Philosophy Study Guide for February 14, 2017

What is cogito, ergo sum?

A Latin philosophical proposition by René Descartes usually translated into English as "I think, therefore I am".

What is socratic irony?

A form of rhetoric that has at lease two conflicting levels of meaning - an obvious one and a hidden one.

What is stoics?

A member of the ancient philosophical school of Stoicism. A member of an originally Greek school of philosophy, founded by Zeno of Citium about 308 bc, believing that God determined everything for the best and that virtue is sufficient for happiness.

What is hylomorphism?

A philosophical theory developed by Aristotle that views "being" as a compound of form and matter.

What is Buddhism?

A religion, originated in India by Buddha (Gautama) and later spreading to China, Burma, Japan, Tibet, and parts of southeast Asia, holding that life is full of suffering caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject. A religious teaching propagated by the Buddha and his followers, which declares that by destroying greed, hatred, and delusion, which are the causes of all suffering, man can attain perfect enlightenment.

What is social contract?

An agreement either between the people and their ruler or among the people in a community.

What is unnecessary desire?

An example of a natural but non-necessary desire is the desire for luxury food. Although food is needed for survival, one does not need a particular type of food to survive. Thus, despite his hedonism, Epicurus advocates a surprisingly ascetic way of life. Although one shouldn't spurn extravagant foods if they happen to be available, becoming dependent on such goods ultimately leads to unhappiness. As Epicurus puts it, "If you wish to make Pythocles wealthy, don't give him more money; rather, reduce his desires." By eliminating the pain caused by unfulfilled desires, and the anxiety that occurs because of the fear that one's desires will not be fulfilled in the future, the wise Epicurean attains tranquility, and thus happiness.

Who is Plato?

Ancient Greek philosopher of extraordinary significance in the history of ideas. He not only preserved Socrates teaching for future generations but also contributed original ideas on a wide range of issues such as morality, politics, metaphysics, and epistemology.

Who is Socrates?

Ancient Greek philosopher often called "the father of Western philosophy. He created the conceptual framework and method of inquiry for much of Western thought. HIs teachings are known to us primarily through the writing of his student, Plato. At the age of 70, he was tried and executed on the highly questionable charge of "corrupting the youth of Athens."

Who is Aristotle?

Ancient Greek philosopher who was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira, Greece. When he turned 17, he enrolled in Plato's Academy. In 338, he began tutoring Alexander the Great. ... he died in 322 B.C., after he left Athens and fled to Chalcis. He is a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy, making contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre. He was a student of Plato who in turn studied under Socrates. He was more empirically-minded than Plato or Socrates and is famous for rejecting Plato's theory of forms.

Where are the four causes described?

Aristotle describes and argues for the four causes in his books Physics and Metaphysics as a part of developing his philosophy of substance.

Who is Leibniz?

As advisor and diplomat for several German barons, he traveled widely and was an influential intellectual in 17th-centruy Europe. He contributed to the fields of engineering, math, physics, linguistics, and history as well as philosophy. He maintained that the world, as created by God, is the best of all possible worlds.

What is Parmenides goal?

Believed that there was a necessary, static, unchanging unity running throughout all of what is in flux in the world of experience.

Who is Hobbes?

British philosopher was a thorough-going materialist who tried to reconcile free will with materialism. He is best known for his social contract theory, which advocates the transfer of power to an absolute sovereign.

What is pluralism?

Doctrine of multiplicity", often used in opposition to monism ("doctrine of unity") and dualism ("doctrine of duality"). The term has different meanings in metaphysics, ontology, epistemology and logic.

What is a natural desire?

Epicureans distinguish natural desires, which have their origin in the body itself, from empty desires which are imposed by society. Natural desires allow a person to enjoy pleasures free from anxiety and worry.

What is the principle of sufficient reason?

Everything must have a reason or a cause.

What is a necessary desire?

