Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mrs. Rawbone, and welcome to this lesson on exploring philosophy.

By the end of today's lesson, you are going to be able to explain what is meant by philosophy, and describe how philosophers seek to understand.

I'm going to be with you in this lesson, helping you all the way along as we get to grips with the basics of philosophy.

Here are the key words that we'll be using today.

You might have heard of some of them before.

Argument, logic, philosophy, premise, and ultimate question.

Now, in philosophy, an argument is a set of reasons given to support a conclusion.

Logic is a tool which involves thinking clearly and making valid arguments.

Philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, and values.

A premise is a statement that supports an argument, and an ultimate question is a deep and important question about existence that does not have a straightforward answer.

The lesson will form two parts today.

We will be looking at the nature and significance of philosophy, and we will be looking at how philosophers do their work.

So let's get started and look at the nature and significance of philosophy.

Aisha is going to explain to us what we mean by philosophy in religious education.

She says, "Philosophers study ultimate questions "using logic.

"Whatever your views, you can see philosophy as a tool "to create arguments "and understand the logic others use "to support their views." So today, we're going to explore a little bit what we mean by ultimate questions and logic, and how arguments work in philosophy.

So to start with, ultimate questions are questions that do not have straightforward answers.

They are big questions about life.

Here are some examples.

How do we know what is right or wrong? Why are we here? What happens when we die? And does God exist? Now, there are lots of difficult questions in life, but ultimate questions are different from other types of questions.

Here's how.

One question type is a factual question.

For example, what is the capital city of France? It has a right or wrong answer.

Another is an opinion question, like do you think school uniform should be abolished? It might not have a right or wrong answer, but it is just a matter of opinion, or saying what you think.

A problem-solving question might be quite challenging, like how do we stop bullying at school? But this is not the same as an ultimate question.

There are probably some quite clear right answers to that.

Another question style is interpreting questions.

Again, maybe a little bit harder, but related to opinion, and asking you to think in depth about things, like what do you think the message of a story is? So let's check your understanding.

Which of the following would not be regarded as an ultimate question? Is it A, why are we here, B, which is the best football team, and C, what can we know? Take a moment to jot down your answer.

Pause the video if you need to.

Well done if you wrote down B, which is the best football team? This is simply a matter of opinion.

Imagine people thousands of years ago in ancient cities like Athens, asking big important questions about life, existence, and truth.

The word philosophy comes to us from the very language that those people would have spoken, from Ancient Greek.

The questions they would've asked are questions like why are we here, and what is real? Now, over time, those questions turned into deep conversations and were known as philosophy, which has become an academic discipline, which means a discipline or a subject that is taught, and it has been taught in schools and universities ever since.

People also talk about philosophy as being someone's way of life.

For example, I might say my philosophy is never to give up, meaning that I will always try to do my best, but a philosopher is someone who actually thinks more deeply about life's big questions.

They spend a lot of time thinking about ultimate questions, and really trying to discover what it means to live a good life or how we can know what is true.

So the word philosophy comes from Ancient Greek, and it has two parts, philos meaning love, and sophos meaning wisdom.

So philosophy means the love of wisdom, and literally a philosopher is someone who loves wisdom.

So that's someone who is engaged in a quest or search for the answers to life's ultimate questions.

Here you can see an image representing the Big Bang.

Now, although philosophy is a very old subject, in fact it's the oldest subject that exists, it's been going on for thousands of years, it is dynamic, which means it changes with the times.

For example, as science has developed, it has provided us with some new answers to some of life's ultimate questions.

So questions like "How did the world begin?," some people would now answer with the Big Bang.

So many scientists today would say this question, how did the universe begin, is no longer an ultimate question.

Instead, it's a factual question.

Although, for some, the answer might still be a mystery for many.

Science teaches us that the universe began with the Big Bang about 13 billion years ago.

Now, what this means is not that we're going to run out of ultimate questions as we find all the answers.

There won't at some point be no need for philosophy anymore.

Instead, new questions will arise because they already have.

As questions get answered, philosophers move on to think about new and different ones.

So they might begin to ask, well, what does it mean to be a human in a world that we can explain by science? Or how should we live, now that we know things like the universe began with a Big Bang? So philosophy is a dynamic subject, always changing and growing, just like the world around us and life itself.

So is this true or false? Philosophy has remained the same over time.

Take a moment to jot down whether you think this is a true or a false statement, and have a think about why.

Pause the video if you need to.

Well done if you put false.

And the reason why it is false is because philosophy changed and continues to change as people come up with new ideas and better ways of thinking about old questions, and as new questions are introduced.

The skills that you gain in philosophy can be very helpful.

And here we have Lucas, Alex, and Sofia debating a modern-day issue.

