Plato and Aristotle Flashcards
Explain Recollection
In the Meno - We have innate knowledge, we just remember it instead of learn it.
Knowledge is called
Episteme (infalliable)
Opinion is called
Doxa (can be mistaken so not knowledge)
What is the form of the Good?
The Good is the form of the forms. God. Illustrated in the Sun. The form of the Good is like the sun because it gives off light that allows us to see and feel the other forms
What forms did Plato’s books take?
Dialogues
How does Plato see the world?
In dual reality with reality in itself: the Realm of the Forms and the material world
According to Plato, why can’t material/sensible things ever truly “BE”(/have perfect existence)?
Because they are constantly changing
What is it to “BE”?
To be immaterial, immutable and necessary
Compare the material world to reality
The material world is imperfect whilst the eternal forms/ideas are reality itself: they are the unchangeable essence of things
How is the Realm of the Forms known?
Through reason
How is the material realm of particulars known?
Through the senses
Outline Plato’s theory on “episteme” and “doxa”
Whilst knowledge is infallible and about what is real, opinion/belief is fallible and between knowledge and ignorance.
Plato argued opinion relates to the material realms whilst knowledge refers to the real of the forms.
Therefore forms exist entirely separately to particulars
What does Plato’s Cave Allegory represent?
The image of the cave represents the ascent of the mind from a real of mere images to the realm of visible things to the realm of the Forms and finally to the intuition of the Good.
In Plato’s Cave, what does the cave represent?
The world of the senses; empirical realm
In Plato’s Cave, what do the prisoners represent?
People who believe “second-hand”
In Plato’s Cave, what do the images on the wall represent?
Illusion (eikasia)
In Plato’s Cave, what does the fire represent?
The (physical) sun; what enables sense experience
In Plato’s Cave, what does seeing the fire and people on the road represent?
Beliefs (pistis)
In Plato’s Cave, what does outside the cave represent?
The intelligible world/ realm of the Forms/ reality
In Plato’s Cave, what does the prisoner dragged outside of the cave represent?
The philosopher
In Plato’s Cave, what do the objects outside the cave represent?
The Forms
In Plato’s Cave, what does looking at the reflections of objects outside the cave represent?
Reasoning (dianoia)
In Plato’s Cave, what does looking at objects outside the cave represent?
Intelligence (noesis)
In Plato’s Cave, what does the sun represent?
The Form of the Good
What does Plato use to highlight boundaries between the physical world and the intelligible world?
His Divided line
Regarding Plato’s Divided Line, what is in the intelligible world (noeta) ?
Mathematical ideas (mathematikia) Pure Forms (archai)
Regarding Plato’s Divided Line, what is in the physical world (doxasta) ?
Physical things
Images and shadows (eikones)
Regarding Plato’s Divided Line, what does knowledge consist of?
Intelligence(Noesis)
Pure thought(dianoia)
Dialect
Mathematical reasoning
Regarding Plato’s Divided Line, what does belief consist of?
Opinion
Illusion
In Plato’s simile of the Sun, what does the Sun represent?
The Form of the Good
In Plato’s simile of the Sun, what does the visible world represent?
The intelligible world/ the forms
In Plato’s simile of the Sun, what does seeing represent?
Knowing
In Plato’s simile of the Sun, what does the eye represent?
The mind/ reason
In Plato’s simile of the Sun, what does the light represent?
Truth
In Plato’s simile of the Sun, what does sight represent?
Intelligence
In Plato’s simile of the Sun, what does growth represent?
The being (reality) of the forms
How can the simile of the sun be interpreted as the form of the Good? (1)
- We can’t come to know anything without the form of the Good.
- The Form of the Good ‘gives objects of knowledge’ (The forms) their truth and the knower’s mind the power of knowing.
- Just as the sun is the cause of growth, the form of the good is the source of being of knowable objects.
- Just as the sun isn’t light or sight the good isn’t intelligence or truth or the reality of the forms but ‘beyond it and superior to it in dignity and power.’
How can the simile of the sun be interpreted as the form of the Good? (2)
Forms are naturally good so without form of the Good they cannot exist
Form of the Good makes forms forms (gives them being and existence)
Existence itself is good
How can the simile of the sun be interpreted as the form of the Good? (3)
Most perfect and real
Form of the forms and sustains being of other forms
Forms are perfect so form of the forms is most perfect
How can the simile of the sun be interpreted as the form of the Good? (4)
Form of the good doesn’t just make other forms knowable but is knowledgeable itself
How would Plato’s theory of the soul be best described?
Tripartite theory
What are the three parts of the soul?
Rational (brain/ ruling class)
Spirited (heart/ soldiers)
Appetitive (stomach/ working class)
What does the animal appetites connect to?
Bodily urges
What does the rational self connect to?
Recognising truth using reason
How is Plato’s theory of the soul dualistic?
