Exam 3

How does Aristotle define nature?

that whose principle of change is internal to it

Who was the author of this book?

Cicero

How did we describe substance in the primary sense according to Aristotle? In Aristotle's view, what are the clearest examples of substances in the primary sense.

Concrete individual being that is a center action or activity (eg: organism)

Which two meanings are particularly prominent in St. Augustine's Confessions?

Confessing Sin and Confessing Praise

What are the three meanings of 'confession' we mentioned in class?

Confessing the Faith (Matthew 10) Confessing Sin (1 John) Confessing Praise (of God)

What are the two divisions of practical philosophy and what subject does each of these disciplines teach?

Domain of ethics and politics Domain of arts

What does this bishop teach St. Augustine so that St. Augustine changes his mind about the value of certain Manichee criticisms of Catholic Christianity?

Figurative reading of scripture

Who was the founder of the Manichee religion? When did he live?

Mani (Manes) - promised to put the church back together; around 216 AD

Given the soundness of an Aristotelian proof for the existence of God, what sorts of attributes foes God have according to Aristotle

Not living, eternal, self-thinking, most true, most perfect, timeless

The Epicureans practice metaphysics in order to facilitate the experience of ataraxia. What is ataraxia?

the absence of pain in the body and trouble in the soul (no trouble/disturbance)

What are the three divisions of theoretical philosophy and what subjects do each of these divisions treat?

Philosophy of Nature: nature is a domain of change Nature of God: the ultimate cause of change Nature of Man: a part of change

One way to think about Aristotle's views on substance is that they are the reverse of Plato's. Explain.

Plato points up to form to know abstract while Aristotle points to now, the concrete individual: form and matter

(1) "For I had my back to the light and my face to the things upon which the light falls: so that my eyes, by which I looked upon the things in the light, were not themselves illumined" (book four, ch. xvi, sec. 30). Which Platonic text does this bring to mind?

Plato's Allegory of the Cave

How did we describe the attitudes and approaches of the Pluralists and Plato to Parmenides and his arguments?

Pluralists compromised with Parmenides saying what we see and hear is an illusion. They think he's right, but they won't admit the senses deceive us like so. While Plato says there are two worlds, the Forms and the Sensible world, meaning being is something that can't be understood

What are his views about Catholic Christianity at this time?

St. Augustine is more accepting about Catholic Christianity at this time, no longer holding the Manichean teachings, and in the process of learning more information

Which of these three theories, if any, does St. Augustine accept?

St. Augustine never picks which he believes.

"I had become a great enigma to myself" (book four, chapter iv, section 9). What's happened to St. Augustine

St. Augustine's friend died

How is the subject matter of ontology different from all other disciplines? (the so called sciences)

The other sciences don't treat universally of being as being

What story from the New Testament did the professor use to illustrate the importance of this moment in St. Augustine's life?

Prodigal son

How did the ancient skeptics think about the good life?

Pyrrho maintained that both sensation and reason are illusory and relative and that consequently any certain or universal truth cannot exist. Therefore, one should suspend judgement and conform to local mores. (Acceptance of an ethics of tolerance and moderation).

List and describe the different emanations from the One, according to Plotinus

Reason (nous): the statement or expression of the one Soul: the statement of reason Body: bare physical matter; immanent aspect of Soul

what does Augustine begin to do in book one, chapter vi?

Recounting his relationship with God, starting at birth (wonders when the beginning was)

What is Plato's view of the human soul?

the immaterial soul hs always existed and will always exist

What are intellectual virtues?

the intellectual are habits using that show capacity for knowledge

How do the Greek Atomists respond to the special problem of change?

they accept change is real but believe all changes are accidental changes in atoms

How does Aristotle therefore answer the argument of Parmenides that tries to show that being cannot change?

he uses the philosophy of language saying that there are two ways of being: Actual and Potential

What is the problem of change?

how could something change, yet stay the same?

