Introduction to Philosophy 1

Running Head: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

Introduction to Philosophy

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 Introduction to Philosophy 2

Introduction to Philosophy

Question 1: Philosophical Insights

Introduction

In order to go beyond the objects of human reason, Hume

proposed that reasoning was based upon cause and effect. Causal

relations help us to know things beyond our page 2 immediate

vicinity. All of our knowledge is based on experience.

Therefore, we need experience to come to causal relationships of

the world and experience constant conjunction. Hume stated that

he shall venture to affirm, as а general proposition which

admits no exception, that the knowledge of this relation is not

in any instance, attained by reasoning а priori, but arises

entirely from experience. (MacNabb, 2001, 15)

Unfortunately, our experience of constant conjunction only

tells us about the past. Rationally, that is all it tells us. We

can expect the effect to follow the cause, but it is not а

sufficient basis to assume the effect will come from the cause

in the future. These things are contingent- they could be

different. The connection between these two propositions is not

intuitive it is always inferred.

Hume asserted that the future will resemble the past. This

is the assumption underlying all our ideas of causality. If the

future does not resemble the past, then all our reason based on

cause and effect will crumble. When Hume proposed questions such
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as Is there any more intelligible proposition then to affirm

that all trees will flourish in December and January, and will

decay in May and June? Hume demonstrates that it is not а

relation of ideas that future will resemble the past; it is

possible that the course of nature will change. Therefore, what

happens in the future is neither а relation of ideas, nor а

matter of fact. It is impossible, therefore, that any arguments

from experience can prove this resemblance of past to future,

since all these arguments are founded on the supposition of that

resemblance.

Conclusion

Now Hume proposed that all inferences come from custom, not

reasoning. Through custom or habits, we have become accustomed

to expect an effect to follow а page 3 cause. This is not а

rational argument. This argument centers on the theory of

constant conjunction, which does not fall under either fork of

reason. All inferences from experience, therefore, are effects

of custom, not reasoning. (MacNabb, 2001, 17)

 Introduction to Philosophy 4

Question 2: People are Complex Machines

Introduction

Some say that mankind is complex beyond comprehension.

Philosophers cannot, of course, speak for every other individual

on this earth, but philosophers do not believe that philosophers

are а very difficult person to understand. Mostly people’s life

is based upon two very simple, sweeping philosophies: pragmatism

in actions and idealism in thought. Thus, with these two

attitudes philosophers characterize people.

Pragmatism in actions, philosophers believe utterly in one

of those old clichés: we are given only а limited time upon this

earth and every moment wasted is lost forever. Therefore,

philosophers do not engage in those things that philosophers

view as useless, like hate is а wasted emotion. Hate

accomplishes nothing. It does not relieve hunger. It does not

alleviate pain. It creates only avoidable aggression. Anger too.

What does anger do? Nothing. It frustrates us and aggravates us,

and we can avoid it.

Philosophers would much rather wallow in happiness. And in

people’s happiness, philosophers do not worry much over their

image in the eyes of others. The important word here is much,

for there are opinions of certain individuals about which

philosophers do care а great deal, but these are few. They

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include my family, my close friends, and those who possess the

power to affect my life significantly

Otherwise, philosophers pay no attention to whispers behind

my back or vague rumors circulating in the air above. As long as

philosophers know the truth, however harsh it may be, and those

that philosophers care about know the truth, philosophers am not

troubled. The masses may think as they wish. They are entitled.

As can probably be observed from this essay thus far, my outlook

on life saves me more than а bit of stress.

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Question 3: Variation to Moral Codes

Introduction

Cultural relativism is the view that all ethical truth is

relative to а specified culture. According to cultural

relativism, it is never true to say simply that а certain kind

of behavior is right or wrong; rather, it can only ever be true

that а certain kind а behavior is right or wrong relative to а

specified society. The strength of cultural relativism is that

allows us to hold fast to our moral intuitions without having to

be judgmental about other societies that don’t share those

intuitions. If we reject cultural relativism then we face а

difficulty: if we are to be consistent about our moral beliefs

then it seems that we ought to condemn those past societies that

have not conformed to our moral code and perhaps even seek to

impose our moral code on those present societies that do not

already accept it. This, though, smacks of imperialism. Cultural

relativism allows us to evade this difficulty. On cultural

relativism, our moral code applies only to our own society, so

there is no pressure on us to hold others to our moral standards

at all. On cultural relativism, we can say quite consistently

that equality in the work-place is а moral necessity in our

society but is inappropriate elsewhere around the globe. In an

age where tolerance is increasingly being seen as the most

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important virtue of all, this can seem to be an attractive

position (Kroeber, 2000, 88).

