Midterm Study Material

(contains duplicate terms because I figured if they pop up more than once they're worth repeating) Topics: Vaughn Textbook Chapters 1-5, 9-14 (until 14.2); The Republic by Plato, Books 1-4, 6; Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle Books 1-2, 5; and Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes, First and Second Meditations

How does Descartes begin the First Meditation?

He starts by questioning all his previous beliefs, saying he ‘had accepted many false claims as true’ in the past and looks to find a foundation of certain knowledge

In what ways does Descartes doubt beliefs in the First Meditation?

• He observes that many beliefs come from senses that can be deceived (e.g. objects seeming smaller when far away)

• Seemingly certain beliefs could be untrue due to the possibility of dreaming

• His own thoughts could be deceived by a more powerful being (such as an evil demon), meaning even logically/certain beliefs may be untrue

What does Descartes conclude at the end of his First Meditation?

That he must doubt everything possible and suspend all beliefs until he can find something that is absolutely certain

What is the first certain truth Descartes finds in his Second Meditation?

Even if he is tricked, in order to be tricked and have his doubts, he must exist → ‘Cogito, ergo sum’/’Je pense, donc je suis’

How does Descartes use his certain truth to find other knowledge in his Second Meditation?

He knows that the mind can be known through thought alone (unlike body which may not be interacting with real things) → rebuilds knowledge from certainty of self as a thinking, concious being

What does Aristotle say about the goal of actions in Nicomachean Ethics?

All actions aim at some good, with the highest good being happiness, eudaimonia, which is sought for its own sake

Why is politics the ‘master art’ according to Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics?

It aims at the good of the community (the greatest good) and dictates the aim of sciences around it

What does Aristotle say about ethical study in Nicomachean Ethics?

Ethical study cannot be exactly like mathematics or science because it deals with what is generally true, depending on practical judgement and context

According to Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics, what is happiness?

The activity of the soul in accordance with virtue 

What is the human function according to Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics?

Rational activity → reasoning and acting virtuously means living well

What is virtue according to Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics?

It is a state of character that involves choice guided by reason, and enables a person to perform their function well

What are moral virtues according to Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics (ē)?

It is between the two extremes of excess and deficiency, and is determined by practical wisdom (phronēsis) → e.g. courage being between rashness and cowardice, temperance being between indulgence and insensibility

What are the key tests of virtue according to Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics?

Pleasure and pain → a virtuous person finds pleasure in doing right and pain in doing wrong

What does one need in order to be virtuous according to Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics?

Habit, self-discipline, and awareness, as well as an avoidance of extremes

What is justice according to Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics?

The virtue concerned with fairness in relations between people, divided into:

• Distributive justice → fair allocation of goods and honours according to merit

• Rectificatory/corrective justice → fairness in transactions, restoring balance when wrongs occur

What is the important of reciprocity according to Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics?

It ensures fairness in exchanges and keeps social and economic relations stable

What is equity according to Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics?

It is a higher form of justice that allows for circumstances that can’t be anticipated by law → correct rigidity of written law

How does equitable judging work according to Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics?

Equitable judging does not judge by the letter, but by the spirit of the law, aiming for fairness in all cases

What is the main argument of book 1 of The Republic?

Justice is not simply obedience to authority, it must benefit the soul and society

What does Cephalus argue about justice in book 1 of The Republic?

He argues that justice is telling the truth and repaying debts

What does Polemarchus argue about justice in book 1 of The Republic?

He argues that justice is helping friends and harming enemies

What does Thrasymachus argue about justice in book 1 of The Republic?

He argues that justice is the advantage of the stronger; rulers make laws to serve themselves

What does Socrates argue about justice in book 1 of The Republic?

He argues that justice is a virtue and leads to harmony, not self-interest or power

Who are the central characters in The Republic?

Socrates, Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus, Glaucon, and Adeimantus

What do Glaucon and Adeimantus argue in book 2 of The Republic?

They argue that people are only just out of fear of punishment and that justice is a useful, but not inherently good, social contract

What story do Glaucon and Adeimantus present to support their argument in book 2 of The Republic?

The Ring of Gyges story → a man with invisibility would act unjustly without fear of consequence

How does Socrates respond to Glaucon and Adeimantus in book 2 of The Republic?

He examines justice in the city rather than in an individual (macro vs. micro) and begins building the ideal city, starting from simple concepts in a simple city, then building to a luxury one protected by warriors called guardians

How does Socrates say the guardian class should be educated in book 3 of The Republic?

