FINAL PHILOSOPHY MIDTERM

What are all learning through argumentation based on?

Prior knowledge.

What is scientific knowledge?

Knowing the specific cause that makes a fact true and knowing it cannot be otherwise.

What is a demonstration?

A syllogism that produces scientific knowledge.

What is a syllogism?

A form of reasoning in which a conclusion follows from premises.

Why must a demonstration premise be true?

Because scientific knowledge cannot be based on what does not exist.

What does primary mean for a demonstration premise?

It is foundational and does not depend on a more basic premise.

What does immediate or indemonstrable mean?

It does not require proof from an earlier premise.

What does "better known than the conclusion" mean?

We are more certain of the premise than of the conclusion.

What does "prior to the conclusion" mean?

The premise logically comes before and helps explain the conclusion.

Why must a demonstration premise be a cause?

Because scientific knowledge requires knowing why the conclusion is true.

What does "better known to man" mean?

It is more evident to us through immediate sense perception.

What does "better known in the order of being" mean?

It is more fundamental in reality, even if less obvious to our senses.

What is the first mode of per se?

An attribute belonging to a subject as part of its essential nature.

What is the second mode of per se?

An attribute whose definition includes the subject itself.

What is the third mode of per se?

Something that is not predicated of another subject, such as a substance.

What is the fourth mode of per se?

Something that follows from a subject through a consequential or causal connection.

What is a commensurately universal attribute?

An attribute that belongs essentially to every instance of a subject, with that subject primary.

What is knowledge of the fact?

Knowing that something is the case.

What is knowledge of the reasoned fact?

Knowing why something is the case through its proximate cause.

What is a Propter Quid demonstration?

A demonstration in which the middle term is the true proximate cause of the conclusion.

What is a Quia demonstration of the first type?

A demonstration whose premises are not immediate and do not contain the proximate cause.

What is a Quia demonstration of the second type?

A demonstration that uses a better-known reciprocal effect instead of the true cause as its middle term.

Basic difference between Quia and Propter Quid?

Quia reasons from an effect toward its cause; Propter Quid reasons from the cause toward its effect.

How do you convert Quia #2 into Propter Quid?

Reverse the major and middle terms so that the true cause becomes the middle term.

What does cause mean?

What explains why a conclusion or effect is true.

What are Aristotle's levels of cognitive development?

Sense-perception → memory → experience → science or skill.

How do repeated sense perceptions lead to universal truths?

Repeated perceptions stabilize in the soul until the mind grasps a universal.

What does the route-in-battle metaphor illustrate?

Repeated perceptions are initially scattered, until one stable recognition allows order to emerge.

What is induction?

The movement from particular experiences to a universal principle.

Why is induction important in Aristotle?

It allows the mind to move from repeated experiences to universal principles.

How does induction relate to demonstration?

Induction supplies the per se statements that can serve as necessary starting premises for demonstration.

What is Euclid's definition of a point?

That which has no part.

What is Euclid's definition of a line?

Breadthless length.

What is Euclid's definition of a circle?

A plane figure contained by one line such that all straight lines from the center are equal.

What is a trilateral figure?

A figure contained by three straight lines.

How do Euclid's postulates and common notions relate to Aristotle's per se statements?

They function as basic immediate principles from which demonstrations proceed.

Do Euclid's postulates and common notions meet Aristotle's six criteria?

Yes; they are true, primary, immediate, prior, better known, and principles of demonstration.

Are Euclid's postulates and common notions demonstrated and proven to us?

No; they are learned through induction and intellectual intuition rather than prior demonstration.

Do Euclid's postulates belong only to geometry?

Yes; the postulates are specific to geometry.

Why are the common notions called common?

Because they are general principles that can be used across different sciences.

Can common notions be used in arithmetic?

Yes; because common notions apply beyond geometry to other sciences such as arithmetic.

How is Proposition 1 related to Proposition 2?

Proposition 1's construction of an equilateral triangle is used in Proposition 2.

What is demonstrative regress?

A movement from an observed effect to its cause, followed by reasoning from the cause back to the effect.

What is hypothetico-deductive reasoning?

Forming a hypothesis and deducing observable consequences that can be tested.

What is the hypothesis in "if p, then q"?

The antecedent, p.

What is the observable consequence in "if p, then q"?

The consequent, q.

What is falsification?

If p then q; not-q; therefore not-p.

How does verification of a hypothesis work?

Confirming predicted effects supports a hypothesis, but does not prove it with absolute certainty.

What degree of certitude does empirical verification provide?

Probability or high verisimilitude rather than absolute certainty.

How does Galileo's moon example illustrate demonstrative regress?

He begins with the observed lunar phases, investigates their cause, tests that cause geometrically, and then reasons back from the cause to the observed effect.

What is Zabarella's intermediate stage?

A mental examination of the suspected cause that tests the connection and eliminates alternative explanations.

How does Wallace's demonstrative regress relate to Aristotle's Quia and Propter Quid?

The movement from effect to cause corresponds to Quia, while the return from cause to effect corresponds to Propter Quid.

Are the experimental sciences distinct from philosophy of nature?

