Aristotle, Plato, and Early Sociology Lecture Review

Flashcards covering key concepts from lectures on Aristotle's philosophy of skills, virtue, and ends, Plato's theory of Forms and the Allegory of the Cave, and the historical background and provocations leading to the founding of early Sociology, including Industrialization and the Enlightenment.

Libertarian Free Will

The ability to freely choose A or not choose A, like a rudder that swings in both directions.

Habitus

A habit developed through repetitious choice over time.

Telos (Aristotle)

The natural end or goal for a skill, which choices repeated over time must work towards. Also, the end or purpose for which an item was made, e.g., 'to cut well' for a knife.

Arete (Aristotle)

Greek term for excellence; an excellence specific to a kind of thing, e.g., 'sharpness' for a knife to cut well. For humans, these are virtues or character traits that help attain their end.

Essence (Aristotle)

The necessary structure an item must have to accomplish its end (telos), e.g., a handle and blade for a knife. For humans, it's the mind and will, orienting them towards happiness.

Virtues as a Mean (Aristotle)

Virtues typically exist as a 'middle' or 'Golden Mean' between two excesses, such as courage being the mean between cowardice and recklessness.

Eudaimonia (Aristotle)

Greek term for happiness, viewed as the ultimate and objective end that all humans seek, composed of a group of goods (like virtues). Pleasure and emotions are consequences of this objective happiness.

Pleasure's Role in Skill & Virtue (Aristotle)

Pleasure attracts our will, and repeated choices driven by it can lead to the development of skills or virtues. Skills, initially low in pleasure, yield greater, more reliable, and deepening pleasure over time.

Instrumental End (Aristotle)

Something desired purely for achieving another, external end, valued for the job it does rather than for itself (e.g., a stethoscope).

Intrinsic End (Aristotle)

Something desired for its own sake, an end-in-itself, not for an external purpose (e.g., an intrinsic friendship).

Progression from Instrumental to Intrinsic (Aristotle)

The process where something initially valued instrumentally (e.g., learning a language to avoid punishment) eventually becomes loved for its intrinsic value.

Substance (Aristotle)

A natural whole characterized by specific activity and independent existence, capable of surviving the loss of some of its parts (e.g., a tree, a human person).

Composite (Aristotle)

Objects that lack deep unity and have no existence 'over-and-above' their parts, existing as a 'heap' of interdependent components, where loss of essential parts threatens their existence (e.g., a pile of stones, a sphere missing a slice).

Forms (Plato)

Perfect, ideal, and absolute entities that exist independently and are implied by the existence of imperfect, degreed phenomena in the sensible world.

Epistemic Argument (Plato)

An argument that humans have knowledge of the Forms because when confronted with the imperfect, they appear to know the perfect (from Phaedro).

Eduction (Plato)

Plato's process of recognizing Forms in reality, which involves ascending from the imperfect or degreed observations to the perfect, absolute Forms through attentive observation and reason.

Allegory of the Cave (Plato)

A metaphor illustrating human captivity in the sensible world, where prisoners mistake shadows for reality, representing ignorance of the true Forms outside the cave.

Sociology

The study of society (the city, or 'polis', and its people), which emerged from philosophers in the 1700s-1800s in response to radical societal changes.

Provocations for Sociology

The two radical societal changes that spurred the founding of sociology: Industrialization and the Enlightenment.

Industrialization

A radical societal change characterized by the shift from medieval farms and manual shops to modern steam-powered factories, leading to urban migration and new social issues.

Enlightenment

A philosophical movement aiming to remove the king and religion from ruling society, advocating for individual reason and secular governance.

Medieval World

The pre-1700s-1800s Western world, characterized by cities surrounded by farms, manual work with perceived meaning, close-knit family labor, and rule by a king who upheld religion.

Steam Power

Hot, expanding gas from boiling water, used as a powerful, scalable, and intermediary energy source that fueled factories and enabled industrial expansion beyond natural resources.

Three 'Pushes' against State Religion

The Protestant Reformation (1500s), the Philosophical Enlightenment (1600s-1700s), and corruption within the Roman Catholic Church, all contributing to the removal of official religion from the state.

Protestant Reformation

A 16th-century movement that challenged Roman Catholic Church practices, leading to the formation of Protestant branches and emphasizing 'Scripture alone' and individual reason, thereby questioning established authority.

Mechanical Worldview

A modern scientific perspective, influenced by Descartes and Newton, viewing the universe as a clock-like, law-governed system discoverable through observation and reason.

First Estate (1700s France)

The Clergy, comprising the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church in pre-Revolutionary France.

Second Estate (1700s France)

The Nobility, consisting of the upper-class individuals by birth or property in pre-Revolutionary France.

Third Estate (1700s France)

The Commoners, encompassing everyone else outside the Clergy and Nobility in pre-Revolutionary France.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)

A foundational document of the French Revolution, declaring equal rights for all individuals as citizens and asserting that authority originates from the Nation, not the King.

National Assembly (French Revolution)

The former Third Estate, which, after the Revolution, became the dominant legislative body, incorporating former Clergy and Nobility who divested their titles to blend in.

Secular Republic (French Revolution)

The outcome of the French Revolution where the idea of 'procession' (how equality should proceed) was bypassed, leading to the establishment of a state without official religion, often followed by periods of dictatorship.