PHIL 1301 - Exam II Study Guide

Material Cause: The substance or matter that composes something.
Formal Cause: The form or arrangement of the matter.
Efficient Cause: The agent or force that brings something into existence.
Final Cause: The purpose or end for which something exists.
- Teleology (Final Causation) (Pages 195-196): The explanation of phenomena by the purpose they serve rather than by postulated causes.

Entelechy (Page 196): The realization of potential; the condition of being fully alive or fully developed.
Potentiality & Actuality (Page 197):
- Potentiality: The inherent capacity to develop into a particular state under the right conditions.
- Actuality: The fulfillment or realization of this potential.

Nutritive: The level of the soul that allows for growth and metabolism, found in plants.
Sensitive: The level of the soul present in animals, responsible for perception and movement.
Rational: The level unique to humans, enabling reasoning and intellectual capabilities.

Each being has a proper function or purpose, fulfillment of which constitutes its good, primarily defined by its nature.

Happiness is achieved by living a virtuous life; it is the ultimate purpose of life stemming from rational activity.

Virtue (Excellence) (Pages 212-213): A disposition to act in accordance with reason, looking towards a mean between excess and deficiency.
Vice (Pages 212-214): The character trait that lies at the extremes of excess or deficiency.
Doctrine of the Golden Mean (Pages 214-215): Virtue is found between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency.
Habit (Page 212): The significance of habitual actions in the development of virtue.
Practical Wisdom (Phronesis) (Page 213): The ability to make sound judgments based on one’s experiences and understanding.

Central Views:
- Ethics: The pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain is key; moderation is essential for happiness.
- Happiness: Defined as a state of ataraxia, which is the absence of pain and mental disturbance, free from fears related to death and deities.
- The Good Life: A tranquil life enriched with friendships and free from unnecessary desires.
- Hedonism: A philosophical doctrine that argues that pleasure is the highest good.
- Atomism: The belief that everything is composed of small individual particles called atoms.

Central Views:
- Ethics: Advocates for the necessity of living in accordance with nature and rational principles; emphasizes controlling what one can and accepting what one cannot.
- Happiness: Achieved through inner peace, virtue, self-control, and calm acceptance of one’s fate (apatheia).
- The Good Life: Living virtuously by aligning oneself with the rational order of the cosmos, embracing Logos.
- Pantheism: The belief that the divine pervades all aspects of the natural world.
- Equanimity: Maintaining mental stability and composure in the face of challenges.

Central Tenet: Defines God as “that than which no greater can be conceived.”
The Fool: Referring to a person who denies the existence of God.
Guanilo’s Objection: Critiques Anselm's argument, using a reductio ad absurdum method.
Reductio ad Absurdum: Demonstrating the absurdity of denying God’s existence.
A Priori Argument: Anselm's argument relies on reasoning prior to experience rather than empirical evidence.

The Argument from Change/Motion (Page 320): Everything in motion must have been set in motion by something.
From Efficient Causality (Page 321): There exists a first cause that initiated everything.
From Possibility and Necessity (Page 322): There must be a necessary being whose existence is not contingent.
From Grades of Goodness (Page 323): The existence of degrees of goodness suggests the existence of a perfect source.
From the Guidedness of Nature (Page 323): The directedness of natural beings requires a guiding intelligence.

Deontological Ethics: Ethical theory that emphasizes duty and rules.
Duty: An obligation to act in accordance with moral law.
Good Will: The only thing that is good without qualification, characterized by acting from duty.
Maxim: A principle or rule that an individual uses to guide their actions.
Categorical Imperative: A universal moral law that must be followed regardless of desires; contrasts with hypothetical imperatives, which are conditional.
Kant’s Two Formulations of the Categorical Imperative:
1. First Formulation: Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law.
2. Second Formulation: Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.

Three Parts of Utilitarianism:
1. Hedonism: The pursuit of pleasure as the highest good.
2. Consequentialism: The morality of an action is determined by its outcomes.
3. Egalitarianism: The principle that each person's happiness is equal in moral worth.
Greatest Happiness Principle / Principle of Utility: The moral action is one that maximizes happiness for the greatest number.
Calculating Using the Principle of Utility: Involves weighing pleasures and pains resulting from an action.
Quality vs. Quantity of Pleasure: Discussion on whether the quality or the quantity of pleasure should be prioritized in ethical decision-making.