PHIL 1060 Final pt.1 Definitions

Taoism

"Dao" means "the Way" , both the way the world works and the way for humans to live in harmony with it Stresses adapting yourself to the natural flow of events rather than trying to impose your will Be like water, go along with the flow, flow smoothly around obstacles, go with the channel Grass is flexible and bends with the wind, so it survives Flexibility looks like weakness but it is a strength Don't meddle with spontaneous processes, let them evolve unhindered Think intuitively, language and abstract thought lead us astray Prefer non-action

Mereological reductionism

A whole is nothing over and above the sum of its parts and only the ultimate parts are real Mereological reductionism cannot go with infinite divisibility, it would lead to metaphysical nihilism (nothing is real/exists)

Sarvastivada

Abhidharma Buddhism Doctrine of Substance Direct Realism

Sautrantika

Abhidharma Buddhism Followers of the Sutras Representational realism Only the present moment is real (not the past or future)

Aristotle

Ancient Greek philosopher happiness does not equal honor happiness = excellence, virtue, complete life, rationality, adequate supply of external goods (prosperity) Individual substances are the most basic realities on which everything depends Part of the soul is immortal and separable from the body Material distance is infinitely divisible, but infinitely many parts exist only potentially

Ibn Khaldun

Ash'arite sociologist When nomadic society becomes more prosperous, government gradually increases taxes to the point where citizens lose incentive to be productive

al-Nazzam

Atomic leap Humans are made of two aspects: Material self, and Spirit (not subject to determinism)

Xenophanes

Believed God has a spherical shape Focus on one being of extraordinary power and excellence, "one greatest god".

Pudgalavada

Buddhist school Doctrine of the person Enduring and changeless self distinct from the skandhas Asymmetric dependence: the fuel can exist without the fire but fire cannot exist without the fuel

Nirvana

Buddhist state of no suffering, desire, or sense of self; the subject is released from the cycle of reincarnation and karma. Ultimate goal of Buddhism

Wang Chong

Chinese philosopher during Han dynasty Ghosts are illusory because they are usually seen wearing clothing and why would they be wearing clothing? Materialist Argument for innovation over creation "all literary works can not be seen as creations for a creation is something wholly new and there are very few creations. The first invention of language is the creation for no literary work can wholly be independent from language"

Agent (or active) intellect

Concept in classical or medieval philosophy Aristotle; how human intellect passes from non-thinking to when it does think Required to make potential knowledge into actual knowledge

Xunzi

Confucian Human nature is bad People have an inherent desire to improve themselves and become better, proving that human nature is bad. If people were good already, they wouldn't desire to become good

Plato

His most famous contribution is the theory of Forms known by pure reason, in which Plato presents a solution to the problem of universals Our world is full of errors and broke, there is a higher perfect realm populated by entities (forms or ideas: goodness, beauty, equality, bigness). The soul is different from the body, does not depend on the body to exist, soul can remember Forms of past life.

Mengzi (Mencius)

Human nature is good An unjust king is no longer a king and no longer deserves obedience Confucian

Ship of Theseus

Identity experiment If an object has all of its parts replaced, is it still the same object Every piece of Ship of Theseus replaced, is it still the Ship of Theseus?

al-Andalus

Muslim governed Iberian Peninsula "Somewhere between utopia of toleration and nightmare of oppression" Spain and Portugal

al-Kindi

Muslim philosopher Translated greek philosophical and scientific works into arabic The first cause must be one and not many because many causes sharing a common form would be composite and so created (composite, as one)

Parmenides

One thing exists in the universe Interpretation: Strict Monist, Logical-Dialectical, Meta-principle, Aspectual, and Modal

Advaita-Vedanta

Orthodox Hindu School Advaita means "prior" focuses on Vedas, info created prior to the Upanishads Brahman=Atman Metaphysical monism: there is only one fundamental substance in existence

Purva-Mimamsa

Orthodox Hindu School Dualistic eternalism Direct realism Atheism Developed rational argumentation Believes in all pramanas? Yes to atomism

Nyaya-Vaisheshika

Orthodox Hindu School Dualistic eternalism God made the world from something but didn't make it [the building material] or souls

al-Razi

Persian philosopher and physician founded hospitals and compiled various writings on medicine and healing into one book, called the "Comprehensive Book on Medicine"

Anaxagoras

Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher The cosmic mind starts the whirling motion which separates things originally mixed together Eleatic theory of Metaphysics: No becoming or passing away, Everything is in Everything, and No smallest or largest.

Protagoras

Pre-Socratic philosopher credited the theory that whatever seems true to that particular person is true.

Vasubandhu

Sautrantika to Sarvasitvada to Yogachara Buddhism Buddhist monk Wrote commentary on Abhidharma from both Sautrantika and Sarvastivada Side

Plotinus

Sensation, perception, and sin belong to the soul-body compound Three principles of Meta-Physics: "The One" (the good), Intellect, and soul The Soul is not the principle of life rather the principle of desire The human person is essentially a soul employing a body as an instrument An embodied person is a conflicted entity capable of thought and of the composite's non-cognitive states, appetites and emotions.