This strength of cultural relativism, however, is also its

weakness. Cultural relativism excuses us from judging the moral

status of other cultures in cases where that seems

inappropriate, but it also renders us powerless to judge the

moral status of other cultures in cases where that seems

necessary. Faced with а culture that deems slavery morally

acceptable, it seems appropriate to judge that society to be

morally inferior to our own. Faced with а culture that deems

ethnic cleansing morally acceptable, it seems appropriate to

condemn that society as morally abhorrent. In order to make such

judgments as these, however, we need to be able to invoke an

ethical standard that is not culturally relative (Herskovits,

2003, 35). In order to make cross-cultural moral comparisons, we

need cross-cultural moral standards, precisely the kind of moral

standard that cultural relativism claims do not exist.

 Introduction to Philosophy 8

Question 4: Mayors and Governors Politically Entrenched

Introduction

As time passes by we have come across that governors and

mayors are more politically entrenched from their predecessors

and as they are more politically entrenched that’s why the can

be influential in elections and election campaigns as well.

As we go through we find an example that the state's party

bosses, an elite group that has controlled the outcome of key

elections, had their power clipped by new election laws, а

guilty plea and heightened public scrutiny?

"I haven't seen any evidence of an erosion of power,” said

Weinberg, D-Bergen, who tangled with Bergen County Democratic

Organization Chairman Joseph A. Ferriero in 2005 and again this

past spring. ”If there has been some erosion, it's because some

of us put up some big battles.”

Not that there haven't been some changes in the world of

New Jersey's political power brokers over the past four years.

Some of the biggest bosses are no longer on the scene, and

others have seen their power slip а bit as restrictions on pay-

to-play have made it more difficult for county chairs to raise

campaign funds. Consider these examples: Former state Sen. John

A. Lynch Jr. Using his political action committee, "New

Directions for Responsible Leadership,'' and the Middlesex

County Democratic Organization he controlled, Lynch raised $17.5

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million from 1999 through 2006, according to Election Law

Enforcement Commission records. Lynch is now serving 39 months

in federal prison after pleading guilty to obtaining payment for

exerting his influence on а public office. Burlington County

Republican Chairman Glenn Paulsen. The powerful GOP boss

resigned unexpectedly in December 2004, after 15 years as the

head of his county's organization, leaving it in turmoil.

Records show that from 1999 to 2004, his Burlington County

committee raised $12 million.

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Question 5: New Negro

Introduction

The heart and core of the new negro movement and modern

civil rights are very much the same if we look back to 1920’s

movement of “New Negro” than we can easily say that there is not

much difference in that movement and modern day civil rights

movement except that the canvas has broaden much more than the

racism and identity crisis. In the early years of the movement,

а number of black artists and writers published their works and

established an impression that can be rightly attributed to а

certain specific community. Some of these works left long

lasting impacts. In the early 1920s three works signaled the new

creative energy in African American literature. McKay’s volume

of poetry, Harlem Shadows (1922), became one of the first works

by а black writer to be published by а mainstream, national

publisher (Harcourt, Brace and Company). Cane (1923), by Jean

Toomer, was an experimental novel that combined poetry and prose

in documenting the life of American blacks in the rural South

and urban North.

Conclusion

Finally, There Is Confusion (1924), the first novel by

writer and editor Jessie Fauset, depicted middle-class life

among black Americans from а woman’s perspective. Other works

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that got fame during the Renaissance period included

Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson,

Harlem Shadows (1922) and Home to Harlem (1928) by Claude McKay,

The Weary Blues (1926) by Langston Hughes and many more. This

was the only period in American history during which the black

artists earned their living through their artistic talent and

their works were recognized. It was the time when according to

Langston Hughes, “Negro was in vogue”. (Hughes 1940)

 Introduction to Philosophy 12

Question 6: Organized Labor

Introduction

During the past two decades, deregulation and government

budget reductions have led to а decrease in the enforcement of

health and safety laws, wage and hour statutes, pension

guarantee provisions, and other employee protection legislation.

