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Philosophy is written in this grand book, the universe, which stands continually open to our gaze. But the book cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and read the letters in which it is composed.

~ Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), Italian polymath: astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and mathematician.

What exactly is “Philosophy?”

That question may be somewhat confusing as you encounter people talking about their “personal philosophy,” the “philosophy of winning,” the philosophy of baseball,” the “philosophy of Final Fantasy/Rick and Morty/Kanye West”...

It seems everyone and anything can be ascribed to a “philosophy” - muddling an accurate definition with the more pop culture commotion of memes and inspirational clickbait.

So let’s get back to basics.

What exactly is “Philosophy?”

Philosophy is a discipline that involves critical and creative thinking about fundamental questions: questions about the meaning of life, the nature of good and evil, the reliability of knowledge, the foundation of human rights and responsibilities, the functions of government, and/or the nature and value of art.

Think about some of the deepest questions you have ever had about life with regard to your very existence, your purpose.

That’s what Philosophy seeks to answer.

Defining “Philosophy”

To begin, let’s start with a definition of Philosophy.

At its basic level, Philosophy is is the critical study of the core questions that underlie our knowledge about ourselves, our world, our universe and beyond. What do we know? How do we know, what we know? Is what we know even real, or valid, or right?

Understandably, this is what people find confusing, and possibly a little frustrating about Philosophy. In our complicated, multi-layered, fast-paced, Google, sound-bite world, the idea of stopping to deeply contemplate fundamental questions about knowledge and life and reality and meaning - well, that just seems like a colossal waste of what little time we have in our daily routines.

And yet, everything from the structure of democratic governments to due process of law, from a physician’s Hippocratic oath to computer software has its roots in Philosophy.

The earliest philosophers sought to make connections between the various elements and aspects that compose human life, with an intellectual discipline that exercised reason and logic over superstition or the supernatural. Philosophy, unlike religion, does not put the same emphasis on observed rituals, even when some branches of it can have a core belief in a Supreme Being or Ultimate Reality. Unlike Sociology, which  studies groups of people on a generalized or abstract level, Philosophy is primarily an attempt to work through and solve abstract and real-world problems relating to reality, knowledge, and how to act. Ultimately, Philosophy is the practice of thinking about thinking.

Philosophy is the process - exploring the content, formulating questions, making connections, self-reflecting, and seeing from a specific, critical point of view - the BIG, philosophical questions of our existence.

The Six BIG Philosophical Questions

Philosophy seeks the answers to some very big fundamental questions regarding human existence and purpose.

• What is a person?
• What is a meaningful life?
• What is beauty?
• What are good and evil?
• What is a just society?
• What can be known?

Whether we can realistically ever answer these questions - or, more to the point, agree upon a single response - is debatable, and possibly unrealistic. Nevertheless, we persist in asking these questions because we frame our systems of justification - from the laws that we put in place, the ethics to which we align, even our personal day-to-day interactions with others - on our understanding and interpretation of their answers.

The Branches of Philosophy

In seeking answers to these six BIG Questions (and others that you will be introduced to later), modern Philosophy developed into six main branches of thought or perspective, each with its own unique focus.

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Big Questions

Certain branches and perspectives concentrate on specific BIG Questions. For example: 

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In addition, these branches expand even further when one considers that there are cultural, social, historical context, and gender-specific worldviews that add different lenses of perspective to these BIG Questions.

For example:

• Eastern Philosophies differ in many aspects to Western traditions - same or similar questions about finding the happiness in one’s life may differ a great deal or slightly.
   
• Islamic philosopher al-Ghazali would say that our discontent with life is because we are focused on the material world and have lost touch with the spiritual world - every person is born with a “knowing pain in the soul” resulting from a disconnection from the Ultimate Reality.
   
• Greek philosopher Epicurus proposed that happiness comes from pursuing the simple things in life which make us most happy - the most desirable and happiest life is one where we abstain from unnecessary desires and achieve an inner tranquility (ataraxia). According to Epicurus, good friends and good conversations will bring you greater happiness than the gluttonous pursuits of food, drink, or sex.

Big “P” and Little “p” Philosophy

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There are two different types of people in the world, those who want to know, and those who want to believe.

~ Friedrich Nietzsche German philosopher and cultural critic

So how is all this relevant to you?

Well, have you ever felt justified in telling a lie? Have you ever been tempted to cheat on a test? Would you steal something to help a friend? 

Think of all the little actions that you perform each day. Often, you will have to decide whether an action is right or wrong. How do you make a decision about what direction to take?

The rules to which you abide and certainly, socialization - the culture from which you identify - will contribute to your decision. When you put all that together with how you see yourself and your relationship with the world - this is often referred to as one’s personal philosophy of life.

One of the aims of this course is to encourage you to consider the relevance of “big P Philosophy” in your own, personal, “little p philosophy.” You may already know that your feelings on certain issues might be more Existentialist (definition:A perspective that emphasizes individual existence through free will and personal responsibility.) rather than Nihilistic (definition:A perspective that argues that all values are baseless and nothing can be known or be true.) - or maybe those two terms are completely new to you. Nevertheless, knowing your Philosophical foundation will give you insight about how you respond to broader social issues.

This isn’t to say that the study of Philosophy is going to answer all of life’s toughest questions. Sometimes just asking a question is more important than answering one. Questioning long held, endemic (definition:A entrenched belief or characteristic, prevalent in a particular field, area, environment, or culture.) beliefs, practicing and engaging in philosophical reasoning, can lead to meaningful personal and social change and set one onto a path of true understanding of more than just the fundamental Philosophical questions.

Introducing the Philosopher's Notebook

Did you know that the Chinese have a long tradition of notebook writing, roughly translated from the term, "biji?" Biji contain all kinds of incidental and spontaneous writings: quotes, twice told tales, anecdotes, philosophical and philological meditations: anything that those in the writerly tradition consider important on the journey through life.

In a similar vein, The Philosopher’s Notebook will also contain your incidental, partly spontaneous thoughts, as well as your planned writings. The purpose of the Philosopher’s Notebook is to have a secure place to intentionally archive your reflective and intrapersonal responses from the various activities in this course.

One of the goals of this course is to understand one’s philosophical foundation – the worldview to which you abide when defining your place in this world. To do this, you will need to keep a record of your personal journey.

Your Philosopher’s Notebook, is, if you will, a journal of this journey.

In each activity, you will be directed to archive certain items to your Philosopher’s Notebook – from metacognitive reflections to your assessments of the ongoing development of your Learning Skills.

 

Additionally, the Philosopher’s Notebook may also include the following:

• resource citations/bibliography;
• rough drafts (texts);
• action plans;
• schedules;
• results from your Learning Skills and Work Habits Interactives;
• photographs/Digital images;
• preliminary sketches/notes;
• a Personal Glossary;
• feedback (oral-recorded, exit cards/slips, survey results, etc.); and
• other useful data.

In other words, as you explore, develop, and define your worldview throughout the process of this course, record and archive this journey!