Chapter 2 Flashcards
Intuition
the power or ability to have immediate direct knowledge of something without conscious reasoning
Instinct
unlearned natural impulse to act in a certain way
Tripartite Soul: Plato
Reason
Spirited element
appetite
Tripartite Soul: Aristotle
Rational
Sentient: feeling pain/suffering
Nutritive
zoon logikon
rational/social animals
Substance dualism
physical and mental interact with each but they have different properties/entities
Te los
purpose/fulfillment
completion or fulfillment of something
purpose, goal, end, aim
Augustine: 3 basic disorderly desires
Lust: sexual or intense desire
Curiosity
Pride
Aristotle
use reason to find happiness
a wise person knows when/how to use feelings
3 Faculties
mind/head
emotion/heart
will/volition
Aquinas and Augustine
using reason to know God results in happiness
Darwin
-From a non-cell comes a cell
-humans don’t have a purpose and everything happens by blind chance
-humans aren’t different from animals
(different in degree but not in kind)
Existentialism
our only purpose is that which we create ourselves
nothing is predetermined
Existence precedes essence
Jean-Paul Sartre
Man exists then determines nature
No fixed human nature
Eligo ergo sum
I choose, therefore I am
Sartre
We are condemned to be free
God and society become irrelevant
Freedom implies responsibility
Mauvaise foi
blame someone else/ don’t take responsibility
Fall into despair: waiting for results- leads to anxiety
Despair is a way of life: no way out
Absurd
ab: very
Sudus: deaf
not rational (dissonance harmony)
-life is a series of meaningless disconnected events
Heidegger: “ih bin nicht zu house” (absurd)
I’m not at home
Samuel Beckett (absurd)
the devoid of meaning and moral order
Reason
primary source of knowledge prior to, superior to, and independent of sense perceptions
Perfection
no more, no less, just right
learn to embrace flaws
Dualism
Body and mind
Consciousness
subjective
comes from own mind
Descartes
body is extended thing mind is thinking thing Mental is who you are -thought pineal gland connected immaterial mind and material body Senses can deceive but mind cannot
Cognito ergo sum (Descartes)
I think therefore I am
Hobbes
monos=one
mental processes=physical processes
-all activities and mental processes can be described as working like a machine
Smart
mental processes=brain states
-mental activities do not seem to have the properties brain processes have
Conscious experience is not something you can see
Ryle (Behaviorist)
-The only thing we can know about someone is what we can observe
-“ghost in the machine”: an immaterial mind inside a physical body
(feelings, thoughts, mind are just labels)
-mental words must be words for observable behavior
Putnam (Behaviorist)
superactor and superspartan
outer and inner experiences are different
Enduring Self
John and Lisa
Can I remain the same through changes?
Bodily Continuity
Fingerprints, hair, blood, DNA never change
Mad scientist: switched brains
Descartes (soul)
soul makes a person remain the same
John Locke
a person’s memories/awareness determines their identity
person=memories
Thomas Reid
Disagrees with Locke
Contradiction: Tom through ages
Hume
knowledge is based on senses
we only have perceptions (self is not real)
Cannot give up idea of self
Buddhism
Illusion of self=suffering/pain
desire comes from self: leads to suffering
everything is impermanent
Can give up idea of individual self
Descartes: Atomistic
When you withdraw from others you can find your true self
Self is self-sufficient/autonomous
External influence is irrelevant
Only you are able to judge yourself (self-judgement)
(Cognito ergo sum: I think therefore I am)
Trusts the mind: Identity based on ability to think for self
Embraces autonomy but rejects heteronomy (heteros=other)
Descartes: 4 views
- Real me exists within myself
- This real me and qualities exists independently of others
- I by myself can discover the real me by withdrawing from others
- I can be the judge of what the truth about myself is
Kant
Ability to choose for oneself: autonomy
I choose to be who I am
Relational self
Taylor, Aristotle, Hegel
We need others to define for us who our real self is
We interrelate to others
zoon poitikon: social animals
Hegel
Slaves and master
(master gradually becomes dependent on slaves)
Struggle for power: might makes right
(part of being social animals)
Mutual recognition/affirmation of qualities
Personal identities determined by mutual recognition
Hegel: culture
- self defined by culture
- culture is the mirror through which society shows the person who and what she is
Culture
traditions, symbols, language, ideas, music, beliefs, etc.
Problem: Sartyre
Descartes and Kant say you determine who you are and not based on external influences
How do you know your character/actions are right or wrong
Problem: Aristotle, Hegel, Taylor
More unbiased
Not responsible for what you are or do
Aristotle (study)
Empiricist: material things
Plato (study)
Idealist: ideas more important than material
Aristotle: Four Causes
Formal Cause (characteristics of form) Material Cause (stuff it is made of) Efficient Cause (agent who brings about change) Final Cause (purpose of change: telos [purpose/goal])
Happiness
an end/goal
Part of human nature: everyone want to be happy
Means are different for everyone
3 Dimensions
Vertical: divine and human encounter
- Inner (depth): view on yourself
- Horizontal: relationship with others
