Philosophy:Language, Thought

Experiments and Laws of Thought

Plato’s Cave: An Analysis

the prisoner’s climb from darkness into light symbolized the search for knowledge

suggests that like the prisoner, people can be freed from blindly accepting uninformed opinions

in order to do so, we need to acquire and develop certain skills

Language Matters!

philosophers distinguish between what they refer to as:

FIRST ORDER LANGUAGE

SECOND ORDER LANGUAGE

Examples:

FOL:Is it right or wrong to cheat on

this test?

SOL:What does it mean to say that

cheating is wrong?

FOL: His lie caused the mistake.

SOL: What does it mean to say that his lie caused the mistake?

examples illustrate that that SOL is more general

its used to clarity FOL which refers to specifics

SOL is sometimes called higher-order language

must of philosophy is concerned with SOL which helps clarify language use and thinking

it enables philosophers to produce well-reasoned arguments and to arrive at clear, precise conclusions

Thought Experiments

another tool used by philosophers to challenge ‘common sense’

they begin with or include the question, “What if”…

depict an imaginary situation/propose a possible world

example: ‘The Ship of Theseus’ (p. 14)

Laws of Thought (Aristotle)

The law of non-contradiction

The law of the excluded middle

The law of identity

This law says that something cannot be said both to be and not to be at the same time

and in the same respect.

Example: Bertha exists.

If this statement is true, it cannot also be false. Bertha cannot exist and not exist at

the same time.

Law of non-contradition:

This law says that something must either be or not be.

Example: Bertha exists.

The statement Bertha exists must either be true or false. There is no third or middle possibility. Either Bertha exists or she does not exist.

The Law of the Excluded Middle

This law says that something is what it is.

Example: Bertha is Bertha and Lorenzo is Lorenzo.

To say that Lorenzo is Bertha is untrue.

The Law of Identity.

These laws are key to logic. More contemporary

philosophers have developed far more complex tools and

systems, these laws are often the basis.