Fill in in the blanks: "human goodness is the full actuality of human nature at which human beings as potential necessarily aim. Since man is a rational animal, and as animal also vegetable, human goodness is the full actuality of man's _______, ________, and _________ potentialities."

vegetable, animal, rational

Define substance by making reference to change?

primary substance is accidental change

Fill in the blanks: "Subsidiary to this central theme [of the gradual development of an account of the four causes or principles], but closely related to it, are two others: the problem of ______ and the problem of _______, his _______ and his _______. While each of the earlier philosophers contributed to only some of these themes, _______ contributes to all of them and so does Aristotle as he critically develops _________ synthesis into a more literal and exact system."

Change, man, nature, good, plato, plato's

According to Platos' creation myth, there are four ultimate causes of the visible universe. What are these four causes?

1) Devine craftsman (designing) Efficient cause 2) Matter/space/the receptacle (indetermination) Material Cause 3) forms/laws of nature Formal cause 4) the form of forms/motivation Final cause (the Good)

What are Aristotle's dates?

384 - 322 BC

According to Aristotle, are virtues innate or acquired?

Acquired

Review Aristotle's definition of human happiness. What is the best life for human beings, the one that will make humans happy?

Active should with wisdom and virtue

What expression does Parmenides use to describe being?

Believes in only one being because there is nothing outside of being but non-being

Explain the Manichee views on the body, sex, and reproduction

Body/sex/reproduction - evil (sex is the devil's idea) Procreation - worst possible thing b/c it is tearing a piece of the light god and trapping it in the flesh.

Explain the cosmogony of Manichaeism.

Cosmogony - "began when the dark god broke off a piece of the light god, breaking it up into small pieces & imprisoned the pieces into flesh, to prevent them from returning to the light god. Through rituals, one could guide those pieces back to god (make him whole again).

Explain the cosmology of Manichaeism.

Cosmology - cosmic struggle between good and evil (dualistic reality)

How was St. Augustine conceiving of God and the human soul as a Manichee (book four, ch. xvi, sec. 31)?

God as a luminous immeasurable body and the human sould was a kind of particle broken down from that body.

"According to Aristotle, it is generally agreed that the human good is happiness; . . . Yet on the nature of happiness people often disagree, so Aristotle surveys a number of important traits of happiness upon which at least most people agree." What are these traits (p. 103)?

Happiness is the end and not just as a means. It is complete and self-sufficient and includes pleasure and virtue. It has material possession. And lastly, it is stable.

Why did St. Augustine become disillusioned with the Manichee responses to the problem of evil?

Hard to understand being could be harmed if a God (should be omnipotent); According to the Manichees, we don't do evil (starts taking responsibility for himself)

How does Aristotle solve the problem of change?

He says there are two types of change: accidental and substantial

What is Aristotle's Oreganon?

His logical and methodology treatises grouped together

What is Aristotles' four main division of virtues?

His main division of the virtues is between intellectual and moral

(a) Which book of philosophy had a profound effect on St. Augustine in his early years (book three, chapter iv)?

Hortensius

What was the potential problem for the skeptical school of thought which we mentioned in class

In order for something to be probable, it is implied that there is some standard of absolute certainty. The skeptic cannot consistently be skeptical of his skepticism itself or doubt that he doubts. There must be a limit.

List and explain Aristotle's four causes.

Material Cause: material of which a thing is composed Formal Cause: the structure of the material Efficient Cause: the force that imposes the form upon a matter Final Cause: purpose of factor that directs the efficient cause in a specific way

What is St Augustine doing in book one chapters ii-vi

Meditating upon God: how is god everywhere, praise of god, prayer for forgiveness and light, and the providence of God. Announcing themes (putting God first)

According to St. Augustine, if God had not created any persons, could there be any moral evil? Why or why not?

No, the created person has free will and therefore when they choose to act wrongly evil occurs

How do the advocates of each of these three christian theories of the soul answer the following questions: does the human soul come into existence with the body in this life?(ii) Is God the only efficient cause of the human soul?

O- Although our souls come into existence, it exists before the body (created in heaven; some souls sinned and a body is a prison that keeps us from heaven) T- Souls come into existence with our body (naturally from our parents); soul is a fancy type of material thing) C- soul doesn't pre-exist the body; comes into existence with the body (body: natural cause from parents) soul: not material; created by God

Explain the ontology of Manichaeism

Ontology - materialists - anything real is material

Which classical writer is associated with each of these theories?

