Intro Philosophy: Final Exam

Prof. John Waldrop

What is Evodius’ question for Augustine at the beginning of On the Free Choice of the Will, and what is Augustine’s answer? (How does Augustine’s answer differ from the Manichaean alternative that he rejects?) What are the two sorts of evil Augustine discusses?

At the beginning, he asks “Isn’t God the cause of evil?“. Augustine’s answer is no. He elaborates by saying that though God is the creator of all things, he is not the cause of sins.

Augustine’s answer differs from the Manichean alternative because Manichaeism focuses on the duality of God and evil, by saying how they are equally real(Good God + Evil God) and saying that there is a cosmic back-and-forth battle. In contrast, Augustine says there is no cosmic battle between the two, just a good universe created by God who oversees everything that happens in the world.

Suffering:

• the evil that happens to people (ex: a bird poops on your head): no problem for Augustine

Sin:

• the evil that people do (ex: stealing someone’s car)

• people cause sin: free will/voluntarily

Explain Augustine’s idea that sin is inordinate desire. What is the order of loves? What are the different ways in which a person’s loves can be disordered?

Augustine says that sin is inordinate desires because it acts out of order.

We act from love or values. You must love God & must love him more than everything.

Loving Something You Shouldn't:

• white castle

Not loving something you should:

• family

Loving things in the wrong proportion:

• loving yourself more than God

Book II of On the Free Choice of the Will is concerned with the question: why did God give humans free will in the first place? How does Augustine answer this question?

Augustine says God gave humans free will so that humans have a choice in what they do between right and wrong. This is because freedom is an important part of what humans need to live rightly. God supplies us with everything that we need so we live rightly, and this includes the ability to live wrongly.

Explain Augustine’s argument for God’s existence in Book II, also known as the argument from eternal truths.

Augustine begins by saying he exists, he knows that he exists, and he understands that he exists. he reasons that it is really good. God is the absolute the best which is true because he is better than reason which is considered the next greatest thing under him. Whatever is eternal is better than whatever is not

(A) He says that since 2+2=4 and this answer will never change it is eternal and unchangeable. So if you went into a garden and destroyed a bunch of flowers, 2+2 would still = 4.

“truths about numbers and wisdom”→ or eternal truths

(B) ETs are either:

(1) inferior to reason → not this

(2) Equally good → not this(because our reason can change)

(3) Superior to reason → this

What is “the problem of freedom and foreknowledge” and how does Augustine answer this problem in Book III?

Augustine presents two options:

1. Either God doesn’t know the future

2. We can’t be blamed when we sin

Augustine’s Solution:

1. God's knowledge doesn't make actions necessary

2. God knows actions by understanding the will's voluntary nature

3. Foreknowledge "piggybacks" on human voluntary choices

Ex:

• Like an expert tennis player knowing what they'll do because they're the one doing it

On page 179, the teacher concludes: “So although the good angel received perseverance because God gave it, it’s not the case that the evil angel did not receive it because God didn’t give it; rather, God didn’t give it because he didn’t receive it, and he didn’t receive it because he didn’t will to receive it.” In the part building up this, how does Anselm defend this claim?

Anslem defends his claim by saying the difference between good and evil angels has to do with their wills. He then explains that perseverance is a gift from God, but it is only given to those who will receive it. Good angels received perseverance because they wanted to remain righteous and to be accepted by God’s grace. The evil angels did not receive perseverance because they chose to turn away from God and did not aim to be accepted by God’s grace. God didn’t withhold his grace, the angels just didn’t receive it because they turned away from it.

Normally, you don’t get credit for doing something good if you don’t really have a choice about it. The good angels can’t sin, but nevertheless we want to give them credit for not sinning. How does this work? At the end of On the Fall of the Devil Anselm explains why the good angels get credit for being unable to sin. What does he say?

Credit:

1. their inability to sin comes from their knowledge

2. The way they gained this knowledge is praiseworthy

Why get credit:

• The good angels know what would happen if they sinned by observing the bad angels' punishment

• They learned about divine justice by seeing the consequences of the bad angels' choices

• This knowledge prevents them from sinning

• Crucially, they gained this knowledge by NOT sinning in the first place

What is Peter Singer advocating for? How does he argue for this?

Wealthy individuals should give significantly more to effective charities to prevent suffering, especially in developing countries.

Why:

• Suffering is bad (starvation, preventable diseases)

• If we can prevent something bad without making a comparable sacrifice, we should do so

Structure:

• Uses the "Drowning Child" thought experiment

• If you'd save a drowning child nearby without significant personal risk, you should similarly help people suffering globally

What does Socrates’ “style”, or how they argue, tell us about what philosophy is?

His style shows us that philosophy is whatever he thinks the right thing to do is, but he gets in trouble for it.

What does Descartes’ “style”, or how they argue, tell us about what philosophy is?

His style treat philosophy like a philosophical science and it is just about what you believe or what you think the world is like, not something that dominates your whole life.

What does Aristotle’s “style”, or how they argue, tell us about what philosophy is?

His style reveals philosophy as a careful and logical search for knowledge based on thinking clearly and observing the world.

What does Augustine’s “style”, or how they argue, tell us about what philosophy is?

His style tells us that we need to break down philosophical matters or ideas step-by-step through logical reasoning. He demonstrates philosophy as a rigorous, patient process of interpreting beliefs, challenging understanding, and constructing nuanced arguments about human experience.

What does Anselm’s “style”, or how they argue, tell us about what philosophy is?

His style tells us that philosophers can be ambitious by attempting complex intellectual movements and he is comparable to a skateboarder attempting complex tricks. In this way it could go very well or very poorly depending on its execution.

Judging from the philosophers we’ve studied this semester, what sorts of questions do philosophers think about? What is philosophy?

They think about whether God is real and what his character is if he is proven real. They also think about exploring ethics and morals. Philosophy is asking questions about existence, challenging conventional thinking, and rationally exploring complex concepts.