Philosophy: Essential Concepts and Methods
1. Philosophy was the first science. In a methodical and rigorous way, through observation and reason, it tried to answer the eternal questions that man has always asked: Who am I, where am I, and where am I going?
The object of philosophy, at first, was all that is thinkable: the cosmos, which is the whole physical world, and man, who is part of it. However, philosophy is not limited to gaining information but also reflects on the possibility of knowledge and the reality of objects as possible or conceivable only in thought.
Man in the World
Heidegger is not limited to noting that man is *in the world*; he says that man is a *being-in-the-world*. This statement should not be construed as a mere location in space, as if pointing to the place where life unfolds, but as a fundamental feature of the mode of being of man, as something that constitutes its existence. Thus, it is not possible to think of man and the world separately because worldliness is a feature of our existence.
Differences Between Formal and Factual Sciences
The word “factual” comes from the Latin *facto*, meaning “fact.” Factual science, then, studies the facts. Formal science, as its name suggests, explores forms. Consequently, the first difference between formal and factual sciences is their subject matter.
Maieutics
Maieutics is a technique that consists of asking a person questions to make knowledge available that is not yet conceptualized. Maieutics is based on dialectics, which is the idea that truth is hidden in the mind of every human being.
Signs
The meaning of a sign is to show a different reality, and it is the normal way of communicating with others. Man’s life is made of signs; signals are telling us something more than what appears immediately.
Method
A method is a system to understand what surrounds us, solve everyday problems, find ways of doing things, and face reality. In order to analyze, reason, and identify each goal or step, we must include a mechanism with which to reach the truth.
Descartes’ Method of Reasoning
Some interpreters believe that Descartes took his method from mathematics since this science seems to faithfully comply with these rules. But, given the unitary nature of knowledge that Descartes argues for, it should be used in any type of research, not just mathematics; it just seems that he first applied it to philosophy itself.
Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge
- Scientific knowledge is critical because it tries to distinguish the true from the false.
- It is built through the methods of research and testing.
- Its verification is possible by passing the examination of experience.
- It is objective because it is valid for all individuals and not just for a specific one.
- It is communicated through the language of science.
- It is rational because science knows things through the use of intelligence, of reason.
A Priori
Apriorism rejects similar derivations.
Rationalism and Empiricism
Empiricism opposes the thesis of rationalism. The latter says that thought and reason are the true sources of knowledge, while empiricism says that the only source of human knowledge is experience. For empiricists, the knowing consciousness does not draw its contents from reason but from experience. Rationalism is guided by a certain idea of knowledge; empiricism, by the facts.