Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 1166, Discussing Philosophy.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast, episode 1166.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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On this episode we're going to listen to a very deep discussion between René and Francis discussing philosophy.
Let's get started.
I'm pondering life.
I'm examining my life from a metaphysical standpoint.
I'm not sure I really exist.
Maybe my entire life is an illusion and there's no such thing as reality.
Okay.
Are you sure you're feeling alright?
I'm better now that I've made some decisions about my epistemological outlook on life.
I'm allowing reason and logic to guide me.
That's great, but you still seem a little distracted.
That's because I'm wrestling with some major questions about ethics and morality.
It's not easy, always trying to do the right thing.
I can understand that, but could you get me?
But then I think that perhaps the only thing that matters in life are aesthetics, and I should devote my life to creating beauty.
That's a nice idea, but have you given any thought...
Ah, I see you're a realist.
Do you want your usual, or do you want to hear the specials?
Renee asks Francis, why are you sitting here just staring into space?
To stare, S-T-A-R-E, means to look at something for a long time.
To stare into space means usually means to daydream to sit in a single spot and think about something.
You are looking at something, but you're not really focusing on anything.
You are instead thinking about something else.
You are thinking perhaps about a problem, or you're dreaming of something good, perhaps of something bad.
When you think of something and imagine something and you're not sleeping, we call that daydreaming.
Staring into space is basically the same as daydreaming.
It's thinking perhaps deeply about something, not paying attention to what's going on around you.
Francis says, I'm pondering life.
To ponder p-o-n-d-e-r means to think about something very seriously.
We might say to consider something deeply.
Rene says that sounds profound.
Something that is profound.
P-R-O-F-O-U-N-D is something with a lot of meaning or significance or importance.
Another adjective we might use simply is one that I've already used, which is deep.
To be profound is to be deep, to be serious, to have something very perhaps insightful in your comments or in your thinking.
Francis says, I'm examining my life from a metaphysical standpoint.
A standpoint, S-T-A-N-D, P-O-I-N-T, is a perspective, a particular way of thinking about something.
It might also be considered a point of view or an outlook.
Metaphysical M-E-T-H-Y-S-I-C-A-L refers to the efforts to understand the nature of the world, to understand the larger meaning of our existence.
Metaphysics is considered a branch B-R-A-N-C-H or type of philosophy that usually deals with subjects such as being and knowing and existence fundamental concepts, you might say in philosophy.
Aristotle is most famous for his metaphysics.
A metaphysical standpoint, then if it means anything, I guess would be contemplating or thinking about your existence and your being.
Francis says, I'm not really sure I really exist.
To exist means being.
To be real, to be actual, not to be imaginary.
He says, maybe my entire life is an illusion and there's no such thing as reality.
An illusion, I-L-L-U-S-I-O-N, is something that you see but isn't real.
It doesn't actually exist.
Reality, R-E-A-L-I-T-Y, is that which really does exist, things that are not imaginary or not fake.
I don't want to get into long philosophical discussions with you about reality and existence.
I'm giving you the general meanings of these terms as they might be used in normal conversation, less than perhaps in a philosophical discussion, even though this dialogue is entitled Discussing Philosophy.
Renee says, okay, are you sure you're feeling all right?
She's asking if perhaps Francis is feeling sick or ill.
Francis says, I'm better now that I've made some decisions about my epistemological outlook on life.
Epistemological comes from the term epistemology, E-P-I-S-T-E-M-O-L-O-G-Y.
Epistemology is another one of those areas of study in philosophy.
Epistemology has to do with the study of knowledge and how we know things, or how we get to know things.
How is it that we know what is true?
How is it that we know what we know?
Those are questions that epistemology might try to answer.
Epistemological outlook then would be the way that you view how knowledge is acquired, I guess.
Francis says, I'm allowing reason and logic to guide me.
Reason, R-E-A-S-O-N, refers to the mind's ability to think, to understand, to form conclusions.
Logic L-O-G-I-C.
In general, conversation usually refers to a clear, organized way of thinking about something.
Logic is another one of those areas of philosophy.
In some ways logic is the set of tools that philosophers use to understand things.
