Philsophy exam P1 Flashcards
(28 cards)
What is philosophy?
A set of views or beliefs about life and the universe, often uncertainty
Branches of philosophy ( Logic )
Logic – Formal study of reasoning ability to reason is fundamental to human nature. Logic involves evaluating arguments.
Eg. What is good thinking? What is critical thinking? What makes an argument flawed? What is a valid argument? What is a logical fallacy?
Branches of philosophy ( Epistemology )
Epistemology – Study of knowledge, deals with issues of knowledge, truth, reason and faith. Deals with how we obtain knowledge and how we validate it.
Eg. What is knowledge and how does it differ from belief or opinion? What is truth and how can we know if a statement is true? What are the sources of knowledge? Do absolutes exist, and if so, can we know them? What is the relationship between faith and reason? Are there things we can never know?
Branches of philosophy ( Metaphysics )
Metaphysics – Study of ultimate nature of reality, deals with issues of reality, god, freedom and the soul, personal identity etc.
Eg. What is the soul? Are human actions free, or are they determined by some forces outside of our control? Do minds/souls exist, or are humans simply complex physical objects? What is time? What is reality? What is real? What is the relationship between mind and matter? What is the self?
Branches of philosophy ( Ethics )
Ethics – Study of moral principles, ethical philosophers consider the purpose of the “right” action and whether right and wrong are natural and fixed or synthetic and changing
Eg. Where do our moral principles come from? Are moral principles universal? What are good and evil? Why be morally good? Is euthanasia morally permissible?
Branches of philosophy ( Social/Political Philosophy )
Social/Political Philosophy – Explores the question of what constitutes the best society?
Eg. What form of government Is best? What economic system is best? What is justice? Are we obligated to obey all laws of the State? What is the purpose of the government? What are the limits of state authority? Do people have a right to equal treatment?
Branches of Philospophy (Aesthetics)
Aesthetics – Study of the nature and value of works of art and the aesthetic experience, attempt to identify the importance of art and the concept of beauty
Eg. What is a work of art? What is artistic creativity and how does it differ from scientific creativity? Why are works of art considered to be valuable? What do works of art communicate? What is beauty? Does art have any moral obligations or constraints? DO objective standards of beauty exist? What is the role of art in society?
Who was Socrates??
A master of discourse and reasoning where he would ask innocent questions that forced them to analyze their deepest beliefs and ideas
Who was “Sophists”?
Professional philosophers who argued any point of view that would earn them money
In the reading Plato’s Allegory of the Cave1. How the people in the cave are situated in Plato’s parable. Why can’t they move their legs of necks to take a look around
The people In the cave are chained so they can’t move their heads or bodies. Their legs and necks are restrained making them only able to look straight ahead at the cave wall they can’t turn to see objects behind them the only thing they could see are shadows on the wall which are projected by objects behind them they’re only source of light is a fire burning behind them.
What do these prisoners trapped in the cave believe is real?
The prisoners believe that the Shadows on the wall are the only reality since they can’t see anything else they think that Shadows are real objects and the only truth they know
What does Plato’s cave tell us about what we see with our eyes?
Plato’s cave suggests that what we see with our eyes is often just a shadow of the true reality our senses can deceive us and what we perceive as reality may only be an illusion or a limited perspective true understanding comes from that intellectual insight and enlightenment Beyond more sensory experience.
What is the truth according to Plato in this allegory?
The cave represents the world of appearances and shadows symbolize the perceptions of those Who believe empirical evidence is the reality. The journey out of the cave is the ascent of the Soul into the intellectual world.
What are our sources of Knowledges
Our Senses
➢ Authority
➢ Reason
➢ Intuition
➢ Faith
➢ Culture or Tradition
➢ Commonly accepted knowledge
➢ The Media
Skepticism
Poses the question of whether knowledge is actually even possible
A philosophical idea based on a position of doubt, ranging from disbelief to outright rejection of the reality of the external world
Believed our senses are unreliable sources of information ( consider optical illusions, waking dreams,visions, natural illusions, etc.) Famous skeptics include: Socrates, Pyrrho of Elis, Empiricus, Bertrand Russell
Empiricism
Knowledge through experience
A philosophical idea based on the fact that all reliable knowledge about the world is gained in the process of experience
We are born with the Tabula Rasa ( “blank slate”) which receives information throughout our lives on which we can base all thinking and knowing
Knowledge derived from experience is called “a posteriori” ( ie.coming after)
Famous Empiricists : Aristotle, John Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume
Rationalism
Knowledge through reason
A philosophical movement declaring that the most certain form of knowledge is derived from reason and that our senses are not reliable submitters of information about the outer world
Knowledge and reason alone is known as “a priori” (ie. From before)
Famous Rationalists: Plato, Rene Descartes (“Cogito, Ergo Sum”-I think, therefore I am), Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz, Immanuel Kant
Inductive reasoning
Method of drawing conclusions by going from the specific to the general
When you like the music of a certain artist, you will probably like their next album
When you see lightning in the sky, you know that thunder will shortly follow
Philosophers call the skills that people use to “know” in this way INDUCTIVE skills
Deductive reasoning
Logical approach where you go from general ideas to specific conclusions
Involves arguments whereby, if the premises are true, then the conclusions must also be true
Conclusions flow directly from the premises given
Provides us with more definitive answers
Women (Famous 5
1929 – Emily Murphy’s ruling was challenged in court as women were not considered to be “persons”
Banded together with four other women and created “The Famous 5”
Took the case to the Supreme Court of Canada and then to British Privy Council who granted them the status of “person”
Indigenous Communities (Residential Schools)
1900s – Young Aboriginal children were taken from their homes and placed into residential schools
Not allowed to speak their language or practice their cultural traditions
Endured physical and psychological abuse
Last residential school closed in 1996
Rene Descartes’s perspective on the soul
Descartes asserted that the soul was immortal. He believed that the soul was distinct from the body and consequently not affected by the same laws as the body.
He explained that the soul was a part of God and thus could not disappear. He concluded that when death occurred, the soul would be freed from the body, and thus would not disintegrate.
Aristotle Perspective on the soul
Believed that all living things have souls, however various grades of souls exist, some having higher capabilities than others.
1) Nutritive Soul – Is the most primitive and is responsible for nutrition, growth, and reproduction. It is the type of soul that plants have.
2) Sensitive Soul – Incorporates all the functions of the nutritive soul, however it also has awareness of its environment, can feel pain, and move. It is the type of soul that animals have.
3) Rational Soul – Incorporates all of the functions of the nutritive and sensitive souls, however also has the capacity to reason. This type of soul is only present in human beings. Aristotle believed that anything that was alive had a soul. He also asserted that the soul could not exist apart from the body and therefore was not immortal
Immanuel Kant and the Death Penalty
A crime is a violation of social laws i.e. it is committed against the society and therefore subject to punishment. People who observe society’s laws are society members, while people who commit crimes lose the right to be society members and must be
Punished.”Any transgression of the public
The law which makes him who commits it incapable of being a citizen, constitutes a crime, either simply as a private crime, or also as a public crime” (Kant, 1996).
The fact that the goal of punishment is to inflict damage on a criminal makes punishment more like revenge. lt means: “eye for an eye”. This wording can be used to express the concept of fair punishment
The death penalty, for Kant, could be justified as a just and proportional response to murder.
