Hilde Moller Knag
Alberto Knox (teacher)
Hermes (dog)
is it more ridiculous for the universe to have come out of nothing, or for the universe to have always been?
people can be interested in different things – bored by some questions and intrigued by others. but there are some questions that everyone should be interested in.
Man thought it was so astonishing to be alive that philosophical questions arose of their own accord. (15)
beautiful, the universe as a magic trick:
A lot of people experience the world with the same incredulity as when a magician suddenly pulls a rabbit out of a hat which has just been shown to them empty. In the case of the rabbit, we know the magician has tricked us. What we would like to know is just how he did it. But when it comes to the world it's somewhat different. We know that the world is not all sleight of hand and deception because here we are in it, we are part of it. Actually, we are the white rabbit being pulled out of the hat. The only difference between us and the white rabbit is that the rabbit does not realize it is taking part in a magic trick. Unlike us. We feel we are part of something mysterious and we would like to know how it all works. P.S. As far as the white rabbit is concerned, it might be better to compare it with the whole universe. We who live here are microscopic insects existing deep down in the rabbit's fur. But philosophers are always trying to climb up the fine hairs of the fur in order to stare right into the magician's eyes. (16)
wonder:
Sadly it is not only the force of gravity we get used to as we grow up. The world itself becomes a habit in no time at all. It seems as if in the process of growing up we lose the ability to wonder about the world. And in doing so, we lose something central—something philosophers try to restore. For somewhere inside ourselves, something tells us that life is a huge mystery. This is something we once experienced, long before we learned to think the thought. (19)
philosophy began with a new way of thinking around 600 BCE in Greece. until then, the answers to questions were found in religious and mythological explanations. around 700 BCE, much of Greek mythology was written down by Homer; this presented the first opportunity to discuss and analyze the myths. the first Greek philosophers – beginning with Xenophanes – criticized Homer's mythology for being merely human stories.
there was a transition from mythology as the basis of thinking to experience and reason. seeking natural rather than supernatural explanations.
the earliest philosophers were concerned with questions of nature (hence, natural philosophers): whether there is a substance that everything is made of, and what causes transformations in nature. the works of these philosophers is found in the writing of Aristotle.
Milesian philosophers – viewing all substances as derived from a single substance like water or air.
viewing everything as fixed and unchanging (Parmenides, based on reason), versus change being the core of nature (Heraclitus, based on sensory experience). there is something that seems deeply true about both views.
Empedocles was one of the first to postulate the existence of several fundamental substances (earth, water, air, fire), rather than a single substance. he also distinguished between "substance" and "force", which scientists do to this day.
how so much of our basic knowledge of materials is not immediately obvious: