Philosophy 1000 lsu final

What are some definitions of philosophy?

-       Oxford def: the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline

-       Also Oxford: the study of the theoretical basis of a particular branch of knowledge or experience

-       Wikipedia def: philosophy is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on its own methods and assumptions.

What is the difference between philosophy and rhetoric?

rhetoric is the art of persuasion that has belief but not knowledge while philosophy is persuasion through knowledge

What is logic?

- correct reasoning, analyzing the structure of arguments to determine whether their conclusions validly follow from the premises

What is a philosophical argument?

arguments seeking truth or to persuade someone of the truth of a claim

What are 'statements' or premises in an argument?

a declarative sentence that serves as the foundation for an argument

What are 'conclusions' in philosophical arguments?

the claim that an argument is trying to convince to be true

What is a deductive argument?

An argument in which the conclusion allegedly follows necessarily from the premises

What is an inductive argument?

   A non-deductive argument in which the conclusion allegedly follows with a high degree of probability from the truth of the premises

What makes an argument valid?

group of propositions with at least one premise and a conclusion such that the truth of the premises is said to support the truth of the conclusion, the impossibility of a deductive argument with true premises but a false conclusion

What makes an argument sound?

A sound argument is a valid deductive argument with all true premises

 

 What are some differences between classical natural philosophy and contemporary science?

focus, methodology, approach, language

What is Aristotle's definition of causation?

 his Four Causes, to fully understand why something exists you need to consider these four distinct causes

What are the four causes? How are they defined?

Material cause: the substance or mechanism that makes up the object

- formal cause: the model or structure of the object

- efficient cause: the trigger or action that causes the object to be the way it is

- final cause: the function or purpose of the object

What does Zeno try to prove in his Dichotomy paradox?

That motion is possible

What are Aristotle's categories?

bstance, quantity, relatives, quality

What is metaphysics for Aristotle?

the study of “Being qua Being,” it is a study of being, or better, of beings-of things that can be said to be – that studies them in a particular way : as beings, in so far, they are beings

Explain the problem of universals.

they are immaterial and repeatable, without universals some questions become harder to answer. I.e.

- “Are there general truths?”

- “Is there commonality in nature, in reality; or is commonality imagined and illusory, perhaps a mere product of language?”

- If it’s all just a product of language, then “how can we accommodate the intuition that it is the world, and not our conventions, that make predications true or false.”

 What is realism?

“universals exist, there are general truths, and there is commonality in nature”, the idea that things exist independently of whether they are being perceived or thought about

What is nominalism?

theory that only concrete objects exist, and that universals and abstract objects are merely names or labels

- “nominalists maintain that only individuals exist, they argue that the problem of universals can be solved through proper thinking about individuals”, predicate nominalism view that all that exist are individuals and words for talking about individuals, resemblance nominalism view that things that resemble each other belong to a common set

What is epistemology?

The study of knowledge; the subfield of philosophy that focuses on issues regarding nature and limits of human knowledge

What is justification?

justification concerns the path toward belief and its contribution to knowledge

 What is the JTB theory of knowledge?

the idea that knowledge is a combination of justified, true, and believed information

What point does Gettier make with his Gettier problems?

The goal in Gettier’s argument is to prove that the JTB theory of knowledge is not sufficient for knowledge, it means that one can have a justified true belief and still not achieve what we would want to call knowledge

Explain the distinction between possible and necessary existence.

  Possible existence is able to be or not to be, necessary existence is not able to be or not to be

Know who came up with the Third Way argument

St. Thomas Aquinas

 Explain how Socrates/Plato's argument from recollection aids the argument for the soul's immortality.

- “ things in the world which appear to be equal in measurement are in fact deficient in the equality they possess, therefore, they are not the same as true equality that is the equal of self, when we see the deficiency of the examples of equality, and helps us to think of, for recollect, equal itself, in order to do this, we must have had some prior knowledge of the equal itself, since this knowledge does not come from sense perception, we       must have acquired it before we acquired since perception that is before we were born therefore, our souls must have existed before we were born”

Explain the Logical Problem of Evil. Why is it 'logical'?

The logical problem of evil seeks to argue that the existence of evil is contradictory to the existence of an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and perfectly good god. In other words, it is logically inconsistent and leads to a contradiction, for God to exist in this manner and for evil to exist as well

What are some ways that theists respond to the logical problem of evil?

Free will, suffering as a path to enlightenment and moral growth, the ability to bring goodness from evil

What is Ethics?

  Ethics is the more practical branches of philosophy. Concerned with how life should be lived, this involved reflections on things like the foundation of morality, the goodness/badness of certain actions. Life should be lived well

Explain the Ring of Gyges Myth. Then, let me know what point the story is trying to make. What is Plato's response, both in terms of critiquing the point made by the myth and in terms of Plato's own picture of how to live well?

The ring makes the person who wears it invisible and allows them to escape all consequences

- the point the story is trying to make: doing what is wrong is often desirable. But to suffer wrong is undesirable. Because we don’t want to suffer wrong, we compromise with others by agreeing not to harm one another. This is the only reason why we decide to be just, but if we could do so without consequences, we would choose to behave morally. However it is later revealed that the one who abuses  the power of the ring is enslaved to their passions and thus not really free, the one who doesn’t abuse the power of the Ring practices rational control over themselves and is truly happy

- Plato believed that moral behavior is more than just a social construct to avoid consequences but instead it is essentional for a person’s well being and a person who is truly just would not abuse the power of the ring nor be tempted to do so, even if they suffer no consequences. Plato believed to live a good life you must live justly in order to feel fulfilled, and the Tri-Partite Theory of the mind, spirit, and appetite, which must be balanced in order to feel in harmony with the soul.

What is political philosophy?

the application of ethical concepts to the social sphere and thus deals with the variety of forms of governments and social existence that people could live in, and in doing so it also provides a standard by which to analyze and judge existing institutions and relationships

How is Political Philosophy related to Ethics?

 political philosophy seems to have its foundation in ethics, in that the social relationship between individuals should be strutted building from how it is that human beings flourish

What is Liberalism? What is the distinction between classical and modern liberalism?

liberalism is multifaceted with two major wings but one thing they both have in common is that they seek the best form of government which will permit the individual to pursue life as he or she sees fit within a neutral framework

- modern liberalism is more ordered toward the community of beyydt the state, often called “social democratic liberalism” this position seeks to safeguard    individual rights, but also allows for certain state interventions to ensure fairness, toleration, etc

- classical liberalism is more oriented toward the individual. Wants a limited government that does not intervene in an individual’s life or at least does so as       little as possible . Still values toleration, etc, but for the purpose of allowing individuals to live as they please(think life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness)

What is Conservatism?

Conservatism is skeptical of widespread reform and revolution. It sees the value and tradition in terms of retaining institutions that have stood the test of time and they’re thinking an institution that has stood the test of time has done so to its ability to avoid the centralization of power,( perhaps in one individual) that would result in the breakdown of society.

What is Socialism?

Socialism values the centralization of state power, especially in so far as the economy can be centrally run and organized.

What is Anarchism?

Anarchism is against the state as such and things that should be abolished along with all other hierarchies in society can be either individualistic or communal in form.