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DOING
PHILOSOPHY
2
DOING
PHILOSOPHY
An Introduction through Thought
Experiments
Sixth Edition
3
DOING PHILOSOPHY: AN INTRODUCTION THROUGH THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS,
SIXTH EDITION
Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to
customers outside the United States.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 LCR 21 20 19
All credits appearing on page or at the end of the book are considered to be an extension of
the copyright page.
4
Subjects: LCSH: Philosophy—Introductions.
Classification: LCC BD21 (ebook) | LCC BD21 .S34 2019 (print) | DDC 100—dc23 LC
record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018040554
The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The
inclusion of a website does not indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw-Hill
Education, and McGraw-Hill Education does not guarantee the accuracy of the information
presented at these sites.
mheducation.com/highered
5
DOING PHILOSOPHY
Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to
customers outside the United States.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 LCR 21 20 19
ISBN 978-1-260-56616-1
MHID 1-260-56616-1
All credits appearing on page or at the end of the book are considered to be an extension of
the copyright page.
The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The
inclusion of a website does not indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw-Hill
Education, and McGraw-Hill Education does not guarantee the accuracy of the information
presented at these sites.
6
mheducation.com/highered
7
To my students, for all they’ve taught me.
8
Preface
9
counterexample. Thought experiments test philosophical theories by
determining whether they hold in all possible situations. They make the
abstract concrete and highlight important issues in a way that no amount of
exegesis can. By encouraging students to evaluate and perform thought
experiments, Doing Philosophy fosters active learning and creative
thinking.
Good critical thinkers are adept at testing claims by asking the question
“What if . . . ?” and following the answer through to its logical conclusion.
Thought experiments are particularly useful in testing philosophical
theories because they often reveal hidden assumptions and unexpected
conceptual complications. Given the central role that thought experiments
have played in philosophical inquiry, there is reason to believe that
knowing classic thought experiments is as important to understanding
philosophy as knowing classic physical experiments is to understanding
science. By tracing the historical and logical development of thinking on a
number of classic philosophical problems, we hope to provide students
with a solid grounding in the discipline and prepare them for more
advanced study.
Students sometimes express surprise that philosophy is still being done.
They have the idea that it’s merely a historical curiosity, of no
contemporary relevance. Purely historical survey courses often perpetuate
that idea. Doing Philosophy attempts to show that philosophy is a vibrant,
thriving discipline actively engaged in some of the most important
intellectual inquiries being conducted today.
To give instructors maximum flexibility in designing their course, the
text is divided into self-contained chapters, each of which explores a
philosophical problem. The introduction to each chapter explains the
problem, defines some key concepts, and identifies the intellectual
objectives students should try to achieve as they read the chapter. Classic
arguments and thought experiments are highlighted in the text, and
numerous “thought probes” or leading questions are placed throughout to
encourage students to think more deeply about the material covered.
Various boxes and quotations are also included that relate the material to
recent discoveries or broader cultural issues. Each section concludes with
study and discussion questions. Classic and contemporary readings are
included at the end of each chapter so that students can see some of the
more important theories and thought experiments in context. Some sets of
readings contain a piece of fiction—an extended thought experiment—that
raises many of the questions dealt with in the chapter. The goal throughout
is not only to present students with the best philosophical thinking on each
10
topic but also to challenge them to examine their own philosophical
beliefs. Only through active engagement with the issues can real
philosophical understanding arise.
The sixth edition of Doing Philosophy features new readings by Ernest
Sosa, Mark Balaguer, Eddy Nahmias, John Stuart Mill, and Hans Moravec
and new material on Stoicism, alternatives to theism, the argument from
nonbelief, the actual infinite, the Libet experiment, the integrated
information theory of mind, the simulation hypothesis, nonhuman persons,
and transhumanism. There are also a number of new boxes, thought
probes, and discussion questions to stimulate more in-depth thinking on
the issues. Important continuing features include a coherent theoretical
framework that helps students understand both the historical and the
logical development of philosophical thinking; more than seventy-five
thought experiments that test the adequacy of various philosophical
theories; classic and contemporary readings that acquaint students with the
original writings from which the theories and thought experiments are
drawn; probing questions throughout each chapter that foster active
learning and creative thinking; boxed features and quotes that relate
philosophical issues to current events and classic writers; Internet Inquiries
at the end of each chapter that suggest Internet searches students can
perform to learn more about the issues raised in the chapter; biographical
boxes that provide background information on important philosophers
covered in the text; chapter introductions that explain the philosophical
problem being explored, define key concepts, and identify chapter
objectives; and chapter summaries, study questions, and discussion
questions that encourage students to think more deeply about the subject
matter.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Lewis Vaughn for all his help on previous editions.
