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PSYCH 303 > Topic 2: The Ancient World > Flashcards

Topic 2: The Ancient World Flashcards

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1
Q

Theory of Mind

A

an area in cognitive development that concerns how we come to know the beliefs, feelings, plans and behavioral intentions of other people

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2
Q

Neolithic Revolution

A

the time when humans first transitioned from living in small hunter-gatherer bands to become villagers, temple builders, and even city dwellers

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3
Q

Animism

A

the belief that everything in nature is alive

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4
Q

Anthropomorphism

A

the projection of human attributes onto nonhuman things

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5
Q

Magic

A

various ceremonies and rituals that are designed to influence spirits and nature

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6
Q

Olympian Religion

A

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

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7
Q

Dionysiac-Orphic Religion

A

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

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8
Q

Transmigration of the Soul

A

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

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9
Q

Thales (c.a. 625-547 B.C.)

A

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

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10
Q

Cosmology

A

the study of the origin, structure, and processes governing the universe

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11
Q

Physis

A

a primary substance or element from which everything is thought to be derived

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12
Q

Anaximander (c.a. 610-547 B.C.)

A

suggested the infinite or boundless as the physis and formulated a rudimentary theory of evolution

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13
Q

Heraclitus (c.a. 540-480 B.C.)

A

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

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14
Q

Becoming

A

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

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15
Q

Being

A

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

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16
Q

Parmenides (born c.a. 515 B.C.)

A

believed that the world was solid, fixed, and motionless and therefore that all apparent change or motion was an illusion

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17
Q

Zeno of Elea (c.a. 495-430 B.C.)

A

a disciple of Parmenides known for his clever and examples and fables

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18
Q

Zeno’s Paradox

A

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

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19
Q

Pythagoras (c.a. 580-500 B.C.)

A

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

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20
Q

Empedocles (c.a. 490-430 B.C.)

A

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

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21
Q

Eidola

A

a tiny replication that some early Greek philosophers thought emanated from the surfaces of things in the environment, allowing things to be perceived

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22
Q

Anaxagoras (c.a. 500-428 B.C.)

A

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

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23
Q

Democritus (c.a. 460-370 B.C.)

A

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

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24
Q

Elementism

A

the belief that complex processes can be understood by studying the elements of which they consist

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25
Q

Reductionism

A

the attempt to explain objects or events in one domain by using terminology, concepts, laws, or principles from another domain

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26
Q

Temple Medicine

A

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

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27
Q

Alcmaeon (fl. ca. 500 B.C.)

A

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

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28
Q

Hippocrates (ca 460-377 B.C.)

A

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

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29
Q

Galen (ca. A.D. 130-200)

A

associated each of Hippocrates’ four humors with a temperament, thus creating a rudimentary theory of personality

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30
Q

Sophists

A

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

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31
Q

Xenophanes (ca. 560-478 B.C.)

A

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

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32
Q

Protagoras (ca. 485-410 B.C.)

A

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

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33
Q

Gorgias (ca. 485-380 B.C.)

A

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

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34
Q

Nihilism

A

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

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35
Q

Solipsism

A

the belief that a person’s subjective reality is only reality that exists and can be known

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36
Q

Socrates (ca. 470-399 B.C.)

A

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

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37
Q

Inductive Definition

A

the technique used by Socrates that examined many individual examples of a concept to discover what they all had in common

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38
Q

Essence

A

the indispensable characteristic of a thing that gives it its unique identity

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39
Q

Plato (ca. 427-347 B.C.)

A

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

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40
Q

Theory of Forms

A

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

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41
Q

Forms

A

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

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42
Q

Analogy of the Divided Line

A

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

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43
Q

Allegory of the Cave

A

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

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44
Q

Reminiscence Theory of Knowledge

A

Plato’s belief that knowledge is attained by remembering the experiences the soul had when dwelled among the forms before entering the body

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45
Q

Introspection

A

the careful examination of one’s subjective experiences

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46
Q

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

A

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

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47
Q

Material Cause

A

according to Aristotle, what a thing is made of

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48
Q

Formal Cause

A

according to Aristotle, the form of a thing

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49
Q

Efficient Cause

A

according to Aristotle, the force that transforms a thing

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50
Q

Final Cause

A

according to Aristotle, the purpose for which a thing exists

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51
Q

Teleology

A

the belief that nature is purposive

Aristotle’s philosophy was teleological

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52
Q

Entelechy

A

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

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53
Q

Scala Naturae

A

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

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54
Q

Unmoved Mover

A

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

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55
Q

Vegetative (or Nutritive) Soul

A

the soul possessed by plants

it allows only growth, the intake of nutrition, and reproduction

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56
Q

Sensitive Soul

A

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

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57
Q

Rational Soul

A

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)

