Introducing Philosophy: God, Mind, World, and Logic

457 Pages·2015·2.58 MB·English

by  Neil Tennant

Introducing Philosophy
Written for any readers interested in better harnessing philosophy’s real value,
this book covers a broad range of fundamental philosophical problems and
certain intellectual techniques for addressing those problems. In Introducing
Philosophy: God, Mind, World, and Logic, Neil Tennant helps any student in
pursuitof a ‘big picture’to think independently, questionreceiveddogma, and
analyze problemsincisively. It also connects philosophyto other areas of study
attheuniversity,enablingallstudentstoemploytheconceptsandtechniquesof
thismillennia-olddisciplinethroughouttheircollegecareers–andbeyond.
Keyfeaturesandbenefits:
• Investigates the philosophy of various subjects (psychology, language,
biology, math), helping students contextualize philosophy and view it as
aninterdisciplinarypursuit.
• Introducesstudentstovariousimportantphilosophicaldistinctions(e.g.fact
vs. value, descriptivevs. prescriptive,normsvs. lawsofnature, analyticvs.
synthetic, inductive vs. deductive, a priori vs. a posteriori) providing skills
that are important for undergraduates to develop in order to inform their
studyathigherlevels.
• Is muchmoremethodologically comprehensivethan competingintroductions,
giving the student the ability to address a wide range of philosophical
problems–andnotjusttheonesreviewedinthebook.
• Offers a companion website with links to apt primary sources, organized
chapter-by-chapter, making unnecessary a separate reader/anthology of
primarysources–thusprovidingstudentswithallreadingmaterialnecessary
forthecourse.
• Providesfivetotendiscussionquestionsforeachchapter.
Neil Tennant is HumanitiesDistinguishedProfessorinPhilosophy and Distin-
guished University Scholar at The Ohio State University. He has published
widely in the philosophy of logic and language, metaphysics, philosophy of
mathematics, philosophy of mind, and the history of analytical philosophy.
He teaches classes regularly at Ohio State, from 100-level Introduction to
PhilosophycoursestoAdvancedGraduate-levelSeminars.
This(cid:2)page(cid:2)intentionally(cid:2)left(cid:2)blank
Introducing Philosophy
God, Mind, World, and Logic
Neil Tennant
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
NEW YORK AND LONDON
Firstpublished2015
byRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
andbyRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
(cid:2)c 2015Taylor&Francis
TherightofNeilTennanttobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeenassertedby
himinaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,
DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor
utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now
knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orin
anyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwriting
fromthepublishers.
Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksorregistered
trademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanationwithoutintent
toinfringe.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata
Tennant,Neil,1950–
Introducingphilosophy:God,mind,world,andlogic/NeilTennant.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-415-53711-7(hardback)–ISBN978-0-415-53714-8(pbk)–
ISBN978-1-315-73440-8(ebk)
1. Philosophy–Introductions. I. Title.
BD21.T39 2014
100–dc23
2014027493
ISBN:978-0-415-53711-7(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-415-53714-8(pbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-73440-8(ebk)
TypesetinGoudy
byOutofHousePublishing
Contents
Preface xiv
Acknowledgements xix
ThePlanofthisBook xxi