In this case, is artificial intelligence taking jobs away from people? Here's Lucas.

He says "Philosophy helps me argue logically about job loss "and job creation statistics." Alex says "Philosophy helps me reason clearly "about how AI, artificial intelligence, might replace "and create jobs." And Sofia, who says "Philosophy helps me think deeply "when considering the long-term consequences of AI." Let's check your understanding.

Which of these three options is not a skill developed by doing philosophy? Is it A, thinking superficially, which means thinking on the surface, B, reasoning clearly, or C, arguing effectively? Take a moment to jot down your answer, pause if you need to, and then come back to me when you are ready.

Well done if you put thinking superficially.

The skill that philosophy develops is quite the opposite.

It encourages you to think deeply.

So for your first task on the nature and significance of philosophy, I would like you to write a paragraph summing up what you have learned.

So write a paragraph on the nature and significance of philosophy.

That means what philosophy is like and why it is important, and I would like you to use the following key terms or phrases: love of wisdom, ultimate questions, arguments, and thinking deeply.

To help you, here are some sentence starters.

Philosophy means.

Philosophy is a tool for.

And philosophers use.

So take a moment to check you know what you're doing, pause the video, give yourself some time to complete the task, then come back to me for some possible answers.

There are lots of things you could have said about the nature and significance of philosophy.

Here's an example.

So take a moment to read through what you've written, and compare it with this.

Philosophy means the love of wisdom, and involves exploring ultimate questions that are dynamic in nature, meaning they change over time.

Have you used love of wisdom or have you mentioned exploring ultimate questions? Well done if you have.

Philosophy is a tool for thinking deeply and challenging our assumptions.

Have you mentioned that philosophy helps you to think deeply? Philosophers use arguments to debate issues, improving our understanding of ourselves and the world.

Have you mentioned that philosophers use arguments? Well done if you have managed to include a few of those suggestions.

So now, we're going to be moving on to the second part of our lesson, and looking at how philosophers do their work.

Philosophers are a bit like builders, but instead of constructing houses, they are building arguments to support their ideas.

When they want to prove a point or explain a belief, they carefully lay out the reasons to back it up, building up an argument.

These reasons are called premises, and each one is like a building block in an argument.

A philosopher starts with a few premises, which are statements they believe to be true.

They connect the premises step by step, and they reach a conclusion that makes sense based on these premises.

So we'll have a look at a very famous simple argument created, apparently, by Socrates himself.

This is an argument that has two premises, so two statements of belief, and leads to a conclusion.

The first premise is all men are mortal.

The second is that Socrates is a man.

So all men are mortal means that all men will die.

Socrates is a man is just telling us something about him.

But what conclusion could this lead to? It leads to the conclusion that, therefore, Socrates is mortal.

This is an example of philosophers using logic to make an argument that follows on each point, follows and links with the previous one, and that works.

Now, the word logic comes from a Greek word, just like the word philosophy was from Greek, and that word has several different meanings.

It's often translated as speech, word, or reason.

So logic is about the words that you are using to assess and evaluate.

Logic is, in fact, like a tool that philosophers use.

They can use it to make sure that the foundations of their arguments are secure and solid, that they work, that they won't fall apart, so that when they have ideas about ultimate questions, when they have theories, they should work and follow through.

So the arguments should fit together perfectly and not fall apart when they are challenged.

So let's have a check for your understanding.

How do philosophers approach their work? You need to choose two answers out of the three.

A, philosophers explore ultimate questions through the use of logic, B, philosophers write and analyse structured arguments, and C, philosophers say what they think about ultimate questions.

Take a moment to choose two answers that you think might be correct.

Make a note of these, pause the video if you need to, and then come back to me.

Well done if you said A and B.

They do explore ultimate questions, and that is through the use of logic.

They do write and analyse, analyse means pull apart, structured arguments, so arguments with steps that prove a point.

What they don't do is they don't just say what they think.

There is more to it than that in philosophy.

So philosophers are interested in whether arguments work, and logic helps them decide.

Because if an argument works, then maybe we can find some answers, some successful answers, to some of life's big ultimate questions.

If an argument is valid, that means the conclusion is connected to the premises.

So an argument could only work if the premises, the statements made, led to the conclusion.

So let's have a look at an example.

All fish live in water, premise one, a goldfish is a fish, premise two, and therefore, a goldfish lives in water.

So let's see if this argument is valid.

Take a moment, have a talk to someone if you've got someone nearby, or pause and talk to me, and then come back.

That's right.

This argument is valid because the conclusion follows on from the premises.

It all makes sense.

It is what we might call logical.

As well as considering whether arguments are valid, philosophers are interested in whether they are sound.

