Plato + Aristotle Flashcards
(123 cards)
What is Metaphysics?
Metaphysics is a major branch of philosophy that concerns existence and the nature of things that exist. It is a theory of reality.
What is A priori knowledge?
A priori knowledge relates to what can be known through an understanding of how certain things work, rather than by observation.
What is Logical Reasoning?
Logical reasoning is the process of using a rational, systematic series of steps to arrive at a conclusion.
What is the Theory of the Forms?
Plato’s theory that everything on earth is an inferior copy of Ideal Forms in a permanent spiritual reality. These include forms of objects and abstract concepts.
What is the Form of the Good?
The Form of the Good is the ultimate object of knowledge in Plato’s philosophy; it represents the highest level of understanding and truth.
What is the Analogy of the Cave?
An analogy put forward by Plato to help people understand the theory of the forms, illustrating how most people live in ignorance of the true, ideal forms.
What is Empiricism?
Empiricism is the theory that all knowledge is based on experience derived from the senses.
What are the Four Causes in Aristotle’s philosophy?
Aristotle’s Four Causes are: material cause (what something is made of), formal cause (its structure), efficient cause (how it came to be), and final cause (its purpose).
What is Teleology?
Teleology is the study of nature by attempting to describe things in terms of their apparent purpose or goal (from the Greek ‘telos,’ meaning end or purpose).
What is the Unmoved Mover?
The Unmoved Mover is a concept from Aristotle, referring to a primary cause or ‘mover’ of all the motion in the universe, which itself is not moved by anything else.
What does Eternal mean?
Eternal means lasting or existing forever, without end.
What is Actuality?
Actuality refers to the state of existing in reality, as opposed to being potential.
What is Potentiality?
Potentiality is the ability to develop or come into existence, the capacity to be something in the future.
Who was Plato and what was his influence?
Plato was an Ancient Greek philosopher (427–347 BCE), a student of Socrates. He greatly influenced Western philosophy, with his writings on the soul, beauty, and governance.
What is Plato’s reliance on reason as opposed to the senses?
Plato believed that knowledge gained from the senses is unreliable and does not show reality. He argued that true knowledge is gained through reasoning (a priori knowledge).
What does a priori knowledge mean in Plato’s philosophy?
A priori knowledge refers to knowledge gained entirely from reasoning, independent of sensory experience.
What is Plato’s theory of the Forms?
Plato proposed that the physical world is a world of appearances, while the real world consists of perfect, timeless Forms. These Forms are the true, unchanging essence of things.
What are Forms in Plato’s philosophy?
Forms are the perfect, unchanging ideas of things, like the idea of a ‘cat,’ which exists in the world of Forms, distinct from the material world.
What is the distinction between the world of appearances and the world of Forms?
The world of appearances is the material, changing world we live in, while the world of Forms is the unchanging, perfect realm of ideal concepts that the physical world imitates.
How do we recognize the Forms according to Plato?
Plato believed we recognize the Forms because our souls, before being tied to the body, were connected to the world of Forms. Our recognition is a form of recollection.
Why did Plato argue for the existence of an immortal soul?
Plato argued that because we recognize universal concepts like beauty without being taught them, our souls must have previously experienced the world of Forms before birth.
What is the world of imitations in Plato’s philosophy?
The world of imitations is the material world, where physical things are copies or imitations of the perfect, eternal Forms that exist in a separate, higher reality.
How does Plato relate beauty to the theory of the Forms?
Plato suggested there is a Form of Beauty that all beautiful things share a likeness to. Beauty exists universally but is only imperfectly expressed in individual things.
What is the Form of the Good in Plato’s philosophy?
The Form of the Good is the highest of all Forms. It illuminates all other Forms and is the source of knowledge. It is like the sun in the analogy of the cave.