ARISTOTLE

Question 1

how did aristotle believe we gain knowledge

Answer 1

empirically

Question 2

what is aristotle’s method known as

Answer 2

per genus et per differentia - through type and difference

Question 3

what is the main thing that characterises our world

Answer 3

change

Question 4

what does everything move from to

Answer 4

potentiality to actuality

Question 5

what is telos

Answer 5

everything has a purpose or goal even if it is not a conscious fact

Question 6

what does aristotle believe instead of argument of recollection

Answer 6

that we are taught things through observation and reflection

Question 7

an example of a discovery made by aristotle that could not have been discovered through platos rationalist method

Answer 7

the eclipse of the moon, what might cause the effect? the shadow was that of earth and spherical object and so earth must be spherical

Question 8

what are the four causes

Answer 8

material, formal, efficient, final

Question 9

what is the material cause

Answer 9

what is it made of? eg woods, bricks, nails

Question 10

what is the formal cause

Answer 10

what are the characteristics? appearance? eg the carpenters drawing

Question 11

what is the efficient cause

Answer 11

how does it happen? eg its maker or builder (does not have to be human eg chemical reaction) (can have more than one)

Question 12

what is the final cause

Answer 12

what is its overall purpose? eg a table, a house or a church, very important!

Question 13

how does an object become good

Answer 13

if it fulfils its intended purpose

Question 14

without the matter something is made from, there would be…

Answer 14

nothing

Question 15

what examples of material cause does aristotle give

Answer 15

bronze of statue, silver of bowl

Question 16

what is the difference between plato and aristotle’s forms

Answer 16

plato - transcendent
aristotle - immanent

Question 17

examples of the purpose of a final cause

Answer 17

listening to music to relax, making a cake to be eaten, painting to be hung

Question 18

how did aristotle reach his conclusion of the prime mover

Answer 18

if everything in the universe has a purpose, it would then follow by analogy with his assumption that if every part of the human person has a purpose, then the person as a whole has a purpose that: the universe has a purpose - a final cause

Question 19

quote for the prime mover

Answer 19

‘the series must start with something, since nothing can come from nothing’

Question 20

qualities of the prime mover

Answer 20

necessary, exists in and of itself, infinite, immutable, remote, impassive, not a creator

Question 21

what is the prime mover responsible for

Answer 21

change and causation

Question 22

how does the pm effect change

Answer 22

through ‘attraction’ rather than action, kitten and milk analogy

Question 23

how does it make sense that the pm is pure actuality and no potentiality

Answer 23

pm is pure actuality and everything is moving to actuality so attracted

Question 24

how is aristotles god different from the abrahamic god

Answer 24

uninvolved! petitionary prayer is redundant also not a creator but pulls

Question 25

what does aristotle also refer to the pm as

Answer 25

unmoved mover

Question 26

how is form of good similar to pm and different to christian god

Answer 26

neither is directly or personally concerned with the world, and neither created it

Question 27

FoG and PM dif or sim in relation to consciousness

Answer 27

different! pm supremely conscious but mental activity concerned with meditation of its own wonderful nature. fog not explicitly told if so or not?

Question 28

FoG and PM dif or sim in relation to necessary existence

Answer 28

both exist necessarily and are perfect

Question 29

FoG and PM dif or sim in christian influence

Answer 29

sim - both influence ideas on god and heaven

Question 30

what element of aristotles theory was important for development of science

Answer 30

per genus et per differentia

Question 31

plato criticism of mathmatical truth

Answer 31

aristotle champions empiricism as the route to knowledge however there are things that are true whether or not we observe/understand them eg 2+2=4 will always be the same no matter how many times you test it

Question 32

problem of science criticism - evolution

Answer 32

darwin's theory of natural selection rules out idea of final cause or purposeful design. the world may give the appearance of being purposeful but is actually though natural selection/random chance that things have happened.

Question 33

problem of science criticism - cosmology/physics

Answer 33

disputes idea universe exists as result of pm creating change through attraction - georges lamaitre and big bang theory

Question 34

existentialism criticism

Answer 34

no essence or purpose to human life that predates individual life spans, jean paul sartre: no innate purpose to human being, we have to create meaning in our own life

Question 35

what is the fallacy of composition

Answer 35

criticises assumption that what may be true of the parts may not be necessarily true of the whole

Question 36

proponents of fallacy of composition

Answer 36

hume and russell

Question 37

who proposed the fallacy of misplaced concreteness

Answer 37

a.n. whitehead

Question 38

what is the fallacy of misplaced concreteness

Answer 38

aristotle puts in place a system whereby everything is about change, motion, cause, potentiality etc with one exception. the PM is an illogical leap founded on an assumption which doesn't fit with the other things he claims it explains. why should we accept that pure thought of PM should result in material outcomes.