HUM Final Exam - Philosophers Flashcards
1
Q
“The right action is the action that produces the greatest balance of pleasure (or happiness) over pain (or suffering)”
- evaluates pleasures according to duration, intensity, and quality to see what action should be prioritized.
- Happiness is the only thing we desire for itself, as an end, therefore it should be what we prioritize the most
A
Mill, Utilitarianism
2
Q
- radical skepticism: contrasts relations of ideas vs. matters of fact
- declares we have no reason to have confidence in any inductive conclusion because it is based on a cycle of inductive reasoning that assumes the future will be like the past
- Passions are the root of human motivation, not reason. Reason is used to serve the passions.
A
David Hume
3
Q
Keywords: ‘utility, happiness, pleasure’
- flowing, logical prose. Founded on the empirical basis of knowledge.
A
Mill, Utilitarianism
4
Q
Inductive vs. deductive, first person, language of ‘seeming’ and ‘appearing’
A
David Hume
5
Q
- right to life does not equal right to body
- lots of moral obligation
A
Thompson, “In Defense of Abortion”
6
Q
- Violinist: you are not morally obligated to stay plugged into the violinist
- “The right to life consists in the right not to be killed unjustly”
- Person seeds/burglar
A
Thompson, “In Defense of Abortion”
7
Q
- Social inequality is artificial, not natural: the first part of his text differentiates between ‘natural’ and ‘social’ inequality. The latter of which depends on conventions/institutions authorized by man’s consent and participation.
- Outside of social conventions, we love only ourselves (self-preservation) and, to a lesser extent, all other humans (pity/sympathy)
A
Rousseau
8
Q
- References to nature, artificiality, pity, human nature
- Comparisons between Europe and the Carib peoples of the new world
- Historical approach to understanding human development, which dwells on the origins of language, family, and property.
- Length sentences with numerous clauses
A
Rousseau
9
Q
- Approaches the subject of suffering and famine from the perspective of ‘practical ethics’
- concerns himself with pragmatic applications of philosophy rather than abstract theorizing
A
Singer, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”
10
Q
- Discussion of starvation in Bengal, as well as the interconnectivity of our modern world.
- Analogy of a drowning child whom is both convenient and moral to save
- straightforward writing style
A
Singer, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”
11
Q
- inquires on what he is, and in doing so, rejects all material concerns: it is possible that one is dreaming, is being deceived by an evil demon, or is simply misled by fallible senses.
- a priori v. a posteriori
- If our minds exist independently of our fallible senses, then they can be used to infer the existence of God
A
Descartes, Mediations on the First Philosophy
12
Q
- syllogistic, mathematical proofs that logically proceed from A to B
- Discussion of senses, God, deception, and though
A
Descartes, Mediations on the First Philosophy
13
Q
- you have to define terms before you can talk about them
- people are inherently competitive
- People enter contracts in which they transfer their rights for the sake of other things. This is a voluntary act.
- Contradictory discussions of God, but the ‘seed’ of Religion is in man.
- Subjects owe their sovereigns obedience
A
Hobbes, Leviathan
14
Q
- The words ‘commonwealth’, ‘right’, and ‘contract’
- Weird spellings of words, especially extra e’s at the end of words – e.g. “ware”, “adde”, “Joyn together”
A
Hobbes, Leviathan
15
Q
- Moral duty is practical (not theoretical), objective (not subjective) and categorical (not hypothetical)
- Categorical imperative: only take actions you would want to be universal law.
- Do not use other people as means to your ends.
- Moral law is binding, its source is within you, and every rational being can legislate universal law.
A
Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
16
Q
- casual words like ‘moreover’ and ‘thus’
- Philosophical discussions based on a priori reasoning
- ‘principle’, ‘maxim’, ‘imperative’, ‘duty’, ‘moral’
A
Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
17
Q
- Philosophy should be treated like a natural science (based on empirical evidence)
- People’s overrelience on limited language is responsible for some of the problems with philosophy
- The function of philosophy should be to define terms and analyze scientific concepts
- statements of value cannot be true or false, but just express feelings
A
Ayer, Language, Truth, and Logic
18
Q
- insulting everybody
- lots of discussion of language
A
Ayer, Language, Truth, and Logic
19
Q
- Work of political theory that outlines the role of a new king/prince
- Binary thinking
- Concern for reputation and preservation of one’s state
A
Machiavelli, The Prince
20
Q
- Capitalization of “Your Magnificence” and “Fortune”
- Virtue: emphasizes the importance of virtue, which refers to a combination of qualities such as strength, wisdom, and adaptability
- Prudence: balancing realism with strategic thinking
- Cesare Borgia: example of effective leadership and statecraft
A
Machiavelli, The Prince
21
Q
- Slave morality, power, knowledge, natural instinct, animal man, references to Darwin, origins of morality
- things are only evil in the framework of religion that has detached humans from natural instinct (through embrace of ascetic values and chastity), habitual nature
A
Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morality
22
Q
Will, Power, Slave, Master, Morality, Life, Self, Truth, Nature
A
Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morality
23
Q
- the idea of estranged labor comes in 4 different ways under capitalist labor relations
(1) works is separated from the product of his work
(2) worker is separated from the means of production
(3) worker is separated from his species-being
(4) worker is alienated from the rest of humanity, because they become oppressors or competitors - also details the way that communism addresses the central problems of estranged/alienated labor
- states to abolish private property and captialism
A
Marx, “Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts”
24
Q
- What to do with the Jewish population
- In order to find political emancipation, Jews need to rethink what a secular state is.
- Lots of stereotypes and drops that are ironic
A
Marx, On the Jewish Question
25
Q
- anything that repeats labor, worker, capitalism, bourgeois, society, estrangement, property, wealth, economy
- Fan of lists, usually in the form of (1) —- (2) —
- Repeats a lot of jargon-y nouns that often have hyphens or are part of phrases that come from the long German compound words
- LOVES italics for emphasis
A
Marx :P
