Philosophy Final Exam Study Guide
What reason does Galen Strawson give for his conclusion "that an infinite regress would be set in motion by an attempt to show that character creates itself."?
"A decision to create one's character would have to be made by a character that must have preexisted the decision" (and so on, to infinity).
"Notice that, each in its own way, the Sartrean, Humean, and positivist critiques are indeed just that -assaults on the foundations of morality. Sartre tries to show that the foundations of morality must be subjective and unstable. Hume and the positivists try to show that morality cannot have its foundation in any true facts about the world." What is the question that follows this passage?
"But what if talk about the foundations of morality turns out to be misconceived?"
In an attempt to provide an account of realism, "Nelson Goodman in his Languages of Art (1968) introduces conventionalism. Goodman argues that realism "is arbitrary and culturally determined". Apparently, every identifiable object in a composition is not a copy of the thing it looks like; but rather, a symbol {or a code} to represent the thing - just as a letter is a code representing a sound. ~In this view, "so-called realistic art is simply art whose code we are used to." What is the problem with this view?
"If "realism" is arbitrary and culturally determined, why do we have as much luck as we do recognizing people, nature, and objects represented in the art of alien cultures?"
On pages 240-241, we read about how "the libertarians reject the analysis provoked by the Frankfurttype examples." Explain their objection. (5th Edition, pages 231-232)
"Jones is responsible only if he has genuine options", NOT if Jones mistakenly THINKS he has genuine options. (p. 240)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau "thought that men were born both free and good buy that society had imprisoned them and had corrupted their goodness." There is a famous line from Rousseau that describes these thoughts about the relationship between state of nature and government. What is this famous line?
"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains."
Locke states that we have a natural right to possessions (to property). Explain his argument
"The property right we have to our bodies can be extended to that which is created by our bodies' labor."
~What are these four, divine rights according to Locke?
"life, liberty, health, and property"
Name the three things that constitute the foundation of society, according to Marx
(Economics creates culture.) Foundation: Natural resources, means of production, and means of distribution
a) What is the five-worded phrase? b) What does this five-worded phrase mean?
- "No 'is' implies an 'ought'. - "No moral claims whatsoever could be derived from any merely factual claims."
Summarize this objection, given by critics of soft determinism. Summarize how soft determinists reply to this objection.
- "Samantha's act was a free act only if Samantha could have done" otherwise; but Samantha could not have done otherwise, because her desires are controlled by determinism. - Soft determinists deny "I could have done otherwise" is a component of freedom. Freedom is not about controlling your desires. Freedom is about satisfying your desires.
The English word "excellence" was used here to translate the Greek word ________________, which you have already run into, sometimes translated as "virture". For Aristotle there are two kinds of virtue: intellectual and moral. Intellectual virtue is acquired partly by having a good brain, and using it to fullest advantage in your educational studies. Moral virtue requires the development of _______________________ that result in "states of character" -that is, in dispositions to act in certain waysand these states of character are virtuous for Aristotle if they result in acts that are in accordance with "_____________________________________". For Aristotle, a "____________" is a position taken between two extremes; he calls one extreme "__________________" and an opposite extreme "_______________".
- Arete - Good habits - The Golden Mean of Moderation - Mean - Deficiency - Excess
"Despite his carefully thought out moral defense, Naess says that he prefers to base deep ecology on ontology rather than ethics." In particular, Naess finds inspiration in the ontology of Baruch Spinoza. a) What is the error that Spinoza detects in Descartes's concept of substance? b) How is viewing reality from the perspective of sub specie aeternitatis beneficial to the movement of deep ecology?
- Descartes error is to think that the mind (the self) is distinct from the body (nature). - "the human has no more or less dignity than anything else in nature."
Clive Bell, in his 1914 book, Art, writes about formalism, in another attempt to answer the question, "What is art?" "Bell's theory was that what turns an artifact into a work of art is its display of "significant form". a) What is the main problem with this theory? b) What is another problem with this theory?