Examples of natural and necessary desires include the desires for food, shelter, and the like. Epicurus thinks that these desires are easy to satisfy, difficult to eliminate (they are 'hard-wired' into human beings naturally), and bring great pleasure when satisfied. Furthermore, they are necessary for life, and they are naturally limited: that is, if one is hungry, it only takes a limited amount of food to fill the stomach, after which the desire is satisfied.

Who is Kant?

German philosopher, widely regarded as one of the greatest philosophers o the modern period. Kant attempted to synthesize two competing schools, rationalism and empiricism, by showing the important roles that both experience and reason play in constructing our knowledge of the world.

Who is Epicurus?

Greek philosopher. Advanced the view in ethics that pleasure is the one sole good and pain is the one sole bad and that one should not seek out pleasures solely but devote oneself to also avoinding pain.

What are Locke's thoughts on being able to revolt?

He believes in his defense of the right of revolution. He denied that coercion should be used to bring people to (what the ruler believes is) the true religion and also denied that churches should have any coercive power over their members. No one ought to harm another in his Life, Health, Liberty, or Possessions.

What is Hobbes thought on not being able to revolt?

He denied that there was a right of rebellion for ideological purposes: if you want your monarchy to be a democracy, tough. But he thought people had the right to resist the state with violence if it threatened their lives. Prisoners can resist their sentences and rebels who are not offered pardons can attempt to overthrow the state. So Hobbes is in the position of saying that while the initial act that led to the state's hostility might have been wrong, once a group finds itself in conflict with the state, it is allowed to fight on. Perhaps this is why some of his contemporaries branded Leviathan as a "rebel's catechism."*

Why did Berkley believe there was no distinction between primary and secondary qualities?

He maintained that the ideas created by sensations are all that people can know for sure. As a result, what is perceived as real consists only of ideas in the mind. The crux of this argument is that once an object is stripped of all its secondary qualities, it becomes very problematic to assign any acceptable meaning to the idea that there is some object. Not that one cannot picture to oneself (in one's mind) that some object could exist apart from any perceiver — one clearly can do this — but rather, that one cannot give any content to this idea. Suppose that someone says that a particular mind-independent object (meaning, an object free of all secondary qualities) exists at some particular spatio-temporal location (in Newtonian terms, in some particular place and at some particular time). Now, none of this particularly means anything if one cannot specify a place and time. In that case it's still a purely imaginary, empty idea. This is not generally thought to be a problem because realists imagine that they can, in fact, specify a place and time for a 'mind-independent' object. What is overlooked is that they can only specify a place and time in place and time as we experience them. He did not doubt that one can do this, but that it is objective. One has simply related ideas to experiences (the idea of an object to our experiences of space and time). In this case there is no space and time, and therefore no objectivity. Space and time as we experience them are always piecemeal (even when the piece of space is big, as in some astronomical photos), it is only in imagination that they are total and all-encompassing, which is how we definitely imagine (!) 'real' space and time as being. This is why he argued that the materialist has merely an idea of an unperceived object: because people typically do take our imagining or picturing, as guaranteeing an objective reality to the 'existence' of 'something'. In no adequate way has it been specified nor given any acceptable meaning. As such he comes to his conclusion that having a compelling image in the mind, one which connects to no specifiable thing external to us, does not guarantee an objective existence.

What is Spinoza's thought on love of nature (God)?

