Introduction to Philosophy - Logic and Critical Thinking (Chapter 1)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key people, terms, and ideas from the Logic and Critical Thinking notes on Philosophy (Chapter 1).

Philosophy

A free science that does not have a utilitarian end; you pursue it simply because you love wisdom and seek the first causes and ultimate principles.

Philosophia

Love of wisdom; the pursuit of knowledge.

Sophia

Greek root meaning 'love'.

Agora

Marketplace where people gather to discuss, exchange ideas, and pursue knowledge.

Polis

City-state; the political community in ancient Greece.

Eros

Kind of love that is about desire for things that satisfy the senses.

Agape

Sacrificial, religious love; love of the good for the other.

Philos

Kind of love that wills the good of the other

Westerns

believe that Philosophy is a stand alone discipline

Easterns

believe that Philosophy is intertwined with other disciplines

Activity of Thinking

generic meaning of Philosophy during the 6th and 5th BCE

Plato

“Philosophy is a search for wisdom through the search about the totality of reality”

Aristotle

“Philosophy is the inquiry of the whole expanse of reality without excluding any part of it”

Pre-philosophical period

In this period, people believed that the origin of things and the events in nature are activities of the Gods and Goddesss

Hesiod

Philosoper in pre-philosophical period

Thales

Ancient Greek philosopher who wants to know the arche of all things

Ancient Period

In this period, Philosophy is cosmocentric because of Thales, but later on became Anthropocentric because of Socrates

Water

Thales believed that this is the origin of all things

Urstof

is not used; immediate origin

Socrates

A greek philosopher questioned Thales. For him, knowing the origin is not important. What’s important is the question, “What makes a man moral?”; also known as the Gadfly of Athens

Socratic method

Method of asking things

Plato

Ancient Greek philosopher who argued that reality is up there in the World of Forms; emphasized on the Allegory of the Cave.

World of Matter

The perfect world for Plato where our soul is originally in

World of Forms

The imperfect world for Plato where our soul becomes a prisoner of the body

Anamnesis

The process of recollecting innate knowledge; undoing the process of forgetting. According to Plato, where learning is seen as recalling knowledge already within the soul.

Apology

A book made by Plato to defend Socrates

Aristotle

Ancient Greek philosopher who emphasized that the reality is right here and right now; founded the Lyceum

Medieval Period

Confluence of fides et ratio

In this period, Philosophy is used as an instrument to explain faith and reason

Theology

In medieval period, Philosophy became handmaid of ____.

Christendom

Christ’s Kingdom; human knowledge was blinded and controlled by the religion

Ontological argument

Anselm’s argument that God is that which nothing greater can be thought of.

Anselm of Canterbury

Medieval philosopher who framed the Ontological argument for God's existence.

Gaunilo

Monastic critic who challenged the Ontological argument of Anselm

Necessary being

Kind of being which God is because he needs to exist for everything to exist

Contingent being

A being that may or may not exist and it does not matter

Cosmological argument

An argument in which Thomas Aquinas believed in; Five ways to prove God’s existence

Mover

One of Aquinas’ proofs: there must be a first mover that itself is unmoved.

Cause

One of Aquinas’ proofs: there is a first efficient cause of everything.

Necessary being

One of Aquinas’ proofs: a being whose necessity explains the existence of contingent beings.

Order

One of Aquinas’s proofs: the world has a system/standard of perfection in the world

Modern Period

In this period, people are concerned about the issues and problem of knowledge; dominated by two school of thought namely: rationalism and empiricism

Rationalism

We already have an inkling in that knowledge (a priori)

Empiricism

Knowledge comes after we experience (a posteriori).

Rene Descartes

Modern philosopher who used methodic doubt and argued that our senses are unreliable

Methodic doubt

Doubt everything because our senses are unreliable. The only thing we cannot doubt is your ability to doubt and doubting is an activity of the mind

Cogito

thinking “I”

Renaissance

Age of Enlightenment; you don’t need religion to verify that something is true

Contemporary Period

A period that has two traditions: Analytical Tradition and Continental Tradition

Analytical Tradition

this tradition only accepts things investigated by science as true

clarification of meaning

focus of analytical tradition

continental tradition

they believe that scientific method is insufficient to provide an explanation of the world

human experience

focus of continental tradition

Aesthetics

Branch of philosophy analyzing aesthetic experience on the idea of beautiful; If it is useful for you, it is beautiful

Ethics

Study of morality

Ethos

about the rightness or wrongness of the action

Nomos

about what is right and what is wrong based on explicit rules, regulations, or norms

Metaphysics

Study of what lies beyond physical reality; nature of reality and being

Epistemology

Study of knowledge; thought of things and the process of knowing.

Logic

Study of the rules and principles that govern correct reasoning.