The body and soul are separate, the body is physical and the soul is immaterial.
soul understands the forms
Give examples of basic desires
Alcohol
Sex
Explain Plato’s charioteer allegory
The charioteer is the rational self trying to control two horses: desire and spirit
Reason rules, spirit ensures that reason has motivational backing and the appetite is reined in by the rational self
When the Charioteer can control the two horses it’ll be harmonious
How does Plato link the soul to the realm of the Forms?
The soul pre-exists the body and so remembers the world of the Forms and longs to return to the unchanging world
How does Plato link the soul to the Form of the Good?
Plato believed in the way an eye needs light to see, the soul needs the Form of the Good to gain real understanding
How does Plato’s Argument from Knowledge work?
RECOLLECTION
Most important human knowledge is remembering/ “leading out” what we already know
Knowledge of the forms must be innate and Plato believed gained by our souls before birth and so the soul must pre-exist the body
characteristics of a form
one, simple, independent of particulars, not empirical objects, NOT susceptible to change, explanation to other things.
characteristics of a form
many, complex, dependent on the forms, empirical objects, susceptible
What is the form of the Good? we think as Plato never explicitly explains
- The Good is the form of the forms
- Perfection is the characteristic that relates all the forms to goodness; forms are purely and perfectly their own essence.
Criticisms of the theory of the forms
Empirical Evidence
• Plato says the forms exist independently of the mind in real existence. However, they are invisible to the senses.
• From an empirical standpoint this makes very little sense, certainly if we hold that all knowledge comes from the senses.
• This is where Aristotle and Plato disagree. Plato as an idealist roots all knowledge in the universals but for an empiricist it’s hard to believe they exist.
- Aristotle’s Third Man Argument
• The Argument says that if we want to know what the form of a man is, to know what makes a man a man, we must compare one man to another.
• However when we have the two men, we need another man to compare them to because they will likely look different so we need another man to compare them to, to show that both men are indeed men.
• This goes on to become an infinite regress and the theory is therefore absurd and incoherent.
Criticisms of Plato’s soul theory
o Ockham’s razor
The simpler explanation usually the better
Plato’s complicated theory less likely than the idea that the brain influences the body
Although a weak argument, Plato’s theory does rely on concepts (forms and immaterial soul) that cannot be proven
o Richard Dawkins
Humans are the products of their genes and statements about personality can be done through genetic make up
Soul is a mythological concept explaining mysteries of personality and consciousness
Science can’t yet fully explain consciousness but it is only a matter of time before it can
Plato was a rationalist and Aristotle was a…
Empiricist
What are the Four Causes?
Material
Efficient
Formal
Final
What is the material cause of an object?
What it is created out of e.g. bronze
What is the efficient cause of an object?
By which it is created e.g. sculptor
What is the formal cause of an object?
The expression of what it is/design e.g. idea of a finished statue
What is the final cause of an object?
For which the thing exists/its purpose or function e.g. the idea that prompted a sculptor to make the statue
What are the most important causes to Aristotle and why?
The formal(the form of the thing) and final(the purpose) causes because they explain what a thing is
What word best describes Aristotle’s theory?
Teleological argument
What is actuality?
The actualisation or outcome of potential. Eg a final bronze statue. When matter has been given a form.
What is potentiality?
A block of Bronze is potentially a statue.
The potential to become something else and have inherent qualities.
The potential to end up as something. Matter has the potential of receiving form.
What does matter turning into form correlate with?
Potentiality turning into actuality
How does Aristotle’s belief contrast with Plato’s that change is not good?
Movement from a state of potentiality to a state of actuality is a good thing
For Aristotle, good is defined in terms of the final cause or the purpose of a thing
How does Aristotle use an acorn to explain all substances are in a state of flux?
An acorn (potentially an oak tree) exists before the oak tree it grows into but it itself is the product of an existing oak tree
What must there be for something to move from its potential to its actual?
Something already actual
How does Aristotle’s Prime Mover Argument go? (x3)
1) All motion is the result of movement from potentiality to actuality
2) Since the universe is involved in motion and since nothing moves that is not impelled to move by a form (actuality), the universe must have a supreme Form (Actuality)
3) Since the form (actuality) can never be in its potential state (and matter by definition is in its potential state) the highest Form is immaterial and without motion: the Unmoved Mover/ Prime Mover
What is the Prime Mover’s only activity?
Thought- eternally contemplating its own being. it is perfect and therefore can think of nothing but itself.
How does nature/anything move from potential to actual?
As it desires to imitate God/Prime Mover’s actuality
Aristotle called this “desire” or “love”
How can humans bring themselves into communion with the divine?
