Philosophy terms

Question	Answer
Philosophy	“philein” : to love + “sophia”: wisdom = Philosophy
Autonomy	the freedom of being able to decide for oneself by using one’s own rationality
The Republic	“ A classic philosophical work on justice” (textbook, 5) by Plato. Found inside are many writings, most famously The Myth of the Cave
Pre-Socratic philosophers	The first thinkers in the west who questioned religious authority and tried to provide non-religious explanations of nature.
Crito	One of the first dialogues that Plato (Socrates’ disciple) wrote (Others were Euthyphro and The Apology). Many question the accuracy of the dialogues and say that although the views are correct, the exact words may have been different.
Augustine, Plato (influences)	Plato strongly influenced Christian thought and St. Augustine. - Both Augustine and Plato spoke about the human self as rational : an immaterial soul that is conscious and can think. - Augustine used this philosophy to justify the Christian notion of an afterlife.
Philosopher kings	In the utopian republic philosopher kings are those who rule and have no possessions, no family, no money. - The best ruler according to Plato
Plato – what rules what?	– the appetite, emotions and rationality ( reason) rule a person - (three parts of the soul)
Memory – enduring self –who?	Locke: what makes a person the same at one point and another is our memories (of we have memories from an earlier point in life, then we must be that same person)
Thomas Reid contradicts Locke’s theory:	- conflicts with mental disorders where people claim to be people (i.e Neapolitan) - What if you honestly cannot recall a memory?
Judeo-Christian view of human nature	Humans are made in the image of God. (Augustine) The will is our ability to choose between good and evil, but “humans have powerful desires which weigh us down to earth away from heaven.” REASON makes us different from animals Major influences: Plato, St Augustine, Plotinus.
Existentialist view of human nature	View that denies any essential human nature, each of us creates our own essence through free action. Absolute individuality and absolute freedom. Existence precedes essence. Major influences: Jean-Paul Sartre
Feminist objection to rationalism	The feminist view argues that not only are women suffering from the belief that rationality is only for men and emotions are only for women. Men are forced to hide their emotions for fear of being thought of as "unmanly" and weak. The rationalist view is built into our notions of what men and women really are.
Eastern view of self	The “no self” view, the individual self does not. Unlike Western philosophy which celebrates individuality, Eastern philosophy holds that the delusion that the self exists is the source of all pain and suffering. Major influences: Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)
Hume – view of self	Western philosopher David Hume supports this notion, adding that all real knowledge is based on what we can see/hear/touch/smell/taste/feel Therefore, because we can never actually perceive self among these sensations, it doesn’t exist
Plato – Innate knowledge	Innate knowledge or Ideas are those which rationalists believe are present from birth. Plato believes that we have these ideas fully formed within our heads, but in infancy we cannot access them. As we grow, we become more aware of them.
Aristotle knowledge of forms	There is a perfect world of which there is an ideal form of everything, the things on earth are only imperfect reflections of these forms
Paley watch argument	In 1802, William Paley compared natural organisms to the mechanism of a watch The existence of a watch implies the existence of a maker - so do natural organisms provide proof for a “Divine Agency”.
Turing test	A test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human.
Augustine – view of reality	The spiritual world is real - the world without matter. We are citizens of the physical world, but we are destined to become citizens of the spiritual world of God
Berkeley – who perceives?	All our acquaintance with the external world consists of our sensations and perceptions of our senses. - There is no reason to say that there is an external realty. Where does the collection of perceptions derive its uniformity, consistency, and continuity? - GOD (a/the supreme being)
Objective idealism	Ideas exist apart from our perception of them ( what you see isn't all that exists - juice in fridge)
Idealists	- Berkley “to be is to be perceived” (subjective idealist) - Vasubandhu believed we only perceive indirect indirect sensations in our mind of objects (objective)
Anthropomorphism	The attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object. ( Giving god human characteristics
Materialism	The only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena (including consciousness) are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance.
Materialists	Thomas Hobbes, Norman Malcom, J. J. C Smart.
Intentionality	Thinking of things that do not exist
Agnostics	a claim of ignorance; the claim that God’s presence cannot be proved nor disproved.
Agnosticism	Thomas Huxley, Sigmund Freud.
Subjective view of time	Time as we experience it, it is the source of all our pain and sorrow.
Existentialists	Martin Heidegger Friedrich Nietzsche
Ninian Smart’s Six Dimensions of Religion	Experimental- the religion experience of the sacred. Myths- profoundly true stories with the worldview of a believer Ritual- provide believers with a symbolic mode of communication designed to propel them out of the ordinary into the extraordinary Doctrinal Dimension- It is what people believe Ethical Dimension(behaviour)- ethics provides human beings with guidelines for proper patterns of action Social- impact of religious beliefs on society
Rationalists	Pythagoras Plato Socrates Descartes Kant
Descartes – wax meditation	Descartes points out that our minds know the wax is the same piece of wax when it melts although all our senses and qualities changed
Myth of Cave – reality?	- parable written more than 2000 years ago describes philosophy as being the activity of journeying upward from the dark cave to the light - it’s the journey that’s important,
Metaphysics	The branch of philosophy that studies the nature of reality.