- Even after reading his book, we still have no idea what "significant form" is supposed to be. - "Significant form" is an evaluative and not a descriptive term."
For Aristotle, courage is a virtue is a mean, located between two vices (or extremes). The vice of excess is _________________________. The vice of deficiency is _______________________
- Foolhardiness - Cowardliness
c)"Some formalists have tried to correct this last problem by saying that the function of art is to exhibit significant form, and a necessary and sufficient condition of art is the artist's intention to exhibit such form." Yet, "this retreat into intentionalism" is problematic itself. How so? d) "A later group of thinkers, attracted to formalism but believing that the deletion of "content" from the definition of art is a mistake, developed a theory they call "neo-formalism", according to which the function of art is to marry form and content in satisfying ways." Yet neo-formalism would fail to account for the works of Jackson Pollock and other forms of aleatoric art. Why?
- Formalism was developed to describe art by only looking at features you could see; but, you can't see a person's intentions! - This artwork lacks content altogether; so, it is impossible to "marry" form and content
What is the view that Hyman attacks? b) "Hyman makes a more convincing argument in this defense of the idea of realism in representative art, an idea that some art critics -perhaps under the influence of writers like Goodman and Gombrich- have abandoned as laughable." Hyman argues, "if we concentrate not on _________________________ but on _________________________________, we will find the idea of realism to be accurate and useful."
- Hyman attacks the view that "the images produced by artists are illusions." 1. content 2. technique
a)What idea does modern virtue ethics reject? b) "Besides rejecting as artificial the kind of program and absolutism we found in Kant, virtue ethics also mounts an attack on the ___________________________________ of the utilitarians c) What is the role of emotions in virtue ethics?
- Modern virtue ethics rejects "the idea that morality can be codified." - Consequentialism - "Virtuous actions are performed with the right feelings and emotions behind them."
a) G.E. Moore proposes that defining 'good' according to natural qualities makes one guilty of committing a logical fallacy. What is the name of this fallacy? b) In Principia Ethica how does Moore define the term 'good'?
- Naturalistic fallacy - The good is a non-natural quality that can only be recognized but never analyzed.
a) When is it justified to commit a revolution against the monarchical dictator (king/queen)? b) Why?
- Never, unless the revolution succeeds - Power (not morality) is the ultimate justification of a ruler's right to rule.
In capitalism, the majority of people are "mutilated individuals" whose "work is stolen from her and becomes part of an economic system that is hostile to her own interests", producing an effect called "_____________________________________________". Yet according to "Marx's optimistic teleological conception of history", "the interests of the majority must finally triumph." ~Palmer states three aspects of Karl Marx's vision for society (pages 373-374). State at least one.
- alienated labor - Society uses resources to produce things that satisfy real needs instead of false needs.
What kind of concept is the concept of 'game'? b) "According to Weitz, then, questions like "Is Andy Warhol's Elvis art?" cannot be answered by appealing to an already established definition; rather a ______________________ is called for: shall we extend the concept "art" to cover his case? Apparently the reasons one can give to justify one's decision to apply or withhold the title "art" must have to do with what Wittgenstein calls "________________________________________________________".
- open concept - decision, and family resemblances
"Like every moral theory, virtue ethics has had its critics. A primary one is the charge of circularity in defining "practical wisdom," an idea that is central to Aristotle's {virtue ethics}."... "It sounds as though "virtue" is defined as "what a virtuous person does." a) What is phronimos? b) What is the objection raised by Robert Louden with regard to phronimos?
- role models for learning virtue - "But who are the phronimoi? And how do we know one when we see one?"
a) "Mill accepts the basic principle of hedonism." What is the basic principle of hedonism? b) ... "but he also claims that".... "Some pleasures are better (more valuable) than others."