Many people have offered their wisdom and insight on this project.
Although I have not always heeded it, I would especially like to thank
Wayne Alt, Community College of Baltimore County; Gordon Barnes,
SUNY Brockport; Jack DeBellis, Lehigh University; Nori Geary, New
York Hospital—Cornell Medical Center; Stuart Goldberg; James Hall,
Kutztown University; Dale Jacquette, Pennsylvania State University;
Robert Charles Jones, Stanford University; Jonathan Levinson; Jeffrey
Nicholas, Bridgewater State College; Nick Oweyssi, North Harris College;
Abram Samuels; Ludwig Schlecht, Muhlenberg College; Thomas Theis,
11
Thomas J. Watson Research Center; Vivian Walsh, Muhlenberg College;
Robert Wind, Muhlenberg College; and James Yerkes, Moravian College.
We would also like to thank the following reviewers for their suggestions:
Julius Bailey, Wittenburg University; David Chalmers, University of
Arizona, Tucson; Alfred A. Decker, Bowling Green State University; Rev.
Ronald DesRosiers, SM, Madonna University; Stephen Russell Dickerson,
South Puget Sound Community College; Kevin E. Dodson, Lamar
University; Jeremiah Hackett, University of South Carolina; David L.
Haugen, Western Illinois University; Douglas E. Henslee, San Jose State
University; Charles Hinkley, Texas State University, San Marcos; Karen
L. Hornsby, North Carolina A&T State University; Margaret C. Huff,
Northeastern University; David Kyle Johnson, King’s College; John
Knight, University of Wisconsin Centers—Waukesha; Richard Lee,
University of Arkansas; Chris Lubbers, Muskegon Community College;
Thomas F. MacMillan, Mendocino College; Mark A. Michael, Austin
Peay State University; Dr. Luisa Moon, Mira Costa College; Augustine
Minh Thong Nguyen, Eastern Kentucky University; David M. Parry, Penn
State Altoona; Jerrod Scott, Brookhaven College; Leonard Shulte, North
West Arkansas Community College; Robert T. Sweet, Clark State
Community College; Joseph Vitti, Central Maine Community College;
Ron Wilburn, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and David Wisdo,
Columbus State University. I also wish to thank Muhlenberg College and
the staff of the Trexler Library for their unflagging support.
12
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17
Contents
Preface
18
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Section 1.2 Evidence and Inference: Proving Your Point
Identifying Arguments
Deductive Arguments
Some Valid Argument Forms
Some Invalid Argument Forms
Inductive Arguments
Enumerative Induction
Analogical Induction
Hypothetical Induction (Abduction, Inference to the Best
Explanation)
Informal Fallacies
Unacceptable Premises
Irrelevant Premises
Insufficient Premises
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Section 1.3 The Laboratory of the Mind: Thought
Experiments
Thought Probe: Platonic Humans
Case Study: Explaining How Moral Abortions Are Possible
Thought Experiment: Warren’s Moral Space Traveler
Thought Probe: Nonhuman Persons
How Are Thought Experiments Possible?
Criticizing Thought Experiments
Conceivability and Possibility
Scientific Thought Experiments
Thought Experiment: Impossibility of Aristotle’s Theory of Motion
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Thought Experiment: Tooley’s Cat
Thought Experiment: Thomson’s Diseased Musician
Internet Inquiries
19
Readings
BERTRAND RUSSELL:The Value of Philosophy
Reading Questions
BRAND BLANSHARD: The Philosophic Enterprise
Reading Questions
Notes
20
Box: David Hume: The Model Philosopher
Logical Positivism
Logical Behaviorism
Box: Ryle’s Category Mistake
Thought Experiment: Ryle’s University Seeker
Thought Experiment: The Perfect Pretender
Thought Experiment: Putnam’s Super-Spartans
Box: Behavioral Therapy
Thought Experiment: Chisholm’s Expectant Nephew
The Identity Theory
Identity and Indiscernibility
Box: Do You Use Only 10 Percent of Your Brain?
