Ancient Philosphical Influences

Question 1

What is rationalism?

Answer 1

A branch of philosophy to where philosophers believe the best way to make an argument is by apriori reasons/reasoning.

Question 2

What is an a priori reason?

Answer 2

It’s based on the use of reason or logic
Literally translates to “from before” observation

Question 3

What is empiricism?

Answer 3

A branch of philosophy where philosophers believe the best way to make an argument is by using aposteriori reasons/reasoning

Question 4

What is meant by a posteriori reasoning?

Answer 4

A reason or argument that’s based on the use of experience/observation

Question 5

A priori strengths

Answer 5

-If you accept the premise (basic assumption that helps you prove your conclusion),then the conclusion must be true as it is logically necessary
-a priori arguments are impossible to be disapproved by science- as they are both based on the definition of terms

Question 6

A priori weaknesses

Answer 6

-the strength of an apriori argument rests on the quality of the premises. If one premise ends up been inaccurate,the whole argument falls to pieces
-some people believe it is difficult to prove the existence of God a priori as it is argued that God transcends constraints of logic.

Question 7

What are the strengths of a posteriori?

Answer 7

-They are based on experience which enables other people to verify the conclusions
-They are empirically verifiable which is the method of knowledge acquisition that is most commonly championed(used),particularly in science
*It being used by science is good,as science is so successful,thus we can trust a posteriori methods

Question 8

What are the weaknesses of a posteriori

Answer 8

-These arguments can only give us provisional (could be changed) knowledge because it is always possible that additional experience could prove our experience wrong
-Science has disproven a posteriori ‘truths’ many times. What we once thought was true is not necessarily to be believed know (this is known as the ‘Pessimistic meta induction’)

Question 9

What is meant by ‘pessimistic meta induction’

Answer 9

The argument that if past successful and accepted scientific theories were found to be false,we have no reason to believe the current scientific theories are.

Question 10

What is Plato’s understanding of reality?

Answer 10

-He claims the world we see isn’t real-he is a rationalist
-he believed that “all sensible things are in a state of flux therefore there is no such knowledge of them”
-he thinks to have true and accurate knowledge being change-knowledge must be perfect

Question 11

What’s Platos analogy of the caves?

Answer 11

-Prisoners trapped in a cave all their life-they think the shadows they see in the cave are the real world. One dat a prisoner escapes (philosopher) and sees the true world

Question 12

What do the things in Plato’s cave represent?

Answer 12

prisoners-people (one who escapes is a philospher)
Cave-represnt the world of apperances/empirical world
Shadows- imperfect knowledge/things that are always changing
Outside world-world of forms

Question 13

What’s the world of appearances?

Answer 13

-this world is perceived by our senses
-it’s always changing
-we cannnot be certain of the knowledge gained from the world. Thus it’s known as ‘doxa’ or mere supposition

Question 14

What’s the world of forms

Answer 14

-it can only be accessed through reason/logic
-its where true and accurate knowledge exists (known as episteme) and can only be obtained through a priori argument

Question 15

What’s Plato’s view on the world of forms?

Answer 15

-he states that for everything that shares the same name or same feature,there exists a perfect form of it which is the true knowledge of that thing,existing in the world of forms
-believes we have innate knowledge that we access through a priori reasoning

Question 16

What is meant by particulars?

Answer 16

Copies of the perfect form that we conceptualise form the world of forms

Question 17

What are ‘The Forms’

Answer 17

-Forms are analogous to ideas in that they are non-physical but importantly they’re immutable (unchanging) and perfect
-For any feature shared between objects,Plato thought existed a form:a perfect+pure exemplar of that feature
-this perfect and pure exemplar can’t itself be senses,but all sensible thing with that feature are copies of the form

“There is one form for each set of many things to which we give the same name”

Question 18

What is the Platos recognition argument for the existence of the forms?

