TP paper 1 Flashcards
What is equity
a focus on fairness and ensuring people have what they need to improve their situation
Christian Egalitarianism
Men and women were created equal and so should receive equal treatment. However there are biological differences between them
Augustinian predestination
- man has free will, which is necessary for Gods Judgement of each individual. Free will is a gift from god, given to adam and eve at creation
- Free wills use Leads to the goodness and badness in the world
- god is Omniscient, therefore he has knowledge of all things before they happen
- freedom is still possible with Gods foreknowledge
- God does not have knowledge of specific actions, but only what someone would like to do in certain situations
Therefore Gods foreknowledge doesn’t necessitate ones actions. What leads to sin are the choices that the individual makes, who is fallen in nature.
Calvinistic Double predestination
- man does not have free will and instead all his actions are predestined.
- he argued that since the fall, people are inherently sinful and nobody can be good enough to earn their way into heaven
- salvation therefore must be a gift from a benevolent god- however it cannot be one that is earned, since it is impossible for man to achieve. It cannot be based on ones actions/ intentions in life.
- God chooses who to give the gift of salvation to- the elect.
- God must therefore also choose those who he will not give the gift of salvation to. They will go to Hell
- this leads to double predestination- there are those chosen for heaven and those chosen for hell.
Boethius (freedom)
“Gods foreknowledge does not impose necessity on things”
- there is a difference between knowing something and causing that thing to happen
Boethius distinguished between two types of necessity:
1. Simple necessity: Human beings are mortal- it is part of our nature and unavoidable
2. Conditioned necessity: something cannot be and not be at the same time. If i am walking now, then i am necessarily walking - nothing else is possible. I only necessarily walk because i have chosen to walk. Therefore it is avoidable since it is down to choice
For Boethius, whenever we face conditioned necessity we have made a free choice. Therefore we have free will and can be judged for such free choices.
Non Religious teachings on free will
Libets experiment:
Libet’s experiment demonstrated that brain activity initiating movements hundreds of milliseconds before the conscious decision to do so. Conscious decisions didn’t cause the body to do things
Skinner and behaviourism:
Skinner- mental processes are learnt behaviours. Thought is a physical process
Conditioned process- i want food, be nice to parents, get food.
Mental states as separate from body= a radical misunderstanding
Mental acts are caused acts, explicable at a physical level
Traditional Christian Dualism
Augustines view of the human Body and soul
- Akrasia; upon being wounded from the Fall and developing original sin, human beings lost the unity between mind and body. Instead, the rational was weakened and became subject to the desires of the mind and the body, meaning human beings inevitably began to give into their bodily temptations
- human beings require Gods grace alone to overcome their sinful nature
- laws are required due to the fall
Matthew 10- “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear those who can destroy both soul and body in hell”
Genesis 2- “then the lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature”
Substance Dualism (Descartes)
Body: “ the body by its very nature is always divisible”
Mind: “the mind is utterly indivisible. For when I consider the mind, or myself in so far as I am merely a thinking thing, I am unable to distinguish any parts within myself. I understand myself to be something quite single and complete”
Cogito ergo sum- assumes you can separate mind and body.
Physicalism/ Materialism
Scientific:
Phineas Gage- train operator who’s personality changes- brought about by a physical injury
Philosophical:
Richard Dawkins: Dawkins argues that consciousness and other mental faculties may not be fully understood, but to create an immaterial substance is nonsense. They will be understood one day through science
Soul: Jackson and mary’s room
Qualia- things as percieved/ experienced by human being (subjective- only understood by the individual)
Marys room experiment- colour is more than physical facts, the subjective experience add knowledge
Soul: Skinner and behaviourism
Mental processes are learnt behaviours. Thought is a physical process
Conditioned process- i want food, be nice to parents, get food
Mental states as separate from body= a radical misunderstanding.
Mental acts are caused acts, explicable at a physical level.
St Irenaeus- rational imago dei
Due to genesis 1:26, Irenaeus concluded that there were two stages to the creation of human beings
Stage one
Image- this means that mankind shares certain characteristics with God- personal beings with consciousness and moral natures. Humans are not created perfect, but with the potential to become perfect
Stage two
Likeness- this means that at birth human beings begin a process of growing and developing as they must develop their natures to be like God.