Epistemology	The branch of philosophy that investigates the nature, sources, limitations, and validity of knowledge
Ethics	The branch of philosophy that tries to determine the good and right thing to do (what is moral vs immoral)
A Posteriori ( Epistemology)	Posteriori knowledge is knowledge that we can have only after we have certain experiences. We have to make observations in order to gain such knowledge. - Example/ smoking causes cancer
A Priori (Epistemology)	Priori knowledge is knowledge that we can have "prior to experience" or innate knowledge. We don’t need to observe how the world is to have such knowledge. - Example/ All triangles have three sides.
tabula rasa	John Locke denied the rationalist belief that claimed that “there are certain innate principles.. which the soul receives in its first beginning, and brings into the world with it.” Locke compared the mind to a blank slate or “Tabula Rasa” Human knowledge is founded by sensory experience
Primary and secondary qualities	Mind: Upholds intellectual activities (thinking, willing, denying, doubting). Matter: Upholds physical qualities of sensible things (size,shape,color,position) Primary qualities (exist independent of perceiver): according to Locke, qualities that inhere in an object, size, shape, weight, and so on. Secondary qualities (dependent of perceiver): According to Locke, qualities that we impose on an object: color, smell, texture and so on.
Noumenal world	The world apart from our mind is called the “noumenal” world. We can never really understand what the noumenal world is like. All we can know is the phenomenal world
Cogito Ergo Sum	"I think, therefore I am", or better "I am thinking, therefore I exist" is a philosophical proposition by René Descartes.
Categorical imperative	An imperative that is categorical means an action as necessary if itself, without regard to any other Acting morally is acting only on these maxims or reasons that you believe everyone-universally- should live up to
Ontological argument	Saint Anselm proposed that the argument for the existence of God is deduced from the nature of God's being. If God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived, he must be greater than our conception
Cosmological argument	An argument for the existence of god that claims there must be an ultimate explanation for why the universe totally exists Saint Thomas Aquinas offered five ways to prove god’s existence 1.Motion- Unmoved mover capable of imparting motion to all other things 2. Cause- Uncaused cause capable of imparting existence to all other things 3. Necessity- If nothing existed, nothing would always exist; therefore there is something whose existence is necessary (eternal something) 4. Degrees- Being progresses from inanimate objects to increasingly complex creatures, culminating in a qualitatively unique God 5.Design- universe is the handiwork of an intelligent being
Teleological argument	Also known as the design argument by William Paley Argues that the order and purpose manifest in the working of things in the universe require a god Paley compared natural organisms to the mechanisms of a watch- just as the design of the watch implies the existence of a maker, so the design found in natural organisms implies the existence of a divine agency
Mysticism	The experience of reality we can truly know only when we surrender ourselves and have a sense of union with the divine or existence A mystical experience is very much intrinsic vs extrinsic Common characteristics of a mystical experience according to Saint Aquinas - Infinite dependence, Mystery, Terror, Bliss
Kierkegaard	Condemns the proofs for God’s existence as well as other attempts to know God God cannot be known; God is not subject to rational, objective analysis “leap of faith” we must make a decision whether to have a relationship with god or not even when the evidence is lacking
Augustine’s view on evil	- God is perfectly good, holy, and real. God’s creations are incomplete good therefore there must be evil within them
Human freedom (Evil)	- Since we are free we are free to do evil as well as good.
John Hick (evil)	- A world without suffering would be unsatisfactory. While humans are made in the image of God they have not yet been brought as free and responsible agents into the finite likeness of god as revealed in Christ
consequentialist:	The morality of an action depends only on its consequences vs. depends on factors
Agnosticism	A claim of ignorance. God’s existence cannot be proved or disproved.
• Ethical Relativism	Denies the existence of a single universally applicable moral standard. Right or wrong depends on the culture the person belongs to
Ethical Absolutism	Affirms the existence of a single, correct and universally applicable moral standard
Jeremy Bentham	Created utilitarianism- we should act in such a way that our actions produce the greatest pleasure Thought pleasure could be calculated - The hedonistic Calculus
• Hedonism	Only pleasure has intrinsic value and is worth having for it own sake. - Epicurus says pleasure was sober thinking and not sexual gratification - Discouraged excess and emphasized simplicity and moderation
Egoism	- Act in a way that produces our best long term interests - We must differentiate between our immediate interests and long term interests
Natural law ethics	- Endorsed by the greeks - Humans should live according to universal natural order in the world
Rule utilitarianism	Rule- act so that the rules governing our actions produce the greatest happiness for most people
Act Utilitarianism	- act to produce the greatest happiness for most people
Determinist View	Everything happens in accordance with some regular pattern or law
Libertarian View	Determinism is false and people are free to choose to act other than they do i.e. Sartre existentialism

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