Phil 120 Exam 1

Primary purpose of philosophy according to Socrates in the Apology

To improve our lives, care for the soul, pursue truth and wisdom, and relentlessly examine one's life and beliefs. knowing what we should value

What makes Socrates the wisest of all people?

Socrates knows he doesn't know everything.

Nature of the soul

psychē: The mind, sense of self, and what gives life to a living thing.

Platonic Dualism:

Bodily realm: material, destructible, mutable.

Spiritual realm: immaterial, indestructible, immutable, objects of thought.

Characteristics of a Platonic Form

eternal things that exist in spiritual realm to give things their form. Forms are patterns that shape the material realm

Relationship between the Form of the Good and other Forms

The Form of the Good is at the top as the highest form of perfect goodness.

Allegory of the Cave as a metaphor for Platonic metaphysics

Dividing reality into two distinct levels: the immutable World of Forms and the changing Sensible World.

Relationship between metaphysics and ethics in Platonism

intertwined and mutual. perfect goodness is the highest reality, everything that exists is good, living good is at the highest reality.

Aristotle's understanding of a substance

The most fundamental reality of the world, serving as the underlying foundation for everything that exists.

Hylomorphism in Aristotle

A single being composed of matter (raw potential) and form (organizing principle).

the various roles that matter and form play in constituting a substance

form is structuring while matter is being structured. Form is active principle while matter is passive.

Aristotle's view of the human being via hylomorphism

A single, unified composite of a physical body and an animating soul. we have both matter and form. We are soul and body, which is a composite. Both are together.

Relationship between form, function, and purpose in Aristotle

an object's form determines its function, and fulfilling that function allows it to achieve its purpose

Aristotle's Doctrine of the Four Causes

Material (matter of body), Formal (structure/function), Efficient (creates/sustains), Final (reason/purpose).

Aristotle's conception of the soul

The form and animating principle of a living substance.

Why neither the soul nor the body is a substance on its own for Aristotle

They are interdependent parts of a single, unified living composite.

Three types of souls in terms of complexity

Nutritive (growth), Perceptive/Appetitive (perception/appetite), and Rational (reasoning/understanding).

Functions provided by the rational soul

Reasoning, understanding, self-consciousness, imagination, and free will.

Spirit of medieval philosophy

Faith seeking understanding (connecting Christian faith and philosophy).

Augustine's Christian understanding of Plato's Theory of Forms

The Forms exist in God's eternal mind and are no longer separate from God.

Augustine on how God relates to creation

God is both transcendent (beyond material realm) and immanent (here and now).

God is not contained within creation and yet is intimately present to everything within creation.

Relationship between God, happiness, and worldly goods according to Augustine

True happiness is an enduring spiritual state found in God, whereas worldly goods offer only temporary pleasure.

Anselm's definition of God

A being than which nothing greater can be imagined.

Why existing in reality is greater than existing in the mind alone

An actual existing entity is greater than a mere idea in the mind.

Why Anselm concludes that God necessarily exists

If God existed only in the mind, a greater being (one existing in reality) could be imagined, so God must exist in reality.

Aquinas's argument for God's existence

There must be an uncaused first cause that created everything, since creation cannot go on infinitely.

What it means to say that God is pure actuality

God is completely and fully realized, perfect, infinite, immutable, and eternal.

Relationship between essence and existence in God according to Aquinas

essence is what god is while existence is what god actually is. Both are identical

Aquinas's argument for why God cannot change

God is perfect and at pure actuality; if there were anything greater to change into, God would not be God.

Aquinas's argument for why there can only be one God

If there were multiple gods, no single god would be the greatest.

How Aquinas defines evil

A privation (absence) of goodness.Evil needs goodness to exist

Origin of moral vs. natural evil according to Aquinas

Moral evil is committed by free choice, while natural evil occurs through natural processes.

How Aquinas characterizes the soul

As the form of a living substance, a principle of actuality, an active principle, and an animating principle.

Powers possessed by the human soul that plant and animal souls lack

Rational powers such as understanding and free will/choice.

Material cause

matter that constitutes a substances body

Formal cause

form that gives substance its structure and function

Efficient cause

1. That creates a substance 2.what sustains a substance

Final cause

reason or purpose a substance exists

Augustine's position on the Platonic view of the Good

St. Augustine accepted the Platonic view of the Good but adapted it to fit Christianity.

The various powers that the human soul provides to the human being:

nutritive, perceptive, rational

Substance

A single kind of matter that is pure and has a specific set of properties.

augustines position on the platonic view of the good

augustine uses platos view of good. But god is the form of the good, and all good things are created by god.

How does Plato (via Socrates) characterize the purpose of philosophy in the Phaedo?

Philosophy is meant to prepare us for death.

What is not true about the objects in the spiritual realm?

they are objects of sensation

What does aristotle say about the connection between a substance’s form and its function.

A substance can only function the way that it does because its form organizes its matter to function in that way.

What does anselm argue in the Proslogion

faith seeks understanding, and reason can help us understand and support our belief in God, but faith comes first.

Anselm’s argument begins with a definition of God and then uses philosophical reasoning to demonstrate God’s existence. What kind of argument is this?

An ontological argument

Thomism (the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas) can be understood as an attempt to reconcile two distinct intellectual traditions. What are these?

Christianity and Aristotelianism

ontological

god exists in the mind and in reality

Cosmological

god is the uncaused cause