EXAM REVIEW: Philosophy

I think therefore I am - Descartes

• Senses are unreliable

• Thinking is proof of existence

Cartesian Dualism - Descartes

The mind and soul are two distinct substances

• Mind: non-material, realm of thought, consciousness

• Body: material substance, physical matter

Mind-body problem - Descartes

Understanding how the mind and body relate to each other, explained with theories like:

• materialism

• idealism

Monism - Spinoza

Response to the mind-body problem - posits that there is only one substance

• Spinoza believed that God/nature was the same substance

Substance - Spinoza

Fundamental reality; everything that exists is a part of it

Attributes - Spinoza

Single substance has infinite attributes, humans can only comprehend thought and extension

Modes - Spinoza

Everything in existence are modes of one substance; it is an expression of the substance

Categorical Imperative - Kant

A set of rules that one must always abide by; the ethical decision is one that could be made a universal law without contradiction

Transcendental idealism - Kant

Things cannot be known as they truly are (noumena) but they can be known as what they appear to be (phenomena)

Knowledge is mediated through the structure of the mind

Noumena - Kant

The world as in itself, independent of human perception

Phenomena - Kant

The world as it is experienced, shaped by the eternal world and our minds

Priori - Kant

Knowledge that is known or justified through reason alone: INDEPENDENT FROM SENSORY EXPERIENCE

Posteriori - Kant

Knowledge that is DERIVED FROM SENSORY EXPERIENCE; comes after interaction with the world

Hegelian dialectics - Hegel

The universe can be explained through a series of negations, each new version negates its former point and has “seeds” of its future negation

Dialectical method - Hegel

Abstract-negative-concrete

Initial idea (abstract) is negated (negative), leading to a concrete and unified final product

Focuses more on internal structure of a concept

Dialectical method - Fichte

Thesis-antithesis-synthesis - essentially the same thing, but Hegel rejects it

“The World as Will and Representation” - Schopenhauer

The will is a blind, irrational striving that drives human suffering and the entirety of existence (never-satisfied force that perpetually leads to suffering)

Representation is a filter of the real world through our perception and understanding

Rejection/Denial of the Will - Schopenhauer

Similar to Eastern philosophies, denying the will (renouncing desires) can lead to inner peace and freedom

Aesthetics - Schopenhauer

Appreciation of art, music, or nature can temporarily liberate someone from the grip of the will

TEMPORARY FIX TO WILL

Ascetism - Schopenhauer

Practice of self-denial, renouncing desires, and living a disciplined and simple life; allows one to escape suffering

PERMANENT FIX TO WILL

Fog of War - Clausewitz

Inherent uncertainty; originally a military theory meant to describe the idea that war cannot be predicted

Despite efforts to plan and prepare, it is unpredictable

Friction - Clausewitz

Difference between what is planned and what actually occurs in battle; metaphor for the fact that clarity, truth, and meaning is never straightforward

Purpose of “Fog of War” - Clausewitz

Emphasizes philosophical struggle - despite uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity, individuals must make decisions, create meaning, and engage with the world

Unseen developments “Fog of War” - Clausewitz

Something may change when it is out of sight, lack of visibility causes misjudgments of unexpected outcomes

Situations are unpredictable, loss of perception can lead to uncertainty and shifting realities

Dialectical method - Clausewitz

Opposites or contradictions create progress or synthesis; tension and negation leads to shaping and development

Connections to Eastern philosophy - Schopenhauer

Parallels Hinduism and Buddhism in terms of WILL (desire is the source of suffering) and rejection of will (achieving peace by rejecting desires)

Dialectical materialism - Marx

Combination of materialism and Hegelian dialectics; capitalism (through contradictions between bourgeoisie and proletariats) would eventually collapse and give rise to socialism - establishment of a classless, stateless society

Species nature - Marx

Human beings are social creatures bound by collective labour and creative production; this is lost under capitalism

Alienation - Marx

Workers in capitalist societies become disconnected from the products of their labour, thereby also disconnecting themselves from their own human nature and other people

Reification

“thingification” - capitalist societies distort human relationships and social phenomena, transforming them into objects and further detaching them from the person

Commodity fetishism - Marx

Products or goods for the market take on a magical quality that seems as though they have intrinsic power; separate from labour and social relationships

Base and superstructure - Marx

Economic foundation of society influences the rest of social structure; economic systems affect the way people interact with each other

Base: economic foundation

Superstructure: everything else, the political and legal system, culture, and ideology

False consciousness - Marx

Individuals in a society are misled or deceived into believing that their social position, economic conditions, or social order are natural, fair or unchangeable, despite them being against their best interests.

