Lecture 2 Flashcards
Why does Aristotle refute Empiricism?
- bc it’s based on inductive reasoning that can never lead to certain truth
Why does Aristotle refute Rationalism/Innatism
- doesn’t make sense to say we know something that we can’t know
When can we be certain of our conclusions when using deductive vs inductive reasoning?
Deductive
- can be certain of conclusion if premises are valid and we follow rules of logic
- ex All humans are mortal, Socrates is human SO Socrates is mortal
Inductive
- can’t be certain of conclusion!
- ex all swans we have seen so far are white SO all swans are white (NOPE)
What are the 3 steps (syllogism) of deductive reasoning?
- Major Premise
- Minor Premise
- Conclusion
What is the problem with deductive reasoning?
- how do we get the premises in the first place?
- 2 options: empirical generalization OR deduction from other premises
According to Aristotle, there are first, _____, principles (self-evident truths). To get to them, we have to start from ______. We do this using the process of ______.
axiomatic
particulars (observations)
induction!
What are the 4 steps of induction (Aristotle)
- Sensation
- Memory
- Organized Experience
- Intuitive Apprehension of Universal/Essence
Sensation (1st step of induction; Aristotle)
- 5 senses + their integration
- perceive universe indirectly through senses
Memory (2nd step of induction; Aristotle)
- additional capacity vs other animals
- tissues of sensory organs are like wax tablet; can imprint from external stimuli (basis of memory)
- elderly ppl have poor memory bc of decay, kids bc of rapid growth
Organized Experience (3rd step of induction; Aristotle)
- regrouping/classifying memories as function of diff laws of association
- Contiguity, Contrast, Similarity, Frequency
Intuitive Apprehension of Universal/Essence
- abstract form from particulars (form is essence, what is preserved across diff exemplars)
- abstract universal idea, not empirical generalization
- we have innate potential to abstract universals from particulars
Explain the 4 laws of association within the Organized Experience step of induction (Aristotle)
Hint: C, C, S, F
- Contiguity: when we think of something, we think of things that occurred with it (more spatially based)
- Contrast: when we think of something, we think of it’s opposite as well
- Similarity: when we think of something, we think of things similar to it
- Frequency: the more often 2 things occur together, the stronger they become associated (foundations of behaviourism in 20th century!!)
Aristotle’s epistemology: we have an innate _____ to ______ universals from _______
potential to abstract universals from particulars
Differentiate the 4 main epistemological positions in Philosophy (Empiricism, Rationalism, Rational Empiricism, Skepticism)
Empiricism: generalization based on sensations
Rationalism: innate knowledge
Rational (moderate) Empiricism: innate capacity for developing knowledge but have to start w observations
Skepticism: no Truth, everything is relative
What is fundamentalism? Which main epistemological positions fit into fundamentalism (3)?
- there is a capital T Truth ab external world
- Empiricism, Rationalism, Rational Empiricism
According to Aristotle, forms are _______. They are ____ the object.
Immanent; IN
How did the greeks pronounce “psyche”
psuche
According to Dr. Roy, what is the best translation of the title of Aristotle’s book “De Anima”?
On psyche
On the soul
On life
On life!
According to Aristotle, what defines a living thing is not what it is made out of but ________
the way it is structured
According to Aristotle, what differentiates living things from non-living things?
The soul (NOT supernatural)
According to Aristotle, the soul is the _____ of a living body
FORM
- it is the organization of that body
- it is the life of that body when it is alive
“If the axe had a soul, its soul would be ______”
cutting
(form is not the shape, it is whatever reveals the true essence of the thing)
According to Aristotle, form is not the shape, it is ___________
whatever reveals the true essence of the thing
What is Aristotle’s Scale of Nature?
- hierarchical ordering of life forms bounded by simple plants at the bottom and human beings at the top
- hierarchy of soul functions
Another name for Aristotle’s Scale of Nature is Aristotle’s ____ of _______
Hierarchy of Soul Functions
What are the 5 tiers of the pyramid in Aristotle’s Scale of Nature?
MIND: nous, reason, intellect
Locomotive
Appetitive: “capacity for motivated behaviour”
Sensory: sensations, conscious feelings, appetites
Nutritive: nourishment, reproduction, health
According to Aristotle, pain and pleasure:
- Accompany ______
- Are present in _______
- Guide _______
- Are related to MORALITY: we must _____
- We learn to associate during _____
- Are _____ between individuals
- Are _____ processes (pain driven out by pleasure and vice-versa)
- Accompany EVERY ACTION
- Are present in ANIMALS and HUMANS
- Guide our DECISIONS
- Are related to MORALITY: we must pursue the RIGHT pleasures
- We learn to associate during INFANCY
- Are DIFFERENT between individuals
- Are ANTAGONISTIC processes (pain driven out by pleasure and vice-versa)
What is practical reason (Aristotle)?
What we should do; what is right
How does maslow’s hierarchy of needs relate to Aristotle?
similar to his hierarchy of soul functions!
