Ch. 1: Plato and Aristotle

Question 1

Rationalism

Answer 1

maintains that true knowledge about reality, the world we live in , derives from our reason (ratio).

Question 2

Plato’s core belief

Answer 2

the real world cannot be an ever-changing world of appearances, but a Supernatural realm which contains perfect Forms and Ideas of almos everything.

Question 3

Plato’s triangle concept

Answer 3

the idea we get about the real triangle that;s not represented in a book or drawn derives from a supernatural realm.

Question 4

Cave Allegory

Answer 4

Humans who content themselves with observations of the world as it appears to them through sensory experience are like the prisoners: they mistake appearence with reality. We must break free of the chains and join the universal Forms, which in turn hold the universal thruths.

Question 5

Plato’s theory of reincarnation : ANAMNESIS

Answer 5

the immortal soul belongs to the World of Forms, where it has seen everything. When we are born we forget everything. We can retrieve this information through the use of REASON

Question 6

Meno’s slave is an example of ?

Answer 6

ANAMNESIS : Plato tries to make him retrieve the information about geometry. But is it leading? not confirmed

Question 7

epistemology

Answer 7

the theory of knowledge

Question 8

knowledge

Answer 8

justified true belief. For it to be classified as knowledge it can’t just be true, it HAS to be justified.

Question 9

Empiricism

Answer 9

argues that our senses bring us into immediate conact with the world. The way to gain knowledge about the world is through sensory experience

Question 10

Peripatetic Axiom

Answer 10

“Nothing is in the intellect which was not first found in the senses”

Question 11

Tabula Rasa concept

Answer 11

According to aristotle the mind is like a blank slate, before it receives impression from realit

Question 12

What is a SYLLOGISM?

Answer 12

a deductive argument to gain knowledge. The premises need to be true in order to gain a true conclusion. WIthout truth it is based on subjective views

Question 13

Induction

Answer 13

Arisotle calls induction the empirical procedure by which we move from the concrete to the abstract (individual sensory experiences –> universal laws)

Question 14

What is the problem with induction

Answer 14

We are not able to guarantee the universal validity of the premises through observation (example : all swans are white) no matter how many samples we collect

Question 15

Aristotle’s four Causes

Answer 15

Formal cause, Material Cause, Efficient cause, FInal cause

Question 16

Aristotle four causes statue example

Answer 16

Formal cause: shape
Material cause: marble
Efficient cause: primary source of change or absence (the sculptor)
Final cause : the goal for the sake something is done

Question 17

What is the purpous of the four causes that Aristotle identifies?

Answer 17

According to Aristotle, to have knowledge of something is to have knowledge of these four causes

Question 18

Why can the Peripatetic Axiom also be called the EMpiricist Axiom?

Answer 18

The peripatetic axiom tells us that all we can know comes to us via the sense. Our senses bring us into contact with the real world. This can also be called he empiricist axiom because empiricists believe that all our knowledge comes from the senses, which is the same as the peripatetic axiom.