fuck Flashcards
argument
a set of one or more claims intended to support a position
conclusion
position/claim/view intended to be supported
premise
set of claims intended to support conslusions
deductive arguement
an argument in which the truth of the premises guarantee the conclusion
ex:
p1: if x then y
p2: x
p3: so y
inductive arguement
an argument in which the truth of the premises simply support the conslusion
ex:
p1: the window is shattered, the tv is gone, the house is wrecked
p2: someone must have robbed our house
valid arguement
a deductive argument in which the structure of the argument guarantees the truth of the conclusion
modus ponens
if P, then Q
P.
Therefore Q
modus tollens
if P, then Q
P is false
Therefore, Q is false
hypothetical syllogism
If P then Q
If Q then R
therefore,
If P then R
ad hominim
attacking the person making an arguement
appeal to authority
relying on an authoritative figure to support an argument outside their expertise
straw man
refuting a misconstrued/false interpretation of an arguement
appeal to ignorance
claiming something is true just because it hasn’t been proven false
ex: just because we proven false that there is an even amount of grains of sand, doesn’t mean there are even amounts of sand granules
inference to the best explanation
you use the evidence presented to infer the best explanation of the evidence
induction by enumeration
all OBSERVED A’s are B’s
ex:
all observed ducks at the pond are smaller then geese
therefore the next duck I see will be smaller than a goose
soundness
an argument is sound when it is valid + all the premises are true
necessary condition
a condition that must be present for something to be true, but don’t guarantee a result
ex: you must be alive to perform surgery
- being alive doesn’t guarantee you can perform surgery, but it is still necessary
sufficient condition
a condition that produces something/ guarantees a result
ex: if you’ve been through medical school and been in residency for a surgical specialty, you can perform surgery
Voluntarism
if x perceives something to be good, it is good
subjectivism
good = individual to approves of that thing
Annihilation Argument
p1: If life will eventually be annihilated, then life has no meaning now
p2: life will be eventually annihilated
p3: life has no meaning
refutations to the Annihilation Argument
p2: life will be eventually annihilated
- some lives won’t be annihilated eventually (Mozart, Michael Jackson)
p2: to those who believe in afterlife (reincarnation, heaven), lives are not eventually annihilated
Lucretian Argument
p1: If you are sad/angry about your inevitable demise, you should be upset about all the years you haven’t lived
p2: you should not be sad about your previous non- existence
p3:don’t be sad about death
Epicurean Argument
p1: death cannot harm us
p2: if death cannot harm us, we should not fear death
p3: so, we shouldn’t fear death
life (Epicurean Argument)
metabolic functioning (eating and shitting)
death (Epicurean Argument)
the permanent cessation of life
harm (Epicurean Argument)
- the deprivation of positive experiences
- the causation of negative experiences
Revised Epicurean Argument
If :
death is the permanent cessation of life
life is metabolic functioning (eating and shitting)
and harm is the depravation of positive experiences
then:
P1: death cannot harm us
is false, because death deprives us of the positive aspects of life
Amoeba example
If an amoeba “jack” has split up into two amoebas “kate” and “chris”, then is Jack dead?
most people, intuitively, think that would make Jack dead, even though throughout the process there was no stopping of metabolic functions
perfectionism
for life to be meaningful, you must have done something rare or difficult
nonperfectionism
you don’t necessarily have to have done something rare or difficult to have lived a meaningful life
divine command theory
something is valuable because god says it is
argument of choosing death
p1: If we want to die eventually, death does not make life meaningless
p2: most want to die eventually
p3: death does not make life meaningless
Parable of Sisyphus
syphilis pissed off the gods, so they made him roll a boulder up a hill for the boulder to roll down every time it reached the top.
- this is kinda like our life bc all we really do is wake up, eat, sleep, work, and die
- Is this dude’s life meaningless?
Landau says syphilis’s life isn’t like ours bc
1) syphilis fails every time, but humans often succeed
2) syphilis’s life is constantly repetitive and mundane, but humans have fun and help people
contingent facts
if an event had been different, the contingent fact would not be true
ex: (fact) everyone attended philosophy class in the kinesiology building on thursday
- if someone was sick, that fact wouldn’t have been true, so the “fact” is contingent
necessary fact
facts that are still true even if things had been different
ex: (fact) everyone attended philosophy class in the kinesiology building on Thursday
- regardless if someone was sick or not, there would have been a kinesiology building
- the fact that there is a kinesiology building is a necessary fact
sub specie aeternitatis
- some people think their lives are meaningless, because in the span of the entire universe, our lives have no impact on the world around us
- life isn’t necessarily meaningful if it impacts the whole universe
sub specie aeternitatis
cosmic perspective
sub specie humanitatis
looking at the world from the perspective of humans being the center
Argument from Aliens
p1:there are probably other intelligent lifeforms in the universe
p2: If we aren’t the only intelligent lifeforms, then our lives aren’t meaningful
p3: our lives aren’t meaningful
determinism
every event is caused by a prior event
Argument from Determinism
p1: Every event is caused by a prior event (determinism is true)
p2: if determinism is true, our choices are not free (did not have the choice do do otherwise)
p3:our choices are not free
p4: If our choices are not free, our life is meaningless
p5: our life is meaningless
refutation of the Argument from Determinism
p1: Every event is caused by a prior event
- p1 is false, libertarianism = the idea that there are some events that are not caused by any prior event
p2:if determinism is true, our choices are not free
-p2 is false, compatibilism = the idea that determinism is compatible with free choise
- to freely make a decision could also mean to not be coerced, manipulated, pathologically forced to make a decision
- in that sense, our decisions are free
p4: if our choices are not free our life is meaningless
p4 is false, even if incompatibilism is true conscious experiences, like the feeling of learning, are still valuable
we still value things like beauty, and natural athleticism even though those aren’t choices, so don’t be hung up on p4
libertarianism
there are some events (such as our ability to make choices) are not caused by any prior event
compatibilism
free choice is compatible with determinism
- if you define a free choice to = not pathological, not coerced, or not manipulated, our choices are free
Psychological Account of Freedom
if a free choice is a choice that is not pathological, not coerced, or not manipulated, humans have a sense of freedom in their decisions worth caring about
why can life still be meaningful if incompatibilism is true?
