Topic 2: The Ancient World Flashcards
Theory of Mind
an area in cognitive development that concerns how we come to know the beliefs, feelings, plans and behavioral intentions of other people
Neolithic Revolution
the time when humans first transitioned from living in small hunter-gatherer bands to become villagers, temple builders, and even city dwellers
Animism
the belief that everything in nature is alive
Anthropomorphism
the projection of human attributes onto nonhuman things
Magic
various ceremonies and rituals that are designed to influence spirits and nature
Olympian Religion
the religion based on a belief in the Olympian gods as they were described in the Homeric poems
Olympian religion tended to be favoured by the privileged classes, whereas peasants, laborers, and slaves tended to favour the more mystical Dionysiac-Orphic religion
Dionysiac-Orphic Religion
religion whose major belief was the the soul becomes a prisoner of the body because of some transmission committed by the soul
the soul continues on a circle of transmigrations until it has been purged of sin, at which time it can escape its earthly existence among the gods
a number of magical practices were thought useful in releasing the soul from its bodily tomb
Transmigration of the Soul
the Dionysiac-Orphic belief that because of some transgression, the soul is compelled to dwell in one earthly prison after another until it is purified
the transmigration may find the soul at various times in plants, animals, and humans as it seeks redemption
Thales (c.a. 625-547 B.C.)
often called the first philosopher because he emphasized natural instead of supernatural explanations of things
by encouraging the critical evaluation of his ideas and those of others, he is thought to have started the Golden Age of Greek philosophy
he believed water to be the primary element from which everything else was derived
Cosmology
the study of the origin, structure, and processes governing the universe
Physis
a primary substance or element from which everything is thought to be derived
Anaximander (c.a. 610-547 B.C.)
suggested the infinite or boundless as the physis and formulated a rudimentary theory of evolution
Heraclitus (c.a. 540-480 B.C.)
suggested fire the physis because in its presence nothing remains the same
he viewed the world as in a constant state of flux and thereby raised the question as to what could be known with certainty
Becoming
according to Heraclitus, the state of everything in the universe
nothing is static and unchanging
rather, everything in the universe is dynamic – that is, becoming something other than what it is
Being
something that is unchanging and thus, in principle, is capable of being known with certainty
being implies stability and certainty
becoming implies instability and uncertainty
Parmenides (born c.a. 515 B.C.)
believed that the world was solid, fixed, and motionless and therefore that all apparent change or motion was an illusion
Zeno of Elea (c.a. 495-430 B.C.)
a disciple of Parmenides known for his clever and examples and fables
Zeno’s Paradox
the assertion that in order for an object to pass from point A to point B, it must first traverse half the distance between those two points, and then half of the remaining distance, and so forth
because this process must occur an infinite number of times, Zeno concluded that an object could logically never reach point B
Pythagoras (c.a. 580-500 B.C.)
believed that an abstract world consisting of numbers and numerical relationships exerted an influence on the physical world
he created a dualistic views of humans by saying that in addition to our body, we have a mind (soul), which through reasoning could understand the abstract world of numbers
furthermore, he believed the human soul to be immoral
Pythagora’s philosophy had a major influence on Plato and, through Christianity, on the entire Western world
Empedocles (c.a. 490-430 B.C.)
postulated earth, fire, air, and water as the four basic elements from which everything is made and two forces, love and strife, that alternately synthesize and separate those elements
he was also the first philosopher to suggest a theory of perception, and he offered a theory of evolution that emphasized a rudimentary form of natural selection
Eidola
a tiny replication that some early Greek philosophers thought emanated from the surfaces of things in the environment, allowing things to be perceived
Anaxagoras (c.a. 500-428 B.C.)
postulated an infinite number of elements (seeds) from which everything is made
he believed that everything contains all elements and that a thing’s identity is determined by which elements predominate
an exception is the mind, which contains no other element but may combine with other elements, thereby creating life
Democritus (c.a. 460-370 B.C.)
