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Philosophy For Dummies (US Edition)

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Overall, I absolutely love the book’s eye-catching presentation. There are a ton of beautiful illustrations that help make complex philosophical discussions far more digestible to the casual reader. When he who hears doesn’t know what he who speaks means, and when he who speaks doesn’t know what he himself means — that is philosophy.

A key theme in Aristotle's thought is that happiness is the goal of life. Aristotle was a good deal less other-worldly than Plato. He voluntarily went into exile from Athens when conditions became a bit politically dangerous for him, in his words, "lest Athens sin twice against philosophy." The logical structure of the zombie argument is just the same as with the other twin and doppelgänger arguments, like the Super-Spartans discussed above: Don’t expect colorful illustrations here. However, what you will get is a wonderful summary of key philosophical strands of thought, how they relate with each other, and how they’ve shaped our modern world today. Studying ethics can help you arrive at clearer positions and arguments on real life issues — and can help you apply them, too. In fact, thinking more about ethical theory may even change your mind about issues in today’s world. Here are some ways you can apply ethics to your life:

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Before looking at the arguments for and against functionalism, it is necessary to clarify the idea that, for mental states, being is doing.

Many people seem to fear self-examination, as if looking at and evaluating their most basic beliefs and values is somehow a threat. But a philosophically reflective examination of our most basic assumptions and commitments doesn’t necessarily have a corrosive effect. It may, by contrast, have a purifying effect. The fundamental goal of philosophical examination isn’t criticism in a negative sense, or any sort of rejection or abandonment. The true goal is understanding. And yet a greater level of understanding often results in a refocusing, a shedding of unnecessary or unimportant activities and an adopting of others — rebalancing and changing our lives in a positive way. In a way, it’s really good that this happened to me. As a philosopher, I learned something important about the power of our beliefs, and our imaginations, as well as about the hidden assumptions that can govern our thinking, acting, and feeling. The mind is indeed a powerful thing. And false beliefs can have a big impact on us. The image of Plato’s Cave GreatIdea(Philos) Philosophy trains us to analyze. It also trains us to assess competing claims. Do people have free will, or are all our actions determined by heredity and environment? Does God exist . . . or not? Do humans survive physical death, or is everyone destined for personal extinction on the cessation of bodily functions? Does life truly have meaning, or is everything we do ultimately without any real sense and purpose? Is rollerblading great exercise, or is it the fastest route to the emergency room? (Okay, so not all questions are cosmic in proportion.) In any expedition into unfamiliar terrain, it pays to have a native guide to lead us, but ultimately we all have to pull ourselves up the side of the hill. We partner with the great thinkers who have gone before us and, with their help, try to see our own vistas and make our own way. Putting the point in terms of Searle’s Chinese Room: the whole system might, in some sense, understand Chinese or produce responses that are about the questions; but, in Thomas Nagel’s famous phrase, there is nothing that “it is like” to be the Chinese Room. The whole system does not enjoy what it is doing, it does not experience sensations or emotions, and it does not feel pains or pleasures. But Searle himself does have experiences and sensations—he is a conscious being. So, the reasoning goes, even if functionalism works for intentional states, it does not work for consciousness.Philosophy is, simply put, a way of thinking. More accurately, however, it is a bundle of ways of thinking. It’s a set of mental tools. And that fact is directly relevant to the question of why we study philosophy. It’s not just to amaze our friends with our own profundity, perplex our colleagues with a newfound depth, or irritate family members with crazy-sounding questions (although first-year college students seem to value that last possibility the most in connection with their beginning philosophy courses). We study philosophy because of the mental skills it cultivates in our lives as well as for the new perspectives it gives us.

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