Test 4 Flashcards
There are three kinds of knowledge, according to Kant. What are they? Which of the three is excluded by Hume’s “fork”?
Analytic a priori
Synthetic a posteriori
Synthetic a priori
Hume’s fork excludes the possibility of synthetic a priori
Who said existence precedes essence?
Sartre
According to Jean Paul Sartre, traditional metaphysics has assumed that essence precedes existence. But for humans, he says, that is not correct. For us, “existence precedes essence.” Summarize Sartre’s argument for that claim. Include in your discussion (a) what it means for essence to precede existence, using an example, (b) why he thinks that’s not the case for humans, and (c) what it means for our existence to precede our essence.
Existence precedes essence means the idea comes first, and then the idea is made.
Sartre denied that God exists, and thus we have no meaning or purpose.
Because of this, we have no definition until we have lived our lives.
Summarize Kant’s “Copernican Revolution.”
Before it was thought that the mind conforms to the structure of the object.
Kant argued that its the other way around.
The mind doesn’t just passively copy the object; it actively constructs the object out of the raw materials supplied by the senses.
This construction proceeds according to certain rules. Our experience will necessarily have certain features.
What is that one somewhat “objective” value for Sartre?
authenticity
Who said God is dead?
Nietzsche
At last the sea
Nietzsche
Summarize utilitarian ethical theory. Include in your discussion (a) how we determine what we ought to do, (b) how this theory differs from Kantian ethical theory, and (c) at least one significant difference between Bentham’s and Mill’s views.
According to utilitarianism, we should follow the principle of utility; act so as to bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
Utilitarian theory focuses on the consequences of our actions. Kantian theory focuses on the principle behind the action.
Bentham believed that the Principle of Utility should be employed in a purely quantitative analysis, a “calculus of pleasure and pain.” Mill introduces qualitative considerations into utilitarianism. He believed that some pleasures are preferable to others (even if the overall amount of pleasure is smaller).
What name to give to this drive to compete?
Will of Power
Summarize Hegel’s “Absolute Idealism.”
Absolute Idealism is the belief that nothing exists apart from consciousness. Things exist only for a subject.
According to Hegel, all of reality is a single, organic, dynamic whole which he called “World Spirit”
The physical world is a manifestation of this World Spirit. Nature is reason in external form.
According to Hegel, all of reality is a single, organic, dynamic whole which he called “_______”
World Spirit
Kierkegaard thought hegel missed?
Existence
Kierkegaard to exist/ authenticty
To consider alternatives, to strive, and to make a commitment
Friedrich Nietzsche is famous for saying that “God is dead.” What did he mean by that? Did he think that the death of God was a good thing, a bad thing, or a little of both? Why?
Nietzsche didn’t mean that God was once alive and then died. [ Rather, he meant that belief in God has drastically declined to the point that God no longer matters in Western culture.
Nietzsche thought that the “death” of God was both a good thing and a bad thing.
On the one hand, if there is no God, then we are free to chart our own course.
But on the other hand, when people become fully aware of the implications of the death of God, traditional restraints on bad behavior will be undermined. He predicted that the world would enter a period of greater violence.
According to Marx, history moves through five stages or epochs. Name two?
capitalism
socialism/communism
