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Philosophy (3) > Ancient philosophical influences > Flashcards

Ancient philosophical influences Flashcards

1
Q

What did Socrates believe society needed?

A
  • Critical method of uncovering truth
  • People need to be trained to look beneath the surface and ask questions
  • Recognise the difference between knowledge and opinion to expose ignorance by asking questions
  • People need to understand that there are limitations to knowledge
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2
Q

Describe the socratic method

A

Asking questions to clarify ideas e.g. counsellors are taught to only ask questions so they can come to their own conclusions and not be told what to do

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3
Q

Why was Socrates arrested?

A

Corrupting the youth against the Greek gods and put to death by poisonous hemlock

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4
Q

Name Socrates’ four paradoxes

A
  • No one desires evil (Socrates served in army in war)
  • No one does wrong willingly
  • All virtue is knowledge
  • Virtue is sufficient for happiness
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5
Q

Define ‘virtue’

A

Behaviour that shows high moral standards

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6
Q

Why is philosophy sometimes referred to as the ‘footnotes of plato’?

A

Some regard him as the greatest Philosopher of all time as many of his ideas still divide scholars today

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7
Q

After (1) died, Plato wrote to carry his legacy, he founded an school called (2) where he taught until he died, his family was one of the wealthiest and (3) in Athens, his uncle was leader of (4) who overthrew the Athenian (5)

A 
1 - Socrates
2 - The Academy 
3 - Politically active 
4 - Thirty Tyrants 
5 - Democracy
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8
Q

Describe ‘Platonic love’

A

Plato saw love as motivated by a longing for the highest form of beauty, love is the motivational power through which the highest of achievements are possible

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9
Q

What was Plato’s philosophical approach?

A

Emphasising the world of ideas and reason as the source of knowledge

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10
Q

Aristotle was one of (1) students and travelled to Athens aged (2) to study at The Academy, he followed the same philosophical techniques as (3)

A

1 - Plato’s
2 - 17
3 - Plato and Socrates (decided against many of Plato’s ideas)

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11
Q

Describe Aristotle’s philosophical approach

A
  • Emphasising the physical world and experience as the basis of knowledge
  • Founder of many sciences including physics, biology and psychology
  • Tutored Alexander the Great
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12
Q

Give a quote from Plato

A

“The things that we see in the physical world around us and what we learn through experience are imitations and examples”

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13
Q

What did Plato notice in the world?

A

Constantly changing

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14
Q

Describe Plato’s theory of reality and forms

A
  • True reality exists beyond normal perceptions of the world
  • What we perceive is a shadow of the truth
  • The real world is unchanging and eternal, it is a world of ideas not senses where there are perfect forms of everything we know on this earth
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15
Q

How does Plato describe the material world?

A

Transitory - moves in time and space, relative, changing, impermanent, superficial, contradictory, sensory, measurable and imperfect

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16
Q

How does Plato describe the Realm of forms?

A

Outside of time and space, real, absolute, unchanging, permanent, superior, beyond the senses, immeasurable and perfect

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17
Q

Quote the Republic 507b

A

“And we say that the particulars are objects of sight but not of intelligence while the forms are the objects of intelligence but not of sight”

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18
Q

What is a form?

A

Not a shape but the essence of the object

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19
Q

How do we recognise a form?

A

We are born with a dim recollection of them from our prior existence in the world of forms, the soul is the inner part of humanity that is eternal and unchanging, before it was attached to the body it was connected with the real world of forms

20
Q

What are the criticisms of the realm of forms?

A
  • Only exists for philosophers
  • Ordinary people struggle to see past this illusion of the world because they are ruled by their senses
  • Only the person who investigates and questions can learn the truth behind the illusion
  • Only the philosopher is capable of making judgements because he can think independently of his senses
21
Q

How do we see the realm of forms?

A

We see this world through sunlight and eyes, the realm of forms must be seen with the mind’s eye and the force of intellect to appreciate the forms but we need a ‘sun equivalent’ to illuminate them which is form of good

22
Q

How are the forms arranged?

