Philosophy Midterm

Argument

• Definition: A series of statements (premises) intended to support a conclusion. Arguments are used to persuade, explain, or justify beliefs.

• Types: Deductive (aims for certainty) and inductive (aims for probability).

• Example:

  • Premise 1: All humans are mortal.

  • Premise 2: Socrates is a human.

  • Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.

Validity

• Definition: In deductive arguments, validity means that if the premises are true, the conclusion must be true. It refers to the logical structure, not the truth of the premises.

• Example:

  • Premise 1: All cats are reptiles.

  • Premise 2: Barry is a cat.

  • Conclusion: Barry is a reptile.

  • This argument is valid because the conclusion logically follows from the premises, even though the premises are false.

Soundness:

• Definition: A deductive argument is sound if it is valid and all its premises are true.

• Example:

  • Premise 1: All mammals have mammary glands.

  • Premise 2: Dolphins are mammals.

  • Conclusion: Dolphins have mammary glands.

  • This argument is sound because it is valid and the premises are true.

Epistemology:

• Definition: The study of knowledge, including its nature, sources, and limits.

• Key Questions: What is knowledge? Can we have knowledge? How do we acquire knowledge?

• Example: Descartes' Meditations explores whether we can have certain knowledge, given the possibility of skepticism.

Metaphysics:

• Definition: The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, and cause and effect.

• Example: Questions about the existence of God, free will, and the nature of the external world fall under metaphysics.

Conceptual Analysis:

• Definition: A method in philosophy that involves defining terms by identifying necessary and sufficient conditions.

• Example: Analyzing what it means to "know" something. For knowledge, philosophers often require:

  • Truth: The belief must be true.

  • Justification: The belief must be supported by evidence.

  • Belief: The person must believe the statement.

Theism:

• Definition: The belief that God exists.

• Example: Theists argue for God's existence using arguments like the cosmological argument, design argument, and ontological argument.

Atheism:

• Definition: The belief that God does not exist.

• Example: Atheists may argue against the existence of God using the problem of evil or by critiquing theistic arguments.

Agnosticism:

• Definition: The view that the existence of God is unknown or unknowable.

• Example: Agnostics suspend judgment on the question of God's existence, arguing that there is insufficient evidence to decide.

The problem of skepticism:

• Definition: The challenge of determining whether we can have knowledge, given the possibility of skeptical scenarios like dreaming or being deceived by an evil demon.

• Example: Descartes' Meditations explores whether we can trust our senses and knowledge in light of these skeptical challenges.

The Cogito:

• Definition: Descartes' famous argument "I think, therefore I am," which establishes the existence of the self as a thinking thing.

• Example: Even if an evil demon is deceiving me, I must exist to be deceived. Thus, "I exist" is indubitable.

Skeptical scenarios (dreaming, evil demon):

• Definition: Hypothetical situations used to challenge the reliability of our senses and knowledge.

• Example:

  • Dreaming: At any moment, we could be dreaming, and our experiences could be illusions.

  • Evil Demon: An all-powerful being could be deceiving us about everything we believe.

Indirect Realism:

• Definition: The view that we perceive the external world indirectly through mental representations or ideas.

• Example: Locke argues that we perceive ideas in our minds, which represent external objects.

Idealism:

• Definition: The view that only minds and ideas exist, and there is no external material world.

• Example: Berkeley argues that "to be is to be perceived" (esse est percipi), meaning objects only exist when perceived by a mind.

Determinism:

• Definition: The belief that every event is determined by prior causes and the laws of nature, leaving no room for free will.

• Example: Hard determinists like Holbach argue that our actions are determined by our genetics, environment, and brain chemistry.

Libertarianism (about free will):

• Definition: The view that humans have free will and that determinism is false.

• Example: Libertarians argue that we have the ability to make genuinely free choices, independent of deterministic causes.

Free Will Skepticism:

• Definition: The view that free will does not exist, often due to the belief in determinism or the incompatibility of free will with determinism.

• Example: Free will skeptics argue that our actions are determined by factors outside our control, such as genetics and environment.