offered atoms as the physis
everything in nature, including humans, was explained in terms of atoms and their activities
his was the first completely materialistic view of the world and of humans
Elementism
the belief that complex processes can be understood by studying the elements of which they consist
Reductionism
the attempt to explain objects or events in one domain by using terminology, concepts, laws, or principles from another domain
Temple Medicine
the type of medicine practiced by priests in early Greek temples that was characterized by superstition and magic
individuals such as Alcmaeon and Hippocrates severely criticized temple medicine and were instrumental in displacing such practices with naturalistic medicine that is, medicine that sought natural causes of disorders rather than supernatural causes
Alcmaeon (fl. ca. 500 B.C.)
one of the first Greek physicians to move away from the magic and superstition of temple medicine and toward a naturalistic understanding and treatment of illness
Hippocrates (ca 460-377 B.C.)
considered the father of modern medicine because he assumed that disease had natural causes, not supernatural ones
health prevails when the four humors of the body are in balance, disease when there is an imbalance
the physician’s task was to facilitate the body’s natural tendency to heal itself
Galen (ca. A.D. 130-200)
associated each of Hippocrates’ four humors with a temperament, thus creating a rudimentary theory of personality
Sophists
a group of philosopher-teachers who believed that “truth” was what people thought it to be
to convince others that something is true, one needs effective communication skills, and it was those skills that the Sophists taught
Xenophanes (ca. 560-478 B.C.)
believed people created gods in their own image
he noted that dark-skinned people created dark-skinned gods and light-skinned people created light-skinned gods
he speculated that the gods created by nonhuman animals would have the characteristics of those animals
he postulated the existence of one all-powerful god without human characteristics but warned that all beliefs are suspect, even his own
Protagoras (ca. 485-410 B.C.)
a Sophist who taught that “man is the measure of all things”
in other words, what is considered true varies with a person’s personal experiences
therefore, there is no objective truth, only individual versions of what is true
Gorgias (ca. 485-380 B.C.)
a Sophist who believed the only reality a person can experience is his or her subjective reality and that this reality can never be accurately communicated to another individual
Nihilism
the belief that because what is considered true varies from person to person, any search for universal (interpersonal) truth will fail
in other words, there is no one truth, only truths
the Sophists were nihilists
Solipsism
the belief that a person’s subjective reality is only reality that exists and can be known
Socrates (ca. 470-399 B.C.)
disagreed with the Sophists’ contention that there is no discernible truth beyond individual opinion
Socrates believed that by examining a number of individual manifestations of a concept, teh general concept itself could be defined clearly and precisely
these general definitions are stable and knowable and, when known, generate moral behavior
Inductive Definition
the technique used by Socrates that examined many individual examples of a concept to discover what they all had in common
Essence
the indispensable characteristic of a thing that gives it its unique identity
Plato (ca. 427-347 B.C.)
