PHI Final
In "The Politics of the Binding of Isaac," Omri Boehm argues that the command of a higher authority (God or the State) to sacrifice one's children
Should be questioned, and when questioned does not represent a lack of faith or patriotism
Correspondence
Something is true if it matches with something in the world outside my mind.
Materialism, idealism, and dualism are theories that
The nature of reality, or what sort of stuff really exists
In "On Modern Time," Espen Hammer argues that clock time makes us aware of
The passing or loss of time, and orients us toward the future rather than the past
Nihilism
There are no truths
Caspar Hare argues that
There is knowledge about the world that cannot be described in the language of the natural sciences
Guy Kiddey states that
Though the east had many religious reformations, it never had a secular enlightenment
According Benjamin Fong, the aim of Freud' talking cure is
To unleash the ability to change oneself by opening channels of communication between the primary and secondary processes
According to Craig, Hume thought our reasons for believing a miracle did not occur are always stronger than believing that a miracle did happen.
True
According to Jennifer Nagel, "knowledge that" pertains to factual knowledge and appears to be a universal concept
True
Berkeley held that only minds and ideas exist, and that we can explain the persistence of things around us by positing that things continue to exist in the mind of God, or are perceived by God, even when we are not perceiving them.
True
Both Darwin and Alfred Wallace were influence by an essay on populations by Thomas Malthus, which allowed them to make the connection between the environment, in which food resources were limited, and the selective reproduction of populations.
True
Confucius taught that living well involves showing respect to the dead, and not just the living
True
Craig holds that it is legitimate to treat the ideas of someone long dead as relevant to a current debate.
True
Darwin believed that the individuals who were better at surviving would be the ones to reproduce, and in this way would pass on any traits that had helped them survive.
True
European philosophers, such as John Locke (17th C), thought that indigenous people in the Americas lived in a state of nature
True
Examples of ontological are rare
True
Julia Markovits points out that Jeremy Bentham, a proponent of utilitarianism, defended many liberal reforms, such as the right to divorce and the decriminalization of homosexuality.
True
Living an examined life means, in part, that one can explain why the things they consider important are important.
True
Nietzsche held that great men would have some qualities that are bit disturbing, but would be interested in the salvation of mankind through culture
True
On the memory account of personal identity, total amnesia would mean the death of a person, even if their body lives on.
True
On the narrative view of the self, selves are actively and continuously contructed.
True
Pragmatism is an American school of thought which evaluates ideas in terms of their consequences or usefulness for action
True
Robert Nozick held that there is no injustice in one person having more stuff (wealth) than another, as long as the wealthier one acquired her stuff justly (i.e., without stealing it).
True
The Chinese philosopher Xunzi taught that we should focus less on what we naturally are, and instead on what we can become--something different and far better than what we think we were naturally born to be
True
The defensive approach to skepticism argues that skepticism looks appealing because it is anchored in our generally helpful ability to suspend judgement and double-check our thinking, but that skepticism carries this good thing too far in a way that is self-destructive
True
The gradient theory of personhood holds that being a person is matter of degree
True
Understanding how we identify persons, and whether persons persist over time, is important because our expectations about what obligations we have, what we are responsible for, or the promises we or other have made, depend on understanding these things.
True
Whether an argument is valid or not has nothing to do with whether the premises are true.
True
In "Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene," Roy Scranton suggests that due to global warming
We all need to prepare for the collapse of civil order, like soldiers in a war zone
Pyrrhonian skeptics assert that
We don't know whether knowledge is possible
Jeremy Waldron argues that, if we accept drone warfare as ethical,
We have to imagine the tables being turned and these weapons being used against us
Mandeville's theory of human nature as inherently selfish lacks a falsifying criterion
Which means there is no evidence that could disprove his theory
In "Fugitive Slave Mentality," Robert Gooding-Williams argues that Florida's Stand Your Ground Law is similar to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 because
White people who kill black people will be taken at their word that they acted in self-defense, if there is no evidence to the contrary
Henry Shue argues that
Without access to healthcare, shelter, and food, people generally cannot exercise their rights or freedoms
In "The Enigma of Chinese Medicine," Stephen T. Asthma suggests that it is reasonable to believe in the effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine (e.g., acupuncture, turtle blood, etc.)
Without believing in qi
According to Jennifer Wang,
all solutions to the ship of Theseus puzzle have some disadvantages, there is no easy or obvious answer.
Consequentialism is
an ethical theory that evaluates actions in terms of their consequences.
The problem of perception is that
because objects often appear to us as having shapes, sizes, or colors different from the objects themselves, what are we directly aware of when we perceive things?