Compatibilism:

• Definition: The view that free will and determinism are compatible.

• Example: Compatibilists argue that even if our actions are determined, we can still be free in a meaningful sense, such as acting according to our desires.

The Allegory of the Cave (Platonic dualism):

• Description: Plato's thought experiment in The Republic where prisoners in a cave see only shadows on a wall, mistaking them for reality. The allegory illustrates the difference between the world of appearances (the cave) and the world of reality (the Forms).

• Key Points:

  • The prisoners represent ordinary people who mistake sensory experience for reality.

  • The philosopher, who escapes the cave, represents someone who understands the true nature of reality (the Forms).

Zeno's paradox:

• Description: Zeno's paradoxes challenge the possibility of motion by suggesting that to move from one point to another, one must first traverse an infinite number of halfway points.

• Example: The paradox of the arrow: To reach its target, an arrow must first travel half the distance, then half the remaining distance, and so on, leading to an infinite series of steps.

The design argument:

• Description: An argument for the existence of God based on the apparent design in nature. Paley's watch analogy suggests that just as a watch implies a watchmaker, the complexity of nature implies a designer.

• Example:

  • Premise 1: Many biological systems have a function and are well-designed.

  • Premise 2: Either these systems arose by chance or by design.

  • Conclusion: The best explanation is that an intelligent designer (God) created them.

The first cause (cosmological) argument:

• Description: The argument that everything that begins to exist has a cause, and since the universe began to exist, it must have a first cause, which is God.

• Example:

  • Premise 1: Everything that begins to exist has a cause.

  • Premise 2: The universe began to exist.

  • Conclusion: The universe had a cause (God).

The ontological argument:

• Description: An a priori argument for the existence of God, which claims that God must exist because existence is a necessary attribute of a perfect being.

• Example:

  • Premise 1: God is defined as a supremely perfect being.

  • Premise 2: Existence is a perfection.

  • Conclusion: Therefore, God must exist.

Pascal's Wager:

• Description: A pragmatic argument that suggests it is rational to believe in God because the potential benefits (eternal happiness) outweigh the potential costs (finite loss).

• Example:

  • Premise 1: If you believe in God and God exists, you gain infinite happiness.

  • Premise 2: If you believe in God and God does not exist, you lose little.

  • Conclusion: Therefore, it is rational to believe in God.

The argument from evil:

• Description: The argument that the existence of evil in the world is evidence against the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good God.

• Example:

  • Premise 1: If an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good God exists, then evil would not exist.

  • Premise 2: Evil exists.

  • Conclusion: Therefore, an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good God does not exist.

The dreaming argument

• Description: A skeptical argument that suggests we cannot be certain we are not dreaming, and therefore, we cannot trust our senses.

• Example:

  • Premise 1: At any moment, we could be dreaming.

  • Premise 2: If we are dreaming, our sensory experiences are unreliable.

  • Conclusion: Therefore, we cannot trust our senses.

Evil demon thought experiment (argument for skepticism):

• Description: Descartes' scenario in which an evil demon deceives us about all our beliefs, challenging the possibility of certain knowledge.

• Example:

  • Premise 1: An evil demon could be deceiving us about everything we believe.

  • Premise 2: If this is possible, we cannot be certain of anything.

  • Conclusion: Therefore, we cannot have certain knowledge.

Berkeley's argument against external world objects:

• Description: Berkeley argues that there is no external material world; instead, all that exists are minds and their ideas.

• Example:

  • Premise 1: We only perceive ideas in our minds.

  • Premise 2: There is no evidence of an external world beyond these ideas.

  • Conclusion: Therefore, there is no external material world.

The consequence argument:

• Description: An argument for incompatibilism, which claims that if determinism is true, then we cannot control our actions, and therefore, we do not have free will.

• Example:

  • Premise 1: If determinism is true, then our actions are determined by prior causes.

  • Premise 2: If our actions are determined by prior causes, then we cannot control them.

  • Conclusion: Therefore, if determinism is true, we do not have free will.