PHIL Final

Existentialism

A philosophy based on the idea that people give meaning to their lives through their choices and actions

Fanon

perceived colonialism as a form of domination whose necessary goal for success was the reordering of the world of indigenous ("native") peoples. He saw violence as the defining characteristic of colonialism.//Black Skin, White Masks

de Beauvoir (Simone)

One is not born a woman but becomes one // The Second Sex

Method of Doubt (Descartes)

For his beliefs to be certain, Descartes thinks that they must rest on foundations that are certain. Descartes's technique for doing so is known as the method of doubt. If he finds "some reason for doubt" regarding any of his beliefs, he will "withhold assent" from them.

"I think therefore I am"

the idea that since one has the ability to think as a "thinking thing", it is confirmation of one's existence.

Meditation 1

concerning those things that can be called into doubt

Mediation 2

concerning the nature of the human mind: that it is better known than the body

Mediation 3

concerning god, that he exists

Mediation 4

concerning the true and the false

Mediation 5

concerning the essence of material things, and again concerning god, that he exists

Mediation 6

concerning the existence of material things, and the real distinction between mind and body

idea

representation

dualists

mind vs body

formal reality

Actual existence, whether of ideas in the mind or realities external to the mind.

objective reality

no requirement that it corresponds to something that really exists

judgement

will and understanding

Analysis of Mind

Thoughts vs Ideas

Thought (in regards to analysis of mind)

sensing and imagining, no denial because its how it seems to be and what what I'm certain of

Ideas (in regards to analysis of mind)

immediate perceptions, representationscome from: composite (unicorns), fake, innate

Innate Ideas

come from logic and principlesprinciples come from the Light of Nature

Light of nature

Descartes' term for reason, in the light of which things can appear so clear and distinct that they cannot possibly be doubted.

3 things that exist

god, ideas, thought

Who said "I think, therefore I am"?

Rene Descartes

Rationalism

A belief or theory that opinions and actions should be based on reason and knowledge rather than on religious belief or emotional response

Empiricism

the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation

certainty

something not in doubt

First Philosophy/fundamental principle/ self grounding

Also called metaphysics; a search for the first principles of things, their basis and origin.

Skepticism

A philosophy which suggests that nothing can ever be known for certain.

sense perceptions

observations and ideas obtained through the body

clear and distinct ideas

A clear idea is 'present and accessible to the attentive mind'; a distinct idea is clear and also sharply separated from other ideas so that every part of it is clear.// infallible to Descartes the dream argument descartes

the dream argument descartes

As I consider these matters more carefully, I see so plainly

that there are no definitive signs by which to distinguish being awake from being asleep." (41b).

1. I cannot distinguish with certainty whether I am asleep or awake.
2. I cannot distinguish with certainty whether I am asleep or awake.If I cannot distinguish with certainty whether I am asleep or awake,then I have reason to doubt all of my sensory beliefs.


3. Therefore, I have reason to doubt all of my sensory beliefs. But even if the Dream Argument does not give us reason to doubt our beliefs about "corporeal nature in general, together with its extension \[etc.\]," it does apparently give us reason to doubt most, if not all, of our sensory beliefs, according to Descartes.

Evil Demon Argument

Argues that instead of a God, humans were created and are overseen by an evil demon. This idea supposes that everything we know are just deceptive ideas thrust into our minds by this evil demon creating falsehoods as our memories, experiences, ideas, etc.

Radical Doubt (Descartes)

To doubt everything but the existence of God

mind-body dualism

the philosophical viewpoint that mind and body are separate entities that do not interact

Wax example

Descartes states that our senses allow us to know about a piece of wax: its colour, taste, smell, size, shape, and solidity. When the wax is placed near a fire, it melts; thus, its properties change as well. However, the same wax remain Descartes hopes to show definitively that we come to know things through the intellect rather than through the senses and that we know the mind better than anything else.

Why Descartes needs an argument for God's existence

It was essential for Descartes to attempt to establish that we could be certain about the existence of God because without it, Descartes believes that we will never have the ability to possess certain knowledge. Without this proof, Descartes' entire rationalistic epistemology would have failed.

Why did Descartes think God must exist?

The final proof, presented in the Fifth Meditation, begins with the proposition that Descartes has an innate idea of God as a perfect being. It concludes that God necessarily exists, because, if he did not, he would not be perfect.

Ontological argument for the existence of God

claims that God exists because if he did not exist, he would not be the most perfect being, and if he were not the most perfect being, then he would not be God.

Since the idea of a most perfect Being exists, it must come from a most perfect Being

Critiques of Ontological Argument

Kant claims that ontological arguments are vitiated by their reliance upon the implicit assumption that "existence" is a real predicate.

ontological argument proofs

P1: I have a clear and distinct idea of God as a supremely perfect being

P2: Existence is a perfection C1: Therefore, Existence is part of God's essence

C2: Therefore, God necessarily exist

other conclusions of the ontological argument

1. God is the only thing in which existence belongs to essence

2. There can only be one God that exists

3. I cannot remove or alter any of the attributes of God

Cosmological argument for the existence of God

an attempt to prove the existence of God by the fact that things exist. It assumes that things must have a cause, and that the chain of causes can only end by a supernatural event.

