PHIL 1301 Exam II Study Guide

Material Cause: Refers to the substance or matter that constitutes a thing.
Formal Cause: The form or essence of a thing, which gives it its identity.
Efficient Cause: The agent or force responsible for bringing something into existence.
Final Cause: The purpose or end for which a thing exists (Teleology).

Definition: The explanation of phenomena in terms of the purpose they serve rather than the cause by which they arise.

Nutritive Soul: Found in plants; responsible for growth, nutrition, and reproduction.
Sensitive Soul: Found in animals; incorporates perception and movement.
Rational Soul: Unique to humans; includes reasoning and understanding.

Definition: The unique activity that fulfills the essence of a being; the way something ought to function leads to its purpose and fulfillment.

Eudaemonia: Often translated as happiness or flourishing; it is the ultimate goal of human life and is achieved through virtuous living.

Virtue: The excellence or quality necessary for fulfilling one’s purpose.
Habit: The repeated practice that cultivates virtue.
Practical Wisdom (Phronesis) (Page 213): The ability to make sound judgments about how to act rightly in a situation.
Doctrine of the Golden Mean (Pages 214-215): The ethical view that virtue lies in finding a moderate position between extremes (e.g., courage as a mean between recklessness and cowardice).
Vice: The extremes or deficiencies in virtue (Pages 212-214).

**Central Views: **
- Ethics: Focus on the avoidance of pain and the cultivation of pleasure, where moderation is key to achieving true happiness.
- Happiness: Defined as the absence of pain and mental disturbance (ataraxia), free from fear of death or the gods.
- The Good Life: Life characterized by tranquility, companionship, and freedom from unnecessary fears and desires.
- Hedonism: Ethical theory based on the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good.
- Atomism: The philosophical belief that the universe is composed of indivisible units called atoms.

Central Views:
- Ethics: Advocates for living in accordance with nature and reason, emphasizing the control of one's reactions to external events.
- Happiness: Achieved through inner peace, which is fostered by virtue, self-control, and acceptance of fate (apatheia).
- The Good Life: Living virtuously in alignment with the rational order of the universe, accepting the logos (reason) of the cosmos.
- Pantheism: The belief that God is synonymous with the universe or nature.
- Equanimity: Mental calmness and composure, especially in stressful situations.

Overview: Anselm argues that God is "that than which no greater can be conceived."
Key Concepts:
- The Fool: A person who denies God's existence.
- Reductio ad Absurdum: A common method in logic demonstrating that a statement's negation leads to a contradiction.
- A priori: Knowledge or justification independent of experience.

Guanilo challenges Anselm's argument by proposing that one could conceive of a perfect island, which would also lead to contradictions in Anselm's reasoning.

The Argument from Change/Motion (Page 320): Everything in motion must be put into motion by something else.
From Efficient Causality (Page 321): Everything has a cause; nothing can cause itself.
From Possibility and Necessity (Page 322): Everything that exists contingently must have a necessary being that caused it.
From Gradation of Goodness (Page 323): There are varying degrees of goodness; there must be a source of perfection.
From the Guidedness of Nature (Page 323): Natural things act toward an end; they must be guided by something that has intelligence.

Definition: Ethical theory that emphasizes the role of duty and rules in moral decision-making.
Good Will: The intention behind actions matters, and actions stemming from a good will have moral worth.
Maxim: A principle or rule that guides an individual's actions.
Categorical Imperative (vs. Hypothetical Imperative):
- Categorical Imperative: Absolute, unconditional requirement that asserts an action is necessary without any condition.
- Hypothetical Imperative: Conditional and dependent on personal desires or goals.

First Formulation: Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.
Second Formulation: Treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always at the same time as an end and never merely as a means to an end.

Hedonism: Theory that pleasure is the highest good and the primary aim of human life.
Consequentialism: The moral rightness of an action is determined solely by its outcomes.
Egalitarianism: Equal consideration of interests; everyone’s happiness counts equally.

Definition: Actions are right if they promote happiness; wrong if they produce the opposite of happiness.

Method: Weigh the potential pleasures and pains resulting from an action to determine its moral worth.

Discussion: Consideration that not all pleasures are of equal quality; higher (intellectual) pleasures are superior to lower (bodily) ones according to some theorists in the utilitarian framework.