He says that they should be taught only tales promoting virtue (omittance of poetry and stories) with music and gymnastics shaping the soul and body

What are the guardians described by Socrates in The Republic?

They are rulers of a city that are crucial for the peace, purity, and protection of the city → the guardians must be balanced between gentleness and toughness, which is achieved by being carefully educated

What traits does Socrates say are crucial for guardians in book 3 of The Republic?

Guardians must be philosophical, brave, disciplined, and loyal to the city

Why is the myth of metals proposed by Socrates in book 3 of The Republic?

It is a ‘useful fiction’ that can be told to citizens to justify social hierarchy and promote unity

What is the myth of metals described by Socrates in book 3 of The Republic?

The idea that citizens were born of the earth and their soul is mixed with a metal, either gold, silver, or bronze/iron → those with gold are most suited to rule, those with silver to be auxiliaries, and those with bronze/iron to be producers, and going against this metal will ruin the city

How does Socrates say guardians live in book 3 of The Republic?

He says they live communally, without private property or families

What key ideas are brought up in book 3 of The Republic?

The role of education in shaping citizens, the importance of censorship and myth-making for social harmony, and the idea of classes based on natural aptitude

What is the structure of the ideal city according to Socrates in book 4 of The Republic?

There are three classes: the rulers, auxiliaries, and producers

What virtues lie with which classes in book 4 of The Republic?

• Rulers/guardians → wisdom, knowledge of how the city should be run

• Auxiliaries → courage, they are the ones who must fight for the city

• Producers → moderation/justice, agreement over who should rule and cooperation for the good of the city (not just producers; spread over whole city)

How does Socrates define justice in the city in book 4 of The Republic?

Justice means each class doing its own work and not interfering with others

How does Socrates compare the city structure to the soul in book 4 of The Republic?

He says that, like the social structure of the city, there are three parts to the soul, and that justice within the soul, like justice in the city, means each part fulfilling its proper role, led by reason

What are the three parts of the soul described in book 4 of The Republic?

Reason, spirit, and appetite

What key ideas are brought up in book 4 of The Republic?

The idea that justice means internal harmony in both individuals and society as well as the general parallel between political order and psychological health

What is Socrates’ main argument in book 6 of The Republic?

His main argument is that only philosopher kings are fit to make up the rulers due to their love of truth, wisdom, and the Forms

Why does Socrates say non-philosophers cannot rule in book 6 of The Republic?

He says they are too driven by opinion rather than knowledge

How does Adeimantus argue against the idea of philosopher-kings and what is Socrates’ response in book 6 of The Republic?

Adeimantus argues that the philosophers he has known are useless or vicious → Socrates attributes to society, which:

• Leads true philosophers away from the field in hopes of making money or seeking glory

• Replaces natural philosophers who have left with vicious, unnatural philosophers

• Is antithetical to correct ideals, considering the few good philosophers useless

What is the simile of the ship in book 6 of The Republic?

There is a ship on which the ship owner is hard of hearing, has poor vision, and lacks seafaring skills, causing the sailors to quarrel over who should be captain → they use only force and tricks to get chosen as captain, with those failing in using the most force or best tricks being labelled useless

How does the simile of the ship mirror society in book 6 of The Republic?

If there were to be a man on the ship who had true navigation skills, he would be called a useless stargazer for his inability to keep up with the force and tricks used by the sailor → philosophers are the true captains and society is the crew

According to Socrates in book 6 of The Republic, what tests of guardians are crucial in choosing who is fit to be a ruler?

The test of who is the most loyal to the city as well as the test of who can tolerate the most important subject, the Form of the Good → understanding the Form of the Good gives the highest level of knowledge and ability to be a philosopher king

What is the Form of the Good according to Socrates in book 6 of The Republic?

It is not what is commonly held to be good, not pleasure, nor knowledge, it is ‘what is the offspring of the good and most like it’

What is the metaphor of the sun in book 6 of The Republic?

The sun is to the visible realm what the Good is to the intelligible realm (of the Forms) in three respects:

1. Sun is source of light/visibility in the visible realm → the Good is the source of intelligibility in intelligible realm

2. Sun is responsible for giving us sight → Good gives us capacity for knowledge

3. Sun is responsible for causing things to exist in visible realm (seasons, plants, etc.) → the Good is responsible for the existence of the Forms in the intelligible realm

What is the analogy of the line in book 6 of The Republic?