Origenism: Origen of Alexandria (184-253 AD) - Greek Traducianism: Tertullian of Carthage (155-240 AD) - Latin Creationism: St. Jerome (347-420 AD)

what are the three christian theories of the soul being spoken about in St. Augustines time?

Origenism; Traducianism; Creationism

Aside from what is central for the good or happy life in Aristotle's view, what other sorts of things are necessary for a human life that is good or happy in Aristotle's view?

Rational, social, and individual

How does St. Augustine describe the effect reading this book had on him?

The book gave Augustine a new purpose and ambition in life. Instead of putting his hope in that which is vain and worthless, he now intensely desired and longed for an immortal wisdom.

How does the stoic sage think about the good life?

The stoic sage thinks about the good life as apartheid meaning an independence from and indifference to whatever happens to one, a rugged strength of mind which brings peace of mind or tranquility.

What does such a description of being imply about the science of physics?

This description refutes physics

Explain the Manichee views on evil.

Views on Evil - dark god - evil is a thing; all evil in the universe is caused by this thing

What is the best of virtues, according to Aristotle? Why?

Wisdom because it is paired with human happiness

(1) St. Augustine on why he wasn't finding the truth about God: "I went _____ of myself in the search for You and did not find the God of my heart" (book six, chapter i, section 1).

out

Define substantial form by making reference to change.

substantial change

Who is responsible for any evil act according to the Manichees

the dark god

Thus, as Parker notes, for Plotinus, "the supreme reality is ineffable and can be grasped only in _________ experience"

Mystical Experience

According to St. Augustine, is the person who knows God and everything there is to know about the natural world happier than the person who knows God but does not know everything there is to know about the natural world? Why or why not?

No, the person who knows both is happier on account that they know God, not the knowledge of the natural world. "And the man who knows both You and them is not the happier for them but only on account of You," (p. 79).

Compare and contrast what St. Augustine says about human happiness with the Socratic sufficiency thesis (book five, ch. iv, sec. 7).

"A true Christian who in some sense possesses all of this world of riches and who having nothing yet possesses all things, by cleaving unto You whom all things serve - is better though he does not even know the circles of the Great Bear than the one who can measure the heavens and number the stars and balance the elements, if in all things he neglects You who have ordered all things in measure and number and weight," (p. 79). St Augustine identifies happiness as the presence of knowing God versus knowing every detail about the natural world and an absence of the knowledge of God. Similarly, Socrates identified virtue as the key to happiness versus having great wealth and an absence of virtue.

Be able to recognize the classical argument from evil that God does not exist

1) If the God that Jesus of Nazareth speaks about exists, then there is a being that is omnipotent and good [assumption] (2) An omnipotent being can prevent any evil that it wills to prevent [assumption] (3) A good being would prevent any evil it could prevent [assumption] (4) Therefore, if there is an omnipotent and good being, then there is no evil in the world. [from (2) and (3)] (5) There is evil in the world [assumption] (6) Therefore, it is not the case that there is an omnipotent and good being [from (4) and (5), MT] (7) Therefore, the God that Jesus of Nazareth speaks about does not exist [from (1) and (6), MT].

According to St. Augustine, what is a human being apart from God (book four, chapter 1)?

A human being apart from God is but a guide to their own destruction, pursuing the emptiness of popular glory and the applause of spectators

St. Augustine suggests that his misery at the loss of his friend revealed something about himself that had, in fact, been concealed because of his friendship (book four, chapter vi, section 11). What?

A friend is another self; half of one's soul - In losing his friend, Augustine has lost himself as well.

According to Plotinus, why can't we properly predicate anything of the source of reality, the One?

According to Plotinus, we cannot properly predicate anything of the source of all reality, the One because it is above more. Saying it exists would be to make the One into two: unity and existence.