first a discipline of Socrates, came under the influence of Pythagoreans, and postulated the existence of an abstract world of forms or ideas that, when manifested in matter, make up the objects in the empirical world
the only true knowledge is that of the forms, a knowledge that can be gained only by reflecting on teh innate contents of the soul
sensory experience interferes with the attainment of knowledge and should be avoided
Theory of Forms
Plato’s contention that ultimate reality consists of abstract ideas or forms that correspond to all objects in the empirical world
knowledge of these abstractions is innate and can be attained only through introspection
Forms
according to Plato, the pure, abstract realities that are unchanging and timeless and, therefore, knowable
such forms create imperfect manifestations of themselves when they interact with matter
it is imperfect manifestations of the forms that are the objects of our sense impressions
Analogy of the Divided Line
Plato’s illustration of his contention that there is a hierarchy of understanding
the lowest type of understanding is based on images of empirical objects
next highest is an understanding of empirical objects them-selves, which results only in opinion
next is an understanding of abstract mathematical principles
then comes an understanding of the forms
the highest understanding (true knowledge) is an understanding of the form of the good that includes a knowledge of all forms and their organization
Allegory of the Cave
description of individuals who live their lives in accordance with the shadows of reality provided by sensory experience instead of in accordance with the true reality beyond sensory experience
Reminiscence Theory of Knowledge
Plato’s belief that knowledge is attained by remembering the experiences the soul had when dwelled among the forms before entering the body
Introspection
the careful examination of one’s subjective experiences
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
believed sensory experience to be the basis of all knowledge, although the five senses and the common sense provided only the information from which knowledge could be derived
also believed that everything in nature had within it an entelechy (purpose) that determined its potential
active reason, which was considered the immortal part of the human soul, provided humans with their greatest potential, and therefore fully actualized humans engage in active reason
because everything was thought to have a cause, Aristotle postulated an unmoved mover that caused everything in the world, but was not itself moved
Material Cause
according to Aristotle, what a thing is made of
Formal Cause
according to Aristotle, the form of a thing
Efficient Cause
according to Aristotle, the force that transforms a thing
Final Cause
according to Aristotle, the purpose for which a thing exists
Teleology
the belief that nature is purposive
Aristotle’s philosophy was teleological
Entelechy
according to Aristotle, the purpose for which a thing exists, which remains a potential until actualized
active reason, for example, is the human entelechy, but it exists only as a potential in many humans
Scala Naturae
Aristotle’s description of nature as being arranged in a hierarchy from formless matter to the unmoved mover
in this grand design, the only thing higher than humans was the unmoved mover
Unmoved Mover
according to Aristotle, this is what gives nature its purpose, or final cause, but was itself uncaused
in Aristotle’s philosophy, the unmoved mover was a logical necessity
Vegetative (or Nutritive) Soul
the soul possessed by plants
it allows only growth, the intake of nutrition, and reproduction
Sensitive Soul
according Aristotle, the soul possessed by animals
it includes the functions provided by the vegetative soul and provides the ability to interact with the environment and to retain the information gained from that interaction
Rational Soul
according to Aristotle, the soul possessed only by humans
it incorporates the functions of the vegetative and sensitive souls and allows thinking about events in the empirical world (passive reason) and the abstraction of the concepts that characterize events in the empirical world (active reason)
Common Sense
according to Aristotle, the faculty located in the heart that synthesizes the information provided by the five senses
Passive Reason
according to Aristotle, the practical utilization of the information provided by the common sense
Active Reason
according to Aristotle, the faculty of the soul that searches for the essences or abstract concepts that manifest themselves in the empirical world
Aristotle thought that the active reason part of the soul was immortal
Remembering
for Aristotle, the passive recollection of past experiences
Recall
for Aristotle, the active mental search for the recollection of past experiences
Law of Contiguity
a thought of something will tend to cause thoughts of things that are usually experienced along with it
Law of Similarity
a thought of something will tend to cause thoughts of similar thoughts
Law of Contrast
a thought of something will tend to cause thoughts of opposite things
Law of Frequency
in general, the more often events are experienced together, the stronger they become associated in memory
Associationism
the philosophical belief that mental phenomena, such as learning, remembering, and imagining, can be explained in terms of the laws of association
Imagination
according to Aristotle, the pondering of the images retained from past experiences
Golden Mean
the rule Aristotle suggested people follow to avoid excesses and to live a life of moderation
What did Humphrey (1983) note about humans?
we humans (Homo sapiens) could more accurately be named Homo psychologicus
we’re always trying to understand each other
What was the Neolithic Revolution?
the Neolithic revolution refers to the time (roughly 12,000 years ago) when humans first transitioned from living in small, nomadic, hunter-gatherer bands to become villagers, temple builders, and even city dwellers
there was considerable stratification before domestication
stems from our beliefs, desire to practice religious and gather in groups
What are animism and anthropromorphism?
