75 Multiple Choice, Paragraph Portion on what advice a philosopher would give

Unit 1

something is either material or immaterial to Plato

Plato

-The Purpose of Philosophy

            P1- There is such thing as death

            P2- Death is the separation of the soul from the body

            P3-The true philosopher despises the body

            P4- The true philosopher tends to the soul

            C- Therefore, the true aim of philosophy is to practice for dying and death

-Know the rationale for each of the arguments for the immortality of the soul in the Phaedo.  (opposites, recollection, affinity, the soul’s essence)

Argument from Opposites

            P1-Those that have an opposite must come from an opposite.

            P2- Between every opposite pair are two opposite processes.

            P3-The two processes must necessarily occur otherwise everything would be in the same state.

            P4- Death is the opposite of life; so everything that is alive must have come from the dead and the dead come from the alive.

            C- Therefore, the soul probably exists before physical birth and after bodily death

soul=life to Plato, souls are immortal, dying is purifying the soul

Argument from Recollection

            P1- Particulars we experience through the senses, which appear to be equal in measurement, are in some way deficient from the equality present.

            P2- When we experience the decency in equal particular things, we recollect in the form of the equal

            P3- Particular equal things therefore are not the same as the equal

            P4- In order to recollect the equal, we must have had knowledge of the equal a priori

            P5- Since a priori knowledge is not caused by sensory experience we must have acquired knowledge of the equal from before possessing the bodily senses

            C- Therefore, the soul probably existed before physical birth.

Argument from Affinity

            P1- The soul exists in the invisible and visible world.

            P2- The soul is like the invisible and the body is the visible.

            C- Therefore, supporting it has been freed of bodily influences through philosophical training, the soul is most likely to make its way to the world (b) when it dies. If, however, the soul is polluted by bodily influence, it likely will stay bound to world (a) upon bodily death.

Argument about the Soul’s immortality

            P1- The soul is essentially alive

            P2- Nothing can have contrasting properties.

            P3- Death is the opposite of being alive

            C-Therefore, the soul can never be dead

Argument about the Just Soul

            P1-Things perform their function well if they have the virtue appropriate to them and badly if they have the relevant vice

            P2- The functions of the soul are to be the principle of life for living things, ruling, and governing, deliberating for the life it is in charge of.

            P3- A virtuous soul does these things well; a soul that has vice does these things badly

            P4- Justice is the virtue of being rightly ordered and doing what one ought to according to nature

            P5- Therefore the virtuous soul (that is rightly ordered and does what it ought to according to nature) us said to be just

            P6- The just soul lives well; an unjust soul life badly

            P7- Living well is being happy and living badly is being wretched

            C- The just person is happy, and the unjust person is wretched

-Substance Dualism- the belief that all of reality is made up of two fundamental types of substances, the argument will proceed from this position

 -Transmigration of Souls (Metempsychosis)- reincarnation after death, the soul goes on

-Learning as Recollection- we are born with knowledge already

-The Forms- everything in the world is perceived as just, good, bigness, health, and or strength through pure thought and not just perception, allowing us to access with our minds

-The Tri-Partite Soul Theory

            -142-147 Tripartite Soul (person of justice)

-Reason: attached to truth and knowledge by nature; ruling principle; virtue: prudence

-Spirited/Passion: attached to honor and esteem; character; emotion; virtue: fortitude/courage

-Appetitive: attached to bodily functions; desire; virtue: temperance/moderation

I think, I feel, I desire

-Human Nature:

-Good and Evil- Plato believes that no one chooses evil voluntarily, evil is improper to human nature and a result of ignorance, inclined towards goodness

-The Role of Reason and Emotion- reason rules over emotion

Logic and Argument

-Deductive Reasoning- a deductive argument is an argument incorporating the claim that is impossible for the conclusion to be false given that the premises are true, this involves necessary reasoning               A is B, B is C, so A is C

Ex; mathematics, definition, categorical syllogism, hypothetical syllogism, disjunctive syllogism

-Valid- a valid deductive argument is an argument in which it is impossible for the conclusion to be false given that the premises are true   

-Invalid- an invalid deductive argument is in which it is possible for the conclusion to be false given that the premises are true

-Sound- valid and has all true premises and both conditions must be met for an argument

-Unsound- invalid or has one or more false premises

-Inductive Reasoning- an inductive argument is an argument incorporating the claim that is improbable that the conclusion be false given that the premises are true, this involves probabilistic reasoning

Ex; predictions, analogies, generalization, authority, causal inference, signs

            -Strong- a strong inductive argument is in which it is improbable that the conclusion be false given that the premises are true

-Weak- a weak inductive argument is in which the conclusion does not follow probably from the premises, even though it is claimed to do so

-Cogent- an inductive argument that is strong and has all true premises. Also, the premises must be true in the sense of meeting the total evidence requirement

-Uncogent- an inductive argument that is weak, has one or more false premises, and fails to meet the total evidence requirement

            -Uniformity of Nature Principle- test the strength of an inductive argument assume the premises to be true then determine whether, based on that assumption, the conclusion is probably true. Determination is achieved by linking up the premises with regularities that exist in our experiential background (previous knowledge) nature tends to be predictable, consistent

-Total Evidence Requirement- speaking of premises being true, it is ‘true’ in a complete sense. The premises must not exclude or overlook some crucial piece of evidence that undermines the stated premises and requires a different conclusion

-Fallacy- a defect in an argument that consists in something other than false premises alone or intention to create an allusion

Unit 2

Aristotle is a hylomorphonist

Aristotle

-Genus and Species

            -Genus: a broader category of beings that share common characteristics

            -Species: a more specific category within a genus, defined by particular attributes that distinguish it from other members of the genus

-Substance, Matter and Form (Hylomorphism)

            - the philosophical theory that all physical entities are composed of both matter and form, developed by Aristotle to explain the nature of substances

            -substance= ALWAYS a combination matter and form (matter-passive and form-active); matter resides in potentiality

-Accidents

            -Non-essential attributes or qualities of a substance that can change without altering its fundamental nature

-Potentiality and Actuality

            -Potential: the capacity for change or development inherent in matter, which can be actualized by form

-Four Causes

            -Aristotle’s framework for explaining natural phenomena including material, formal, efficient, and final causes

-The Soul/Life and its various types

            -the soul and body are one; soul defines the body’s function

            -form actualizes matter

            -nutritive/vegetative life (soul)

                        -nutrition, reproduction, locomotion

            -animal life (soul)

                        -nutrition, reproduction, locomotion, desires/sensations

            -rational life (soul)- our life

                        -nutrition, reproduction, locomotion, desires/sensations, reason (judgement), morality (give reason to judgment)

-Virtue

            -political- moral virtue

            -contemplative-all the virtue- leisure, true happiness

-Final Cause of the Human Being

            -happiness in actions

            -Eudemonia= soundness of mind

• best done through contemplative life

 rational (intellectual): intellect and will

irrational (moral): emotions, instincts, desires

Aquinas

uses Aristotle topics

the intellect (separable)

argues the same as Aristotle for happiness and that it lies in a contemplative life in God

-The Soul-Body relationship

            -matter is inert

            -the soul gives life and movement

            -God directly creates individual human souls with the generation

Principle of Sufficient reasons

            -nothing can be the cause of itself, for everything that there is a cause or explanation that is

-Whether the soul exists beyond death

            -soul is the act of the body

            -soul is never dead, life from the moment of conception

-Articulate the continuity problem in Aristotle and Aquinas’ solution

            -Aristotle accepts the reality of the material world and Aquinas

-The General Resurrection

            -I=Perfected body + soul

-Aquinas’ account of human happiness/the final cause

-Human happiness lies in contemplation of God- Beatitudine

Epicurus and Epicureanism

-Atoms and the Void

            -atom= an indivisible (atopos)- entire universe is made up of atoms

            -void=empty space, cannot be measured

            -infinite and eternal

-General views about the universe

            -there is something rather than nothing

            -nothing comes from nothing

            -if everything went out of existence, there would be nothing

            -there is always something

            -therefore, there must be something that can be broken down no further

-The Soul

            - the soul is the cause of sensation

-Death and why we should not fear it

            - death is the cessation of sensation, annihilation

-Epicurean Hedonism

            -promotes pleasure in the highest form of life

            -pain is positive; pleasure is a negative

            -ataraxia= absence of struggle/ tranquility

focuses on sensations

desire is under control

we want to seek long-term pleasures, mental pleasures (ex friendship)

Unit 3

René Descartes-  

Substance dualist- universe is made of bodies and minds, minds are defined by thoughts and think in different ways (modal properties), wax example, the essence of the body extension and volume vary in location and duration 

-Substance (Cartesian) Dualism 

• Mental substances: are substances whose sole essence is to think 

• Bodily substances: are substances whose sole essence is extension/volume 

• Minds are not bodies; bodies are not minds 

-Essential and Modal Properties of Minds and Bodies 

• Essential (essence of minds) property: thought 

• Modal Properties: understand, doubt, affirm, deny, will, refuse, imagine, sense 

• Mental perception/clear and distinct perception 

 essence of bodies- extension

-Explain Descartes’ argument about self-consciousness/awareness 

• “I think therefore I am” 

• We can be certain of our minds 

-Role of the senses 

• Our senses can deceive us 

• Our mind is still able to perceive when they do (reason!/rationalism)

• Melted wax example 

• Physical form can change but the essence still remains the same 

-Critiques of Descartes’ dualism from Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia 

• PE- How can a mental thing that has no extensive modes how can it interact with a body that has no extensive modes 

• Descartes response- we often confuse the way that bodies interact with other bodies and the way the soul act on bodies 

Property Dualism different than Pansychism

-General definition

material substance

Physical substance but two types of properties 

Mental properties (hard problems)

physical/material properties (easy problems) 

consciousness is fundamental but not everything has a conscious

-David Chalmer’s Philosophical Zombies Argument 

• a physical copy of you without mental properties- if mental properties (phenomenal/ subjective properties of consciousness) cannot be duplicated (it is impossible in all ways), then mental properties are not physical properties 

-Chalmer’s on consciousness 

• not the same thing as the mind (there can be unconscious mental states) 

• distinguished from the ability to report on our beliefs, thoughts, attentions and controlling what one does 

-The Easy and Hard Problems 

• Hard- subjective nature of consciousness, everything feels familiar  

• Easy- explaining through neuroscience, to neuroscientists, fundamental to the universe 

-Phenomenal Properties of Consciousness/Qualia 

• Subjective quality of experience 

• Can’t be reduced in psychological terms 

Panpsychism 

-General definition 

• Everything has consciousness to a degree  

• Universal  

-Stoic Pantheism 

• Logos, order, reason 

-Spinoza’s “double-aspect” theory 

• The human being is a reflection of God 

• Everything is a different aspect in the same reality  

Julien Offray de la Mettrie and Paul-Henry Thiry, Baron d’Holbach 

-The mechanistic view of the universe and the human being 

• For every effect there is a primary cause 

-Psychological Egoism 

• The mind is always going to act in its own interest 

-Mettrie’s view on happiness 

• Derived from physical and mental well-being 

-D’Holbach’s view on free will 

• Didn’t choose parents, life, etc  

• Predetermined 

• Always act out of self interest (psychological egotism)  

-D’Holbach’s position on immortality  

• When the body dies the mind dies 

• Cause and effect 

Charles Darwin and Thomas Malthus 

-Evolutionary Theory by natural selection (geometrical increase in populations, variation, adaptation, inheritance) 

• All species adapt to their environment to survive 

-The Malthusian Principle 

• Almost the same as the evolutionary theory 

• A new challenge comes when the population is higher than the amount of resources needed to sustain it 

-Darwin’s view on human species relatedness to and distinction from other higher mammals 

Survival 

Behaviorism (Gilbert Ryle) 

study the mind based on what people do and how we react

-Ryle’s critique of substance dualism (categorical error) 

