PowerPoint Outlines
of Our Global Village,
Three Areas of Philosophy,
and Forms of Philosophical Arguments
Our Global Village
What if our world was a village of 100 people?
58 would be Asians
15 would be Europeans (including Russians)
13 would come from the Western Hemisphere.
12 would be Africans
70 would be non-white
67 would be non-Christian (33 Christians; 18 Moslems; 14 Hindus; 6 Buddhists; 5 atheists; 3 Jews; 24 other.
16 would speak Chinese; 8 English; 8 Hindi; 6 Spanish; 6 Russian; and 5 Arabic.
50 % of the wealth would be held by 6 people.
70 could not read and only one would have a university education.
ETHICAL SUBJECTIVISM
In ethical subjectivism moral values are dependent on a will, human or divine, a willing subject. If the will is human, then one has the basis for modern moral relativism, in which humans together (e.g., a legislature) decide what is right and wrong. If the will is divine, then one has a divine command theory of ethics. In this view moral law is a freely chosen creation of God. In cases of infractions against this law, God can freely choose to mete out punishment or no punishment; or, as in the mystery religions and Christianity, God or his agent can decide to take the punishment upon himself. Those who violate the law are still sinners, but God can grant grace and forgiveness for wrong doings. It seems, then, that any doctrine of grace or forgiveness must have its basis in this form of ethical subjectivism.
The three great savior religions of the world-Christianity, the religion of Krishna, and Pure Land Buddhism--grew out of a reaction to various forms of ethical objectivism. Each of them developed doctrines of grace in which the savior infused his grace so that the effects of sin would be removed. People of course would still sin and be apart from God, but the final consequences (death or karmic rebirth) would be eliminated.
The great success and popularity of the savior religions tell us something significant. A great majority of people outside of the priestly or monastic class realized (either consciously or unconsciously) that they could not conform to the moral law without divine aid. The savior religions had a great liberating effect in that all people were equal before God. The savior religions had mass appeal, cutting, as they did, across all classes. As a result they had profound social and political impact.
ETHICAL OBJECTIVISM
In ethical objectivism moral values and virtues are intrinsic, not dependent on anything outside of them. In ethical objectivism moral law is uncreated and eternal and not subject to any will, divine or human. (One form of ethical objectivism is moral absolutism.) No will can lessen the consequence of acts against the law. There is no grace in ethical objectivism. In order to avoid punishment, one must perfect one's life and follow the law perfectly. The law of karma, continuous birth, death and rebirth until such moral perfection is reached, appears to be the ultimate expression of ethical objectivism. In Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, for most people one lifetime is not enough for such moral perfection.
The "Law of Karma" holds that if people act in evil ways, that evil will eventually return to them. Conversely, if people do good deeds, then they will advance in spiritual progress. This is connected to reincarnation, where those with a "negative balance" in good deeds will come back in a lower position in society or the animal world.
Ethical subjectivism, as we have seen above, is the opposite of ethical objectivism. Subjectivism says that the moral values are dependent on a human or divine will, that they can change from one situation to another. Please note that a large majority of Christians, Jews, and Muslims believe in moral absolutism, which is a form of ethical objectivism. Also note that Buddhists may have a weaker definition of the law of karma. For some Buddhists it may simply mean that actions have consequences.
Three Areas of Philosophy
Theory of Reality : Ontology & Metaphysics.
Theory of Knowledge: Epistemology.
Theory of Value: Axiology.
Theory of Reality
What is the nature of reality?
Is it matter? Materialism
Is it mind or spirit? Idealism or Mentalism
A combination of these? Dualism
Or none of the above? Neutral Monism
Substance vs. Process
Are the basic things substances--self-contained, self-sufficient and eternal
Or are they changing processes, interdependent upon one another?
Substance philosophy dominates both Asian and Euro-American philosophy.
Examples of Substances
God: eternal and unchanging
souls: eternal and unchanging
atoms: are not created and cannot be destroyed. They are indivisible.
What does contemporary physics say about atoms?
Neither matter nor energy can be created and destroyed.
The Process Philosophers
Europe & America: Heraclitus, Hegel, Bergson, Whitehead, and Hartshorne.
Asian: Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism.
Abrahamic vs. Asian religions.
Judaism, Christianity, and Judaism claim
Abraham as their founding father.
The Existence of God
Thomas Aquinas: five ways to prove God’s existence.
David Hume: none of these arguments are convincing.
Immanuel Kant: only the "moral" argument is sound.
The Buddha: the gods exist but they play no role in our moral lives.
Confucius: Heaven guides our lives only in a general way. General vs. Specfic Providence.
What is Human Nature?
What is the relationship between reason, the will, the emotions, and the imagination?
Are humans intrinsically good, evil, combination of the two, or neither?
Is the will free or is determined by antecedent causes and conditions (determinism)?
Is the soul immortal? Is there an afterlife or is this life all there is?
Theory of Knowledge
How and what can we know?
Rationalism: True knowledge already exists in the human soul as "innate" knowledge.
Empiricism: Knowledge comes primarily from experience and the five senses.
Theory of Value
Ethics: value for the individual--"What ought I do as an individual?"
Social and Political Philosophy: value for society--"What ought we do together?"
Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics: the value in the fine arts and natural beauty.
Ethics is the art of making the soul great and noble. The aesthetics of virtue
The Informal Fallacies
Equivocation.
Ad hominem.
Appeal to Authority.
Begging the Question.
Induction and Deduction
Deductive arguments give conclusions that are necessarily (=forever) true.
Inductive arguments are not necessarily true.
They are "contingent," that is, dependent upon certain conditions remaining the same.
All swans are white.
Empirical generalization vs. necessary truth.
An argument against abortion
A person is the only being with a serious moral right to life.
A fetus from conception on is a person
Therefore, a fetus has a serious moral right to life.
What kind of argument is this? How do we prove the premises? Are the premises true?
Does the conclusion follow logically from the premisses.
Syllogism: three-part deductive argument with major premise, minor premise, and conclusion.
Examples of Physical vs. Logical Impossibility
Physically impossible to exceed the speed of light.
Resurrection from true death is physically impossible.
Incarnation of God (an eternal, unchangeable, disembodied being) as simultaneously human (finite, changeable, embodied being) is logically impossible.
Incarnation is a divine mystery. An article of faith rather than reason.