Conscious Experience
Thought Experiment: Nagel’s Bat
Thought Experiment: Lewis’s Pained Martian
Thought Experiment: Putnam’s Conscious Computer
Thought Probe: Speciesism
Thought Experiment: Searle’s Brain Replacement
Thought Probe: Neural Prostheses
Box: In the News: Neural Chips
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Thought Experiment: Your Mother, the Zombie
Internet Inquiries
Section 2.3 I, Robot: Mind as Software
Artificial Intelligence
Box: Transhumanism and the Promise of Immortality
Thought Probe: Transhumanism
Functionalism and Feeling
Thought Experiment: Lewis’s Pained Madman
Thought Experiment: Block’s Chinese Nation
Thought Experiment: Putnam’s Inverted Spectrum
Box: Inverted Spectra and Pseudonormal Vision
Thought Probe: Pseudonormal Vision
The Turing Test
Thought Experiment: The Imitation Game
Box: Alan Turing: Father of Code and Computers
21
Thought Experiment: Searle’s Chinese Room
Thought Probe: Total Turing Test
Intentionality
Thought Experiment: Block’s Conversational Jukebox
Thought Probe: Devout Robots
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Section 2.4 There Ain’t No Such Things as Ghosts: Mind as
Myth
Thought Experiment: Rorty’s Demons
Folk Psychology
Subjective Knowledge
Thought Experiment: Mary, the Color-Challenged Scientist
Box: In the News: Seeing Color for the First Time
Thought Probe: Seeing Color
Thought Experiment: Zombies
Thought Probe: Zombies
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Section 2.5 The Whole Is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts:
Mind as Quality
Primitive Intentionality
Box: The Double Aspect Theory
Thought Experiment: Jacquette’s Intentionality Test
Emergentism
Box: Integrated Information Theory and the Consciousness Meter
Panpsychism
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Readings
RENÉ DESCARTES: Meditations on First Philosophy: Meditation II
22
Reading Questions
DAVID M. ARMSTRONG: The Mind-Brain Identity Theory
Reading Questions
DAVID CHALMERS: The Puzzle of Conscious Experience
Reading Questions
Notes
23
Internet Inquiries
Section 3.2 The Mother of Invention: Freedom as Necessity
Thought Experiment: Locke’s Trapped Conversationalist
Box: Thomas Hobbes: The Great Materialist
Traditional Compatibilism
Punishment
Prepunishment
Thought Probe: Minority Report
Thought Experiment: Taylor’s Ingenious Physiologist
Box: In the News: Guilty Minds and Pre-Crime
Thought Probe: Guilty Minds and Pre-Crime
Thought Experiment: Taylor’s Drug Addiction
Box: In the Courts: Government-Sponsored Brainwashing
Thought Probe: The Manchurian Candidate
Thought Probe: Religious Cults
Hierarchical Compatibilism
Thought Experiment: Frankfurt’s Unwilling and Wanton Addicts
Thought Experiment: Frankfurt’s Happy Addict
Thought Experiment: Frankfurt’s Decision Inducer
Thought Experiment: Slote’s Hypnotized Patient
Thought Probe: The Willing Bank Teller
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Section 3.3 Control Yourself: Freedom as Self-Determination
The Case for Freedom
The Argument from Experience
The Argument from Deliberation
The Neurophysiological Challenge
Thought Probe: Is Free Won’t Enough for Free Will?
Box: Neurophysiological Evidence for Free Will
Agent Causation
Box: Sartre and Smullyan on Free Will
Thought Probe: Self-Consciousness and Free Will
Thought Probe: Free Androids
Summary
Study Questions
24
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Readings
BARON D’HOLBACH: A Defense of Hard Determinism
Reading Questions
EDDY NAHMIAS: Is Neuroscience the Death of Free Will?
Reading Questions
MARK BALAGUER: Torn Decisions
Reading Questions
GEOFFREY KLEMPNER: The Black Box
Reading Questions
Notes
25
Box: St. Augustine: Soul Man
Thought Experiment: The King of China
Box: Transubstantiation
Thought Experiment: Nestor and Thersites
Thought Experiment: Kant’s Soul Switch
Thought Probe: Souls in Heaven
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Section 4.2 Golden Memories: Self as Psyche
The Memory Theory
Box: John Locke: The Great Empiricist
Box: In the Courts: Sleepwalking and Murder
Thought Probe: Sleepwalking and Murder
Thought Probe: Memory Damping
The Inconsistency Objection
Thought Experiment: Reid’s Tale of the Brave Officer and Senile
General
Thought Probe: Were You Ever a Fetus?