The common view is that there are two kinds of change. List and explain them

Accidental Change: concrete substance remains numerically the same through a change of its accidents (eg: Dr. Brown changing location) Substance Change: concrete individual beings (eg organisms); forms (abstract) explain what substance is: a substance can't lose its substantial form and remain existing

(1) Aristotle, in his work, Physics, and in his work, Metaphysics, offers a proof of the existence of God. After reading pp. 95-98, complete the following schema for an Aristotelian proof for the existence of God: Things change, e.g., something becomes hot that was not hot before. Something can't be _______ hot and _______ hot at the same time in the same respect. Therefore, if something changes, it is changed by another. But the series of explanations for why a thing changes can't go on to infinity. Therefore, there is a _______ mover or changer, itself unmoved and unchanged, which ________ moved mover of changer is the ultimate—if not only—cause or explanation for why things change. The ________ unmoved mover or changer of things that change is what we call 'God.' Therefore, God exists.

Actually, temporarily, caused, un, eternal

What is the "law" of change that applies to all changes according to Aristotle?

All change involves some subject that persists through change, were subject undergoes change by losing one pair of contrary properties gaining the other.

In the view of the Epicurean school of philosophy, what three things are the chief roadblocks to enjoying ataraxia?

Anxieties about death, divine intervention, fate

(1) Where is St. Augustine at in his account of his spiritual journey by the end of book five?

At the end of book five, St. Augustine decides to leave the Manichees because he prefers the philosophers, but refused to entrust his sick soul to the philosophers. St. Augustine decided to go on as a catechumen in the Catholic Church and remain in that state until some certain light should appear, leading him to steer his course in that direction.

Contrast St. Augustine's Catholic Christian views with each of these Manichee views.

Cosmology - struggle against carnal desires to turn towards God. Ontology - the real is the immaterial Theology - One omnipotent God Cosmogony - Story of creation (Genesis) Evil is our carnal desires and turning away from God Sex is for married people to have children

Name the two most important philosophers of the Epicurean school of philosophy and note where each of them comes from and their dates.

Epicurus (342-270 BCE) - Samos: founded famous school in Athens Lucretius -- author of the classic De Rerum Natura (first half of the first century BCE)

In what philosophical subject are the Epicureans primarily interested?

Ethics was the primary interest of the Epicureans (philosophy as a way of life)

) How did the Manichees respond to this classical argument from evil?

Evil is a being and the God of Jesus Christ, although good is semipotent. Premise 1 is false

St. Augustine thinks he had a pretty tough childhood. Given what St. Augustine says about the nature of God and creatures, why does it nonetheless make sense for St. Augustine to say the following: "Yet, Lord, I should have owed thanks to You, my God and the most excellent Creator and Ruler of the universe, even if it had been Your will that I should not live beyond boyhood" (book one, ch. xx, sec. 31)?

Existence is a gift from God and to exist is better than to not exist.

"You, O Lord, are ever living and in you nothing dies" (book one, ch. vi, sec. 9). What is St. Augustine saying here about the nature of God (see also, ch. vi, sec. 10)?

God is eternal and infinite

How does that show that St. Augustine is not simply speaking of a feeling when he talks about misery here?

He felt miserable after his friend died, but he was miserable even while he was alive.

According to St. Augustine, why was he miserable in losing his friend (book iv, chapters 7 and 9)?

He loeved his friend as though he would never die and was trying to get God out of his friend

Aristotle thinks these traits of happiness are best understood in terms of the notion that human beings are rational animals and so the good or happiness of human beings is the actualization of the human potential for rational activity. How, then, does Aristotle define human happiness?

He says it is an activity of the soul with virtue or if more than virtue, then with the best and most perfect part of their soul

Since the soul of a human being is innate and only potentially virtuous, and a virtue is the actualization of perfection of the soul, virtues are habits that are perfections of human nature. Vices are therefore habits that _______ human nature.

Inhibit

What is theoretical philosophy according to Aristotle?

It is concerned with the knowledge of what already is and must be; concerning reality as a fixed and unchangeable thing by humans

How do we know there is a natural world according to Aristotle?

It is evident through our senses

What are the divisions of Aristotle's philosophy?

