ABSTRACT
While it is hard to give a one-sentence defi nition of the term philosophy , it is relatively easy to describe the fi eld by reviewing some of the classic questions philosophers study. Here are some examples. What is truth? Is it objective or subjective? What are the limits of human knowledge (for example, can I know that an external world exists?) Does it even make sense to talk about the way that the world is apart from our conceptualization of it? What is the nature of reality? What makes me me ? What does it mean to have a mind? What distinguishes morally right from morally wrong action? Under what circumstances can I be held morally responsible for my actions? Do I have an obligation to obey the laws of the state? Does God exist? If so, is that God worthy of praise and adoration? Does life have meaning? If so, is God a necessary prerequisite to making sense of life’s meaning? At fi rst glance, nothing seems to tie these diverse questions together, leaving the impression that they are all considered “philosophical” questions only because of some historical accident in the development of the Western intellectual tradition. On closer examination, however, the questions are seen to share at least one attribute in commonthey are all basic questions. By basic, we mean that each of these questions must be among the fi rst questions asked when building a framework for thinking about and acting in the world.
