Philosophy Midterm

Authenticity

To live truthfully and being consistent with your own values, desires, and beliefs, essentially acting as your true self, even when facing outside pressures to conform to social norms or expectations.

Charles Taylor

Ethics of Authenticity and the Horizons of Significance

Altruism

An ethical doctrine that states that people have moral obligation to help others even if it means sacrificing their own self-interest

Ayn Rand is an Altruistic Philosopher

She believes that using altruism as a moral standard is not compatible with individual rights, capitalism, and freedom. She believes that altruism is an “irrational morality” that conflicts with human nature and tears society apart.

Compatibalism

A Philosophical school that attempts to reconcile the concepts of free will and determinism.

Consequentialism

A morsl philosophy that judges the rightness or wrongness of an action based on the consequences of that action, not the action itself. The rightness of an action is determined by the goodness or badness of the relevant consequences.

Jeremy Bentham

A Hedonistic philosopher states that the right action is the one that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people while eliminating pain. Bentham believed that we are only motivated to act by considerations of our own good.

John Stuart Mill

An ethical philosopher, whose ideas are centered around the principle of utility, which states that actions are right in proportion to how much they promote happiness and wrong in proportion to how much they produce the opposite.

Deontology

Is the moral philosophy that judges the rightness or wrongness of an action besed on whether the action itself follows a set of rules or principles. The consequences of the action does not matter, because it focuses on doing what is morally right regardless of the consequences that may result, essentially focusing on doing what is considered morally right even if it leads to negative results.

Immanuel Kant

The most famous deontological philosopher. Kant’s theory on ethics included the Categorical Imperative “Act only according to rules that your would want everyone else to follow all the time” essentially asking you to consider if your action could be a universal law applicable to everyone in similar situations. People should never be treated with worth and value. You never use them to get something out of them.

Determinism

Is the belief that every event, including human actions and decisions, is completely caused by previous events and conditions, meaning there is only one possible outcome given a set of circumstances, essentially negating the idea of free will; it is based on the idea that everything happens due to a chain of cause and effect, with no room for randomness or alternative choiced. This includes: Religious Determinism

Saint Augustine

Aristotle’s philosophy: He believed in theological determinism, which is the idea that all human actions are caused by the events or conditions that ultimately come from God causing all things to happen.

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Aristotle Philosophy: He believed that becasue everything in motion must have been set in motion by something ele, there must be a “first mover” who initiated all otion, and the First Mover is considered to be God.

Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

He incorporated the idea from Aristotle’s philosophy, essentially interpretting it, as God, which is the necessary being that initiated all existence through a process or emanation, meaning the originator of the source.

Dualism

The idea that there are two fundamentally different kinds of things in the world, such as mind and body. The argument is that: Minds are not made of physical matter (metaphysical) and are not subject to the laws of nature: Mental states are non-physical properties of physical substances: and The mind is indivisible (mind is singular and not physical), while the body is divisible (physical and made of many parts).

Rene Descartes

A dualistic mind and body philosopher. The mind is a non-physical entity that exists and the body is amterial (physical). Mind and body exist seperately but work together (work in unison). Descartes is a rationalist.

Egoism

Humans should pursue their own self-interest. Hedonistic philosophers are more likely to use egoism within their ethical and moral philosphy. Humans tend to be more apt to follow their desires to make themselves happy and reduce the amount of pain: so they follow their own self-interest. Hobbes would believe that hedonism and egosim are traits that make an authoritarian form of government necessary.

Empiricism

Is a philosophical concept that all knowledge originated from sensory experience, meaning that our understanding of the world is primarily derived from observations and interactions with it throughout our senses, rather than from innate ideas or pure reason; essentially, it advances the idea that all knowledge comes from experience and evidence gathered through the senses.

Empiricist Philosophers

John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, John Stuart Mill, Aristotle, Martha Nussbaum

Epistemology

The theory of knowledge. The studies of nature, origin, and limits of knowledge, essentially asking questions about how we know what we know, what constitutes “knowledge”, and how we can justify our beliefs: it explored concepts like truth, belief, justification, and the different methods of acquiring knowledge, such as perception, reason, and testimony.

A posteriori Knowledge

Knowledge derived from the senses

A priori Knowledge

Knowledge that is innated. Humans are born with certain knowledge or concepts that are not learned through experience. Plato and Descartes

Existentialism

This philosophical concept is based on a literary movement that emphasizes the importance of individual freedom, choice, and existence. They believe that humans are responsible for creating their own meaning and purpose in life. This meaning is not given to us by authorities like teachers, governments, or gods. Humans should be their authentic self, meaning they create their own values and live the way that satisfies their own idea of authenticity. These philosophers believe in the concept of Absurdity that the universe is not ordered, it is chaotic and has no inherent meaning. This leads to anxiety and dispair about life. Humans should embrace the absurdity of life because it leads to deeper understanding of the human condition.

Existential Philosophers

Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus

Fatalism

The belief that events are predetermines by fate and that humans cannot do anything to change them. A Fatalist believes that everthing that happens has already been decided by some higher power, and there is nothin gwe can do to change it. Fatalism is different than Determinism because determinism has events that proceeded other events that cause things to happen.

Destiny

Is similar to Fatalism, but implies a predetermined path or goal that a person can actively work towards and achievem, suggesting a greater sense of personal agency in shaping their future. No magical force, just working towards and acheiving something.

Nihilism

Is a philosophical approach that rejects the idea of inherent meaning or value in life, essentially believing that everything is meaningless and that there are no absolute truthers to guide human existence, often leadning to a perspective where morals, knowledge, and purpose are seen as baseless and ultimately meaningless. Very pessimistic view of the world and human existence.

Friederich Nietzsche

Often associated with Nihilism

Ontology

Main theme of this class. It is the study of the nature of beings and existence, essentially asking questions about what is real, what exists, and how things that be categorized within reality; it is considered a branch of metephysics focused on the most fundamental features of existence. For our class, we look at why we exist (what makes us Human).

Rationalism

Is the philosophical approach that considers reason as teh primary source to test knowledge, meanind that the most reliable way to understand the world is through logical reasoning and deduction, often prioritizing innate ideas over sensory experience; it stands in contrast to empiricism, which emphasizes knowledge gained through observation and experience.

Rene Descartes

Famous Rationalist

Realism

Is the view that objects and entities exist independently of human perception or though, meaning that reality exists whether or not anyone is aware of it; essentially the idea that what we perceive is a true representation of the world “out there” and not just a mental construct. The core concept is that things exist regardless of whether anyone is thinking about them or perceiving them.

Relativism

In philosophy is the idea that truth, morality, and other values are not absolute but instead depend on the perspective of the individual or the circumstances in which they are being assessed, meaning that what is considered “right” or “true” can vary depending on the culture, society, or situation, and there is no single, universal standard to judge against; essentially, “truth is relative” to the framework of understanding.

Teleology

Is a philosophical approach that examined the purpose, end, or goal of actions and objects. This is a branch of causality that explains something by its purpose, goal, or end, rather than its cause. Famouse argument is the Watchmaker Argument by Paley

Famous Teleologists

Plato, Thomas Aquinas, and William Paley

Utilitarianism

is a philosophical approach that states the morally right action is the one that produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people, essentially maximizing happiness and well-being for all affected by a decision, by considering the consequences of an action and choosing the one that leads to the most positive outcome for the majority; it is a form of consequentialism where the rightness of an action is judges soley based on its results.