Third man argument

Started with Plato when he used "greatness" to criticise the theory of forms The "third man" part comes from aristotle when he used man to criticise saying "if a man is a man because he partakes the form of man, then a third form would be required to explain how man and the form of man are both man and to infinity".

Zhuangzi

Taoist When invited to Qin court said he's rather be turtle dragging its tail through the mud than a dead turtle wrapped in silk in a court

Non-action (wu wei)

Taoist idea Practice leads to non-action, almost like you are no longer doing anything/making any effort Butcher example about cutting meat, with practice is almost seems like the meat cuts itself

Atomism

a theoretical approach that an object can be described by its parts/components rather than the whole Greek atomists believe that matter is finitely divisible

Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

falsafa creation is not a point in time, but rather like the sun emanating heat/light "floating man" Doctrine of atomism is false Defends that everything is necessary through itself or through another God is not composed of parts because nothing with parts can be necessary through itself

Maimonides

Discussed Kalam theorists work Every substance has accidental properties Every accidental property must have a beginning in time An everlasting substance cannot be the subject of an infinite temporal series of accidental properties Time is difficult to understand because it is an accidental property of an accidental property The universe had a beginning in time can be proven by reason

Universals

Explain relations of qualitative identities Qualities "that apple is red", "my shirt is dirty" All in all used to give meaning to an object's qualities, for without its qualities would they be that object.

Mohism

Focuses on results Rituals are a costly indulgence that only upper class can afford Every tradition was once an innovation All conflict in society is due to partiality Believe in impartial universal concern (i.e. care for everyone equally)

Yogachara

Form of Mahayana Buddhism Denies materiality, says reality is created by the mind Yes to pramanas No to Universals

Nagarjuna

Founder of Mahayana Buddhism Doctrine of Emptiness Motion does not exist as it is conceived

Zeno of Elea

Founder of Stoicism Student of Parmenides After a long time refusing to talk, Zeno finally said he would reveal the information but only directly to the tyrant by whispering in his ear- then bit into the ear forcing the tyrant to kill him in order to be let go. Attempts to show conceptual incoherence in the notions of plurality and motion and the paradoxes involved in each.

Epicurus

Founder of the Epicurean school in Athens

Confucianism

It shows the way to ensure a stable government and an orderly society in the present world and stresses a moral code of conduct.

Saadya Gaon

Jewish Kalam philosopher Since heaven and earth are finite, the force that preserves them must likewise be finite, so heaven and earth cannot last forever Some of God's commands are arbitrary, make salvation more difficult for us, thus more meritorious God keeps track of all matter to make sure none of the same bits are used twice, in terms of when God resurrects everybody

Gongsun Long

Member of the school of names White horse is not a Horse: X is not Y

Han Feizi

Legalist Even a thief would obey law if punishments were harsh and severe enough, certain

Pramanas

Legitimate sources of knowledge Perception: sensory perception of external objects through the five senses and internal perception of the contents of our own mind Testimony: covers cases where we acquire knowledge on the basis of someone or something else's say-so. Can refer to sacred scriptures or people we know Inference: matter of drawing conclusions from premises (premises obtained via perception)

Principle of lightness

Theory that posits fewer explanatory principles is preferable to a theory that posits more, so long as it does an equally good job of explaining the data/idea

Legalism

Thought all other schools were worthless distractions Social order determined by right incentive, effective bureaucracy, and strict regulations backed up by stern punishment Harsh state policies backfired on them Legalist thinkers punished by their own laws

Vishvamitra

Valiant warrior author of most of Mandala 3 of the Rigveda

al-Ghazali

We are all born with a "knowing pain in the soul," which causes us to seek happiness, but most of us seek substitute pleasures deriving from the body which cannot resolve a pain that is essentially spiritual. Accepts that our free will power over our actions and God's power over them are compatible

Socrates

What you really are is your soul When death approaches, the soul cannot perish, so it must relocate

Li Zhi

Wrote response to the claim that women are too short-sighted to understand the Way Many women have proven themselves capable of learning the Way The shortsightedness of women is result of being confined by men to a narrow circle, not their nature

Yang Zhu

Yangism Politics and pursuit of power not worth bothering about Late unpopularity in life Retreat to private life and enjoy it while you can

Dharmakirti

Yogachara Buddhists Arguments against universals Came up with Apoha: an argument that does away with the need for universals

Dignaga

Yogachara Buddhists Arguments against universals Came up with Apoha: an argument that does away with the need for universals

Laozi

ancient chinese philosopher Founder of Taoism

Ibn Rushd (Averroës)

muslim philosopher, The Commentator and Father of rationalism. Decisive Treatise: Examining tension between philosophy and religion. Didn't see why philosophers were seen as unbelievers: Knowledge is God's gift