Answer 18

Premise. 1- We can recognise ideal forms of things in particulars
Premise 2- If we can recognise,that means we have some knowledge of them
Premise 3-It’s impossible to obtain knowledge of the forms of aposteriori —> he rules out a posteriori reasoning as the world of appearances is always changing,which means it’s imperfect knowledge as its subject to change
Premise 4- therefore we must have some innate knowledge of the forms a priori—>believes we get this knowledge as our souls could have had access to to the world of forms.

Conc- therefore the forms exist

Question 19

Platos recognition argument for the existence of forms

Answer 19

Premise 1- if there are multiple objects that re similar then they’re copies of some exemplar (perfect version)
Premise 2- All green things we see are similar
Premise 3- so all green things are copies of an exemplar of green

Conc- therefore the form of green exists

Question 20

What does Plato use to explain what the form of the good is?

Answer 20

-the simile of the sun
-just as the sun is the source of light+the source of sight,the Form of the Good “Just as the sun is the cause of growth, the form of the good is the source of the very being of knowable objects - the cause of their goodness and truth.” From Platos republic.

Question 21

What is a weakness of the copies argument?

Answer 21

-The third man fallacy

1) Plato assumes that everything similar must have a form
2)if that’s true,then men have a form,the form of man
3)but then there’s something shared between the form of man and men,so therefore there must be another form,the form of the form of man
——-»and the form of the form of man has a form,the form of the form of the form of man etc.

-This is a problem to Plato as it leads to an infinite regress( an endless sequence of explanations-means its an incomplete explanation of why particulars share qualities)

Question 22

Responding to Aristotle’s weakness of the third man fallacy

Answer 22

-particulars need a form as they’re imperfect. Due to this they need to be copies of perfect forms which is where they obtain their qualities and resemblance of perfection from. But forms don’t need their own because they are unchanging and non-physical-they’re the perfect exemplar

Question 23

Weakness of the recognition argument

Answer 23

-in premise 3 of recognition argument (It’s impossible to obtain knowledge of the forms a posteriori). Science and technological advancements have happened due to a posteriori reasoning.

-even tho things in the world are subject to change,this doesn’t been we can’t gain knowledge from them,and the way they change a posteriori. This can be supported by the continued success of modern empirical science.

-thus Plato has incorrectly ruled out the possibility that our ability to recognises the true form of particulars has come from a posteriori reasoning since modern a posteriori methods of obtaining knowledge have much surpassed the a posteriori methods of reasoning in his day.

Question 24

Response to weakness of recognition argument

Answer 24

-aposteriori arguments continue to be disproven as we make advances in science. Whereas a priori arguments stand the test of time and as long as the premise are true,they can’t be proven false. -known as pessimistic meta induction.
-the point above proves democritus’ point as it shows that a posteriori will always be disproven by a priori-we can’t trust it.

Question 25

What does Aristotle base his arguments on?

Answer 25

A posteriori/ empiricism

Question 26

What is meant by potentiality?

Answer 26

The possibility of doing some thing/ or becoming something

Question 27

What is meant by actuality?

Answer 27

When the potential is achieved

E.g. acorns have the potential to grow into an oak tree-when it does its an actuality
For Aristotle, all change can be explained through potentiality nd actuality

Question 28

What’s meant by “telos”

Answer 28

End/purpose

Question 29

What view did Aristotle have on the world

Answer 29

He has a teleological view-means that he believed everything had a purpose.
That purpose is dependant on what that particular thing is

Question 30

What did Aristotle believe the telos of a human is?

Answer 30

He believed the telos of a human is ‘eudaimonia’ (means flourishing). Humans flourish when they lead virtuous lives.

Question 31

What 2 things contribute to eudaimonia?

Answer 31

Morality and intellectual capacity

Question 32

What are the four causes?

Answer 32

Material cause: what a thing is made of. E.g. the material cause of a chair is whatever it is made from, such as wood or plastic.

Formal cause: what the essence or defining characteristic of a thing is. E.g. the formal cause of a chair is its shape.

Efficient cause: what brings the being into existence. E.g. the efficient cause of a chair is whoever made it.