Logic and Methodology, theoretical philosophy and a return down the ladder from principles to certain things

What Augustinian response to the classical argument from evil did we emphasize in class?

Premise 3 wrong, because sometimes God allows suffering for betterment further ahead

How does Parmenides respond to the problem of change and the special problem of change?

Parmenides believes there is no change

Fill in the blanks: "Aristotle conceives his philosophy as an inductive yet creative synthesis of both _______ experience and the _______. The experience which he wants his philosophy to explain is that of his philosophical ________ as well as his own."

Past Present Predecessors

With whom did Aristotle study for twenty years?

Plato

"I propose now to set down my past wickedness and the carnal corruptions of my soul. . . . and I collect myself out of that broken state in which my very being was torn asunder because I was turned away from Thee, the One, and wasted myself upon the many" (book two, chapter i, section 1). Which philosophical problem that we studied earlier in the course is suggested by St. Augustine's text here?

Plato's the one and the many • application to politics (the many/the beautifuls sensible/never satisfy us) - remind us of what is perfect (i.e. the one - the source of all things) • uses the language of lover and philosophy (the head and the heart)

Who is the bishop that has such a marked influence on St. Augustine when he moves from Rome to Milan?

St. Ambrose

How does St. Augustine begin the Confessions?

St. Augustine begins the Confessions with a prayer of praise (worship of the divine being, citing God's words, first instance of an autobiography, writes from a perspective of a believer.

(1) Why did St. Augustine find Faustus' refusal to answer his objections to Manichee cosmology so pleasing (book five, ch. vii, sec. 12)?

St. Augustine finds Faustus's refusal to answer his objections to Manichee cosmology so pleasing because Faustus knew that he did not know these things and instead of attempting to answer these objections through teaching while saying nothing, Faustus was modest in admitting his incapacity, something St. Augustine found to be a finer thing that that which he was in search of.

Why does St. Augustine find his act of stealing the pears so disturbing? (b) In the end, why does St. Augustine think he stole the pears?

St. Augustine thinks he stole the pears because of the pleasure in the crime itself, which came from the companionship of others sinning with him. St. Augustine finds his act of stealing the pears so perplexing because he had plenty of better pears of his own, and found no pleasure in the pears themselves.

Do these emanations from the One come from the One as a result of the One's free choice?

The One must, by the necessity of its own nature, emanate Reason; Reason must emanate Soul; and Soul must emanate Body. Thus freedom, for Plotinus, is not choice between different alternative possibilities but rather self-determination to one end; an act is free if and only if it is caused by the agent in question rather than by something outside that agent, even though the agent in question cannot help but cause that act.

(1) St. Augustine: "This indeed was the principle and practically the sole cause of my inevitable error" (book five, ch. x, sec. 19). What was?

The belief that in order to be real something had to be material

How do the Epicureans attempt to remove each of these roadblocks?

The fear of death must be removed by a true understanding of death as something of no concern to man. The fear of divine intervention is removed by understanding the nature of the gods in terms of the Epicurean ideal. The gods, who do indeed exist, must, of course, live a life of blessedness; if they did not, they would not be gods. That blessedness in untroubledness (ataraxia) has been established in the ethical theory. Since human life is certainly troubled and troubling, it follows that the gods in their untroubled life cannot have anything to do with human life, and they thus leave the Epicurean free to pursue a god-like life of tranquility. The fear of fate (retribution and determinism) is removed by means of metaphysical tychism or "chance-ism."

In general terms, at what do all things take aim (p. 102)?

The good because they all aim at their own potential

Explain the theology of Manichaeism

Theology - two semipotent gods (neither omnipotent) Light god - spoken about as father and abba - mercy, forgiveness dark god - god of the old testament - justice

How do Heraclitus and Plato respond to the problem of change and the special problem of change?

They accept that change is real, but that all changes are substantial changes which means no biology.

What are moral virtues?

using knowledge for the actualization of one's nature with its other parts in harmony

What is the special problem of change that we spoke about in class?

What is the matter of those changes when a new substance comes into being? Also known as the matter of substantial change.

