short answers Flashcards
This course introduced you to the ancient/classical philosophical tradition. We looked at readings from Plato, Aristotle, and Epicurus. Choose one of these thinkers and summarize their reading from class. How does their thought relate to the question of “what does it mean to be human?”
-Aristotle was a Greek philosopher under Plato’s teachings
-Need be a being in which is the source of all other beings.
-Relied heavily on biology, substances (individuals), and species.
-Happiness is the end goal.
-Complete virtue.
-Moral character should be healthy, kind, and involve core friendships
What aspect of the soul did Augustine’s Christianity find problematic with the ancients? Explain how he interwove the Christian conception of sin into his analysis of the soul.
-Augustine believes that the human race is heavily separated
-Problematic: had to do with original and actual sin, more specifically the issue of transmission of original sin.
-Believed original sin was natural in all beings
-But original and actual sin are different
-Responsibility for those sins in the individuals themselves.
Aristotle remained agnostic as to whether the soul/intellectual substance was immaterial. How does Aquinas argue that the soul/intellectual substance must be immaterial? How does Aquinas argue against the classic Aristotelian notion of hylomorphism (matter and form)? (Hint: pp. 28-32)
-Aquinas believed that a body cannot be the main factor in life.
-The idea of being alive does not have to correlate with a body.
-If this were the case, rocks and stones and mountains would be alive.
-Aquinas was a firm believer in, “everything that moves must be moved by something”.
-Mover is the soul
Compare Augustine (pp. 21-24 starting @ Ch. 11 ‘God is the One object of Love’) and Aquinas (pp. 34-35). Explain the position of each thinker. What are the similarities and the differences between their thoughts?
-Aquinas takes a scientific approach Augustine takes a more theological approach. -Depending on whether an individual wants to take a logical approach or not will decipher between the two philosophers.
-Aquinas views happiness as the “goodness of the soul”
-Augustine believes happiness is created.
-Aquinas believes that joy can be achieved here on Earth,
-Augustine believes it can only be obtained through God.
5) Why does Descartes think we can be skeptical of all sense (empirical) and rational (mathematical/logical) knowledge? Explain his argument against both kinds of knowledge.
-Because it has been shown to be false in the past.
-If something has deceived us in the past, it is unwise to trust it in the future.
-For example, dreams can often convince us that we are having a sensory experience, when we are asleep the whole time.
-Mathematical knowledge seems to be more reliable because 2 + 3 = 5 even in our dreams. -However, we can be skeptical of rational knowledge because God allows us to be deceived by our senses.
-Therefore, it is fair to assume that we could also be deceived by our logic.
6) How does Descartes defeat skepticism? How is it that the mind knows things better than the body (i.e., wax example)?
-The senses observe a piece of wax, which still tastes like the honeycomb, smells like the flowers that the honey was taken from, and is cold and hard.
-When placed near a flame, the wax loses these characteristics and becomes liquid and hot. -If we only based our reasoning on the body/senses, we would think that the wax had become something else.
- we know that the wax is not the honeycomb or the flowers, it is its own substance, which does not change even when the outward appearance changes.
7) What is Descartes’ argument for the existence of God in Meditation III. Why is it so important to his overall system of thought?
-He started his argument by only thinking he existed.
-But, he turns to God because he is finite.
-He can’t create the idea of infinite. Why?
-Because the cause must be equal to its effect.
-This is important because it shows there’s something greater that exists besides him.
-It shows that God is not a deceiver.
8) Explain what ideas are and their origins according to Hume. Explain how Hume’s conception of ideas upsets our normal understanding of one of the following concepts: immateriality of the soul, personal identity, or free will.
-Ideas are experiences that we have empirically through our senses.
-They come from the impressions left in our mind.
Humes concepts anger people because no knowledge can be made without experience or impressions.
-In Humes case, personal identity doesn’t exist.
-We think we are unique because we organize our experiences differently
9) What is the difference between a maxim and an imperative according to Kant? Explain Kant’s notion of a categorical imperative using lying as an example.
-A maxim is a subjective principle of the will that we create by proving what we can do. -They don’t determine our will.
-They are subjective actions that we do and experience differently.
-Imperatives are objective principles of will. They’re also known as logical forms.
-Lying contradicts the objective moral law given by those imperatives.
Explain how Kant argues that desire/passions/emotions cannot be the foundation of moral law (c.f., Theorem I and II). What ought to determine the will morally (c.f., Theorem III)? Explain.
-We tend to justify our desires by categorizing them as moral laws.
-Its flawed because if we make expectations once, we’ll do it again.
-High and low desires are the same but felt differently.
-Kant states will is determined through pure reason.
-Cause of our actions are formal laws.
