Foundational Philosophical Concepts and Schools of Thought

Core Traits of Philosophers

• Lovers of wisdom
• Seekers of truth
• Reasonable
• Critically minded
• Questioning
• Curious
• Objective

Philosophers are generally *not* selfish, closed-minded, pessimistic, reckless individuals, or uninterested.

What is Wisdom?

Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge and intelligence for practical purposes.

Key Fields of Philosophy

• The study of ultimate reality: Metaphysics
• The limits of human knowledge: Epistemology
• The science of reasoning: Logic
• The study of morals: Ethics
• The study of society: Social/Political Philosophy
• The study of values: Axiology
• The study of beauty and art: Aesthetics

Etymology of Philosophy

• Philos ("love") + Sophia ("wisdom")

Stoicism

Key Figures in Stoicism

• Founder of Stoicism, taught in Athens: Zeno
• Created the system of Stoicism: Posidonius of Apamea
• Freed slave, Nero’s bodyguard: Epictetus
• Last of the great Stoics, Roman emperor: Marcus Aurelius

Core Tenets of Stoicism

• Stoics believe in an ordered universe that is rational, structured, and designed.
• The Stoic universe is not random or serendipitous.

“Events arrive by divine appointment.”

—Epictetus

• The divine spark in humans is derived from the ultimate divine source.
• God is immanent in everything.
• The universe is guided by the Logos.
• When human will is out of harmony with right reason (natural law), Stoics consider this a moral evil.
• We can only live in accordance with nature.
• We must live with the psychological attitude of courageous acceptance.
• Stoic Method: Emotional detachment
• This results in spiritual peace and well-being, also known as eudaimonia.
• Key Moral Insight: “Know Thyself”

“When thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present – I am rising to the work of a human being.”

—Marcus Aurelius

Existentialism

Core Ideas of Existentialism

• Condemned to be free!
• Existentialism is a revolt against rationality and philosophical systems.

Key Figures and Contributions

• Developed existentialism into a coherent body of thought: Jean-Paul Sartre
• Sartre was concerned with the 'philosophy of decision.'
• Simone de Beauvoir questioned male-dominated philosophy and critiqued Sartre’s work.
• Existentialism is a way to seek one’s own meaning in life.
• Loss of Meaning: Noögenic neurosis

Methods of Existential Investigation

• Dialogues: A way of sharing differing perspectives
• Aphorisms: Short, pithy statements

Determinism Rejected by Existentialism

• Events that occur in accordance with fixed and inevitable destiny, one that the individual neither controls nor affects: Fatalism
• Machine-like: Scientific Causal Determinism
• Freedom is an illusion: Psychological Determinism
• Socio-economic laws determine social/political change: Economic Determinism

• Religious Existentialists: Essence precedes existence.
• Atheistic Existentialists: Existence precedes essence.

Hedonism

Types and Principles of Hedonism

• Psychological Hedonism explains why we do something.
• It aims to decrease pain and increase pleasure.
• Ethical Hedonism states one should pursue pleasure because it is valuable.
• Cyrenaic Hedonism states that pleasure is the principal motive for living, and the only criterion is intensity.
• Actual pleasure is better than potential pleasure.
• Epicurean Hedonism states that not all pleasure should be chosen, based on the standard of momentary and enduring pleasure.
• Kinetic Pleasure: Pleasure experienced through action.
• Static Pleasure: Pleasure experienced by being in a 'state' where all impediments are removed.
• Unnatural and empty beliefs are vain.
• Natural desires have limits and contribute to ataraxia.
• Ataraxia is literally the state of having no trouble, and it posits that the goal of human life is 'static' pleasure.
• Impediments to Ataraxia: Society and religion.
• Aponia: Freedom from bodily pain.

Epicurus's Garden Community

• Epicurus began this community as a retreat from the sociopolitical and philosophical turmoil of Athens.
• It was an egalitarian community, which meant that all were welcome, and people were not distinguished based on social status, race, or gender.

Buddhism

“Suffering I teach and the way to end it.”

—Buddha

The Four Sights of Siddhartha Gautama

• Encounter with an old man.
• Encounter with a sick man.
• Encounter with a corpse being cremated.
• Encounter with a monk in a serene state amidst suffering around him.

Core Concepts of Buddhism

• The problem of life—suffering—is called dukkha.
• Siddhartha concluded that there must be a “middle path” between sensual self-indulgence and severe self-denial.

Three Kinds of Suffering

• Ordinary suffering
• Suffering produced by change
• Suffering as a conditioned state

• The self is an “illusion.”
• The cause of suffering is desire or craving.
• Nirvana: The state of being where greed and delusion are extinct.

The Noble Eightfold Path

Wisdom

• Able to grasp the Four Noble Truths: Right Understanding
• Moving towards non-attachment: Right Thought

Morality

• Free from malice, gossip, lies, etc.: Right Speech
• Cultivate goodness/virtue toward all living things: Right Action
• Avoid work that harms others: Right Livelihood

Concentration

• Action that produces good: Right Effort
• Aware of one’s actions: Right Mindfulness
• Scheme of meditation leading to samadhi: Right Concentration

• By following the Dharma (Buddha’s teaching), one gains restraint and an end to suffering.
• Release from the cycle of rebirth caused by karma (the law of moral causation) is called samadhi.