The Circularity Objection
Box: In the News: Soul Catcher
Thought Probe: Soul Catcher
Thought Probe: Merging of the Minds
The Insufficiency Objection
Thought Probe: Should Joshua Blahyi Be Punished?
The Psychological Continuity Theory
Thought Probe: Is Darth Vader Anakin Skywalker?
The Reduplication Problem I: Reincarnation
Thought Experiment: Williams’s Reincarnation of Guy Fawkes
Thought Experiment: Williams’s Reduplication Argument
The Reduplication Problem II: Teletransportation
Thought Experiment: Parfit’s Transporter Tale
Box: Quantum Teleportation
Thought Probe: Transporter Travel
Thought Probe: Can You Go to Heaven?
Summary
Study Questions
26
Discussion Questions
Thought Experiment: Bodily Torture
Internet Inquiries
Section 4.3 You Can’t Step into the Same River Twice: Self as
Process
The Brain Theory
Thought Experiment: Shoemaker’s Brain Transplant
Box: A Brain Is a Terrible Thing to Waste
Thought Probe: Body Transplants
Split Brains
Box: Alien Hand Syndrome
Thought Probe: Who Is Behind the Hand?
Thought Experiment: Parfit’s Division
Closest Continuer Theories
Box: Buddhists on the Self and Nirvana
Thought Probe: Branch Lines
Identity and What Matters in Survival
Identity and What Matters in Responsibility
Thought Experiment: Parfit’s Reformed Nobelist
Explaining the Self
Thought Probe: Robert and Frank
Moral Agents, Narratives, and Persons
Thought Probe: Being Clive Wearing
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Readings
JOHN LOCKE: Of Identity and Diversity
Reading Questions
DEREK PARFIT: Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons
Reading Questions
HANS MORAVEC: Dualism from Reductionism
Reading Questions
Notes
27
Chapter 5 The Problem of Relativism and Morality
Objectives
Section 5.1 Don’t Question Authority: Might Makes Right
Subjective Absolutism
Subjective Relativism
Emotivism
Thought Experiment: Blanshard’s Rabbit
Cultural Relativism
Box: In the News: Universal Human Rights
The Anthropological Argument
The Logical Structure of Moral Judgments
Thought Probe: When in Rome
The Divine Command Theory
Box: In the Courts: God Is My Attorney
Thought Probe: Commanded to Kill
Box: The Fortunes of Hell
Are There Universal Moral Principles?
Box: Moral Children
Thought Probe: Moral Children
Thought Probe: Moral Knowledge
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Section 5.2 The End Justifies the Means: Good Makes Right
Box: Is Life Intrinsically Valuable?
Thought Probe: Moral Justification
Ethical Egoism
Box: Ayn Rand on the Virtue of Selfishness
Thought Experiment: Feinberg’s Single-Minded Hedonist
Act-Utilitarianism
Box: Jeremy Bentham: Making Philosophy Do Work
Thought Probe: Our Obligations to Future Generations
Problems with Rights
Thought Experiment: McCloskey’s Utilitarian Informant
Thought Experiment: Brandt’s Utilitarian Heir
28
Problems with Duties
Thought Experiment: Ross’s Unhappy Promise
Thought Experiment: Godwin’s Fire Rescue
Problems with Justice
Thought Experiment: Ewing’s Utilitarian Torture
Thought Experiment: Ewing’s Innocent Criminal
Thought Probe: The Utility Machine
Rule-Utilitarianism
Thought Experiment: Nozick’s Experience Machine
Thought Probe: Paradise Engineering and the Abolitionist Project