PARTI
TheNature ofPhilosophy 1
1 TheMainFeaturesofPhilosophy 3
1.1 Philosophyasaconceptualandreflectivediscipline 3
1.2 ThemainareasofPhilosophy 4
1.2.1 Metaphysics 5
1.2.2 Epistemology 7
1.2.3 Logic 8
1.2.4 Ethics 11
1.2.5 Aesthetics 13
1.3 Philosophicalquestionsasconcernedwithfundamentals 14
2 Philosophy’sHistoryandLegacy 17
2.1 ThehistoricalsweepofPhilosophy 17
2.2 Thecurrentlegacy 21
3 ThePhilosophicalTemperament 25
3.1 Keepinganopenmind 25
3.2 PhilosophycontrastedwithMathematicsandScience 25
3.3 Scientificquestions 26
3.4 Mathematicalquestions 27
3.5 Philosophicalquestions(bycontrast) 27
3.6 Realismv.Anti-realism 28
3.7 Exampleofaphilosophicalquestion:doesGodexist? 29
3.8 Adoptingaphilosophicalposition 30
vi Contents
3.9 Undergoingaphilosophicaleducation 30
3.10 Theneedtoavoiddogmatism 31
3.11 Theneedtoavoidfallaciousthinking 32
3.12 Theneedfordispassionatecontemplation 36
3.13 AbilitiesdemandedbyPhilosophy 38
4 ImportantConceptsandDistinctions 40
4.1 Theappearance/realitydistinction 41
4.2 Themind/bodydistinction 43
4.3 Theobjective/subjectivedistinction 44
4.4 Theabstract/concretedistinction 46
4.5 Thedescriptive/normativedistinction 48
4.6 Theempirical/rationaldistinction 49
4.7 Thedistinctionsbetweenthenecessaryandthetrue,andbetweenthe
falseandtheimpossible 52
4.8 Thetheory/evidencedistinction 55
4.8.1 Theempiricalcase 55
4.8.2 Themathematicalcase 56
5 Kant’sTwoDistinctions 63
5.1 Thedistinctionbetweenaprioriandaposterioriknowledge 63
5.2 Theanalytic/syntheticdistinction 65
6 ImportantOpposing‘-Isms’ 73
6.1 Realismv.[Anti-realism,Idealism,Irrealism,Instrumentalism,
Eliminativism,Solipsism] 74
6.2 Substantialismv.DeflationismaboutTruth 75
6.3 Descriptivismv.Projectivism 76
6.4 Transcendentalismv.Positivism 76
6.5 Absolutismv.Relativism 77
6.6 Objectivismv.[Subjectivism/Psychologism] 78
6.7 Cognitivism(inethics)v.Emotivism 79
6.8 Theismv.[Atheism/Naturalism] 79
6.9 Determinismv.Libertarianism 80
6.10 Rationalismv.Empiricism 81
6.11 Foundationalismv.[Anti-foundationalism/Coherentism] 81
6.12 Dualismv.[Monism/Materialism] 82
6.13 Reductionismv.Anti-reductionism 83
6.14 Innatismv.[Behaviorism/Environmentalism] 85
6.15 EssentialismandNecessitarianismv.Anti-essentialismand
Accidentalism 86
6.16 Philosophyasapriori(‘firstphilosophy’)v.Philosophyascontinuous
withscienceandcommonsense 87
6.17 Individualismv.Communitarianism 87
6.18 SkepticismandRevisionismv.Quietism 88
Contents vii
6.19 Evolutionismv.Saltationism 88
6.20 Mentalismv.Linguisticism(concerningrelativepriorityofthoughtand
language) 90
PARTII
Philosophyand Method 91
7 WhatisLogic? 93
7.1 Thebasicsofsymbolizingsentencesinlogicalnotation 93
7.2 Arguments 94
7.3 Philosophicalnotionsemployedinthestudyoflogicandlanguage 100
7.3.1 Token-reflexiveness 100
7.3.2 Semanticclosure 101
7.3.3 Vacuousterms 101
7.3.4 Vaguenessandambiguity 101
7.3.5 Referentialopacity 102
7.3.6 Paradoxesofrelevance 106
8 InductiveReasoning 109
8.1 Thestructureofarguments 109
8.2 Inductivearguments 109
8.3 ALeitmotif 110
8.4 Inductivearguments(resumed):Hume’s‘oldriddle’ofinduction 112
8.5 Howprobabilityfiguresinscientificreasoning:Reichenbach’sstraight
rule 118
8.6 Howprobabilityfiguresinscientificreasoning:makinghypothesesmore
probable 120
8.6.1 Thevariousinterpretationsofthenotionofprobability 120
8.6.2 Theaxiomsofthetheoryofprobability 121
8.6.3 Atheoremaboutprobabilitythatisphilosophically
significant 122
9 TheMethodofConceptualAnalysis 125
9.1 Conceptualanalysisasprovisionofnecessaryandsufficient
conditions 125
9.2 Xknowsthatp 127
9.2.1 Plato’sanalysis 127
9.2.2 GettiercounterexamplestoPlato’sanalysis 128
9.3 TheParadoxofAnalysis 129
