Philosophy Quiz - Metaphysics Flashcards
1
Q
Metaphysics:
A
Metaphysics is the study of the basic structure of reality.
2
Q
Metaphysics is the study of the basic structure of ?
A
Reality
3
Q
Metaphysics Wonderings?
A
Being and Nothingness
Time
Freedom and Determinism
Mind and Body
Personhood
Nature and Supreme Beings
What is reality?
What are the building blocks of reality?
Are they mental, or physical?
What is a mind? What is matter?
Why is there something and not nothing?
What is a person?
Do I have free choices?
What is the meaning of life?
Does a supreme being exist? Do I have meaning if a supreme being DOESN’T exist?
4
Q
Science Versus Philosophy
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- Metaphysicians try to find general answers
- Using logic and rational thought - not scientific evidence.
- Durable general answers
5
Q
The Common Sense Realist
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- People find metaphysics “silly” - We know reality because we perceive it every day.
- “Reality”, they say, is only what we know with our senses.
- Philosophers say this idea is driven by ignorance/laziness
6
Q
Why this Matters? (Metaphysics Intro)
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People ask themselves metaphysical questions all the time.
7
Q
Does a Supreme Being Exist?
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- This question matters to literally billions of people.
- Gives them a sense of purpose, a set of values, and an answer to questions about death.
- No “God” = some people would say that everything is morally permissible. Others would find it liberating.
8
Q
What is a Person?
A
- Silly question?
- 250 years ago, half that population were not considered persons (women) and another large group had no rights (non-whites).
- Today it enters into the legal debates regarding both abortion and euthanasia. When does something become person? When does it stop being a person?
- Should/Can animals be considered persons?
9
Q
Do You Have Free Will?
A
- Free will is the ability to make choices independently.
- We all like to think we have free will, but do we?
- The entire court system is built around this idea.
- Are your choices, really your own?
10
Q
Today….. - Metaphysics
A
- Metaphysics is working on issues in the scientific realm as well as the traditional questions.
- The origins of the universe, the nature of time, superstrings, chaos theory etc…
11
Q
Socrates - Background
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- Central figure in western philosophy - what is known about him comes from Plato.
- Did not write anything down, believed that mass education was impossible.
- He lived (469-399) during the Golden Age of Athens.
- His father was a sculptor and stone-mason. His mother was a midwife = he wasn’t broke
12
Q
Socrates - Education
A
- Athenian Crito - took him out of the stone-mason’s workshop, paid for his education.
- A pupil of Anaxagoras
- Attracted to the topics raised by the Sophists (a kind of travelling teacher)
13
Q
Socrates - Philosophical Mission
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- Chaerephon - went to the Delphic oracle asking if there was anyone who was wiser than Socrates, “there was not.”
- Not feeling wise, Socrates cross-examined the ‘wise’ men of society. (statesmen, poets, artisans, and others.) He did NOT find them wise.
- The pursuit of wisdom became Socrates’ full-time job
14
Q
Socratic Method
A
- His method consisted of asking questions to his fellow Athenians, particularly in regard to moral questions.
- Argued that knowledge was virtue and believed that people were largely ignorant (not meant in a rude way)
- Question and answer system is still called “The Socratic Method”
15
Q
Socratic Method II
A
- The goal of Socratic Method is to expose the weakness of someone else’s argument, by asking further questions, that eventually cannot be answered without exposing a contradiction.
- Socrates felt the mass schooling was impossible, and small group Socratic seminars were the only method that actually taught students anything of value in philosophy.
16
Q
Socratic Irony
A
- Irony is a difficult term with many definitions – one similarity is that there are 2 audiences involved.
- The term given to the idea that during Socratic questioning, the student is unaware of Socrates’ methods, but the others know what is happening.
17
Q
The Peloponnesian War
A
- Athens Vs Sparta (Athens doesn’t do well…at all)
- Socrates fought in this war and it defined him intellectually.
- He was critical of Athenian Democracy and Spartan Oligarchy.
- Three of his former students were leaders associated with the downfall of Athens.
18
Q
The Trial of Socrates
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- An Athenian Democrat, Anytus, who suffered under Spartan control of Athens (when a puppet government of ‘30 tyrants’ led by a former student of Socrates was in charge) brought charges against Socrates….
- “Socrates is guilty of not believing in the gods in which the state believes, but brings in other new divinities; he also wrongs by corrupting the youth .”
