MPP-500

Philosophy

Week
1
Date
Time
Activity
Thursday, 16/08/2018
13:30 - 15:00

1. Four meanings of the word "BEING":

- Primary meaning: existence

- Three secondary copulative meanings: "to be" something; a member of a "class" which exists within and depends on the "class".

- What is the difference between Ontology (Metaphysics/Aristotle) which studies of being (or of things) in so far as they are beings ("being qua being") and all others sciences that study a certain domain of being under different aspects?

2. Existence and facts:

- Real existence: perceived or can be perceived by senses;

- Real existence exists in relationships with other real existence through categories;

- Such relationship is known as fact; thus, we don't say the event "is", but "is the case" ® Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951): "The world is all that is the case. The world is the totality of facts, not of things."

The question: "what exists" can be more precisely rephrased into "what facts?"

3. Physical and psychological events:

- External and internal senses of perception;

- Broadly speaking, psychological or cognitive events are perceived by internal senses;

- Mental activity processes and eye movements during dreams can be precisely tracked but why other people can't dream my dreams?

4. Semantic existence and Semantic fact:

- Semantic existence (vs. real existence) and Semantic fact (vs. real fact) are randomly created by humans without limits;

5. Existence of universals, fictitious objects and nihility?

6. Relationship between real existence and semantic existence?

7. Readings and other referential materials:

* Bùi Văn Nam Sơn: "Tồn tại và Dấn thân: hai nẻo đường của thuyết nhân bản", in Trò chuyện triết học, tập 3, NXB Tri thức, 2017.

- Jean-Paul Sartre, "Về sự hiện hữu" in Buồn nôn. Phùng Thăng dịch. Phiên bản điện tử: http://triethoc.edu.vn/vi/truong-phai-triet-hoc/chu-nghia-hien-sinh/ve-su-hien-huu_727.html

- "A History of the Notion of Being in the West": http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Being

- John Wild. "The Concept of Existence", in The Monist, Volume 50, Issue 1, 1 January 1966, pp. 1–16.

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