- the sole criterion of value is pleasure - Some pleasures are better than others
There are many players who attempted to sketch out the role of freedom in a determined universe. They are, in order of historical appearance, Leucippus & Democritus, Henri d'Holback & Simon LaPlace, Sigmund Freud, and B.F. Skinner. Fill in blanks where necessary. a) "The _____1._____ (more or less the conscious self) is nothing more than a façade masking a ferocious struggle between the _____2._____ (the antisocial, animal self that "wants it all now") and the ______3.____ (the irrational nay-saying, guilt-spawning social conscience). According to this deterministic reading of __________4._______________, all significant actions of the so-called normal person, as much as those of the psychotic are unfree."
1. EGO 2. ID 3. SUPER EGO 4. FREUD
How does The Facelift Argument support the conclusion "that such a "free will" would not be worth having even if it were available"?
1. If I can still choose either way on getting the facelift even after deliberating, then deliberating has no effect. 2. If I have free will, then I can choose either way on getting the facelift even after deliberating. Therefore, if I have free will, then deliberating has no effect.
Define the following. 1. Free Will 2. determinism 3. Indeterminism 4. hard determinism 5. libertarianism 6. soft determinism 7. causal explanation
1. The power to do one action instead of another 2. every event occurs necessarily according to the law of cause and effect 3. determinism is false because some events are uncaused 4. Freedom is free will; and free will does NOT exist because determinism is true. 5. Freedom is free will; and free will does exist 6. Determinism is true and freedom does exist because freedom is NOT contractual free will; but rather, freedom is getting what you want. 7. Explanations that show how events follow necessarily from earlier events, according to certain laws, usually from "laws of nature".
According to soft determinism (also called compatibilism), "freedom is compatible with determinism. I sometimes do what I want to do even if my will was determined according to Freudian or Skinnerian principles. So both freedom and necessity can exist in the same world." "But many people are dissatisfied with the soft determinist's definition of freedom as ________________________________1._____________("desire to do X" plus "ability to do X" equals "freedom to do X")." (1 point) Besides the problem of "trivializing the idea of freedom" because of the "wealthy heroin addict {who} on this account freely engages in his addiction", "critics of soft determinism say that a more robust conception of freedom is required." Critics say something is missing from the soft determinist's account of freedom. What is missing? 2.
1. the coincidence of will and ability 2. This account of freedom is missing an explanation of how a person has the power to choose between two alternatives
d) "________________________________ wishes to replace the _____________________________ model with a _________________________ explanation, namely, with a stimulus-response model based on Pavlov's famous experiment with his drooling dog: when you get ready to feed a steak to a dog, the animal begins to salivate as soon as it sees or smells the meat. Now, if you repeatedly ring a bell just before you serve the steak, eventually the dog will begin to salivate at the sound of the bell. We need no "dog psychology" to explain this fact and no references to purposes, plans, intentions, and goals. It can be explained in purely mechanical terms. ________________________ believed he could extend the Pavlovian model to the human sphere, thereby overturning the traditional ________________________________ model and placing us "_______________________________________________________________________________".
14. Skinner 15. Teleological 16. Casual Explanation 17. Skinner 18. Teleological 19. Beyond Freedom and Dignity
b) Determinism "first appears in the history of philosophy in the theories of _____________________ (ca. 460?-?B.C.E.) and _______________________ (ca. 460-ca. 370 B.C.E.), who, at the culmination of a hundred years of speculation about the nature of reality (what we have called here "the pre-Socratic tradition"), concluded that every existing thing was composed of ___________________ in motion."
5. Leucippus 6. Democritus 7. Atoms
c)"_______________________ argued that the same principles that apply to the physical world must necessarily apply to the human brain, which was as much material in nature as were the moon and the stars. Therefore, every thought of every brain followed ____________________________ from the brain states that preceded those thoughts. ________________________ held a similar view and went so far as to imagine a genius who knows all the laws of nature, and if the genius has one complete description of the universe at any given moment, then he can _____________________ all future events and ___________________________ all past events. The "genius" has come to be known as "____________________________________________".
