PHILOSOPHY - REFLECTION

PHILOSOPHY:

The study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. In more casual speech, by extension, "philosophy" can refer to "the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group".

The word "philosophy" comes from the Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophia), which literally means "love of wisdom". The introduction of the terms "philosopher" and "philosophy" has been ascribed to the Greek thinker Pythagoras.

HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY:

WESTERN PHILOSOPHY:

Western Philosophy is generally said to begin in the Greek cities of western Asia Minor (Ionia) with Thales of Miletus, who was active around 585 B.C. and left us the opaque dictum, "all is water." His most noted students were Anaximenes of Miletus ("all is air") and Anaximander (all is apeiron).

EASTERN PHILOSOPHY:

In the West, the term Eastern philosophy refers very broadly to the various philosophies of "the East", namely Asia, including China, India, Japan, Persia and the general area. One must take into account that this term ignores that these countries do not belong to a single culture. Ancient eastern philosophy developed mainly in India and China.

PARADOX:

Example: “This sentence is false.” referred to as the liar paradox. Is it true? If it is true, it will be false. Is it false? If it is false, it will be true. Contradiction? We have reached a contradiction. True or False? Paradox? Since we cannot determine whether the sentence is true or false, it is NOT a “statement” as we defined statement in formal logic. Instead it is a paradox.

“Any result so contrary to common sense and intuition that invokes as immediate emotion of surprise,” defines Martin Gardener.

Another example:

Type of paradox	Time travel paradox
Question?	Supposedly Joe Time Traveler goes back in time and gets into a car accident. Tragically, he kills his mother when he is just a child. Then what happens?
Note:	This is just “One” of the many paradoxes that arise from the travel.

INDUCTIVE REASONING:

Meaning:	Reasoning which begins with limited examples
Example	The first crow I saw was black.
	The second crow I saw was black.
	All crows I have ever seen have been black.
	Therefore all crows are black.

DEDUCTIVE REASONING:

Meaning:	Reasoning that begins with premises and discover what meet-able results are from these premises.
Example	The sunrises every morning.
	Therefore, the sun will rise tomorrow morning.

CONTRAPOSITIVE:

Definition:	The statement (~q -> ~p) is called the contra-positive of the statement (p -> q)
Written:	~q -> ~p
Said:	If not Q, then not P.
Example:	p	Bessie is a cow.
	q	She moos.
	p -> q	If Bessie if a cow, she moos.
	~q -> ~p	If she does not moo, she is not Bessie.