Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

RS-Philosophy > Developments in Philosophical Thought > Flashcards

Developments in Philosophical Thought Flashcards

1
Q

What did Plato think we could use to gain knowledge of the world?

A

Reason

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is Plato known as?

A

A rationalist

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What was Aristotle known as?

A

An empiricist

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Why did Plato believe we should use reason over empiricism?

A

The world is always changing (in a “state of flux”) and is therefore unreliable.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Quote from Heraclitus on the world always changing

A

“You cannot step into the same river twice.”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is Plato’s cave allegory?

A

People are bound in a metaphorical cave, with a fire casting shadows onto the wall (Plato said this was the world we live in). He argued that through philosophy you can escape the cave and discover ‘reality’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What did Plato argue empirical objects were?

A

‘Particulars’- poor copies of the objects true ‘Form’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What is Plato’s ‘Real of the Forms’?

A

An unchanging realm, outside of time, where the perfect ‘Forms’ of ‘Particulars’ exist

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

How did Plato argue we identify objects?

A

We have inherent knowledge of the Form of an object, as our souls were there before we were born, and we recognise this in the Particulars

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Who was Meno?

A

A slave boy who was never educated but had impressive ability in math, Plato used him as an example of the prior knowledge he said we gained from the Realm of the Forms

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What are the Three Universal Qualities?

A

Beauty
Justice
Truth

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is the flaw in Plato’s reasoning on the Universal Qualities?

A

If we supposedly all have the same knowledge of the forms of the qualities, why do we have such little correlation in our perceptions of beauty?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is the ‘Form of the Good’?

A

The most important form, which illuminates all things. All positive things are merely ‘aspects of goodness.’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What did Plato think humans should strive to do?

A

Emulate the Form of the Good

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How did Plato argue we can do this?

A

Through education

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Criticism of Plato’s argument for reaching the Form of the Good

A

It had been criticised as elitist as in Ancient Greece only the rich were educated- is he saying they are better people?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What seems logically incoherent about the idea of Forms?

A

If there were a perfect form of an object, it would encompass all the qualities of that object. How can, say, a chair, be both tall and short?

18
Q

What was the Platonic Demiurge?

A

Plato said a deity called thenDemiurge used the knowledge of the Forms to craft the world from raw matter.

19
Q

What did the Demiurge give beings?

A

Goals- to seek order and purity in their souls

20
Q

What were the 4 causes?

A 
How Aristotle explained we identify objects
Material-What something is made of
Formal-Something’s characteristics 
Efficient-How something was made
Final-Somethings purpose
21
Q

Quote from Aristotle on causation?

A

“Every series must start with something, since nothing can come from nothing.” (Metaphysics)

22
Q

What is the Prime Mover?

A

An eternal, but not physical, spiritual being that exists in a timeless realm that unconsciously caused the universe.

23
Q

What is Euthanasia?

A

Aristotle argued this was our purpose, a sense of ‘General well-being’

24
Q

What did Aristotle say the soul was?

A

A metaphor for the formal and final cause of the body.

25
Q

What was Aristotles example for explaining the soul?

A

If the body is an eye, the soul is it’s capacity to see.

26
Q

What are the names for arguments on the mind/body distinction?

A

Materialist- we are made of one type of matter

Dualist-The mind and body are made of different matter

27
Q

What was Descartes ‘Evil Demon Hypothesis’?

A

A thought experiment that asks us to imagine the external world is merely an illusion that is shown to us by an evil demon.

28
Q

Quote about the ‘Evil Demon Hypothesis’?(+Book)

A

“I shall consider myself as not having hands or eyes, or flesh, or blood or senses, but as falsely believing I have these things.”

-‘Meditations on First Philosophy’

29
Q

What was Descartes argument for substance dualism?

A

We cannot definitely know our body exists, but we can know for definite our mind exists as we can think. Therefore, they are different substances.

30
Q

What is Leibniz’s Law?

A

If A and B have the same properties, they are indiscernible.

If A and B have different properties, they are different.

31
Q

What is Descartes flaw in reasoning?

A

He bases an absolute truth on a doubtful context, which Liebniz’s Law doesn’t account for.

32
Q

Latin phrase from Descartes?

A

‘Cogito, Ergo Sum.’

‘Thought, therefore existence.’

33
Q

What is Reductive Materialism?

A

Argues the mind and body are identical. Psychologist Edwin Boring argues that physical events don’t produce chemical changes in the brain,they are the same thing.

34
Q

What was Gilbert Ryle’s argument on the soul?

A

Proposed dualists fall victim to a ‘category error.’

Argued asking where the soul is is like asking the the Ghost is within a machine, making it run.

35
Q

What did Dawkins argue?

A

Soul 1- Religious soul, which doesn’t exist.

Soul 2-Metaphor for individual characteristics.

36
Q

What did Anthony Flew argue?

A

Compared substance dualism to Cheshire Cats grin staying when he was not there. The soul can’t exist without the physical body, as it is merely a metaphor for physical expression.

37
Q

Descartes’ property argument:

A

They mind and body have different properties, so are different things. E.g. the mind can’t be measured physically, it has no extension.

38
Q

What is Emergent Materialism?

A

Proposed by J.S Mill
Argued complex physical substances gain new properties as they get more complex. Consciousness is merely a property that emerged as the brain developed.

39
Q

What is the Philosophical Zombie?

A

A thought experiment that imagines a being that is indistinguishable from a human being, but lacks consciousness and experience.

40
Q

What did Daniel Dennett call the Philosophical Zombie?

A

“Logically incoherent and thus impossible.”

RS-Philosophy (2 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions