Philosophy - Final Study Guide

Flashcards of key terms and concepts from a Philosophy lecture.

Natural Philosophy

The study of the natural world and its processes.

Thales

The first philosopher in the history of Western philosophy who believed all things were made of water.

Parmenides of Elea

Proposed the problem of change and the idea that 'nothing can come from nothing.’ —> “ex nihilo nihil fit”

He proposes rationalism: reason> perception is the primary source of knowledge

Heraclitus

Believed the world is in constant change and famously stated, “You can't step in the same river twice.”

• constant change, fire

Empedocles

- He argues that the flaw in other natural philosopher’s views is that they try toconceive the world as a single element

Argued that the world is composed of four elements (fire, water, air, earth) combined by Love and Strife.

nothing actually changes, things just combine in different ways

Democritus

Materialism: Believed that all that exists is physical matter (atoms) and space (void).

- Features of atoms: Indivisible, immutable (unchanging), eternal (indestructible), infinite.

Socratic Method

A philosophical approach involving questioning everything and engaging in dialogue; attributed to Socrates.

“The wisest man in Athens knows that he knows nothing”

→ writing things down would prevent him from discussing his ideas + anyone could argue with his ideas, but he would not have the chance to respond -it wouldn't be philosophy

PLATO

Platonic forms: The idea that objects in the physical world are mere representations of the true idea of that object. CHAIRNESS

Plato's Allegory of the Cave

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave tells of prisoners chained in a dark cave, only able to see shadows on a wall, which they believe is reality. When one escapes and sees the sunlight for the first time, his eyes burn and he’s overwhelmed— symbolizing how painful and disorienting it can be to confront truth after a life of ignorance

Aristotle

- Interested in solving the problem of change.

- Hylomorphism: all substances are made up of matter and form

Four causes of change: “ The coming to be”

- Material cause: The matter of an object is made of

- Formal cause: The form, design, shape of an object

- Efficient cause: The craft (techne) -adding energy or motion to the matter in order for

the matter to take shape

- Final cause: Final purpose -teleology.

Stoicism

• Zeno of citium , Marcus Aurelius

• - Don't worry about what you can't control. CONTROL YOUR REACTION.

  - It is useless to complain about things I can’t control because by doing, so I am giving

  them control over me.

Cynicism

A philosophy emphasizing virtue, self-sufficiency, and living in accordance with nature and reason; practiced by figures like Diogenes.

• all i need is myself

• independence

Epicureanism

A philosophy emphasizing pleasure and the avoidance of pain as the ultimate goal; founded by Epicurus.

• Humans seek pleasure and avoid pain

• Happiness is maximizing pleasure

Modern Philosophy

A shift from medieval thinking to a focus on reason and human knowledge.

Descartes' Philosophy

• "Cogito, ergo sum" (“I think, therefore I am”)

• father of modern philosophy

• Questions of the reliability of the senses —> if I doubt, I think, and therefor I exist

• Concludes that while everything can be doubted, the act of doubting proves

  existence.

Cartesian dualism:

MIND AND BODY ARE SEPARATE

mind and body problem: how do they interact?

Hume

• Faculty of reason

• deduction: The inference of particular instances through reference to a general law or

  principle. → 100% right GENERAL RULE → PARTICULAR CASE

  - Induction: de inference of a general law through reference of particular instances. →

  PROBABLY TRUE

  - General rules (physics, nature, science) are arrived at through induction, not

  deduction. Science only ever arrives at conclusions that are probably true.

  - Induction causes a problem to deduction PROBLEM OF INDUCTION

  - Empiricism: experience rather than reason is the primary source of knowledge

Systematic Thought

A way of thinking in which all ideas, claims, and concepts work together without contradiction.

Empiricism -KANT

The belief that experience rather than reason is the primary source of knowledge.

A priori

Independent of experience or knowledge; concept particularly important in Kant's philosophy.

A posteriori

Learned through experience; contrasts with a priori knowledge.

Kant's Copernican Revolution

The mind is active, shaping the nature of experience; introduced by Immanuel Kant.

- In the metaphor rationalism and empiricism sit passively at the center of the universe

and simply receive ideas from either experience or reason. Kant contends that like the

earth orbiting around the sun, the mind’s perspective shapes the nature of experience.

Noumena

Things in themselves, as they actually are, independently of all perception; concept in Kant's philosophy.

Phenomena

The appearance of things, representations of noumena; part of Kant's epistemology.

Transcendental Idealism

Knowledge is the result of the interaction of noumena and phenomena; central to Kant's metaphysics..

Spinoza's Deus sive Natura

God is Nature: everything that exists is part of one substance (God/Nature); associated with Baruch Spinoza.

Determinism, parallelism and panpsychism

D:Everything happens due to an infinite chain of causes

Parallelism: thought and extension are different expressions of the same reality

Panpsychism: All matter has mental properties

Spinoza’s Emotions and bondage

● Good: what increases our power (conatus); bad: what decreases it.

● Affects: desire, joy, sadness—caused by external forces.

● External causes create passive emotions (passions); freedom requires understanding

causes via reason.

● Freedom = understanding causes and acting from one’s own nature, not external. Understanding and rational control over emotions

causes.

● Rejects free will; all actions follow from necessity

Stoicism and Spinoza

Echoes of Stoicism: don't be ruled by emotions.

● But unlike Stoics, Spinoza sees emotion as useful when understood and aligned with

reason.

Pantheism controversy

When philosopher Gotthold Lessing died, Friedrich Jacobi revealed that Lessing had secretly embraced Spinoza’s philosophy—the idea that God is identical with Nature.

This sparked a major debate. Jacobi feared that Spinoza’s determinism—where everything follows necessarily from nature—eliminated free will and led to nihilism. If our choices aren’t truly our own, Jacobi argued, then nothing matters.

