Module 2 Exam Study Guide - HNR 151

kill me now.

Metaphysics

study of existence

Monism

believing everything came from one primary substance

Teleology

explaining something in terms of the purpose it serves instead of the cause

Syllogism

logical argument using a major premise, minor premise, and conclusion

Cosmology

how the world came to be

According to this philosopher, the goal of observations is to understand what?

Aristotle, causes of phenomena

Aristotle’s Four Causes

1. Material Cause

2. Efficient Clause

3. Formal Cause

4. Final Cause

What is Material Cause?

what is it made of?

What is Efficient Cause?

what led to it becoming what it is?

What is Formal Cause?

essence of the object

What is Final Cause?

what’s the purpose of it? (teleological explanation)

Why did ancient Greece become the birthplace of Western philosophy?

• Lots of trade

• City states, people debated

• Slavery existed, time to debate/think

What were the pre-socratic explanations of phenomena with mythical explanations?

• Thales: everything made out of water

  • Myth: earth balances on water, when the water moves, earthquakes happen

• Anaximander:

  • everything comes from something else

  • first systematic account and map of the world

• Anaximenes:

  • everything is made out of air that condenses/rarefaction

Who was Socrates?

focus on ethics, truth through questioning (Socratic Method)

Who was Plato?

student of Socrates, knowledge comes from reason not senses

Who was Aristotle?

student of Plato, knowledge beings with observation of natural world, explained everything using four causes, believed everything has a purpose

What were Anaximander’s 7 cosmological theories?

• Transformations happen by necessity: things evolve over time

• Everything comes from the Boundless: cosmos comes from the Boundless, like a seed produces different parts of a plant

• The world came into being when hot & cold separated from the Boundless

• Earth is a body of finite dimensions floating in space. It doesn’t fall because no particular direction it might fall.

• Sun/moon/stars rotate earth in circles, hollow rings filled with fire and we see light from holes in the rings (FIRST MECHANICAL MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE)

• Weather has natural causes

• All animals came from the sea: humans didn’t originate in current form because babies aren’t self sufficient.

What was Aristotles cosmological theory?

• Terrestrial Region: imperfect, changing

• Celestial Region: perfect, unchanging

• 5th element called ether (unchanging)

What was Plato’s cosmological theory?

Cosmos shaped by a craftsman who formed pre-existing matter according to perfect, eternal Forms

Heraclitus Theory of Change

everything changes

Parmenides Theory of Change

nothing changes

Empedocles Theory of Change

change happens when the four elements mix/separate under motions of Love and Strife

Anaxagoras Theory of Change

nothing changes, but the way it’s arranged changes

Leucippus and Democritus Theory of Change

change comes from atoms changing arrangement

Aristotle Theory of Change

matter must be preserved for change to happen

• Types of Change

  • Spatial: thing moves in space without changing

  • Quantitative: thing increases/decreases its size without changing

  • Qualitative: thing can undergo changes without losing its identity (tadpole —> frog)

  • Substantial: thing can emerge out or turn into something entirely different (chemical change)

Plato Theory of Change

everything constantly changes in the world of becoming, nothing changes in the world of being (forms)

Thales Theory of Matter

everything made from water

Anaximenes Theory of Matter

everything made from air

Heraclitus Theory of Matter

everything made from fire

Democritus & Lecuippus Theory of Matter

everything made from atoms

Aristotle Theory of Matter

everything made from air, earth, fire, water, ether

Plato Theory of Matter

different shapes correspond to different elements (fire, earth, air, cosmos, water)

Plato Role/Value of Observation

observation limited because everythings constantly changing

Aristotle Role/Value of Observation

goal of making observations is understanding causes of phenomena, we only know what we can see

Socrates Role/Value of Observation

truth through reasoning

Heraclitus Role/Value of Observation

cant rely on senses but cant completely reject them, reason alone can be trusted

Parmenides Role/Value of Observation

only reason can be trusted, cant trust senses

Empedocles Role/Value of Observation

valued observation, reason needed to interpret senses

Leucippus/Democritus Role/Value of Observation

senses are based on the way atoms arrange themselves

Anaxagoras Role/Value of Observation

observation is the starting point, reason uncovers whats beneath