Lecture 1 Introductoin philosophy

by Auguste Rodin

reveal human attitude to the world and serve as guidelines

for human actions.
There is another definition:
Philosophy is a science of general derivative laws and human attitude to the world.
The term philosophy comes from the Greek words “phileo” – love and “sophia” – wisdom, and means “love of wisdom”.

Who are we?
Why do we exist?
Where do we

go?
What is life?
What is death?
What is happiness?

is the purpose of life?
Is war good or evil?
Is science

more important than faith?

What is justice?

Is social harmony

better than freedom?

What is
happiness?

Do humans have rights?

How should we treat the environment?

give answers to such “eternal” questions since they cannot be

answered from the scientific point of view. That is why philosophy studies them.

It is considered that philosophy, to be more precise philosophic mind, appeared in three different world civilizations almost simultaneously in 7-6 centuries BCE (Before the Christian Era). These are Ancient China, India and Greece.

B.C. – 3rd century A.D.)
The Early Ancient Philosophy (6th –

5th centuries B.C.)
The High Classical Philosophy (late 5th – 4th centuries A.D.)
The Hellenistic Philosophy (late 4th – 1st centuries B.C.)
The Late Ancient Philosophy (1st – 3rd centuries A.D.)
The Medieval Philosophy (4th – 14th centuries)
The Patristic Philosophy (4th – 8th centuries)
The Scholastic Philosophy (11th – 14th centuries)
The Modern Philosophy (15th century – 1830s)
The Renaissance Philosophy (15th – 16th centuries)
The Early Modern Philosophy (17th century)
The Enlightenment Philosophy (1700s – 1770s)
The Classical German Philosophy (1780s – 1830s)
The Contemporary Philosophy (since 1840s)

(Epistemology) is the theory of knowledge and cognition
Logic

is the theory of the forms of thought, rules and norms of the true thinking
Ethics is the theory of morality
Aesthetics is the theory of art and man’s artistic activity
Philosophic anthropology is the study of the human nature, human freedom and responsibility
Social philosophy is the studies of laws, norms, order of social life
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles
History of Philosophy is a systematized account of philosophical views by chronological, logical, essential and other principles

existence?
Philosophy came into existence at places where combination of spiritual,

social and economic factors was the most successful for its development.

Elements of science which include information about heaven phenomena, alternation

of seasons, plant growth, animal behavior and customs of people, mathematic calculations, etc.
3) Existence of trivial thinking (wisdom of life).

the Iron Age personal relationships among people were replaced by

material ones (trading). Human consciousness was divided from the objective understanding of reality to abstract thinking.
2) Division of labor into physical and mental. At first only priests were considered to be people of knowledge. However, a new wide stratum of rich people strove to confirm themselves in the society and make knowledge open for everyone. Philosophy gave an opportunity for that.

and publicity in social issues. That made logic and language

develop. Discussion and argumentation became common rules. Philosophy allowed people to prove their thoughts in disputes.

Ancient Greece. It was the place where philosophy acquired classical

features.

In the East the development of philosophy was detained due to a rather slow shift from the Bronze to Iron Age. Among other reasons one could also mention such as weak pre-scientific knowledge and severe religious traditions. That is why in China philosophy stood close to trivial mental thinking, while in India philosophy was close to religion.

replaced by discursive. Second, human actions became more elaborate and

intelligent. Third, people got more freedom for making decisions. Fourth, human conduct became more meaningful. Fifth, culture, science and society got an impact for development.

a lot of images of man and the world. Philosophic

culture can help to understand better the development of human civilization and modern issues.
So, the subject of history of philosophy is, first of all, the system of developing fundamental ideas of human place in the world. Second, the subject also involves organizational forms, which unite these ideas (philosophic studies, schools, trends and movements).

and ideas of human relationship with the nature and society.

Usually, a studies of philosophy was represented by a certain philosopher (for example, Democritus’ philosophic studies, and Bruno’s studies of philosophy).
Philosophic schools come into existence when pupils of philosophers continue developing ideas of a certain studies of philosophy (for example, Plato school, Cartesian school, Marx school).

have general principles but different ways of development (for example,

neopositivism, existentialism).
A philosophic movement is the biggest formation that embraces a few philosophic trends and exists for many centuries. Now we shall discuss principle philosophic movements that appeared in the history. The principle philosophic movements run as follows: materialism, idealism, sensualism, rationalism, and irrationalism.

said to exist is matter. Materialism denies existence of supernaturals.

Types of Materialism include:
1) Vulgar materialism holds matter to be the only existing reality. Consciousness has no autonomy. K. Vogt, a German scientist and philosopher, held that thought is "secreted" by the brain, as bile by the liver. The main drawback of vulgar materialism is inability to learn the nature of ideal reality.

explains features and laws of matter, and elaborates the problem

of causality. The main drawback: existence of man and society is explained by natural factors.
3) Dialectical materialism (K. Marx, F. Engels) Objects and phenomena are understood through external and inner inter-relations. Historicity of an object is taken into account (an object’s ability to develop with time).

is divided into objective and subjective.
1) Objective idealism holds

that the world exists independently of man and the nature.
2) Subjective idealism holds that the external world is reflection of human consciousness.

admit sense perception to be the principle way of perception

(through feelings).
Rationalism considers that human mind can learn the environment through abstract thinking (B. Spinoza).

of philosophy and science. Later generalization of either sensitive or

intellectual human abilities gave birth to such philosophic trend as scientism (Lat. Scientia – knowledge, science), in which natural science is considered to be a true sample for human actions.

world but is only a part of our mental universe.

There also exist irrational ways of learning the environment, which include will, feelings, subconscious mind, and intuition.