Yes in method: experimental science is dialectical and tentative, while natural philosophy is demonstrative and seeks ultimate causes.

How are experimental sciences and philosophy of nature not distinct?

They share the same subject, sensible starting point, and ultimate goal of knowing natural things.

What do experimental sciences and philosophy of nature have in common?

The same subject, origin in sensible matter, and ultimate end.

What is the method of philosophy of nature?

A demonstrative movement from what is generally and confusedly known toward ultimate causes.

What is the method of experimental science?

A dialectical movement using tentative generalizations to investigate proximate causes.

How does natural philosophy use sensory experience?

It begins with confused wholes and generalities that are most obvious to the senses.

How do experimental sciences use sensory experience?

They investigate increasingly concrete, singular, and specific parts of nature.

Why is natural philosophy a higher science?

It is higher because it gives more certain knowledge of both the fact and the reasoned fact and reaches ultimate causes.

What is DeKoninck's criticism of modern biology?

Modern biologists often begin with obscure or inanimate things instead of familiar living organisms.

What is better known to us in DeKoninck's biology discussion?

Familiar living organisms and ordinary sensory experience.

What is less known to us in DeKoninck's biology discussion?

Microscopic, fundamental, or otherwise obscure aspects of matter.

What do modern biologists believe about the word "life"?

They tend to treat "life" as ambiguous or meaningless when it is defined from obscure starting points.

Why does starting with what is not better known lead modern biologists to think this about "life"?

Because beginning with obscure things makes the familiar reality of living beings harder to understand.

What does the shotgun-hunter example show?

Chance can occur within a natural process while an outcome still serves a purpose or final cause.

What does the mushroom-spore example show?

Random distribution can still contribute to the organism's purposive end of survival.

What is Fabre's subject of study?

Living entomology, especially wasps and caterpillars.

What is Fabre's style of study?

Patient observation of living insects in their natural behavior.

How is Fabre's style opposed to other biologists' style?

He emphasizes direct observation of living organisms rather than primarily dissection or laboratory analysis.

Why does Fabre say his style is for children and philosophers?

Because it relies on simple observation and reveals questions about instinct and nature.

What was Fabre's initial hypothesis about the pine processionary caterpillar?

That if the caterpillar encounters a closed circular path, it will leave it to reach food.

How did Fabre test the caterpillar hypothesis?

He placed the caterpillars on a vase in a closed circle and removed the trails leading outward.

What observable effect did Fabre test for?

Whether the caterpillar would break the circular path rather than continue following it.

How can Fabre's hypothesis be stated as "if p, then q"?

If the caterpillar can adjust its behavior to avoid starvation, then it should leave the circle and move toward food.

What is von Frisch's ultimate goal?

To compare bee dances and understand how their signaling behavior evolved.

What does the round dance communicate?

That food is nearby.

What does the tail-wagging dance communicate?

The direction and distance of more distant food.

How is the sun involved in the tail-wagging dance?

The bee uses the angle of the food relative to the sun to indicate direction.

How is gravity involved in the tail-wagging dance?

The bee translates that directional information into an angle on the vertical comb.

What does the sickle dance communicate?

An intermediate distance to food in Italian honeybees.

Are bee dances taught by older bees to younger bees?

No; the dances are innate rather than learned from older bees.

What do differences among bee dances show about evolution?

They suggest different evolutionary stages or dialects of the same signaling behavior.

Is comparing living bee species a good method for studying evolution?

Yes; behavioral stages leave no fossil record, so differences among living species provide indirect evidence.

How does Frisch believe the bees evolved to have this behavior?

The behavior evolved gradually from simpler intention movements.

What was the previous historical view of blood circulation?

Veins carried crude blood, arteries carried perfected spirits, and blood was continually produced from digested food.

What is Harvey's novel theory about blood motion?

Blood continuously circulates from the heart through the arteries, around the body, and back through the veins to the heart.

Is Harvey's novel theory a hypothesis or an observable effect?

It is his hypothesis about how blood moves.

What purpose does Harvey assign to circulation?

To nourish and warm the body by continually returning cooled blood to the heart.

What do the arteries do?

They carry blood away from the heart to the body.

What do the veins do?

They return blood from the body to the heart.

What is Harvey's first proposition?

The amount of blood entering the arteries is far greater than could come from food consumed.

What is Harvey's second proposition?

The amount of blood reaching the extremities is far greater than nutrition alone requires.

What is Harvey's third proposition?

The veins continuously return blood to the heart.

Are Harvey's three propositions hypotheses or observable effects?

They are observable effects used to test Harvey's circulation hypothesis.

How does Harvey's hypothesis fit "if p, then q"?

If blood continuously circulates, then the observed quantities of blood, arterial movement, venous return, and one-way flow should occur.

How does Harvey prove his first proposition?

He uses calculations and vivisection to show that the heart pumps more blood than could come from food.

How does Harvey prove his second proposition?

Arm ligatures show that blood enters through the arteries while the veins swell when venous return is blocked.

How does Harvey prove his third proposition?

Venous valves permit blood to move toward the heart and prevent it from flowing back toward the extremities.

What is the end of the heart according to Harvey?

Its motion and contraction propel the blood in continuous circular motion.