looking at all nature as though it were alive is called animism, and the projection of human attributes onto nature is called anthropomorphism
desire to understand and control the natural world
looked at all nature as alive, everything had life in it, life = spirit, soul, ghosts, spirits acted on the world in certain ways
What is the Olympian religion?
social elites
sense that our souls survived death, but left behind all worldly memories and what made them “them”
associated with elites the gods looked like upper class Greek nobility
the gods from poems (Zeus), the gods were ambivalent
What is the Dionysiac-Orphic religion?
common people
transmigration of the soul: at some point our soul was with the Gods, then committed sin, then was stuck in frail human bodies, body is a prison
Who was Homer (8th Century BCE)?
Homer came to be a collective personification of the entire Greek style and the values expressed in the Homeric epics continued to inspire generations of Greeks throughout antiquity and informed and pervaded Greek culture
captured mythological stylings of the time represented by Zeus
Who were the Greek Tragedians?
Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides
using myths to understand deeper human emotions
constrained by fate or mortality
person’s action would draw the wrath of the Gods
took the conflicts of Homer, gave them more psychological depth
human self awareness and suffering
Who were the First Philosophers (The Presocratics)?
philosophy began with natural explanations replaced supernatural ones
the early Greek philosophers were called cosmologists
movement away from supernatural explanations (weren’t replaced by natural, it was just more neutral)
the nature of the universe metaphysics: search for first principles believed that because universe is orderly, it is nice to think about
Who was Thales of Miletus (625-547 BCE)?
physis = water (see water in everything that has life)
emphasized natura; explanations while minimizing supernatural ones
universe is knowable and understandable (because it is orderly)
he ushered in the critical tradition – the criticism and questioning of others’ teachings and views
critical to Greek approach to philosophy
everything I’m saying is speculative, so anyone can critique me
Who was Anaximander (610-547 BCE)?
physis could become anything (i.e. water could be broken up more), called the “boundless” of the “indefinite”
Aperion –> indefinite or boundless
ushered in scientific approach
mixture of earth and water made fish, humans came from fish (first attempt to understand why we’re here)
founder of astronomy
Who was Anaximenes of Miletus (586-526 BCE)?
criticized his teacher
physis = air
air/breath is divine
air is God, ultimate divine, air gives life, the soul is therefore divine
Who was Heraclitus (540-480 BCE)?
nature is in a constant state of flux or change (physis needs to be something that also changes)
physis is fire because it transforms all things into something else
world is always “becoming” never “is”
all things exist between polar opposites – must have opposites
rationalism versus empiricism
how can we know anything if it’s always changing?
Who was Parmenides (515-? BCE)?
all things are constant; change is an illusion
one reality – finite, uniform, motionless, and fixed
knowledge comes only through reason (rationalism)
cannot think of something that doesn’t exist thinking + being are the same
sensory experience is not real, not to be trusted (always participating in illusion, such as movement)
black universe: step out in time and space, everything is one big block, everything is predetermined (fatalism)
Who was Zeno of Elea (495-430 BCE)?
discipline of Parmenides
used logical arguments (paradoxes) to show that motion was an illusion to support Parmenides
Who was Melissus of Samos (5th Century BCE)?
follower of Parmenides
being is everlasting and unlimited (being cannot come from what can already exist, cannot become unbeing, movement would imply emptiness, everything is full)
beginnings of determinism
Who was Pythagoras (570-495 BCE)?
first to use the term philosopher and call himself a philosopher
explanation of the universe is found in numbers and numerical relationships
applied mathematical principles to human experience (use math to predict things about the natural world)
nothing is perfect in the empirical world; perfection is in abstract mathematical world and known only by reason
the contributions of him and his followers are hard to seperate
What is Pythagorean Harmony?
numbers and numerical relationships were real and influenced the empirical world
illness was thought to result from a disruption of the body’s equilibrium
understand numerics in terms of harmony
relationship between physical and psychological are mathematical
What is Pythagorean Dualism?