8. D'holbach 9. Necessarily 10. Laplace 11. Predict 12. Retrodict 13. Laplace's Demon
a) The experiential reason: b) The practical reason c) The practical problem of consistency
A. "We experience ourselves in the world" as having free will. B. "If hard determinism is true, then no one is ever [morally] responsible." C. Is it really possible to talk without using concepts like free will and responsibility?
"For Plato, the political problem of making the ethical into a force was the problem of making society embody the rational justification, and that problem could only have an ___________________________________________________."
AUTHORITARIAN SOLUTION
What is Kant's third formulation of the categorical imperative?
Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only.
Which ancient Greek philosopher is in agreement with the Seventh Tenet of Feminist Ethics, written by Mary Raugust?
Aristotle
"Plato has Glaucon say, "Virtue [arête] then, I seems, would be a kind of health and beauty and fine fitness of the soul; vice is disease and ugliness and weakness." What about Thrasymachus's question of whether it is more profitable to be just than unjust? Glaucon says, "The inquiry seems to me to become now absurd." Why?
Because asking, "Why should I be healthy?" is just as absurd as asking, "Why should I be just?"
What is the basis for Hobbes's "assumption that all people are equal"?
Equality amongst people is a physical fact. In combat, any single person can always be defeated by one or two other people.
Utilitarianism has some problems. The main problem is that utilitarianism goes against our intuitions about "justice and meritoriousness". Name the two fictitious examples that illustrate this problem.
Executing someone for unpaid parking tickets Harvesting organs from "Sam" to save the lives of five other people
. Martha Nussbaum replies to Robert Louden's objection about phronimos. What solution does Nussbaum suggest?
Find examples of phronimos in fiction where practical "wisdom is tested".
What is the painful sacrifice?
Giving up the idea of freedom as "origination", that "uncaused thoughts and actions originate" from yourself... (in a nutshell, giving up free will). (p.233-234)
What is the principle of liberty?
Government is only allowed to restrict individuals who are harming other individuals (of that society).
Definition of freedom according to incompatibilists (hard determinists and libertarians):
Hard determinists and libertarians define freedom as contracausal free will, otherwise known as "I could have done otherwise." (p. 231)
"Timothy Binkley, another contemporary philosopher deeply influenced by Wittgenstein", "completely disarms Dickie's definition by making the following stipulation: "I hereby create a prodigious class of pieces of art by specifying everything to be art." What is the problem with this stipulated definition of art?
If everything is art, then nothing is non-art; so, what's the point of designating anything as art? Now the word 'art' has no meaning.
~When is revolution justified according to Locke?
If the government fails to uphold divine rights, then revolution is justified.
However, there is an objection to this view, which is the same objection we face when trying to explain the ontology of consciousness using Cartesian dualism. What is this objection?
If the law of cause and effect governs physical events but not mental events, then how is it possible for mental events to cause physical events?
How does Marx argue art and capitalism are incompatible?
In capitalism, to be productive is to put out a commodity. But art is not a commodity. It is a necessary expression of true human essence."
Use Sartre's example of the alarm clock to answer this question.
Instead of saying, "I choose to wake up," we say, "I MUST get up." In so doing, we pretend that we are not 100% free 100% of the time; and this bad faith protects us from dreadful awareness of our own freedom.
When children leave the state of nature and integrate into society, they participate in the "natural and just society", "constituted by the social contract". For Rousseau, the price of integrating into society and "signing" the social contract results in "the total alienation of each associate, together will all his rights, to the whole community". Rousseau goes on, "Finally, each man, in giving himself to all, gives himself to nobody"...and "each of use puts his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will". "A number of problems leap out at us from this statement." Palmer mentions two. ~State at least one
It seems contradictory to say that an individual finds true freedom by accepting the general will as one's own will, even when one's own will is at odds wit the general will.