God is dead - Nietzsche

Metaphor to describe the decline of traditional religious beliefs and moral systems; is a liberation from religious beliefs but also a crisis to create new values

Master-slave morality - Nietzsche

Two distinct systems of morality that arise from different social power structures

Master: ruling or powerful class; life affirming and grounded in strength

Slave: oppressed or weaker class, develops in response to the oppression of the master class (is a reactive morality)

Ubermensch - Nietzsche

The Overman or Superman - an idealized individual who transcends conventional moralities, redefines values, and embraces life in its complexity and challenges

Creates new meaning where traditional systems of belief have collapsed

Will to power - Nietzsche

Principle that drives his version of human nature, life, and the structure of the universe; a fundamental force

Eternal return - Nietzsche

The universe and everything in it repeats itself over an infinite amount of time; the same events will unfold, recur, and replay without end

Asks to reassess values and check whether or not we live a meaningful life; how do you live in a meaningless world

Perspectivism - Nietzsche

All knowledge, truth, and meaning are shaped by perspectives of the individuals or cultures that hold them

No objective truth that stands above all perspectives, truth is a lens

Life affirmation - Nietzsche

Act of embracing life in all of its challenges, suffering and contradictions, accepting existence without trying to escape or deny it

Logical positivism - Popper

Critiqued logical positivism as an attempt to address some shortcomings of the movement; did not agree with the verification principle and thought it was overly simplified

Falsification and the scientific method - Popper

Falsifiability is the cornerstone of what makes a theory scientific, to be a good scientist, one must try to prove their answer to be false rather than true (falsification over verification)

Verisimilitude - Popper

How closely a theory approximates truth; theories are always tentative and subject to falsification, but some theories may better approximate truth than others; determination by degree of verisimilitude

The paradox of tolerance - Popper

The challenge of maintaining a tolerant society in the face of intolerant ideologies that can undermine the tolerance that society faces

Existentialism - Sartre

Emphasis on individual freedom, choice, and the meaninglessness of existence; with the exception of the meaning that we create ourselves

Existence precedes essence - Sartre

Humans do not have a predetermined essence, we define who we are through our existence (actions and choices)

Bad faith - Sartre

Self-deception or lying to oneself in order to avoid facing freedom and responsibility; allows someone to adopt inauthentic roles

Responsibility and freedom - Sartre

Humans are free to choose who they want to be, this comes with immense responsibility as you are responsible for all the choices that you make (no external authority)

Being and nothingness - Sartre

Being-in-itself: objects that exist simply as they are, they are complete and non-conscious

Being-for-itself: human consciousness, the self-aware, defined by ability to choose; is incomplete, always striving, becoming, and open to possibilities

The absurd - Camus

Humans desire for meaning, and the meaninglessness of the universe; uses Sisyphus as an example

Revolt - Camus

Rather than falling into nihilism (belief that life is meaningless and therefore worthless), a rebellion or acceptance of the absurdity of life is needed to live authentically

Meaning must be created on our own

Rebellion - Camus

A response to the absurdity of the life; affirming freedom and dignity in the face of the absurd

The Second Sex - de Beauvoir

Historical, cultural, and psychological factors have contributed to the oppression of women - leading to their status of “the second sex” as in, subordinate to men who are considered the standard

One is not born, rather one becomes a woman - de Beauvoir

Womanhood is not a biological fact or destiny, it is a socially constructed identity that are affirmed by gender roles

Affirms that biology is not destiny, women’s liberation needs to overthrow patriarchal systems

The “other” - de Beauvoir

Applies to women, who have historically been defined as the “other” due to their relation with men

The “other” - Fanon

Addresses colonialism, exploring how colonized people, particularly Black people, have been constructed as the “other” (objectified, dehumanized, inferior) in relation to colonizers (Europeans)

Black skin, White masks - Fanon

Examines how colonized Black people have been subjected to racial inferiority (othering)

