Final Exam Study Material

All material from chapter 1-5, 9-14 of Living Philosophy by Lewis Vaughn

What is the philosophical method?

The systematic use of critical reasoning to try to find answers to fundamental questions about reality, morality, and knowledge

What is metaphysics?

The study of reality

What is epistemology?

The philosophical study of knowledge

What is axiology?

The study of value, including both aesthetic value and moral value

What is logic?

The study of correct reasoning

What is an argument?

A group of statements in which one of them (the conclusion) is supported by the others (the premises)

What is a statement?

An assertion that something is or is not the case and is therefore the kind of utterance that is either true or false

What is a conclusion?

In an argument, the statement being supported by the premises

What is a premise?

A statement that supports the conclusion of an argument

What is a deductive argument?

An argument intended to give logically conclusive support to its conclusion

What is an inductive argument?

An argument intended to give probable support to its conclusion

What are the valid argument forms?

Affirming the antecedent and denying the consequent

What are the invalid argument forms?

Affirming the consequent and denying the antecedent

What is the form affirming the antecedant?

If p, then q
p

Therefore, q

What is the form denying the consequent?

If p, then q
Not q

Therefore, not p

What is the form affirming the consequent?

If p, then q
q

Therefore, p

What is the form denying the antecedant?

If p, then q
Not p

Therefore, not q

What is a fallacy?

A common but bad argument

What is the straw man fallacy?

Misrepresenting a person’s views so they can be more easily attacked or dismissed

What is the appeal to the person fallacy?

Rejecting a statement on the grounds that it comes from a particular person, not because the statement itself is false or dubious

What is the appeal to popularity fallacy?

Arguing that a claim must be true not because it is backed by good reasons but simply because many people believe it

What is the genetic fallacy?

Arguing that a statement can be judged true or false based on its source

What is the equivocation fallacy?

Assigning two different meanings to the same significant word in an argument

What is the appeal to ignorance fallacy?

Trying to prove something by appealing to what we don’t know, arguing that either a claim is true because it hasn’t been proven false or that a claim is false because it hasn’t been proven true

What is the false dilemma fallacy?

Arguing erroneously that since there are only two alternatives to choose from, and one of them is unacceptable, the other one must be true

What is the begging the question fallacy?

Trying to prove a conclusion by using that very same conclusion as support

What is the slippery slope fallacy?

Arguing erroneously that a particular action should not be taken because it will lead inevitably to other actions resulting in some dire outcome

What is the composition fallacy?

Arguing erroneously that what can be said of the parts can be said of the whole

What is the division fallacy?

Arguing erroneously that what can be said of the whole can be said of the parts

What is confirmation bias?

When we resist conflicting evidence and seek out and use only confirming evidence

What is denying contrary evidence?

Trying to deny or resist evidence that flies in the face of our cherished beliefs, either denying, ignoring, or reinterpreting it so it fits better with our prejudices

What is motivated reasoning?

Reasoning for the purpose of supporting a predetermined conclusion, not to uncover the truth

What is the availability error?

Relying on evidence not because it’s truthworthy but because it’s memorable or striking → psychologically available

What is the Dunning-Kruger effect?

The phenomenon of being ignorant of how ignorant we are

How is the structure of a deductive argument described?

It is called either valid or invalid

How is the support lent by an inductive argument described?

It is called strong or weak

What is it called when a valid argument has true premises?

Sound

What is it called when a strong argument has true premises?

Cogent

What two things do good arguments need?

Solid logic and true premises

How did philosophy begin?

Beginning with the pre-Socratics, Greeks refused to follow traditional ways of thinking and instead looked to reason and experience to find truth

What was Thales’ important method?

He looked for natural, not mythic, explanations for natural phenomena, making explanations as simple as possible

What did Thales believe to be the substance of the world?

He held water as the source of all that exists, making up everything in existence in some way

What was Anaximander’s belief?

He believed everything came from a formless, imperishable substance called apeiron that was eternal → brought the beginning of existence without a start itself

What is Heraclitus’ central idea?

Logos, the principle, formula, or law of the world order → understanding it is to understand reality, the divine, and the underlying pattern of nature

What is logos according to Heraclitus?

He believes that everything in the universe flows in flux, but behind the flow is an unchanging pattern, logos → standing in river metaphor

How did Heraclitus see the cosmos?

He saw it as an eternal, rational force steering all things as a divine thought operating according to its own logic

In what two ways was Parmenides so important?