• The mind didn’t fit into the universe, so it was given a separate category  

• minds are functions

-Behaviorist view on “mind” 

• The mind and body are one 

• Rejected substance dualism 

-Explain dispositions 

• Disposition: how we are likely to behave 

• Non observable mental states 

• Observe qualities (dispositions) then describe mental state 

• Ex I know how to play chess although I am not actively playing right now 

-Remember that this position no where makes an ontological claim about what minds are, just how we know them and can study them 

• ontological claim- saying what the mind is 

Functionalism (David Lewis) 

-The causal role of stimuli and mental states 

• each mental state consists of disposition to behave in particular ways amd have other mental states given certain inputs from the senses and other states 

-The role of behavior 

• an indicator of the mental state and to observe qualities that describe the mental state 

-Revisit the reading on Mad Pain and Martian Pain 

• man that experiences pain due to math not being hurt 

• man that experiences pain that physically shows it 

• both are in pain but have different reactions to it 

Mind-Brain Type Identity Theory 

-Sensations statements and brain process statements 

• How it feels vs the actual physical process 

• Minds are reduced down to brains 

-The difference between each statement and their identity 

• Each statement is identical to its mental state 

-Mental properties as physical properties (reductionism) 

• The location problem and the multiple realizability of mental states 

• Idea that a mental state can be realized by different physical systems

Eliminative Materialism (Paul and Patricia Churchland) 

-General Definition 

• Eliminating old ways of thinking 

• Eliminate “folk psychology” 

• Everything will have a scientific, materialist explanation 

• They have not lead to any progression  

-Folk psychology 

• Concepts of framework that deal with desires, mind, language  

-By extension, as a result of such strict materialism, what does Patricia Churchland say about life after death? (see the reading in the textbook p. 641-645) 

• People are too selective because they want an afterlife 

 brain and mental states are not necessarily the same

Unit 4

General Positions of Freedom of the Will and Determinism

-Incompatibilism

            -free will and determinism are incompatible, if determinism is true, we do not have free will

-Compatibilism

            - free will and determinism are compatible so people can act freely and morally responsible, we have free will

-Hard Determinism

            1)We are not totally determined

            2)We are not free and responsible

-Soft Determinism (general conditions of freedom)

            1) We are not totally determined

            2) We are free and responsible

                        -Choice

                        -No force or compulsion

-Libertarianism (general conditions of freedom; contra-causal free will)

1)We are not totally determined

2)We are free and responsible

            -Choice

            -No force or compulsion

            -Contra-causal freedom (not subject to the typical rules of cause and effect),

Augustine, Boethius, Aquinas

-Augustine’s hierarchy of goods and the influence God’s grace upon the will

Highest goods- reason, will, divine things, image and likeness to God

            Intermediate goods- desire for praise, reputation

            Base goods- pleasures of the body, ex hunger, thirst

            Capable of choosing good and freeing from sin, without God we cannot choose good on our own

-Boethius’ notion of freedom and happiness (see p. 230-232 in the textbook)

            True happiness is from seeking God

            Happiness and freedom are connected and come from within

            External circumstances don’t effect it

-Boethius’ formulation and solution to the problem of divine foreknowledge and human free will

            The will= operation/movement of the soul; omniscience

-Aquinas’ distinction between natural judgment and rational judgment

            Natural judgment: instinctive assessment based of natural inclinations

            Rational judgment: deliberate evaluations through reason

René Descartes

-Descartes’ definitions of will and intellect

            Will: infinite/being in the image of God

                        - actively affirms or denies what is represented in the intellect

            Intellect: finite/limited

                        -faculty of cognition or representation

                        -perceiving ideas

                        -awareness of objective reality, content, ideas

-The interaction between the intellect and will

            -The will actively affirms or denies what is represented in the intellect

-How does error in judgment occur?

            We make decisions without understanding fully (limited intellect, unlimited will)

-Is God responsible for our errors?