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58
Q

Common Sense

A

according to Aristotle, the faculty located in the heart that synthesizes the information provided by the five senses

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59
Q

Passive Reason

A

according to Aristotle, the practical utilization of the information provided by the common sense

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60
Q

Active Reason

A

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

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61
Q

Remembering

A

for Aristotle, the passive recollection of past experiences

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62
Q

Recall

A

for Aristotle, the active mental search for the recollection of past experiences

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63
Q

Law of Contiguity

A

a thought of something will tend to cause thoughts of things that are usually experienced along with it

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64
Q

Law of Similarity

A

a thought of something will tend to cause thoughts of similar thoughts

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65
Q

Law of Contrast

A

a thought of something will tend to cause thoughts of opposite things

66
Q

Law of Frequency

A

in general, the more often events are experienced together, the stronger they become associated in memory

67
Q

Associationism

A

the philosophical belief that mental phenomena, such as learning, remembering, and imagining, can be explained in terms of the laws of association

68
Q

Imagination

A

according to Aristotle, the pondering of the images retained from past experiences

69
Q

Golden Mean

A

the rule Aristotle suggested people follow to avoid excesses and to live a life of moderation

70
Q

What did Humphrey (1983) note about humans?

A

we humans (Homo sapiens) could more accurately be named Homo psychologicus

we’re always trying to understand each other

71
Q

What was the Neolithic Revolution?

A

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

72
Q

What are animism and anthropromorphism?

A

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

73
Q

What is the Olympian religion?

A

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

74
Q

What is the Dionysiac-Orphic religion?

A

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

75
Q

Who was Homer (8th Century BCE)?

A

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

76
Q

Who were the Greek Tragedians?

A

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

77
Q

Who were the First Philosophers (The Presocratics)?

A

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

78
Q

Who was Thales of Miletus (625-547 BCE)?

A

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

79
Q

Who was Anaximander (610-547 BCE)?

A

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

80
Q

Who was Anaximenes of Miletus (586-526 BCE)?

A

criticized his teacher

physis = air

air/breath is divine

air is God, ultimate divine, air gives life, the soul is therefore divine

81
Q

Who was Heraclitus (540-480 BCE)?

A

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?

82
Q

Who was Parmenides (515-? BCE)?

A

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)

83
Q

Who was Zeno of Elea (495-430 BCE)?

A

discipline of Parmenides

used logical arguments (paradoxes) to show that motion was an illusion to support Parmenides

84
Q

Who was Melissus of Samos (5th Century BCE)?

A

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

85
Q

Who was Pythagoras (570-495 BCE)?

A

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

86
Q

What is Pythagorean Harmony?

A

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

87
Q

What is Pythagorean Dualism?

A

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

88
Q

What is Pythagorean cosmology?

A

how do we reconcile distorting feelings?

universe is split into opposites

89
Q

What are Pythagorean opposites?

A

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

90
Q

Who was Empedocles (490-430 BCE)?

A

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

91
Q

What is the cycle of love and strife?

A
  1. everything is together
  2. strife starts seperation
  3. strife fully separates
  4. love puts it back together

cycle also occurs within the person

92
Q

What was the theory of perception proposed by Empedocles?

A

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

93
Q

Who was Anaxagoras (550-428 BCE)?

A

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

94
Q

Who was Democritus (460-370 BCE)?

A

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

95
Q

What is elementism?

A

regardless of how complicated, everything can be broken down into atoms

96
Q

What is reductionism?

A

attempt to explain one thing in terms of a composite element of that theory

try to explain human behavior in terms of lower processes

97
Q

What is temple medicine?

A

healing rituals practiced by priests (kept secret and guarded), accompanied by much ritual and ceremony by patients

temples named after Greek god of medicine

98
Q

Who was Alcmaeon (fl. 500 BCE)?

A

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

99
Q

Who was Hippocrates (460-377 BCE)?

A

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

100
Q

Who was Galen (130-200 CE)?

A

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

101
Q

Who were the Sophists?

A

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

102
Q

Who was Xenophanes (560-478 BCE)?

A

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

103
Q

Who was Protagoras (485-410 BCE)?

A

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”

104
Q

Who was Gorgias (485-380 BCE)?

A

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

105
Q

Who was Socrates (470-399 BCE)?

A

Socrates agreed with sophists that personal experience is important, but disagreed that no truth exists beyond personal opinion

employed method of inductive definition

106
Q

What Socrates method of inductive definition?

