philosophy of religion Flashcards
what are the 3 branches of philosophy
metaphysics, epistemology and logic.
what does epistemology mean
study of knowledge
what does metaphysics mean
beyond physics.
deals with transcendent matters i.e. to do with things beyond our normal experience.
how many parts is metaphysics divided into
cosmological and ontological
cosmological theory
theories of the whole of being such as work of Plato or Hegel.
ontological theory
theories of whether things of this or that kind exist, without making a grand theory of everything.
Eg - do souls exist ?
epistemology
theory of knowledge. it’s about what we can be said to know.
questions differences between knowledge and belief.
what are the 2 divisions of knowledge
a priori and a posteriori.
a priori
knowledge which is not dependent on sense data (experience)but on meaning of words.
we learn through sense data eg- by counting numbers that 2+2 = 4 and we don’t need to check it again.
another word for a priori is …
analytic
a posteriori
knowledge of things depend on sense experience.
things are true if it is looked up or by using our senses.
sense experience has limitations. we can only perceive the word with the sense we have and there is no other way to check if our perspective is true.
another word for a posteriori is …
deductive
deductive argument
the conclusion is based on the premises and is deducible from them.
inductive reasoning
the conclusion is probable and there could still be an exception . only give probabilities at best.
Plato on soul
2 entities - body and soul (dualist)
soul is a simple substance and cant be destroyed.
soul has always existed.
