Flashcards
Rationalism and Empiricism
Cards in this deck (34)
- 1When did the traditions of Rationalism and Empiricism emerge as such?The beginning of the Early Modern Period (17th century)
- 2What was Descartes' goal in the Meditations?"to demolish everything completely and start again right from the foundations"
Using a method of radical scepticism, he tried tried to establish what he could know for certain, and then build up from that. - 3What is the first truth that can be known with complete certainty?The fact of one's own existence as a thinking being: "je pense, donc je suis".
- 4How does Descartes build up his epistemology?By establishing God's existence as a matter of certainty. He does this in two ways:
1. His ontological argument.
2. His "clear and distinct" idea of perfection could not come from a less-than-perfect source, just as his idea of infinity could not come from a finite source.
Then he argues that all our clear and distinct ideas are innate and trustworthy, because a perfect God would not have implanted false innate ideas in us. - 5In what way does modern science follow Cartesian methods?It tries to explain phenomena (scents, colours etc.) in mathematical and geometric terms. This is in accord with Descartes' contention that the best way to gain knowledge of something confused (i.e. not clear and distinct) is to analyse it in terms of clear and distinct ideas.
- 6According to Descartes, what is the purpose of the imagination, and how does he illustrate this?The imagination, unlike the intellect, is oriented towards the bodily senses. He asks the reader to consider the difference between conceiving of a chiliagon (1000 sided shape) intellectually, and imagining it.
- 7According to Descartes, what is the purpose of our sensations?They help to ensure bodily survival.
(N.B. they are not designed to show the true nature of things.) - 8What is the Cartesian circle?The objection (raised by theologian Antoine Arnauld) that Descartes was reasoning in a circle in the Meditations, because he relied upon clear and distinct perceptions to establish that clear and distinct perceptions could be trusted.
- 9What was John Locke's main work, in which he explained his rival theory of knowledge?Essay Concerning Human Understanding
- 10Why did Locke's observations of children lead him to conclude that we do not have innate ideas?Children do not seem to know the principles that the rationalists claim are innate and embraced by all humanity (such as, "tis impossible for the same thing to be, and not to be"). Also, it does not make sense to say that this idea is imprinted on the souls of children, but in ways that they neither perceive nor understand.
- 11Why can rationalists not escape this objection by claiming that the child will recognise the innate truth once they gain the use of reason?If reason is required to recognise a truth, then what does it mean to say it is innate?
- 12According to Locke, what are the only two sources of the simple ideas from which all human thought is constructed?1. Ideas of sensation
2. Ideas of reflection - 13What does Locke say is the source of the most frustrating debates on moral and political matters?People associating different ideas with their words.
- 14How does Locke define knowledge?"the perception of the connection and agreement, or disagreement and repugnancy, of any of our ideas"
- 15What are Locke's degrees of knowledge?1. Intuitive knowledge
2. Demonstrative knowledge
3. Sensitive knowledge - 16Other than knowledge, what can serve as a guide to action according to Locke?Judgement—doesn't give us certainty, but allows us to believe things that are probably true.
- 17What terminology is used to describe taking first-person vs third-person approaches to epistemology?Internalism and externalism
- 18Provide and example of: 1. A priori 2. A posteriori 3. Analytic 4. Synthetic 5. Necessary 6. Contingent 7. Deductive 8. Inductive1. Ontological argument
2. Teleological argument
3. A bachelor is an unmarried man
4. This ball is red
5. 17 is prime
6. There are 8 planets orbiting the sun
7. A syllogism
8. Empirical scientific laws - 19What is one of the most controversial claims of rationalism (endorsed most famously by Kant)?We can have synthetic a priori knowledge.
- 20Why is Plato considered to be a rationalist?1. The divided line
2. Elevation of realm of forms and denigration of realm of senses
3. Learning as recollection
4. Soul as seat of rationality - 21What is foundationalism?The organisation of a system of knowledge in the manner of a well-structured edifice. The edifice owes its structural integrity to two features: a firm foundation and a superstructure of support beams firmly anchored to the foundation. Foundation = unshakeable first principles; support beams = propositions anchored to the first principles by unshakeable inference.