His philosophy is summarized in the Ethics, a very abstract work, which openly expresses none of the love of nature that might be expected from someone who identified God with nature. And Spinoza's starting point is not nature or the cosmos, but a purely theoretical definition of God. The work then proceeds to prove its conclusions by a method modelled on geometry, through rigorous definitions, axioms, propositions and corollaries. No doubt in this way Spinoza hoped to build his philosophy on the solidest rock, but the method, as well as some of the arguments and definitions, are often unconvincing. Spinoza believed that everything that exists is God. However, he did not hold the converse view that God is no more than the sum of what exists. God had infinite qualities, of which we can perceive only two, thought and extension. Hence God must also exist in dimensions far beyond those of the visible world. Significantly, Spinoza titled his chief work The Ethics. He derived an ethic by deduction from fundamental principles, and so his ethics were closely linked to his view of "God or nature" as everything. The highest good, he asserted, was knowledge of God, which was capable of bringing freedom from tyranny by the passions, freedom from fear, resignation to destiny, and true blessedness. At first Spinoza was reviled as an atheist - and certainly, his God is not the conventional Judo-Christian God. The philosophers of the enlightenment ridiculed his methods - not without some grounds. The romantics, attracted by his identification of God with Nature, rescued him from oblivion. Nothing exists but God God is one, that is, only one substance can be granted in the universe. Whatsoever is, is in God, and without God nothing can be, or be conceived. God is the indwelling and not the transient cause of all things. All things which are, are in God. Besides God there can be no substance, that is, nothing in itself external to God. He calls this substance "God", or "Nature". In fact, he takes these two terms to be synonymous.

What is an example of a simple idea?

Ideas which come through one sense organ = color, sound, smell, warm, or hard.

What does Kant mean by categories?

In Kant's philosophy, a category (German: Categorie in the original or Kategorie in modern German) is a pure concept of the understanding (Verstand). A Kantian category is a characteristic of the appearance of any object in general, before it has been experienced. Kant wrote that "They are concepts of an object in general...."[1] Kant also wrote that, "...pure cоncepts [Categories] of the undеrstanding...apply to objects of intuition in general...."[2] Such a category is not a classificatory division, as the word is commonly used. It is, instead, the condition of the possibility of objects in general,[3] that is, objects as such, any and all objects, not specific objects in

What is a form?

In Plato's metaphysics,the idea essence of a thing.

What did Locke believe were the rights given by God?

In the Two Treatises of Government, he defended the claim that men are by nature free and equal against claims that God had made all people naturally subject to a monarch. He believed that God had rights as creator.

What is vain desire?

Include desires for power, wealth, fame, and the like. They are difficult to satisfy, in part because they have no natural limit. If one desires wealth or power, no matter how much one gets, it is always possible to get more, and the more one gets, the more one wants. These desires are not natural to human beings, but inculcated by society and by false beliefs about what we need; e.g., believing that having power will bring us security from others. Epicurus thinks that these desires should be eliminated.

What is pre-socratics' goal?

Interested in identifying the underlying essence of the universe and they wrestled with the apparent contradictions between the eternal and the finite, the immutable and the changing, appearance and reality.

What is Levianthan?

Is a book written by Hobbes in 1651. The title refers to a mythological sea creature that symbolizes evil. He uses this image to symbolize his belief in the need for a strong, authoritative central government that has the power to maintain control and order in the face of political turmoil. Written during the English Civil War (1642-1651), Leviathan argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign. Hobbes wrote that civil war and the brute situation of a state of nature ("the war of all against all") could only be avoided by strong, undivided government.

What is rationalism?

Is a philosophical movement which gathered momentum during the Age of Reason of the 17th Century. ...It is any view appealing to intellectual and deductive reason (as opposed to sensory experience or any religious teachings) as the source of knowledge or justification.

What is pre-established harmony?

Is a philosophical theory about causation under which every "substance" affects only itself, but all the substances (both bodies and minds) in the world nevertheless seem to causally interact with each other because they have been programmed by God in advance to "harmonize" with each other.

What is stocisim?

Is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished throughout the Roman and Greek world until the 3rd century AD. ... Later Stoics—such as Seneca and Epictetus—emphasized that, because "virtue is sufficient for happiness", a sage was immune to misfortune.

What is Heraclitus goal?

Is a warning of one ought not to talk or act as if he were asleep, cautioning against the tendency of many people to live their lives as sleepwalkers: drifting along with life's current, unreflective, unthinking.

What is substance monism?

Is the philosophical view that a variety of existing things can be explained in terms of a single reality or substance.

What is egoism?

Is the theory that one's self is, or should be, the motivation and the goal of one's own action. It has two variants, descriptive or normative

What does the pineal gland have to do with Descartes?