The line illustrates the ways of accessing the world, being broken into four grades of knowledge/opinion with the bottom segments being our access to the visible realm and the top two the intelligible:

• Lowest grade is imagination → considering images of real things, includes art

• Higher is belief → still in visible realm, but makes contact with real things with person here thinking that sensible particulars are most real things in world

• Next is thought → deals in Forms but uses sensible particulars as images to aid in reasoning, relies on hypotheses

• Highest in understanding → purely abstract science that deals exclusively with Forms, works with non-hypothetical first principle of Form of the Good

Individuals work up the line towards the Form of the Good, and upon reaching it you have hit a universal proposition and understand all Forms → highest stage of knowledge

What is the story of the allegory of the cave?

• A group of prisoners are chained in a dark cave from birth in which they can only face one wall and see shadows projected by objects passing in front of an unseen fire behind them

• One prisoner is freed and leaves the cave, where they begin to see real objects, the world, and the sun, prompting their realisation that the sun is the source of all light, life, and truth

• The freed prisoner returns to the cave to enlighten their fellow prisoners, but the remaining prisoners reject the truth, rejecting and ridiculing the freed prisoner

What does the allegory of the cave represent?

• The cave → world of appearances and ignorance

• Shadows → false beliefs and illusions believed solely based on sensory perception

• Freeing of prisoner → philosophical pursuit of knowledge and understanding

• Sun → Form of the Good as ultimate source of truth and reality

• Prisoner’s return → responsibility of philosophers to educate others, even when they resist

What is existentialism?

A term applied to different philosophies that share themes about the uniqueness of each human being, the central importance of choice, and the individual’s response to an indifferent, absurd universe

What is fideism?

The notion that religious belief is grounded in faith, not reason

What are the five main themes of existentialism?

1. Individualism and subjectivity

2. Freedom and responsibility

3. Existence and essence

4. Anguish and absurdity

5. Authenticity

Who is Kierkegaard?

The father of modern existentialism and the champion of a radical form of fideism

What does Kierkegaard content about society?

He says it is crushing individuals, diluting their personal identity, robbing them of passion, and replacing them with people who have “forgotten what it means to exist” and live as authentic human beings

What does Kierkegaard assert about religion and reason?

He says that belief in Christian doctrine is absurd, with the belief only being supported by probabilities and uncertainties → the attempt to make religion conform to reason are doomed to fail

What is the paradox of Christian belief according to Kierkegaard?

Christian belief is absurd, but only an absurd belief can be truly believed → to believe passionately is impossible of other concepts, it is only achieved by the leap of faith required to believe absurd subjective certainties

What does Kierkegaard think about subjective truth?

It is an objectively uncertain belief held in “passionate inwardness” and is the only truth that can show what really matters in life and how that life can be lived → “the highest truth available for an existing person”

How does Kierkegaard explain objective and subjective truths in relation to belief?

What is believed has to do with objective truth and how it is believed has to do with subjective truth

How does subjective truth become objective truth according to Kierkegaard?

He says that once the subjective truth, the how of faith, is present, then the what of objectivity will also be present → brought along by subjective truth

Why is Hegel important?

He was one of the most important thinkers in 1800s Germany and was the biggest philosophical influence on Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

What is the core of Hegel’s system?

Absolute idealism with Spirit or Absolute

How does Hegel see the history of the world?

He sees it as the continual development of Spirit towards greater self-consciousness and rationality → history going in a positive direction towards a better future

What is the guiding principle of the socialist view?

Equality → the wealth of society should be shared by all 

What is Marx’s formula for the ideal distribution of goods?

“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”

What does Marx think is the driving force behind philosophy, history, society, law, government, and morality?

Economics → it is the dominant system of economics in every age that determines how society is structured and how history will go

How does Marx think about class struggle throughout history?

He says it repeats itself through Hegel’s dialectic process, which in modern times is between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats 

How does Marx predict proletarian revolutions?

He says the bourgeoisie undermine themselves by creating a large, poor, exploited proletarian class that eventually will revolt to bring about a classless society

What is absolute idealism?

The doctrine that the universe is an objective reality consisting of ideas in the universal mind

What is panentheism?

The view that God is in every part of the universe but is also more than the universe

What is socialism?

The political and economic view that the means of production (property, factories, businesses) should be publicly owned, but still allows some amount of personal property

What is communism?

