Plato And Aristotle Flashcards
Who was Heraclitus?
Heraclitus was an ancient Greek Philosopher who thought that the world we experience is in a state of constant change which he called ‘flux’.
What did Plato think about gaining knowledge in response to Heraclitus’ challenge?
Plato thought that true eternal unchanging knowledge cannot be gained empirically, and we must look to a priori reason alone.
How did Aristotle respond to Heraclitus’ challenge?
Aristotle believed that we can understand the causal mechanism responsible for change and gain true knowledge from experience.
What is Plato’s theory of forms?
Plato’s theory of forms states that true knowledge can only be gained from the world of forms, as everything we experience in the world of appearances is a ‘particular’.
What is the allegory of the cave?
The allegory of the cave is a story by Plato illustrating how true knowledge can only be gained through a priori reasoning involving understanding of the forms.
What was Aristotle’s criticism of Plato’s theory of forms?
Aristotle thought that Plato’s theory of forms lacked empirical validity and was an unnecessary hypothesis.
What is the form of the Good according to Plato?
The form of the Good is illustrated by Plato as the sun in the cave analogy, responsible for all existence and allowing us to see the world of forms.
What is the empirical method?
A method of gaining knowledge from experience.
What is Plato’s theory called?
The four causes.
What is the form of the good?
The highest form illustrated by Plato in the cave analogy.
Who should rule according to Plato?
A philosopher with understanding of the form of the good, as a ‘philosopher king.’
What is below the form of the good?
Higher forms like justice and beauty, which have goodness in them.
What are lower forms?
Forms of phenomena that we experience, such as treeness or catness.
What are the actual material objects below lower forms?
Particular trees or cats that are instantiations of the lower forms.
What does Aristotle disagree with Plato about?
That the cause of immorality is ignorance of the good.
What is the third man argument?
A criticism of Plato’s theory of forms, suggesting an infinite regress.
What is Plato’s argument from recollection?
An argument for the existence of the world of forms and the soul.
What is anamnesis?
Anamnesis is the process of re-remembering perfect forms through a posteriori sense experience.
Example: Re-remembering the concept of perfect beauty through sensory experiences.
What did Plato conclude about the source of knowledge?
Plato concluded that the source of knowledge must be a priori, making him a rationalist.
What did Plato believe about the world of forms?
Plato believed that there must be a world of perfect and unchanging forms, which he called the World of Forms.
Example: The world of forms contains perfect mathematical forms and forms of beauty and justice.
What is the concept of innate knowledge according to Plato?
Plato believed that our knowledge of perfect concepts must be innate, gained by our soul from the World of Forms before we were born.
Example: The concept of perfect justice and beauty is innate in us.
How did Hume suggest we can create the idea of perfection in our minds?
Hume suggested that we can create the idea of perfection by conceiving the negation of ‘imperfect’ to gain the concept of ‘perfect’.
What did Aristotle propose about the causes of change in the universe?
Aristotle proposed that all change in the universe can be explained by four causes: material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, and final cause (telos).
Example: The change of a piece of wood into a chair involves the four causes.
What is the formal cause according to Aristotle?
The formal cause according to Aristotle is the essence or defining characteristic of a thing.
Example: The formal cause of a chair is its shape.
What did Aristotle believe about the final cause of the universe?
Aristotle believed that the final cause of the universe must be a prime mover.
What did Aristotle reject in terms of form?
Aristotle rejected the separation of form from things but not the idea of form itself.
Example: Aristotle believed that a thing’s form is its defining quality that cannot be separated from the thing.
What is a thing’s form or formal cause according to Aristotle?
A thing’s form or formal cause is its essence; its defining quality that makes it what it is.
This also led Aristotle to reject Plato’s mind-body dualism, since the form of a human (rational thought) cannot be separated from their body.
What did Aristotle argue about the final cause of the universe?
Aristotle argued that the final cause of the universe must be a prime mover.
What did Francis Bacon criticize Aristotle for?
Francis Bacon criticised Aristotle, claiming that final causation (telos/purpose) has no place in empirical science but is a metaphysical issue, since purpose is a divine matter.
Purpose is unscientific.
What did modern science reject in terms of causation?
Modern science rejected formal and final causation. A deterministic universe operating by the laws of physics seems to be completely without purpose. All supposed telos of an object can be reduced to non-teleological concepts regarding the material structure of an object.
According to McGrath, what are the limits of science?
Modern Christian philosophers like Swinburne & Polkinghorne have argued that science is limited and cannot answer all questions. It can tell us the what but not the why.
McGrath points out that science cannot answer questions about purpose and therefore cannot be used to disregard the existence of purpose.
What was Sartre’s critique of telos?