Now, an argument is sound if it is valid, and if the premises are also true.

Because if that is the case, then maybe the argument will prove its conclusion.

So let's have a look at our example.

All fish live in water.

A goldfish is a fish.

Therefore, a goldfish lives in water.

Take a moment, talk to somebody nearby if you're able to, or pause and talk to me, and decide whether you think the premises all fish live in water and a goldfish is a fish are true.

Pause the video if you need to.

So well done if you noted that they are both true.

This means that we have a sound argument, and if this argument was an argument about philosophy, it would prove its conclusion as it is.

It proves the point that goldfish live in water.

Even if you didn't know it before, you can learn it from those premises.

So let's think a little bit more about whether arguments are valid or sound.

Here's an argument that is valid, but not sound.

So that means it's connected, but the premises are not true.

All male cats can fly.

Buttons is a male cat.

Therefore, Buttons can fly.

Take a moment to think about why this is valid, but why it is not sound.

Talk to somebody nearby, or talk to me, pause the video, and then come back.

So well done if you said something like the argument is valid because the conclusion is related to the premises, they follow from each other, and if you managed to also say that it is not sound because the premises are not true, even better.

We all know that premise one, all male cats can fly, is not true, even if we're not sure about premise two.

So let's have a quick check for understanding.

Slightly different argument here, and I'd like you to tell me if this argument is sound.

All cats are mammals.

Buttons is a cat.

Therefore, Buttons is a mammal.

This argument is sound.

Take a moment to decide whether that's true, whether we have a sound argument, or whether it is false, and have a think about why.

Jot down your answer, pause if you need to, and then come back to me.

Well done if you said true.

So why is it true? It's true because it's valid.

The premises lead to the conclusion, but also the premises are true.

As it happens, Buttons is a cat.

Now, we can probably guess even if we don't know this particular cat called Buttons, that there is a cat called Buttons in existence somewhere.

So let's have a go at working out whether we understand how philosophers do their work.

We're gonna complete four tasks here as part of Task B.

First of all, you are going to decide whether this argument is valid, and give one reason for your answer.

So remember, valid is about the premises leading to the conclusion.

Here's the argument.

Bananas are yellow.

Bananas are fruit.

Therefore, all fruit is yellow.

Take a moment, jot down your answer, and the reason for your answer.

Pause if you need to.

Our second argument, is this valid? Again, one reason for your answer.

This fruit is a banana.

Bananas are blue.

Therefore, this fruit is blue.

Take a moment again, jot down your answer, and the reason for it.

Pause if you need to.

Number three, is this argument sound? For this, we will need two reasons, because we need to say whether it's valid, and then we need to say whether the premises are true.

Bananas can fly.

This fruit is a banana.

Therefore, this fruit can fly.

So have a think about whether it is valid and then whether it is sound.

Jot down your answer and your reasons.

Pause if you need to.

Number four, is this argument sound? All bananas are blue.

This fruit is a banana.

Therefore, this fruit is pink.

So jot down whether you think this is sound with two reasons for your answer.

Pause if you need to.

So let's check your answers.

For question one, bananas are yellow.

Bananas are fruit.

Therefore, all fruit is yellow.

You should have said that this argument is not valid, and you might have said this is because the conclusion does not logically follow from the premises.

They do not link or connect.

Now, that's because the premises do not provide information about all fruit.

They only tell us about bananas.

So we cannot conclude that all fruit is yellow based on this information.

Number two, this fruit is a banana.

Bananas are blue.

Therefore, this fruit is blue.

For this one, you should have said the argument is valid, and you might have said that's because the conclusion logically follows from the premises.

So the structure of the argument works, and it works even though it happens to be false, that bananas are blue.

Question three, is this argument sound? Bananas can fly.

This fruit is a banana.

Therefore, this fruit can fly.

For this one, you should have said that although the argument is valid, it is not sound.

So the conclusion does follow logically, but it's not sound because premise one, bananas can fly, is not true.

For number four, all bananas are blue.

This fruit is a banana.

Therefore, this fruit is pink.

For this one, you should have said that, again, the argument is not sound.

There are two reasons why it's not sound here.

It's not valid, and also, premise one is not true.

It's not valid because the conclusion doesn't link, and it's not sound because bananas are not all blue.

Well done if for those four answers, you had the correct, whether it's sound or valid, and if you had some reasons for those choices.

Thank you very much for working so hard today on exploring philosophy.

We have thought about what philosophy means.

It literally means love of wisdom.

We have learned that philosophers are interested in ultimate questions about what exists, how we know things, and what is important.

We have also learned that philosophers use logic to develop their thinking, and we have learned that using logic means creating arguments, which develop in stages and lead to a valid conclusion.

Thank you for learning here with me today.