Describe the critic's objection against Heisenberg's libertarianism
Just because random events occur non-necessarily, doesn't mean random events are FREE events
Early in the first chapter of the Republic, we are shocked by the bald assertion of the Sophist Thrasymachus, one of the protagonists of that dialogue, who informs us that... Socrates forms an objection against Thrasymachus's bald assertion. What does Socrates get Thrasymachus to admit in order to get him to concede that "morality cannot be defined in terms of benefit to the strong."?
Justice is whatever the strongest group decides what "Justice" is. So, "morality cannot be defined in terms of benefit to the strong."
If we accept Kant's position, then there are four difficulties (or objections) to address. Explain the fourth difficulty, described by Jean-Paul Sartre. (We can discuss this in class, if you're confused.) (You can read p. 291 & pages 303-304 to get it clear.) {5th Edition, pages 291-292} (By the way, Jean-Paul is writing this objection as an advocate for Kant.)
Kant derives morality from rationality"; but "ultimately, our freedom overrides our rationality." So, Kant's moral philosophy does not tell us what we ought to do.
~What is the attitudinal difference between Locke and Hobbes?
Locke presupposes abundant resources. Hobbes presupposes scarcity.
The moral of this story is that existence must be redeemed. For Nietzsche, what is the only way for existence to be redeemed?
Making art or turning your life into a work of art, makes existence worthwhile.
There are at least four criticisms (or objections) to Karl Marx's vision of society. State at least one
Marx (like Plato) thinks "the interests of the individual and those of society will be identical.
"Mill's principle strikes an intuitive chord with me. I could do or say or think certain things that I claim are nobody's business but my own and over which society has no legitimate authority. Nevertheless, there seem to me to be serious problems with Mill's principle." Palmer states three problems. State at least one problem.
Mill's principle might be based on the ideology of Victorian middle class values.
There are at least two criticisms (or objections) of Nozick's view. State at least one
Nozick's view is based on Locke's natural right to "life, liberty, health, and property." Yet, belief in "natural rights" is no different than belief in superstition
~If we embrace dualism, and think about the body and the soul as two distinct substances, as Descartes and religious thinkers do how does this help to explain human freedom in determined world?
Only physical events are determined; but mental events are free.
What is the difference between psychological egoism and moral egoism?
PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISM: "Every act is motivated by self-interest." MORAL EGOISM: "Every act ought to be motivated by self-interest."
What is "this new broader definition of the self" promoted by deep ecology?
Rather than self and nature being two different things, self and nature is one thing.
The ideal city contains three distinct classes. First are the _______________ who know philosophy; hence they have beheld the "Platonic" essence of citizenship and, as a class, have the virtue of ________________. Second, there is a __________________ caste called the guardians whose job it is to protect the city from enemies, internal and external. The members of this class know some philosophical principles (otherwise hey would not know the difference between friends and enemies of the City). The guardians can eventually be promoted to the ruling class if they prove their philosophical mettle. The collective virtue of the guardian class is _________________. Finally, there is the class of ___________________. This class comprises the numerical city of the city. When it does so, its collective virtue is ______________________." What parts of the body do we associate with each aspect of the soul?
Rulers- Wisdom Military - Courage Workers - Moderation Head, Heart, Guts
From the view of Scanlon's moral theory, describe the connection between morality and reasonableness.
Scanlon's reasonableness is considering the concerns of others. If you consider the concerns of others, then "you are already engaged in morality." (Whereas Kant thinks, "he can drive morality from the nature of rationality.")
State the two virtues. Then, next to each virtue, state what this virtue becomes once it has been corrupted by society.
Self-love is perverted into pride. Pity is inverted into delighting in others' misery.
There are two criticisms (or objections) of Rawls's conclusions. State at least one
Signers of the contract, behind the veil of ignorance don't even know who they are; so, how could any such contract be legally binding?
