So, it's been a month since I last wrote here, and I apologize for that. I know I initially intended to begin posting immediately, but unfortunately someone very close to me passed away that week. Things have been a whirlwind since then, but I figured now would be a better time than ever to get back into this.
That being said....away we go with the FIRST post of this crazy plan I cooked up!!
The Source
"A romp through the history of philosophy from the Pre-Socratics to the present day." (A lecture by Marianne Talbot in the "Philosophy for Beginners" section of iTunes U)
The Reason
I have a couple of friends who are very interested in philosophy, and hearing them speak about the subject always baffled me. It has always seemed like an interesting topic, albeit one that requires an immense amount of thought, and an open and willing mind. I would love to get into more specific genres of this area, especially logic and ethics, but since I know next to nothing about the matter, I started with the obligatory "Philosophy for Beginners".
What was Learned
The lecture was about an hour and a half long, but I only viewed one hour and 15 minutes worth of it. In that time, the professor covered four basic schools of philosophical thought (Rationalists, Empiricists, Utilitarians, and Deontologists) as well as three individual philosophers (Democritus, Plato, and Aristotle).
Some key concepts that really caught my eye:
Democritus' belief that nothing comes from nothing. Nothing comes into existence, and nothing goes out of existence. (I thought this was reminiscent of Newton's principles on mass.)
Precept vs. Concept: How the world actually is vs. how we can imagine it. One is backed by evidence (Precept) while the other is not. However, concepts allow us to make plans, be creative, and set goals.
The Rationalist vs Empiricist belief on where our concepts come from. Rationalists believe many of our concepts are innate. Empiricists believe we develop concepts through experience, which begs the question, is it possible to truly experience something? Can causality be determined with absolute certainty?
The Utilitarian argument vs The Deontologist one. This part of the lecture dealt mainly with determining whether an action was "right" or "wrong". Utilitarians claimed an action was "right" if it produced the greatest amount of happiness for the largest number of people (i.e. genocide could be considered "right" if it made most of the population happy). Deontologists argue that there is a universal moral law that applies to EVERYONE, whether they know it or not, and that it is THIS that determines whether an action is right or wrong. (Under this belief, it would be considered "right" to not kill 4 innocent men, even if it meant the death of 700 other innocents.)
Reactions and Conclusions
I actually split the hour up into two parts, and I realized when I came back to watch the second half, I understood the material from the first half a lot better. While I was watching those first 30 minutes for the first time though...it was rough! At times it felt like my brain was so close to being able to wrap itself around an idea, only to fall short.
By the end of the video, I felt a bit baffled too. Sure, Philosophy posits all these amazing ideas, and new ways to view the world...but at the end of it, it seems like it leaves its students with more questions than answers. It gives its pupils the tools to more effectively search for the Truth, and yet no definitive answers have been established!
Still, I enjoyed the hour I spent with this video, and plan to watch a couple more in the series.
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