philosophy Exam 2 Study Guide

Monism

There is only one reality or only one kind of thing that is real

Dualism

2 forms of reality or two kinds of real things and that neither is reducible to the other

Pluralism

View that, despite scientific attempts to reduce all components of reality to ever more basic elements, common sense is correct to tell us that reality is composed of many different kinds of real things

Idealism

The ontological view that the very thing can be shown to be spiritual or mental associated with western philosophy with Berkeley and Hegel

Materialism

The ontological view that all reality can be shown to be material in nature

Nihilism

View that nothing is real

Cartesian Dualism

the theory that mind and body are two distinct substances: the mind is non-physical and thinking, while the body is physical and extended in space.

Mind/Body problem

issue of explaining the relationship between mental states (mind, consciousness) and physical states (body, especially the brain).

Pineal Gland

where the interaction between mind and soul meet

Behaviorism

Theory that only observable, object features of human or animal activity need to be studied to provide an adequate scientific amount of that activity. Study of consciousness not specifically possible nor needed

Mind/brain identity theory

Ontological view that minds and brains are not 2 different kinds of things; all references to minds and mental states are really references to brains and brain states

Eliminative Materialism

A materialistic theory of mind according to which sentences that seem to refer to no nonmaterial conscious states can be eliminated in favor of more accurate sentences referring to material states

Functionalism

Popular theory in the philosophy of mind according to which minds are not things; they are systems capable of interesting with their environment through computational activity

Theism

Belief in the existence of God or gods

Atheism

The view that there is no God

Agnosticism

View that holds open the possibility that God exists but claims we do not know or can’t know whether a deity exists

Traditional western concept of God

All powerful, all knowing, ever present, morally good

Omniscient

All knowing

Omnipotent

All powerful

Omnipresent

All or ever present

Onmibenevolent

All morally good

Ontological argument for God

argument for God’s existence based on reason alone, rather than observation or experience

cosmological argument for God

argument that the existence of the universe requires an explanation or cause, and that this ultimate cause is God

Teleological argument for God

argument for God’s existence based on the apparent order, purpose, and design found in the universe

Intelligent design

the view that certain features of the universe and living things are best explained by an intelligent cause or designer rather than by unguided natural processes.

The problem of evil

Logical and evidential claims. Logical inconsistency with God’s existence and evil’s existence. Evidential claims that profusion of evil makes God’s existence less likely

Logical

reasoning that follows the rules of logic and is based on valid principles of inference.

Evidential

means based on or supported by evidence.

Theodicy

attempt to explain or justify how God can be perfectly good and all-powerful while evil and suffering exist in the world.

Free will of defense

is the argument that God allows evil because human beings must have genuine free will, and free creatures can choose to do evil.

The problem of freedom and foreknowledge

Concerns an alleged incompatibility with human freedom and divine foreknowledge.

Freedom

Exists if there are things like free acts and free agents, if some acts are performed in such a way the authors of those acts could legitimately be held responsible for them. Libertarians say it does exist

Libertarian freedom

Asserts that the freedom to choose to do otherwise than what we in fact choose to do

Determinism

Denies principle of alternate possibilities and free will. I do not have the freedom to do otherwise than what I in fact do.

Compatibilism

Also denies principle of alternate possibilities but affirms that we have free will nonetheless

Fatalism

view that all events are fixed in advance and will happen exactly as they are meant to, regardless of human choices or actions.

Berkeley

claims that physical objects exist only as perceptions in minds, and their continued existence is maintained by God as the ultimate perceiver.

Decartes

based on radical doubt leading to certainty in the self (“I think, therefore I am”), and the view that mind and body are distinct substances (dualism), with knowledge grounded in clear and distinct ideas guaranteed by God.

Liebniz

argues that reality is made up of non-physical monads coordinated by God through pre-established harmony, guided by the principle of sufficient reason, and existing in the best possible world.

Augustine

evil as a privation of good caused by the misuse of free will, while maintaining that God is perfectly good and only creates good things.

Anselm

known for the ontological argument, which claims that God, defined as the greatest conceivable being, must exist in reality because existence is a necessary part of per

Gaunilo (lecture notes only)

criticizes Anselm’s ontological argument by using the “perfect island” example to show that defining something as perfect does not prove its real existence.

Aquinas

argues for God’s existence through the Five Ways, which are a posteriori arguments based on observation of motion, causation, contingency, degrees of perfection, and design in the world.

L. Mackie (lecture notes)

Stated there is an implicit contradiction between 2 propositions, god edicts and evil’s existence exists

Nelson Pike (lecture notes)

Offered explanation of freedom and divine foreknowledge

William Rowe (lecture notes)

Articulated an argument on the problems of evil. Tells of a deer being alone in a forest fire. Deer gets trapped in the fire and suffers before dying. Meaning that if evil and suffering exists than god doesn’t exist

Alvin Plantinga

Argues that the problem of evil is free will. Suggests that good reason for allowing evil is to create a world in which there is as much good morals as possible

Descartes dualism. What are the problems?

Thought that there were 2 spheres of being, mental and physical. This was a problem as when he pinpointed the Pineal Gland he picked a body part not of mind. By doing that he unraveled his theory of Dualism and turned and turned it into Materialism

Liebniz’s pluralism

reality is made up of many basic substances, not just one

Aquinas’ 5 ways God may exist

Motion, efficient cause, Contingency and Necessity, degrees of perfection, teleological design

3 arguments for God’s existence

ontological, cosmological, teleological

How is cosmological argument limited for atheism

They are trying to show that certain facts in the world are incompatible with the concept of God

Gaunillo’s objection to Anselm ontological argument. What were Hume’s and Kant’s objection?

by saying Anselm’s reasoning is flawed because you can use the same logic to “prove” absurd things. Hume criticized the idea that existence can be treated like a property. Kant also rejected the idea that existence is a property.

2 arguments against God’s existence

The problem of evil and the lack of evidence

Augustine’s solution to the problem of evil

evil is not a created substance but a privation of good, resulting from the misuse of free will by created beings.

Possible responses to freedom and foreknowledge problem

Augustine believes that god is not on a timeline and is timeless. Knowledge doesn’t equal a cause

Different views of freedom.

Libertarian, Determinism, Compatibilism

How are the problem of evil and of freedom and foreknowledge related?

both involve the compatibility of God’s omniscience, omnipotence, and human free wil

Key philosophers in empiricism chapter

Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant

Hume’s propositions: analytic and synthetic

through his division of knowledge into relations of ideas (necessary, logical truths) and matters of fact (contingent, empirical truths).

Hume’s fork

the distinction between relations of ideas (necessary truths known a priori) and matters of fact (contingent truths known through experience).

Berkeley’s main philosophical tenets

holds that physical objects exist only as perceptions in minds, and that their continued existence is guaranteed by God as the ultimate perceiver.

Locke’s notion of substance

something we assume exists behind the qualities we experience, but we can never actually know what it is.

Kant’s view on epistemology

holds that knowledge arises from both sensory experience and the mind’s innate structures, meaning we can only know phenomena, not things-in-themselves

Locke’s epistemological view

is empiricism: the idea that all knowledge comes from sensory experience and reflection, and the mind is a blank slate at birth.

Kant’s view on neumenological

exists, but we cannot directly know it.

Types of ontology

Monism, Dualism, Pluralism, Nihilism