Ancient Philosophical Influences Flashcards
What does the slave Meno explain?
uneducated slave in ‘Meno’ can learn Pythagoras’ theorem as he has experienced it before
Iris Murdoch ‘Metaphysics as a guide to morals’
What is epistomology?
The study of knowledge
What is rationalism? (epi) + explanation
- Using reason to gain knowledge
- A priori knowledge
- It is self-evident
- Sense experience is not enough, it is not reliable
- We rely on reason/ratio
- Plato is a rationalist
What is empiricism? (epi) + explanation
- using senses to gain knowledge
- a posteriori knowledge
- based off sense experiences
- the use of a working hypothesis can be tested using observation and experiment (eg.science)
- Aristotle is an empiricist
When was Plato born/died
427-347 BCE
Who did Plato study under?
Socrates
what is the realm of forms?
a philosophical theory claiming their is a perfect reality in contrast to the flawed one we see in the material world. it is also where the soul originates.
what are ‘imperfect reflections’/particulars?
the objects that we see in the material world or the concepts when we imitate the Forms
why did plato reason there must be a realm of forms?
because everything is unreliable and changing in the material world. therefore cannot be perfect but also because there is some true essence that everything in the world seems to refer back to
Hereclitus quote
“you cannot step in the same river twice”
what is the form of the good?
The uppermost form that gives meaning to all other forms and is true knowledge itself. It illuminates all other forms as it is an ultimate end in itself - therefore also the ultimate aim of everything is goodness.
hierarchy of forms
- FOTG
- Higher Forms
- Lower Forms
- The Material World
- Shadows of the Material World
what is a higher form?
larger concepts eg. justice
what is a lower form?
perfect objects
what is the material world?
our plane of reality
What is plato’s evidence arguement
we must know of the forms to recognise them in this plane
plato said learning is just remembering (amamnesis)
he concluded, as a dualist, that our soul must have once been in the ROF
the cave allegory
prisoners are chained in a cage and see the shadows cast on the walls as reality
one of the prisoners escapes and leaves the cave
at first he is blinded by the light
but eventually he is able to see the true world is more than the one he thought was real
the prisoner go’s back into the cave to tell the others
but they shun him and will not leave the cave
what does the cave represent?
the material world
what do the prisoners represent?
humans
what do the shadows represent?
imperfect reflections
what do those casting the shadows represent?
the politicians of athens
what does the sun represent?
FOTG
what do the real world objects represent?
the forms
what does the escaped prisoner represent?
the philosopher
What is the reasoning criticism?
Why a priori not a posteriori?
What is the absurdity and extremes criticism for Plato’s cave?
the use of objects can be nonsense (eg. perfect dog poo)
or they can be illogical, eg the perfect form of cancer??
How is evil an issue for Plato’s cave analogy? How is this limited?
a perfect form of the evil would have to exist in contrast the form of the good
but this may be a misunderstanding, the material world is the ‘dark’ reflection, it is not about morality, it is simply a lack of vision
What is the issue of perception for Plato’s cave analogy?
the forms are subjective
Concepts of Beauty.Goodness may come from experience and upbringings
How are the qualities of the soul an issue for Plato’s analogy?
for your soul to remember surely it would have to have senses
what is amamnesis?
education is the process of remembering
what is the myth of Er?
- Told by Socrates
- Er died in battle
- 10 days but his body did not decay
- 12th day on funeral pyre
- came back to life
- spoke of the afterlife
- assessed, if bad received 10x pain caused in life and if good got to choose next life
- All chose wealth and power, only philosophers realised they should choose peace and justice or they would not live a moral life in the next.
What did Freud think of Plato’s theory?
A coping method reaction to the death of Socrates rather than an effective use of a priori reasoning
What did Bertrand Russle think of Plato?
When taken to extremes it becomes a bottomless pit of nonesense.
What did Dawkins think of Plato?
Ideas surrounding forms such as beauty have been passed through generations, not determined by the ROTF.
What did Kant think of Plato?
Also had a belief in 2 separate realities. The phenomenal (things in our sense experience) The noumena (presumed aspects of things)
Phenomena are the appearances, which constitute the our experience; noumena are the (presumed) things themselves, which constitute reality. All of our synthetic a priori judgments apply only to the phenomenal realm, not the noumenal. Therefore Plato’s argument is drawing from false phenomenology.
What did Descartes think of Plato?
‘cogito ergo sum’
we can doubt everything but the mind therefore Plato’s a priori reasoning may be logical as it accepts the unreliability of the material world.
How is Plato elitist?
Elitism in the cave and rejection of the posteriori
Plato suggests that philosophers are best placed to rule since they have greater knowledge, but they may overlook practical skills needed for ruling, by reliance on an intellectualist approach- society would break down!
eg. Myth of Er
How does Popper criticise Plato?
Karl Popper- True reality is changeable and uncertain - why do we need a telos?
How is dualism a problem for ROTF?
Dawkins criticism for Plato and Arisotole?
Demands a dualist approach - monoism may be more correct
Dawkins = just DNA and evolution - how can a theory like evolution exist sim to constant, unchanging forms
Also why not chance instead of PM - why do we have to have a telos
How could Plato’s argument lead to an infinite regress?