What does it mean for two things to be named univocally?

Two things given the same name and have the same meaning

What does it mean for two things to be named equivocally?

Two things given the same name but having different meanings EG) Bank: money Bank: river

List and explain the two kinds of equivocal naming we mentioned in class

Uncontrolled equivocation or complete equivocation: completely different meanings Controlled equivocation or analogous equivocation: different meanings but closely related

How does the geographical center of Western philosophy change within the Hellenistic and Roman period of philosophy?

Western philosophy Changs within the Hellenistic and Roman period of philosophy, marked geographically by a gradual westward movement of the center of philosophical (and political and cultural) activity. Its dates are fixed by the death of Aristotle in 322 BCE to the closing of the schools in Athens in 529 AD.

"For thou hast made us for thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in thee." This is perhaps the most famous passage from the confessions. In fact, arguably, St Augustine is here announcing the major theme of work. What does it mean?

What makes a human happy? (pleasures v work on ones self) we want a perfect goodness and for anything that is material we can always think of something better than what we have right now we have been created in the image of perfect goodness and only perfect goodness and only perfect goodness can satisfy your wants (God)

According to Aristotle, can we prove the natural world is real?

Yes

What religious traditions seem to have had an influence on this founder of the Manichee religion?

Zorastrianism; gnostic thinker, Marcion - argued old testament isn't divinely inspired; Luke is only trustworthy/Paul's epistles. View: Hebrew - bad and Gentile - good

Define accidental form (or an accident) by making reference to change.

accidental change

Explain Aristotle's doctrine of the golden mean?

applies to moral virtues; they are means because their subject matter and extremes are attache. The Golden Mean is the middle part of these extremes: a balance

What is it that St Augustine wants to know in ch. vi sec 9?

contemplates his infancy.. when was the beginning?

What kind of equivocation is at issue when we use the word 'being; according to Aristotle?

controlled equivocation

What is the nature of evil according to St. Augustine, the neo-Platonist and Catholic Christian?

creatures are the first cause of any evil in things

St Aug came to believe as a Catholic Christian that god creates all things other than himself. as the professor presented in the doctrine of ex nihilo in class, that doctrine involves i) two denials and ii) two affirmations. explain

denials: 1) there is only one cause of the visible world.(God) and so God does not treated our of preexisting matter as plato thought 2) god doesn't create the visible world from his own body Affirmations: 1) God can bring something into nothing by simply thinking/willing it to happen 2) god is not just the cause of the beginning of the universe, he is the constant creating cause

how does Aristotle solve the special problem of change?

he says there is primary substance and prime matter

Define prime mater by making reference to change

first matter without substantial form meaning invisible to the eye, but not the mind

According to the stoic philosopher, since the wise person knows that a) determinism is true (determinisms = for any event E in the universe, E had to happen because of events coming before E), b) freedom is simply being able to do what one wants, and c) happiness lies in being free, it follows that, d) the key to happiness is wanting ______

freedom

What was the thesis of the book? (d) How does St. Augustine describe the effect reading this book had on him?

happiness found in wisdom

What is practical philosophy?

has doing and making rather than knowing as its goal; concerning reality as fluid and changeable by humans

What is the first or most basic thing to note about Aristotle's account of virtue (arete)?

it is a habit or character structure called hexis

(1) What were the three counter-examples to a premise in the classical argument from evil that we spoke about in class?

k) (1) Mother & child's request for candy (2) Mother consents to child undergoing cancer treatment (3) Mother allows child to go to sleepover.

Aristotle's views on the good or the happy life are usefully compared and contrasted with those of the Hellenistic and Roman philosophers. According to Aristotle, what is the central element of a good or happy human life?

self-realization; a life according to reason

What is the subject matter of ontology

the science of being, focused on what is beyond physical reality

How does St Augustine describe human beings?

tiny part of all the Lord has created: sinful, proud, desiring to praise the Lord

How does Epicurus think about the good life for humans?

untroubled, rather robust, sensuous hedonism

What is the subject matter of theology?

what is first in reality: AKA divine or God