Ancient Philosophy Final

Metaphysics, epistemology, ethics

Metaphysics - Study of existence, reality, and being

Epistemology - Study of knowledge, truth, and learning

Ethics - The study of the good and what we should do

The Milesians: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes

Thales - All is water

Anaximander -Apeiron, justice is of the cosmos

Anaximenes - Air

First principles, primary causes, material monism

First principles - what underlines the reality of everything in the universe

Primary causes- source of all existence

Material monism - Everything is made of one material

Heraclitus, fire, flux, logos, unity of opposites

Fire is representative of all being in flux, there is a logos (reason) to the world but people act as if their own logos is that reason, opposites are the same (day and night)

Parmenides, being, being as theory of thinghood

Being as first principle, abstract monism

The Sophists, Protagoras, epistemological relativism

paid teachers of rhetoric, Portagoras: person as measure of all things

Socrates, the Socratic method, Socratic wisdom

Ti esti question, elenchus Q&A, logos answer, aporia nothing, Socratic wisdom, knowing you know nothing

Meno, virtue, ancient ethics, Meno’s paradox, recollection

Can virtue be taught, constantly improving version of yourself, Paradox: If one is virtuous they don’t need to learn, if they are not then how will they know have they learned. One can gain knowledge through recollection and reflection of past actions and seeing what is common

Socratic intellectualism, ethical egoism, naive egoism

SI: humans try to do what’s best for themselves and humans do not knowingly do evil EE: Virtue is necessary to a good life, pursuing virtue is always in one’s self interest NE: Mistaken about what is good for them

The theory of forms

Causes the nature of objects to make them as they are,

Forms as timeless, self-same, one over many

Forms always exist, forms are always themselves (bigness is always big), Explain what is common to all participants bearing a property

Justice as “advantage of the stronger,” responses

Plato says justice is a craft and crafts care for others, if one is acting in self-interest then that is not a craft, thrasymachus argues injustice is a virtue, band of thieves argument

Allegory of the cave (including four parts)

Imprisonment, Release and Ascent, Life outside, the Return

Physics

Dunamis (potentiality) and energeia (actuality / activity)

Dunamis: What is possible but has not been actualized Energeia: What has been fully realized

Physics: coming to be, change, “nature” (phusis)

coming to be is when a substance moves along the continuum of opposites, changing is activating one’s potential capacities, applies to all of nature

Four causes

Material: matter of which things come to be, Formal: What form this thing get its being Efficient: Source of the change Teleological: the ends at which the action aims

Fourth cause (“teleological”or final cause) as theory of nature

Things in the world aren’t random, but serve a purpose of functioning

De anima

Study of the soul

Soul in ancient vs. modern

senses, difficulty of finding

Ancient: What gives living organisms their capacities and not corpses Modern: Essential personhood and part of relationship with God Difficulty: soul is hard to find, but we can distinguish what animate beings have that inanimate beings lack

Fourfold account of soul

Nutritive, Perceptive, Motive, Understanding

Soul and self-nourishment, reproduction

Life is fundamentally about self-nourishment, taking things from without, All things that can nourish themselves can reproduce, basic function of life is to continue

Understanding (nous) and theory of soul

Only the human soul is capable of understanding, understanding is a kind of becoming one with the thing being understood

Virtue ethics, basics, diff from utilitarianism and deontology

Virtue ethics: Doing a good job at being who you are Deontology is following universal law

Eudaimonia

Happiness and actively flourishing, motivation behind all actions

Happiness as “complete” and “self-sufficient”

Nothing external needs to complete it, the ultimate end

Virtue ethics, habituation, action

Virtue must be habituated through actualization by virtuous actions

Virtue ethics vs. moral relativism

Virtue is not relative to what an individual believes, there are right and wrong answers

Virtue ethics: pleasure vs. health

Virtue is not pleasure, virtue is healthy action. However some pleasures are good and the more virtuous actions one makes, the more pleasurable doing what is good will be

The doctrine of the mean

All characteristics are determined by opposite poles, virtue is between rashness and cowardice,

Excess, mean state, deficiency (e.g., coward, courageous, rash)

Sometimes anger or forgiveness is called for and the virtuous one must act accordingly, however excess and deficiency are characteristic of vice, while the mean state is where virtue lies

Stoics on virtue, similarities & diff. w/ Socr., Plato, Aristotle

Stoics were also virtue ethicists, however believed that virtue was the only good,

Virtue is necessary (S&P agree) and sufficient for eudaimonia (Disagree)

One either has all the virtues or none (Disagree)

Stoics: determinism, human nature, dichotomy of control

Stoics believed that everything occurs in a strict, inescapable rational order, as part of that order human beings are limited due to their mortality and being subject to natural laws. Because of this, if we want to make ethical progress we should only focus on what is in our power and turn away from what is not.

Stoic oikeiosis and cosmopolitanism

Oikeiosis, rational self-interest in what is good for oneself, normative process into recognizing self-interest in pursuing the good for all individuals
Cosmopolitanism: Everything exists under “cosmic city” which is under natural law, must play a part in the godly/natural order, therefore we must stay committed to the cosmic city in the face of political division

What is the allegory of the cave? Give a thorough explanation of the imagery and its symbolic meaning. Finally, describe what (if anything) you think we stand to learn from the cave allegory.

Mistaking appearances for reality, knowledge is a process requiring tuning of the soul, True understanding is a disorienting process, the wise may be rejected by society
Education is a transformation and without it we will be stuck in the cave of ignorance

Compare some aspect(s) of Aristotle’s philosophy to Plato’s or the Stoics’ philosophy (pick one). How (if at all) are the two philosophical traditions in agreement, and how (if at all) are the two in tension? Finally, describe some strengths and/or weaknesses in both accounts.

• Ethics aims at eudaimonia (human flourishing)

• Reason is central to living well

• Virtue involves rational excellence, not mere rule-following
  

• Disagree regarding external factors and role of emotions

• Aristotle is realistic and helps outline moral progress, however makes eudaemonia dependent on external fixtures

• Stoics champion moral strength in face of struggle, however this may be unattainable
  

Describe the Stoic view of virtue as compared to those of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Explain at least one salient similarity and one salient difference among the traditions. Finally, briefly describe which you find most valuable and why.

Stoic View

• Virtue is the only good

• Virtue is sufficient for eudaimonia

• External goods (health, wealth) are indifferents

• Emotions are false judgments to be corrected

Comparisons

• Socrates: virtue = knowledge (similar rationalism)

• Plato: harmony of the soul; more metaphysical structure

• Aristotle: virtue requires external goods + proper emotions

Key Difference

• Aristotle: misfortune can undermine happiness

• Stoics: the virtuous person is invulnerable to fortune

Evaluation

• Stoics: psychologically demanding but resilient

• Aristotle: more humane but vulnerable to luck

Personal Judgment

• Stoicism: valuable for resilience

• Aristotle: valuable for realism about human life