Summarize the story of Oedipus Rex
- Laios becomes tutor of son of Pelops, king of Ellis and rapes him; child hangs himself
- Pelops and Apollo curse Laios and descendants; Oracle reveals Laios is doomed to perish by hand of his own son
- Laios asks shepherd to abandon baby in the wilderness but shepherd gives baby to King & Queen of Corinth who adopt
- Oedipus grows up, gets prophecy that he will marry his mother and kill his father
- Oedipus flees Corinth to avoid prophecy, accidentally kills Laios in a quarrel over passage; marries his bio mother
- There is a plague in Thebes, Oracle says murderer of Laios needs to be found to cease the plague; Oedipus sees prophet who tells him he is the criminal he is seeking
- Iokaste tries to comfort him by saying that prophecies aren’t always true, her husband was killed by a random bandit and not their son
- Oedipus understands that he has murdered his father and married his mother
- Iokaste hangs herself, Oedipus takes out his eyes
Who are the following characters in the story of Oedipus Rex?
Labdakos
Laios
Oedipus
Iokaste (Jokasta)
the son of Pelops
Apollo
King and Queen of Corinth
Labdakos: Oedipus’ grandpa
Laios: Oedipus’ father, rapes son Pelops, killed by son
Oedipus: son of Laios and Iokaste, marries own mom
Iokaste (Jokasta): mother and wife of Oedipus
the son of Pelops: raped by Laios, dad is King of Ellis
Apollo: protector of the youth, curses Laios
King and Queen of Corinth: adopt baby Oedipus
What is the common Greek maxim that the chorus repeats at the end of Oedipus Rex
“no man should be considered fortunate until he is dead”
Why was the story of Oedipus Rex told in class?
- humans can’t escape suffering
- display tragedy in theatre, hope of catharsis
- illustrates the Greek obsession w tragedy
According to the Greeks, why is there evil and what causes suffering?
- philosophy cannot provide a rational explanation
- it is fate (Moira; 3 fates)
What is the original sin? (Book of Genesis)
- God gave Humans capacity to decide own actions (free will)
- humans have let evil into this world; it’s their fault
- original sin is Eve taking the apple
- BUT can’t say this is all human’s fault bc they have to be tempted by something (in this story the snake)
(Empiricism/Rationalism):
We get knowledge from our sensations
Empiricism
(Empiricism/Rationalism):
We can’t trust our senses, we have to use logic to gain knowledge
Rationalism
Divide the following thinkers into Empiricists and Rationalists:
Leibniz
Locke
Hume
Descartes
Kant
Berkeley
Spinoza
Bacon
Leibniz: Rationalist
Locke: Empiricist
Hume: Empiricist
Descartes: Rationalist
Kant: combines Empiricism and Rationalism
Berkeley: Empiricist
Spinoza: Rationalist
Bacon: Empiricist
Empiricists: Bacon, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, (Kant)
Rationalists: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, (Kant)
Empiricism has a tendency to lapse into _____
skepticism!
What are 2 kinds of skepticism and one similar/related concept?
External world skepticism: we cannot know what lies behind our sensations (veil of ideas)
Inductive skepticism: we cannot know if patterns found in past will also hold for the future
Phenomenalism: our concept of the “world” is just a concept of a patterned collection of sensations
In the 17th century, we moved from a ____ model to a _____ model of the universe
geocentric (earth as center) to heliocentric (sun as center)
What was the problem with the Julian calendar?
- 3 x 365 days + 1 x 366 days
- was becoming out of phase bc one day was missed every 134y (was now 11 days short in 16th century)
- fixed by skipping 11 days in October and adopting new Gregorian calendar
- Nicolaus Copernicus was involved in new calendar!
Copernicus heliocentric model:
- _____ at the center of the universe
- orbit of the earth around the sun is ____ years (vs daily orbit of sun around earth)
- Earth spins around its axis in ____ days
- SUN at the center of the universe
- orbit of the earth around the sun is 1 YEAR (vs daily orbit of sun around earth)
- Earth spins around its axis in 1DAY
Why did Copernicus wait until the year of his death (1543) to publish his heliocentric model?
- several “flaws” (things we didn’t have explanations for)
- no real practicality over existing model bc both use epicycles
- if earth spins on axis, why aren’t objects flung from surface? why do things we drop fall down in a straight line?
- wouldn’t starts appear closer/further as earth moves around sun?
- why does moon orbit earth and not sun?
In 1600, how did Keppler realize he could get rid of epicycles in heliocentric model?
by using elliptical orbits! (wasn’t taken seriously)
What 3 key observations did Galilei make using his telescope in 1609 that confirmed Copernicus’ heliocentric model?
- Jupiter had 4 moons (not everything orbits earth)
- size of Mars and Venus changed in cycles (impossible if they orbit around earth)
- Venus had phases like the moon (could not be perfectly lit in geocentric model!) KEY EVIDENCE!!
What was the response of the Catholic church to Galilei’s work on the Copernicus model?
- put book in index of prohibited books
- saw his ideas as threatening
- Galilei ended up publishing model in a novel where a character defends his heliocentric model (character defending the views of the church was called Simplicius lol)
- after a trial, he was placed on house arrest in 1633
What 4 thinkers/writers were included in the Catholic Church’s “Index librorum prohibitorum” (banned books)
- Copernicus
- Galilei
- Voltaire
- Alexandre Dumas
From approx the years 400-1600, most of philosophy was used to _______
justify religion!
