Ancient Philosiphical influences

Question 1

What is Rationalism?

Answer 1

Use reason to gain knowledge
-Knowledge is gained prior (before) to using senses=A Priori knowledge
-Plato is an rationalist and says experience fails to provide us with any guarantee facts so we experience in true fact

Question 2

What is Empiricism?

Answer 2

Using senses to gain knowledge
-Knowledge is gained after (post) using senses= A posteriori knowledge
-Aristotle is an Empiricist

Question 3

Strength of Rationalism?

Answer 3

-Universal this means everyone can have the same knowledge and understanding over the world
-Eternal knowledge exists through time so even if you don’t know it does not mean it does not exist in the same way as it always do

Question 4

Weaknesses of Rationalism?

Answer 4

We cannot gain all knowledge through reason e.g. a coconut you recognize and describe it but you could not imagine the taste this is the only need to use your senses to experience taste

Question 5

Strength of Empiricism?

Answer 5

-Takes into account how the world really works
-Widely used in science as a method of providing and disproving theories
-David Humes is an empiricist argues that under normal circumstances our senses do not lie and the more we repeat something the better idea we have of it

Question 6

Weaknesses of Empiricism?

Answer 6

• There is also no way of knowing if what we are seeing is reality example people might be colour blind and people might see different things
• Many people experienced hallucinations or lucid dreams so the senses can be easily deceived

Question 7

How does plato Analogy of the cave explains the Forms?

Answer 7

-Prisoners (are ordinary people in our world)
-Cave (Empirical world that we see and hear around us)
-Chained (Senses that restrict the way we experience things) by neck and ankles.
-Shadows (Our everyday sense experience)
-Escape (Philosopher who is able to access knowledge)
-Outside world (The real world, the world of Form)
-Sun (Highest of all the Forms the Forms of the good) he would go blind.

Question 8

What is a Form?

Answer 8

perfect expression of something that never changes

Question 9

What are plato two worlds?

Answer 9

World Appearances and World of Forms

Question 10

What is World of Appearances?

Answer 10

our world where things appear to be real but are not permanent and so change or decay and eventually die.
-Plato says the particulars are imperfect copies of the Forms

Question 11

What is the World of Forms?

Answer 11

contains immutable, perfect and eternal Forms or ideal.Plato say this is this is the real world because reality don’t change it remains constant

Question 12

What is the Strengths of the theory of the forms?

Answer 12

• They provide an explanation for a mystery - how do we know the meanings of words like ‘chair’ and ‘beauty’? How do young children know, when as adults we find it hard to explain? The theory of the forms provides an explanation for this.
• Some concepts fit Plato’s model exactly. We all know that a circle is an idealised version that real circles in the world are imperfect versions of.
• We could only recognise that things were imperfect if we already had an idea of perfection. But we can’t see anything around us that is perfect.
• The world we see is imperfect and always changing. Perhaps reality needs to be something more secure and solid than that.

Question 13

What is Weaknesses of the theory of the forms?

Answer 13

• Plato offers no (direct) evidence - no empirical scientific evidence - (But we wouldn’t expect there to be
• Richard Dawkins argues that it is nonsense to imagine a transcendent ‘other world’ beyond the physical world.
• Plato’s theory of the forms is vague and unclear. He does not say how general or specific the forms are. Is there a form of a dog, or the form of a poodle, terrier, alsatian etc.?
• Plato leaves it completely unexplained how objects in this world ‘share’ properties with objects in the world of the forms. How can there be interaction between the two worlds?
• Aristotle argued that there is no ‘idealised’ version of good - because whether something is good depends on the context’
• Are there ideal forms of negative things? (An ideal form of genocide). This doesn’t seem right, but then how do we understand terms like cancer if there isn’t an ideal form of cancer?

Question 14

What is the Ultimate Form?

Answer 14

• The Form of the Good is the Form of all other Forms because everyone has goodness in it
• Supreme Forms= ‘Form of the Good’ and All perfection flows down from the Form of the Good

Question 15

What is Aristotle 4 causes?

Answer 15

1)Material cause (matter)-what is made of? example Book is made from paper
2) Efficient cause (Process)- How does it happen?
3) Formal cause (form-essence)- What are its characteristics?
4) Final cause (Telos achieved)- What is it for?

Question 16

What are the four causes Strengths?

Answer 16

• There is evidence to back up every answer. (compare Plato)
• Relying on sense experience for knowledge (science) has been shown to be extremely successful as a way of understanding the world.

Question 17

What are the four causes weaknesses?

Answer 17

• It ONLY looks at sense experience for answers. This appears to suggest that there is no other way of gaining knowledge (e.g. spiritual or intuitive knowledge).

Question 18

What is Aristotle Primary Mover?

Answer 18

Aristotle says “nothing comes from nothing’’ there must be an ultimate Prime mover
•The prime mover causes change and motion by attracting other things towards itself.
•It does nothing but is the object of everything.
•The final cause of movement is a desire for God
•Everything in the universe is drawn towards
God’s perfection & wants to imitate it.

Question 19

What are the Prime Mover Qualities?

Answer 19

• Transcendent is separate from the universe/change/motion
• Necessary cannot fail to exist
• Unchanged remain in pure state of actuality with no potential
• Perfection

Question 20

What are the Similarities between Aristotle Primary mover and Plato Form of the Good?

Answer 20

• Both are transcendent and cannot be known by using sense so we need to use understanding for them both
• Both are perfect,unchanging and eternal
• The Primary Mover is the telos of everything and the Form of the Good is the aim of everything

Question 21

What is the differences between Aristotle Primary mover and Plato Form of the Good?

Answer 21

• The primary mover draws or attracts all motus towards itself because it is the ultimate final cause
• On the other hand Form of the Good is unchanging and part of the World of the Forms. Change happens only in the imperfect World of appearances because it’s imitating the Forms but it’s imperfect
• The Form of the Good is the real world not part of this world
• The primary mover has no connection with things in the world