CH1.1 Ancient philosophical influences

Question 1

what are some ideas that Plato and Aristotle explore?

Answer 1

they explore ideas about how we can gain true knowledge and about the nature of wisdom. They consider questions about God and about whether there might be another reality beyond the physical world

Question 2

what was Plato convinced about this world? and why cannot this world be the object of true knowledge?

Answer 2

Plato was convinced that this world is only an imitation of another, much greater reality.
-in his view, this world is constantly changing and cannot, therefore, be the object of true knowledge; he thought that there must be another realm where things are eternal and unchanging, a world beyond this one, which he understood to be the realm of the Forms.

Question 3

how did Plato think we could gain knowledge from this world? and what does it make him?

Answer 3

he thought that we could gain knowledge of this world primarily through the use of our reason, and he is therefore a rationalist

Question 4

in contrast, what did Aristotle believe about the physical world? what is Aristotle therefore known as?

Answer 4

in contrast, Aristotle believed that the physical world around us can give us a great deal of information.
-he was fascinated by science and thought that sense experience was the primary way to gain knowledge.
-Aristotle is therefore known as an empiricist.

Question 5

the thinking of Plato and Aristotle was part of what?

Answer 5

was part of the culture and education of those who wrote the New Testament, and so ancient Greek concepts were used to help shape and communicate Christian ideas for the first believers.

Question 6

what family did Plato come from?

Answer 6

Plato came from an aristocratic Athenian family, whose members were closely involved in politics and who had some quite decided views.

Question 7

what did Plato notice about the world, and why did this present a problem?

Answer 7

-Plato noticed that the physical world is always changing, and that not everything stays the same. Even things which are apparently static, and solid are changing in small ways that might not be obvious to the eye. They are growing or decaying, becoming scratched or stained, fading in the sun or darkening with age.
-for Plato this presented a problem. How could people attain true knowledge and certain knowledge, if the objects they wanted to know about were never the same from on moment to the next? As soon as people thought they had understood something, it was different again. Could we never get further than guesswork and opinion?

Question 8

in response to the problem posed by our constantly changing world, can we ever have certain knowledge according to Plato?

Answer 8

Plato argued that there are also other realities of which we can have certain knowledge, in a different ‘world’, which are eternal and always stay the same. These realities are concepts, which Plato called ‘Forms’ or ‘Ideas’.

Question 9

in Plato’s view, the different things that we see in the world around us using our five senses are what? Use the justice example

Answer 9

in Plato’s view, the different things that we see in the physical world around us, and that we learn about through experience by using our five senses, are imitations and examples of their ideal Form.
-when we see someone doing an act of justice, we recognise it as justice because we know what ‘true justice’ really is, as a concept.

Question 10

so according to Plato’s theory, why do we recognise things for what they are?

Answer 10

we recognise things for what they are only because of our knowledge of their forms.
-so, for example, if we see a tree, we know what it is even when we have not seen that particular tree before, because we understand the concept of ‘tree’. We recognise it as an example of something which reflects the ‘Form of Tree’

Question 11

continuing the example of a tree, is the tree in the physical world inferior to the concept or the Form of Tree? and why?

Answer 11

in Plato’s view, the physical tree which is available to the senses is inferior to the concept or the Form of Tree. This is because the physical tree is undergoing a process of change. The leaves might be coming into bud, or turning yellow for the autumn, or dropping. Eventually, the tree will die and rot away.
-however, the Form of Tree is eternal. The idea or Form of the tree, unlike the physical tree, never changes. It does not depend on physical circumstances for its existence. For this reason, the Form of Tree can be the object of true knowledge even though the physical tree cannot

Question 12

what did Plato believe that the unchanging nature of the Forms make them?

Answer 12

Plato believed that the unchanging nature of the Forms made them in many ways ‘more real’ than the ordinary physical objects we can perceive with out senses.
-physical, material things are given their reality by the Forms, according to Plato; they ‘participate in’ the Forms

Question 13

what did Plato say about out understanding of the forms?

Answer 13

Plato thought that we have an understanding of the Forms from birth, even if we do not realise it.
-we just know, by intuition, what the Form of Beauty is or the Form of Symmetry, and we make judgements about different qualities of things in the physical world by comparing them with our concepts
-Plato decided that, as we seem to have this intuition about the Forms, it must be because at some point, before we were born, we experienced them - and this led him to the conclusion that people must have immortal souls and must have lived in the realm of Forms before being born into the material world as physical human beings

Question 14

according to Plato, are the different forms related to each other?

Answer 14

yes. According to Plato, the different forms are related to each other, and arranged in a hierarchy.

Question 15

what is the most important of all Forms?

Answer 15

the most important of all forms is the Form of good, which illuminates all of the other Forms and gives them their value.
-Justice, for example, and wisdom and courage and even beauty are all aspects of goodness, so they are the Higher Forms, although not as important as the Form of the Good

Question 16

Goodness is seen as what?