16th century skepticism: ______, not ______ must be the primary guide to truth
faith, not reason
Why did we talk about the European Wars of Religion?
- used religion as main guide to truth, but caused lots of arguments bc you can’t prove logically that one religion is right/better
- approx 10mil casualties (10% of Europe’s total pop.)
- ex of Saint-Berthelemy (catholics massacred protestants during a celebration)
Who is considered the father of empiricism?
Francis Bacon
The term “scientist” was first coined by philosopher of science _________ in 1833. Before that, scientists were called __________.
William Whewell; natural philosophers
What was Francis Bacon’s “main” job? What did he argue for?
diplomat; he argued for “public” financing of science (one of first to argue this)
According to Bacon, what is the cultural mandate given by God to Adam and Eve?
- creation —> sin —> redemption
- we need to stop arguing and righting and appreciate the beautiful world God gave us
- our redemption is science!
Bacon: “knowledge is power”, but this power should be guided by ____ and _____
true religion and right reason
What concept from Aristotle’s induction did Bacon dislike?
intuitive apprehension (abstract universal idea, not empirical generalization, from particulars)
What other fields did Bacon’s work ressemble?
- basic chem and bio (very systematic)
- many associate his methods to kind of scientific work that is now bad for environment
What were the 3 kinds of Observation Tables bacon used?
Table of presence: cases in which 2 properties appear tgth
Table of absence: cases where one appears w/o other
Table of varying degrees: cases where more/less of one leads to more/less of other
Rene Descartes’ plan was to try to learn ______
everything
Rene Descartes was a _____ who lived in ______
French philosopher who lived in the Netherlands
Who was behind the method of Pre-emptive skepticism?
Rene Descartes
What is Pre-emptive skepticism?
- Descartes
- new method needs to be able to present arguments that can be defended by skepticism
What two big questions did Descartes ask?
What can I know? How can I know?
- we need to try to find a certain method to acquire knowledge so we can solve all of nature’s problems
- this led to pre-emptive skepticism
Who suggested that an Evil demon employs its whole energies in deceiving people and that therefore all external things are illusions created by the demon?
Descartes
Descartes wanted to find _______ from which we could deduce all knowledge
one self-evident truth
Who said “I think therefore I am”?
Descartes (one thing he can’t doubt!)
How would Descartes argue that God is real and is good?
- I think therefore I am
- I think of God
- Lesser can’t give rise to greater (idea has to be implanted by God himself)
- God is good; God wouldn’t deceive me; so evil creature can’t exist and we can trust our senses!
Who came up with mind-body dualism? What is it?
- Descartes
- dissociation btw Subject and Object
- soul stirs the body (free will)
According to Descartes, which living creatures have souls and which do not?
Only humans have souls; other animals are automatons
What did Descartes claim was the interface between mind and body?
- the Pineal Gland
- did dissection on cadavers, found optic nerves and where they cross (optic chiasm)
- pineal gland is how eyes talk to our soul
According to Descartes, how to body and mind interact?
- influence each other
- body can influence mind through passions (eg pain,hunger)
How would Descartes explain the feeling of pain from putting your foot in a fire?
- spirits from fire move up nerve to pineal gland to communicate with the soul
What is the Res Extansa (Descartes)
“thing that takes up space” (body)
What is the Res Cognitans (Descartes)
“thing thinking” (mind)
How does Descartes distinguish emotion vs reason
- emotion = passions
- animal spirits circulate in body and cause passions of the soul (eg wonder, love, hatred, desire, joy, sadness)
- passions influence soul to want certain actions
- BUT mind (reason) has to dominate in the end
How can we use therapy as an analogy to explain Descartes’ thinking?
Going to therapy is like getting a better rational understanding of your passions!
What is the “clockwork universe”?
- Descartes
- God has created a self-perpetuating machine such that he didn’t have to constantly watch over his creation
- rejected existance of any immaterial “force” besides the human soul
- universe is made of material objects moving in space; all other properties are mental
According to Descartes, the Universe is made of _________. All other properties are ______.
material objects moving in space; all other properties are mental (eg colours, smells, etc)
What math thing you learn in elementary school comes from Descartes’ work?
Cartesian plan! (4 way grid with pos/neg quadrants)
Who formulated the first laws of physics?
Newton!
What observation of Galilei’s did Newton use to start formulating the first laws of physics?
- Galilei observed that the trajectory of a cannonball is a parabola
- but what prevents a cannonball from leaving orbit? Objects are attracted to one another as a function of their mass!
What is the name of the 1687 book by Newton that explains all mvmts of universe w 3 laws and idea of gravity?
Principia Mathematica
1st law of physics
Inertia
- object at rest remains at rest unless acted on by unbalanced force; object in motion continues w same speed/direction unless acted upon by unbalanced force
2nd law of physics
- Force = mass x acceleration
- acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass
- the greater the mass, the more force needed to accelerate the object
3rd law of physics
- for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction
- think rocket ship: forward mvmt is reaction, jet propulsion is action