As а result, thousands of American workers are seriously injured

each year in industrial accidents that could be prevented

through mandated safety inspections. Many more workers are

underpaid or deprived of earned overtime compensation, and

others are denied the protection of laws designed to enhance

employment conditions. (Filippelli, 1990, 101)

The presence of conscientious union representatives would

substantially diminish the likelihood of such violations

continuing unabated. As the American labor movement approaches

the third millennium, it is confronted by challenges that

threaten its very existence.

In 1935, when the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)

extended organizational and collective bargaining rights to most

private-sector employees, labor unions had 3,584,000 members,

representing 13.2% of the non-agricultural labor force.

Following the enactment of the NLRA and the creation of the

new Congress of Industrial Organizations, which organized the

major firms in the automobile, electrical manufacturing, rubber,

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and steel industries, trade union membership grew steadily. By

the mid-1950s, union membership exceeded 17,000,000 and

comprised nearly thirty-five percent of nonagricultural workers.

From the mid-1950s through 1980, the absolute number of union

members continued to increase, but not at а rate commensurate

with the growth of the overall labor force. As а result, the

union density rate began to decline. By 1980, while labor

organizations had 22,366,000 members, the union density rate had

declined to twenty one percent. (Directory of U.S. Labor

Organizations)

Conclusion

During the 1980s, the position of organized labor

deteriorated from both an absolute and а relative perspective.

The illegal air traffic controller strike against the federal

government in 1981 had а profoundly negative impact on labor

unions. The termination of over 10,000 strikers and the

decertification of PATCO signaled а major change in governmental

policy.
 Introduction to Philosophy 14

Question 7: Why People Settled in Villages

Introduction

As there could be so many reasons why early people set in

to villages as we go deep in to the research we would come to

the analysis that food, water and religion is the biggest reason

for people to settled in villages as farming is the first basic

reason which cause the early people to settle in villages where

cultivation is possible and water supply is in abundance. In the

Americas, as elsewhere, the greatest adaptation occurred when

some people learned to cultivate plants and domesticate animals.

Archaeologists think that farming was partly а response to the

disappearance of the large mammals. With fewer animals to hunt,

people came to depend more on other food sources. In Mexico, or

perhaps farther south, Neolithic people began cultivating а

range of crops from corn and beans to sweet potatoes, peppers,

tomatoes, and squash. These changes took place slowly between

about 8500 B.C. and 2000 B.C.

Early farmers learned to domesticate animals. In South

America, domesticated animals include the llama and other

creatures valued for their wool. However, the Americas had no

large animals such as oxen or horses that were capable of

bearing heavy loads or pulling wagons. This lack of draft

animals would limit development in some areas.

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Conclusion

In the Americas, as in Africa and Eurasia, the agricultural

revolution helped to cause other changes. Farming people

settled into villages. Populations expanded. Some villages grew

into large religious centers and then into the great cities of

the first American civilizations.

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Question 8: Hieroglyphics

Introduction

By 3000 BC the Egyptians had already developed their

hieroglyphics writing. This marks the commencement of the Old

Kingdom period throughout which the pyramids were constructed.

For instance the Great Pyramid at Giza was constructed

approximately 2650 BC and it is an extraordinary achievement of

engineering.

This presents the clearest of signs that the civilization

of that era had attained а tall height of accomplishment,

hieroglyphics for writing and counting gave way to а hieratic

script for together writing and numerals. The Egyptian number

systems were not well matched for arithmetical calculations. We

are still today recognizable with Roman numerals and so it is

trouble-free to recognize that even though addition of Roman

numerals is rather satisfactory, multiplication and division are

fundamentally unworkable. The Egyptian system had parallel

disadvantages to that of Roman numerals. On the other hand, the

Egyptians were very sensible in their approach to mathematics

and their trade required that they might deal in fractions.

Trade in addition, required multiplication and division to be

probable so they developed noteworthy techniques to prevail over

the insufficiencies in the number systems with which they had to

work. Fundamentally they had to work out methods of

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multiplication and division, which only concerned addition.

Early hieroglyphics numerals can be originated on temples, stone

monuments and vases. They give small information about any

mathematical calculations, which may have been done with the

number systems.

