Some Definitions

Chances are, Sven may have used some confusing terms in class today.  Here I try to provide definitions for these terms in everyday, non-technical terms.

Linguistic Intuition:  Linguistic intuitions are the thoughts that you have about what words mean when you think about the meanings of words.  If you think and reflect about what words mean, you probably have some assumptions about what words mean.  These are your intuitions.  They may come from your family, friends, culture or country.  Usually by linguistic intuition we mean the thoughts and assumptions we have about meanings that we acquired accidentally.

Proposition: A proposition is what is meant by a statement that asserts or claims something.  (Some sentences, like many questions, do not assert or claim anything).  For example, if one utters (says), "Man, dat dude is hot.", one might be able to say that the meaning of this declaration, or the proposition, is something like, "I find that male to be very attractive."  The proposition of the statements, "Ich liebe dich." (German) and "Ti amo." (Italian) is the same as the English sentence "I love you."  These three difference sentences all express the same abstract proposition.

Beliefs are propositional attitudes.  In other words, they are relations to propositions.  Belief is the relation that you bear to propositions that you think are true.  To believe that Justin Bieber is annoying is to think that it is true that Justin Bieber is annoying.   An occurent belief is one that is thought about at a given moment in time.  When I am thinking to myself, “Tina Fey is funny.”, I have the occurent belief that Tina Fey is funny.  A dispositional belief is one that I believe in the background (subconsciously or unconsciously).  I may always have the dispositional belief that Tina Fey is funny even when I am not actively thinking, “Tina Fey is funny.”

Justification means that there are good reasons for a belief or claim.

Possible World.  In philosophy, we often imagine hypothetical possible worlds where some relatively minor but relevant things are different from our own world.  The idea is that by noticing similarities and differences between the real world and a possible world, we can better understand whether or not we have knowledge in certain instances.

Covary: to vary together or change together.  If the truth of a statement and belief in that statement covary across possible worlds, this means that they change in similar ways.  If truth and belief do not covary across possible worlds, this means that one changes and the other does not.

Conjunction.  Joining two propositions together with the word "and".

Disjunction. Joining two propositions together with the word "or".  

Necessary and Sufficient Conditions

Philosophers often want to define terms in very clear ways.  One standard that we will use in this class is requiring that there be a definition that gives both (1) necessary conditions and (2) sufficient conditions.

Necessary conditions are conditions or characteristics that must be met in order for the meaning of the term to be satisfied. e.g. For the word nun, it is a necessary condition that one must be a female.

Sufficient conditions are conditions or characteristics that when satisfied, they are sufficient, or adequate to fulfill the meaning of the term.  e.g. For nun, one must be a woman who has joined a Catholic religious order.

A definition that gives both necessary and sufficient conditions is often a goal for philosophers

For more on necessary and sufficient conditions, Wikipedia's first few paragraphs on the topics are a good start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necessary_and_sufficient_condition

Philosophical Comedy and Maru Madness

Here is a link to a Monty Python clip that addresses the difference between an argument in the philosophical sense and the colloquial sense:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMlv3ripSM

Here is a link to pure joy (Maru-style):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uDuls5TyNE&playnext=1&list=PLAC6301A0217FD50A&index=14

What To Do Before Section

I ask that you come to class prepared with questions that you would like to discuss.  You will type three questions before every discussion section.  You can email me your questions before class (philosophywithlouise@gmail.com) but if you are turning in a print version, you must have them typed out and printed.  You will turn in all three questions to me but will choose one that you are particularly interested in discussing.  Questions must cover three of the following four categories:

1. Question for Clarification.  If you are confused about a concept, term or argument, you can ask a question for clarification.  e.g. What does reductionism mean?

2. Issue for Evaluation.  If you think you know what the author is saying, then likely you have an opinion.  Perhaps you agree or disagree.  Either way, you can bring up your position in response to the text as an issue for evaluation. e.g. This author seems to say that our minds are nothing more than our brains as can be studied by science.  I disagree because this leaves out experience.

3. Connection to Other Material.  If you notice a connection to another class, a work of literature or other art or some real-life experience, please bring this to class. e.g. This book reminds me of Blade Runner because…

4. Personal Response.  Naturally, you will have emotional responses to the work we read.  Please feel free to note these and bring them to class.  e.g. Reading Kant made me angry because he is very hard to read!