Empiricists hold that
derive most, if not all, of our knowledge from perception
The classical Chinese model of the self holds that
i fall into patterns of reacting to the world (ruts) which I identify with myself
In a valid deductive argument
if the premises are true, then the conclusion must be true
Crito tries to persuade Socrates to let his friends help him escape by arguing that
in submitting to his sentence he will fulfill his enemies' wishes his children and friends will suffer if he dies in cooperating with his sentence he is giving up his life unnecessarily
For Socrates, living a good life involves
living an examined life, utilizing one's reason to control one's passions, and contributing to the stability of one's society
Travis Timmerman argues that
missing out on an earlier birth and a later death are both bad, but we worry more about our death because we don't know when it will happen, and also our actions can have some impact on when death occurs
According to Craig,
philosophy that has persisted over time has often been inspired by deeply held beliefs
To say that Science is a social construct means, in part, that
scientific statements are made in social contexts and deploy rhetoric, which affect whether they are accepted as true, not necessarily if or when they are actually true.
Coherentism
something is true if it is rationally given from my other beliefs.
Pragmatism
something is true if it is useful
Deflationism
the adjective true misleads us to think that there is a relation to truth, which is different to what the sentence states.
Logic
the criteria of valid arguments and sound reasoning
Metaphysics
the fundamental nature of reality and what exists
Epistemology
the methods for gaining genuine knowledge
Value Theory
the nature of the good life and right action, and beauty
Edmund Gettier showed that...
there are cases where someone's belief can be both justified and true, and yet not count as knowledge.
B-theorists of time hold that
time doesn't pass
For Kant, the maxims upon which I act (morally) should be
universalizable
Derek Parfit argued that
we are really more concerned about our survival than (logically) identity, and survival is a matter of degree
For Kant, it is wrong to use the services of another person
when one cannot simultaneously respect that person's own ends
Greg Ganssle argues that it can be reasonable to commit 100% to actions even when...
when we are not 100% certain we will achieve our goal.
Abduction and induction
work better when we have or gather more data do not guarantee true conclusions are used often in science and medicine
You have a positive right to something if
you are entitled to help in getting it, when you cannot get it yourself
The body theory of personal identity holds that
you remain the same person throughout your life because you have the same body from birth to death
Epicurus held that one should not fear one's own death because
you won't exist and therefore won't experience death
Derek Parfit claims that
your degree of responsibility for a promise depends upon your degree of psychological connection to the person who made the promise - I'm not the same person as some of my past or future selves - parts of me survive the passage of time because they're psychologically connected to my previous selves
Jeremy Waldron argues that drone warfare, as it currently exists, involves
*An expansion of the area for operations, and those participating in the attacks, such as CIA operatives who are not subject to military ethics *An expansion of the targets, so that we are targeting not just those involved in combat but also preachers, propagandists, recruiters, drug lords, and anyone who can be defined as an enemy of one's people *The maintenance of a secret death list by government authorities
Olufemi Taiwo concludes that
*Changing a nation's character involves motivating everyone to do the tough work of restructuring systems *The justifications for hyper-policing are sociologically circular, in that it stems from racial stigma, which is partly due to ghettoization and concentrated poverty, which result in part from over-policing *We are not going to find the solution to crime by focusing on one point in the circle of poverty, racial stigma, and hyper-policing
The Ethiopian philosopher, Zera Yacob,
*Held that men and women should be equal in marriage, and that slavery is bad *Developed his ideas in the 17th century, before many of the famous European Enlightenment thinkers *Said that God allows there to be evil so that we can become worthy and develop morally
Karl Popper held that
*Scientific statements must be testable, refutable, and falsifiable *Irrefutable theories are not scientific *Pseudo-scientific beliefs appear to be confirmed by everything
Mendieta claims that
*The 13th amendment, which abolished involuntary servitude, allowed it to continue as a form of punishment *"Black Laws," in the Reconstruction period, criminalized most of the activities of recently liberated Blacks *The Black ghetto is the result of the "separate but equal" doctrine enshrined in Jim Crow segregation laws
In Hinduism, karma
- Affects your future lives - Something you should not collect - Is about what you do and emphasizes personal responsibility
Peg O'Connor compares alcohol addiction to
- Avoiding the truth about the consequences of drinking - Isolating oneself with others who are similarly self-destructive and dependent - Being fixated on a shadow reality
Aristotle thought that
- One function of the well ordered state was to help individuals make the progression from worse moral behavior to better - Laws are able to habituate people to perform the correct moral action - A legislator must possess the intellectual virtue of understanding what constitutes vicious and virtuous behavior, and knowing how to direct people to do what is right
Bertrand Russell answers the skeptics challenge by arguing that, though it's possible we are merely dreaming when we think we are awake, or that we are in the control of an evil genius, or that we are merely a brain in a vat
- Our reasonable judgements are strong enough to count as knowledge, without complete certainty about the falsity of the skeptic's scenarios - Our belief in the outer world is an instinctive belief which is not inconsistent with our other instinctive beliefs, so we should not reject it - The common sense view is simpler and the best explanation of our experience
Erin McKenna claims that men predominate in Philosophy, in part, because
