Intro to Philosophy — Exam Two Complete Study Sheet
Exam Two Complete Study Sheet
PART 1 — EPISTEMOLOGY: KNOWLEDGE & JUSTIFICATION
Knowledge vs. Opinion
Definition of Opinion: A mere opinion is a belief held without adequate grounding. It may happen to be true, but lacks good reason behind it.
Definition of Knowledge: Knowledge requires three interrelated conditions:
Truth: The belief must actually be true. One cannot know something false.
Belief: The individual must truly hold the belief implying internal acceptance.
Justification: There must be good reasons or evidence supporting the belief, distinguishing knowledge from mere lucky guessing.
Classic Justified True Belief (JTB) Formula: S knows that P if and only if:
(1) P is true,
(2) S believes P,
(3) S is justified in believing P.
Three Responses to Justification
Skepticism: Posits that there are no reliable methods to adequately justify beliefs; even trusted faculties like senses and reason may deceive.
Rationalism: Suggests that the mind's reasoning capacity is the best source of justification; certain truths can be known a priori through rational thought. Key advocates include Descartes, Plato, and Leibniz.
Empiricism: Argues that beliefs should be grounded in sensory experiences; all meaningful knowledge originates from the senses (a posteriori). Key figures: Locke, Berkeley, and Hume.
PART 2 — DESCARTES & SKEPTICISM
Descartes' Project
Objective: To find an absolutely certain foundation for knowledge.
Method of Doubt: A systematic approach where Descartes doubts all that can possibly be doubted to identify what survives. This approach is termed methodological skepticism, focused on stress-testing beliefs rather than dismissing knowledge entirely.
Three Waves of Doubt
Wave 1 — Unreliability of Senses:
Past experiences of sensory deception (e.g., sticks appearing bent in water, distant objects seeming smaller) lead to questioning beliefs based on the senses.
Conclusion: Beliefs solely based on sensory evidence are questionable.
Wave 2 — The Dream Argument:
Argues that we cannot distinguish waking experiences from vivid dreams during those experiences.
Conclusion: Thus, certainty of any sensory experience being real is elusive.
Wave 3 — The Evil Demon Argument:
Posits that even mathematical truths are subject to doubt; an omnipotent evil demon could deceive us into error even in logical reasoning.
Example: The statement "2 + 2 = 4" feels certain, but under this deception, one can question its truth.
The Cogito — "I think, therefore I am"
Concept: Descartes' foundational claim after his doubt — that the act of doubting implies existence as a thinking entity.
Self-verifying Statement: "I think, therefore I am" (cogito ergo sum) cannot be doubted without proving its truth.
Foundation for Knowledge: The existence of a thinking self is the bedrock from which Descartes aimed to rebuild all knowledge, including the existence of God and the external world.
PART 3 — EMPIRICISM: REALISM & IDEALISM
Advantages of Empiricism
Reliability: Empirical beliefs generally align with the external world as human experiences successfully navigate environments.
Connection to Reality: Empirical beliefs have a direct link to the actual state of the world rather than being abstractly derived.
Scientific Evidence: The empirical foundation of natural science is significant in stating that empirical knowledge works effectively.
Three Theories of Perception
Naive Realism (Direct Realism):
Core Claim: Suggests that we perceive the external world exactly as it is.
Advantages: Intuitive and aligns with common-sense perspectives.
Problems: Cannot adequately explain illusions, hallucinations, or perceptual variance (e.g., lukewarm water feels different to hot and cold hands).
Indirect Realism (Representative Realism) — John Locke:
Core Claim: We perceive the world indirectly through mental representations or "ideas".
Advantages: Explains perceptual errors and variance; accounts for the distinction between primary and secondary qualities.
Problems: Creates a "veil of perception"; raises questions about how representations resemble the real world, risking skepticism or idealism.
Idealism — George Berkeley:
Core Claim: Asserts that no mind-independent material world exists; reality consists solely of minds and their ideas.
Quote: "To be is to be perceived" (esse est percipi).
Advantages: Removes the gap between mind and world.
Problems: Counterintuitive implications (e.g., does a tree stop existing when unobserved?) and the challenge of conventional reality perceptions.
Solipsism & Locke's Response
Definition of Solipsism: The view where only one's mind is known to exist; everything else may be an illusion, representing the extreme skepticism in perception.
Locke's Counterargument: Argues that involuntary sensory experiences hint at an external cause, supporting belief in both an external world and other minds.
Primary vs. Secondary Qualities (Locke / Indirect Realism)
Primary Qualities: Ensconce properties that belong to the object itself, such as shape, size, solidity, number, and motion. These resemble the actual properties of objects.
Secondary Qualities: Exist only as powers in objects to produce experiences in perceivers. Example: color, taste. There is no direct correspondence to object properties — color resides in the perceiver's mind.
Significance: Science generally engages with primary qualities as these are objective, while secondary qualities are subjective responses.
The Variance Argument
Core Claim: Different perceptual experiences across perceivers (or different conditions) challenge the accuracy of perception to represent objective reality.