These expectations are adapted from the teaching style of Dr. Stephen Kellert.

Logic Basics

Arguments are collections of sentences that prove a claim.  There are two kinds of statements in an argument: premises and conclusions..  An argument must have at least one premise.  Premises are statements that support the conclusion of the argument.   Conclusions are exactly what they sound like.  They are what that argument is trying to prove; they are the point of the argument.

Here is a sample argument:

1.  All undergrads read Facebook during lecture.
2. Simon is an undergrad.
3. Therefore, Simon reads Facebook during lecture.

In this argument, sentences #1 and #2 are the premises and #3 is the conclusion.  The argument is of this form:

1.  All X’s are Y’s. (If P, then Q)
2. S is an X. (P)
3. S is a Y. (Therefore, Q)

Because this argument has proper logical form, if all the premises are true, then the conclusion must also be true.  In other words, the argument is valid.  A sound argument is a valid argument where all premises are true.  A valid argument  just has proper logical form.

Here is an argument that has true premises but is neither valid nor sound:

1.  When it rains, the sidewalk is wet.
2. This morning, the sidewalk was wet.
3.  Hence, it rained.

In this argument, both of the premises are true. However, because the logic is flawed, it is an invalid argument.  One way to test for validity is to ask the following question: if I assume that the premises are all true, is there a possibility for the conclusion to be false?  In the previous argument, it could be possible that the conclusion could be false even if all premises are true (sprinklers could have made the sidewalk wet).

Here is an argument that is valid but not sound:

1. All undergrads can breathe underwater.
2. Simon is an undergrad.
3. Simon can breathe underwater.

Premise #1 is obviously false.  This means that the argument is unsound.  However, because the form of the argument (the same as the first argument) is proper, the argument is valid.

Expectations Part II: What Do We Do in a Philosophy Class?

For many of you, this is your first philosophy class.  Some of you have never had a Humanities course, either.  This means that it is natural that many of you will not know what to expect from this class.  In short, you can expect, text-based, critical argument-based inquiry.

Text-Based.  Coursework will focus on assigned readings.  You will be expected to complete reading assignments before lecture.  Sections will be used to clarify and expand the issues that Dr. Bernecker discusses.  Although you will have some freedom to determine the content of our discussions in sections, knowledge of the texts themselves will help our discussions to be more focused, rigorous and productive.  Additionally, written papers will require familiarity with those texts and the arguments contained therein.

Critical & Argument-Based.  We will focus not just on topics and questions but also on the arguments that philosophers use to support their positions regarding relevant issues.  Arguments consist of two kinds of statements: premises and conclusions.  Conclusions are the statements that represent the point of the argument or what the argument is attempting to prove.  Premises are statements that support, or prove, the conclusions.  If an argument has all true premises and a proper logical form, the conclusion is logically proven.  For more on the basics of logical argumentation, see my other post on logic basics: http://philosophywithlouise.blogspot.com/2011/01/logic-basics.html

For a dated (but funny) exploration of arguments, visit this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMlv3ripSM

Expectations

I have two main goals in the class.  First, not to waste anyone’s time.  Second, to have fun.

My expectations for my students are simple.  There is really just one thing I expect: respect.  This one expectation does have a number of concrete behaviors associated with it.

Respect for others‘ ideas.  This means listening when others speak, including myself and other students.  It also means that when responding to what others say, you avoid personal attacks or other nastiness.  Disagreeing with someone is not disrespectful.  You can show respect for others by listening to their ideas and responding to them thoughtfully.

Respect for others’ time.  I will do my best to start and end on time.  I expect that you will respect my time and the time of your classmates by being on time to section.  When students come in late, it causes a distraction and can also waste time if these latecomers need to be caught up.

Respect for your own work.  I take the work you do in this class seriously.  I listen attentively and read carefully.  You should take your own work just as seriously.  Don’t half-ass in-class work or written homework.  Respect your own ideas by giving time and effort to your work.

With basic respectful etiquette in the classroom, we have a solid foundation for not wasting time and also an appropriate context for having fun.  I hope we can laugh and have fun when discussing the material but I do not want that fun to get in the way of a respectful environment!