Definition of freedom according to compatibilists (soft determinists)
Soft determinists (compatibilists) define freedom as "the ability to get what you want"
. Kant argues that stealing is wrong, not because of the consequences; but rather, because stealing is illogical. Explain how stealing violates the categorical imperative
The universalized maxim of stealing is "Everyone ought always to steal." But, if everyone followed this rule, there would be no such thing as property. Without property it is impossible to steal. So, the universalized maxim is logically impossible; and stealing is morally forbidden.
State one version of the categorical imperative Kant argues that acts done for their consequences have no moral weight. How do hypothetical imperatives differ from categorical imperatives?
Version A: "Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should be a universal law." Hypothetical imperatives: practical "oughts", commanded depending on what you want. Categorical imperatives: moral "oughts", commanded regardless of what you want.
The main problem with this theory has to do with the concept of "aesthetic experience". I agree with Palmer when he states, "My only hesitation here is..."
We have no idea of what "aesthetic experience" is supposed to be.
Summarize how "the Frankfurters" argue "the ideas of freedom and responsibility do not presuppose genuine alternatives."
Yes, Jones fails to see he really only has one option, during his deliberation process; but, so what? This does not affect the valid argument above, concluding that Jones is responsible for his choice.
What is the principle of falsifiability?
You "must be able to state the conditions under which it would be admitted that the hypothesis had been refuted."
"The existentialist point might be best expressed by relating an anecdote told of the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who, after spending an afternoon contemplating the beauty of the statue of Apollo in an Athenian museum, returned to his hotel and made the following single entry in his journal:" What was the single entry?
You must change your life."
a) What is the noble lie? b) What is curious or discouraging about this passage in the Republic (concerning the noble lie)? c) How would Emile Durkheim, a great 20th century sociologist justify this act of telling a "noble lie"?
a) A person must accept their place in society because they either have souls of bronze, silver, or gold. Their training and education was all a dream. b) The passage is discouraging because "Plato is admitting that reason itself is not strong enough a fore to bind the City together." c) Without a noble lie, such as ethnocentrism, a loss of meaning and direction (anomie) sets in.
a) What is Plato's ontological objection to trusting art? b) What is Aristotle's reply to Plato's ontological objection? c) What is Plato's epistemological objection to trusting art?
a) Art is a copy of matter, which is a copy of scientific concepts, which is a copy of the forms. So art is three times removed from ultimate reality. b) There is no ultimate reality beyond matter. Forms are "imbedded in matter". So, art (being matter) is just as real as the forms imbedded within it. c) Art does not give us any true knowledge because art is too far removed from the forms
In A Theory of Justice, John Rawls argues that "justice is fairness." Rawls doesn't think a theory of justice can be "forced down people's throats -the correct theory would have to be one that rational people would somehow arrive at themselves." So Rawls tries to imagine what his correct theory would look like. How would people wish government to be if they had no idea what role they'd play in that society? Rawls explains that anyone "behind the veil of ignorance" would choose two principles, (in the following order). Give a brief overview of these two principles: a) First principle arrived at by rational people behind the veil of ignorance: b) Second principle arrived at by rational people behind the veil of ignorance:
a) Equal and maximum liberty for each person consistent with equal liberty for others. b) Wealth and power should be distributed equally except where inequalities would work to the advantage of all; and everyone has an equal shot at the advantageous positions.
70. Karl Marx has "two strands of though concerning art" that "sometimes seem at odds with each other". a) What is the first strand? (This is the view siding with Kant and Tolstoy.) b) What is the second strand? (This is the view siding with Plato.)
a) Humans, by their very nature, have a need to be artistic and enjoy art. b) Art and aesthetics are components of ideology and as such are political captives."
a) How does Jake, the boy, respond? b) How does the girl, Amy, respond? c) How does Gilligan re-stereotype boys and girls based on the responses of Jake and Amy? "She sees the girl's account as concentrating, not on "a _________________________________", but on a "_____________________________________ on whose continuation they all depend."
a) Jake gives a principle to justify stealing the medicine. ("Life is worth more than money.) b) Amy refuses to choose between the two options provided in the scenario, insisting that she can persuade the pharmacist to donate the drugs. contest of rights , network of relations
"The ancient Greeks were pretty sure that art is mimesis, or an artificial copy of nature (as we will see shortly when we look at Plato's view on art). This belief lasted for a long, long time, but it is now obvious to us that artworks are rarely mere copies of nature and that some artworks aren't copies of anything." So, what is art? a) How does the theory of expressionism answer this question? b) State one objection against this theory.
a) The expression of emotion is a necessary condition of art. b) "There is no guarantee that that the audience feels the same emotion as the artist."
