Intro to Philosophy Final Exam

PHI 2010

Arguments

Structured sets of statements

Premises

Support conclusion

Valid Argument

If the premises are true, the conclusion must be true; valid arguments CAN have false premises

Sound Argument

A valid argument with all true premises.

Inductive Arguments

• Strong: if all the premises are true, the conclusion is likely to be true

• Cogent: strong argument w true premises

Modus Ponens

If A then B; A; B

Modus Tollens

If A, then B; Not B; Not A

Epicurus

All good and evil requires sensation; there is no sensation if you are dead; death is nothing to us

Lucretius

The time before you are born is not a misfortune; the time after you die shouldn’t be considered a misfortune either; death is nothing to us

Nagel

Death is bad; misfortune doesn’t require sensation or experience

Scheffler

The afterlife matters to us; in its own right; as a condition of other things continuing to matter

Thought experiments; doomsday & infertility

Williams

Immorality is not desirable

Susan Wolf

1. The meaning of lives

A meaningful life: one where you are actively and at least somewhat successfully engaged in a project or projects of positive value

2. Moral Saints

You should not strive to be a moral saint. balanced life.

Benetar

It’s better to never exist; Argument relies on crucial asymmetry between the absence of pain on the side of nonexistence

Epistemology

the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge and its conditions

Standard theory of knowledge

Justified, True Belief (JTB)

Gettier

Challenged JTB

Descartes

wants a firm foundation for knowledge: certainty!

• In order to get this, he systematically doubts everything

1. Our senses can deceive us

2. You could be dreaming

3. You make mistakes and inference

4. Evil Demon

Stroud

Focuses on Descartes “you could be dreaming”

Echo chamber

An echo chamber is what happens when you don’t trust people from the other side

Epistemic bubbles

An epistemic bubble is when you don’t hear people from the other side

Mill

Utilitarianism

The greatest happiness principle

The principle of utility

Actions are morally wrong if they tend to promote happiness and wrong when they tend to promote pain

Mill distinguishes between higher and lower pleasures

Mill points out that you have to consider the wider implications of your actions, not just momentary advantage --> example lying!

Singer

we should all be doing more to prevent things like famine:

1. Suffering is bad

2. If you can prevent suffering without sacrificing anything of comparable moral significance, you ought morally to do it

Kant

deontological moral theory: duty-based

• Good will is the only thing that has unconditional value.

• Good will: the will that is determined by morality

Frankfurt

"on bullshit"

• Bullshit has no concern for truth, what they say, might even be true.

• Liar still has the concern for truth