An economic system that is classless and stateless with all property being communally owned → personal property and government are completely eliminated

What is the difference between socialism and communism and how does Marx think of them?

Socialism:

• Can exist under different political systems (such as democracy)

• Still allows for some personal property

• Accepts the existence of classes while aiming to diminish disparities between them

Communism:

• Functions in a stateless society

• Does not allow for personal property

• Is classless

Marx:

• Saw socialism as a transitional step towards communism, with communism being the true end goal

What is capitalism?

A socioeconomic system in which wealth goes to anyone who can acquire it in a free marketplace

What is the Spirit/Absolute according to Hegel?

The universal mind that contains the universe and reality

What is Hegel’s dialectic?

1. Thesis → a historical staring point

2. Antithesis → state of affairs directly opposed to the thesis

3. Synthesis → this conflict yields a new situation, and then the pattern repeats with the synthesis as the new thesis

How do the bourgeoisie and proletarian fit into the dialectic?

The bourgeoisie are the thesis, the proletarian are the antithesis, and the communist society created by a proletarian revolution is the synthesis

How does conflict occur between the bourgeoisie and proletarian?

To increase profits, the bourgeoisie hire more and more workers, paying them less and less, replacing workers with machines whenever possible → proletarian wages decline, unemployment rises, and exploitation continues, with the worsening situation increasing alienation

What is alienation according to Marx?

The sense felt by a proletariat that they are no longer valued as a person, just as a cog in the capitalist machinery → no longer take pride in their work as it devolved into mindless assembly-line motions

What are the criticisms of communism?

• People are required to do jobs that suit their skills rather than their interests → cooperation potentially requiring coercion by the state

• People must accept benefits that fit to their needs rather than desires

• Lack of incentive to work since people are provided for according to their needs, not in response to their performance

Who was Mill?

An empiricist philosopher dedicated to his liberal and utilitarian ideals bettering society

What were some of the social reforms for which Mill advocated?

Individual liberty, freedom of expression, social tolerance, aid to the poor, abolition of slavery, humane treatment of prisoners, and women’s rights

At twenty, how did Mill gain a new perspective?

He had a mental breakdown which caused him to leave behind less desirable features of Bentham’s theory but remained a utilitarian

What had an impact on Mill’s view on women’s rights?

His marriage to the feminist Harriet Taylor

What earned Mill respect as a philosopher?

His work in epistemology, deductive and inductive logic, political though, and ethics

How do utilitarians judge morality of a conduct?

By the principle of utility → right actions are those that result in greater overall well-being (utility) for the people involved compared to other possible actions

What are the two main forms of utilitarianism?

Act-utilitarianism and rule-utilitarianism

Who devised the classic version of utilitarianism?

Jeremy Bentham

What is the core of classic utilitarianism?

It says that the utility to be maximised is pleasure → happiness is the only intrinsic good

How does Bentham conceive of happiness?

He thinks it is one-dimensional, only being pleasure, and varies only in the amount experienced → moral ideal is to experience maximum pleasure - glutton?

How does Mill conceive of happiness?

He thinks that pleasure can vary in quality and quantity with lower and higher pleasures → lower/inferior indulged by glutton/ilk and higher satisfied by search for knowledge as well as appreciation of art/music

What is the main feature of classic utilitarianism?

It features a strong sense of impartiality, as well as an emphasis on maximising total quantity of net happiness without thought about its rationing among people

What are our considered moral judgements?

Moral opinions that we arrive at after careful deliberation with minimised bias, self-interest, and other distoring influences

What is the most serious criticism of utilitarianism?

It can conflict with our considered moral judgements, and any moral theory that is inconsistent with these can be considered flawed

How do utilitarians respond to major criticism?

They contend that scenarios created are unrealistic and that judgements of common-sense morality and utilitarianism often coincide when all facts are known → do acknowledge that there are cases in which maximising utility contradicts moral judgements, which raises doubt about the utilitarian standard

What is act-utilitarianism?

The idea that the rightness of actions depends solely on the overall well-being produced by individual actions

What is rule-utilitarianism?

The doctrine that a right action is one that conforms to a rule that, if followed consistently, would create for everyone involved the most beneficial balance of well-being over suffering

What are some of the works composed by Mill?

System of Logic, On Liberty, and Utilitarianism

What is the principle of utility?

Right actions are those that result in greater overall well-being (utility) for the people involved compared to other possible actions