Plato & Aristotle: Ancient Philosophical Influences

Flashcards covering key concepts from the lecture on ancient philosophical influences from Plato and Aristotle.

Flux

The concept presented by Heraclitus that suggests the world is in a state of constant change.

A priori knowledge

Knowledge that is gained through reason and logical deduction rather than through empirical observation.

World of Forms

Plato's concept of a perfect, eternal realm that contains the true essence of all entities, in contrast to the imperfect particulars we encounter in reality.

Allegory of the Cave

A philosophical metaphor by Plato that illustrates how humans are bound to a limited perception of reality, only seeing shadows and not the true forms behind them.

Empiricism

The theory that knowledge comes primarily from sensory experience, as championed by Aristotle.

Four Causes

Aristotle's explanation of change within the universe, consisting of material, formal, efficient, and final causes.

Teleology

The explanation of phenomena by the purpose they serve rather than by postulated causes, often connected with Aristotle's final cause.

Prime Mover

Aristotle's concept of a first cause or essential being that initiates motion without being moved by anything else.

Anamnesis

Plato's theory of recollection which suggests that knowledge is innate and the soul remembers the forms it had encountered before birth.

Final Cause

The purpose or goal of a thing; what something is fundamentally directed towards, according to Aristotle's four causes.

Rationalism

The philosophical viewpoint that reason is the primary source of knowledge, associated with Plato.

The Third Man Argument

A critique of Plato's theory of forms arguing that forms themselves require further explanation and lead to an infinite regress.

Hume's Critique

David Hume's challenge to the idea that concepts like perfection can be innate, suggesting instead that they arise from human experience.