Aristotle And Plato Flashcards
(15 cards)
What do things in the analogy of the cave represent
Prisoners - ordinary people in our world
Chains - the senses that restrict us
The escapee - a philosopher who is able to access knowledge
The difficult journey - the road to philosophical knowledge is hard
The outside world - the world of the forms
The sun - the form of the good
Problems with platos ideas of the cave
It is not clear why it is important for the philosophers to rule if this is only a shadow world
Plato may be right to suggest that our senses are not always reliable however the information we get through our senses is not unimportant- we need it to survive
Doesn’t offer proof of the existence of another realm and he is unclear how the 2 worlds relate to eachother
He is guilty of elitism - a philopher is not completely different to an ordinary person - having 2 groups of people those who know and this who are ignorant is too simplistic
Why did Plato believe in the world of the forms
Believed that everything changes therefore there must be a world where things are unchanging
Logic of opposite - everything has an opposite (hot, cold) so if this world changes there must be an opposite that doesn’t
Arguments for the forms
The one over many argument - our innate ability to recognise the forms that our souls knew before we were born. Without the form, it is not possible to explain the sameness . We are able to recognise the ‘one’ that is over the ‘many’
The ideal standard - supports belief in absolute unchanging moral rules. The form of the good gives us an absolute idea of what goodness really is , it is not a matter of opinion
Arguments against the forms
Wittgenstein rejected the one over many argument with his family resemblance theory. He suggested that there is no ‘one over many’ but merely a series of overlapping characteristics. Just as members of a family may each resemble other members of the family
Can be absurd - must there really be an idea form of everything like dirt hair or even as Stephen law argues ‘the form of the bogey’
Also the problem of new inventions and things that become extinct. Platos belief in the unchanging nature of the world of the forms requires the form of an iPad to have always existed and the form of a T. rex still exists
The forms have no practical value - study of them takes us away from the useful scientific study of the world. Nothing to physically study either
If there are forms of every number as Plato claimed then there are infinite forms
The theory of evolution shows that we now have empirical means of explaining what similar objects or animals have in common
However can be argued that these criticisms only arise if we take platos theory too literally
What are the 4 causes
Material- what something is made of
Formal - the shape
Efficient - ‘primary source of the change’ - who made it
Final - it’s telos / purpose
Why do Aristotle’s 4 causes matter
This world is the real world and the task of philosophers is to explain it
The key to knowledge is the empirical method
The world and all that is in it has purpose
Strengths of Aristotle’s causes
Element of common sense - most objects conform to the idea eg Aristotle’s example of a statue
Focuses on purpose and this gives us a way of determining weather something is good or not . We intuitively know that if things don’t do the object they were intended to do then they are not rly being the object they meant to be
Weaknesses of Aristotle’s causes
His claim that everything has a purpose is subjective. What the purpose of an object Is may depend on our point of view . Cld have multiple purposes
20th century philosophers known as existentialists claim that human beings have no purpose. As atheists they argue that our existence is a matter of chance and that there is purpose until we freely choose to give ourself a purpose which is matter of choice
The causes are empirical and this method has allowed us to make discoveries about the world yet our senses do not always give us accurate information
What are characteristics of Aristotle’s prime mover
immutable
Impassive - no emotion
Unaware of the world
The first cause
Perfect
Eternal
Strengths of the prime mover
Some ideas are more logical than religious believers god as it is more difficult to believe in a God who is perfect if that being is liable to changing emotions. An impassive prime mover seems more logical
The idea of the prime mover avoids the traditional problem of evil. There is no issue about evil and suffering in the world because the obvious question of why doesn’t the prime mover prevent evil is avoided
Weaknesses of the prime mover
It is difficult to understand how a being can be described as perfect yet have no knowledge of the world
If the prime mover is pure thought but is some way responsible for everything then where did matter come from
The idea of a god who is not involved is unsatisfactory for religious believers. The prime mover is not worthy of worship.
He could be wrong and the universe is a product of random chance
The form of the good vs the prime mover
Neither the good nor the prime mover us directly or personally involved with the world
Both are perfect and necessary beings , they are eternal
Both are to some extent responsible for the existence of things in the world. They are explanations, the prime mover explains change , the forms is a refuge against the uncertainties of change
The prime mover has consciousness , the good doesn’t it is an idea
Both have been influential to the Christian idea of God. Prime mover has been adapted by aquinas and others to be used as an argument for god and the idea of forms as perfect have influenced the idea of God
What is the idea of infinite regression
What’s stopping you from having a form of a form. Forms can go forever backwards
Further weaknesses of Plato
No such absolute value of good - it is subjective
Unlikely that everything in existence can have an idea form
Theory is no help for the world we live in
Plato believes that senses are inferior even tho we have realised on the for thousands of years
Not clear how the forms relate to our world eg does the dog form have to relate to a specific variety of dog
