1.2 Human Nature & the Human Condition Flashcards
Religious view on the nature of human beings
Aristotle believed we have a telos (purpose) and by understanding what humans beings are for (our body parts) we can find what we are meant to do. Aquinas develops this to say we have 5 precepts to follow POWER and following these precepts leads us to union with God. This is our ultimate telos
Reply to Aquinas
Aquinas’ argument presupposes that we have good ethical nature. Due to original Sin our nature has been corrupted and to follow our nature is to follow the way of sin and corruption. Instead to live a good life we must resist and fight against our nature
Non-religious view on Nature of human beings
Jean-Paul Satre believed there is no such thing as human nature because ‘existence precedes essence’. What we do determines who we are and we decide the nature of ourselves
2 Non religious reasons to believe we have a soul and body as separate parts
1) Substance dualists say that they are separate because the soul cannot be destroyed but the body can. 1) Bodies can be chopped into pieces 2) Thoughts cannot 3) Therefore thoughts (and therefore our mind) is not the same.
2) The 21-gram experiment was conducted by a scientist that showed when a human died, 21 grams would be consistently lost straight after death. This is the should leaving the body and moving to the next life
Reply to the 2 non-religious reasons for belief in soul being separate from the body
1) Substance dualism is flawed because while it is true bodies can be divided, bodily processes like the digestive system cannot yet we know they are physical. Thoughts are just neurological processes the same.
2) 21-gram experiment is a stupid argument because if the soul and the body were separate, then the soul wouldn’t be physical and would weigh nothing so it cannot be the soul departing
2 religious beliefs for why the soul and body are separate and soul is immortal
1) Christians believe in the immortality of the soul as shown in John 3:16 “will not perish but have eternal life” . This presupposes that a part of our body is eternal (the soul).
2) Same point but Christians believe that God breathed the soul into Adam whereas the body was made merely from dust. Since God is eternal, the soul must be eternal
2 Non religious view why the soul and body are both mortal
1) Lucretius believed everything is simply made out of matter so when our bodies perish, so do we. “The mind displays the marks of mortality” Feavered minds have fevered bodies, tired minds have tired bodies.
2) Logical positivism says that if we can’t empirically prove something then the debate and talking about it is useless and meaningless, its a ‘pseudo concept’. apply to this topic.
Reply to logical positivism
The problem is that it fails its own test. The principle that says if something can’t be empirically … can’t be verified itself and is therefore by its own logic, meaningless. Any theory that destroys itself should not be taken seriously.
