main players to Philosophy (Key Concepts for Review)
Schedule and Logistics
The instructor will adjust the course schedule as needed; updates will be posted on the files page and sent by email, superseding the syllabus schedule. Students should reference the updated schedule and course files.
Why study philosophy: purpose and context
Studying philosophy, including major figures and their contributions, helps understand contemporary cultural and societal issues.
Key ethical concepts and figures:
Aristotle's virtue ethics: focuses on character traits.
Plato's Republic: influences discussions of justice and political philosophy.
Utilitarianism (Bentham, Mill): end-focused ethics; "the end justifies the means."
Fundamental questions about morality: Why be moral? What justifies it? How are morality and happiness linked? These questions shape cultural norms.
Aristotle's dictum: {6^{\text{th}}\text{ century BC}} axiom that all men by nature desire to know, despite potential distractions.
Cultural dynamics can shift through media and rhetoric without conscious deliberation.
Terms:
homoreligiosos: native human desire for deeper meaning.
homocognizance: capacity to reason and believe in unseen realities, with hope for an afterlife.
Everyone possesses a core human impulse to inquire; curiosity can manifest differently.
The Pre-Socratics and the birth of Western philosophy
Western philosophy began in ancient Greece (around the {6^{\text{th}}} century BCE) with pre-Socratic thinkers seeking a unifying principle (the arche/logos) for existence.
Logos signifies a rational principle behind reality, moving beyond mythical explanations.
Central goals:
Understand the cosmos (cosmology) and identify a unifying principle amid change.
Debate common substance and whether permanence or change dominates reality.
Key ideas/figures:
Reductionism/reason vs. empiricism: explaining phenomena by reducing them to fundamental principles (rationalism) or appealing to sensory experience (empiricism).
Anaximander: proposed the Boundless (a substratum beyond the world) as the source of all things.
Parmenides: argued change is an illusion; only unchanging reality exists, knowable by reason.
Heraclitus: contended everything is in flux; permanence is an illusion, change is constant.
Contributions:
Use of reason and logic over myths.
Emergence of rationalism vs. empiricism.
Introduction of reductionism as a methodological tool.
These thinkers established enduring debates about reality, knowledge, and values, influencing modern naturalistic thought.
Plato: dual realms, forms, and the cave
Plato proposed a two-realm theory of reality:
World of Becoming (physical): changing, perceptible by senses, imperfect copies.
World of Being (Forms/Ideas): eternal, unchanging, knowable by reason, perfect exemplars (e.g., Form of Good, Beauty).
Key claims:
Forms are eternal and unchanging; physical objects participate in or imitate them.
Knowledge of Forms is through reason alone.
Physical objects are shadows of true Forms.
The two realms are connected by participation (e.g., imperfect circles participate in the Form of the Circle).
The Allegory of the Cave metaphor:
Chained prisoners see only shadows (physical reality).
A freed prisoner sees true realities (the Forms).
The philosopher, having seen the Forms, returns to enlighten others, whose perceptions are shaped by the "cave."
Implications:
Shapes understanding of knowledge, virtue, and the ideal state.
Influenced Christian theology, linking the Form of Good to divine truth; Augustine synthesized Platonism by viewing Forms as divine thoughts.
Raises Christian concerns about de-emphasizing the body and physically embodied life.
Plato's framework continues to influence philosophy and education, highlighting the epistemic question of prioritizing reason over sensory experience.
Aristotle: form immanent in matter, and the critique of Platonic dualism
Aristotle rejected Plato's strict dualism, believing forms exist within things themselves.
Key concepts:
Substance = form (essence/actuality) + matter (material substratum/potential).
Form gives purpose and intelligibility; matter provides the substrate.
E.g., human nature (form) actualizes in individual bodies (matter).
Compared to Plato:
Plato separated form from matter; Aristotle posited them as co-constituting a single substance.
Aristotle: knowledge from examining the world and applying reason to experience (balancing empiricism and rationalism).
Illustration (Play-Doh analogy): Matter is Play-Doh; form shapes it (e.g., into a human), providing purpose.
Consequences:
Central to the rationalist-empiricist debate: Plato emphasizes reason; Aristotle emphasizes empirical observation + reason.
Teleology: Aristotle argued nature tends toward ends or purposes (e.g., heart's function is to pump blood). Neo-Aristotelian teleology sees revival in some contemporary science.
Ethics, virtue, and the nature of friendship (Aristotle and beyond)
Aristotle's virtue ethics focuses on cultivating virtues as dispositions to act rightly, aiming for a good life.
Three types of friendship (Aristotle, refined by McKeon):
Utility-based: formed for a goal; fades when utility ends.
Pleasure-based: formed around shared activities; wanes when activity loses appeal.
Virtue-based: based on mutual virtue and shared values; more enduring.
Friendships evolve; those based on utility/pleasure may fade, but those grounded in virtue can endure.
Philosophical context: science, evidence, and religious thought
Ongoing tension between rationalism (reason) and empiricism (sensory experience).
Early philosophers developed reasoning methods influential in debates over knowledge and moral facts.
Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum were precursors to universities.
Christian thinkers engaged with Platonic (and Aristotelian) ideas to shape theological concepts (e.g., divine conceptualism).
Debates persist about reducing complex phenomena to simple naturalistic explanations versus acknowledging deeper meanings or purposes (teleology).
Recurring themes and methodological takeaways
Philosophy begins with questions about origin, reality, and knowledge, seeking unifying principles over myths.
The persistent divide: rationalism vs. empiricism.
Reductionism remains a contentious methodological stance.
Learning history (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle) connects ancient ideas to modern concerns.
Practical aim: cultivate critical thought and reflect on the good life for self and society.