- conscious experiences are still valuable
- we value things like beauty and natural talent, which aren’t choices, all the time
paradox of the end
- either we achieve our ends or not
If we don’t achieve our ends:
- we loose purpose, which leads to no meaning
If we do achieve our ends:
- we loose purpose, leading to no meaning
Regardless If we achieve our ends or not, our life has no meaning
rebuttal to the paradox of the end
- we don’t either achieve our ends or not
- atelic ends
atelic ends
ends that never end
ex: learning languages (there are always more languages to learn)
what does Schopenhauer think about pleasure?
pleasure = the satisfaction of desire
intrinsic valuable
something that is inherently valuable (pleasure, life)
instrumental value
something that is valuable because it is a means for something else
ex: money is instrumentally valuable because it is a means for leisure, food, shelter, etc.
realism
mind-independent property
value-realist
goodness is independent of what people think of it
(two types)
what are the two types of value-realism?
natural, and non-natural
what do naturalists think?
goodness is something that is
- can be observed empirically, studied scientifically, and has an impact on the world
what do non-naturalists think
goodness cannot be observed empirically, studied, or have an impact on the world
(numbers, math)
Euthyphro objection
If something is good because god says its good then
- either god arbitrarily decides whether something is good or not, which is weird bc what if god arbitrarily decides torturing babies is good?
- god is simply reporting what is good or not, which is bad because we are trying to figure out what makes stuff good, so if god is simply reporting on the goodness then what??
appraisal relativism
x is good because i say its good
appraisal relativism
x is good because I say its good
argent relativism
x is good because my society says its good
Schopenhauerian Argument from Pleasure
- pleasure = desire satisfaction
- desire satisfaction is frustration bc its short lived
-not being in desire satisfaction is frustrating - we are either in desire satisfaction or not
- constantly frustrated
- life filled with frustration is meaningless
-since it feels really long when we suffer, when we suffer we are suffering a lot
- since we are always frustrated, we are always suffering a lot
- a life filled with tremendous suffering is not meaningful
refutation to Schopenhauerian Argument from Pleasure
- some pleasures are not fleeting
-the pleasure of a massage only lasts as long as the
massage- the pleasure of doing something intellectually
stimulating can last much longer
- the pleasure of doing something intellectually
- seek non physical pleasure
refutation of the idea that life is meaningless bc of suffering
- the world isn’t that bad, you are just mostly being shown the bad stuff
moral worth
actions with moral worth are virtuous
- for something to have moral worth it must have a positive impact and good intentions
Psychological Egoism
people only do good things for their own self gain
Argument from Psychological Egoism
p1: we only act selfishly (Psychological Egoism)
p2: if we only act with PE, we have no moral worth
p3: we have no moral worth
p4: if we have no moral worth life is meaningless
p5: life is meaningless
Argument from Psychological Altruism
p1: we only act altruistically
p2: if we always act altruistically, we always have moral worth
p3: we have moral worth
p4:being constantly surrounded by moral saints diminishes the meaning of life
p5: life has no meaning
Cruelty Objection to Perfectionism
p1: we should not be cruel to anyone
p2: it is cruel to be disappointed in oneself for not accomplishing rare or difficult tasks
c1: we should not be disappointed in oneself for accomplishing rare or difficult tasks
p3:being a perfectionist involves being disappointed in oneself for not accomplishing rare or difficult tasks
c2: we should not be a perfectionist
Argument from Choosing Death - Wizard Case
- Suppose a Wizard can give you a pill that will make you + your family immortal at your current age
- Everything in your life will be the same, except you cannot die
Landau argues that most people would choose not to take the pill
Arguments from affecting far away things
p1: If life is meaningful, it affects things far away.
p2: Life does not affect things far away.
p3: Life is not meaningful
Arguments from affecting far away things
p1: if life is meaningful, it affects things far away
p2:
