philosophical thought Flashcards
what did Heraclitus believe
that the world was in a constant state of flux.
‘person never steps in the same river twice’
how did Heraclitus’ view challenge the possibility of gaining knowledge
if everything we experience is always changing then we cannot have knowledge since once we gain knowledge it has changed.
how did Plato challenge Heraclitus
there must be an unchanging, perfect world know as the world of forms
what do we experience in our world through Plato’s view
we experience imperfect representations of the perfect form. through our ignorance we are unable to see the perfect object.
how do we get knowledge of the world of forms
through A Priori knowledge. A posteriori knowledge only reveals a vague shadow of the real world.
what is the analogy of the cave.
- prisoners in a cave (us) chained (ignorance)
- see shadows on the walls (objects)
-a prisoner escaped and is blinded by the sun (form of the good) - then sees the real world ( world of forms)
Aristotles reject to Plato and Platos response
lacks empirical evidence - good as evidence cannot be trusted as they are merely a shadow.
criticism of practicality of theory of the forms
the forms have no practicality in our world. a doctor does not think of the ideal form of health.
“even if they do exist, they are wholly irrelevant” - Iris
Ockhams razor on Plato
we should not believe explanations that are unnecessarily complicated, such as the world of the forms.
what is the form of the good
‘the sun’
the highest form that allows us to see the world of the forms. understanding the form of the good makes it impossible for you to do wrong.
what comes under the form of the good
hierarchy of forms suggests that forms such as justice and beauty are just below the form of the good as they are aspects of good. below them are material objects.
criticism of Plato and form of evil and the comeback
cannot be a form of evil as the realm of forms are perfect,
Augustine argues that the form of evil does not actually exist as evil is just the absence of good.
what are the four causes
-material, what it is made of
-formal, the shape
-efficient, how it came into existence
-final, it’s purpose
for Aristotle where does knowledge come from
from careful observation.
how does Aristotle explain the challenge of flux
he claims that a complete explanation of any material change will use all four causes.
what is Proximate matter
matter that has properties.
what is prime matter
has no physical properties, but is theoretically necessary.
was Aristotle a dualist like Plato
no, for him the soul was the formal cause of a person but not eternal.
what is the prime mover
the final cause of the universe that attracts all things to it which causes motion
why can the prime mover not be the efficient cause
then the unmoved mover would be susceptible to change and therefore lose his pure actuality.
what does the prime mover think
god reflects only on god, if god thought about the universe and what happens in it, that would mean god would change because gods knowledge would change.
what is an opposite view to Aristotle’s idea of purpose
Existentialism believes that only people have purpose, and those are self governed.
how does Newton counter Aristotles prime mover
Newton determined that things only stop when met with an equal and opposite reaction. this counters Aristotle as he thought things just stopped so resumed something must keep things in motion (prime mover) when actually something is only stopped by something else
how can Aristotle still be held as more scientific than plato
as he used empirical evidence to presume theory, scholars such as newton could not disprove Aristotles a posteriori approach to reality