Answer 16

goodness is seen as the purest, most abstract of the Forms, the furthest away from the physical world, and those Forms lower down in the hierarchy are more particular and specific as well as more closely related to material objects, such as the Form of Blueness or the Form of softness

Question 17

have we ever seen goodness as perfectly exemplified in this physical world? But why do we see things which we recognise to be good?

Answer 17

no, goodness is something we have never seen perfectly exemplified in this physical world.
-we have all seen actions and role models we recognise to be ‘good’. We recognise their goodness because we understand how they correspond to our intuitive knowledge of the Form of Good, and we can identify what it is about the actions or the people that is good - we can also recognise the respects in which they fall short of perfection

Question 18

what is true knowledge for Plato? Who is a philosopher?

Answer 18

true knowledge for Plato is knowledge of goodness
-a philosopher is someone who loves (‘philo’) wisdom (‘sophia’), and who recognises the nature of true goodness.
-a lover of wisdom is not going to be someone who simply knows the truth. Love involves action not passivity. The genuine lover of wisdom, the real ‘philosopher’, will want to put that wisdom into practice by teaching others and by setting an example, and this, for Plato, was the reason why countries should be ruled by philosopher kings

Question 19

what did Plato say about knowing good and bad?

Answer 19

part of Plato’s argument was that if someone knows what is good and what is bad, he or she will choose the good.
-it is only ignorance which causes immorality. People steal or tell lies because they are ignorant of the Form of Honesty. If they became more philosophical and looked for the Form of the Good, they would make better moral decisions

Question 20

what does Plato use the Analogy of the cave to illustrate?

Answer 20

he uses it to illustrate to us how the Form of the Good illuminates all the rest of our knowledge

Question 21

what was the name of the god which Plato believed in?

Answer 21

Plato believed that the world was created by a god he called the Demiurge.

Question 22

according to Plato, how did the Demiurge make the world?

Answer 22

he made the world by fashioning it out of material that was already there, but which was a shapeless mess before the Demiurge got to work
-the name ‘Demiurge’ itself comes from the Greek word for a craftsman or workman.

Question 23

in Plato’s book Timaeus, how does he describe the Demiurge?

Answer 23

he describes how the Demiurge is good and desires the best for humanity.
-the Demiurge tries to make the universe as well as he can, but he is limited by his materials, and 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, changeable.

Question 24

what does Plato mean when he applies the word ‘good’ to the Demiurge?

Answer 24

he means that he (the Demiurge) can be judged in comparison with the Form of the Good.
-the Demiurge is not in any sense ‘Goodness-Itself’ or the ‘source of all goodness’, but is a being which can be measured against the external standards of the Forms.

Question 25

When did Plato right the Republic?

Answer 25

when he was about 40

Question 26

In Republic, what does Plato use to illustrate aspects of his philosophy? explain it

Answer 26

he used an analogy (the analogy of the cave)
-he wants us to imagine people being held prisoner in a cave, and then plays out a series of events to clarify and emphasis his points

Question 27

When he gives the analogy of the cave, what does Plato want us to understand?

Answer 27

he wants us to understand:
-the relation between the physical, material world and the higher world of forms
-the ways in which material, physical concerns can blind people to what is really important
-the ignorance of humanity when people do not engage in philosophy
-the potential for true knowledge that philosophy brings
-that there is another world which we cannot see from the position that we are in, yet which we can reach and which will give us enlightenment
-the initial difficulties of grappling with philosophy
-the hostility that people often feel when faced with philosophical ideas that challenge their previously-held beliefs
-the injustice of the death of Socrates
-that education, if we take the word literally, is a ‘leading-out’. It is not stuffing peoples minds with information, but drawing-out of things they already know and an encouragement for them to become new kinds of people.

Question 28

How does Plato reveal the analogy of the cave to us in the Republic? Explain it (explain the analogy of the cave)

Answer 28

he reveals it to us through a conversation between Socrates and a man named Glaucon.
-Socrates asks Glaucon to imagine a scene set in an underground cave. In the cave, there are prisoners, who have been there since childhood; Plato wants us to understand that they have no memory of ever having lived in any different way. The prisoners are chained in such a way that they can only face in one direction, and are unable to move their heads. They all sit facing the back wall of the cave. The only light available to them comes from a fire, which is behind them so they cannot see it. All they can see is the light that the fire produces, reflected off the cave wall. Between the fire and the prisoners, still behind them, is a low wall (like a low edge of a puppet theatre). People go along the low wall, carrying a variety of different objects, and as they pass the fire, shadows of the objects are thrown onto the cave wall where the prisoners can see them.

Question 29

What are the prisoners in the cave only able to see?