Examples:
Water Experiment: Lukewarm water feels warm to a cold hand and cool to a warm hand, indicating conflicting perceptions.
Doppler Effect: The pitch of a moving sound changes depending on proximity.
Color Variance on Screens: Colors appear differently under various lighting conditions or to individuals with distinct color perception.
Assessment of Variance Argument
Support: Challenges naive realism; endorses the primary/secondary quality distinction as at least secondary qualities appear mind-dependent.
Critique: Perception variance may suggest imperfections in representation rather than implying no real properties exist.
Berkeley Takes Locke to His Logical Conclusion
Assertion: Berkeley noted that if variance arguments apply to secondary qualities, then they must equally apply to primary qualities like shape or size.
Conclusion: This leads to the contention that all qualities are mind-dependent, and a mind-independent material substance need not be posited.
Berkeley's Position: Asserts that only minds and ideas exist, with the world being perceived within the mind of God and other finite minds.
Reactions to Berkeley
Logical Consistency: Berkeley’s argument is coherent based on Locke’s premises, viewed as elegant yet counterintuitive.
Criticism: Samuel Johnson famously refuted the idea by kicking a stone, suggesting an external reality exists independent of perception. Berkeley responds that kicking a stone yields ideas (like pain), highlighting that perceptions are still in the mind.
PART 4 — PHILOSOPHY OF MIND
Mental vs. Physical Properties
Mental Properties:
Intentionality: Mental states are "about" things (e.g., beliefs refer to objects).
Qualia: The subjective essence of experiences (such as the pain of an injury).
Privacy: Mental states are uniquely accessible to the individual experiencing them.
Physical Properties:
Spatial Location: Can be identified and pointed to.
Publicly Observable: Measured and described in third-person perspectives.
Causal Laws: Govern physical interactions.
Problem of Other Minds: Individuals infer others have minds by analogy with their experiences but cannot directly access another's pains or joys.
Dualism
Definition: Dualism asserts that the mind and body consist of fundamentally different substances or properties; mental cannot be reduced to the physical.
Conceivability/Modal Argument: Proposes that we can conceive of a mind existing without a body and vice versa. If they were identical, one could not conceive of the other without the other.
Indiscernibility of Identicals — Moreland's Argument:
Principle: If A = B, then they must share all properties. Arguments show mental and physical states possess different properties, indicating they cannot be identical. Examples include:
Brain states have spatial location; mental states do not.
Brain states are publicly observable; mental states are private.
Mental states possess intentionality; neural activity does not.
Intentionality Argument
Definition: Mental states carry aboutness (beliefs reference subjects); no physical state is inherently about anything, suggesting a qualitative difference from mental states.
Qualia Argument
Concept: Qualitative elements of experience (e.g., the vividness of color) cannot be comprehensively described through physical accounts.
Problem: Even detailed physical depictions do not encapsulate the subjective quality of experience, suggesting a distinctness from the physical.
Problems with Dualism
Advantages: Highlights differences between mental and physical realms.
Problems:
Interaction Problem: The challenge questioning how non-physical minds interact with physical bodies (e.g., mind causing physical motion).
Criticism of Arguments: Conceiving of something doesn't mean it's possible; alleged differences might be superficial.
Success of Physicalist Theories: Scientific approaches such as Identity Theory and Functionalism explain mental phenomena primarily through physical processes, effectively diminishing the necessity for a separate mental substance.
PART 5 — KEY TERMS GLOSSARY
A priori: Knowledge independent of experience; understood via reason alone (e.g., mathematical truths).
A posteriori: Knowledge dependent on sensory experience (e.g., empirical observations).
Necessary truth: Truth that cannot be false across any context (e.g., "2+2=4").
Contingent truth: Truth that is factual but could be otherwise (e.g., "Barack Obama was president in 2010").
Empiricism: Belief that the best foundation for knowledge derives from sensory experiences (Locke, Berkeley, Hume).
Rationalism: Philosophy asserting minds and reasoning yield knowledge independent of sensory input (Descartes, Plato, Leibniz).
Skepticism: The view questioning the adequacy of belief justification and claiming potential unattainability of knowledge.
Variance argument: Observation of perception variance reflecting the inability of perception to depict unchanging objective reality.
Idealism: Belief that reality consists solely of perceptions and ideas; no independent material existence.
Indirect realism: The concept that we know the external world through mental representations (John Locke).
Identity Theory: View stating mental states equal brain states (e.g., pain correlates with specific neuronal activity).
Dualism: Theory asserting fundamental differences between mind and body substances or properties.
Functionalism: Theory defining mental states by their roles in relation to other mental states and inputs, rather than the specific physical substrates involved.
Indiscernibility of Identicals: Principle stating if two entities are identical, they must share all properties; differences imply non-identity.
Solipsism: Belief that only one's mind can be known for certain; leading to skepticism about external existence.
Qualia: The subjective qualitative aspect of experiences that physical descriptions cannot fully capture.
Intentionality: The aboutness inherent in mental states, which is absent in purely physical or functional descriptions.