Ancient philosophical influences

Nietzsche

form of good = ‘dangerous error’

☹ Plato

Aristotle ☹ Plato

no single form of good, should be relative

• e.g. good in war = win + kill efficiently

  • medical context = save ppl’s lives

• p of intersection of forms

  • e.g. beautiful, large, wooden table

  • destroys unity of object

  • p of opposites

    • logical contradiction (Aristotle)

    • e.g. dog large compared to mouse, small when compared to elephant

Hume

can create idea of perfection by negating idea of imperfection

☹ Plato

Aristotle

‘Actualising the potential’

Francis Bacon

telos = metaphysical not empirical issue

☹ Aristotle

Swinburne + Polkinghorne

science is limited, can’t explain ‘why’

🙂 Aristlotle

Albert Camus

world = ‘absurd’

☹ Aristotle

Satre

existentialism ‘existence precedes essence’

world = ‘gratuitous’

☹ Aristotle

Bertrand Russell

'brute fact’

☹ Aristotle

Hume

moving from empirical evidence to metaphysical

☹ Aristotle

Dawkins

no scientific evidence for purpose

☹ Aristotle

Anthony Kenny

Newton’s law wrecks Aristotle’s arg

Aristotle’s third man arg (x Plato)

• Plato: if group shares characteristics e.g. trees, they must all partake in a form of treeness

• BUT we then have new group of things that share characteristics

  • tree + form of treeness

• acc. to Plato’s logic, must hvae form in which they partake

  • creates new group of things which share characteristics

  • requires another form etc.

  • ad infinitum

  • forever - infinite regress

• undermines idea of forms that there is particular single form of quality that explains multiple particular instances of that quality we experience in world of appearances

• (+ Ockham’s razor)

Plato’s response to Aristotle 3rd man arg

• misunderstands relationship between form and its particulars

• forms cannot partake of anything but themselves

  • doesn’t partake in another form

• forms can’t be grouped with particulars bc they are what the particulars really are

  • doesn’t make sense to group some things together with what they really are since that’s not really a group

• infinite regress doesn’t occur