key terms

rationalism

human reasoning is primary source of knowledge/truth

empiricism

all knowledge/truth is derived from the senses alone

revelation

knowledge is revealed to humanity through encounter with god

theory of the forms

Plato’s theory of two worlds, reality and appearance

form of the god

the highest of all the forms; the source of knowledge

concept/ideal

the innate, ideal of an object eg, its cattiness

phenomena/particular

an object in the material world, reflecting the forms e.g a cat

form (ARISTOTLE)

what makes something recognisable it’s shape or structure

material cause

what is the object made of (matter?)

efficient cause

who made the object? who bought it into existence

formal cause

the shape, structure and characteristics of an object

final cause

the purpose (telos) of an object

prime mover

the unchanging final cause of all that exists

telos

end, result, purpose

body/soul distinction

the issue with personal identity - who am I?

dualism

the belief that humans have two elements- body and soul

substance dualism

two elements (body and soul) are wholly different substances

monism

the view that humans are one substance not two

materialism

the only substance is a material one

identity theory

all metal activity is centred in the brain and is purely physical

theistic monism

“we are an indissoluble (unable to be destroyed) psycho-physical unity (hick)also known as soft materialism

“soul one” - Dawkins

non-material life force (mystic jelly-dawkins); an ancient idea being killed by science

“soul two” - Dawkins

intellect, reason or consciousness

category error

incorrectly assuming that two terms (mind and body) are of the same logical type

a posteriori

an argument based on sense experience and observations of evidence

teleological argument

an argument for the existence of god starting with the observed design or telos

cosmological argument

an argument for the existence of god starting with observations from existence of the universe

infinite regress

a chain of events going backwards forever

aquinas’ three ways

way one- motion

way two- cause

way three- necessity and contingency

contingent

depends on something else for its existence, can cease to exist

necessary

must exist - holds the reason for its being within itself

design qua purpose

design “as relating to” purpose

design qua regularity

design “as relating to” the regular cycles and natural laws of the world

evolution/ natural selection

the process where organisms best adapted to their environment survive thus passing on their genes and the others die

epicurean hypothesis

given infinite time, an infinite number of particles could produce order

fallacy of composition

what is observed about the parts cannot be assumed to be the same as whole

paradox

a situation where two contradictory statements both appear true

eternal- timeless

god is outside of time and sees all events as an internal present

eternal - everlasting

god is within time and moving through time

• “backwardly and forwardly eternal (Swinburne)

process theology

god moves through time with his creation and is effected by with interaction; god is powerful but not omnipotent

middle knowledge

god knows all the possibilities of your free choices

schleiermacher and omniscience

god’s knowledge is like that of close friends - can predict our future choices but free will is maintained

eternal - boethius

“eternity is the simultaneous possession of boundless life which is made clearer by comparison with temporal things”

simple necessity

the necessity of nature acting accordingly to the natural, physical laws of the universe

conditional necessity

dependent on the free choices made; “the addition of the condition”

euthyphro dilemma

is an action good because god commands it or does god command what is good

following necessity

the moment of free choice is known in gods eternal present; god is with us as the moment is in god

preceding necessity

refers to no free agent or choice, e.g gods knowledge of laws of nature

anslems four-dimensionalism

all times and places are equally real and present to god

presentism

only the present exists the past and future no not exist

univocal

the word has exactly the same meaning at all times e.g- boy

equivocal

the same word is used with two different completely meanings

cataphatic way

uses positive language to describe the qualities and nature of god

apophatic way

the via negativa - the negative way- the only legitimate way to talk about god is to say what he is not

analogy of attribution

a way of talking about god through attributing characteristics of the created to the creator

e.g good bread = good baker

sign

points to something outside of itself

symbol

participates in that no to which it points and conveys a depth of meaning often art an emotional level

cognitive

a statement that is subject to being true or false e.g “the cat is asleep on the teachers chair”

non cognitive

a statement that is not subject to truth or falsity e.g hurray or ouch

tautology

a logical statement true by definition

STRONG verification principle

a statement is only meaningful if it can be verified by an actual experience or is tautology

WEAK verification principle

a statement is meaningful if it is a tautology or it can be verified in principle

eschatological verification

religious statements will be verified at the end of life journey

synthetic statment

a statement that needs external evidence for it to be proven true or false

falsification principle

a statement for assessing whether statements are genuine scientific assertions by considering whether any evidence could disprove them

bilk

a world view which can be sane or insane; beyond judgement and reason

language games

words only have a specific meaning within the context of their own form of life