- 22What is an example of a foundationalist system? In what way does Descartes' system differ?Euclid's geometry.
Though Descartes' system is inspired by Euclid's, Descartes has to include an extra stage of demolition—clearing the way for the foundations. This is necessary in metaphysical enquiry (and not mathematical enquiry) because the first principles may conflict with the senses. - 23What is Hume's epistemology?Basic contents of the mind are perceptions. Perceptions are divided into impressions and ideas. Ideas are like "faint copies" of impressions, but can be combined into more complex ideas. Impressions are further divided into impressions of sensation and of reflection (following Locke). The basic building blocks of all thought are therefore simple impressions. Our simple ideas are copies of these impressions, and our complex ideas are combinations of our simple ideas.
- 24What is the nature of Hume's epistemology, and what arguments does he provide in support of it?It is an empirical discovery that all our ideas come from impressions, not a necessary truth. Arguments:
1: All our ideas can be analysed into simple ideas, each of which has a corresponding impression.
2. If a person lacks certain kinds of experience, then they are unable to form the corresponding ideas (e.g. a blind man does not have the idea of colour). - 25How, according to Hume, do we get the idea of God?The idea of God is an idea of an infinitely intelligent, wise and good being. We get this idea by reflecting on the operations of our own minds, and then augmenting, without limit, those qualities of goodness and wisdom which we perceive.
- 26What ideas does Hume reject on the basis of his Copy Principle?Ideas of substance, the self, causal necessity...
- 27What is the "missing shade of blue"?Hume considers the missing shade of blue as an exception to his Copy Principle. If a person has seen all shades of blue except one, and is presented with a full spectrum with a gap at the missing shade, the person will, using imagination, be able to form an idea of this shade, despite not getting this idea from any impression.
- 28How can the Copy Principle be amended to get around the "missing shade of blue"?1. Weaken the principle to: "an idea only has meaning if there is a corresponding impression that can be encountered in experience [but need not have actually been encountered].
2. The missing shade is an exception because it is a determinate quality of a determinable quality, and we already have impression of other determinates of this quality. Therefore, the missing determinate can be constructed out of the existing ideas.
Both these amendments preserve Hume's claim that ideas of substance, self, and causal necessity are meaningless. - 29What is Hume's analysis of the idea of the self?We never have any experience of the common-sense idea of the self as an entity persisting through time, from one thought to another. All we are able to observe are thoughts and sensations (perceptions). So the self is nothing more than a bundle of thoughts and sensations, constant changing. So claim otherwise would be to confuse similarity with identity.
- 30What is Hume's analysis of the idea of physical substance?Physical substance is the idea of persisting stuff independent of experience. But we cannot have any impressions of things outside our experience. So we can have no meaningful ideas of substance. When the "same object" appears in two of our impressions, we cannot know that it was the same object, only that the perceptions were very similar. Our idea of substance therefore confuses similarity with identity again.
- 31According to Hume, out of which simple ideas do we compose the complex idea of causation?1. Contiguity
2. Succession
3. Constant conjunction
4. Necessary connection - 32How does Locke argue against the view that we have innate knowledge?Against the argument that because there are certain principles universally agreed upon by all humans we can conclude that there are shared innate principles:
—this does not follow (other explanations for universally held principles)
—There are no such universally held principles (even the law of identity and law of non-contradiction cannot truly be said to be known by young children) - 33What is the metaphor of the wax?In the Meditations. Descartes explains that all the sensible properties by which a piece of wax is known to him empirically are changed when it is brought to a fire, and yet the wax remains.
- 34What was the essence of Kant's synthesis of rationalism and empiricism?The mind imposes principles upon experience to generate knowledge.
Critique of pure reason: "Thoughts without contents are empty, perceptions without conceptions are blind […] Understanding can perceive nothing, the senses can think nothing. Knowledge arises only from their united action."
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- Pre-U Philosophy Pre-U (Paper 1) Flashcards on Rationalism and Empiricism, created by muon neutrino on 08/04/2018.
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