Answer 29

all the prisoners are only able to see the shadows of the different objects, and shadows of each other. They cannot see what the objects are made of, and they have no reason to suppose that some objects are made of one thing and others are made of another.
-There is no way that they can begin to question the ‘essence’ of different aspects of their world because as far as they are concerned, they already know the answers. They see only a two-dimensional shadow and not solid objects.

Question 30

what are the only sounds the prisoners in the analogy of the cave able to hear?

Answer 30

the prisoners are only able to hear voices and echoes.
-Because of their situation, they are unable to distinguish real voices from the echoes of voices, so they are unable to distinguish from reality and appearance and do not even know that there is even any difference.

Question 31

Plato has set up a scene where what?

Answer 31

where people are as far removed from reality as possible.
-Nothing they perceive with their senses gives them true information. They see and hear only shadowy, flickering images of the ways in which things really are, and they are completely unaware of their own ignorance. As far as they realise, this is the truth

Question 32

What do we as Plato’s readers know that there is?

Answer 32

we as Plato’s readers and listeners know exactly what the prisoners are missing. We know that there is a whole world out there, beyond the cave, that they could be enjoying and which would greatly increase their knowledge: just as Socrates knew that there is a whole world of Forms ‘out there’ that people ignorant of philosophy are missing

Question 33

After explaining the scene in the cave, what does Plato ask us to do?

Answer 33

next, Plato asks us to imagine what will happen if the prisoners are released from their chains, and can turn around and see what has been happening.
-initially, each prisoner will be completely puzzled and at a loss to understand what it is that he is being shown. If he is shown the actual objects that were making the shadows, he will not at first be able to recognise them, and he will think that the shadows were ‘more real’ than the solid objects.
-he will find the whole experience painful because his muscles have been unused for so long, and he will find the glare from the fire hurts his eyes.
-However, as he gets used to the light, he will gradually become accustomed to it, and his vision will begin to improve.

Question 34

By showing that the released prisoners will find it painful to learn the truth, what does Plato want us to understand?

Answer 34

Plato wants us to understand that when we begin to question the world around us, when we start to wonder what is real and what is illusory, and when we begin to ask ourselves whether we could have been wrong until now, it is a painful experience. Most people only undertake philosophy reluctantly - but it is, nevertheless, a profoundly worthwhile thing to do.

Question 35

once the former prisoner has become more comfortable with looking at the fire, what is it time for him to do?

Answer 35

it is time for him to leave the cave and make his way outside.
-he does not want to go. He has been comfortable with his life of ignorance, and experience already tells him that changing his ideas is a painful challenge.
-however, he is led up through the mouth of the cave, which is ‘steep’ and ‘rugged’ as a metaphor for his struggles. At last, he is out in the light, where the sun, rather than the fire, gives the real world a sharp clarity.

Question 36

what is the prisoner’s reaction to the outside world?

Answer 36

again, his initial reaction is one of pain and irritation. His eyes are so dazzled at first that he cannot see anything clearly, but gradually he adjusts. First he understands shadows, and then reflections; he is more comfortable at night than during the day. But later on, as his abilities develop, he is able to see in the daylight.

Question 37

As the former prisoner adjusts to his new life, what grows?

Answer 37

his wisdom grows.
-he begins to realize the importance of the sun in illuminating all of his other knowledge. He realises that the sun gives structure to his life, and that it enables him to see other things as they really are.

Question 38

What does Plato use the sun metaphor for?

Answer 38

Plato uses the sun metaphor for us to understand the sun as the Form of the Good.
-the cave with its shadows is something we experience when we are ignorant of the Form of the Good. When we never ask ourselves about the nature of goodness, we live in a world of illusions, where none of our ‘knowledge’ is really knowledge at all. It is only when we have an understanding of the Good that everything else falls into place.
-Knowing what goodness is allows us to know what justice is, or Truth, or Patience.

Question 39

does the former prisoner return to the cave to help his friends, and what is their reaction?

Answer 39

yes he returns, but they are not impressed.

Question 40

by mentioning that the prisoners in the cave were willing to kill the former prisoner if he tried to lead them out the cave, what was Plato trying to show?

Answer 40

Plato wants to show, then, that Socrates was well aware of the dangers he faced in trying to bring philosophy to others. He knew that people did not like to have their assumptions, prejudices and superstitions called into question.
-He knew that, when people start to ask themselves questions about what justice really is, or where the true nature of goodness might be found, they could end up with more questions than answers, and perhaps feel themselves to be less knowledgeable than before.
-but, in Plato’s view, Socrates was willing to take this risk, because for him the human search for the truth was more important than life itself.

Question 41

who does the released prisoner represent?

Answer 41

he represents Socrates but also all those who undertake philosophy.

Question 42

In particular, what did Aristotle not accept about Plato’s views?