the world of numbers existed independently of the empirical world and could be known in its pure form only through reason
the Pythagoreans assumed a dualistic universe: one part abstract, permanent, and intellectually knowable (like that proposed by Parmenides) and the other empirical, changing, and known through the senses (like that proposed by Heraclitus)
only through the application of reason we can figure out the universe
nothing in the natural world is perfect only in the abstract
Pythagoreans abandoned the concrete, opposed excess
bodily experience is bad, mind is better
What is Pythagorean cosmology?
how do we reconcile distorting feelings?
universe is split into opposites
What are Pythagorean opposites?
balance between two opposites is harmony
most important opposites: limited vs. unlimited
everything worldly has a limit
seem unlimited, but actually are constrained by some mathematical function that form limits
one reflects a positive quality and one a negative quality
Who was Empedocles (490-430 BCE)?
not just one physis but four elements that make up the world – earth, fire, air, and water
humans also made of these elements
postulated two causal powers in the universe: love and strife
causal powers and the elements operate together to produce unending cosmic cycle of recurring phases
he proposed a theory of evolution more complex than Anaximander’s: animals and plants come together part by part
What is the cycle of love and strife?
- everything is together
- strife starts seperation
- strife fully separates
- love puts it back together
cycle also occurs within the person
What was the theory of perception proposed by Empedocles?
each of the four elements are found in the blood
objects in the world throw off tiny copies of themselves called eidola which enter the blood through pores in the body and combine with elements like themselves
the fusion of external and internal elements results in perception, which takes place in the heart
Who was Anaxagoras (550-428 BCE)?
proposed an infinite number of elements called “seeds” from which all things were created, every element contains all other elements, a thing’s characteristics is determined by the proportion of the elements present
one exception – the mind is pure, contains no other elements, mind is part of all living things, but not a part of non-living things
mind is not present in other elements
Who was Democritus (460-370 BCE)?
first completely naturalistic description of the universe
all things were made of tiny particles called atoms, characteristics of things are determined by shape, size, number, location, and arrangement of atoms
all things and events, animate, inanimate, and cognitive can be reduced to atoms and atomic activity
atoms’ behavior is lawful (determinism), monism: single substance
What is elementism?
regardless of how complicated, everything can be broken down into atoms
What is reductionism?
attempt to explain one thing in terms of a composite element of that theory
try to explain human behavior in terms of lower processes
What is temple medicine?
healing rituals practiced by priests (kept secret and guarded), accompanied by much ritual and ceremony by patients
temples named after Greek god of medicine
Who was Alcmaeon (fl. 500 BCE)?
Alcmaeon equated health with a balance of such qualities as warm and cold, moist and dry, and bitter and sweet
if one or more qualities dominates a person’s system, sickness results
diagnosis involved discovering the source of the disturbance of equilibrium and treatment involved a procedure that would restore equilibrium
determined eye and brain are connected perception in the brain
Who was Hippocrates (460-377 BCE)?
illnesses caused by natural rather than supernatural forces (inheritance, susceptibility)
treat the whole patient
earth –> black bile
air –> yellow bile
fire –> blood
water –> phlegm
all physician needs to do is create the environment for equilibrium to be restored
do not charge fees
human approach to dealing with patients
Who was Galen (130-200 CE)?
active about 500 years after Hippocrates
associated the four humors of the body with four temperaments
reduce personality to underlying biological conditions
influenced trajectory of the discipline
black bile –> melancholic, sad
phlegm –> flat, cold, distant, lazy
blood –> cheerful, happy
yellow bile –> quick to anger
Who were the Sophists?
professional teachers of rhetoric and logic, truth is relative – no single truth exists
Protogoras, Gorgias, Xenophanes
movement away from metaphysical questions to questions of logic and knowledge
travelling teachers, taught the art of making an argument and logic
the truth is relative to the person, anything is true if you can convince
Who was Xenophanes (560-478 BCE)?
attacked veracity of religion before the Sophists
stated that religion is a human invention, his evidence was:
Olympian gods act suspiciously like humans (not like gods), gods of different peoples look like the people themselves (if horses have a god, it will look like a horse)
humans create religion, moral codes come from humans
he was not an atheist; he postulated a god that was unlike any other described during that time, believed in one supreme god
Who was Protagoras (485-410 BCE)?
truth depends on the perceiver: perception varies from person to person because each perceiver has different experiences
truth is partially determined by culture
to understand why a person believes as a person does, one must understand the person
“man is the measure of all things”
Who was Gorgias (485-380 BCE)?
Gorgias took a more extreme position than Protogoras – all things are equally false (we never know anything about each other)
Nihilism: there can be no objective way of knowing what is true
Solipsism: the person can only be aware of their own perceptions; nothing else
he came to three conclusions: nothing exists, if it did exist it could not be comprehended, it if could be comprehended it could not be communicated to another person
spoken words had power but they were essentially decietful
Who was Socrates (470-399 BCE)?
Socrates agreed with sophists that personal experience is important, but disagreed that no truth exists beyond personal opinion
employed method of inductive definition
What Socrates method of inductive definition?
examine instances of a concept
ask the question – what is it that all instances have in common?
find the essence of the instances if the concept
seek to find general concepts by examining isolated instances
Who was Plato (427-347 BCE)?
Plato was directly influenced by the Pythagorean school as well as Socrates, his teacher, who featured prominently in his writing
he wrote in a very unique style: dialogue, retelling stories
Plato went into exile after Socrates was executed
new approach: reconcile Socratic and Pythagorean methods
What is the relationship between Pythagoreans and irrationality?
the world was not as neat and tidy as the Pythagoreans thought
there’s a way we can preserve the neatness in an imperfect world: idealism
What is the theory of forms or ideas?
everything in the empirical world is an inferior manifestation of the pure form, which exists in the abstract
experience through our senses comes from interaction of the pure form and matter of the world, result is an experience less than perfect
true knowledge can be attained only through reason; rational thought regarding the forms
What are the Platonic forms?
inventing the world of forms is a brilliant philosophical move
Plato ultimately could not deny the “unpleasant” irrational world, but he saved it by making it a minor aspect of something more perfect in the abstract (one could argue that our Western culture has been paying the price ever since)
the Platonic forms allow us to be what reason compels us to admit we are – living in a world overrun by imperfection and disharmony – but still be happy about our situation
Plato says that while this world is not perfect, that’s OK because this world is not even the real world
What is Plato’s analogy of the divided line?
description of Plato’s view of acquisition of true knowledge
people attempting to gain knowledge through sensory experience are doomed to ignorance or, at best, opinion
imagining is lowest form of understanding
direct experience with objects is slightly better, but still just beliefs or opinions
contemplations of mathematical relationships is better than the other two
highest form of thinking involves embracing the forms
true knowledge and intelligence comes only from understanding teh abstract forms
How did Plato identify knowledge?
Plato wanted to distinguish between mere opinions or beliefs, on the one hand, and actual knowledge, on the other
he puts forward a definition of knowledge (in the Theatetus) as justified true belief
beliefs may or may not be true, in themselves but: if they are true and if we can justify their truth then they can stop being mere beliefs and become actual knowledge
What was Plato’s problem?
Socrates (following the Pythagoreans) believed in an immortal, recurring soul that contained all knowledge
this solved what Noam Chomsky has called “Plato’s problem”: How can we bridge the gap between knowledge and experience
What is the idea of Anamnesis?
we already have all the knowledge, innate knowledge in modern psychology
What is the reminiscence theory of knowledge?
how do we know the forms if they cannot be known through sensory experiences?
prior to coming into the body, the soul dwelt in pure, complete knowledge
all knowledge is innate and can be attained only through introspection – thus, all true knowledge comes only from reminiscence, from remembering the experiences the soul had prior to entering the body
What was Plato’s idea of the nature of the soul?
soul comprised of three parts
rational component (Logos): immortal, existed with the forms, high in philosopher kings
courageous (emotional or spirited) component (Thymos): mortal emotions such as fear, rage, and love, high in soldiers
appetite component (Eros): mortal needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior that must be satisfied
in order to be the best, humans must spend time pushing down human components to expand the rational components
What did Plato think about sleep and dreams?
while awake some individuals are better able to rationally control their appetites than are others; during sleep, however, it’s another matter
see repressed desires pop up
What is Plato’s Legacy?
because of his disdain for empirical observation and sensory experience as means of gaining knowledge, he may have inhibited growth of science
dualism in humans: divided into body and soul
basis or roots of contemporary cognitive psych
inhibited the growth of science
What are the differences between Plato and Aristotle?
Plato: essences (truths) in teh forms that exist independent of nature, known only by using introspection (rationalism)
Aristotle: essences could be known only by studying nature through individual observation of phenomena (empiricism)
Aristotle embraced both rationalism and empiricism: still have to apply reason to understand what you’re seeing
What Aristotle’s idea of hyle and morphe?
for Aristotle, each actual existent things was a combination of matter (hyle) and form (morphe)
changes in the form of substance can (but do not always) make a new substance
What is hyle?
the matter of a thing is that out of which the substance is made
the word substance has a special role in Aristotle
What is morphe?
form is what gives substances an identiy, by giving them properties that make them identifiable as a specific things
properties are only given to (“predicated of”) substances, not to matter
the standard example is a statue, made of a substance marble but individuated by the form of that substance
What are primary and secondary substances?
primary substance: anything independent that exists (humans, a bench)
secondary substance: categories to which they belong (mammals, furniture)
What are substantial forms and accidental forms?
substantial form: absolute necessary conditions that give characteristics
accidental forms: apple is still an apple if cut into a crumble
What is hylemorphic dualism?
the substantial form of an individuated living thing is a soul
we don’t say that a dead body is the person: we recognize that there is a difference between the person and her body
since that person is individualizable, it must have a substantial form (because all individualizable things do)- and that form is the soul
under this view, the soul is part of the (living) body, in exactly the same way that the (living) body, in exactly the same way that the shape of the Venus de Milo is part of the Venus de Milo
if the shape breaks a part and we don’t know it’s the statue, it’s no longer the Venus de Milo
What were Aristotle’s views on causation and teleology?
Aristotle’s four causes- to understand object or phenomenon, one must know causes
material cause: kind of matter something is made of
formal cause: the form or pattern to which an object is made
efficient cause: force that turns something into the form
final cause: the purpose for which something exists
What is teleology?
everything in nature has a purpose, a function or potential that’s built in
What is entelechy?
moves things towards it’s final cause
moving from potential to the actual
What is the idea of scala naturae?
nature has a final cause as well
“unmoved mover” : what gives everything purpose
hierarchy: somethings are closer to unmoved
closer to unmoved mover the more perfect it is
What is the vegetative (nutritive) soul (plants)?
provides growth, assimilation of food, and reproduction
What is the sensitive soul (animals)?
functions of vegetative soul plus the ability to sense and respond to the environment, experience pleasure and pain, and use memory
What is the rational soul (humans)?
functions of vegetative and sensitive souls plus ability of thinking and rational thought
What is common sense?
coordinates and synthesizes information from all of the senses for more meaningful and effective experience
What is passive reason?
uses synthesized experience to function in everyday life
What is active reason?
uses synthesized experience to abstract principles and essences
highest form of thinking
when we are able to abstract principles it brings us pleasure and makes us happy
doesn’t get punished, just fades away
What were Aristotle’s idea of wisdom?