            Our errors take us away from him and toward nothingness

            More correct decisions= closer to God

Thomas Hobbes

-Hobbes’ empiricism

            -Everyone is born onto a blank slate with no innate knowledge

            -no innate object

-Hobbes’ materialism

            The body occupies space and its material

            The universe is a aggregate of all bodies and made up of only bodies

-Appetite, aversion, love, hate and deliberation

            A cycle, endeavor -> appetite/desire -> love -> object-> hate -> aversion -> repeat

-Hobbes’ psychological egoism (focus on desire/appetite)

            We are driven by desires and appetites, things that we perceive as good

-The possibility of happiness

            Constant cycle of wants and needs, never ending

-The sources of conflict in the state of nature

            Competition, limited resources, diffidence, worrying, lack of trust, seek recognition, and respect others

Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Edmund Burke

-Rousseau’s characterization of the state of nature (freedom, perfectibility, amour de soi-même, the passions)

            -Personal freedom= no obligation or subjection

            -perfectibility=

            - amour de soi-même= love of yourself

            -passions= reason serves the passionsà enjoyment

                        -acted on through selfishness, for our own good

-Rousseau’s view on the development of self-consciousness and time-consciousness

            Self: over time there was a switch from basic needs to need of vanity, switch from living in the movement to living in the past or future

-Rousseau’s view on the influence of civilization and society (remember the amour propre)

As we civilize our egos switched to compare ourselves and become more vain

-Burke’s response to the real effects of Rousseau’s view on freedom and human nature

            Ideas around freedom did not acknowledge the complexities of human societies

John Locke

-The Natural Law

            -Inclination to preserve life

            -Protect the innocent

            -Basic animal functions

            -To search for the truth

            -Sociable

            -Behavior is benign and reasonable

-Freedom and License

            Freedom- able to act according to the natural law

            License- misuse of freedom, not in regard to natural law

-The purpose of the social contract (think of the desire for freedom and security)

            Rid some natural rights for security from a government, secure environment where rights are protected

Niccolò Machiavelli

-The revision of what constitutes virtù

            Practical skills needed for success

-His general view of human nature and one example (see ch. 17 of The Prince)

            Act on self interest, people are consistently loyal, they are deceiving, fear vs love

St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Maximos the Confessor

-Augustine’s 4 characteristics of sin

            -irrational

            -non-substantial

            -perversion of the hierarchy of being

            -revel in the art

-Augustine’s hierarchy of goods

            Highest goods- reason, will, divine things, image and likeness to God

            Intermediate goods- desire for praise, reputation

            Base goods- pleasures of the body, ex hunger, thirst

-Augustine’s view on original sin, concupiscence and God’s grace with respect to human action

            Original sin= corrupted human nature

            Concupiscence

-Maximos’ distinction between the natural and gnomic (deliberative) will

            - natural will: us

            -gnomic: deliberation and intention

David Hume

-Hume’s skepticism

            Skeptic about the limits of reason

-Hume’s definition of necessity/determinism

            Necessity: constant conjunction of events being able to predict outcomes

            Determinism: every event is caused by preceding events, usually according the the natural laws

-The nature of a voluntary act

            Free actions are caused by desires

voluntary is proceeded by choice

The Baron D’Holbach and Pierre Simon de Laplace

-D’Holbach’s hard determinism

            Materialism, predetermined free will is a delusion, our morals are based on a determined process

-Laplace’s “Demon” and the purpose of the thought experiment

            Intellect= demon

            Casual determinism- interruption to hard determinism

            If it knew the momentum and location of every atom could it predict the future

Sigmund Freud

-The Psychical Apparatus (id, ego and super-ego)

• Id: product of biological evolution

  • Primitive features

  • Pleasure principle- wish fulfillment

• Ego: awareness of self

  • Reason

  • Interacts with external reality

  • Reality principle

• Superego: the ideal

  • Moral authority

-Reality and Pleasure principles

            Reality: guiding force of ego, satisfy ids desires

            Pleasure: driving force of id, wants and needs with immediate gratification

-Why is Freud a hard determinist?

            He believed that our behavior is driven by things from our childhood