Spain 1º Bachillerato Philosophy
Chapters: 3
1. Philosophy and the human being
Philosophical reflection on philosophy itself · The human being as subject and object of philosophy
- What Is Philosophy? Questions, Branches and Reasoning – Philosophy means "love of wisdom". It asks big questions (what is real, how we know, what is right, what is beautiful) and answers them with clear reasons. It has branches like metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic and aesthetics, and it shapes our world view.
- Philosophical Anthropology: What Is a Human Being? – Philosophical anthropology asks what a human being is. The human is both the one who asks and the one studied (subject and object). Thinkers compare us with animals: some see a deep gap (reason, language, an open world), others only a difference of degree. Classic views call the human a rational animal, a union of body and mind (dualism) or one living being (monism), a social and cultural being, and, for existentialists, a free and unfinished being who makes itself through choices. Science and technology (evolution, brain research, AI) keep reopening the question.
2. Knowledge and reality
The philosophical problem of knowledge and truth · The ultimate nature of reality
- Epistemology: What Is Knowledge? – Epistemology is the part of philosophy that asks what knowledge is, how we get it and how sure we can be. A classic answer: knowledge is a belief that is true and well justified (justified true belief), although lucky cases (Gettier cases) show this may not be enough. Knowledge comes from reason (rationalism) and from experience through the senses (empiricism); Kant argued we need both. Theories of truth include correspondence (matches the facts), coherence (fits with other beliefs) and pragmatic (works in practice). Scepticism reminds us that senses and reasoning can mislead, so we test, check sources and stay open to correction.
- Metaphysics: What Is Really Real? – Metaphysics is the part of philosophy that asks what reality is like at the deepest level. Ontology asks what exists: concrete things, abstract things like numbers, or both. Metaphysics studies substance and properties, change and identity (the Ship of Theseus), mind and body (dualism, materialism, idealism), time and causation, and free will versus determinism. It also asks big questions about the cosmos, nature and life. Thinkers from Parmenides and Heraclitus, Plato and Aristotle, Descartes, Hume and Kant, to Indian schools like Nyaya and Advaita Vedanta, gave different answers.
3. Action and creation
Human action: ethics and political philosophy · Philosophical reflection on artistic creation
- Ethics: How to Decide What Is Right – Ethics (moral philosophy) asks what we ought to do and why. Values such as honesty, kindness, fairness and respect guide choices. Three main theories help: consequences (utilitarianism, Bentham and Mill: most good for most people), duty (Kant: act on rules you could want everyone to follow; treat people as ends, never only as means) and virtue (Aristotle: build good character; virtue is the mean between extremes). Conscience is our inner sense of right and wrong. Freedom brings responsibility. Meta-ethics asks what "good" means and whether values are universal or relative. Applied ethics deals with the environment, animals, work, friendship and peace.
- Philosophy of Art: What Is Art, and Why Does It Matter? – The philosophy of art (part of aesthetics) asks: what is art, what is beauty, is taste only personal, what makes a creator, and can art show truth? Answers have changed from "art copies nature" to "art expresses feeling" to "the idea is the art".