- Philosophers tend to value Reason over the Emotions, which leads to seeing some groups of people as less capable or less rational - The ability to welcome and not crumble in the face of opposition is not something girls are socialized to do; instead, girls are socialized to be polite - Philosophy has a tradition of arguing, which can be seen as aggressive or combative
Hegel's master/slave dialectic is often invoked as a metaphor to illuminate
- The struggle for domination inherent among conscious subjects seeking self-validation - The power dynamics among people belonging to different nations, classes, races, or genders - The politics of recognition and social respect, as distinct from the politics of distribution
Margaret Cavendish held that
- Your mind can move matter, so it must be made of matter - Your mind travels with you so it must be bound to the material you are made of - Matter can think
Puett states that the Western view of the good life or being liberated includes the following components
- one should be sincere and authentic, by finding and being one's true self - knowing who one really is should guide important life decisions, such as one's choice of career or partner - one should love and accept oneself, which means embracing one's good and bad traits
Contract theorists hold that political rulers derive their authority from
A kind of contract
In "The Moral Hazard of Drones," John Kaag and Sarah Kreps define a "moral hazard" as a situation in which
Agents take greater risks because they are shielded to a large extent from the costs related to those risks
Plato's allegory of the cave calls attention to the distinction between
Appearance & reality
Eliminate materialism is the view that
As science progresses, the fit between our ordinary psychological categories and the brain may not be a good one
Philosophers generally define persons as
Beings who are part of the moral community and who deserve full moral consideration
Mengzi held that human beings are naturally
Benevolent
Africana Philosophy refers to Philosophy done by
Both people living in Africa and their descendants who scattered beyond their traditional homeland
In "Is American Nonviolence Possible?" Todd May attributes high levels of violence in the U.S. to
Competitive individualism, insecurity, and neoliberalism
According to Daniel Dennett, Darwin showed that
Complex design could be generated by a mindless, purposeless process
Reductionism, in the philosophical sense, is the view that
Complex phenomena can be explained in terms of casual interactions among the basic constituents of the universe
The mind/body problem
Concerns the relationship between the mind and the body
According to Chris Surprenant, Nietzsche
Criticizes conventional morality for being life-denying and argues that the values associated with human flourishing should be life-affirming
According to Jennifer Nagel, the dreaming argument, and evil genius and brain-in-a-vat thought experiments raise doubts about
Everything you would ordinarily take yourself to know
A new designer handbag that has no imperfections illustrates the concept of wabi-sabi
False
A strong correlation always implies causation.
False
According to Eugen Fischer, sense data are stable and objective, like physical objects.
False
Benjamin Fong holds that Freudian therapy is useless
False
Craig claims that the monk Nagasena successfully proves to King Milinda that there is no enduring self, just an unstable composite.
False
Determinists generally believe in agent causation
False
Michael Puett contends that bad relationships are impossible to change
False
To know whether a deductive argument is valid, you need to understand both its form and content
False
Tyler Doggett considers the Twilight Zone episode in which aliens come to earth and farm humans for food, and concludes that it's okay for aliens to kill and eat humans for food, but it's not okay for humans to kill and eat other humans for food
False
We reason better if we ignore evidence that conflicts with our beliefs.
False
John Rawls's theory of justice
Focuses on making sure that everyone is actually in a position to meet their basic needs. Holds that any inequalities that exist in a social system should benefit the least well-off, analyzes justice in terms of fairness.
The kung fu approach, according to Peimin Ni
Focuses on the cultivation of virtue, including intellectual virtue
Espen Hammer contends that utopian thinking is
Forward-looking and may help us change how we live
The concepts of caste and karma
Have had an important influence on the Indian subcontinent for millennia
Descartes argued that even if I am deceived by an evil genius about most things I think I know
I cannot doubt that I am doubting or thinking, and therefore that I exist as a thinking subject
The equal consideration of interests, according to Peter Singer, means that
Identical interests should be given equal weight regardless of the type of being they occur in
Petter Adamson defines "Philosophy in the Islamic World"
In the same way as Islamicate philosophy
The rope around the earth problem shows that
Inn some cases we can discover we're wrong when presented with a mathematical proof. There are subjects about which we have strong and unshakeable beliefs, but if we're wrong there is no way to prove it with certainty. Sometimes we're certain about somethings and yet we're wrong.
The state of nature, according to political philosophers,
Is a time or place where people live without a common government
B-theorists hold that the word "here"
Is an indexical that picks out a particular part of time
Speciesism, according to Peter Singer,
Is giving preference to our own species in the absence of morally relevant differences
The presentist view of time
Is incompatible with the theory of relativity *Holds that the past does not exist *Holds that the future does not exist
John Knobe's experiments suggest that what we take to be a person's true self
Is the part we find most valuable
In "Good Minus God," Louise Antony argues that
Morality is independent of the belief in God
Shahrar Ali contends that we need to
Move to a carbon-based currency
Utilitarians hold that
Only happiness and the absence of suffering are valuable themselves. We should always act to maximize happiness and minimize suffering. Each person's happiness counts for as much as anyone else's.
Chinese philosophers, according to Michael Puett, tend to view mindful self-acceptance as an approach to life that
Overvalues an unchanged nature - Makes us too comfortable with the way the world is or what we are doing - Discourages us from trying to alter the world or ourselves
According to Bryan Van Norden, Confucius taught that
Personal duties to our family sometimes supersede obligations to the state