discerned between three forms of “wisdom” that differentiate humans from animals
What is practical wisdom?
phronesis
wisdom of conduct, good sense, character, properly trained habits, (hexis)
morality is a habit
What is creative wisdom?
poiesis
how we apply techniques to create objects
What is theoretical wisdom?
sophia
logical knowledge + nous (human capacity to understand the world)
What is remembering?
spontaneous recollection of a previous experience
What is recall?
an actual mental search for a previous experience
What is the law of contiguity?
when we think of things, we think of the events that occurred around it
What is the law of similarity?
when we think of things we think of similar things
What is the law of contrast?
when we think of something we think of the opposite
What is the law of frequency?
the more we experience things together, the more we think of them together
What are the laws of association?
law of contiguity
law of similarity
law of contrast
law of frequency
What were Aristotle’s thoughts on imagination and dreaming?
imagination is lingering effects of sensory experience
dreams are images from past experience which are stimulated by events inside and outside the body
What were Aristotle’s thoughts on motivation and emotion?
happiness is doing what is natural, fulfills one’s purpose, purpose for humans is to think rationally
humans, being biological organisms, are motivated by appetites
however, humans can use rational powers to inhibit appetites
best life is a life of moderation
have to exercise reason and moderation, or we are just animals
What is De Anima?
Aristotle’s most directly psychological work was De Anima (on the soul)
this is where he discusses emotions, sensations and memories as conditions of the could that can only exist via the medium of the body: “materialized formal essences”
for any idea to be actualized, must have roots in the external world
What is Aristotelian Logic?
one of Aristotle’s greatest contributions was the development of a systematic logic
while some earlier thinkers used a formalized rational thinking, it was often applied in a haphazard way
Aristotle focused on teh formal logical structure
he defined the syllogism, the forms of a logical argument in which we move from two premises (the major premise and the minor premise) to a conclusion
What is the square of opposition?
Aristotle represented logic using wat we now call “the square of opposition”, which shows the relationship between single-predicate propositions
i.e. sentences which make a claim about just one characteristic (predicate) of a thing
What are contradictions in the square of opposition?
if one is true, then the other must be false
What are contraries in the square of opposition?
could both be false, but can’t both be true
What are subcontraries in the square of opposition?
could both be true, but can’t both be false
What are subalterns in the square of opposition?
one implies the other
What is Aristotle’s syllogism?
all x are y (major premise: prediction)
all y are z (minor premise: prediction)
all x are z (conclusion)
all men are mortal (major premise)
all mortals die (minor premise)
all men die (conclusion)
What is the problem of logical scope?
Aristotle discussed the difficult problem of logical scope, recognizing that you cannot reason from “some men are mortal to “Socrates is mortal” but you can reason:
all humans seek the good –> some living things are humans –> some living things seek the good
What is the role of negation in the logical syllogism?
he systematically studied and reported on the (also surprisingly complex) role of negation in the logical syllogism:
no humans seek the bad –> some living things are humans –> some living things do not seek the bad
What is the idea of a variable in Aristotelian Logic?
Aristotle also introduced the idea of a variable in logic
we do not need to fill in our x and y with real values for the logic to be formally correct
this is a good generalization but also a problem because we can prove crazy stuff
thus he banned imaginary things from his logical system
What is the idea Aristotle had about the heavens (De Caelo)?
earth is central; stars, moon, and sun moved around Earth
must be a sphere based on the shadow of the eclipse
started moving because of the “unmoved mover”
What is the importance of early Greek philosophy?
in Popper’s view, science began when humans began to question the prevailing stories about themselves and the world
the Greek cosmologists broke loose from teh accepted traditions and speculated; they also engaged in critical discussion
after Aristotle’s death, philosophers either relied on teachings of past authorities, particularly Aristotle, or turned attention from descriptions of the universe to models of human conduct
the critical, questioning tradition of the Greeks was not present until revived during the Renaissance