Answer 42

he did not accept that there is another world, more real than this one, which can be the object of true knowledge.
-In Aristotle’s view, the physical world around us is the key to knowledge, and we can learn about it using our senses.

Question 43

What family did Aristotle come from?

Answer 43

he came from a well off Macedonian family

Question 44

did Aristotle reject the idea that there is a ‘world of forms’?

Answer 44

yes he did.
-he thought that there was nothing to be gained from this dualist approach.
-Ideas, he thought, can have no real existence just on their own. They have to relate to something, here in the physical world of our own experience. Our journey to knowledge has to start here, where we are, and must be gained through observation of the world around us.

Question 45

for Aristotle, what was crucial?

Answer 45

observation of the natural world

Question 46

What was one question which fascinated Aristotle?

Answer 46

it was the question of cause. Why are things the way that they are - what caused them? What is the ‘essence’ of this thing or that thing? Why does it exist in the world at all?

Question 47

What word did Aristotle use when he was thinking and writing about different kinds of explanations?

Answer 47

he used the term ‘aetion’
-it is usually translated as ‘cause’, although the words are not exactly the same in meaning, as ‘aetion’ can include the concept of explanation as well as origin.
-in other words, ‘aetion’ can be used to describe what something looks like or what it is made from, as well as what caused it to come into being.

Question 48

in exploring these aetiological questions, what did Aristotle recognise? Thus what did think?

Answer 48

he recognised that something can have several different explanations for its existence, on different levels.
-If i ask, for example, what is the ‘cause’ of my desk, i can answer in a variety of different ways. I could say that it is ‘caused’ by wood, because it is a wooden desk, so without the wood and the glue and the nails, i would not have a desk. Or, i could say that the desk is caused by the person who made it. Someone has taken the wood and the nails and the glue, and worked to make them into a desk shape - if this person had not bothered, then i would have no desk. ETC
-Thus Aristotle thought that ‘cause’ could be understood in four different ways, to which he gave names.

Question 49

What are the 4 causes?

Answer 49

1) Material cause
2) Formal cause
3) Efficient cause
4) Final cause

Question 50

What does the 1) the material cause explain?

Answer 50

it explains what something is made from

Question 51

What is the 2) formal cause?

Answer 51

the formal cause gives something its shape and allows it to be identified as whatever it is.

Question 52

what is the 3) efficient cause?

Answer 52

this is name Aristotle gave to the activity that makes something happen. E.g. the efficient cause of my desk is the activity of the carpenter who made it.

Question 53

What is 4) the final cuase?

Answer 53

the final cause of something is its purpose, its reason for existing at all. This can be understood as ‘Telos’

Question 54

out of the four causes, which is the most important according to Aristotle?

Answer 54

4) the Final cause.
-this is because what is good is that which fulfils its telos (final purpose)

Question 55

What were the two causes which bothered Aristotle the most when applied to the universe?

Answer 55

they were the efficient cause and the final cause.
-What causes the different objects in the universe to actualise their potential? What is the purpose of the universe as a whole?

Question 56

What did Aristotle realise about the universe and what did this make him think?

Answer 56

he realised that the universe was in a constant state of change and motion. Therefore, he thought, there must be some kind of efficient cause, someone or something performing some kind of action, to make all this change and motion happen.

Question 57

Who did Aristotle think was the cause of the universe?

Answer 57

he thought that the cause of the universe must be God. God must be the Prime Mover, a cause which actualises the potential in everything else.

Question 58

In Aristotle’s view, the Prime Mover was what?

Answer 58

the Prime Mover was first of all substances.

Question 59

How does the Prime Mover cause movement and change? And why?

Answer 59

-The Prime Mover cuases movement and change, but not in a physical way by giving them some kind of push - because, if it did, then the act of ‘pushing’ would affect the Prime Mover.
-Instead, the Prime Mover causes change and motion by attracting other things towards itself. It does nothing, but it is the object of everything.
-the final cause of movement is a desire for God. Everything in the universe is drawn towards God’s perfection and wants to imitate it, and so by this great attraction, the Prime Mover causes movement in everything else.

Question 60

What are the 5 conclusions Aristotle gives about the nature of God?

Answer 60

1) God does not depend on anything else for his existence.
2) God is eternal, because of this lack of potential for change. If he cant change, he cannot cease to be.
3) God must be perfectly good, because badness is related to some kind of lacking, an absence of something ought to be there.
4) God must be immaterial, and beyond time and space. All matter is capable of being acted upon, and so God cannot be made of matter.
5)The Prime Mover is the final cause of everything that exists in the universe, not only in the sense of being the origin of everything, but also in the sense of being the purpose of everything.

Question 61

is the Prime Mover the efficient cause?

Answer 61

no. This is because it cannot do anything, it does things through attraction.