reason as a source of knowledge

Question 1

what are the two kinds of truth?

Answer 1

analytic

synthetic

Question 2

define analytic truth

Answer 2

logically, rationally true in the meaning of the words e.g. “a bachelor is an unmarried man”

Question 3

define synthetic truth

Answer 3

true in how the world is e.g. “grass is green”

Question 4

what are the two kinds of knowledge?

Answer 4

a priori

a posteriori

Question 5

define a priori knowledge

Answer 5

acquired through rational thought alone e.g. 2 x 5 = 10

Question 6

define a posteriori knowledge

Answer 6

can only be acquired from experience of the external world e.g using an experiment to find the temp that water boils

Question 7

what are the two ways of gaining knowledge a priori? (Descartes)

Answer 7

intuition

deduction

Question 8

define (rational) intuition?

Answer 8

an intellectual capacity to grasp the truth of a
self-evident proposition directly and non-inferentially
e.g. Descartes’ cogito argument

Question 9

define deduction

Answer 9

method of using REASON

to derive true propositions

from other propositions

Question 10

define empiricism

Answer 10

all a priori knowledge is of analytic truths: there is no synthetic a priori knowledge

Question 11

define rationalism

Answer 11

not ALL a priori knowledge is analytic: some may be synthetic (using intuition and deduction)

Question 12

define innatism

Answer 12

at least some propositional knowledge is already present in our minds from birth

Question 13

what 4 synthetic truths does descartes argue for?

Answer 13

— I exist
— God exists
— external world exists
— clear and distinct ideas exist

Question 14

what does Plato argue about knowledge?

Answer 14

all learning is a form of REMEMBERING innate knowledge from before we’re born

—> proved by Meno’s slave boy

Question 15

outline Plato’s Meno slave boy example

Answer 15

1. Socrates draws 2 x 2 square. Boy says its 4 sq ft
2. Socrates draws 8 sq ft square and asks what side length is
3. Boy wrongly guesses 4 feet, but after being asked series of questions realises it is the diagonal of the original

—> he hasn’t been taught geometry but can still correctly answer the questions, so geometry must be innate

Question 16

what are the two types of truth according to LEIBNIZ?

Answer 16

necessary

contingent

Question 17

define necessary truth (Leibniz)

Answer 17

what MUST be the case

true in every possible world

e.g. 2+2=4

Question 18

define contingent truth (Leibniz)

Answer 18

what IS the case

could have been false in some other possible world

e.g. Facebook exists

Question 19

how does Leibniz argue for knowledge innatism?

Answer 19

no amount of a posteriori experience can tell us necessary truths e.g. 2+2=4

—> even if you added 2+2 and got 4 10000 times, you’ll never know what will happen the 10001st time

BUT we still know that 2+2 MUST = 4

so, knowledge of necessary truths is INNATE

(but all knowledge requires some form of experience to uncover… experience is necessary but not sufficient)

Question 20

how does Leibniz say we access innate knowledge?

Answer 20

innate, necessary truths are unconscious.

we need to discover them (like chipping away a marble block to reveal a statue within) as seen in Plato’s Meno’s Slave Boy example

Question 21

according to Leibniz, what are the innate concepts?

Answer 21

Being
Unity
Duration
Substance
Change
Action
Perception
Pleasure

buds capp

Question 22

what are Locke’s arguments against knowledge innatism?

Answer 22

1. If innate knowledge exists, its universal
2. For an idea to be part of the mind, the mind must be aware of that idea
3. So, innate knowledge is knowledge that everyone is aware of
4. children and ‘idiots’ don’t know geometry and concepts considered innate
5. So, innate knowledge doesn’t exist

Question 23

how might Leibniz respond to Locke’s children/idiot argument?

Answer 23

its possible to have innate knowledge that we aren’t aware of

Question 24

what does Locke argue about the nature of knowledge and the mind as opposed to knowledge innatism?

Answer 24

1. TABULA RASA: mind born as blank slate, all knowledge is a posteriori
2. SIMPLE + COMPLEX IDEAS: explanation of how we can form all concepts from pure experience
   —> simple sensations cause simple ideas, complex sensations cause complex ideas, and simple + complex ideas can be converted into each other

Question 25

give 4 differences between Locke’s simple and complex ideas

Answer 25

1. Simple ideas can’t be analysed in terms of other ideas
2. Simple ideas are copies of reality, complex ideas don’t have to be
3. Simple ideas represent the intended object FULLY
4. Words standing for simple ideas are less likely to be misapplied

Question 26

according to Hume, what does our mind consist of?

Answer 26

IMPRESSIONS (internal feelings + desires; external sense experience) with FORCE and VIVACITY 💥

IDEAS (simple or complex thoughts, beliefs, memories that we can recall and contemplate) which are duller

Question 27

what is the Copy Principle according to Hume?

Answer 27

all ideas are copies of impressions e.g. God is from extending qualities of good + wise beyond limit
you can’t have ideas of what you haven’t had impressions of, so NO knowledge is innate

Question 28

describe Hume’s fork

Answer 28

all knowledge is either:

RELATIONS OF IDEAS (a priori, analytic, necessary truths e.g. a bachelor is an unmarried man)
or
MATTERS OF FACT (a posteriori, synthetic, contingent truths e.g. snow is white)

no truth can be a mix of both, so we can’t have meaningful knowledge about the world (matters of fact) purely from intuition and deduction

Question 29

what is the Missing Shade of Blue problem and how does Hume defend against it?

Answer 29

1. person has seen every colour except one particular shade of blue
2. a spectrum of every other shade of blue is shown to them, with a blank in the place of the shade they’ve never seen
3. they will be able to imagine the idea of the missing shade based on the adjacent shade, showing that we can have ideas that aren’t always derived from corresponding impressions

HUME: the example is so insignificant and trivial we don’t need to worry abt it

OTHER RESPONSES:
— colour is a complex idea; we use simple ideas of other light frequencies to create it
— we don’t actually have the idea of the missing shade, just a rough imagined prediction

Question 30

innatism essay: assess the claim that there is at least some knowledge of concepts present from the mind at birth