9.4 Theanalysisofthenotionofvalidargument 130
9.5 Russell’sanalysisofthetruth-conditionsofsentencesoftheform‘The
FisG’ 130
9.6 Grice’sanalysisofmeaningintermsofbeliefandintention 132
9.7 Mackie’sanalysisof‘eventAcausedeventB’ 132
9.8 Frege’sanalysisofthenotionofnumber 133
viii Contents
9.9 Lewis’sanalysisofconventions 134
9.9.1 AnafterwordontheformofLewis’sanalysisof
conventions 137
10 TheMethodofConceptualExplication 139
10.1 Conceptualexplicationprovidesaprecisetheoreticalsubstituteforan
informalconcept 139
10.2 Theintuitivenotionofacomputablefunction 139
10.2.1 Thediagonalargument:preliminaries 140
10.2.2 Thediagonalargument,firstversion 141
10.2.3 Thediagonalargument,secondversion 142
10.3 Explicatingthenotionofcomputablefunction 144
10.3.1 Gödel’sgeneralrecursivefunctions 144
10.3.2 Turingmachines 146
10.3.3 Otherexplicationsofcomputablefunctions 148
10.3.4 TheTuring–ChurchThesis 148
10.4 Explicationofthenotionofcognitivesignificance 150
11 TheMethodofThought-Experiment 152
11.1 Theroleofthought-experimentsinphilosophicalcritique 152
11.2 Somefamousthought-experimentsinanalyticalphilosophy 156
11.2.1 TheshipofTheseus 156
11.2.2 Descartes’sevildemon 156
11.2.3 Putnam’sbrain-in-a-vat 157
11.2.4 Putnam’sTwin-Earth 157
11.2.5 Gettier-typeexamples 157
11.2.6 Williams’sexampleof‘characterandmemoryswitch’ 157
11.2.7 Theproblemoftheinvertedspectrum 157
11.2.8 Jackson’sscientistMary 158
11.2.9 Kripke’sstandardmeter-rod 158
11.2.10 Ayer’suniverseofsounds 158
11.2.11 Searle’s‘Chineseroom’argument 158
11.2.12 Block’s‘Chinabrain’ 159
11.2.13 Zombiesasapossiblerefutationofphysicalism 159
12 IntellectualCreativityandRigor 161
12.1 Creativityandrigorinintellectualpursuits 161
12.2 Generalprinciples,rulesandmethods 163
12.3 Philosophy’sperennialfascinationwithMathematics 163
12.3.1 Mathematicaltruthsarenecessarilytrue 164
12.3.2 Mathematicaltruthseemstorestonafewprimitive,self-evident
truths(so-called‘axioms’) 164
12.3.3 Mathematicaltruthisknowablewithoutsensory
experience 164
Contents ix
12.3.4 Mathematicalobjectsareinaneternalrealmotherthanthatof
space-time 164
12.3.5 Mathematicsbeginswithverysimpleconcepts,andbuildsup
muchmorecomplicatedonesbymeansofdefinitions 165
12.3.6 Mathematicalconceptsarethemost‘ideal’typesinscience 166
12.3.7 Mathematicsisfullofvividmetaphorattheinformallevel;
butcanbetreatedinarigorous,symbolic,fullyformalized
wayaswell 166
12.3.8 Reallypowerfulmathematicalintuitionorinsightappearstobe
agiftofgeniusgrantedtobutafew 167
12.3.9 Mathematicalknowledgeisoneofthebestavailableexamplesof
objectiveknowledge 167
12.3.10 Mathematicalknowledgeisoneofthebestexamplesof
knowledgethatcanbeaccommodatedinanincreasingly
generalizedconceptualframework 168
12.3.11 Mathematicsiscuriouslyapplicabletoreality 168
12.3.12 Mathematics,attimesofconceptualconvulsion,canproduce
paradoxes 168
12.4 HowMathematicsneedsLogic 169
12.5 Logicalreasoningv.creativeorinventiveinsight 171
12.6 Rigor 171
12.7 Thenatureofdialectic 174
13 DeductioninMathematicsandScience 177
13.1 Proof,truthandfalsity 177
13.2 ThefoundationalmethodinMathematics 180
13.3 LogicandtheaxiomaticmethodinMathematics 182
13.4 Logicandscientificmethod 187
13.5 Theoryrevision 192
13.5.1 TheQuine–Duhemproblem 193
13.6 Desiderataofascientifictheory 193
13.7 AlookaheadtotheArgumentfromDesign 194
14 TheMethodologicalIssueofReductionism 196
14.1 Levelsofreality 196
14.2 Reductionism 198
14.2.1 Doessupervenienceimplyreductionism?Aninvestigationofthe
philosophicalimplicationsofBeth’sDefinabilityTheorem 199
14.3 Emergentismandepiphenomenalism 204
14.4 Towardsatolerantsynthesis 207
14.5 Analternativetothe‘webofbelief’ 207
14.6 Adequacyconditionsonanymethodologicalview 208