What is Philosophy? - First Lecture of the Semester

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This is a video intended for college students considering taking a class in philosophy, but who are not sure exactly what philosophy is. This is also a video for parents or other relatives or friends of college students who have decided to major in philosophy, but who are not sure exactly what philosophy is.

In this lecture, I argue that philosophy is the attempt to rigorously answer questions that cannot be answered either (a) by observation or experimentation or (b) by calculation from stipulated definitions and axioms.

[DevendraSingh-qdbi]

Your lectures are so serious fun that I watch each of them many times. You speak so well, I love them.

[robbrown]

I am currently studying philosophy, just through the love of it. These videos are incredible, thanks for the time you take in explaining them.

[tommysmith]

I wish I had taken philosophy seriously when I was at school. Not because of the career prospects but because of the enormous personal benefits. Absolutely loving these videos.

[tomschmidt]

I've recently stumbled upon your channel. As a retired engineer I tended to dismiss Philosophy as idle naval gazing. However as I've gotten older have come to appreciate its value. For me this has been driven largely by what the hard sciences have learned over my lifetime and being in awe that brains evolved to prevent being eaten by lions have been able to figure out so much. The models our brains have evolved to create do not do a very good job of describing the underlying reality.

I loved the stoner reference, I did have a lot of those back in the 1970s.

[michaelperigo]

I studied philosophy as part of my MA in Theology at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology. Loved it because it was challenging and clarifying. Your videos are excellent.

[someoneonyoutube]

I agree to a point. I agree that philosophical questions can be outside the realm of mathematics and empirical science, however the questions of mathematics and science are themselves a part of philosophy.

In other words science and mathematics and religion are a subfield of philosophy but philosophy is not a subfield of any of these things.

[babaroro]

I don't comment a lot, but I feel that I have to do it. Thanks a lot for your channel. I came here a few weeks ago to learn about philosophy of the mind, and stayed there since. It's such a wonderful endeavor to explain those difficult concepts with such pedagogy, and for free, open to everyone !
You are one very useful teacher :)

[aliengypsie]

I love this guy!! He has helped me with so many philosophy papers….

[nicolaskrinis]

I was fortunate enough to have a full semester of philosophy in College. By far, my favorite subject and the most indespensible part of the method and validity of scientific thyeory, method and existence itself. Thank you so much for this. You are a kick-a##, bad-a## prof, the best I have ever seen anywhere. Thank you so much for giving your time to educate us.

[nawaznigwari]

I am a student of literature but interested in philosophy as well. The way you express the ideas, let them remain constantly. Keep going sir.

[sasanrahmatian]

At 14:41 Professor Kaplan raises the question of “What is the fair way to arrange society?”, and then goes on to assert that it cannot be answered empirically. Yes, it cannot be answered through controlled experiments, but if we have information about various ways in which past societies were arranged and, for each, how fair it turned out to be, then we can run a correlational test to see if there is any relationship between the two variables (societal arrangement and fairness). It is through such scientific studies of history that we know societies arranged based on totalitarianism and injustice do not last long because the human spirit yearns for freedom and justice.

But philosophy would still be useful in this context as it would help define terms such as “societal arrangement” and “societal fairness” operationally before any data can be collected. Philosophy can also be useful in interpreting the results, as to why a particular connection exists between these two variables.

[jamesnewman]

Love this channel. I have always liked philosophy, particularly the mind experiments so common in philosophy.

[artgarrido]

I am 72 years old man, learning from your channel and realized that if your channel would have been available to me when I was younger my life would have been very different, perhaps a happier one .
It helps me now, and for that I kindly thank you.

[keithwilliams]

As a lifelong student of Philosophy, I define Philosophy as "Thinking Outside the Box". Using the tool of Logic, the Philosopher seeks to arrive at TRUTH in a holistic manner rather than through the narrow lens of certain specialized disciplines like Theology, Physics, etc. There will always be a place for the teaching of Philosophy in our schools but the relevance of the subject will depend on how the subject is taught. It was either Wittgenstein or Heidegger who cautioned about the danger of making Philosophy too scientific.

[dionissiakabylis]

Absolutely ingenious!!! Best philosophy introduction ever!!!

[samirasharmeen]

Your lecture about philosophy helped me a lot. Thank you so much ❤

[lindascanlan]

You are an excellent professor of attract the inquiring mind...

[jimmypk]

One of the BEST videos on the subject. Please also make a video on the "Scientific Method" and whats similar and whats different among Religion, Philosophy and Science at the most fundamental level.

[havenbastion]

Philosophy is best understood as three distinctive areas, each with its own tools and aims. Truth Wisdom, Practical Wisdom, and Academic Philosophy require answers, solutions, and credentials respectively. An answer is a framework of understanding. A solution is an action plan.

[jumo]

Absolutely amazing videos! You sir should have millions of subscribers