspond to reality?
• Coherence [Hegel, Spinoza] - Is truth that which fits into an orderly and consistent system?
• Pragmatism [James] - Is truth only that which can be validated?
• Existentialism [Heidegger] - Are truths those that give us the freedom to discover additional truths?
• Relativism [Protagoras] - Are all truths imperfect since our senses are imperfect? Is all knowledge opinion of the individual?
• Skepticism [Gorgias] - Are all truths impossible?
• Greek Objectivism [Plato] - If all truth is relative, isn’t that an opinion also?

Ethics and Philosophies of Life – the good life, the life worth living

• Human-centric [Socrates] - Does self-knowledge, the ability to know thyself, lead to success? Is knowledge a virtue? Do people who know the right path take it? Does knowledge lead to happiness? Does taking the right path lead to happiness?
• Self-Realizationism [Aristotle] - Is the highest form of happiness the realization of one’s potential? Does nature do nothing in vain? Is life’s highest goal happiness? Is virtue defined as habitual moderation? Are all extremes evil?
• Cyrenaic Hedonism - Is life’s goal the maximization of pleasure and the minimization of pain? Should we ‘eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die’?
• Epicureanism [Epicurus] - Should we ‘eat, drink, and be merry,’ but in moderation?
• Stoicism [Epictetus] - Is life’s greatest pleasure contentment? Is the greatest loss the loss of autonomy? Are the cravings of sex undesirable?
• Utilitarianism [Bentham] - Is the aim of life the greatest pleasure for the greatest number?
• Revised Utilitarianism [Mill] - Are some pleasures more important for the greatest number to enjoy?
• Intuitionism [Kant] - Does all morality reside within the individual? Should we follow the categorical imperative (a moral law must be as if a universal law)? Do all people possess infinite intrinsic worth? Is the universe basically moral?
• Pessimism [Schopenhauer] - Is the universe basically evil existing as irrational blind force with no God? Since we are all suffering from desires, is love in essence a shared compassion of our suffering?
• Naturalism [Nietzsche] - Is ‘might makes right’ the verdict of nature? Is religion the ‘opiate of the masses’ by which the proletariat classes accept their fate? Does the might of Caesar and the morality of Jesus result in the Superman?
• Ethical Realism [Moore] - Is an act good if and only if it has a good outcome?

Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy – the rule of law

• Republic [Plato] - Does the individual supersede the State? Is the ideal State a meritocracy?
• Politics [Aristotle] - Does the State supersede the individual? Is the aim of the State to develop moral excellence in its citizens? Are there multiple good States, as long as they are formed in the spirit of moderation?
• Legal [Aquinas] - Is God the supreme lawgiver through the existence of a natural law we all should follow? violence, natural law, eternal law, positive law, natural right, international law
• Machiavelli - Does the end justify the means? Are Republics better than Monarchies, unless the citizens are corrupt?
• Hobbes - Should we fight the ‘law of the jungle’ through a social contract based on the Golden Rule and enforced by the State?
• Democracy [Rousseau] - Does sovereignty reside in the people?
• Law [Hegel] - Is participation within and development of an ever-greater State the ultimate aim of its citizens? Is War worthy, ennobling, and beneficial to the State?
• Communism [Marx] - Is the abolition of private property a viable form of government? Should prices be set based on the effort of production? Should there be only one social class?

Philosophy of Religion – the existence and nature of God

God

Evaluate the following conceptions of God: Polytheism, Henotheism (each nation has one God), Pantheism, Monotheism, Theism (a personal God), Deism, Deistic Supernaturalism (casually intervening), Humanism (man’s highest aspiration is to become God), Idealism (God is ideals), Agnosticism (God is unknowable), Naturalism (a living Nature)

• Etiological - Is the First Cause by definition God?
• Cosmological - Does the existence of an orderly universe prove God?
• Teleological - Does evidence of purpose in the universe prove God?
• Design - Is the watchmaker argument valid?
• Adaptation - Did God start the process of evolution?
• Ontological - Does the universal concept of a Supreme Being point to God?
• Axiological - Does the existence of morality point to God?
• Epistemological - Does the existence of a rational universe point to God?
• Anthropological - Do the higher functions of Man (art, philosophy, reasoning) come from God?
• Agnosticism - Is there insufficient evidence for God? Is God ultimately unknowable?
• Atheism - Does evidence favor the non-existence of God?
• Chaos - Does a chaotic, meaningless universe point to the non-existence of God?
• Fear - Is religion based on fear of the unknown and a lack of meaningfulness?
• Evolution - Does evolution remove the need for God?
• Anthropomorphic - Is God just a reflection of the desires of His believers?

Evil

• Optimism - Is the world arranged for the greatest good (even if unknown)?
• Pessimism - Is the world purposeless?
• Meliorism - Are God and Man working toward an ever-improving world?

Metaphysics – the study of ultimate reality

Metaphysics is comprised of Ontology [ultimate being], Cosmology [the universe], Psychology, and Natural Theology.

Pre-Cartesian

• Milesian - Is all matter comprised of water and air?
• Eleatics - Are thought and being the same? Is motion impossible (Zeno’s paradox)?
• Pluralism [Empedocles] - Is the world made of air, earth, fire, and water, powered by the forces of love and hate?
• Pluralism [Anaxagoras] - Are all objects comprised of identical elements (in different mixtures) created by God?
• Pluralism [Leucippus] - Is the world comprised of atoms created by God?
• Materialism [Democritus] - Is matter indestructible, and all energy conserved?
• Plato - Do objects exist in the sensory world, while reality is metaphysical and based on thought?
• Aristotle - Do objects exist as one with their forms?

Continental Rationalism

• Metaphysical Dualism [Descartes] - Is the world split into noncorporeal mind and corporeal matter? Is the soul proved by “I doubt, therefore I am”?
• Psychophysical Monism [Spinoza] - Are God, mind, and matter all one?
• Panpsychism [Leibniz] - Is the world comprised of atom-sized beings known as Monads?

British Empiricism

• Empiricism [Locke] - Does knowledge come only from experimentation?
• Idealism [Berkeley] - Does that which has not been seen really exist?
• Skepticism [Hume] - Do the imperceptible God, natural laws, the essence of matter, and the soul not exist?

Idealism

• Critical Idealism [Kant] - Does rationalism and empiricism combine to give us true knowledge? Is the world of the unseen unknowable because it is not empirical?
• Absolute Idealism [Hegel] - Does an idea and its opposite lead to a synthesized truth? Is truth that which fits into a coherent overall description of everything?
• Pess. Idealism [Schopenhauer] - Is the world nothing more than ideas emanating from the observer