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Thought Experiment: Williams’s South American Showdown
Thought Experiment: Thomson’s Trolley Problem
Thought Experiment: Thomson’s Transplant Problem
Internet Inquiries
Section 5.3 Much Obliged: Duty Makes Right
Kant’s Categorical Imperative
The First Formulation
Box: Immanuel Kant: Small-Town Genius
Thought Probe: Enhanced Punishment
Thought Experiment: Hare’s Nazi Fanatic
Thought Experiment: Ross’s Good Samaritan
The Second Formulation
Thought Probe: Animal Rights
Thought Experiment: Broad’s Typhoid Man
Thought Experiment: Ewing’s Prudent Diplomat
Thought Probe: Easy Rescue
Ross’s Prima Facie Duties
Thought Probe: Desert Island Bequest
Rawls’ Contractarianism
Thought Probe: Just Policies
Nozick’s Libertarianism
Thought Experiment: Nozick’s Basketball Player
Thought Probe: Consensual Cannibalism
Justice, the State, and the Social Contract
Hobbes
29
Locke
Nozick
Thought Experiment: Widerquist’s Libertarian Monarchy
Thought Probe: Libertarian Government
Box: In the News: Jillian’s Choice
Thought Probe: Jillian’s Choice
The Ethics of Care
Thought Probe: Lying with Care
Making Ethical Decisions
Thought Probe: The Zygmanik Brothers
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Section 5.4 Character Is Destiny: Virtue Makes Right
The Virtuous Utilitarian
Thought Probe: Giving to Charity
The Virtuous Kantian
Thought Experiment: Stocker’s Hospitalized Patient
Box: Children without a Conscience
Thought Probe: Empathy and Agency
The Purpose of Morality
Aristotle on Virtue
Box: Aristotle: Pillar of Western Thought
Box: The Buddha on Virtue
The Stoics on Virtue
Thought Probe: Aristotle versus the Stoics on the Good Life
MacIntyre on Virtue
Nussbaum on Virtue
Thought Probe: Medical Treatment
Virtue Ethics
Thought Probe: The Ring of Gyges
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Readings
30
JEREMY BENTHAM: Of the Principle of Utility
Reading Questions
IMMANUEL KANT: Good Will, Duty, and the Categorical Imperative
Reading Questions
MARTHA NUSSBAUM: Non-Relative Virtues
Reading Questions
Notes
31
Thought Probe: Parting the Red Sea
Thought Probe: The Fivefold Challenge
The Argument from Religious Experience
Box: This Is Your Brain on God
Thought Probe: Religious Experience
Thought Probe: St. Paul on the Road to Damascus
The Ontological Argument
Anselm’s Ontological Argument
Thought Experiment: Gaunilo’s Lost Island
Descartes’ Ontological Argument
Thought Experiment: Edwards’s Gangle
Thought Probe: One More God
Pascal’s Wager
Thought Experiment: Pascal’s Wager
Box: Silverman’s Wager
Thought Probe: The Best Bet
Thought Probe: Alien Religion
God and Science
Thought Probe: Goulder versus Augustine
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Section 6.2 When Bad Things Happen to Good People: God as
Troublemaker
Thought Experiment: Rowe’s Fawn
St. Augustine and the Free-Will Defense
Thought Probe: Is There Free Will in Heaven?
The Knowledge Defense
The Ideal-Humanity Defense
Box: In the News: Natural Evil
Thought Probe: Wrath of God
The Soul-Building Defense
The Finite-God Defense
Box: Karma and the Problem of Inequality
Thought Probe: Karma
Box: The Argument from Nonbelief
32
Thought Probe: The Argument from Nonbelief
Thought Probe: What If God Died?
