Final Exam SG

Question 1

What is philosophy?

Answer 1

Philosophy is the love with wisdom and is done for its own sake. Philos (friendship love)–sophia (wisdom) eros (passionate love) of wisdom. Philosophy is the love of wisdom. It is different from other disciplines because it is done for its own sake and not for material or political gain.

Question 2

Identify and briefly describe the five main areas in philosophy

Answer 2

1. Metaphysics–study of first principles
2. Ethics–study/branch of moral values
3. Epistemology–study of knowledge
4. Logic–science and art of human reasoning 
5. Aesthetics–concerning things/appreciating that which are good/beautiful.

Question 3

What are the characteristic features of ancient, medieval, modern, and post-modern
Philosophy?

Answer 3

Ancient seems more political and uses deductive reasoning, medieval more theological and uses deductive reasoning, and modern/postmodern to do with epistemic certitude and rejecting past philosophy and uses inductive reasoning. There are four main themes of modern philosophy: tradition is bad, the critical turn in epistemology, the new foundations (in the arts, sciences, and all human knowledge), and the end is to command nature (technology). Post-modern philosophy is essentially just the new foundations and critical turn in epistemology.

Question 4

Plato

Answer 4

d. 348 B.C.; The Republic

Question 5

Aristotle

Answer 5

d.322 B.C.; Nichomachean Ethics; Physics; Metaphysics

Question 6

St. Anselm

Answer 6

d. 1109; Proslogion

Question 7

Thomas Aquinas

Answer 7

d. 1274; Summa Theologiae

Question 8

Francis Bacon

Answer 8

d. 1626; The Great Instauration/Novum Organum

Question 9

Rene Descartes

Answer 9

d. 1650; Meditations on First Philosophy

Question 10

David Hume

Answer 10

d. 1776; A Treatise of Human Nature

Question 11

Immanuel Kant

Answer 11

d. 1804; Critique of Pure Reason; Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals

Question 12

Friedrich Nietzsche

Answer 12

d. 1900; Beyond Good and Evil

Question 13

C.S. Lewis

Answer 13

d. 1963; The Abolition of Man

Question 14

Based on your reading of Plato’s Republic as a whole, describe a liberal arts
education?

Answer 14

The liberal arts education produces a gentleman, a beautiful and good man, turning the soul away from the shadows and toward the sun/idea of the good. A liberal arts education is one that aims to aid you in your understanding of both the world and the higher things that we cannot see physically. One who is educated in this way should end up being very well rounded in the 6 subjects (logic, grammar, mathematics, geometry, music, and astronomy). They should also use this education to get out of the cave and seek the Good along with other truths about the world that many others neglect to see. The education is a way to make people gentlemen and truly human. Among these are the two parts of education that Plato distinguishes between, music and gymnastic or music and poetic. A liberal arts education harmonizes the mind and soul and causes the turning of the soul to what “is.”

Question 15

What is the meaning of the allegory of the cave?

Answer 15

There is a cave with people tied up at the bottom and are only able to see the shadows cast on the wall. These people name these shadows and some become good at interpreting and predicting the patterns of the shadows. These shadows are cast by a fire which creates shadows from the objects that are held up by unseen people behind a short wall behind the prisoners. One man is eventually freed from his chains and has a long and difficult journey out of the cave into the light of the Sun. He looks at the reflections of the things first, then the things themselves, then eventually the Sun itself. This is an allegory for political life in the city, in which every city is a cave that has images and has an education of images. The one who practices philosophy exits the cave (a long and arduous process) which is an assent from becoming to being.

Question 16

Know the divided line from my handout.

Answer 16

It represents the idea of the good (metaphysics). It’s divided into ontology and epistemology. The forms correspond to the intellect. Mathematical objects correspond to thought. Things correspond to trust. Images correspond to the imagination. It is further divided into the intelligible realm (“the good”) and the visible realm (“the sun”).

Question 17

What is Aristotle’s most complete definition of moral virtue? What two basic kinds of
virtues does he distinguish, and what is the difference between them?

Answer 17

Moral Virtues: A perfective, active condition acquired by habit, disposing one to choose the beautiful good, according to the mean, as determined by prudence, and to feel the correct pleasures and pains which accord with that choice. Concerned with “truth in action” and things capable of being otherwise. They are acquired by learning rather than habit. They concern affirming and denying rather than avoiding and pursuing. 1) Moral virtues: Developed through habit and pertain to the good and are virtues of character (e.g. courage and temperance) which disposes a person to choose the beautiful good. 2) Intellectual virtues: Developed by teaching and pertain to the truth and are virtues of thinking for their own sake (e.g. wisdom and prudence).

Question 18

What is Anselm’s argument for the existence of God?