A
  • Hierarchy
  • Form of good is the most important because it illuminates and gives value to all other forms
  • Goodness is the purest and most abstract
  • Higher forms are justice, wisdom, courage and beauty
23
Q

It is only (1) which causes immorality, people steal and lie because they’re ignorant of the (2)

A

1 - ignorance

2 - form of honesty

24
Q

Describe Plato’s allegory of the cave

A
  • Group of prisoners trapped in a cave since birth
  • Puppeteer cast shadows of objects against the wall
  • Prisoners believed the shadows were real
  • One of the prisoners set free and found an opening to the outside world
  • They adjusted to the light, saw colour, smell and texture
  • Fell and stumbled so they were outcasted by the other prisoners
25
Q

Name two strengths of the allegory of the cave

A
  • Explanation of why there is imperfection in the world
  • Belief that true reality is beyond our experience is widely acknowledgeable e.g. a person’s looks might make them beautiful but the greater value of their beauty is in their personality which can’t be seen
26
Q

Give four weaknesses of Plato’s allegory of the cave

A
  • No proof of another world
  • Elitist but philosophical intelligence
  • Plato suggests nobody could discover true knowledge and return to the world of the shadows but just because someone knows true goodness doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t give into selfishness or greed
27
Q

Quote the Republic 480

A

“Those whose hearts are fixed on the true being of each thing are to be called philosophers”

28
Q

Define ‘nominalism’

A

General or abstract words do not stand for objectively existing entities

29
Q

What is the Republic?

A

A socratic dialogue written by Plato approximately 380BC concerning justice

30
Q

Define ‘transcendent’

A

Referred to but beyond direct apprehension

31
Q

Describe Aristotle’s four causes?

A

Material - the matter an object is made from
Formal - the form of the object and its characteristics
Efficient - the way in which an object is created
Final - the aim for which the object is created

32
Q

Give some advantages of Aristotle’s four causes

A
  • Based on logic
  • Supported by empiricists
  • Supports religious ideas of God
  • Reliable as its based on studies of the natural world
  • Applied to natural beings confirmed as true
  • Doesn’t overrule God
33
Q

Give some disadvantages of Aristotle’s four causes

A
  • Only applicable to manmade objects e.g. not emotions or natural things
  • Relies on experience which Plato argued was unreliable
  • No evidence that the material world is the source of knowledge
  • Events that happen by chance can’t be explained
34
Q

What did Aristotle believe are the two states of being?

A

Potentiality - the possibility of doing or becoming something
Actuality - potentiality is achieved or what the actual being of something is

35
Q

Quote Aristotle

A

“It is absurd to suppose that purpose is not present because we do not observe an agent deliberately”

36
Q

What is the basis of Aristotle’s prime mover theory?

A

Chain of cause and effect cannot be infinite and so there must be something that started it without itself being caused = the prime mover/ uncaused causer

37
Q

How does Aristotle describe the prime mover and why?

A

Everything within our time and space are subject to change so the prime mover has to be eternal but not necessarily a familiar bodily form because change is bad as it is impermanent and cannot be improved

38
Q

Quote Aristotle on metaphysics

A

“God is a living being, eternal and most good so that life and duration continuous and eternal belong to God”

39
Q

The Prime mover must exist with no (1), it cannot cause (2) because (3) it instead act by attracting things to it, it is perfect and so cannot think about (4)

A

1 - potential
2 - movement
3 the act of moving something changes its physical state
4 - anything other than itself

40
Q

How does Plato’s form of good conceptualise Christianity’s God?

A
  • perfect source of goodness
  • ultimate reality
  • permanent and unchanging being
41
Q

How does Aristotle’s prime mover conceptualise the Christian God?

A

The ultimate cause of all that exists but is not caused by anything

42
Q

What are three common qualities of both the prime mover and the form of good?

A
  • They both answer the question of how everything exists
  • Independent existence
  • Neither take into consideration the moral affairs of humanity
43
Q

Give four differences between the prime mover and the form of good

A
  • form of good is not a being
  • prime mover makes things change by attraction rather than motion itself
  • f.o.g is solely goodness but the p.m is motion and cause
  • f.o.g could potentially be encountered by people
44
Q

Describe Plato’s rationalism

A
  • Basing opinions on reason
  • Physical world of constant change cannot give certainty but reason is undoubtable
  • senses are misleading
45
Q

Describe Aristotle’s empiricism

A
  • Knowledge is derived from sense experience
  • E.g. cannot picture colours we’ve never seen
  • Reason is limited unless sense experience provides information so experience is superior

Philosophy (3) (9 decks)

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