• He was the first to employ deduction outside of mathematics, using premises to justify conclusions

• Made two important distinctions, one between reason and the senses and the other between appearance and reality

How did Parmenides see reality?

He believes that reality consists of the One, and eternal, uniform, solid, perfect, and uncreated being

What is ancient atomism?

The view that reality consists of an infinite number of minute, indivisible bits called atoms moving rapidly in an infinite void

How did Democritus’ ideas differ from those of Parmenides?

Democritus proposed the void that is a space without things, but is not the same as having nothing

How did Democritus characterise the world?

He saw it as mechanistic, with things happening in a particular way because of the blind machinery of nature → argues there is no need for deities or agents to explain the state of the universe

How does Democritus compare to modern theories?

Although modern atoms differ from those proposed by Democritus, the basic insight that matter is made up of indivisible units has yet to be refuted

Who were the Sophists?

Itinerant professors teaching subjects for intellectual or practical use for a fee, including rhetoric, argument, law, ethics, and politics

How were the Sophists and Thales similar?

The Sophists also taught naturalist theories, favouring natural explanations over ones referring to gods or mythology → specifically taught that morality and law were not from gods, but were human inventions varying across societies

What were the ideas of Protagoras?

He was a famous Sophist that taught relativism, saying reality is what you believe it to be

What is relativism?

The doctrine that the truth about something depends on what persons or cultures believe → two types: subjective and cultural relativism

What is subjective relativism?

The notion that truth depends on what a person believes

What is cultural relativism?

The notion that truth depends on what a culture believes

Why did Plato reject relativism?

He argued that the doctrine undermined itself, making it unfounded → if relativism means reality is what one believes, believing that relativism is false makes it so, therefore if relativism is true, it is false

Who was Socrates and why was he important?

He was a majorly influential philosopher, shaping both Plato and Aristotle, praised for his intellect and character, being passionate yet self-controlled, plain-spoken yet brilliant

What was the most important goal in life according to Socrates?

Caring for one’s soul, that can only be nurtured through philosophical reflection, being harmed by doing wrong and helped by doing right

What is the Socratic Method?

A question-and-answer dialectic for applying critical thinking to statements that may seem out of reason’s reach, often showing beliefs to be incorrect or unfounded → e.g. Thrasymachus’ incorrect idea of justice

What is the reductio ad absurdum form?

The argument form in which a set of statements is assumed, and absurd or false statements are derived from the set, showing that at least one of the original statements must be rejected → form often taken by Socratic Method

How does Socrates see virtue?

Virtue is knowledge, to know a virtue is to have it since people naturally pursue good if they know what it is → not pursuing virtue is out of ignorance of good

What is a clear sign of an unhealthy soul for Socrates?

Pursuit of social status, wealth, power, and pleasure instead of the soul’s wellbeing

How is the good of the soul achieved according to Socrates?

Through uncompromising search for what is true and real, through the wisdom to see what is most vital in life

With what was Socrates charged?

Disrespecting gods approved by the state, acknowledging new gods, and corrupting the youth of the city

What was the result of Socrates’ trial?

He was tried before 500 jurors, most of which voted to convict him, sentencing him either to exile or death → Socrates chose death by poison, preferring death over having to leave Athens

How did Socrates defend himself in trial?

He denied the charges, contending that he did not teach metaphysics or try to make bad arguments look good, and that he actually did Athenians a favour with his arguments by turning their attention to the wellbeing of their souls

What was Plato’s personal life like?

• Born in 500s B.C. in Athens

• Founded the first university, the Academy, in 387 B.C. that persisted until being abolished by Justinian I

What three main events shaped Plato?

1. Introduction to Socrates

2. Witnessing the trial and death of Socrates

3. Travels to meet other philosophers

How did Plato see knowledge?

He rejected the relativism and skepticism of the Sophists, instead believing that knowledge could be acquired, that knowledge was objectively true, and that objects of knowledge are real things

What was the central notion of Plato’s philosophy?

The Forms and worlds of reality

What is the allegory of the cave?

• Prisoners in a cave see shadows of the world cast by a fire behind them

• One escapes and, after initially being blinded by the sun, sees the real world outside the cave

• They return to the cave, blinded again by the darkness, and try to explain their newfound, preferred reality

• The prisoners assume the escapee is blinded by the outside world, assuming it hostile

• They resolve to kill anyone who tries to remove them from their cave

What does the allegory of the cave represent?

The freed prisoner represents the difficulty in acquiring the Forms and knowledge, while the cave-dwellers represent opposition from the unenlightened and resistance to philosophical ideas

What are Plato’s two main arguments for immortality of the soul?