Logic refers to how arguments are constructed, how you put together an argument in order to reach a conclusion.
Francis says he's going to allow reason and logic to guide him, which seems fair enough, reasonable enough.
René says that's great, but you still seem a little distracted.
Someone who is distracted, D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T-E-D, is unable to focus on something, often because he is thinking about something else instead of what perhaps he should be thinking about.
Francis responds that he's distracted because he's wrestling with some major questions about ethics and morality.
The phrasal verb to wrestle w-r-e-s-t-l-e with something is means to debate or to think very seriously about a problem, a problem that you're finding difficult perhaps to solve or to come to a conclusion about.
I'm wrestling with the choice I have to make about what I'm going to eat for dinner.
I'm not sure.
I'm going back and forth.
I'm debating.
Should I have chicken?
Should I have vegetables?
I'm wrestling with my decision.
Well, not really.
I'm going to have chicken and vegetables.
But that's the meaning of the phrasal verb to wrestle with.
Francis is wrestling with some major or important questions.
These are questions about ethics, E-T-H-I-C-S, and morality, M-O-R-A-L-I-T-Y.
These two terms are often used in a similar way in conversational English.
I'm no philosopher.
I'm not going to try to give you exact definitions.
Morality.
However, I would generally tend to use to describe certain principles of what is right and what is wrong.
Sometimes those principles or laws or rules or standards are taken from a religious point of view, sometimes not.
Ethics relates to the application of those moral principles to perhaps specific situations, determining whether you should do something or not do something.
However, having said that, ethics could also refer to those same moral principles that people use to determine whether something is right or wrong, just or unjust in modern American English.
My guess is that many people would associate morality with a religious point of view and ethics with Not necessarily an areligious point of view, but one that may not be based on a religious belief system.
But that's a very general way of defining it that not everyone may agree with.
This is philosophy, after all.
People disagree about things like this.
Francis says it's not always easy trying to do the right thing.
René says I can understand that, But could you get me?
And then Francis interrupts her and continues but then I think that perhaps the only thing that matters in life, that's important in life, are aesthetics, and I should devote my life to creating beauty.
Francis says perhaps the only thing important in life that matters in life are aesthetics.
E-S-T-H-E-T-I-C-S.
Aesthetics refers to the study of beauty, of appreciating beauty in other things and in other people.
Francis thinks he should devote his life to creating beauty.
Renee says that's a nice idea, but have you given any thought, that is, have you thought about, have you given any thought to, how you'd pay the rent?
Meaning.
If you spend your life creating beauty, will you make enough money to afford to pay your rent?
Rene says, you could start by getting me a cup of coffee.
Now we realize that Francis is actually working at a coffee shop maybe Starbucks and Rene is one of his customers who wants a cup of coffee.
Francis says, ah, I see you're a realist.
And then he asks, do you want your usual or do you want to hear the specials?
A realist, R-E-A-L-I-S-T, is a person who, I suppose in this case, accepts things as they are.
One who uses logic to understand the way the world works.
Frances then asks Rene if she wants her usual meaning, the coffee drink she usually gets, or if she wants to hear the specials, the special drinks that the coffee shop is offering today.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Why are you sitting here just staring into space?
I'm pondering life.
That sounds profound.
I'm examining my life from a metaphysical standpoint.
I'm not sure I really exist.
Maybe my entire life is an illusion and there's no such thing as reality.
Okay.
Are you sure you're feeling all right?
I'm better now that I've made some decisions about my epistemological outlook on life.
I'm allowing reason and logic to guide me.
That's great, but you still seem a little distracted.
That's because I'm wrestling with some major questions about ethics and morality.
It's not easy always trying to do the right thing.
I can understand that, but could you get me...
But then I think that perhaps the only thing that matters in life are aesthetics, and I should devote my life to creating beauty.
That's a nice idea, but have you given any thought to how you'd pay the rent?
You could start by getting me a cup of coffee.
Ah, I see you're a realist.
Do you want your usual, or do you want to hear the specials?
Our thanks to our script writer, Dr. Lucy Say, for this very profound dialogue.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2015 by the Center for Educational Development.