This leads to the psychological impact of being defined and treated as an object of white supremacy, increasing the desire to assimilate into colonial, white-dominated worlds

Black people must wear MASKS in a society that idealizes white norms

The Wretched of the Earth - Fanon

Explores psychological, social, and political aspects of colonialism and the struggle for liberation

More focused on decolonization, necessity of violence, and psychological and social consequences of liberation

Deontology

Rule based morality, implementation of principles in the determination of morally correct actions

Consequentialism

Morality of actions judged based on outcomes or consequences, utilitarianism is the most well known

Virtue ethics

Focuses on character and moral virtues, achieving a virtuous character by not succumbing to vices and have a moderation of all virtues

Pragmatism

Flexible, context-based approach that looks at what is most effective in practice

Blind Men and the elephant

Illustrates relative truth and subjective perception

Double slit experiment

In quantum mechanics - demonstrates wave-particle duality of light and matter

When observed, behaves as particles, behaves as a wave when it is not

Wavefunction collapse occurs during observation

Uncertainty principle

We cannot simultaneously know both the position and momentum of a particle with arbitrary precision

Arete

Moral virtue, excellence

Apatheia

Equanimity - the ability to maintain emotional regulation, apathy but not in the sense of not caring but rather accepting the world as is

Propathos

Instinctive reaction (biological things like heart rate, change in breathing)

Pathos

Passions, emotional reactions that result from your personal judgment

Eupathos

The mark of the stoic stage, a transformed emotional and pleasant reactions that comes from logic

Eudaimonia

Human fluorishing/happiness

Cynicism

Unhappiness is caused by judgments of value, humans can be free by detaching themselves from needs that are not from nature

Stoicism

Unhappiness and evil are from ignorance to common value, do not allow yourself to be disturbed by things out of your control, logic and reason is emphasized to transform emotions from pathos to eupathia - feelings of satisfaction and well being

Pyrrhonism

Unhappiness and evil are from adhering to dogma, which are beliefs that go beyond justifiable evidence. Give up false beliefs and reserving judgment on uncertain matters to reach eudaimonia

Hedonism

Maximize pleasure, avoid pain

Epicureanism

Avoid speculation about abstract things, avoid pain and enjoy pleasure, but it is not the only good and needs to be pursued moderately to avoid imbalances and allow for continuous ataraxia

Ataraxia

A state of contentment, tranquility, and freedom from fear

Ahimsa

Non-violence/non-harm

Karma

Law of cause and effect, can be good or bad depending on the actions promoting good or harm

Said to determine one’s path in the next life (reincarnation)

Moksha/Nirvana

Enlightenment, refers to the understanding of the true nature of Samsara (there is only one soul and that soul is Brahman) or recognizing that there is not self or soul

Hinduism

Most schools believe there is a self and believe in reincarnation

Maya

The waking reality is an illusion, everything you see is a product of your dream illusion

Brahman

There is only one substance in the universe, and every person is a projection of this substance

All that exists is Brahman

Advaita Vedanta

Everything is Brahman, waking reality is MAya

Dvaita Vedanta

Belief that we are partially separate, but at higher levels of reality the only thing that is real is Brahman, and we are temporary creations that will eventually resolve into Brahman

God is distinct from individual souls

Samsara

The wheel of creation and recreation that can be escaped with meditation

Buddhism

Denial of reality of the soul, reality is inn constant transition, recognition of no-self is crucial to lead to a detachment from material reality

Four noble truths of Buddhism

1. there is suffering

2. cause of suffering is attachment and desire

3. suffering can be ended by releasing attachment and desire

   1. Eightfold path is the right way to achieve this

Eightfold path

Right: view, resolve, effort, speech, action, mindfulness, concentration/meditation, and livelihood

Jainism

Reality is an ever changing interplay of material and spirit, not created and is trans theistic (no god or judge)

Principles of Jainism

Ahimsa

• vegetarianism, refraining from speech and thought

Truth

• Always speak the truth, do not encourage or accept lies

Not stealing

• Never take anything that is not freely given

Celibacy

• sexual abstinence for monks and nuns, faithfulness for normal people

Non-possessiveness

• refraining from material and psychological attachments, including cravings and greed

Absolute - Hegel

The final form of all contradictions