Paper 2- definitions Flashcards
a posteriori
Knowledge of propositions’ that can be learned to be true or false through sense experience
a priori
Knowledge of propositions’ that do not require sense experience to be known to be true or false
ability knowledge
Knowing ‘how’ to do something. E.g. learning how to ride a bike
acquaintance knowledge
Knowledge of someone or something gained by direct experience. E.g. ‘I know the manager of the restaurant’
propositional knowledge
Knowing ‘that’ some claim- a proposition- is true or false. E.g. ‘I know that Paris is the capital of France’
analogy, the argument from
The argument I can use behaviour of other people to infer that they have minds because they behave as I do, and I have a mind.
Aquinas’ First Way
A form of the cosmological argument presented by Aquinas, said to be from motion. By ‘motion’ Aquinas means change from the potential to actual state of something. such a change must already by caused by something that is already actual. If the cause was previously potential, it must in turn have been caused to become actual. An infinite chain of motion is illogical, there must be a ‘first cause’ of this change in sequence. This is God.
Aquinas’ Second Way
A form of the cosmological argument presented by Aquinas, said to be from ‘atemporal’ or ‘sustaining’ causation. As nothing depends on itself, things are sustained in their continued existence. Therefore, there must be a first cause , which does not depend on any other cause. This is God.
Aquinas’ Third Way
A form of the cosmological argument from contingency by Aquinas. Anything that exists contingently, at some point does not exist. If everything existed contingently , then at some point, nothing existed. If nothing existed, then nothing could begin to exist. Therefore, something must exist necessarily, not contingently. This is God.
