UTS

philosophy

love of wisdom

3w’s

wonder, why and wisdom

socrates

his thoughts were only known through Plato’s writing

socrates, plato and aristotle

big three

sophists

first teachers of the west

socrates

did not write anything, was not a writer

delphi oracle

named socrates the wisest man of all men

socrates

wisest man of all men

socrates’ view of human nature

believed that his mission in life is to seek the highest knowledge

real understanding comes from within the person

socratic method

I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think

the art of questioning

socrates’ view of human nature

the unexamined life is not worth living

plato (aristocles)

wrote 20 Dialogues

established “The Academy”

plato’s view of human nature

Man is a soul using a body.

Body is material. (cannot live and move apart from the soul; destructible)

Soul is immaterial. (can exist apart from body; a substance; independent)

Believed that humans are intrinsically good

the reason (rational)

motivation for goodness and truth

the spirited (non-rational)

initially neutral but can be influenced/pulled in two directions

the appetites (irrational)

lean towards desire for pleasures of the body

plato’s theory of being

ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

To know is to be.

The more the person knows, the more he is and the better he is

plato’s theory of love

Love is the way by which a person can move from a state of imperfect knowledge and ignorance to a state of perfection and true knowledge.

Begins with a feeling that there is something lacking

plato (aristocles)

Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws

st. agustine of hippo

CHRISTIAN PHILISOPHERS

st. agustine of hippo

see man as sinners

Initially rejected Christianity for it seemed to him that it could not provide him answers to questions that interested him

He became a priest and a bishop of Hippo, Africa

st. agustine’s view of human nature

Men are inherently flawed. Thus, in need of a greater purpose or God to fix us.

God as the source of all reality and truth

the sinfulness of man

two realms of st. agustine’s thoughts

free will

the sinfulness of man

sin of greed

love of physical objects

sin of jealousy

love for other people

sin of pride

love for self

supreme virtue; real happiness

love for God

st. agustine’s role of love

all things are worthy of love but they must be loved properly

rene descartes

Father of modern Philosophy

Introduced the Cartesian method and invented analytic Geometry

Used scientific method and mathematics

“what is and is not”

descarte’s view of human nature

Considered truth as universal concept.

Intellectual (as opposed to experience or any religious belief; innate in the human mind)

Formation of new ideas- progression from simple to complex ideas

intuition

ability to apprehend direction of certain truths

deduction

the power to discover the unknown by progressing in an orderly way from what is already known; truths are arrived using a step-by-step process

cogito, ergo sum

“I think, therefore I am.”

john locke

Ideas are not innate. The mind at birth is a “tabula rasa”. “Nothing exists in the mind that was not first in the senses.”

locke’s view of human nature

Mental acts produce greatest possible good, but knowing what is good does not necessarily mean that people will always do what is good.

Morality has to do with choosing or willing to do good

law of opinion

actions that are praiseworthy (virtues); otherwise, vice

civil law

right actions enforced by people in authority

divine law

set by God

empiricist

sensory experience

david hume

after reading philosophy of Locke, he never again entertained any belief in religion

the human mind (hume)

The mind receives materials from the senses and call it perceptions

impressions

immediate sensation of external reality

ideas

recollections of these impressions; what arises when we reflect upon our impressions

hume’s view of human nature

The self is also a product of imagination

There is no such thing as “personal identity”

There’s no permanent/unchanging self

Bundle of ever-changing impressions

immanuel kant

Deeply spiritual

Mind is not just passively receiving sense experience but rather actively participates in knowing objects

Bundles of sensory impressions imply a unity of the self without which there would be no knowledge of the self

psychodynamic theory

workings of the mind or one’s mental life impacts strongly on the body resulting either emotional stability or psychological dysfunctions

sigmund freud

psychodynamic theory

subconscious

repository of past experiences, repressed memories, fantasies and urges

three levels of the mind (freud)

id, ego, superego

id

pleasure principle

ego

reality principle

superego

learning the difference between right and wrong

freud’s view of human nature

Man is a product of his past.

Man lives balancing the forces of life and death which are opposing forces that make existence a challenge

gilbert ryle

Man is endowed with free will.

Agrees with Kant that free will involves a moral responsibility which further assumes that man’s actions must be moral for it to be free

knowing-that

knowing facts and information; empty intellectualism

knowing-how

knowing how to make use of these facts

patricia and paul churchland

Introduced ‘Neurophilosophy’

neurophilosophy

Study of the philosophy of the mind science, neuroscience and psychology all rolled into one

patricia and paul churchland

“There isn’t a special thing called the mind. The mind is just the brain.”

maurice merleau-ponty

philosopher of the body