Philosophy-Ontology Flashcards

1
Q

Three definitions of Ontology

A

1). Ontology is the study of being.

2). Ontology studies the concepts of what is real

3). is the philosophical study is being in general, or of what applies to everything that is real

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2
Q

Foundationalism

A

Foundationalist philosophers believe that to arrive at a truth it is necessary to start with the most fundamental issues and then work our way up from there to move to specific questions.

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3
Q

If you believe in foundationalism then probably the most important questions are __________

A

Ontological questions

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4
Q

What is ontology relevant to?

A

Religion and Spirituality

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5
Q

Provide Onotological statements

A

~ Everything is made of atoms and energy

~ Everything is made of a consciousness

~ You have a soul

~ You have a mind

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6
Q

Ontology is generally considered to be a sub-field of what?

A

Metaphysics

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7
Q

Define Metaphyisics

A

The study of the fundamental nature of reality

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8
Q

What is the difference between ontological questions and metaphysical questions

A

Ontology asks ‘WHAT”; Metaphysics asks “HOW”

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9
Q

Ontology is one of the _____ forms of philosophy

A

Oldest

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10
Q

Greek philosophers were what?

A

Obsessive ontologists

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11
Q

Aristotle made a highly influential argument about

A

“Ladder of Nature”

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12
Q

what did Aristotles argument state?

A

Non-living things were at the bottom of the ladder (rocks, and clouds). then moved to plants, then animals, then humans.

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13
Q

What is Aristotles Moral theory?

A

the theory of the ultimate nature of reality

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14
Q

Aristotles kind of philosophical ontology wasn’t only practiced in the ______ it was also practiced where?

A

it wasn’t only practiced in the West, it was also practice in Arab, Indian, and Chinese philosophy.

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15
Q

What did the Arab, Indian, and Chinese philosophers do?

A

Studied the world around them, deduced general “rules” of existence, and tried to categorize things.

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16
Q

what did the Arab, and Roman philosophers argue about?

A

Arabs argues about Aristotle, and the romans argues about the Indian Vedic traditions.

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17
Q

The scientific revolution brought what?

A

A serious change to ontology

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18
Q

What did these early scientists realize?

A

the only way to be certain that they were discovering truths about nature was ti forget about anything that couldn’t be testes and proven. this included:

1). supernatural beings

2). divine forces

3). souls

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19
Q

What did the early scientists rely on?

A

Physical laws, which were matter and energy which seemed to be measurable and obey reliable laws

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20
Q

scientific ontology has been successful in terms of understanding

A

successful in terms of understanding nature and controlling it that it has come to dominate the way we think about everything.

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21
Q

God is not

A

the sort of thing that can be proven or disproven by experiment - God belongs to a different ONTOLOGICAL CATEGORY from the natural phenomena that we observe in science.

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22
Q

what did Aristotle call Ontology?

A

“The first philosophy” in book IV (4) of his metaphysics.

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23
Q

The Latin term of ontology is _______

it was invented by who?

and first appeared in what?

A

1). onologia “science of being”

2). German philosopher Jacob Lorhard (Lorhardus)

3). first appeared in Lorhard’s work “Ogdoas Scholistica” (1 ed.) in 1606

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24
Q

Who was Jacob Lohard’s work popularized by?

A

German rationalist philosopher Christian Wolff in his Latin writings called “Philosophia Prima live Ontologia” (First Philosophy or Ontology) in 1730.

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25
Q

Christian Wolff claimed that ontology was a

A

priori discipline that could reveal the essence of things.

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25
Q

Christian Wolff contrasted

A

Ontology, or general metaphysics, which applied to all things, with special metaphysical theories such as souls of bodied or God.

26
Q

Who criticized Christian Wolff’s claim?

A

David Hume and Immanuel Kant

27
Q

Immanuel Kant said that Christian Wolff

A

introduced “Formal Ontology”

28
Q

after renewed criticism and eclipse under anti metaphysical movement called _________ ontology was revived in the mid 20th century by

A

Logical Positivism

American Philosopher W. V. O. Quine

29
Q

What is logical positivism

A

Logical positivism, later called logical empiricism, and both of which together are also known as neopositivism, is a movement whose central thesis is the verification principle (also known as the verifiability criterion of meaning). This theory of knowledge asserts that only statements verifiable through direct observation or logical proof are meaningful in terms of conveying truth value, information or factual content.

30
Q

In a typical ontoligal dispute, there is

A

one group of philosophers that affirms the existence of some category of object (realists), while another group denies that there are such things (antirealists).

31
Q

The history of philosophy is

A

a history of ontological disputes

32
Q

Some categories of the ontological arguments are?

A

-abstract or ideal forms

-universals

-immaterial minds

-mind-indepentent world

-possible but not actual objects

-essences

-free will

-God

33
Q

ontological disputes focus on what kinds of questions?

A

“Are there X’s” or “Do/does X exist?”