Alternatives to Theism
Gnosticism
Deism
Pantheism
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Thought Experiment: The Invisible Gardener
Internet Inquiries
Section 6.3 Faith and Meaning: Believing the Unbelievable
The Leap of Faith
Thought Probe: Kierkegaard and Russell
Evidentialism
Thought Probe: Blanshard’s Beliefs
The Will to Believe
Thought Probe: James and Pandeism
The Meaning of Life
Thought Experiment: God’s Plan
Thought Probe: Meaning and Morality
Existentialism
Thought Probe: Meaning and Purpose
Religion without God
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Readings
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS:The Five Ways
Reading Questions
DAVID HUME: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Reading Questions
JOHN STUART MILL: A Finite God
Reading Questions
Notes
33
Chapter 7 The Problem of Skepticism and Knowledge
Objectives
Section 7.1 Things Aren’t Always What They Seem:
Skepticism about Skepticism
Greek Rationalism
Parmenides
Thought Probe: Thinking about Nothing
Zeno
Thought Experiment: Zeno’s Paradox of Bisection
Plato
Box: Solving Parmenides’ and Zeno’s Paradoxes
Thought Probe: Innate Knowledge
Cartesian Skepticism
Cartesian Doubt
Thought Experiment: Descartes’ Dream Argument
Thought Probe: Dreams and Reality
Thought Experiment: Descartes’ Evil Genius Argument
Thought Experiment: Unger’s Mad Scientist
Cartesian Certainty
Reasonable Doubt
The Empiricist Alternative
The Problem of Induction
Thought Probe: Science and Faith
The Kantian Synthesis
Thought Probe: Constructing Reality
Mystical Experience
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Section 7.2 Facing Reality: Perception and the External
World
Direct Realism
Representative Realism
Thought Probe: Hypothesizing the External World
Phenomenalism
34
Thought Experiment: The Inconceivability of the Unconceived
Box: George Berkeley: The Ultimate Empiricist
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Section 7.3 What Do You Know?: Knowing What Knowledge
Is
Thought Experiment: Gettier’s Guy in Barcelona
The Defeasibility Theory
Thought Experiment: Lehrer and Paxson’s Demented Mrs. Grabit
The Causal Theory
Thought Experiment: Goldman’s Fake Barns
The Reliability Theory
Thought Experiment: Lehrer’s Human Thermometer
Virtue Perspectivism
Summary
Study Questions
Discussion Questions
Internet Inquiries
Readings
RENÉ DESCARTES: Meditations on First Philosophy: Meditation 1
Reading Questions
BERTRAND RUSSELL: On Induction
Reading Questions
ERNEST SOSA: Getting It Right
Reading Questions
THOMAS D. DAVIS: Why Don’t You Just Wake Up?
Reading Questions
Notes
Index
35
Chapter 1
The Philosophical
Enterprise
36
© Triff/Shutterstock
37
hilosophy, Plato tells us, “begins in wonder”—wonder about the
P universe, its contents, and our place in it. What is the universe? Is
it composed solely of matter, or does it contain immaterial things
like spirits? How can we tell? Is sense experience the only source of
knowledge, or are there other ways of knowing? Why are we here? Were
we created by God as part of a divine plan, or did we come into being as
the result of purely natural processes? Is there a God? If so, what sort of
being is he (she) (it)? What kind of creatures are we? Do we have a soul
that will survive the death of our bodies, or will we cease to exist when our
bodies die? Are we masters of our destiny, or are our actions determined
by forces beyond our control? What are our obligations to other people?
Do we have a duty to help others, or is our only obligation to not harm
them? Such questions are at once both familiar and strange: familiar
because most of us have had to face them at some point in our lives;
strange because it’s unclear how we should go about answering them.
Unlike most questions, they can’t be answered by scientific investigation.
Some would say that that makes the answers unknowable. But to say that
something is unknowable is to have already answered the question about
the nature of knowledge. You can’t claim that something is unknowable
without assuming a particular theory of knowledge. Philosophical
questions are unavoidable because any attempt to avoid them requires
taking a stand on them. As Pascal put it, “To ridicule philosophy is to
philosophize.”
Philosophy consists not in airy schemes
or idle speculations; the rule and conduct
of all social life is her great province.
—JAMES THOMSON
Whether you know it or not, you assume that certain answers to the
foregoing questions are true. These assumptions constitute your
philosophy. The discipline of philosophy critically examines such
assumptions in an attempt to determine whether they are true. The word
“philosophy” means “love of wisdom.” It’s derived from the Greek philo
meaning “love” and sophia meaning “wisdom.” The desire to know the
truth—the love of wisdom—is only one motivation for doing philosophy,
however. The desire to lead a good life is another. Actions are based on
beliefs, and actions based on true beliefs are more likely to succeed than
those based on false ones. So it’s in your best interest to have true
philosophical beliefs. This text is designed to help you achieve that goal.
By describing, explaining, and encouraging you to do philosophy, it
38
attempts to provide you with the intellectual tools necessary to develop
your own philosophy.
“An expert,” says physicist Werner Heisenberg, “is someone who
knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his subject and how
to avoid them.”1 In philosophy, knowing the major theories and the
problems they face is particularly important. As you construct your own
philosophy, you don’t want to commit the same mistakes made by others,
and as you study the problems faced by various philosophical theories, you
may discover that some of your philosophical beliefs are mistaken. To help
you avoid making philosophical errors, this text traces the historical
development of philosophical thinking on a number of central
philosophical problems. After reading each chapter, you should have a
good sense of the strengths and weaknesses of past theories, as well as the
most promising avenues for future research.
