Phil-101H Exam 2

Affirmative action

To account for discrimination, minorities are given higher priority / lower bar requirements for higher education.

(This no longer impacts school admission)

Voting disenfranchisement

the barriers that are used to prevent individuals from exercising their right to vote.

Voting disenfranchisement: Gerrymandering

Specifically redistricting highly minority areas in order to make their vote not count as much as another’s.

Voting disenfranchisement: Voter I.D. laws

Forces individuals to take literacy tests or pay polling taxes to be able to vote. Also exempted those who had their grandfather vote before the civil war, resulting in less black votes.

MLK Jr. Philosophy:

Had a philosophy of non-violent active resistance. (sit-downs, marches, etc.) Emphasis on Non-Violent.

What were the 4 steps in MLK’s successful non-violent campaigns?

#1 Collect facts to discover injustices.

#2 Negotiate with figureheads about said injustices in good faith.

#3 Self-Purification (emotional conditioning, nonviolent training workshops) to prevent violent retaliation.

#4 Marching / Plan execution (actual action in retaliation of injustices).

MLK’s Letter in Birmingham jail:

Questioned morality of disobeying unjust laws in giving three examples of where it benefitted society, The American Revolution, The Civil War, WWII. Historically proving standing up to unjust laws as positive.

What is the myth of time?

The idea that time will cure all ills. (common myth of the time)

Just laws:

Agrees with god.

Unjust laws:

Drgrades human personality, the majority imposes on the minority.

What was a common attribute of the Black Panther Party that heavily contrasts from MLK’s philosophy?

Violent action.

Who were the few famous people that converted to Islam as Christians were discriminatory of their race.

Malcom X, Kareem (Lakers), Mohamad Ali.

Bible opinion of women.

Thinks they are lesser than men in every way.

Physical differences of men / women.

Larger, 40% ^ = ^ agro + comp.

Testosterone 20x ^.

^ Directionally.

Calmer stress response.

All on avg.

Female pay in comparison to males.

70 cents on $1

Female field work in comparison with position pay.

^ women = lower pay. e.g., Elementary teacher, Social work, Nursing.

Artificial salary drain even with ^ demand.

What is the naturalistic fallacy?

Because something is natural it is good.

What was Simone de Beauvoir’s main question in existentialism, and how does she answer it?

What does it mean to be a woman? - It is to be a male but oppressed.

What does it mean to have transcendence?

Have both Autonomy (choice over self action), and an indefinite future (no limit on opportunity).

What did Karl Marx think of capitalism?

Disapproved and said that it would lead to violent revolution in the U.S.

Recommended Communism as a better alternative.

What did Adam Smith think of capitalism.

Approved, said it would result in ^ production and therefore lower product price, ^ competition and better division of labor.

Why did communism not take over the US market?

Capitalism evolved and adapted to the market and calmed unrest in: Creating Univ EDU, Wealth inc tax, welfare 4 poor, ^ labor laws > unions.

What did Karl Marx propose in the benefits of communism?

Universal EDU, Wealth income tax, Welfare for the poor, Inheritance tax. Better worker protection.

What are the status quo problems with capitalism?

Major wealth gap (1% ^ $ > 160m Americans), Child poverty ^ 20%.

What are some solutions to the status quo problems of capitalism?

^ Wealth tax, Capital gains tax (tax on stock holdings, real estate etc.)

$ out of politics, Punish pollution, Uni HC, Elim college tuition.

Who came up with the naturalistic fallacy.

Heidegger

What was Heidegger’s philosophy of the fear of death?

Fear of death leads one to be more authentic in their life, shows us society is not always right.

What is a popular example of the fear of death motivating one to be successful.

Winston Churchill

What are the arguments to “death is an evil to be feared”?

#1 Death is nothingness so it cannot be good or bad. (Epicurus)

#2 Upon death you are no longer there so how can anything be bad? (Epicurus)

#3 Life was no big deal before birth, so why should I fear death? (Lucretius)

What is the response learned in class to Epicurus’ “Death is nothingness” argument?

Death is bad because you are losing everything that is good in life, and the loss of something good is bad.