3rd man argument - the form of the form (infinite regress +nonsense)
What is the logic of opposites?
everything has its paired opposite - eg light and dark
What is the nature of the forms?
Everything in the world of appearances conforms to a standard set by a form in the world of forms.
What is the Noeton?
The World of Forma
What are the 3 universal qualities?
Justice, Truth, Beauty
What does Plato say about the human soul and how does this link to the forms?
We have an immortal soul that allows us to have knowledge of the forms as in between metempsychosis it travels to the world of the forms and so can remember the concepts (anamnesis). Over time we block out our souls and begin to rely upon sense experience more.
What is the dialogue between plato and one of his critics
Critic: “I see particular horses, but not horseness.”
Plato: “That is because you have eyes but no intelligence”
They are not using the necessary ratio to see the concepts and they are only relying upon sense experience which is unreliable.
Quote about the prisoners enlightenment from the analogy of the cave?
“Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.”
How can we link Plato’s Realm of Forms to the Buddhist concepts of the two truths?
There is a conventional (saṁvṛti) and ultimate truth (paramārtha) in Buddhism. Plato acknowledges that people may fight for the imperfect forms of justice as this has meaning in human existence, but they must also be willing to gain knowledge that what they fight for is not the perfect form of justice, just an imperfect reflection. Buddhism uses to the two truths to explore this particle approach to ‘false’ realism.
What is the Material Cause
what something is made of
What is the Formal Cause
the shape and concept/essence of something
What is the Efficient Cause
the agent that brings something into existence
What is the Final Cause
the purpose or telos of something
Aristotle born?
384-322BCE
Aristotle theory is described as…
empiricist, a posteriori
What is the PM
the prime mover
what cause is the prime mover?
the final cause
what are the qualities of the PM
Immaterial, perfect, eternal, transcendent and omnipresent
what does the PM do?
draw everything towards replicating it’s perfect image
how does the PM think?
the PM cannot think of anything other than itself or it would become imperfect
the PM cannot think of anything other than itself or it would become imperfect
‘It must be itself that the divine thought thinks, and it’s thinking is a thinking on thinking’
What did Aristotle see as the final purpose for humanity?
Eudaimonia
What is the difference in defining a ‘form’ for Aristotle? About reality?
It is the quality or essence, the form of something makes up what it is.
There is no other world and the reality around us is as we observe it.
What is potentiality?
the quality that something possesses and can do if the conditions are right
What is actuality?
When something reaches its purpose. The actuality can change over time meaning it contains potentials.
Where did Aristotle write about his theory?
Metaphysics
What is the greek term for flux? And how does this fit with the 4 causes?
motus (the four stages before the achieved purpose)
explain the 4 causes using a table?
M- wood
F- holds its shape, durable
E- carpenter
F - placing things on it
What is the sculptor example that Aristotle gives for the 4 causes?
Sculptor works on a block of granite. Boy asks what he is looking for and is told to come back later. When the boy comes back the block of granite has become a sculpted horse. Asks how the sculptor knew it was in there. He answers it is because of the potentiality that granite held.
Evaluate rationalism?
- universal
- eternal
- Descartes’ explanation of wax (ie if we melt it we still call it wax, therefore reason is essential)
- we cannot gain all knowledge just by thinking
Evaluation of impiricism?
Nihil est in intellectu quod non prius fuerit in sensu
- takes into account how the world really works
- widely used in science as a method of proving and disproving
- supported by Hume - under normal circumstances our senses do not lie and we can tell by repetition if something is unreliable
- sense data is indirect
- there is no way of knowing what we see is reality eg…
- hallucinations and dreams?
How does the concept of nothing imply the PM must exist?
“nothing comes from nothing”
therefore something must come from something then
How is the PM different from the argument from causation?
It is not the causer it is the sustainer of everything in existence.
Which cause is the PM
It is the final cause as it is pure actuality and it is the end goal of everything. A necessary being.
How does the PM sustain cause and effect?
Attraction - like soul-making- we are drawn towards the the PM by sheer will. This attraction makes us go through the 4 causes repeatedly allowing us to access our potentially and transition towards actuality.
What is an example to explain the PM’s link with causation?
The cat and the milk - no relationship still drawn together
PM qualities
- trancendent
- necessary
- unchanged
- prefection
- pure goodness
- eternal
- impersonal
- final cause
PM qualities
- trancendent
- necessary
- unchanged
- prefection
- pure goodness
- eternal
- impersonal
- final cause
How can the 4 causes be beneficial to limited human knowledge?
it inspires us to reach our final end and to aim for this in our lives
What is materialism?
knowledge comes from experience of the material world
How are things that happen by chance an issue for the 4 causes?
How are they achieving that final end if there is no purposeful action?
How can we criticise Aristotle with survival perception?
We perceive things in order to help us survive, they are no necessarily the reality.
What is phenomenalism and what reasoning does it link to?
Belief that the immediate objects of sensation provide no evidence for the existence of anything beyond themselves.
Empiricism
How can Popper be a criticism for Aristotle and empiricism? Apply
- part of the demarcations problem
- how empiricism holds up existential and universal statements
- eg. existential…‘unicorns exist’ bc they may just not be in the places we are looking
- eg. universal…‘all swans are white’ is meaningless because this can never be verified
so there may be something without one of the 4 causes out there
or the statement ‘the PM exists’ can never truly be verified
