PHIL Home Sunset  What is philosophy?  What is philosophy?  An
abstract definition of the field is less revealing than a set of
questions that philosophers try to answer. Here's one such set:
    - Is the human mind just a very complicated machine?     -
Can we have free will if the mind is a machine?     - Must we
have free will in order for life to be meaningful?      - What
makes an act moral or immoral?     - When, if ever, can a
government mandate or outlaw certain acts?     - Is it ever
permissible to start a war with a pre-emptive strike?      - Is
the order seen in the world evidence for the existence of God?
    - Does the existence of evil show that a good God cannot
exist?     - What is the role of philosophy in answering
questions about God?      - What is knowledge - and how exactly
does it differ from opinion and from faith?     - What, if
anything, can we know with certainty?     - Are warrants for
knowledge relative to particular cultures?  We feel the need to
confront such questions as we de