Karl Barth (relational imago dei)
According to Barth, the relational aspect is seen in the fact man is created in the image of God, male and female. Man is capable of having a relationship with God and other Human beings. Therefore, Barth concludes that God created man for fellowship with himself and for fellowship with fellow human beings. According to Barth, sin didn’t affect the image of God.
“We cannot certainly deduce from this that man has lost it through the fall, either partially or completely, formally or materially”
Clines (functional imago dei)
Clines interprets the image and likeness of God in Genesis 1:26-27 from a strictly functional perspective, in which the image of God in man is the visible corporeal representative of the invisible, bodiless God. Man functions as a representative (not a representation) in his exercise of dominion: “this function is to represent God’s lordship to the lower orders of creation. The dominion of man over creation can hardly be excluded from the content of the image itself
Nurture as a foundation of belief (for)
- brings you into a community
- fideism: faith alone is enough, you don’t need reason for your faith
- Ireneaus; grow in the likeness of God
- 10 commandments “honour your mother and father”
Nurture- reasons against
- Marx: religion is an agent of social stratification- it divides society
He describes religion as the “opium of the masses”. This shows how religion is used to keep people from rising up, therefore nurture isn’t good grounds for belief as it keeps people in their place and they should instead consider why they believe - Dawkins: religion is a form of indoctrination- children follow the example of their parents
A specific religion is presented as fact from early childhood. All other religions are implied to be ‘wrong’
Nurture creates a belief that faith is good
Believing because of nurture is like belief in a celestial teapot; just because you have been told that god is fact and because science cant disprove god, doesnt mean god is real
Too young for politics, but not religion?
Just war theory
Just cause: the war must be aimed at correcting an injustice
Proper authority: the war must be started by the proper authority and declared publicly.
Proper intention: the reason to go to war must be just - it must be motivated by the desire for peace
Probability: there must be a good belief that the desired outcome can be achieved
Proportionality: forced must be used proportionate to the force and no more than is necessary to win
Last resort: war must be the last resort
Fertility treatments
IVF
- more embryos created than used; undermines the view that life begins at conception
IUI
Surrogacy
Why do people do fertility treatments?
- they may be homosexual
- unable to concieve
Arguments against fertility treatment:
“Mechanical adultery” previous pope
Pacifism
Pacifism: The belief that war and violence are unjustifiable and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means
Absolute pacifism: it is never morally right to take part in violence or war, even in self defence
Conditional pacifism: war and violence are wrong in principle, however they may be required in certain ( extreme ) circumstances e.g. holy war and just war
Jesus was a pacifism (he provides an example of how to live your life)- when arrested he didnt resist arrest and demanded his apostles lay down their swords
Arguments for pacifism
Jesus arrest: Jesus didn’t resist his arrest, and when his disciples went to fight the people coming to arrest him, he commanded that everyone put down their weapons.
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God”
Matthew 18:21-22- then peter came to Jesus and asked “Lord how many times should i forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered “ i tell you not seven times but seventy-seven times”
Matthew 7:12- “ so in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets.”
Matthew 22:39 “thou shalt not kill”
Weapons of Mass destruction
Catholic Church – Catechism 2314:
“Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation.” A danger of modern warfare is that it provides the opportunity to those who possess modern scientific weapons especially atomic, biological, or chemical weapons - to commit such crimes.
Church of England – The Church and of Bomb:
“Such weapons cannot be used without harming non-combatants and could never be proportionate to the just causes and aim of war”.
The Quakers – Quaker Faith & Practice 24.41:
“We believe that no one has the right to use [nuclear] weapons in his defence or to ask another person to use them on his behalf. To rely on the possession of nuclear weapons as a deterrent is faithless; to use them is a sin.”
The UN
Purpose of the UN
1. To maintain peace and security
2. To develop friendly relations among nations
3. To achieve international co-operation
Bullying
Types of Bullying
- cyberbullying
- physical bullying
- verbal bullying
Agape love—> bullying is not the most loving option and is therefore bad
Punishment
- Capital punishment
- Forced labour
- Imprisonment
Aims of Punishment?
- Deterrance: to instil fear into committing an act, maybe this is required due to our innately sinful nature since the fall (augustine)
- Retribution: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth (however this is juxtaposed by Jesus SOTM teachings “you have heard it been said an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth… turn the other cheek)
- rehabilitation: Sycamore tree- volunteer led victim awareness program that teaches the principles of restorative justice. “Forgive not seven times but seventy seven”
- protection: maybe punishment should be aimed to keep dangerous people out of society