Philosophy is a search for the truth about the world and our place in it.
By doing philosophy, you’ll learn to distinguish good reasons from bad
ones, strong arguments from weak ones, and plausible theories from
implausible ones. You’ll find that every view is not as good as every other.
While everyone may have a right to an opinion, not every opinion is right.
Acquiring such critical thinking skills will improve your ability to make
sound judgments and lessen the chance that you’ll be taken in by frauds,
swindlers, and charlatans.
The discovery of what is true, and the
practice of that which is good, are the two
most important objects of philosophy.
—VOLTAIRE
Doing philosophy involves reflecting on the beliefs and values you use
to organize your experience and guide your decisions. It entails
questioning assumptions, analyzing concepts, and drawing inferences. In
the process, you’ll come to see connections, relationships, and meanings
that you were previously unaware of. As a result, doing philosophy should
deepen your understanding of yourself and your world.
We will begin our philosophical explorations by examining the nature
and import of a number of central philosophical problems. We will then
take a look at the methods philosophers use to solve these problems.
Philosophical thinking is nothing if not logical. To distinguish between
plausible and implausible philosophical claims, you must know the
difference between logical and illogical arguments. Section 1.2 provides
an overview of the different types of arguments people use to make their
39
points. The final section examines one of the most widely used techniques
for testing philosophical theories: thought experiments. Philosophical
problems are conceptual problems, and conceptual problems can be most
effectively solved in the laboratory of the mind.
Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to
40
Section 1.1
Explaining the Possibility of the
Impossible
Philosophical Problems and Theories
If we have not examined our philosophy, not only may the quality of
our lives suffer, but so may our freedom. Every society, every religion, and
every ideology provides answers to philosophical questions. We
internalize those answers in the process of growing up. But if we never
question those answers—if we never critically evaluate them in light of the
41
alternatives—then our beliefs aren’t truly our own. If we haven’t freely
chosen the principles on which our thoughts and actions are based, our
thoughts and actions aren’t truly free. By replacing the blind acceptance of
authority with a reasoned consideration of the evidence, philosophical
inquiry liberates us from preconceived ideas and prejudices.
Because our lives are shaped by our philosophy, many have been
willing to die for their philosophy. Revolutions, for example, are often
inspired by a philosophy. The American, Russian, and Iranian revolutions,
for example, were fueled, respectively, by the philosophies of democratic
capitalism, Marxist communism, and Islamic fundamentalism. Whether a
revolution ultimately succeeds is determined not by force of arms but by
the strength of its philosophy. As Napoleon realized, “There are two
powers in the world, the sword and the mind. In the long run, the sword is
always beaten by the mind.” But the mind can overcome the sword only if
it is armed with viable ideas. The goal of philosophical inquiry is to
determine whether our philosophical beliefs are, in fact, viable.
Philosophical Problems
Philosophical beliefs fall into four broad categories, which correspond to
the major fields of philosophy: (1) metaphysics, the study of ultimate
reality, (2) epistemology, the study of knowledge, (3) axiology, the study
of value, and (4) logic, the study of correct reasoning. The following are
some of the questions explored by the various branches of philosophy.
Science without epistemology is—insofar
as it is thinkable at all—primitive and
muddled.
—ALBERT EINSTEIN
Metaphysics
What is the world made of?
Does the world contain only one basic type of substance (e.g., matter),
or are there other types (e.g., mind)?
What is the mind?
How is the mind related to the body?
Can the mind survive the death of the body?
Do we have free will, or is every action determined by prior causes?
42
What is a person?
Under what conditions is a person at one time identical with a person
at another time?
Is there a God?
Epistemology
What is knowledge?
What are the sources of knowledge?
What is truth?
Can we acquire knowledge of the external world?
Under what conditions are we justified in believing something?
Axiology
What is value?
What are the sources of value?
What makes an action right or wrong?
What makes a person good or bad?
What makes a work of art beautiful?
Are value judgments objective or subjective?
Does morality require God?
Are there universal human rights?
What is the best form of government?
Is civil disobedience ever justified?
Logic
What is an argument?
What kinds of arguments are there?
What distinguishes a good argument from a bad one?
When are we justified in believing the conclusion of an argument?