Conclusion

While these hieroglyphs were being carved in stone there

was no requirement to expand symbols, which could be written

extra rapidly. On the other hand, once the Egyptians began to

use flattened sheets of the dried papyrus reed as "paper" and

the tip of а reed as а "pen" there was motive to expand extra

fast ways of writing. This provoked the expansion of hieratic

writing and numerals. There must have been а huge number of

papyri, many dealing with mathematics in one form or another,

but sadly in view of the fact that the material is rather

fragile approximately all have perished. Two major mathematical

documents survive.
 Introduction to Philosophy 18

Question 9: Indus Valley Civilization

Introduction

Indus Valley civilization was one of the world's first

great civilizations. The civilization began to flourish about

4,500 years ago and was centred in the vast river plains of what

are now Pakistan and northwestern India. This civilization is

sometimes called the Harappan civilization. It is named after

the Pakistani town of Harappa, where archaeologists first

discovered evidence of the culture.

The Indus civilization developed out of farming and herding

communities that carried on trade with each other. About 2500

B.C., the communities became more unified culturally, and in

some places people began laying out carefully planned cities. In

time, the Indus civilization grew to cover most of present-day

Pakistan and parts of what are now Afghanistan and northern

India. The heart of the civilization was the vast flood plain of

the Indus and Hakra rivers. The Hakra River (also known as the

Ghaggar River or Sarasvati River) is now dried up. It once

flowed east of--and parallel to--the Indus River, in what are

now India and Pakistan. The civilization developed а

standardized system of weights and measures and а system of

writing that used pictographs (simple drawings representing

words).
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In the early 1800's, British scholars learned that people

had found ancient artefacts buried in huge earthen mounds in the

region. But it was not until the 1920's that archaeologists

began excavating these sites and realized that they contained

the remains of cities from а previously unknown civilization.

Hundreds of Indus sites have been found.

Conclusion

The Indus people planned their cities carefully. They built

many of their buildings on mud-brick platforms that protected

the buildings from seasonal floods. Houses were made of baked or

sun-dried brick. Many houses had two storeys. Most homes had а

bathing area that was supplied with water from а nearby public

well or from а well in the courtyard of the house. In larger

communities, each house was connected to an elaborate city-wide

drainage system. Other structures include large buildings that

may have been used for storing grain and for other purposes.
 Introduction to Philosophy 20

Question 10: Environmental Problems

Introduction

The above argument can be extended further by recognizing а

second key aspect of the tillage discourse the promotion of

conservation tillage as the means of reducing water pollution

arising from the movement of fertilizers and pesticides into the

water table. Since Lake Erie borders the county in this study,

this issue was of considerable regional interest to the farmers

and government officials interviewed. In particular, the

American environmental movement had been successful in gaining

the inclusion in the 1985 Farm Bill of specific environmental

requirements for farmers to address conservation and pollution

issues in order to gain access to government financial support

programs (Batie, 1990).

Increasing political pressure on the state to act on the

pesticide and fertilizer issues within Canada also came from

sources other than the environmental movement. Finally, there

was an increasing concern developing within agriculture about

the health effects of chemicals both for farmers and their

families (Wilk, 1993).

As in the case of the soil conservation discourse, the

problem of chemical pollution was identified as having various

possible solutions. To begin with, of course, there was а

significant effort to promote chemical free or organic farming

 Introduction to Philosophy 21

(MacRae, Henning and Hill, 1993). Along with the proposal for

chemical free-farming, there were increasing demands for

reductions in the overall use of chemicals, stricter testing,

and regulations on practices and storage (Castrilli and Vigod,

1987). It was evident in my interviews with farmers and farm

leaders that the pollution issue and the call for restrictive

regulations on farmers'' access to chemicals were seen as major

threats.

Conclusion

AGCare was formed specifically to promote the idea to the

public that agriculture was making the changes necessary to

prevent pesticide and fertilizer pollution, while ensuring their

continued capacity to use pesticides and fertilizers as their

major tool for achieving consistent and high levels of

productivity (Interviews with Farmer and Government

Representatives). The strategies developed by this organization

included the development and promotion of а pesticide-user

safety course as а licensing requirement for farmers, and the

endorsement of various other safety related measures aimed at

reassuring the public and the environmental movement that

farmers were using agricultural chemicals in а responsible and

safe manner (AGCare, 1992). This has been followed up by the

 Introduction to Philosophy 22

development of а voluntary environmental audit program called

the Environmental Farm Plan (AGCare, 1992).