It is a tiny organ in the center of the brain that played an important role in Descartes' philosophy. He regarded it as the principal seat of the soul and the place in which all our thoughts are formed.

What does Kant mean by faculties?

Knowledge, feeling, and desire.

What does "better to be the victim of injustice than to commit injustice"?

Literal, obvious meaning: You are better than me so I must deserve to have this done to me. I would choose to be the victim than to do injustice to someone else. Hidden, real meaning: I would rather hurt someone then be hurt myself.

Why does Berkley believe that there is no material substance?

Matter" or "material substance," is, a philosophical abstraction which only "philosophers" (who do doubt the reality of the world we actually perceive) believe in. Materialists and dualists who do hold that matter or material substance is real and is the cause of our perceptions of physical objects are the ones who deny the common sensical belief that what is real is what we perceive. They hold instead the mechanistic world view, which denies that the world is as we perceive it, and insists that the physical world is composed of entities possessing only the primary properties of extension. All of the "secondary" properties we perceive physical objects as having, in reality exist only in our perceptions, not in the objects themselves. Berkeley is out to show that this view is absurd, inconsistent, confused, and leads to skepticism, and even worse, to atheism. He held that what we perceive really is as we perceive it to be. But what we perceive are just sensible objects, collections of sensible qualities, which are themselves nothing other than ideas in the minds of their perceivers

What is philosopher king?

One who can combine enlightened thinking with superior leadership. Wise philospher who governs Plato's ideal city in The Republic.

Why does Plato consider art to be bad?

Plato had a love-hate relationship with the arts. He must have had some love for the arts, because he talks about them often, and his remarks show that he paid close attention to what he saw and heard. He was also a fine literary stylist and a great story-teller; in fact he is said to have been a poet before he encountered Socrates and became a philosopher. Some of his dialogues are real literary masterpieces. On the other hand, he found the arts threatening. He proposed sending the poets and playwrights out of his ideal Republic, or at least censoring what they wrote; and he wanted music and painting severely censored. The arts, he thought, are powerful shapers of character. Thus, to train and protect ideal citizens for an ideal society, the arts must be strictly controlled. Art imitates physical things, which in turn imitate the Forms, art is always a copy of a copy, and leads us even further from truth and toward illusion. For this reason, as well as because of its power to stir the emotions, art is dangerous. The artist, perhaps by divine inspiration, makes a better copy of the True than may be found in ordinary experience. thus the artist is a kind of prophet Art is imitation. Art is powerful, and therefore dangerous.

What is the myth (allegory) of cave?

Plato has Socrates describe a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them, and give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners' reality. Socrates explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not reality at all, for he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the manufactured reality that is the shadows seen by the prisoners. The inmates of this place do not even desire to leave their prison; for they know no better life.[ The one who makes it outside the cave should not forget about those who are still down there and believe that the shadows they see there are real beings

What is primary quality?

Properties of objects that are independent of any observer, such as solidity, extension, motion, number and figure. These characteristics convey facts. They exist in the thing itself, can be determined with certainty, and do not rely on subjective judgments. For example, if an object is spherical, no one can reasonably argue that it is triangular. Qualities are measurable aspects of physical reality.

What is secondary quality?

Properties that produce sensations in observers, such as color, taste, smell, and sound. They can be described as the effect things have on certain people. Knowledge that comes from secondary qualities does not provide objective facts about things. Qualities are subjective.

What does "unexamined life is not worth living" mean?

Refers to a life lived by rote under the rules of others without the subject ever examining whether or not he truly wants to live with those routines or rules.

What did Heraclitus contend?

That the primal element of the universe was fire, because all is change.

What are monads?

That which is one, has no parts and is therefore indivisible. These are the fundamental existing things, according to Leibniz. His theory is meant to be a superior alternative to the theory of atoms that was becoming popular in natural philosophy at the time.

According to Leibniz what does the best of all possible worlds mean?

The best of all possible worlds does not mean a world without evil, but rather the world with the least evil possible.

What were pre-socratics concerned about?

