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RS - Philosophy of religion > 1. Ancient Philosophical Influences > Flashcards

1. Ancient Philosophical Influences Flashcards

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1
Q

Allegory

(Key Word)

A

A story where characters and events have a deeper hidden meaning

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2
Q

Cause

(Key Word)

A

The reason why something exists

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3
Q

Doxa

(Key Word)

A

Opinion (Greek); according to plato we gain only opinion from experience

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4
Q

Efficient

(Key Word)

A

The agent or agents that cause something to exist

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5
Q

Episteme

(Key Word)

A

Knowledge (Greek); according to Plato we gain knowledge through reason, but according to Aristotle we gain knowledge through experience.

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6
Q

Eternal

(Key Word)

A

That which is timeless and unchanging

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7
Q

Forms (or theory of ideas)

(Key Word)

A

Argues that non-physical (but substantial) forms (or ideas) represent the most accurate reality

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8
Q

Good

(Key Word)

A

Not needing improvement

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9
Q

Necessary

(Key Word)

A

The belief that the Prime Mover cannot not exist

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10
Q

Telos

(Key Word)

A

The final end of things, what they are made to do, the reason why they are brought into being

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11
Q

What was Plato’s understanding of reality?

(3)

A
  • true knowledge (EPISTEME) can only come from a rational understanding of the FORMS.
  • no certain knowledge of the world as its constantly changing.
  • He was a RATIONALIST.
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12
Q

Who influenced Plato? (Explain)

(2)

A
  • Socrates (His teacher): true knowledge comes from knowing you know nothing, meaning you can know nothing from the world.
  • Pythagoras: constant truth that existed in the world of ideas, e.g. maths which never changed
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13
Q

What was Plato’s theory of forms?

(3)

A
  • Everything we experince is a poor imitation of the forms.
  • We are experiencing particulars e.g. cats or acts of affection.
  • We experience a changing example which allows us to regonise the true FORM.
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14
Q

What are forms?

(3)

A
  • Abstract ideas with no physical existence.
  • Exist in the world of the forms/ideas.
  • Can never be experienced directly in this life (only recognised through particulars).
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15
Q

What is the ESSENTIAL form?

(3)

A
  • Form of the good, any concept of good.
  • It is the highest of all forms.
  • It is only through it we can recognise the FORMS.
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16
Q

What is an example of the form of the good?

A
  • A new and comfortable chair is a close reflection of the FORM of chair. Therefre GOODNESS shines clearly through it.
  • As the chair becomes squeky, torn and broken it no longer clearly reflects the FORM of chair, so not as much GOODNESS

(Form of the chair is eternal and can never change)

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17
Q

Why was the Allegory of the Cave presented?

A
  • In Plato’s book Republic (375 BCE).
  • Illustrates experience only gives DOXA and EPISTEME can only come from the knowledge of the FORMS.

DOXA = Opinion
EPISTEME = True Knowledge.

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18
Q

What is the Allegory of the Cave?

A

Prisoners are chained in a cave where they have been since birth and have only ever seen a wall on which shadows appear, caused by puppets being carried behind them. When they hear noises, they assume that these noises orginate from the shadows as this is all they have ever known. When one of the prisoners is freed and takes the journey up the jagged path into the sunlight, at first, he will not understand what he sees as he is used to life in the cave. However, given time, his sight will adjust and he will realise that what he now sees, the puppets, the world etc. is the reality, given life by the sun, and that what he experienced in the cave was the illusion. Further, Plato suggests that if the freed prisoner where to venture back into the cave with tales of what is real outside the cave, his former fellow prisoners would reject what he says and will try to Kill him.

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19
Q

What are the 6 symbols of the Cave? (Explain)

A
  1. The Cave - The physical world of experience where we are born, live and die.
  2. The Prisoners - Normal people who experience the world and take what they experience as reality.
  3. The Shadows - Things that we sense in the world through sight, hearing etc.
  4. The Puppets - The forms, exist in the world of ideas. Ideas we recognise through things we experience. e.g. love, beauty.
  5. The Jagged Path - The journey of the philosopher from ignorance to knowledge.
  6. The Sun - Essential FORM of GOODNESS. Heighest of all forms & responsible for giving life to all things. Through it all other FORMS can be known.
20
Q

What does the Allegory of the cave teach you?

A
  • We think we gain knowledge from the physical world but we are learning opinion which constantly changes.
21
Q

Which 4 thinkers supported the theory of forms?

