Ancient Philosophical Influences Flashcards
Plato’s theory of the Forms
- argued we live in the ‘Realm of Appearances’ and everything in this world is simply a reflection of its ideal form which exists in the ‘Realm of Forms’
- the things we see in the physical world are imitations of their ideal forms e.g. the form of a tree, unlike a physical tree, never changes. It doesn’t depend on physical circumstances for its existence, therefore it can be the object of true knowledge
- believed forms could only be understood through reason
- believed before the soul joined the body it existed in the Realm of Forms so when we experience things in the Realm of Appearances we are able to recognise them, even though they are not perfect as they are changing, growing and decaying
The Form of Good
- the forms are related in a hierarchy with the Form of Good at the top
- Goodness is seen as the purest most abstract of the forms, furthest away from the physical world
- forms lower down are more related to material objects, such as the Form of Softness or Blueness
- believed all forms feature the form of good and it is only in understanding the Form of Goodness that we can truly gain enlightenment
Plato’s Analogy of the Cave
- The shadows represent the fragment of reality that we can normally perceive through our senses, while the objects under the sun represent the true forms of objects that we can only perceive through reason.
- in the cave, there are prisoners who have been there all their lives and can only face towards the back wall of the cave and cannot move their heads
- behind them is a fire and all they can see is the light the fire produces reflecting on the cave wall
- between the fire and prisoners is a low wall which people go along carrying a variety of objects and as they pass the fire, the shadows of the objects are thrown onto the wall
- all the prisoners can see are these shadows of these different objects
- they are unable to distinguish between reality and appearance and do not even know there is a difference
- Plato asks us to imagine what would happen if a prisoner is released
- at first the prisoner will be completely puzzled and will not be able to understand what he is being
shown and his eyes are dazzled by the sunlight but gradually he adjusts - as he adjusts he begins to realise the sun allows him to see other things as they really are
- plato wants us to understand the sun is the Form of Good and the cave is something we experience when we are ignorant to it
- with his newly acquired wisdom, he feels obligated to help the other prisoners who are still ignorant
- when he returns to the cave he finds the prisoners have no desire to go where he has been, in fact they feel so hostile towards the suggestion they would be prepared to kill him if he tried to lead them out
Plato’s Demiurge
- Plato believed the world was created by a god called the Demiurge
- the Demiurge made the world by fashioning it out of a material that was already there, but which was a shapeless mess before the Demiurge got to work and he used the forms as models to base its work off
- the Demiurge tries to make the universe as well as he can, but is limited by his materials, so the final result is as good as he can manage
- it was never going to be perfect anyway, because it is physical and, therefore, changable
Aristotle’s understanding of reality
- Aristotle used the term ‘aetion’ when thinking about different explanations and it is usually translated to ‘cause’
- Aristotle recognised something can have several explanations for its existence
- for example the ‘cause’ of a desk, could be wood, because its a wooden desk, or it could be the person who made it, or it could be ‘caused’ by having a large flat surface and sturdy legs, finally i could say a desk exists to fulfil a purpose. People need desks so they don’t have to write on the floor
- Aristotle made the Four Causes to help us understand this
Aristotle’s Four Causes
Material cause - this explains what something is made from, material cause of a chair is the wood, nails etc
Formal cause - this gives something its shape and allows it to be identified as whatever it is, a chair is a chair because its got four legs and a backrest to lean on
Efficient cause - this is the activity that makes something happen, efficient cause of a chair is the carpenter who made it
Final cause - its purpose, its reason for existing at all. This can be understood as its ‘telos’, which means end, the final cause for a chair is sitting on.
- Using this concept he discussed the nature of goodness, he thought something was ‘good’ when it fulfils its ‘telos’ (purpose)
Aristotle’s Prime Mover
- the cause of the universe, Aristotle thought, must be God. God must be the Prime Mover, which actualises the potential in everything else.However, the Prime Mover must be something which causes without being affected, must be a being with no potential to change or be acted upon
- it causes change in all things but not in a physical way like a push, because if it did, then the act of of ‘pushing’ would affect the Prime Mover. Instead it causes change by attracting things towards itself, like how a bowl of cat food attracts a cat to it, even though the bowl itself isn’t doing anything
- he believed God does not depend on anything else of his existence, if he did then he would have to be capable of change
- he must also be eternal, because of his lack of potential
- the Prime Mover is the Final cause of everything that exists, not only in the sense of being the origin of everything, but also in the sense of being the purpose of everything
- God must be immaterial and beyond time and space as all matter can be acted upon so God cannot be made of matter
Plato’s rationalism
- Plato’s rationalism presents us with the idea that reason is the ultimate way to gain knowledge
- the physical world of constant change can not give us the certainty we need in order to gain knowledge
- reason allows us to know that 2 even numbers added together cannot equal an odd one
Aristotle’s empiricism
- Aristotle’s empiricism presents us with the idea that the primary source of knowledge is through experience
- we encounter the physical world through our senses first, and then we uses these experiences to form our concepts
- the mind can reach knowledge by reflecting on experiences, but according to an empiricist, experience has to come first
A02
Plato:
- this world might be changeable, but we can still study it with all its changes, and gain true and valuable knowledge
- hard to accept their are ideal forms of jealousy or spite
- when theory of forms is pushed to logical extremes it becomes less convincing, e.g. is there an ideal form of plants, or is there separate forms for each species, and if there is, is there a separate form for the species variations (tall, short etc)
- we don’t all share same concept of what is good, A.J Ayers argued when we talk of something being good or bad, we are simply expressing our own emotional reaction to it
Aristotle:
- Aristotles belief of the universe having a ‘telos’ is criticised. Dawkins claims the universe doesn’t exists with any reason or goal, its simply the result of chance
- Theists often reject Aristotle’s prime mover, as he is almost irrelevant to the universe, because he has no interaction with it and is unaffected by it
- no need to choose between rationalism and empiricism, in some areas reason might be more important (maths, philosophy), but in others sense experience might be more important (natural sciences, art)