 Introduction to Philosophy 23

Question 11: Problems if Population Doubled

Introduction

As we know that the only global issue which threatens our

world in 2050 is the population crisis which will almost be

double as compared to this era. As long as we imagine humans

retaining their present physical form, one obvious limit can be

computed by dividing the cosmologists' estimated mass of the

universe by the mass of а human. If you consider the human

personality more important than its material embodiment, then

you could get а larger number by embodying human personalities

in smaller material forms.

The past 50 years have witnessed unparalleled demographic

changes occurring in the Asia Pacific region. It looks at the

future prospects and underscores some of the challenges that lie

ahead.

Asia Pacific displays one of the most diverse social,

economic and demographic profiles. This largest of all regions

contains countries at virtually all stages of demographic

transition. It provides examples of the possibility of rapid

change and examples of the stubborn persistence of social and

demographic trends.

Population growth rates in the Asia Pacific sub region vary

more widely than elsewhere in the world.

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Conclusion

According to ESCAP's 'State of the Environment in Asia and

the Pacific', ecological disasters may become increasingly

devastating in the Asia-Pacific because of its rising

population. The region now has the largest concentration of

people in the world and population figures are not expected to

stabilize in the next 20 to 30 years.

 Introduction to Philosophy 25

Question 12: Nuclear Waste Disposing

Introduction

Nuclear Waste Nuclear waste is one of the most pressing and

provocative environmental issues of our time. This radioactive

waste, which remains deadly for thousands of years, is

incredibly difficult to deal with. Unfortunately, time is

running short for а solution, as а growing number of reactors,

(111 in the United States alone), radioactive remnants of Cold

War weapons, and increasing medical uses of radioactivity will

soon create enough waste to exceed the current holding capacity

for radioactive materials. There are two types of nuclear waste.

The first is low-level radioactive waste, which contains small

amounts of radioactivity.

This sort of waste usually comes from medical facilities

and pharmaceutical companies and includes clothing, test tubes,

and all kinds of diagnostic waste. The other kind, which is of

most concern, is high-level radioactive waste, which is created

when reactor fuel is mined and processed and when atoms are

split in reactors. This "hot" waste includes spent uranium fuel

rods and the liquid waste produced when those rods are dissolved

in acid to make plutonium for nuclear weapons. Disposing of low-

level waste presents difficulties, but not insurmountable ones.

As of now, it is shipped to special disposal sites in the

United States. Expectedly, the public is not pleased to have any

 Introduction to Philosophy 26

type of radioactive waste in their own backyards, even the

relatively harmless low-level trash. The main obstacle in

dealing with this type is to educate the public, which tends to

equate anything radioactive with that of the highly dangerous,

nuclear fuel cycle variety. Without good information, the people

will always fear anything remotely connected with nuclear power

and will continue to incorrectly liken what goes on in an X-ray

laboratory with what goes on in а plutonium bomb.

Conclusion

Of far more concern is how to dispose of the high-level

radioactive waste. This problem has plagued scientists and

politicians since the beginning of the nuclear age. "Hot" waste

contaminates the earth, the water, the air, and even minute

amounts of it can be extremely poisonous to humans. Short of

abolishing nuclear waste altogether, it looks like there is

little that can be done about the growing accumulation of

nuclear waste. Scientists are doing what they can to deal with

the problem, although the solutions are admittedly not long-term

ones.
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Reference

MacNabb, D. G. C. (2001). David Hume, His Theory of Knowledge

and Morality Hutchinsons University Library.

Herskovits, M. J. (2003). Cultural Relativism: Perspectives in

Cultural Pluralism. New York: Vintage Books; pp 32-56.

Kroeber, A. L. (2000). "Anthropology," Scientific American

183:87-94.

Filippelli, R. (1990). Labor Conflict in the United States: An

Encyclopedia. Garland.

Goodman, D. and Radcliff, M. (1991). Refashioning Nature: Food,

Ecology and Culture. New York: Routledge.

Hershey, E. et al. (1990). Low-Level Radioactive Waste: From

Cradle to Grave. New York, NY: Van No strand Reinhold.

Hughes, L. (1940). The Big Sea

Jackson. (2001). The Black Atheists of the Harlem Renaissance:

1917-1928.