34
Q

Conceptualists have

A

taken universals to be mental or mind-created entities

35
Q

moderate nominalists include what philosopher and they have

A

Thomas Hobbs (1588-1679)

Moderate nominalists have taken universals to be words or linguistic entities

36
Q

extreme nominalists have

A

denied that there is any universals at all

37
Q

Some principle questions of philosophy

A

-what can be said to exist?
-what is a thing?
-into what categories, if any, can we sort existing things?
-what are the meanings of beings?
-what are the various modes of being of entities?

38
Q

Ontology relates to such modern fields like

A

Library science and artificial intelligence

39
Q

Aristotles categories?

A

1 - what it is (its whatness, quiddity, haecceity, or essence?
2 - how is it? (howness, or qualitativeness)
3 - how much is it? (quantitivness)
4 - where it is, relatedness to other beings

40
Q

essential ontological dichotomies:

A
  • universals and particulars
    -substance and accident
    -abstract and concrete beings
    -essences and existence
    -determinism and intdeterminism
    -monism and dualism
    -idealism and materialism
41
Q

_______ was the first in the Greek traditions to propose ______________________________

A

Parmenides was the first in the Greek traditions to propose an ontological characterization of the fundamental nature of existence.

42
Q

Parmenides introduced two views of existence

A

1 nothing comes from nothing

2 therefore, existence is eternal

43
Q

Grand Unification Theory

A

everything that may be apprehended is but part of a single entity.

44
Q

Ontological Pluralism

A

there are different ways or modes of being

45
Q

In the ___ century b.c, _______ and _______ replaces the reality of _______ ( _______ and _________) with that of ________

A

In the 5th century b.c, ANAXAGORAS and LEUCIPPUS replaced the reality of BEING (UNIQUE and UNCHANGING) with that of BECOMING.

46
Q

ANAXAGORAS and LEUCIPPUS ‘s thesis was explained in two different ways, explain them

A

1). the first dealt with the ‘seeds’ of the various substances

2). the second was the atomistic theory, which dealt with reality as based in the vacuum, the atoms and their inartistic movement in it

47
Q

The material atomism proposed by Leucippus was

A

Indeterminist, but then developed by Democritus in a deterministic way

48
Q

what did Epicurus say about atomism?

A

The reality as composed of an infinity of invisible, unchangeable or corpuscles or atoms (atoms, uncuttable).. atoms have weight

49
Q

In the ___ century b.c, the original atomism theory was taken

A

indeterministic by Epicurus

50
Q

How does Leucippus characterize atoms

A

Atoms are characterized by a ‘figure’ an ‘order’ and a ‘position’ in the cosmos.

51
Q

Plato developed the distinction between _____ _______ and ________

A

True Reality and Illusion

52
Q

what did Plato argue about True Reality and Illusion

A

What is real are eternal and unchanging FORMS or ideas(precursors to universals), of which things experienced in sensation are, at best, merely copies, and real only in so far as they copy (“ partake of”) such FORMS.

53
Q

In general, Plato presumes that all nouns,

A

(e.x. beauty) refer to real entities, whether sensible bodies or insensible FORMS

54
Q

In the SOPHIST Plato argues that

A

BEING is a FORM in which all existent things participate the sense of existence, copula or identity, and argues against Parmenides that FORMS must exist not only of BEING but of NEGATION and of NON-BEING

55
Q

to Aristotle, there are four kinds of ontological dimensions

A

1). according to the various categories or ways of addressing a being as such

2). according to its truth or falsity

3). whether it exists in itself or comes along by accident

4). according to its potency, movement (energy), pt finished presence (Methaphysics Book Theta)

56
Q

According to Avicenna

A

being is neither necessary (being that which cannot be, since its non being entails a contradiction), contingent qua possible, or impossible (neither necessary nor impossible for it to be or not to be).

57
Q

According to A.N. Whitehead

A

for ontology, it is useful to distinguish the terms “reality” and “actuality”. in this view, “actual entity” had a philosophical status of fundamental ontological priority while a ‘real entity’ is one that may be actual or may derive its reality from logical relation to some actual entity or entities

58
Q

Example of A. N. Whiteheads meaning

A

Socrates is an actually entity. However, him being a man does not make man and actual entity because it refers to many entities.

59
Q

According to whitehead, an actual entity must

A

Earn its philosophical status of fundamental ontological priority.

60
Q

According to whitehead how does an entity earn its philosophical priority?

A
  • There is no going behind an actual entity
  • An actual entity must be completely determinate in the sense that there may be no confusion about its identity

-Causation between actual identities is essential to their actuality

  • Actual identities should be alike
61
Q

Ontology focuses on several questions

A

1). what things exist?
2). what categories do they belong to?
3).is there such thing as an objective reality?

62
Q

‘formal ontology” contrasted with “regional ontologies” which include

A

nature, mathematics, mind, culture, and religion

63
Q

what was the anitmetaphysical movement called

A

logical positivism