Phil Exam 2

Definition of memory (as a power):

• A faculty of the soul that stores and recalls past experiences

• Preserves sensory and intellectual content over time

Memory vs. imagination:

• Memory = recalls what actually happened (past reality)

• Imagination = recombines images, not necessarily real or past

Two ways memory relates to the past:

• Stores past experiences

• Recognizes something as past (awareness of time)

Faculty Aquinas connects memory to:

The intellect (especially for intellectual memory)

Intellectual “species”:

• The abstract form or concept the intellect grasps from experience

• Not a physical image, but a universal idea

Memory as a “bridge”:

• Connects sensory experience → intellectual understanding

• Enables:

  • Learning

  • Reasoning

  • Forming universal concepts

  • Making judgments over time

Definition of the will:

The rational appetite that desires the good as understood by the intellect

How will relies on memory & intellect:

• Memory → provides past experiences of goods

• Intellect → presents what is good to choose

Can will overpower intellect?

• No — intellect presents the good first

• But will can refuse to follow intellect’s judgment

Limitations on the will:

• Natural (we must seek some perceived good)

• Circumstantial (external pressures, lack of options)

• Ignorance

Mode of the will toward the good:

• Seeks universal good

• But chooses among particular goods

Will and action:

The will initiates action after intellect judges

How we know the will is free:

• It can choose among alternatives

• Even under constraint, it can choose interiorly

What the will can always choose:

To accept or reject a perceived good

Why will is linked to lower appetites (Aquinas) :

• Like them, it desires

• But unlike them, it is rational (intellective appetite)

Practical vs. speculative intellect:

• Practical → concerned with action

• Speculative → concerned with truth

• Both seek truth, but for different ends

Practical intellect vs. will:

• Intellect = judges what is good

• Will = chooses that good

How practical intellect discerns goods:

• Through universal principles (e.g., do good, avoid evil)

• Applies them to specific situations

Perfection (practical wisdom):

• Ability to judge rightly about action

• Consistent good decision-making

Synderesis (Aquinas):

• Habit of knowing basic moral truths

• “Do good, avoid evil”

Conscience (3 modes):

• Before action → What should I do?

• During → Am I doing right?

• After → Did I do right?

Bridge to speculative intellect:

Moves from action → contemplation of truth

Levels of ascent (speculative intellect):

• Sensory knowledge

• Abstract reasoning

• Knowledge of highest truths (God)

Goal & mode of speculative intellect:

• Goal = truth for its own sake

• Mode = contemplation

Skills developed:

• Abstraction

• Logical reasoning

• Philosophical contemplation

Definition of art:

The rational production of something according to a plan

Aristotle’s example of art in metaphysics:

Medicine (doctor healing patient)

Art vs. nature (Aristotle):

• Nature = acts by necessity/spontaneity

• Art = involves intentional design

Most important feature of artist (Aristotle) :

Knowledge of form (idea of what to make)

What artist brings into being (Aristotle) :

Form imposed on matter

What exists prior (art):

• Matter

• Potential

• Natural principles

Christian understanding of art:

• Humans imitate God’s creativity

• God creates from nothing (perfect artist)

Aristotle’s criteria for friendship:

• Mutual goodwill

• Awareness of goodwill

• Shared life

Aristotle’s types of friendship:

• Utility → based on usefulness

• Pleasure → based on enjoyment

• Virtue → based on mutual goodness

Aristotle’s examples of friendship types:

• Utility → business relationships

• Pleasure → fun/social friends

• Virtue → deep, lasting friendships

Can bad men be friends (Aristotle)?

• Not truly

• Their relationships are unstable

Why Aristotle says we can’t be friends with God:

Too unequal

Christian view on friendship with God:

God lowers Himself → friendship possible

grounds for unequal friendships:

Proportional equality (each gives appropriately)

Politics vs. friendship:

• Politics = common good of society

• Friendship = personal mutual good

Greatest evils avoided by gov/political institutions:

• Injustice

• Disorder

• Tyranny

Two factions enduring tensions (Socrates & Crito):

(strengths + weaknesses)

• Majority → (s) power, (w) instability

• Wise minority → (s) truth, (w) but less influence

referee between political factions (peace keeper)

law

nature of law

• Protects justice and common good

Natural/divine vs. civil law (socrates)

• Civil law should reflect higher law

• But never perfectly

Powers leading to God (Aristotle de anima)

• Intellect’s ability to abstract and seek ultimate causes

Concept of God assumed:

• Perfect being

• Pure actuality

God’s primary activity (Aristotle)

• Contemplation (thinking about thinking)

• because it’s the most perfect, self-sufficient activity

Character traits we develop from contemplation (like God- Aristotle Nicomachean ethics)

• Wisdom

• Contemplation

• Intellectual virtue

 Freedom of the Will Essay

• Will is free because:

  • Chooses among goods

  • Not determined by circumstances

• Restrictions:

  • External pressures

  • Limited knowledge

• Freedom shown in:

  • Intentional choice

Active Intellect Progression Essay

• Stages:

  • Sensory → abstract → divine

• We know God through creation

• Subjects reveal order, truth, and causality

Friendship Essay

• Identify type:

  • Utility / Pleasure / Virtue

• Show:

  • Mutual object of love

  • Stability vs. other types

Socrates vs. Crito Essay

• Crito:

  • Focus on personal relationships

• Socrates:

  • Focus on justice and law

• Socrates’ strength:

  • Upholds objective good over opinion