Recollection and affinity:

• Recollection → slave boy and problem of doubling the size of a shape in which, without experience, the boy exhibits instinctive knowledge of geometry

• Affinity → the two types of existence, fleeting physicality and divine unchangingness, mean the soul probably embodies both, being divine and physical

What is dualism?

The view that the mind and soul are two disparate things

What does Plato argue about aspects of the soul?

He accepts dualism, but also argues for three aspects of the soul:

• Appetite → satisfaction of bodily cravings, useful/pleasurable things

• Spirit → drive to preserve sense of self and serve ambition

• Reason → philosophical drive to pursue truth, the part that regulates the others and rules the soul as a whole

According to Plato, when is one moral?

When the three parts of the soul are in harmony and each fulfill their proper function well

What is meritocracy?

A system of rule by an elite distinguished by abilities and achievements

What is Plato’s view on how society should function?

He believed the only society that ensured people got their due was a meritocracy → democracy was a mob rule by those too easily swayed by emotional appeals and bad arguments

How is Plato’s ideal society structured?

Mirrors the soul with three parts:

• Producers → those moved by appetites, e.g. labourers, carpenters, artisans, farmers

• Auxiliaries → those moved by spirit, e.g. soldiers, warriors, police

• Guardians → those moved by reason, e.g. leaders, rulers, philsopher-kings

For what reasons is Plato’s ideal society criticised?

It is criticised for inequality, authoritarianism, and its subordination of individual liberty to the needs of the community

What was Aristotle’s personal life like?

• Born in Macedonia to King Nichomachus, at 17/18 enters Plato’s Academy at Athens for 20 years

• 347 B.C. around Plato’s death Aristotle leaves for Asia Minor to study philosophy and marine biology and marries Pythias, with whom he has a daughter

• Returns to Athens in 335 B.C. after 12 years to found the Lyceum school of philosophy and science

• Flees Athens for Euboea in 323 B.C. due to suspicious about his ties to Macedonia

• Dies in exile on Euboea at 62

How does Aristotle view knowledge and reality?

He believes that we can grasp objective truths about reality → says knowledge is possible and begins with sense experience, contrary to Plato

How does Aristotle create deductive systems?

He invents logic to systematise knowledge acquisition and proposes the syllogism, a logical argument structure with variables standing in for terms and where the intuitive axioms provide reason for a conclusion

How does Aristotle define scientific knowledge?

He sees it not as knowing something to be true, but knowing why something is true and believes logic and his syllogism are the best ways to evaluate whether a proposed explanation for a phenomenon is correct

What was the central metaphysical question examined by Aristotle?

What basic thing do all other things depend on for their existence? → Aristotle believes it is a substance

What metaphysical theories does Aristotle reject?

• Notion that we can’t know the fundamental underlayment of reality

• Featureless prime matter → argues that a nebulous nothing cannot be a substance

How does Aristotle conceive of substance?

Substance is the composite of form and matter, where form is the essential element that makes matter more than amorphous stuff, form is the essence of a thing

What are Aristotle’s believes about change in metaphysics?

Change is commonplace, but with a persisting thing either whose properties change or from which a new thing arises

What are the causes established by Aristotle?

• Material → a thing’s material composition

• Formal → a thing’s properties that make it what it is

• Efficient → main source or initiator of change

• Final → what a thing is for or for what purpose it exists

What is teleology?

The existence of a purpose or end inherent in persons or things

What is the final cause for living things according to Aristotle?

There is a teleological cause for living things in which they are directed to a natural aim, not intentionally, but internally, moving towards the goal to which nature strives

What does Aristotle think makes up a good life?

A good life is one that follows reason, leading to happiness, and is one that possesses moral and intellectual virtues in full

What is a virtue?

A disposition to behave in line with a standard of excellence, and according to Aristotle is the midpoint, the ‘golden mean’, between extremes of excess and deficit, the vices

What is an example of a virtue and its corresponding vices?

Courage is the golden mean between the vices of cowardice and rashness

What are the three conditions for having propositional knowledge?

• You must believe in the idea

• The idea must be true

• You must have good justifications for you belief in the idea

What is skepticism?

The view that we lack knowledge in some fundamental way and that many (or all) of our beliefs are false or unfounded

What are the two ways of acquiring knowledge?

• Reason, a priori → independent of or prior to sense experience

• Sense experience, a posteriori → depends fully on sensation