Philosophy

Philosophy Study Guide

● Casual fallacies: Attributing causes to events and situations. o Questionable cause: Someone presents a causal relationship for which no real evidence exists. For example, superstitious beliefs or astrology. o Poc hoc ergo propter hoc: Latin phrase meaning “after this, therefore because of this.” It refers to the situation in which two things occur close together in time and because of their timely connection we assume that one caused the other. o Slippery slope: One undesirable action will inevitably lead to a worse action which will necessarily lead to a worse one still. ● Fallacies of relevance: Appeal or support to factors that have little or nothing to do with the argument being offered. o Appeal to authority/tradition/bandwagon: Appeal to opinions outside of oneself to justify conclusions rather than basing conclusions on critical analysis. o Appeal to authority: We should agree with a point of view simply because it is endorsed by an authority. o Appeal to tradition: A practice or way of thinking is better or right simply because it is traditional and it has always been done that way. ● Appeal to emotion: Appeals to various emotions to encourage or manipulate others into agreeing with you (includes pity, fear, and flattery). ● Appeal to personal attack: This involves ignoring the issues of the argument and focusing instead on the personal qualities of the person making the opposing argument (includes ad hominem- attributes of the man are judged rather than attributes of the issues. This is also thought of as poisoning the well-any water drawn from the opponents well will be treated as undrinkable). ● Red herring: Also known as the smoke screen and wild goose chase. It involves diverting the audience from the topic by introducing other irrelevant topics as a form of distraction. 1.11 Branches of Philosophy There are many different branches of and focus of philosophy. Traditionally, there are five main branches of philosophy. The newest branch is political and social philosophy, which has created a sixth area of focus. The branches include: ● Metaphysics: The study of the ultimate characteristics of reality or existence. This branch explores issues beyond our physical world, for example, what is the meaning of life beyond death (What is the nature of reality? Does God really exist?). More specifically, it is the study of reality that is beyond the scientific or mathematical realms. The term “metaphysics” itself literally means “beyond the physical.” The metaphysical issues most discussed are the existence of God, the soul, and the afterlife. ● Epistemology: the study of the construction of knowledge. Its ultimate goal being to establish a framework that allows us to arrive at an honest and truthful understanding Epistemology deals with the process by which we can know that something is true. Within epistemology, there are two important categories: empiricism and rationalism. Rationalism stresses that the

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