The best way to live a human life, and the ethical issues that are integral to this project.

What is Hinduism?

The common religion of India, based upon the religion of the original Aryan settlers as expounded and evolved in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita, etc., having an extremely diversified character with many schools of philosophy and theology, many popular cults, and a large pantheon symbolizing the many attributes of a single god. Buddhism and Jainism are outside the Hindu tradition but are regarded as related religions. A religion of India that emphasizes freedom from the material world through purification of desires and elimination of personal identity. Hindu beliefs include reincarnation.

What is entelechy?

The creative drive or inner urge that impels all things to achieve their purpose in life.

What is socratic method?

The exploration and interplay of ideas in discussions with other. Investigation of complete issues through a question and answer format.

What is simple idea?

The ideas which comes through sensation or reflection.

What is Taoism?

The philosophical system evolved by Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu, advocating a life of complete simplicity and naturalness and of noninterference with the course of natural events, in order to attain a happy existence in harmony with the Tao. The philosophy of Lao Zi that advocates a simple honest life and noninterference with the course of natural events.

What is dualism?

The position that mental, phenomena are, in some respects, non-physical and that as a result the mind and physical body are not identical.

What is empiricism?

The position that the senses (and sense experience) are primary in acquiring acknowledge.

What are primary qualities?

The properties of objects that reside in the objects (such as size, shape, weight), independent of our perceptions of the object.

What are secondary qualities?

The properties that do not reside within the objects themselves but instead are the power of objects to produce sensations in our mind (such as color, smell, texture, and taste).

What is the dynamic approach of socratic method?

The questioning and intellectual analysis to draw answers out of people rather than lecture then.

What is Confucianism?

The system of ethics, education, and statesmanship taught by Confucius and his disciples, stressing love for humanity, ancestor worship, reverence for parents, and harmony in thought and conduct. The ethical system of Confucius, emphasizing moral order, the humanity and virtue of China's ancient rulers, and gentlemanly education.

What is monism?

The view that attributes oneness or singleness to a concept (e.g., existence).

What is social contract theory?

The view that the main reason people agree to form political communities is out of necessity because life in a pre-political "state of nature" would be, thought preferable, extremely difficult.

What is ethical egoism?

The view that we act morally when we pursue our own self interest.

What are the four causes?

These causes are material, formal, efficient and final. The material cause is what something is made out of.

What did the stoics accept?

They accepted the distinction between concrete bodies and abstract ones, but rejected Aristotle's belief that purely incorporeal being exists. Thus, they accepted Anaxagoras' idea (as did Aristotle) that if an object is hot, it is because some part of a universal heat body had entered the object. But, unlike Aristotle, they extended the idea to cover all accidents. Thus if an object is red, it would be because some part of a universal red body had entered the object.

What is complex idea?

Those ideas combined by understanding.

What is an example of complex idea?

Those ideas which cannot exist by themselves, but are represented by others. Like distance, shape, place, length, infinite extension, duration, instance, temporal unit, or eternity.

What does "thought without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind mean?

Thoughts without content are void; intuitions without conceptions, blind. The mind produces abstract representations of the sensory input it receives; this is called "understanding" because the mind must interpret what it experiences without any other input.

Who is John Locke?

Was a British philosopher and physician who laid the groundwork for modern political theory with his concept of "inalienable personal rights."

Who is Baruch Spinoza?

Was a Dutch philosopher of Sephardi/Portuguese origin. By laying the groundwork for the 18th-century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy.

Who is Descartes?

Was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. Dubbed the father of modern western philosophy, much of subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day. A French philosopher considered the founder of modern philosophy. A mathematician and scientist as well. Was a leader in the 17th century scientific revolution. In Meditations on First Philosphy he rigorously analyzed the established knowledge of time.

Who is Berkeley?

Was an Irish philosopher and bishop known as one of the three great British empiricists. In Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge he defends an idealist position that maintains there exists not matter, only sensible objects, whose existence is to be perceived.

Who is an example of a philosopher king?

Winston Churchill or President Obama.