43
we all unconsciously assume certain answers to them. We all have beliefs
about what is real, what is valuable, and how we come to know what is
real and valuable. Philosophy examines these beliefs in an attempt to
determine which of them are worthy of our assent.
Philosophical beliefs affect not only how we live our lives, but also
how we conduct our inquiries. What we look for is determined by our
theory of reality, how we look for something is determined by our theory
of knowledge, and what we do with what we find is determined by our
theory of value. In science, as in everyday life, having a good philosophy
is important, for, as English philosopher Alfred North Whitehead
observed, “No science can be more secure than the unconscious
metaphysics which it tacitly presupposes.” The philosophical assumptions
underlying various endeavors are studied by such additional subfields of
philosophy as the philosophy of science, philosophy of religion,
philosophy of art, philosophy of history, philosophy of education, and
philosophy of law. Even though every intellectual pursuit takes certain
answers to philosophical questions for granted, the correct answer to those
questions is by no means obvious. What makes definitive answers to
philosophical questions so hard to come by is that conflicting views of
reality, knowledge, and value often appear equally plausible.
Philosophy is the art and law of life, and it
teaches us what to do in all cases, and,
like good marksmen, to hit the white at
any distance.
—SENECA
Consider, for example, the beliefs that the universe contains only
material objects and that we have minds. The success of science lends
credence to the former, whereas our personal experience supports the
latter. It also seems that both of these beliefs can’t be true, for minds do
not appear to be material objects. Material objects have properties like
mass, spin, and electric charge; minds, apparently, do not. Take, for
example, your thought that you’re reading a book right now. How much
does that thought weigh? How long is that thought? What is its electric
charge? Such questions seem absurd because thoughts do not seem to be
the type of thing that can have physical properties. Does that mean that the
mind is immaterial? If so, how can the mind affect the body (and vice
versa)? Such are the issues raised by the mind-body problem.
mind-body problem
44
The philosophical problem of
explaining how it is possible for a
material object to have a mind.
The problem of free will arises from the beliefs that every event has a
cause and that humans have free will. Yet if every event is caused by some
prior event, how can anything we do be up to us?
The problem of evil arises from the beliefs that the world was created
by an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good being (namely, God) and
that there is evil in the world. If God is all-knowing, God knows that evil
exists; if God is all-good, God doesn’t want evil to exist; and if God is all-
powerful, God can prevent evil from existing. So how can there be evil in
a world created by such a being?
problem of evil
The philosophical problem of
explaining how it is possible for there
to be evil in a world created by an all-
powerful, all-knowing, and all-good
being.
The problem of moral relativism arises from the beliefs that certain
actions are objectively right or wrong and that all moral judgments are
relative. If all moral judgments are relative (to individuals, societies,
45
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Language: Finnish
Valikoima
Kirj.
EINO LEINO
Lukijalle.
Näin ystäväni.
Helsinki 17.I.19.
Eino Leino.
Kesä
Kanteletar.
Lemmen uhrit.
Veikko: "Anna, sisko, ruusu tuosta, ruusu ihanaisin, että
viedä immelleni illalla sen saisin!"
1892.
Kaupunkimatka.
Siskojen kesken.
1892.
Kylätiellä.
Noin poikajoukko se vallaton
kylän reuhasi raitiolla.
— "Kas, kasvitarhassa tyttö on!" —
— "Mun rauhassa suokaa olla." —
1892.
Onnen apila.
1892.
Syystunnelma.
Haaveilevalle siskolle.
1893.
1891.
Aatekuteet, toiveniidet.
Joutui ilta, painui päivän kulta, utuisiksi lientyi lahden rannat, tuuli
tyyntyi, talttui rannan aalto, haapain lieto helke hienontui ja
kuiskeeks suli tuskin kuultavaksi.
Lakkas silloin liedot lempilaulut, naurannasta raikuneet ei rannat,
äänetönnä, sanatonna siinä istuttiin vain käsi kättä vasten —
tunteet yhtyi, aatos toistaan etsi.
1893.
1893.
Soita somer, helkä hiekka!
1895.
Aamutunnelma.
1895.
Metsäpuro.
1893.
Huolissaan huokaileva.
1894
1894
Hyljätyn valitus.
Illalla kävelin ma kangasta pitkin,
kankaalta kimpuksi kanervia kitkin.
1895.
Ylioppilasmuisto.
1895.
Syyslaulu neidolleni.
1895.
Rakastunut.