TWENTIETH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY: An introduction to the lectures

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TWENTIETH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY An introduction to
the lectures
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• MYTHOS AND LOGOS
• What is philosophy?
• 2. JERUZALEM AND ATHENS
• Where is philosophy localized?
• THEORY AND PRACTICE
• How do philosophers act?

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1. MYTHOS AND LOGOS
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WISDOM AND LOVE

• Philosophy gt love of wisdom (philo love sophia
  wisdom).
• Philosophers start to replace a mythological
  narrative by a scientific narrative.
• Disenchantment of the world.
• Philosophy as the mother of the sciences.

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THE LONESOME MOTHER

• Metaphysics gt (from the Greek metá ( beyond) and
  physiká (physical)) the investigation of
  principles of reality that transcend those of the
  particular sciences.
• The relation to the sciences, religion and art is
  still a point of discussion.
• Focus on the truth, the good and the beauty.
• Kant formulated three questions to describe his
  philosophical interests
• 1. What can I know?
• 2. What must I do?
• 3. What may I hope?

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PHILOSOPHICAL SUBDISCIPLINES

• Ethics.
• Philosophy of Art.
• Philosophy of Mind.
• Philosophy of Religion.
• Political Philosophy.
• Philosophy of Law.
• Philosophy of Science.
• Social Philosophy.
• Philosophical Anthropology.
• Philosophy of Language.

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2. JERUZALEM AND ATHENS
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TEXTS AND CONTEXTS

• In order to understand philosophers we have to
  consider in which contexts they work(ed).
• Philosophers have two interests
• 1. A historical interest.
• 2. A systematic interest.
• Philosophical theories transcend specific
  contexts gt reiteration is important.

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TWO SOURCES OF WESTERN THOUGHT

• JERUZALEM gt monotheism gt ontological
  discontinuity.
• ATHENS gt philosophy gt ontological continuity.

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LOCALIZED KNOWLEDGE
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3. THEORY AND PRACTICE
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FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

• Philosophers where a long time mainly interested
  in theories.
• Self-perception the top-down dispersion of
  theoretical knowledge.
• Ordinary practice should be guided by
  independently maintained beliefs.

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FROM PRACTICE TO THEORY

• The philosophical scene changed in the 19th and
  20th century from dispersion to translation.
• Practice is the starting point of philosophical
  reflection.
• Four philosophical movements are responsible for
  this radical change
• 1. Marxism.
• 2. Existentialism.
• 3. Pragmatism.
• 4. Ordinary language philosophy.

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THE THREAD OF THE LECTURES

• What concept of philosophy do the heroes of
  twentieth century philosophy have?
• Which key themes do these heroes discuss?
• How do they relate theory and practice?