Beginner's Guide to Philosophy

Introduction

Speaker's Background: Interest in philosophy ignited during high school.
Initial Books: "Birth of Tragedy" by Friedrich Nietzsche and "Introduction to Metaphysics" by Martin Heidegger. Not ideal for beginners due to complexity and advanced concepts.
Purpose: To provide a beginner's guide to philosophy.
Major areas covered: Logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and political philosophy.

Two categories:
1. Art of Thinking: Improving rational thinking.
- Example: 17th-century book "Logic or the Art of Thinking" by Arno and Nicole.
- Fallacies: Bad patterns of reasoning. Example: Guilt by association.
1. Formal/Mathematical Logic: Focuses on the structure of argument.
- Historical background: Flourished in the 19th & 20th centuries.
- Key figures: Gottlob Frege (concept script), Russell's Paradox, Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem.
- Paradoxes: Example: Liar’s Paradox – "This sentence is false."

Focus: Nature of reality.
Key issues: Truth and universals.
- Truth: Different theories
  - Aristotle's Definition: "To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false."
  - Correspondence Theory: Truth corresponds to reality.
  - Verification Theory: Truth when verified.
  - Pragmatist Theory: Truth is useful.
  - Coherence Theory: Truth coheres with set beliefs.
- Universals: Individuals vs. universals.
  - Example: Two black cats: individual cats sharing the same property (black).
  - Plato vs. Aristotle: Existence of universals and abstract forms.
  - Nominalism: Rejects the existence of universals.

Focus: The study of knowledge.
Key questions: What is knowledge?
- JTB Theory: Justified True Belief.
- Gettier Problems: Issues with JTB theory, i.e., epistemic luck.
- Skepticism: Denies the possibility of knowledge.
  - Historical Examples: Pyrrhonism, Cartesian skepticism (Descartes), Humean skepticism.

Focus: Study of right and wrong.
Major schools:
1. Consequentialism: Morality based on outcomes. Example: Utilitarianism.
2. Deontology: Rule-based morality. Example: Kant's moral law.
3. Virtue Ethics: Focuses on character development. Example: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.
- Moral Nihilism and Subjectivism: Denies the existence of objective moral truths.

Focus: Deals with justice, rights, and state’s role.
Key debates:
- Distributive Justice: Redistribution of wealth.
- Notable Philosophers:
  - John Rawls: Veil of ignorance; principles of justice.
  - Robert Nozick: Entitlement Theory; historical approach to justice.
- Democracy vs. anti-Democracy: Historical skepticism of democracy (Plato, Aristotle).
- Anarchist views: Critique of majority rule.