"Is the cultural relativist saying, (1) "There are no universally held moral values" or (2) "No value or set of values can justifiably be recommended for all people"? These are very different claims." a) Using the example of "Ancient Chinese cultures commonly engaged in infanticide", explain how the 1 st thesis may be mistaken. b) Explain why the is-ought gap prevents the 2nd thesis from being confirmed empirically.
a) The fact that Ancient Chinese cultures practiced infanticide does not mean that there is at least one culture that does not value human life; but rather, there is at least one culture that believes the non-moral statement, "Babies are humans." is false. So, what appears to be a disagreement about moral values is only a disagreement about non-moral statements. b) we cannot conclude a moral truth from an empirical truth.
a) Describe the thought experiment leads them to believe that there "must be some context that determines the distinction" between art and non-art. b) What do Danto & Dickie call this context? c) There are at least three objections to Danto's/Dickie's theory. State one of them.
a) Visualy indistinguishable pairs b) the artworld c) There is no structure of authority that confers status in the artworld.
a) What does Kant mean by "goodwill"? b) What is the big difference between utilitarianism and Kant's moral theory? c) Critics provide an objection to Kant's moral theory, saying "a coldness lurks in the heart of {Kant's} doctrine." Use the example of a Good Samaritan to explain this objection about the "icy side of Kant's moral philosophy".
a) the will to do one's duty" b) Utilitarianism says an action is immoral based on the actions of the consequence. Kantianism says an action is immoral based on a person's intentions c) If you help someone because your heart goes out to them, you're not a moral person; but, if you help someone because it is your duty (even if you hate them), then you are a moral person. (p.288)
d) What is Aristotle's reply to Plato's epistemological objection? e) Plato's gives three moral objections to trusting art. Describe "the third and most important of Plato's moral objections to art." f) How does Aristotle respond to Plato's moral objection?
d) Art, unlike history, "does not tell us what has happened; rather, it tells us what can happen." So, art, in dealing with universals rather than particulars offers higher knowledge than the mere reproduction of facts. e) Art appeals the appetites, the lowest part of the soul, taking control away from reason. f) Art purges the passions (catharsis), giving control back to reason.
"Sartre says that an existentialist is any philosopher who has as a guiding idea the view that, in the case of human beings at least, "______________________________precedes______________________________". Now traditionally in philosophy, it has been held that the opposite is so, that "_______________________________precedes__________________________________". To sort out this idea, we have to return to Plato and Aristotle."
existence, essence , essence , existence
What, for Sartre, is bad faith?
fleeing from the dreadful awareness of our own freedom
Logical positivism "mounted one of the most powerful attacks on the possibility of moral philosophy". However, "the consensus today is that we do not have to take logical positivism all that seriously [...because...] it suffers from a deadly internal defect." What is the defect?
logical positivism is nonsense by its own definition of nonsense.
"John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), whose utilitarian moral philosophy has already been discussed, had a political agenda that was exactly the opposite from that of Rousseau. Mill saw his goal as that of distinguishing between ____________________________________________
public & private
What, for Kierkegaard, is "original sin"?
the dread or anxiety of Adam when he confronts his own freedom - a dread each of us must experience when we confront our freedom" (p. 247)
Maurice Mandelbaum and Noel Carroll attack "Morris Weitz's Wittgensteinian analysis of the concept of art". Caroll proposes his own theory for determining if something is a work of art. What does he call this theory?
the historical narrative approach
