Philosophy Exam Review Notes

Greek Rationalism

  • Doctrine of Impermanence: Deals with the problem of change.
  • Key Figure: Heraclitus is central in Western Philosophy due to his emphasis on change.
  • Criterion for Reality:
    • Becoming (Heraclitus):
      • All is change. "Everything becomes, nothing is."
      • "You can’t step in the same river twice."
    • Being (Parmenides/Zeno):
      • Reality is unchanging and non-contradictory.
    • Zeno’s Paradoxes of Motion:
      • Achilles and the Tortoise: Illustrates contradictions in our understanding of motion.
    • Midway Between (Plato):
      • Agrees senses don’t fully represent reality.
      • Reality exists beyond sense impression.
    • Allegory of the Cave:
      • Forms are truly real and act as archetypes.
      • Principal meaning: We often mistake appearances for reality.
      • Senses provide incomplete information (shadows).
      • Reality is apprehended through intellect.

Descartes’ Method

  • Argument from Illusion:
    • Knowledge requires certainty.
    • Senses can deceive us.
  • Evil Genius:
    • A hypothetical being could supply our entire perceptual experience, deceiving us.
    • Raises doubts about the reliability of our senses.
  • Dreaming Argument:
    • We cannot be certain we are not dreaming.
  • Cogito Ergo Sum:
    • "I think, therefore I am."
    • Provides a reliable foundation based on the undeniable ability to think.
  • Mathematical Knowledge as Model:
    • Certain, timeless, and necessary.
    • Exemplifies objectivity.
    • Examples:
      • 5+7=125 + 7 = 12 (certain)
      • 5+7=125 + 7 = 12 (timeless)
      • 5+7=125 + 7 = 12 (necessary)
  • Moral Theories Requirements:
    1. Consistent with our moral judgments.
    2. Consistent with our experience of our moral life.
    3. Should be workable.

Cultural Relativism

  • Definition: An action is right or wrong based on a culture's beliefs (e.g., lobotomies, slavery, child labor).
  • Consistency:
    • Consistent with differing opinions.
    • Questionable consistency with moral judgments and workability.
  • Tolerance:
    • Promotes tolerance by encouraging endurance and acceptance of other cultures’ practices.
  • Self-Contradiction:
    • Argues for no universal values but promotes tolerance as a universal value.

Divine Command Theory

  • Definition: An action is right because God commands it.
    1. Grounds morality.
    2. Makes it objective.
  • Main Issue:
    • Are actions right because God commands them, or does God command them because they are inherently right?
    • If the latter, God’s commands become unnecessary.
  • Circular Argument:
    • Action is good because God commanded it, and God commanded it because it’s good.
  • Leibniz’s Objection:
    • God’s commands need reasons; otherwise, they are arbitrary.
    • Leibniz was a co-creator of calculus.

Free Will and Determinism

  • Free Will:
    • Foundation of legal and moral responsibility.
  • Determinism:
    • Every event is a consequence of past events + laws of nature.
  • Indeterminism:
    • Some events are consequences of past events + laws of nature.
  • Compatibilism:
    • Causal determinism is compatible with free will.
  • Fatalism:
    • The future is fixed regardless of our actions.
  • Arguments:
    • P1. Every event has a cause.
    • P2. If every event has a cause, there are no free actions.
    • C. There are no free actions.
  • Rejections:
    • Determinism rejects neither P1 nor P2.
    • Indeterminism rejects P1.
    • Compatibilism rejects P2.
    • Fatalism rejects none.
  • Libertarianism (form of compatibilism):
    • Free actions are caused by ourselves (under our control).
  • Principle of Alternative Possibilities:
    • We can choose to act otherwise given the same circumstances.
    • Moral responsibility exists only when we can do otherwise.
  • Common Sense Notion of Freedom:
    • “I can do what I want, therefore I am free.”
    • Focus is on what you WILL do, not merely what you can do.

Personal Identity

  • Philosophical Problem of Change: Explores what makes us the same person over time.
  • Quantitative Identity:
    • One and the same object. “I am the same I was ten years ago.” (numerical identity)
  • Qualitative Identity:
    • Same qualities, properties, features. “Three identical shirts.”
  • Class Ring Example:
    • Losing a ring and getting an identical replacement (qualitative).
    • Finding the original damaged ring (quantitative).
  • Necessary Features:
    • Features essential for maintaining identity (consciousness, memories -> continuity).
  • Accidental Features:
    • Features not essential for identity (hair color, clothes, eye color, etc.).
  • Role of the Body:
    • Are limbs necessary?
  • Vegetable Case:
    • Body is necessary for identity, not higher-level cognition.
  • Prince and Cobbler:
    • Switching memories between a prince and a cobbler.
    • Psychological continuity (memories) is vital for identity, not the physical body.