What are some objections to the “Death is bad because it is a loss of good” argument?

You will no longer know you were alive, how can you weigh anything good / bad.

If life was bad, it’s likely it would continue to be bad, leading death to be a release from pain / suffering.

What is the brain damage example, used as a reply to the objection to “death is nothingness”?

Just to be able to experience is good, so to get a brain injury at a young or old age is to lose on the experiences they could of had or have had.

What is the response learned in class to Epicurus’ “Upon death you do not exist” argument?

Because one doesn’t exist doesn’t mean they never existed (leaving family behind), not carrying out one’s wishes is to be wronged, which is bad.

Who wrote the critiques to Epicurus’ arguments?

Thomas Nagel

What was the response learned in class to Lucretius’ “Nothing B4 life is ok, so why is the nothing after death bad?” argument?

Life and death are treated different as they are different. Living is good bc you get to experience life, & absence of life = lack of good.

B4 birth you are going to gain life, but after death you will gain nothing. (bad because [x] experience of life)

Who are the philosophers credited with critiquing Lucretius’ argument?

Thomas Nagel, Shelly Kagan.

What did Shelly Kagan think of the fear of death?

Fear of death can be good as it leads one to fully appreciate life as it is and live it to their fullest ability.

Epistemology: What is Emotional Certainty?

Are you emotionally certain something is real?

Epistemology: What is Intellectual Certainty?

Certainty that something is real based on facts and or things you can see / feel, or prove in science.

What was the one famous certainty Rene Descartes found?

I think therefore I am. (Self existence through consciousness)

What are the two factors needed to be certain about something?

Emotional Certainty + Intellectual Certainty.

Heaven + Hell Morality":

To get into hell, one only has to do one more bad thing than good / vice versa for heaven.

To be eternally happy is impossible, as it is to remove others of their memories or personality (as to not remember bad times or be upset at others).

What was Rene Descartes Philosophy?

Methodological Skepticism

What is Methodological Skepticism?

To doubt / question to learn.

Doubt everything you logically can, Ex: is there a physical world / are flowers real?

What is Rene Descartes’ evil demon argument?

There is a evil demon that constantly tries to deceive you in most situations.

What did Rene Descartes discover during his first meditation?

How can I be sure anything exists, and the need to question everything he logically can. Uncertainty of 1+1 = 2 BC of Evil Demon.

What did Rene Descartes discover during his second meditation?

Evil demon deception and that he exists, “I think therefore I am”.

What is Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650) known as to philosophers?

Father of “Modern Philosophy”. (Although not that modern.)

What is Søren Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855) known as to philosophers?

The founder of externalism. (Although he did not coin or name it.)

What were some important philosophical premises of Søren Kierkegaard?

Individuals are the most important and society should serve the individual.

Nothing is inevitable.

Free will could end us all.

In living the life of sense pleasures, one will always search for the next sense pleasure.

A philosophical premise of Kierkegaard.

What is the central question of Existentialism

What does it mean to be human?

What was Søren Kierkegaard’s response to the central question of existentialism?

To be anxious is to be human / The human condition.

What examples did Søren Kierkegaard offer in his explanation of the human condition?

To be the life of the party but sad at home.

To be anxious of being forgotten in the world.

What does Søren Kierkegaard think of authenticity?

To challenge your societal views and think for yourself, to be authentic, is one of the best things you can do.

How does Søren Kierkegaard see responsibility?

On the individual level.

Ex: everyone that took part in killing Cesar has the individual responsibility as if they finished the job.

What does Søren Kierkegaard think of passion?

Thinks it is great to live and die for things of passion.

^ Importance than reason.

“Life is all about passion”.

What does Søren Kierkegaard think of the power of choice?

Our decisions are extremely important.

“If you did not choose Christianity, are you really Christian?”

What is Søren Kierkegaard’s big point?

You need to experience life before you can philosophize about it .

“Life must be learned backwards, but lived forward.”

What is Søren Kierkegaard’s Objective truth?

Based on our senses or math. (Can be tested)

What is Søren Kierkegaard’s Subjective truth?

Our personal truths that guide our lives but cannot be proven. (Religion, Morality.)