He clashed with Moses Mendelssohn, who defended Spinoza, claiming pantheism was still a valid form of theism. Jacobi, unconvinced, coined the term "nihilism" and insisted that reason alone leads to despair. To avoid this, he claimed we must take a leap of faith—a salto mortale—to groundmeaning and moral responsibility beyond pure rationalism

Existentialism

A philosophy that emphasizes individual freedom, choice, and the responsibility to create meaning in a world without inherent purpose.

Nietzsche- Will to Power

The inner sense of striving to assert one's will and one's own sense of morality. through the personal pursuit of freedom. If they feel the need to have this power over others, they are not the ubermensch.

What is the ubermesch? an evolved form of humanity that transcends conventional limitations and societal norms. It's not a literal "superman" but rather an ideal that humanity should strive for, emphasizing self-overcoming and the creation of one's own values. 

Eternal Recurrence -Nietzche

A thought experiment to live your life so that if you had to relive every moment, every decision, every action over and over again for all of eternity, you would consider yourself happy and not living in hell; concept introduced by Nietzsche.

The concept of anxiety (kierkegaard)

“Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom”

“Anxiety is the presentiment of the terrible responsibility..”

two sides to anxiety:

1. dread and burden of choosing for all eternity (consequences of sin)

2. Exhilaration of freedom in choosing oneself (possibilities of freedom)

Choice occurs at the intersection of time and eternity

—> create oneself

Freeedom be responsability:

Anxiety is not all bad

• You have the ability to choose who you are since you have freedom and responsability

• it’s a way for humanity to be saved

• Selfconcious reflection

• An individual becomes truly aware of their potential through the experience of anxiety. —> creativity

Faith

Making the choice of faith is not once and for all

repetition —> selfhood (Ipseity)

-self must acknowledge the power which constitutes it. This power is the repetition of faith.

momentous existential choice

If the self doesn’t accept this power —> despair

despair

despair is a sickness of the spirit of the self and so can have three forms

1. being unconscious in despair of having a self

2. not wanting despair to be oneself

3. wanting in despair to be oneself

Faith is the opposite of despair

Phenomenology- Sartre

The study of subjective experience of the nature of consciousness of the quality of conscious experience.

Intentionality

The idea that all consciousness is directed toward something.

“conciousness is councious of”

Sartre’s Interpretation

When we perceive an object:

○ We are aware of the object.

○ But also become aware of ourselves perceiving it.

○ This self-awareness occurs because the arrow of intentionality flips back

onto us.

○ Thus, consciousness of the object → becomes consciousness of the self

Existence precedes essence

Unlike a paper knife made for a purpose, humans exist first and

define themselves later.

→ Humanity is self-determined

• Radical freedom: you are free to choose who you are

• With freedom comes responsibility: you are the one who must create your identity and

  meaning.

  → “In choosing myself, I choose (for) humanity.”

Good Faith & bad faith

GOOD: Living authentically by acknowledging your freedom and responsibility.

Bad: Lying to yourself by pretending you're not free or not responsible.

“hell is other people”

→ From Sartre’s play No Exit, this means we often feel judged or limited by how others see us, which can trap us in their expectations—yet we still remain responsible for our reactions..

State of Nature (SON)

The state of nature is a thought experiment used by many political philosophers to arrive at conclusions about how a government should foster a relationship with its citizens.

Social Contract (Hobbes)

• published his thoughts after civil war

• For Hobbes, in the state of nature, humanity is free, but life is lawless. He describes this as a war of all against all where everyone is filled with envy, violence, and fear.

• In exchange for protection, citizens sacrifice their freedom to a sovereign power.

Social Contract (Locke)

For Locke, the state of nature is inherently free, peaceful, and equal. However in the state of nature it is impossible for an individual to constantly protect their property.

Moreover there is no way to enforce agreements or punish any infringement ,therefore people enter a social contract to form civil government in order to have a common judge with authority People transfer some of their freedom to the government but not all of it; The role of government is to protect someone's life, liberty and property and the government itself can't violate these rights either if so it should be replaced; concept by John Locke.

Contrary to Hobbes people transfer some of their freedom to the government but not all of it

- The role of government is to protect someone's life, liberty and property and the government itself can't violate these rights either if so it should be replaced.

- Locke advocates for democracy, established through a system of gov’t with a separation of powers.

1. Legislative: a gov’t responsible for the creation of laws.

2. Executive: responsible for enforcing this laws

3. Federative: foreign policy

Social Contract (Rousseau)

he thinks other philosophers misconceive the SON.

- The SON is pre-political, not pre-social since man is inherently social.

- The SON was a state of plenty: a wonderful,rich environment for early humans living peaceful and solitary lives.

- Disagrees with Hobbes: Hobbes takes socialized, corrupted ppl and imagines them living outside society.

- Society corrupts people.

- SON wasn’t gonna last

- Social contract: Participants of gov’t have the right to choose the laws under which they live. One of these laws would concern the regulation of property

Deontology

- Kant

- Ethical rules or maxims should be conceived as universal moral truths that apply equally to everyone and every circumstance.

- Categorical imperative: Act only according to the maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradictions

Utilitarianism

- Consequence > intent

- Actions should be measured based on how much pain and pleasure they produce.

Since happiness is the ultimate goal.

- Most overall happiness for the group, even if it might mean less for you.

- Principle of utility: We should always act so as to produce the greatest good for the

greatest number.

- MORAL CALCULUS

Virtue ethics:

Virtue: that which is good and leads to eudaiamonia.

Vice: that which is bad and leads to suffering

- People should act through virtuous activity since the end goal is eudaiamonia.

The golden mean: balance between virtue and vice

EMPHASIS ON THE ACTOR NOT THE ACTION