Project: Deep Thought.
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Project name: Deep Thought: An introduction to Philosophy.Field Researcher: Clive the flying ostrichDepartment: PhilosophyFaculty: ArtsStart date Summer-timeFinish date Erm...September (maybe) Synopsis: I want to write a general introduction to philosophy. The aim of this introduction would be to set out in general terms certain philosophical problems and ideas, solutions and criticisms, with the general aim of setting out in an accesable way some of the greatest triumphs in human thought over the last 2000+ years.The format I believe this introduction should take is first setting out in dicreet topics (with appropriate notes to say that being philosophy, none of these are truly stand alone problems - a facet of the subject that I hope will become more obvious as a prospective reader of the Uni Project makes their way through all of the entries that hopefully will make up the completed Project list.)And then including within the topic discussion links to accounts of the philosophical arguments which themselves could include links to Introductions to the Philosophers themelves, with biographical details and the types of view they held for example whether they were Realists or Idealist, used Inductive reasoning or Deduction or Reduction versus Elimination with, again, apporpriate links or footnotes to explain those philophical terms.For instance, the Intro could set out through examination of argument or literary example (imagined or otherwise) a general problem of Other Minds. In that general summary there could be a link to MIND and various Philosophers views on the matter (For instance, Materialist, Idealist, Cartesian Dualism and Ryle's 'Behaviourism.) In doing this I hope that the introduction to Philosophy will stoke some interest in people to go and look at these problems themselves with referencees for the books they can look at for help if they do decide to pursue it. (And I'm not meaning commercial references but: "Descartes arguments can be found in the "Meditations on First Philosophy" and Ryle's destruction of the Cartesian account as ' A ghost in the machine' is in his seminal book, "The Concept of Mind." etc.)The Project cannot possibly hope to present and solve all the problems of philosophy in one sitting, as it were, my more modest aim I hope would be to present a taster of what is out there, point the reader in the right direction and draw them into the subject and all of it's fascinating myriad of arguments. I will update this Synopsis when I have a little more idea of what topics I wish to cover closer to starting and, if I have by that time, found any helpers they can each contribute in their own fashion. Clive the flying ostrich.
