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Heraclitus and the Problem of Knowledge
Heraclitus' View: "A man never steps into the same river twice."
Flux: The world is in constant change, making knowledge elusive.
Challenge: If everything changes, how can we gain knowledge?
Plato's Rationalism
Definition: Knowledge is gained a priori, not through experience.
Theory of Forms: The true reality consists of perfect, unchanging forms.
Allegory of the Cave: Shadows (experience) vs. real world (forms).
Plato's Forms
Concept: The world we perceive is imperfect; forms are perfect and eternal.
Example: A beautiful sunset is an imperfect representation of the form of beauty.
Knowledge: True understanding comes from reason, not sensory experience.
Criticism of Plato's Forms
No Empirical Evidence: Forms cannot be observed.
Plato's Defence: Empirical evidence is unreliable (shadows on the wall).
Challenge: Is it valid to disregard evidence?
Aristotle's Empiricism
Key Idea: Knowledge comes from experience.
Causal Explanation: Understanding the causes of change.
Rejection of Forms: They are unnecessary to explain the world.
Aristotle's Four Causes
Material Cause: What something is made of (wood of a chair).
Formal Cause: The essence or shape (chair's structure).
Efficient Cause: The agent that creates it (carpenter).
Final Cause: The purpose or goal (to be sat on).
Evaluation of Aristotle's Four Causes
Modern Science Critique: Final cause (telos) is unscientific.
Empirical Method Stands: Material and efficient causes remain valid.
Scientific Progress: Aristotle's approach underdeveloped but foundational.
The Form of the Good
Hierarchy: Form of the Good at the top, enabling understanding.
Analogy: Sun in the cave analogy represents the Form of the Good.
Impact: Leads to moral perfection and rule by philosopher-kings.
Criticism of the Form of the Good
Aristotle: Goodness varies by context (medicine vs. military).
Nietzsche: The Form of the Good is an illusion created for power.
Challenge: Virtue, not knowledge, leads to goodness.
Aristotle's Prime Mover
Explanation of Motion: The universe requires an unmoved mover.
Pure Actuality: A being of pure thought causing motion by attraction.
Rejection by Science: Newton's laws explain motion without a prime mover.
Evaluation of Aristotle's Prime Mover
Modern Science: Motion does not require a special explanation.
Kenny's Critique: Newton's inertia disproves Aristotle's argument.
Legacy: Aristotle's empirical approach was valid but outdated.
Comparison of Plato & Aristotle
Plato: Rationalism, reality of forms, scepticism of experience.
Aristotle: Empiricism, reality of experience, causal explanations.
Modern Relevance: Science favours Aristotle but builds on both.
