Unit 1: Pre-Socratics

What was the main question that Thales presented?

What is the world made of?

cosmology

a question that deals with the cosmos or the world. The nature/makeup of the world.

Thales

Decided that the one element that explained everything was water

Who came directly after Thales and argued against water being the one element

Anaximander

What was Anaximander’s argument against water being the one element

It cannot explain the opposites of properties (wet/dry)

Theorized that the world was made of “nothing”, infinitude. “everything comes from that which has no limitations at all

Anaximander

the Idea of archae

everything starts from that which is nothing in particular

question of the one and the many

is the substratum of reality just one element or many?

question of infinite regress

Do we keep finding prequels or do we find a beginning point?

Who had the idea “you cant step in the same river twice”

Heraclitus

in flux

constantly changing

The question of flux and constancy

what makes something real

In conflict with the Sophists

Socrates

Sophist

traveling education experts who claimed to be able to prepare a young man for total competence in the public sphere

Pragmatic agenda

what skills do we need in order to demonstrate our intelligence

Use of Socratic Irony and Socratic method

used to expose someone who doesn’t know something that they think they know

Socratic Irony

A pose of ignorance which reverses the role of student and teacher.

Purpose of Socratic Irony

to draw the opponent into self-contradiction

Socratic method

The use of questions to draw truth from a person that they possessed but did not realize

Summum Bonum

The highest or greatest good

True

T/F people always know what their greatest good is, but don’t realize it.

The 4 major ideas of Socrates

Self-Knowledge is essential, the unseen has priority over the seen, everyone desires the good, Virtue is single (not multiple)

Inhibitors from Summum Bonum

appetites and inclination towards that which is evil.

What is the following an example of: A person can cheat in endless ways, but they can only be honest in one way.

Virtue is single

Plato

Who devised the “cave of ignorance”

Key Ideas of the Cave of ignorance

rational basis for belief in the reality of the unseen, Plato’s epistemology separates the visible and invisible world which creates (creates a basis for doubting the reality of the visible world and the physical senses man uses to perceive it.)

what is the broad purpose of the tripartite sould

a mapping of internal conflict.

what is the internal conflict of the tripartite soul

the conflict is between lustful passions of the appetite, and adoration and wonder from the spirit

Reason

what does the charioteer of the tripartite soul represent

Reason

The inherent means by which a man must control himself

cardinal virtues

Wisdom, courage, Temperance, Justice

Wisdom

ability to judge the appropriateness of an action

courage

the ability to face uncertainty, fear, or intimidation

Temperance

ability to practice self-control and moderation

Justice

ability to balance the competing interests and rights of self with the interests and rights of others

Plato’s basis for ethics

Transcendent (objective) grounds for knowing right and wrong

Origin of Bad behavior (Plato)

Bad behavior sprung from ignorance and “wicked impulses” at conflict with “noble impulses” in the soul

Art (Plato)

Objected to art

Reasons for Plato’s objection to art

1) draws man toward particulars (lower forms of knowledge and away from ultimate forms (knowledge itself) 2) Appeals to the emotional side of man (which needs to be subdued by reason {tripartite soul})

T/F Plato affirmed art’s value

True, it could function as the lowest rung in a ladder that directs man to climb towards an ultimate version of themselves

Plato’s three criteria for aesthetics

Beauty, Goodness, Truth

Metaphysics

the study of the nature and kinds of reality (includes cosmology and ontology)

Epistemology

The study of nature and the grounds of knowledge

Logic

The study of correct and incorrect inferences

Ethics

The study of right conduct and character

Aesthetics

The study of the nature of human beauty and art and the experience of beauty and art

A priori

independent experience deduced from abstract (logical) principles

A Posteriori

dependent on experience

Cosmic purpose and the Prime mover (plato)

Material objects are inferior copies of transcendent forms

Cosmic Purpose and the Prime mover (Aristotle)

Material objects possess their own form within themselves

View of Matter (Aristotle)

Unrealized potentiality

View of Form (Aristotle)

Realized potentiality

View of full realization (Aristotle)

Entelechy, full potential/purpose

Motion (Aristotle)

is not determined by the past but by the intended end

4 causes of motion

4th final cause

3rd formal cause

2nd Efficient cause

1 Material cause

4th final cause

the end purpose of something

3rd Formal cause

its present cause

2nd Efficient cause

The agent responsible for its present form

1st material cause

The matter from which it is formed

Nutritive

Controls the life processes to able physical growth and reproduction (humans share this capacity with plants)

Sensitive

Controls sensory perception, movement, and “animal” desire. (Humans share these capacities with animals)

Rational

Controls (or should control) human choice.

Rational enables. . .

The acquisition of theoretical knowledge, The making of deliberate choices

The ultimate function of the human soul

Eudaimonia (good spirit)

Eudaimonia

Happiness in the sense of wellbeing

Virtue

The ability that produces action

Virtue is introduced by . . .

training

Virtue is internalized by. . .

conscious choices and behavior

The golden mean

The idea that virtue is the mean between two extremes

False

T/F The mean is always equidistant between extremes

Usefulness, Pleasure from company, Regard for the others’ goodness, Desire for the good of a friend for the friends’ sake

The causes of friendship

Cosmology (Epicurus)

Materialism

Proposed that everything consisted of atoms

Epicurus

Ataraxia

an untroubled mind is the “summum bonum”

Three causes of causality

Necessity, Chance, Human Agency

Stoic Epistemology

relies on both empiricism and rationalism

Empiricism

knowledge through senses

Pantheism

Everything that exists is God/

Determinsims

all things are connected to one central primary piece

what did the stoics choose over pleasure

duty

Altruism

The duty of equality and benevolence towards one’s fellow man

Reason for Skepticism rejecting empiricis

The senses can be deceived, Man has no independent access to validate his sensory perception of the world

Dependences of Scientific description

The species, the member of the species, the senses being used, External circumstances and/or internal disposition, The physical vantage point

Reasons for skepticism rejecting rationalism

Nothing is self evident and must be validated

Dogmatism

Must be true for everything being reffered to

Quietude

a mind at peace, beyond conflicts of those to defend

Benefits of Skepticism

avoidance of strife, liberating sense of not needing to answer every question

Epicurus wrote

Letter to Menoeceus

Empiricus

Outlines of Pyrrhonism

Aristotle

Nicomachean Ethics

Cicero

On Laws

Seneca

On the happy Life

Plato

the Republic

Aristotle

who developed the idea of the golden mean