Sartre argued that there was no objective telos/purpose because ‘existence precedes essence’, meaning humans exist before they have a defined purpose and so have to subjectively define their purpose for themselves.
What was Sartre’s psychological argument against objective purpose?
Sartre argued that people cling to fabricated notions of objective purpose like religion or Aristotle’s ‘final cause/telos’ because they are afraid of not having a purpose.
Sartre’s argument was a psychological one, that people cling to fabricated notions of objective purpose like religion or Aristotle’s ‘final cause/telos’ because they are afraid of not having a purpose.
What is the essence of a human according to Aristotle?
Aristotle claimed the defining feature of a human being is the ability to reason. Aristotle claimed that the soul was the formal cause of the body.
Form means essence, which is a thing’s defining characteristic.
Who was called the father of empiricism for establishing the modern scientific method?
F. Bacon was called the father of empiricism for establishing the modern scientific method.
What does form mean according to Aristotle?
Form means essence, which is a thing’s defining characteristic.
What did Aristotle claim is the defining feature of a human being?
Aristotle claimed the defining feature of a human being is the ability to reason.
What did Aristotle claim the soul was the formal cause of?
Aristotle claimed that the soul was the formal cause of the body.
What did Bacon think about formal causation?
F. Bacon thought that formal causation is a metaphysical matter that was beyond empirical study.
What did modern science go further than Bacon in rejecting?
Modern science goes much further than Bacon in its rejection of formal causation.
What does modern science argue about the existence of formal causation?
Modern science argues that we have no reason to think formal causation exists at all.
What does modern science argue the idea of ‘form’ reduces to?
Modern science argues that the idea of ‘form’ actually reduces to material and efficient causation.
What would most neuroscientists claim rationality reduces to?
Most neuroscientists would claim that rationality reduces to material brain structure and its physical processes.
What does modern science currently not have an explanation for?
Science cannot currently explain how consciousness or reason reduces to material brain processes.
What is Aristotle’s theory of the Prime Mover based on?
Aristotle’s theory of the Prime Mover resulted from applying the four causes to the universe.
What did Aristotle observe about objects that are moved?
Aristotle observed that if an object is moved, it keeps moving and then stops.
What did Aristotle infer about the motion of the stars?
Aristotle inferred that there must be something unmoved moving the stars.
What must the prime mover be according to Aristotle?
The prime mover must be unmoved and therefore cannot change.
What is the prime mover responsible for according to Aristotle?
The Prime Mover is responsible for the everlasting motion and change of the universe.
How does the prime mover sustain the change in the world according to Aristotle?
The way the prime mover sustains the change in the world must therefore be due to some sort of attraction of the things in this world to it.
What did Newton challenge about Aristotle’s belief on motion?
Newton challenged Aristotle’s belief that an object which is moved will simply stop moving by itself.
What concept did Aristotle propose to explain the constant motion in the universe?
Prime mover
Aristotle believed that the prime mover was responsible for sustaining the pattern of change in the universe.
What did Newton challenge in Aristotle’s beliefs?
Newton challenged the belief that an object will simply stop moving by itself when moved.
Newton proposed that an object will continue to move until met by an equal and opposite reaction.
Where are Newton’s ideas most clearly illustrated?
In a vacuum - space
Newton’s ideas about motion are best illustrated in outer space where there is less gravity and friction.
What did Aristotle’s a posteriori method involve?
Empirical observation
Aristotle’s method relied on empirical observation to understand reality and led to modern scientific methods.
What is Plato’s One Over Many argument about?
The argument for the world of forms
Plato’s argument suggests that there must be perfect abstract qualities like ‘treeness’ for us to categorize things.
How did Aristotle respond to Plato’s One Over Many argument?
Aristotle objected to the separation of form from things, believing a thing’s form is its essence.
Aristotle believed that a thing’s form cannot be separated from the thing itself.
What was Wittgenstein’s criticism of the One Over Many argument?
Wittgenstein argued against the idea of precisely definable forms or abstract ideals of categories.
He believed that categories are determined by social convention and are not metaphysical entities.
How do humans divide the world linguistically and conceptually?
In a disorganised haphazard way when it is useful for us within our social context, not according to objective categories of reality.
Example: The boundary between tree and bush are for example, in some species.
What determines the categories created by humans?
Social convention, not objective reality.
Categories are not metaphysical, they are conceptual schemes mapped onto a human experience of the world for the purpose of performing a specific function or use.
What are the boundaries of these categories?
Indeterminate and subject to revision.
What someone decides to call a tree might depend on the use for which the category ‘tree’ has in their social environment.
Is there a perfect form of ‘treeness’?
No.
There is no perfect form of ‘treeness’.
