Jaymie Ticknor Intro Philosophy 1050 Sect 003 15 and 17 January 2014 Categories in Philosophy Lecture 1 Epistemology the study of the nature and scope of knowledge and belief Ethics the study of the right the good and the valuable Includes study of applied ethics Metaphysics the study of the state of being and the nature of reality Aesthetics the study of the nature of beauty art and taste and the creation of personal Logic the study of good reasoning by examining the validity of arguments and kinds of truth documenting their fallacies or errors Lecture 2 Socrates and the Defense of the Philosophical Life Plato s Apology Xenophon Aristophanes and Plato Socrates student Aristotle Plato s student Pre Socratic Philosophers First Natural Scientists tried to explain things like thunder and lightning in reality terms instead of religious terms Socrates charged for corrupting the youth impious Atheism not believing in the gods of the city proved people to be wrong and unwise constantly questioning everything including the authority system Plato Life and Works Plato 427 347 B C born into an Athenian Aristocratic family disciple of Socrates founder of first school of philosophy called The Academy was the teacher of Aristotle who in turn taught Alexander the Great wrote mostly in dialogue form works are generally divided into early middle and late period Socrates c 470 399 son of a stonecutter and midwife originally influenced by the Presocratics and the nature of reality Metaphysics ethics but gradually began to be concerned with how people ought to live In the Apology Apologia defend describes himself as a gadfly Athens as a slow horse fly pokes and makes horse active important role Most famous for the Socratic Method cross examination locate statement confidently described as common sense imagine despite the confidence of the person proposing it the statement is false Search for situations or contexts where the statement would not be true if an exception is found the definition must be false or at least imprecise Apology Socrates condemned by the Athenian government for his teaching methods which aroused skepticism and impiety in his students Socrates rejected exile pride and accepted death from hemlock poison the first group did not actually accuse Socrates indirect because of reputation Socrates Reputation studies things in the sky and below the earth where the gods are should not bother with those places Clouds play by Aristophanes makes the worse argument the stronger avoid arguments by manipulating language accused being a Sophist like a politician teaches these things to other people natural philosopher religious and mythical to scientific and natural explanations The Oracle of Delphi and Socrates Delphic Quest Chaerephon questions the oracle no one is wiser than Socrates does not imply that he has wisdom Socrates wonders what the god is saying Socrates being the wisest being at the top of the food chain exaggeration and controversial went to politicians poets and tradesmen who were known to be wise but were not knows that he is ignorant where wisdom is