Ancient philosophical influences Flashcards
Plato created the analogy of the what?
Cave
who do the prisoner’s represent in the analogy of the cave?
people who receive everything at face value, never ask questions and never try to understand.
they lead meaningless and empty lives.
who is the prisoner who breaks away representative of in the cave analogy?
a philosopher who wants to know more.
those who see the forms should be the leaders of society
what does plato suggest about society in the cave analogy?
their situation is no different to ours. Plato is commenting that we do not see the forms clearly, only the illusionary physical world.
culture, tradition and upbringing limit peoples ability to see the world in any other way than how they were brought up.
what does the fire represent in the cave analogy?
a poor imitation of the sun. it shows the prisoners are only aware of a false version of the sun (form of the good)
what do the shadows represent in the cave analogy?
distorted ideas. Plato is showing that material, physical concerns can blind people to what is really important.
what does the sun represent in the cave analogy?
the form of the good. blinds the escapee to show we can be blind to the truth/ its difficult to see.
strengths of analogy of cave
- fits with religious teaching that the soul is eternal so Christians can find it plausible
- fits with the teleological argument as we have empirical evidence to show the physical world is subject to flaws
- peoples shared understanding o beauty and truth must have come from somewhere
weaknesses of analogy of cave
- makes no sense to believe in a spiritual world you cant see over a physical world you can see
- Aristotle would reject as he was an empiricist who relied on sensual observation but we cant see Plato’s analogy.
what is a form?
the essence of what something is; its true representation or ideal standard. not a shape, the spirit of something.
timeless and unchanged
strengths of belief in forms
-supports Christian doctrine about the idea of a soul being implanted by god and acknowledges that the soul lives forever
-Plato is correct when arguing the physical world is in a state of flux and Aquinas supports this
weaknesses of belief in forms
- how do we know what is perfect? moral values change over time and through cultures
how did Dante describe Aristotle?
“master of those who know”
why did Aristotle reject platos belief in forms?
cannot be empirically observed
what do the four causes aim to prove?
what causes the obvious change and motion in the universe
the material cause is..
what something is made of
the formal cause is..
the characteristics/ shape of something
the efficient cause is..
how something comes to be
the final cause is..
the goal or function of something