Answer 18

Anslem’s argument for God is the ontological argument: He argues that (1) God is that which nothing greater can be conceived, and that (2) God who exists both mentally and externally is greater than God who exists only mentally. Therefore, because (x < x+ y), God is real.
Anselm’s argument is slightly circular because he relies heavily on our natural conception of what a god would be like instead of providing more concrete premises for why God exists.

Question 19

What is Aquinas’s primary argument for the existence of God, as summarized in
class?

Answer 19

The existence of God can be demonstrated through “a posteriori” (through the effect) meaning that we can look at the effects to demonstrate the existence of God. We cannot demonstrate the existence of God through “a priori” (through the causes) because we cannot know the causes. Nature of the efficient cause - a world of sense shows order of efficient causes. Everything in the world was caused by something else. What is the cause of this order? Things cannot be self caused, and there can’t be an infinite regress. Things also can’t be uncaused (ex nihilo, nihil fit). Therefore, there must be a first cause for things which itself is uncaused - God!

Question 20

What is Aquinas’s understanding of law? What four kinds of law does he distinguish,
and what is the difference between them?

Answer 20

Law is a dictate of practical reason emanating from the ruler who governs a perfect community. Law is directive - the ruler is like the conductor of an orchestra. He distinguishes four kinds of law - eternal law, natural law, divine law, and human law. Eternal law is a genus and God’s law. Natural law is the participation of the eternal law in the rational creature. Divine law is law that God revealed to us that we could not know by nature. Finally, human law is law created by the government based on natural law.

Question 21

Identify and briefly describe four elements in Bacon’s Great Instauration that make it
“Modern.”

Answer 21

Four elements that make it modern are as follows:
1. The emphasis on the empirical method, which emphasizes observation, experimentation and evidence over authority or tradition. 
2. The rejection of Aristotelian scholasticism, which criticized the reliance on deductive reasoning and abstract logic in favor of inductive reasoning, which builds general principles from specific observations.
3. The human progress and mastery over nature, which is the belief that science and technology can improve human life by harnessing nature for natural purposes.
4. The systematic organization of knowledge, which organizes and categorizes human knowledge by envisioning a collaborative and collective pursuit of understanding

Question 22

Compare/contrast Bacon and Aristotle on philosophy and nature

Answer 22

Aristotle viewed philosophy as a means of understanding the fundamental causes and the principles of existence. Bacon, on the other hand, saw philosophy as a practical tool for improving human life. He emphasized applied knowledge through empirical investigation and he argued that nature should be controlled for the benefit of humans. Aristotle started with the general principles and worked to specifics (deductive reasoning), while Bacon started with the specifics and worked to the generals (inductive reasoning). For Aristotle, nature had inherent purposes and worked towards ends. For Bacon, nature was a system to be explored and manipulated rather than a thing to be understood intrinsically

Question 23

What method does Descartes follow, and why? List the steps of the argument as best
you can. What primary conclusions does he reach?

Answer 23

He follows the approach of a critical turn in epistemology. He uses radical doubt and methodological scepticism - he doubts everything that can be doubted so he can find a firm foundation for genuine knowledge. He says even the senses need to be questioned because they sometimes deceive (think of the images that occur when you are dreaming). He talks of an evil genius (God-like figure) that could just make us believe false things. He concludes that I must exist, even if nothing else does (I think, therefore, I am). His reconstruction goes like this:
1. I exist (I think, therefore I am)
2. I am a “thinking thing”
3. Thought is more clear than sense
4. All clear and distinct ideas are true
He can’t know how logic works unless there is a non-evil God and God can’t be known without logic (Cartesian Circle). The logic to overcome this is:
1. A non-deceiving God exists. The idea of a God is the only thought he cannot generate from itself. Infinite subjects are more complete than finite substances. God is infinite substance - he is the one who created the idea of the infinite. Thus, God cannot be imperfect if he creates perfect forms.
2. Error is in the will. God could’ve made our perception perfect, or he could make a rule to not judge things until you have a full understanding about it (error in the will).
3. Corporeal world exists. It seems like there’s things in the world and God is no deceiver. Thus when it seems like there are things in the world, there actually are.
4. Corporeal world is different from the senses.
Substance dualism. The mind is wholly diverse from the body. My mind is really me, and I am glued to my body, which is separate.
5. Mechanism. Substance dualism exists( body-mind dualism). Body is like a machine or a mechanism. Descartes never gives us a moral theory, but does state that we are autonomous minds with mechanical bodies. Substance dualism drives Cartesian dualism.

Question 24

What is Descartes’ understanding of human nature?

Answer 24

Descartes’ understanding of human nature is that there is a dualism between the mind and the body. The mind is fully separate from the body. Essentially, my mind is really me, and I am glued to my body, which is separate. He also said that reason and intellect are at the center of human nature. Humans also have free will, which is derived from the mind. Despite dualism, the mind and the body are still in a union. 