A

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

107
Q

Who was Plato (427-347 BCE)?

A

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

108
Q

What is the relationship between Pythagoreans and irrationality?

A

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

109
Q

What is the theory of forms or ideas?

A

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

110
Q

What are the Platonic forms?

A

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

111
Q

What is Plato’s analogy of the divided line?

A

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

112
Q

How did Plato identify knowledge?

A

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

113
Q

What was Plato’s problem?

A

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

114
Q

What is the idea of Anamnesis?

A

we already have all the knowledge, innate knowledge in modern psychology

115
Q

What is the reminiscence theory of knowledge?

A

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

116
Q

What was Plato’s idea of the nature of the soul?

A

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

117
Q

What did Plato think about sleep and dreams?

A

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

118
Q

What is Plato’s Legacy?

A

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

119
Q

What are the differences between Plato and Aristotle?

A

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

120
Q

What Aristotle’s idea of hyle and morphe?

A

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

121
Q

What is hyle?

A

the matter of a thing is that out of which the substance is made

the word substance has a special role in Aristotle

122
Q

What is morphe?

A

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

123
Q

What are primary and secondary substances?

A

primary substance: anything independent that exists (humans, a bench)

secondary substance: categories to which they belong (mammals, furniture)

124
Q

What are substantial forms and accidental forms?

A

substantial form: absolute necessary conditions that give characteristics

accidental forms: apple is still an apple if cut into a crumble

125
Q

What is hylemorphic dualism?

A

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

126
Q

What were Aristotle’s views on causation and teleology?

A

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

127
Q

What is teleology?

A

everything in nature has a purpose, a function or potential that’s built in

128
Q

What is entelechy?

A

moves things towards it’s final cause

moving from potential to the actual

129
Q

What is the idea of scala naturae?

A

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

130
Q

What is the vegetative (nutritive) soul (plants)?

A

provides growth, assimilation of food, and reproduction

131
Q

What is the sensitive soul (animals)?

A

functions of vegetative soul plus the ability to sense and respond to the environment, experience pleasure and pain, and use memory

132
Q

What is the rational soul (humans)?

A

functions of vegetative and sensitive souls plus ability of thinking and rational thought

133
Q

What is common sense?

A

coordinates and synthesizes information from all of the senses for more meaningful and effective experience

134
Q

What is passive reason?

A

uses synthesized experience to function in everyday life

135
Q

What is active reason?

A

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

136
Q

What were Aristotle’s idea of wisdom?

A

discerned between three forms of “wisdom” that differentiate humans from animals

137
Q

What is practical wisdom?

A

phronesis

wisdom of conduct, good sense, character, properly trained habits, (hexis)

morality is a habit

138
Q

What is creative wisdom?

A

poiesis

how we apply techniques to create objects

139
Q

What is theoretical wisdom?

A

sophia

logical knowledge + nous (human capacity to understand the world)

140
Q

What is remembering?

A

spontaneous recollection of a previous experience

141
Q

What is recall?

A

an actual mental search for a previous experience

142
Q

What is the law of contiguity?

A

when we think of things, we think of the events that occurred around it

143
Q

What is the law of similarity?

A

when we think of things we think of similar things

144
Q

What is the law of contrast?

A

when we think of something we think of the opposite

145
Q

What is the law of frequency?

A

the more we experience things together, the more we think of them together

146
Q

What are the laws of association?

A

law of contiguity
law of similarity
law of contrast
law of frequency

147
Q

What were Aristotle’s thoughts on imagination and dreaming?

A

imagination is lingering effects of sensory experience

dreams are images from past experience which are stimulated by events inside and outside the body

148
Q

What were Aristotle’s thoughts on motivation and emotion?

A

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

149
Q

What is De Anima?

A

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

150
Q

What is Aristotelian Logic?

A

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

151
Q

What is the square of opposition?

A

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

152
Q

What are contradictions in the square of opposition?

A

if one is true, then the other must be false

153
Q

What are contraries in the square of opposition?

A

could both be false, but can’t both be true

154
Q

What are subcontraries in the square of opposition?

A

could both be true, but can’t both be false

155
Q

What are subalterns in the square of opposition?

A

one implies the other

156
Q

What is Aristotle’s syllogism?

A

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)

157
Q

What is the problem of logical scope?

A

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

158
Q

What is the role of negation in the logical syllogism?

A

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

159
Q

What is the idea of a variable in Aristotelian Logic?

A

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

160
Q

What is the idea Aristotle had about the heavens (De Caelo)?

A

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”

161
Q

What is the importance of early Greek philosophy?

A

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

PSYCH 303 (8 decks)

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