Philosophy
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Metaphilosophy (sometimes called philosophy of philosophy ) is ‘the investigation of the nature of philosophy .’ [ 1 ] Its subject matter includes the aims of philosophy, the boundaries of philosophy, and its methods. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] It is considered by some to be a subject apart from philosophy [ 4 ] , while others see it as automatically a part of philosophy, [ 5 ] [ 6 ] and still others see it as a combination of these subjects. [ 2 ] The interest in metaphilosophy led to the establishment of the journal Metaphilosophy in January 1970. [ 7 ] [ edit ] Relationship to philosophy
Metaphilosophy
A phrenological mapping [ 1 ] of the brain . Phrenology was among the first attempts to correlate mental functions with specific parts of the brain. Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind , mental events , mental functions , mental properties , consciousness , and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem , i.e. the relationship of the mind to the body, is commonly seen as one key issue in philosophy of mind, although there are other issues concerning the nature of the mind that do not involve its relation to the physical body, such as how consciousness is possible and the nature of particular mental states. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Dualism and monism are the two major schools of thought that attempt to resolve the mind-body problem.
Philosophy of mind
isms
The Missing Shade of Blue is an example introduced by the Scottish philosopher David Hume to show that it is at least conceivable that the mind can generate an idea without first being exposed to the relevant sensory experience. It is regarded as a problem by philosophers because it appears to stand in direct contradiction to what Hume had just written. [ edit ] The source of the problem
The Missing Shade of Blue
The dream argument is the postulation that the act of dreaming provides preliminary evidence that the senses we trust to distinguish reality from illusion should not be fully trusted, and therefore any state that is dependent on our senses should at the very least be carefully examined and rigorously tested to determine whether it is in fact reality . [ edit ] Synopsis While people dream , they usually do not realize they are dreaming (if they do, it is called a lucid dream ). This has led philosophers to wonder whether one could actually be dreaming constantly, instead of being in waking reality (or at least that one cannot be certain, at any given point in time, that one is not dreaming).
Dream argument
This is a list of some of the major unsolved problems in philosophy . Clearly, unsolved philosophical problems exist in the lay sense (e.g. " What is the meaning of life? ", " Where did we come from? ", " What is reality? ", etc.).
List of unsolved problems in philosophy
Aesthetic relativism
Aesthetic relativism is the philosophical view that the judgement of beauty is relative to different individuals and/or cultures and that there are no universal criteria of beauty. For example, in historical terms, the female form as depicted in the Venus of Willendorf and the women in the paintings of Rubens would today be regarded as over-weight, while the slim models on the covers of contemporary fashion magazines would no doubt be regarded in a negative light by our predecessors. In contemporary (cross-cultural) terms, body modification among " primitive " peoples is sometimes regarded as grotesque by Western society. Aesthetic relativism might be regarded as a sub-set of an overall philosophical relativism , which denies any absolute standards of truth or morality as well as of aesthetic judgement. (A frequently-cited source for philosophical relativism in postmodern theory is a fragment by Nietzsche , entitled "On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense.")
Tetrapharmakos
The Tetrapharmakos (τετραφάρμακος), or, "The four-part cure," is the Greek philosopher Epicurus ' (341 BC, Samos – 270 BC, Athens ) recipe for leading the happiest possible life. The " tetrapharmakos " was originally a compound of four drugs ( wax , tallow , pitch and resin ); the word has been used metaphorically by Epicurus and his disciples to refer to the four remedies for healing the soul. [ 1 ] [ edit ] The four-part cure Don't fear god, Don't worry about death; What is good is easy to get, and What is terrible is easy to endure ( Philodemus , Herculaneum Papyrus, 1005, 4.9-14 ). [ 2 ] In the original Greek: Ἄφοβον ὁ θεός, ἀνύποπτον ὁ θάνατος καὶ τἀγαθὸν μὲν εὔκτητον, τὸ δὲ δεινὸν εὐκαρτέρητον ( Philodemus , Herculaneum Papyrus, 1005, 4.9-14 )
The Myth of Sisyphus
The Myth of Sisyphus is a philosophical essay by Albert Camus . It comprises about 120 pages and was published originally in 1942 in French as Le Mythe de Sisyphe ; the English translation by Justin O'Brien followed in 1955. In the essay, Camus introduces his philosophy of the absurd : man's futile search for meaning, unity, and clarity in the face of an unintelligible world devoid of God and eternal truths or values. Does the realization of the absurd require suicide ? Camus answers: "No. It requires revolt."In philosophy of science and philosophy of mind , cognitive closure is the proposition that human minds are constitutionally incapable of solving certain perennial philosophical problems. Owen Flanagan calls this position anti-constructive naturalism or the new mysterianism and the primary advocate of the hypothesis, Colin McGinn , [ 1 ] calls it transcendental naturalism because it acknowledges the possibility that solutions might fall within the grasp of an intelligent non-human of some kind. According to McGinn, such philosophical questions include the mind-body problem , identity of the self , foundations of meaning , free will , and knowledge , both a priori and empirical . [ 2 ]
Cognitive closure (philosophy)
Aesthetics
Aesthetics ( also spelled æsthetics ) is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of art , beauty , and taste , with the creation and appreciation of beauty. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. [ 3 ] More broadly, scholars in the field define aesthetics as "critical reflection on art, culture and nature ." [ 4 ] [ 5 ] More specific aesthetic theory, often with practical implications, relating to a particular branch of the arts is divided into areas of aesthetics such as art theory, literary theory , film theory and music theory . [ edit ] EtymologyFormalism (philosophy)
The term formalism describes an emphasis on form over content or meaning in the arts , literature , or philosophy . A practitioner of formalism is called a formalist . A formalist, with respect to some discipline, holds that there is no transcendent meaning to that discipline other than the literal content created by a practitioner.In aesthetics , the sublime (from the Latin sublīmis ) is the quality of greatness, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual or artistic. The term especially refers to a greatness beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation. [ edit ] Ancient philosophy The first known study of the sublime is ascribed to Longinus : Peri Hupsous/Hypsous or On the Sublime . This is thought to have been written in the 1st century AD though its origin and authorship are uncertain. For Longinus, the sublime is an adjective that describes great, elevated, or lofty thought or language, particularly in the context of rhetoric .