Plato and Aristotle Flashcards
(48 cards)
What did Heraclitus mean by ‘a man never steps into the same river twice’?
Both the man and the river change; reality is in constant flux.
What epistemological challenge does Heraclitus pose?
If everything is always changing, then knowledge based on experience is unreliable.
How do Plato and Aristotle respond to Heraclitus’ challenge?
They propose different ways to gain knowledge despite the world being in flux—Plato through reason, Aristotle through observation and causation.
What is rationalism in epistemology?
The view that knowledge can only be gained a priori, not from experience.
How does Plato’s allegory of the cave illustrate his rationalism?
It shows that what we experience are shadows of the true reality—the world of forms—knowable only through reason.
What are the prisoners in Plato’s cave symbolic of?
People who mistake sensory experience for reality.
According to Plato, what is the world of forms?
A realm of perfect, eternal, and unchanging entities of which the things we experience are imperfect copies.
Why can’t we gain knowledge from experience, according to Plato?
Because the physical world is in constant flux and offers only imperfect versions of true forms.
What is Plato’s solution to Heraclitus’ problem of flux?
Pure a priori reason, which allows access to the unchanging forms.
What is a common criticism of Plato’s theory of forms?
There is no empirical evidence for the existence of forms.
How would Plato respond to the criticism that his forms lack empirical evidence?
He would argue that empirical evidence is unreliable and only shadows on the cave wall.
How does Aristotle critique Plato’s theory of forms?
He argues that we can gain knowledge through experience by understanding causal processes.
Why does Aristotle think the theory of forms is unnecessary?
Because the physical world and its changes can be explained empirically without positing abstract forms.
Why is Aristotle’s critique of Plato considered successful?
It laid the groundwork for modern science, which effectively explains the world using empirical methods.
How does modern science differ from Plato’s description of prisoners in the cave?
Science actively transforms and predicts the world, rather than passively observing illusions.
Why is Plato wrong to disregard empirical evidence, according to modern evaluation?
Because modern science, which uses empirical evidence, has been highly successful in understanding and manipulating the world.
What is the hierarchy of forms in Plato’s theory?
A structured ranking of forms with the Form of the Good at the top, followed by justice, beauty, mathematical forms, and forms of physical objects.
What role does the Form of the Good play in Plato’s theory?
It allows knowledge of the forms and is the source of their existence; it is the highest form.
What is the analogy of the sun in Plato’s philosophy?
The Form of the Good is like the sun, illuminating and making intelligible the world of the forms.
What happens to someone who understands the Form of the Good?
They become morally perfect and incapable of wrongdoing—fit to be a ‘philosopher king’.
How does Aristotle criticize Plato’s Form of the Good?
He argues there can’t be a single, unified form of the good since goodness varies by context.
Give an example Aristotle uses to critique the Form of the Good.
‘Good’ in military strategy means killing effectively, but in medicine, it means healing effectively.
What does Aristotle believe is required to do good, rather than just knowing goodness?
Being a virtuous person.
What did Nietzsche say about the Form of the Good?
He called it a ‘dangerous error’ and claimed Plato invented it to justify his political desires.