How does Søren Kierkegaard value Objective and Subjective truths?

Subjective truth > Objective truth, as it ignites our passion and gives meaning to our lives.

Søren Kierkegaard’s thoughts of faith & god?

Faith comes when things are uncertain.
It is insulting to god to try to prove he exists, as you have to experience him to know he exists.

Faith shouldn’t be based in the book but rather in a personal relationship with god.

What does Søren Kierkegaard think of scientific objectivity?

To be human is to be subjective, each scientist is not without at least a small amount of bias.

How does Søren Kierkegaard view religion?

Based on faith, no way to prove that your religious beliefs are true, so tolerate other’s opinions. (Same boat).

How does Søren Kierkegaard think one becomes a true Christian?

By choosing to have a personal & passionate relationship with god.

(Emphasis on choosing for yourself.)

What are the different lives that Søren Kierkegaard mentions?

The Religious life (God oriented)

The Ethical life (Duty oriented)

The Authentic life (self-oriented)

(Happiness comes with a combo of all but a Primary choice)

What philosophical premises is Søren Kierkegaard’s “Either or” known for?

The life of sense pleasures.

The ethical life.

What philosophical premises is Søren Kierkegaard’s “Fear and trembling” known for?

Significant life vs Importance of god.

What is Søren Kierkegaard’s “Leap of faith"?

The idea that without 100% certainty one will put faith in what they believe to be true and confidently pursue that.

What are the 2 big barriers to prove god exists that Søren Kierkegaard identifies?

It cannot be proven.

It is the pursuit of proving existence that pushes one away from a passionate relationship with him.

What was David Hume’s central question?

How do we come to know things?

What is David Hume’s problem of induction?

Can we be fully confident that the future (unobserved cases) will be like the past (unobserved cases).

Ex: All ppl die.

What is the answer to the problem of induction?

We cannot be sure of unobserved cases or the future.

What do Rationalists believe?

There is some innate knowledge, but most comes through experience.

Reason is independent of experience.

You are born with innate knowledge.

What do Empiricists believe?

All knowledge comes from experience.

Extend your experience to your reasoning skills.

(Only reason and experience matter)

What does “A posteriori” mean?

After experience. (Dependent on observation)

What does “A priori” mean?

Before experience. (Dependent on reason)

What is Common Sense Skepticism?

Don’t blindly believe everything you are told.

What is absolute Skepticism?

Similar to Methodological Skepticism but claims that “Doubt can never be overcome.”

What is David Hume’s Mitigated Skepticism?

No certainty in knowledge, take everything with a grain of salt.

Accept what is reasonable / useful.

Keep an open mind but realize you could be wrong.

What are the distinct differences between Empiricism and Rationalism?

The belief that ALL knowledge comes from experience.

The belief that SOME knowledge comes from experience, but we are also born with some.

What does David Hume think of cause & effect?

we cannot be sure of the cause & effect, we only see that two objects are constantly conjoined.

There could be other causes or Reverse causation.

Ex: Bad sleep = Overweight but it could be Overweight = Bad sleep.

David Hume’s Cause & effect example:

A watch is found on an abandoned island.

(Clearly it is not fully abandoned or someone was there)

David Hume’s bread example / question.

How are you to know if a piece of bread will nourish you as it as before?

What is the answer to David Hume’s bread question?

To have more humility in our beliefs.

“We don’t really know” although we can reason from experience.

How did Fredrich Nietzsche critique reason and instinct emotions?

We need to accept all parts of us, reason is not as important as emotion.

How did Fredrich Nietzsche critique objective truth?

See things from a human perspective.

Understand all ppl see things differently.

How did Fredrich Nietzsche critique religion?

There is too much emphasis on the afterlife that it takes away from living out best lives now.

Religion suppresses our natural instinct, Ex: Lust, Sex, Pleasure. (seen as sins)

How did Fredrich Nietzsche critique suffering.

Saw suffering as part of life and nothing to be avoided.

He critiques Buddhism as they avoid it at all costs.

“What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger”

What was Fredrich Nietzsche primarily known for?

His critiques of western religion, morality and foundational influence on existentialism.