Philosophy Midterm

Mechanistic nature

Phenomena occur because of the blind mechanism of atoms colliding, cohering, and finally dissipating over time. Believed by Democritus

Teleological nature

Things in nature have purposes and features develop toward inherent aims and goals. Believed by Aristotle

Where does Plato think knowledge comes from

Knowledge comes from justified true belief. Knowledge is true belief backed by good reasons

Meritocracy

Plato's ideal government

Democracy

Plato's hated government

Relationship between AUGUSTINE and Christianity

Augustine merged Plato with Christianity

Relationship between AQUINAS and Christianity

Aquinas merged Aristotle with Christianity

The difference between Pre-Socratic philosophers and the thinkers that came before them

Pre-Socratics utilized reason as the guide for their investigations

Where/how Plato thinks we acquire knowledge of the forms

Through senses

Philosophy's liberating benefit

Allows us to examine fundamental ideas that are not completely our own, and to live those fundamental ideas authentically and make them completely out own

Philosophy's practical benefit

allows us to better understand and evaluate the fundamental ideas that condition our life

Instrumental good

Things that are good because of the value they bring about

Intrinsic good

things that are good for their own sake, or worth pursuing for their own sake

Three motivations of the soul

1. Appetitive - those driven by appetites. Laborers, craftspeople, etc
2. Competitive - those driven by ambition. Soldiers, peacekeepers, etc
3. Rational - those driven by reason. Leaders, philosophers, etc

What Plato and Parmenides have in common

Both are skeptical of the reliability of appearances/senses

Fate of Socrates

Was brought to trial on charges of corrupting the youth and was executed

What Aristotle believes reality is made up of

Form and matter

Difference between Plato and Aristotle in terms of how they view the sense of the world

Plato believed that senses were not a reliable indicator of reality, whereas Aristotle believed that senses could be reliable if used carefully and rationally

Types of arguments used in Aquinas' 5 ways

Cosmological and teleological

the Sophists

A class of teachers credited for a major shift in philosophy from speculative systems and questions of metaphysics to more humanist concerns

Parmenides - relationship between appearance and reality

We see appearances daily through our senses in things like change, multiplicity, and sensory qualities, while things are, in reality, unchanging, single, and unified

Episteme

Knowing the why of a phenomenon

Aristotle's highest good

Intrinsic good, because our actions are likely pointed towards them

Logos

The faculty of human reason and the knowledge men had of the known world and of other humans

Plato's three criteria for justifying human belief

1. You must believe it
2. It must be true
3. You must be justified in believing it

Stages of Augustine's great chain/hierarchy of being

Material objects -> simplest organisms -> conscious animals -> bad humans -> good humans -> angels -> God

Benefits of the Socratic Method

Demonstrates that the individual does not know as much as they thought
Eliminates false answers to critical and important questions
Provides an opportunity for reflection, where there was none before

Virtue

Excellence of character

Aristotle's four causes

Material (what it's made of), Formal (what it is), Efficient (what its cause is), and Final (what it's for)

Metaphysics

the study of reality in it's broadest sense

Epistemology

the study of knowledge

Axiology

the study of value

Logic

the study of correct reasoning