Final cause – telos (purpose): the end goal of a thing. The final state which a thing is disposed towards by its nature. E.g. the final cause of a chair is to be sat on.

Question 33

What is the prime mover arguments?

Answer 33

Premise 1: everything that changes must have a final cause
Premise 2:there cannot be an infinite regress of final causes
Conclusion: there must be some ultimate cause that causes everything to change

-Aristotle realises that if everything has a final cause that its moving towards ,then if there’s no ultimate cause of all of this,it leads to an infinite regress

-he then argued that we can’t have an infinite regress of final causes because we need an ultimate cause that guides everything. This he posits the existence of the prime mover.

Question 34

What is the prime mover?

Answer 34

An eternal,incorporeal (doesn’t need a body),necessary and transcendent entity which isn’t moving from potentiality to actuality since it’s fully actualised

-the p.m causes change in everything else by attraction,it moves things from potentiality to actuality -everything ultimately wants to be like the prime mover+ move towards it( into actuality) due to its perfection

Question 35

What’s a weakness of Aristotle’s view of reality?

Answer 35

-existentialism- belief that there’s no meaning/purpose in life.
-Jean-Paul Sartre who espoused this view believed that there was no telos/purpose because “existence precedes essence”
-this means that he believed humans impose purpose onto things,without humans purpose wouldn’t exist. E.g a table has the purpose of holding things until a human decides to put something in it
-saying A is wrong in his observation of telos in nature

Question 36

Overcoming of Satre weakness

Answer 36

-As Sartre’s argument is psychological, he does not provide metaphysical grounds for rejecting telos and so is arguably committing the genetic fallacy. The genetic fallacy is assuming that the way in which someone comes up with a theory is relevant to whether it is true or false. Just because people have a psychological need to believe in objective purpose, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Question 37

Evolution weakness of Aristotle’s view on reality

Answer 37

-Darwins theory of evolution has shown that apparent purpose in nature is explained by random mutations and natural selection,not by purposes
-Replacing the idea with change of Four Causes,instead it happens due to natural selection,not because there’s a pre-ordained purpose
-Darwin is disagreeing with the reason WHY change happens
-disagrees with the final cause-thing the actually causes change in natural selection.

Question 38

Evolution overcoming weakness- aristotles view of reality

Answer 38

-zoology
-zoology today explains the characteristics of animals using the idea of purposes e.g. a tiger has sharp teeth,allowing it to eat food easier,proves
-proves that Aristotle is right in this observation that things are moving towards purpose in nature because the adaptations animals exhibit, like a tiger’s sharp teeth for more efficient feeding, suggest that their features are designed to fulfill specific functions, aligning with Aristotle’s concept of telos (purpose) in nature, where all living things move towards their natural end or purpose.

Question 39

Weakness on aristotles view on reality:fallacy of composition

Answer 39

-David hume sates that in the F.I.C just because each constituent (individual) part of something has a particular characteristic,it doesn’t mean that that something as a whole has a particular characteristic. Highlights the fallacy by noting that even if individual parts have certain attributes,it doesn’t necessarily mean the whole object will exhibit the same features e.g. just because a cell in a human body is small doesn’t mean that the entire human body is small
-Aristotle commits this fallacy as he deduces that each human has a telos,but he jumps to the conclusion that there must be a final cause without any reason

Question 40

Overcoming weakness;principle of sufficient reason

Answer 40

-P.O.R;
-if something exists there must be a reason why it does
-if a statement is true,there must be a reason why its true
-if something happens there must be a reason why that thing happens
(Summary- EVERYTHING HAS CAUSE)
*leibniz argued that it doesn’t matter whether something exists eternally or not,there still needs to be an explanation for that existence
-the P.O.R can be used to state that the prime mover is a necessary part of his theory of reality by asserting that every effect must have an adequate cause,and therefore to avoid an infinite regress,there must be a first cause that started everything but doesn’t need a cause itself.