PHIL Exam 1 - Metaphysical Theories

Thales

Believed the basic substance of the universe is water.

Democritus

Reality is made up of atoms, tiny particles that come together to form all things.

Benedictus de Spinoza

God and the material universe are identical; everything is connected through the underlying oneness of all things.

Heraclitus

The fundamental element of reality is fire, symbolizing constant change.

Plato

The world we see is a limited vision of the true Forms, which are perfect and unchanging realities.

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz

Reality is made of monads (separate spiritual units). We only think we interact, but God pre-programmed everything; it’s like we’re each watching our own little TV show.

Parmenides

Believed the world of change and material things is an illusion; true reality is unchanging being.

Aristotle

Material objects (plants, animals, humans) are substances made of matter + form; the physical world itself is real.

Anaximander

The universe came from something indefinite, limitless, and eternal, which he called the Apeiron (“the boundless”).

René Descartes

Reality consists of God, mind, and body, emphasizing the distinction between thinking substance (mind) and extended substance (body).