Question 25

What is substance dualism? Compare/contrast it with hylomorphic dualism.

Answer 25

Substance dualism maintains that the mind and the body are two fundamentally distinct and independent substances. Hylomorphic dualism asserts that everything, including living beings, is composed of matter and form. The soul is the form of the body - its organizing principle - rather than a separate substance. The soul gives life and unity to the body, which makes complete, living organisms. The two are inseparable in the sense that the body without the soul is no longer alive or fully human.

Question 26

Describe the core features of Hume’s epistemology.

Answer 26

Hume believes that things are derived from experience. His concept mainly consists of impressions vs. ideas. Impressions are sensations, passions, and emotions; while ideas are faint images of those things in thinking and reasoning. These impressions can be simple or complex. Some of the most basic impressions are shape, color, etc. Impressions come first, and they are the touchstone for everything else that is seen. Logic is thus a way of associating things. For example, you cannot have color explained to you if you are a blind man, and this indicates that impression is the backbone for knowledge. This relates to parsimony, which is the concept that the simplest explanation of something is probably the best. 

Question 27

What is Hume’s understanding of causation? About substance? About personal identity?

Answer 27

Causation as a relationship between two impressions or ideas in the mind. "Substance" is not a real entity but rather a collection of individual qualities united by the imagination. Personal identity is not a fixed, substantial entity but rather a "bundle of perceptions" - a collection of fleeting sensations and impressions.

Question 28

What is “Hume’s Fork”?

Answer 28

“Hume’s Fork” is a way to understand synthesis. There are relations of ideas versus relations of “objects” or “facts” (matters of fact). An example of an idea is angles in a triangle (proportion), and an example of a fact is billiard balls on a table (contiguity). Relations of ideas are known a priori (independent of experience). They are logical, analytical, and cannot be otherwise; their truth is self-evident once the terms are understood. Examples include mathematical and formal logic (2+2=4, all bachelors are unmarried). Denying a relation of ideas would be a logical contradiction. On the other hand, matters of fact are contingent truths known a posteriori (through experience). They concern the empirical world and require evidence or observation to verify. Examples include “the sun will rise tomorrow” or “water boils at 100 degrees C at sea level”. Their truth depends on the state of the world, and denying them does not result in a contradiction.

Question 29

What ultimately is the result of Hume’s approach to epistemology, and how does he propose to deal with that result?

Answer 29

The result of Hume’s approach to epistemology is that there is a crisis at the end of Book I where he is led to a sense of nihilism. He is reduced to concluding that there’s no consistent sense of self because people have so many different experiences and change so much. He therefore doesn’t believe that self exists and he doesn’t even know what he is. He deals with this result by eating, playing a game, and hanging out with his friends - he essentially gets out of his own head. If philosophy is pleasurable, do it. If it isn’t, don’t do it.

Question 30

What for Hume is the relationship between reason and morality?

Answer 30

Reason destroys itself, and without reason, we follow imagination. However, reason and imagination both lead to bad things. Reason leaves you with nothing because there is a crisis of truth/meaning, and imagination leaves you with ridiculous things. Reason can’t impact the will and it can’t oppose the passions. Reason is inert. Feelings drive a lot of human actions - these are impressions that then reason tries to understand. Reason is the slave of passions - passion is always in the driver’s seat. Thus, there is emotivism (things driven by passion) versus rationalism (things driven by reason). 

Question 31

What is the “is/ought” problem?

Answer 31

This is the concept that the conclusion never adds anything not in the premises (in logic). Premise 1 - “is”, premise 2 - “is”, premise 3 - “ought”. Basically, you cannot derive an “ought” statement from an “is” statement. An additional premise must be introduced between the two statements in order to make them follow. This kind of separation helps determine the difference between descriptive facts (statements about what is) from normative values (statements about what ought to be). This also separates facts from moral values in a way that calls into question whether morality is objective or subjective.

Question 32

What in your judgment is the greatest strength and the greatest weakness in Hume?

Answer 32

I believe that the greatest strength of Hume is his concept of the impressions. I fully believe that the impressions are the touchstone for everything else that is seen. It makes complete sense to me that nothing that we can think up or experience can be separate from what we have already seen. Even the dreams we have are made up of things that we have seen or experienced in real life through impressions. I believe that Hume’s weakness is that he rejects the self. The idea that people are only made of individual perceptions is a bit ridiculous in my opinion, as I believe the hylomorphic dualism model that concludes that the soul and the body are both what make up an individual and that there is a sense of consistency and sameness that cannot be eliminated.

Question 33

In what sense is Kant responding to Hume?

