1.

Some general comments about the nature of philosophy can be

summarized from the previous outline.

1. Etymologically, "philosophy" can be broken into the following

roots and examples.

1. philo—fond of, affinity for; e.g., the name "Philip"

means "lover of horses."

2. sophia—wisdom; e.g., the name "Sophie" means

"wisdom."

2. Hazarding a beginning definition and some general

characteristics of philosophy might be of help.

1. Philosophy is the systematic inquiry into the principles

and presuppositions of any endeavor.

1. Some restaurants have printed on the back of the

customer's bill their philosophy of restaurant
management.

2. Recently, philosophy of sport and medical ethics

have generated much interest.

2. In general, philosophy questions often are a series of

"why-questions," whereas science is often said to ask
"how-questions."

3. E.g., asking "Why did you come to class today?" is the

beginning of a series of why-questions which ultimately
lead to the answer of the principles or presuppositions
by which you lead your life.

2. Avrum Stroll and Richard H. Popkin, in their highly readable

book, Introduction to Philosophy, isolate seven characteristics of a
philosophical problem. These characteristics serve as a good
introduction to the kinds of problems which can arise in philosophy.

Characteristics Topical Examples

1. a reflection about and the If I take a book off my hand,

things nothing in it what's left on my hand? Nothing?
 What is that? Does everything
exist "in" nothing?

According to gravitation theory,

2. a conceptual rather than a
as the ballerina on a NY stage
practical activity
moves, my balance is affected.

3. the use of reason and Does a tree falling in a forest

argumentation to establish a with no one around to hear make a
point sound?

4. explanation of the puzzling Does a mirror reverse up and down ?

features of things Does it reverse left and right?

What is a fact? Is this book a

5. digging beyond the obvious fact? Is it a big or little fact?
Is it a brown fact?

6. the search for principles which

Is a geranium one or many flowers?
underlie phenomena

Is nature discrete or
7. theory building from these
continuous? E.g., Zeno's
principles
paradoxes of motion.

1. In practice, philosophy is an attitude, an approach, or even a calling to

answer or to ask or to comment upon certain peculiar kinds of
questions.

1. Attitude—a curiosity about questions such as the following.

1. Under the assumption that time is a dimension just like

any other, the case of the surprise examination can arise:
Suppose students obtain the promise from their teacher
that a surprise quiz to be given next week will not be
given, if the students know, in advance, the day the
exam will be given. If the teacher agrees, then the
students can argue as follows: Assuming the class meets
 only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the students
know the surprise exam cannot be given on Friday
because everyone would know Thursday night that this
day is the only period left in which to give the exam.
One would think that the teacher could give the exam
Wednesday, but since Friday has been eliminated as a
possibility, on Tuesday night, the students would know
that the only period left in the week would be
Wednesday; hence the exam could not be given
Wednesday. Monday, then, is the only possible period
left to offer the exam, but, of course, the teacher could
not give the exam Monday because the students would
expect the exam that day. Consequently, the teacher
cannot give a surprise examination.

2. In his Nobel Prize speech, Richard Feynman explained

that from the perspective of quantum electrodynamics, if
an electron is seen as going forward in time, a positron
is the same particle moving backwards in time. Is
time-reversal really possible?

3. Is a positron possible? Consider the paradoxical result.

Suppose a "positron gun" would fire a particle going
backward in time—it could "trigger" an off-switch to
turn off the gun before it could be fired.

2. Approach—to devise a methodology to answer such puzzles.

Very often, all that is needed is the old maxim, "When there is
a difficulty, make a distinction."

1. E.g., for the problem of the sound of a tree falling in a

forest with no one around to hear, all we need do is to
distinguish two different senses of "sound."

2. If by "sound" is meant a "phenomenological perception

by a subject," then no sound ("hearing") would occur. If
by "sound" is meant "a longitudinal wave in matter,"
then a sound did occur.

3. Calling— if a person has had experiences of curiosity,

discovery, and invention at an early age, these experiences
could leave an imprint on mind and character to last a lifetime.