Only man can appreciate the truth and so only man can share in God’s nature by virtue of his intelligence (nous)
Since man’s intellect is divine, by cultivating it brings himself into communion with the Prime Mover
Which philosopher illustrates how the Prime Mover can actually move things without moving itself? Explain this
Fr Gerry Hughes
A cat and a bowl of milk…
The milk does nothing but its presence is sufficient to cause the cat to move towards it
The Prime Mover is like a stationary magnet drawing all things towards their potentiality
What are humans’ distinct functions?
Aristotle argues our reason (logos) distinguishes us from plants and animals: our function is to reason
Our souls make us human and our function is determined by the make up of our soul
Soul is the “blueprint” for humans
Function is determined by the kind of soul we have: humans have a rational soul and our function is to exercise the rational parts of our soul
What are the parts that make up Aristotle’s Tripartite Soul?
1) Rational soul (practical and theoretical reasoning; love of contemplation - humans.)
2) Sensitive soul (motion and use of senses; basic motives and desires; love of honour - humans and animals)
3) Vegetative soul (nutrition and growth; love of pleasures; fulfilment of appetite - animals, plants, humans)
How does Aristotle account for the mind/soul and body?
The soul is not a material object but it is not separable from the body
How does Aristotle split the soul into two?
The rational and irrational soul
What does the irrational soul involve?
Vegetive (basic instincts = need)
Desiderative (wants)
Cultivation of moral virtues through habit
What does the rational soul involve?
Scientific (houses non debatable facts)
Calculative (deliberates to make decisions)
Cultivation of intellectual virtues through ‘instruction’
What are moral virtues?
Qualities of character
Connected to the irrational part of soul
Cultivated through habit
What are intellectual virtues?
Qualities of mind
Connected to the rational part of soul
Cultivated through instruction
How does Aristotle explain moral virtues?
They fall between two vices: vice of excess and vice of deficiency
Summarise Aristotle’s theory of the Good
The Good = flourishing = eudaemonia = our telos
What is the Doctrine of the Mean?
All humans have the potential to develop moral and intellectual virtues
We must regulate emotions and act in a dignified way to avoid two vices of excess and deficiency.
Feelings should not overpower reason.
By learning the habit of controlling out feelings at the right time, we learn virtue.
Explain the Archer Analogy
Hitting bullseye = aim or virtue but different humans hit the bullseye in different ways and manners
Hitting the board itself is better than the arrow missing completely even if it doesn’t hit bullseye
How does Aristotle view society?
Those lower (slaves, women etc.) should be ruled by those higher
Explain Substance matter and form
matter + form = substance
A argued that something was what it was being used for and it had the ability to change into anything. Form has priority over matter. If matter changes, the substance does. But if the form changes and matter stays the same - substance stays the same.
Eudemonia
the final end or purpose(telos) flourishing. Something doing what it is meant to be doing.
Define the grades of potentiality
1st potentiality is someone/thing with the potential to know something e.g. a child who does not speak French
2nd potentiality (also 1st actuality) is someone/thing’s ability to have knowledge but is not applying it e.g. a silent student who can speak French
2nd actuality when the being has knowledge and is applying it e.g. adult speaking French
what does the term psyche means?
He referred to their substantial form as their psyche – a term often understood to suggest mind or soul.
If Plato is a dualist… Aristotle is a…
Monist
Soul is bound to the body and it ceases to exist after death.
Relationship between body and soul for Aristotle and what is he not?
Soul is the power of life and it cannot exist without a body because it is the actuality of the body. He is not a materialist (argue the body and soul are one substance) he argues that they are just linked as the soul is the function of the body.
Comparison of body and soul to what?
Soul is the form of the body just as sight is the form of the eye.
Body = matter
soul = form
Strengths of Aristotle’s view on the soul
- doesn’t have issues of dualism to deal with
- works with science MRS GREN
- based on empiricism
Weakness’ of Aristotle’s view on the soul
- if innate ideas are true plato’s argument makes more sense
- if we are rationalists plato’s argument makes more sense.
Aristotle says all knowledge is a posteriori, but how can we say that when we haven’t experienced the whole universe?
Sartre critique of Aristotle
oAristotle talks of humanity’s function.
Sartre gives the analogy of the paper knife; made with a purpose hence its essence comes before its existence.
However without a God, the human being’s existence comes before its essence therefore its purpose can be created itself.
Hume’s Criticisms of the prime mover argument
Hume, as an empiricist, argued that causation wasn’t necessarily built into the nature of the universe. If we are truly empirical, we will realise that we never experience causation… take two billiard balls. All we see at time 1 (t1) one ball move. Then at t2 we see one ball touching another ball. Then at t3 we see one ball move. What we don’t see is one ball causing the other to move. We assume this. Assumption isn’t knowledge. If Hume is right, Aristotle doesn’t take his empiricism far enough.
Church’s ciritique of Ari’s prime mover argument
Aquinas and church have big issue as they believe God created the universe out of nothing but in Prime mover, this would be impossible.
