Chapter 4: Let’s be reasonable: Logic (November 24, 2019)

11/24/19 • 13 min

The basic and most fundamental law of logic: the law of non-contradiction, which states that a thing cannot be and not be in the same way and at the same time. After all, I could look at a piece of paper folded like a chair and say, “That chair is not a chair,” but what I really mean is that the piece of paper shaped like a chair is not a chair that you can sit in. The sentence, “that chair is not a chair,” uses the word “chair” in two different ways. And since we have already made sense of the way things change, then we know that a piece of wood can be a tree tomorrow and then a table the next day. It is not a contradiction to point to a collection of matter and say that it was not a statue a month ago and it is a statue today. “Statue” and “not-statue” refer to two different times. So, the full law of non-contradiction says that a thing cannot be and not be in the same way and at the same time.

Previous Episode

Chapter 3: To be or not to be: Metaphysics (November 17, 2019)

This study of the nature of existence is called Metaphysics. It is the most foundational topic in philosophy because anything else that we can talk about is something that exists, and it is sometimes called “first philosophy.” Metaphysics gets its name because the book that Aristotle wrote on this topic came after his book about physics. Meta- in Greek means after. So, this book was called the “after-physics” or “Metaphysics.”

Next Episode

Chapter 5: I am nothing without You: God (December 1, 2019)

I was once asked what my favorite topic in philosophy is. It took me a second to think through the various topics, but as soon as I thought of it, I knew it: God. This was a surprising answer to the person who asked the question, because God is always thought of as a strictly religious entity. But philosophy can also give us a lot of information about God, and no subject is more beautiful. We call this natural theology because we are finding out what we can about God using only our natural resources. It is very difficult and very abstract because when we think about God we are thinking about Someone who we cannot fully grasp. Augustine once said, “If you understand it, it is not God.” In other words, if you have some accurate, neat little picture in your mind of God, then that picture is wrong.