A
  1. Democritus
  2. Heraclitus
  3. Parmenides
  4. Pythagoras
22
Q

What are the 2 weakness of the theory of the Forms?

A
  1. Third man argument
  2. Extent of the world of FORMS.
23
Q

Explain the Third man argument

(Weakness 1 of The theory of Forms)

A
  • Even if there is one form of x, there are infinitely more forms of f.
  • e.g. ‘form of man’ is still a man, therefore if all men need a ‘form of man’ and the ‘form of man’ is also a man, then the men and ‘form of man’ tigether need a form, which we might call the ‘form of man+’, but ‘form of man+’ is a form of man and needs a form etc.
24
Q

Explain Extent of the world of forms

(Weakness 2 of The theory of Forms)

A
  • Forms exist eternally, meaning there would be forms of every conceivable past, present amd future concept. Meaning there are forms of things not invented yet and things that are clear negations of things.
25
Q

Explain Democritus’s support

(thinker 1 supporting theory of the forms.)

A
  • Argued all matter can be constantly divided until you reach divisibles called a-toms in Greek (things that can’t be divided anymore). 20th century scientists thought they had found these and called them atoms but they were wrong.
  • Showing reason recognised an idea that experience failed to uncover.
26
Q

Explain Heraclitus’s support

(thinker 2 supporting theory of the forms.)

A
  • Argued world is in constant flux (i.e. constantly changing)
  • “You can never step in the same river twice”
  • experience gives changing opinions, as world is like the river (constantly changing) and can gain no absolute truth from it.
27
Q

Explain Parmenides support

(thinker 3 supporting theory of the forms.)

A
  • If you took an image of an arrow flying, it would be stationary. Plato took from that that the Eternal world is fixed and unchanging.
28
Q

Explain Pythagoras’s support

(thinker 4 supporting theory of the forms.)

A
  • Pythagoras’s theorem suggests that some things are true abstractly, exist eternally and are unchanging.
29
Q

What was Aristotles understanding of reality?

(3)

A
  • That if you understood the cause of things you understood the thing.
  • He focused on TELEOLOGY.
  • He was an Empiricist, he used a rational approach to understand the world.
30
Q

What are the four causes?

A
  1. Material
  2. Formal
  3. Efficient
  4. Final
31
Q

Explain the material cause

A
  • The basic materials that make up anything. Some things made up of one material, others a compound of many materials. E.g. Wood, Metal or Wax.
32
Q

Explain the formal cause

A

The form of an object. E.g. the form of candle which comes from its raw state a block of wax.

33
Q

Explain the efficient cause

A

The agent that brings a thing about. E.g. a marble block has the potential to be a statue but an agent may use tools to bring it into a statue.

34
Q

Explain the final cause

A

A things purpose or telos. It is the reason for the things existence and the ultimate end for any object within its actual state. E.g. Living trees or animals have the purpose to survive and reproduce.

35
Q

What is the prime mover?

A
36
Q

What are the 3 characteristics of the prime mover? (Explain)

A
  1. Pure Actuality - It cannot be moved itself otherwise it isn’t the the prime mover but another of the moved things.
  2. Simple - It cannot be a complex being like humans as complexity implies complex form and motion.
  3. Good - It cannot change, therefore cannot be improved. It must be perfect, incapable of improving and so must be perfectly good.
37
Q

What are the 4 strengths of Aristotles beliefs?

A
  1. Empirical
  2. Progress
  3. Experinental
  4. Reasonable
38
Q

What are the 3 weaknesses of Aristotles beliefs?

A
  1. Unreliable
  2. Superiority of reason
  3. Fallacy of inference
39
Q

Explain Unreliable

(the 1st weaknesses of Aristotles beliefs)

A
40
Q

Explain the superiority of reason

(the 2nd weaknesses of Aristotles beliefs)

A
41
Q

Explain the fallacy of inference

(the 3rd weaknesses of Aristotles beliefs)

A
42
Q

Explain empirical

(The 1st strength of Aristotles beliefs)

A

He follows a basic empirical approach to science and the development in understanding the world.

43
Q

Explain progress

(The 2nd strength of Aristotles beliefs)

A
44
Q

Explain Experiential

(The 3rd strength of Aristotles beliefs)

A
45
Q

Explain reasonable

(The 4th strength of Aristotles beliefs)

A

RS - Philosophy of religion (18 decks)

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