19
Q
Death of Socrates
A
- In his defense Socrates gave a spontaneous speech relying on reason, refuting all the charges one by one .
- There were 501 men on the jury, and he was condemned by 60 votes.
- The prosecutors proposed the death penalty, and Socrates had the opportunity to offer an alternative but antagonized the jury.
- With his death from hemlock poison Socrates became the most famous of all philosophers
20
Q
Who is Plato?
A
- One of the earliest ancient Greek philosophers
- Born in Athens, Greece in 427 BC
- He was a student of Socrates
- He served in the Peloponnesian War
- Formed what is the first known university, called “The Academy”
- Died in 347 BC
21
Q
What is an Allegory?
A
- a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.
22
Q
Symbolism Within the Story
A
- Inside the cave – the world in which we live
- Objects casting shadows = Real things
- Shadows on the wall = Images mistakenly thought of as real
- Outside the cave = the ‘intelligible’ world – found through the use of reason
- Objects out of the cave = the forms (‘real’ things)
- The sun = The form of good (knowledge)
23
Q
What do the symbols mean?
A
- Inside the cave, the prisoners mistake appearance for reality. They believe that the images they are seeing on the wall are actually real, they do not know that there are objects making these images.
- The prisoner thinks he is talking about a “book,” when really he is talking of a shadow.
24
Q
We are surrounded by things everyday that are largely meaningless.
A
- We convince ourselves (and others) that these things actually matter
- These things are imperfect copies of perfect forms (ideas)
- If we can stop focusing on the material world, we will be happier.
25
Q
Descartes’ Evil Genius
A
- Rene Descartes also had the same issues surrounding our world.
- In the seventeenth century, he wondered if it would be possible to know if his life was actually a dream-state created by an Evil Genius.
- Seeing as ALL of our perceptions are simply electrical impulses inside of our brains, “reality” may not exist at all.
- He could simply be a brain in a vat, with no physical body at all.
26
Q
Plato’s assertion is that perspective and reality are not aligned.
A
- Thus the things we perceive, in some way, are not truly reflective of reality.
- This affects the way we view the world, and our decisions.
- How might the following affect your perception of reality?: music industry, ads, tv news, tv shows, movies, school, gender, social networking
27
Q
Freed Vs Shackled
A
- Freed prisoners will never be understood by the shackled. Plato suggests that freed prisoners would be hated by those in the cave.
- Freeing oneself would be a difficult and painful process of unlearning = questioning everything that you thought was true and meaningful.
28
Q
PERSON VERSUS HUMAN
A
- Human is a biological term.
- It means a member of the genus Homo, and specifically Homo sapiens sapiens.
29
Q
PERSON?
A
- Person is a philosophical term.
- It is not a question of biology.
- Imagine we discover aliens one day, that are as intelligent as us, and they possess a language, and a culture.
- Would we consider it morally correct to own them, as we own animals today?
30
Q
So then, a person can be defined as:
A
- “any entity that has the moral right of self-determination.”
- The real question becomes not what is a person, but “What properties must an entity possess in order to be considered a ‘person’?
31
Q
JOHN LOCKE
A
- A person must have rationality, thought, consciousness, self-consciousness and self identity
- Being a human does not make one a person.
32
Q
DANIEL DENNETT - To be a person, a being must have:
A
Rationality
Conscious mental states
The ability to be regarded as a person
Capacity for verbal communication
Self-consciousness
33
Q
MARY ANN WARREN - When does Personhood begin?
A
Consciousness of objects
Ability to feel pain
Reasoning
Self-motivated activity
Self-awareness
34
Q
IMPLICATIONS OF THIS DEBATE
A
- Many humans have not always been considered persons under the law – ie. People of different races, ethnicities, women, the poor, slaves, children etc…
- The implications involve human rights, who we see as equals in society, and who/what we allow self-determination.
35
Q
ANIMAL RIGHTS
A
- Animal rights groups have proposed that many if not all animals would fall under some of our definitions of persons.
- Should animals have an inherent right to not be killed, tortured or eaten?
36
Q
ELEPHANTS
A
- They have been seen consoling family members, helping other species in times of need, playing in water and communicating with one another via vibrations sensed in their feet.
- A crowning achievement, some researchers say, was when this female Asian elephant named Happy recognized herself in the mirror. The complex behaviour is shared only with humans, great apes and dolphins.
