Final Exam Flashcards
Locke (P.P)
State of Nature: Humans are generally reasonable and moral but need a government to protect their rights.
Natural Rights: Everyone has rights to life, liberty, and property.
Social Contract: Government exists to protect these rights; if it fails, people have the right to rebel and create a new government.
Hobbes (P.P)
State of Nature: Without government, life is “nasty, brutish, and short” because humans are naturally selfish and violent.
Social Contract: People give up some freedom to a strong ruler (a sovereign) in exchange for security and order.
Absolute Power: A powerful government (like a monarchy) is necessary to prevent chaos and conflict.
Mill (P.P)
Liberty: Individual freedom is crucial as long as it doesn’t harm others.
Harm Principle: The only reason to restrict someone’s freedom is to prevent harm to others.
Utilitarianism: Society should aim for the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
Marx (P.P)
Class Struggle: History is defined by conflict between the ruling class (bourgeoisie) and working class (proletariat).
Capitalism: Exploits workers, as the rich profit from their labor while paying them little.
Revolution: Workers will rise up, overthrow capitalism, and create a classless society where resources are shared (communism).
Aristotle – Virtue Ethics (M.P)
Moral Character: Being a good person comes from developing virtues (good habits like courage, honesty, and kindness).
The Golden Mean: Virtue is the balance between extremes (e.g., courage is between cowardice and recklessness).
Happiness: The goal of life is eudaimonia (flourishing), achieved by living virtuously.
Aquinas – Natural Law Theory (M.P)
Moral Order: Morality is based on God’s design for the world.
Natural Law: Humans are naturally inclined to do good and avoid evil.
Primary Goods: Things like life, reproduction, knowledge, and society are naturally good, and moral actions align with these purposes.
Kant – Deontology (Priority of Right over Good) (M.P)
Duty and Rules: Morality is about doing what is right, regardless of consequences.
Categorical Imperative: Act only in ways that you would want to become a universal law (e.g., don’t lie, because you wouldn’t want everyone to lie).
Respect for People: Treat people as ends in themselves, not as tools for your goals.
Mill – Utilitarianism (Priority of Good over Right) (M.P)
Greatest Happiness: The best action is the one that creates the most happiness (pleasure) and the least pain for the greatest number of people.
Consequences Matter: What’s right depends on the outcome, not the intention.
Higher vs. Lower Pleasures: Intellectual and moral pleasures (e.g., art, learning) are better than basic physical pleasures.
St. Anselm – The Ontological Argument (R.P)
Aquinas offers five arguments to prove God’s existence:
- Motion: Everything in motion must have a cause → there must be a “first mover” (God).
- Causation: Every effect has a cause → there must be an “uncaused cause” (God).
- Possibolity: Things exist but don’t have to → there must be a necessary being (God).
- Perfection: There are degrees of goodness → there must be an ultimate standard (God).
- Design: The universe has order and purpose → there must be a designer (God).
Pascal - The Wager
Belief as a Bet: If God exists and you believe, you gain eternal reward; if you don’t believe, you risk eternal loss.
Rational Choice: Believing in God is the safest “bet” because the potential gain outweighs the loss.
Plantinga – Belief in God is ‘Properly Basic’
No Proof Needed: Belief in God doesn’t need arguments or evidence to be rational.
Properly Basic Belief: Just like trusting your senses or memory, belief in God can be “basic” and justified without proof.
Mackie – The Problem of Evil
Logical Problem: If God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good, then evil shouldn’t exist.
Conclusion: The existence of evil makes belief in an all-powerful, good God irrational because the two seem contradictory.
Hick – Critique of Plantinga and Mackie
Against Plantinga: Plantinga’s “Modal Argument” (that God exists in all possible worlds) lacks plausibility.
Against Mackie: God and evil can coexist if evil serves a purpose, such as soul-making (developing human virtues).
Baron d’Holbach – Hard Determinism (H.A)
No Free Will: All human actions are determined by causes (like biology, environment, and physics).
Determinism is True: Everything happens out of necessity, so freedom is an illusion.
Incompatibility: If determinism is true, free will cannot exist.
Dan Dennett – Compatibilism (H.A)
Freedom and Determinism Can Coexist: Being “free” doesn’t mean being completely uncaused. It means acting according to your own desires and reasons.
Practical Freedom: As long as we can act without external constraints (like being forced), we are “free,” even in a determined world.
John Searle – Indeterminism (H.A)
Genuine Choice Exists: Not all human actions are determined; some involve real, free choices.
Incompatibility: True freedom and strict determinism cannot both exist.
Rational Choice: Humans sometimes make deliberate, rational decisions that are not caused by prior events.
Locke – Human Being and Personhood Are Two Different Things
Human Being: A physical, biological body.
Personhood: A thinking, self-aware being with memory and consciousness.
Identity: Personal identity comes from continuity of memory, not the body. Example: You remain “you” if you remember your past experiences.
Parfit – Psychological Continuity Matters, but Self-Identity Does Not
Self as Continuity: What matters is the continuity of your psychological experiences (memories, personality, intentions).
No Permanent Self: There’s no fixed, unchanging “self”—identity is like a chain of connected experiences.
Identity Is Overrated: The concept of a single, enduring “self” is not important for what really matters in life.
Dennett – Human ‘Self’ Is Grounded in Narrative
Narrative Self: The self is a story you tell about yourself, built from your experiences, memories, and beliefs.
Center of Gravity: The self is not a thing but a useful concept—a “center of narrative gravity” that gives our life structure and meaning.
Strawson – Against Narrativity
No Need for Stories: Not everyone’s sense of self comes from a life story.
Episodic Self: Some people experience life in episodes—they don’t see their life as a connected narrative.
Narrativity Isn’t Universal: The idea that a self requires a narrative is a mistake—it’s not true for everyone.
John Locke - Primary and Secondary Qualities (R)
For Locke, secondary qualities, while real properties
of an object, are not inherent in the objects. Rather, secondary qualities are powers
an object has to produce certain sensations in us. A sharp needle may prick us and
cause us pain.
We say the needle is painful, but we don’t think being painful is an inherent property
of the needle. Needles merely have the power to cause us pain. Locke thought
colours were like being painful and unlike being round.
Berkeley – Classical Idealism
“To Be Is to Be Perceived”: Reality consists only of minds and the ideas they perceive—no material objects exist independently.
Against Matter: Physical objects exist only because God perceives them continually.
Conclusion: The external world is not “real” in itself; it exists in the mind.
Whitehead – Reality as Process
Process Philosophy: Reality is not made of static “things” but is a constant process of change and becoming.
Events Over Objects: The basic units of reality are events (happenings) and relationships, not physical substances.
Dynamic Universe: Reality is always in motion—everything is interconnected and evolving.
McWhorter – ‘The Language Hoax’
Against Linguistic Relativity: Language does not significantly shape how we think or perceive reality.
Universal Human Thought: All humans have similar ways of thinking, regardless of their language.
Language Reflects, Not Creates, Reality: Language expresses our ideas but doesn’t determine how we see the world.