Philosophical Concepts from Socrates to Merleau-Ponty

A set of flashcards covering key philosophical concepts and figures from Socrates through to Merleau-Ponty.

What is the Socratic elenchus?

A form of dialogue structured as question and answer to determine the truth of a particular idea.

What was Socrates' belief about the ultimate aim of life?

The ultimate aim of life is for man to live a moral life.

What does Plato's Allegory of the Cave illustrate?

It compares the effect of education and lack of it on our nature.

How does Plato view the relationship between the soul and the body?

He believes that man is essentially a soul imprisoned in a body.

What did St. Augustine integrate into his philosophy?

He integrated Platonism and Christianity into a philosophical synthesis.

What is the significance of Descartes' principle of indubitable knowledge?

It aims to establish knowledge that cannot be doubted and serves as a secure basis for philosophy.

What does Cartesian doubt refer to?

A methodological skepticism aimed at developing a systematic philosophy.

What is philosophical dualism according to Descartes?

It defines the self as a thinking being whose bodily existence is questionable.

How did David Hume describe the self?

As a 'bundle' or collection of perceptions that are in constant flux.

What is Immanuel Kant's critique of metaphysics centered on?

The limits of human knowledge regarding God, the self, and the world.

What does Kant mean by the 'Copernican Revolution' in philosophy?

The idea that knowledge is limited to phenomena as they appear to us, not as noumena.

How does Gilbert Ryle conceptualize the self?

As a pattern of behavior rather than an immaterial entity.

What is the 'ghost in the machine' concept?

The rejection of the idea that the mind exists to inhabit and control the body.

What does Maurice Merleau-Ponty say about the relationship between the body and perception?

He asserts that the body is the seat of perception, linking subjective consciousness with its object.