God is the ultimate explanation or cause of everything.

Critiques of the Cosmological Argument

the idea of an eternal and necessary agency can as logically be expressed as energy rather than as a single being or entity.

cosmological argument proofs

P1: Everything has a cause (assumed)

P2: The level of reality of a cause must be equal to or greater than the level of reality of the effect

P3: The level of formal reality of a cause must be equal to or greater than the level of objective reality of an effect P4: The idea of God exists in my mind

P5: This idea has infinite objective reality

P6: This idea has a cause with infinite formal reality (P3 & P5)

P7: I do not have infinite formal reality

P8: I am not the cause of my idea of God (P6 & P7)

P9: Something distinct from me (with infinite formal reality) must exist (P1, P4, P8) P10: The only thing with infinite formal reality is God

essence

the basic element; the identifying characteristic

imagination vs intellect

"Intelligence is the ability to apprehend and perceive what is." "Imagination is the ability to perceive what could be." "Creativity is the combination of both intelligence and imagination."

Descartes's argument for the existence of external/material things

(1) I clearly and distinctly perceive that material objects exist.

(2) Since God is no deceiver, my clear and distinct ideas must be true.

(3) Therefore, material objects must exist.

what are the three incompatible theses?

1. The mind is a thinking substance (not in space)

2.The body is extended, corporeal substance (in space)

3.The mind and body interact

Elisabeth's critique of Descartes substance dualism

Mind//Body Problem:

Elisabeth notes that Descartes does not explain how the mind and body interact

*she notes that bodily ailments impact ones mental state therefore the two must be connected as opposed to two separate entities entirely.

Hume: Personal Identity

Basically we are not the same person over time; we are not allowed to assign ourselves an identity, as we are constantly changing. (don't have a personal identity, it will fade out quickly)

Hume on Knowledge

There is no knowledge prior to birth, any knowledge we gain is through our senses. All knowledge must trace back to original impressions.

Self or no self

Hume concludes there is no self

Perceptions

Perceptions

Hume believes that the self is made up of perceptions. Perceptions are divided into Impressions and Ideas' I can never catch myself without a perception, you don't really know yourself, you just have a perception of what you believe to be yourself if you try and figure it out.

Perceptions on personal identity

If there is a perception that we can say is our personal identity, it must be one that never changes and is there throughout our entire lives

No self argument

P1) if there is an idea of the self it must be an impression

P2) It must be a premise that never changes

P3) There is no impression that never changes

"It cannot be from any of these impressions that the idea of the self is derived and consequently there is no such idea."

Bundle Theory

The view that you are nothing more than a loosely unified confederation of interests, motivations, beliefs, sensations, and emotions. Genuine personal identity over time is a fiction and an act of the imagination; we identify persons over time out of custom, without a more profound or defensible philosophical reason.

Counter argument to bundle theory and Hume's response

While the scenes change like our perception, the theater or our mind stays the same, therefore doesn't our mind constitute our personal identity.Rebuttal - We cannot look into our head and see the mind, all we can see are our perceptions so we cannot assume there is some constant mind that is holding these perceptions together.

confusion between identity from diverse/different

Believes humans get confused between when something has an identity and when it is diverse or different.Eg.

When we have a piece of playdough and a small speck is removed, the playdough is actually diverse and different due to the part that was removed but we have the inclination to believe it is still the same piece of playdough or has an identity. Because the change is so small."The relation facilitates the transitions of the mind from one object to another, and renders its passage smooth as if contemplated one continued object"

Example of being confused between identity and diverse/different

If you meet someone, they do not have the same identity as they had 5 seconds ago as they have changed in that time. We perceive their identity to be the same as they have changed very little however due to that change they are now diverse not identical."

3 relations of association

here are 3 relations of association that lead to us having mistakes about personal identity and they are resemblance, contiguity and causation. They are at the root of the mistakes that we make. Resemblance is the most powerful.

example of resemblance

if jack one day is friends with john and he perceives john a certain way. If they have an argument and see each other 10 years later, it is the resemblance that Jack has of John before the argument that makes him believe that he are the same person

Self when we do not have perceptions eg. Asleep, Dead

If personal identity exists it can only come from the perceptions we have of the self, so if we are asleep or dead then we must cease to have this self.

difference between ideas and impressions

Impressions: eg. having a conversation with someone

Idea: Remembering having a conversation with that someone.

Counter argument to Humes

If all ideas come from impressions, how do we discover things, such as the Pythagoras theorem.

Sartre, Jean-Paul

(1905-1980) A French existentialist philosopher.

"Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does"

existence precedes essence

What does existentialism problemitize?

Human nature

first principle of existentialism

Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself

2 meanings of subjectivism

1. An individual chooses and makes himself

2. It is impossible for men to transcend their own human subjectivity.

3 things existentialism can lead to

Anguish - you are setting examples for other people everytime you make a bad choice. Feeling bad is anguish. We are responsible for ourselves and everyone else.

Forlorness - what happens when we realize we are alone, without a god. Can cause depression.

Despair - paralyzing fear and doubt when making decisions