Answer 33

Kant is responding to Hume by seeking to correct Hume’s empiricist skepticism about science and about ethics, while avoiding what he regarded as rationalist dogmatism. He seeks to reconcile modern natural science (which assumes a world of necessary causes) with objective morality (which assumes freedom), and at the same time make room for religious faith

Question 34

Describe briefly Kant’s epistemology

Answer 34

Kant makes a “Copernican turn” - a way of shifting our perspective of what we are seeing. In the traditional epistemology, our minds conform to reality, but in the new way, reality conforms to our minds. Kant's epistemology is based on the idea that the world we experience is different from the world in itself, and that the mind produces subjective thoughts about the world around us. Kant argued that we can only have knowledge of things we can experience.

Question 35

What are the basic features of Kant’s moral philosophy? (Consider in your answer the good will, duty, the categorical imperative(s), and autonomy).

Answer 35

His philosophy was pure of anything imperical or anthropological. His morality was absolute right or wrong. He belives that man can discover what is right and wrong through reason. Good will - good will is good in itself. Morality is the motive. Duty is done out of necessity of an action done out of respect for the law. Only actions done from duty have genuine moral worth. A categorical imeprative an unconditional moral obligation which is binding in all circumstances and is not dependent on a person's inclination or purpose. "autonomy" refers to the capacity of a rational being to govern themselves by their own moral laws.

Question 36

What are the three formulations of the categorical imperative?

Answer 36

1st Formula of the Law of Nature. 2nd is the Formula of Respect for Persons. 3rd is the Formula of Autonomy.

Question 37

What is Nietzsche’s understanding of philosophy, and how does this compare to the classical understanding?

Answer 37

Classical Philosophy has pretended to convey real opinions, but it is really their own prejudices. Philosophers attempt to impose their philosophy onto nature. 

Question 38

Be familiar with the following terms: Dogmatism; perspectivism; value; master and slave morality; will to power.

Answer 38

Dogmatism is the act of putting a lot of faith in dogmas - dogmatists have faith in an asserted system and agree without questioning it Perspectivism - all knowledge and truth are shaped by the perspectives through which they are viewed. It rejects absolute truth in favor of the interpretive nature of human understanding. Value - human creations shaped by cultural, historical, and psychological conditions. Master Morality- Values of the strong, good and bad, born from power, feels contempt, value creating Slave Morality is the herd morality that is afraid  - its main job is to secure the group. Values of the weak, good and evil, born from fear and resentment of the strong  -serve to ease existence for those who suffer; pity, complacency, patience, humility, and friendliness are honored by slave morality.  -good human being in slave morality is “undangerous” to the slaves way of thinking; he is good natured, easy to deceive, a little stupid -brings the words “stupid” & “good” close together  Will-to-power - a force ingrained in human beings which explains human behavior and can be directed to many different ends.

Question 39

What is Nietzsche’s understanding of morality, and how does it compare to other accounts of morality we have studied?

Answer 39

Philosophers try to find a rational judgment for foundation - but what if there isn’t one. Morality is a putting of form into nature. There is no one morality, but instead each individual culture essentially creates a morality based on their values.

Question 40

In what sense could Nietzsche be called a humanitarian?

Answer 40

Nietzsche could be called a humanitarian because he is concerned with the elevation and transformation of humanity. He encourages people to push past mediocrity, to affirm life, and to create their own values. He essentially is humanitarian in an individualist sense because he isn’t concerned with society as a whole but rather he is concerned with individual greatness and self-overcoming.

Question 41

What does Lewis mean by the “abolition of man”? What is its cause (or causes)? What remedy does he propose?

Answer 41

Lewis means that we are losing some parts of us that makes us human and abolishes man. The cause of the abolition of man is the modern education system and the rise of subjective values. The remedy is not to conquer science in a way that conquers us equally. We can use the reductionist approach but we cannot say that we are merely our most simple parts (cells, electrical signals in brain).

Question 42

What is the Tao? What role does it play in Lewis’s argument?

Answer 42

The Tao is the system of Objective Values that is over everything. The Role the Tao plays in the argument is the foundation of everything and that if you reject the tao you can’t really get back into the framework of objective morality. 

Question 43

What primary argument does Lewis make in the second part of The Abolition of Man? How does he support this argument?

Answer 43

His main argument is that you can be outside the Tao, but you will abolish man if you do so. He supports this argument by saying that adherence to the Tao is the only way to maintain human dignity, moral coherence, and the survival of civilization.

Question 44

Summarize C.S. Lewis’ view of modern science and its conception of nature.

Answer 44

Modern science has a very analytical perspective of knowledge. When you dissect the frog, you lose something in the frog that was there before. Modern science seeks to know nature through an analytical lens in order to conquer it. Knowing people is a synthetical knowledge that seeks to understand the whole rather than its constituent parts. Essentially, if man conquers nature without a sense of the Tao, it just turns into man conquering man through the use of nature, which devolves society into a purely robotic state where people disregard others.