plato/aristotle Flashcards
the world of forms
the world we live in is a poor imitation of the real world
Form- idea of what a thing is, and what makes something that which it is - everlasting and exist in a different layer of reality
republic - socrates asks glaucon to imagine an underground cave in which there are prisoner who cannot remember a different way of living.
they are chained facing the backwall of the cave and can only see light from a fire behind them. people walk behind them, carrying different objects, causing shadows to be thrown onto the cave wall where the prisoners can see them.
all they see are shadows
unable to distinguish reality and appearance and dont know that there is a difference
- how human beings live in the world, contrasting reality versus our interpretation of it
forms for everything?
Ambiguous - is there a form for everything?
- at points, seems to argue that there are only forms for opposites, eg. beauty and ugliness
- But in the republic he talks of forms for everything - this could include the most basic particles - (unclear to the extent as to which the forms can be reduced)
however, empiricism
- insists that the Forms exist outside of the mind and that they have real essences, yet they are also invisible to the senses
- the existence of the world of forms is beyond verification - no evidence for metaphysical existence beyond the reality we experience
therefore no way we can test them, using experiments or experience.
more helpful to focus our efforts on what we can see and feel around us in order to understand how the world works and how best to live
our world may be changeable, the knowledge one can gain from studying its processes and changes is true and valuable in our everyday lives
four causes
ARISTOTLE argued that there was no concrete evidence for Plato’s claims, and that knowledge on a form of a thing can come from evidence
causes can be proved by the senses and experience.
The human body can be used to prove purpose, as eyelashes keep dust from getting in them.
Material cause: what a thing is made of.
Formal cause: what the essence or defining characteristic of a thing is.
Efficient cause: what brings the being into existence.
Final cause – telos (purpose): the end goal of a thing. The final state which a thing is disposed towards by its nature.
Aristotle thought that all change in the universe can be explained by these four causes, thereby allowing a posteriori knowledge to make sense of the flux
form of the good criticism
Aristotle disagrees with Plato’s idea that the cause of immorality is ignorance of the good. Aristotle claims that cultivating virtue is a requirement to do good. Merely knowing what is good is not enough to make yourself morally perfect.
We could add evidence to Aristotle’s point, that arguably nowhere in human history has a morally perfect person ever existed.
third man argument
Aristotle introduced the Third Man Argument. If the world of Forms exists, there is a perfect Form of Man.
This Form would have to be based on a Form of the Form of a Man and this too would have to be based on a higher Form, and so forever - there could be an infinite regress of forms, this outlines the idea that the Forms have no meaning or true valid explanation
prime mover
Aristotle had the belief that there is a Prime Mover which is unmoved. Aristotle holds the view that change is eternal.
If there was a first change, something would have to have triggered that change, – he concluded that a chain of events begins with something that moves others, but is unmoved in itself. This is through the act of thought and by the final cause of things to seek their own perfection.
- impossibility to initiate movement without being moved itself
- status as ‘pure thought’ seems to contradict Aristotle’s empirical view of the world - no genuine experience or evidence
- empirical science shows how magnetism works, but not demonstrated how it can be imitated by a planet
