PHILOSOPHY: MIDTERM LECTUREPrepared by: Raizza P. Corpuz

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ANCIENT EPOCH

THREE TRIUMVIRATE IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY

SOCRATES

PLATO

ARISTOTLE (FATHER OF PHILOSOPHY

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• SocratesThe Socratic Method DIALECTIC: A method of seeking truth through a series of questions and answers. The Socratic method is a “dialectic” method teaching. To solve a problem, it is broken down into a series of questions, the answers to which gradually distill the answer a person would seek.

Socrates

EthicsSocrates' primary concern in philosophy was, “How should we live?”3 Questions

What is good? What is right? What is just (justice)?

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SocratesEthicsSocrates' ethics assumes that Education

is the key to living an ethical life.No one desires evil.No one errs or does wrong willingly or knowingly.Virtue—all virtue—is knowledge.

Virtue = positive moral behavior

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Plato Socrates' StudentFounded the Academy – First institution for higher education

First Western philosopher whose writings have survivedMost of what we know about Socrates comes from Plato's writingsAgreed with Pythagoras that Mathematics were essential in understanding the world

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WILL

PlatoEthics

Humans are made of 3 conflicting elements:

Passions Intellect Will

Most people live life allowing the PASSIONS, INTELLECT and WILL to be in conflict with one another.

INTELLECT PASSIONS

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Plato

Ethics Ideal living is when the INTELLECT controls the PASSIONS through the WILL

INTELLECT

WILL

PASSIONS

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Plato

MetaphysicsReality can be divided into two realms:

The Visible WorldForms - Ideas

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PlatoMetaphysicsThe Visible World

Lower - ImperfectWorld experienced by our sensesPhysical Bound by Space and TimeAlways changingAlways “becoming”

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PlatoMetaphysicsRealm of Forms-Ideas

Higher - PerfectULTIMATE REALITYNot accessible to our sensesNon-Physical Not Bound by Space and TimeNever ChangingAlways “is”

HORSE

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Plato's Cave

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CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF PLATO’S ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

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PlatoPolitics: The Ideal Republic

Philosophically Aware Rulers (Governing Class)

Police Class (Protective Class)

General Population(Worker Class)

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Aristotle

Logic 3 Areas of Learning

Theoretical Practical Productive

Logic is a Tool underlying all learning

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AristotleLogic Categories

Sets the boundary of terms Essential in forming an argument

Dogs PugsAnimals

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Aristotle

The 4 Causes To really “know” something you need to know the causes of it. Example: What is a house?

Material CauseThe “materials” that make up the thing. Bricks are the material cause of a Brick House

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Material CauseInsufficiency of the Material Cause

The materials that make up a thing are not the same as the thing itself.

A pile of Bricks is not a House Some things can be made of different materials.

Houses can be made of Bricks or Wood or Metal. Formal Cause

The FORM of the thing. The pattern, shape, characteristics of a thing.Not the same as Plato's idea of Forms, i.e. no realm of forms.The Form does not have an existence apart from the thing as in Plato's concept of Forms

Efficient CauseThe cause that changes the materials into the thing. The Tools/Instruments used to create the thing.

Final CauseThe reason, purpose or goal of a thing. Ex. The purpose of a house is to shelter a people.

Final Cause is evidence of an Intelligent Designer who provides things with purposeTeleology – Nature Intelligent Design Prepared by RPC2014

Acquired by Habit Not innateHabit develops a disposition to act virtuously The Golden Mean: Mid-point between 2 extremes

Courage

Cowardice RECKLESNESS

Ethics: Virtues

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Ethics: Virtuous LifeKnow what is RightDo what is Right Practical Wisdom - Make Right Decisions based on Good ReasonsContemplation of the Best things NOT just Good things – Good is the enemy of the BestMotivation for Doing Anything is Flourishing (Full - Meaningful)

A key theme in Aristotle's thought is

that happiness is the goal of life.

Eudaimonia or Happiness

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“We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence, then, is not an act,

but a habit. ... At his best,

man is the noblest of all

animals; separated from law

and justice he is the worst.”

(Aristotle, 384 - 322 B.C.)

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Medieval Philosophy

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St. Augustine

“You are great, O Lord, and man desires to praise you. You so excite him that to praise you is his joy. For you have made

us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

His Philosophical Beliefs

• The man with his strength does not exceed this vicious cycle of not being able to not want what cannot get

• Only the grace of Christ save us• History is called original sinJesus says that the Holy Spirit "will convince the world concerning sin" (Jn 16:8). As

I tried to penetrate these words, I was led back to the opening pages of the Book of Genesis, to the event known as "original sin."

• described the nature of this sin as follows: amor sui usque ad contemptum Dei—self-love to the point of contempt for God.

• It was amor sui which drove our first parents toward that initial rebellion and then gave rise to the spread of sin throughout human history.

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You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”Saint Augustine“Confessions”.

His legacy• He believed humans

cannot experience true happiness until they find God.

• His work centered around the notion that everything in the world is basically good.

• He wrote many works over his lifetime.

• He attempted to dispel heresy and blasphemous ideologies.

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St. Thomas Aquinas

Aquinas developed a list of the five divine qualities:1. God is simple2. God is perfect3. God is infinite4. God is immutable5. God is one

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The Nature of God

1. God is simple, without composition of parts, such as body and soul, or matter and form.

2. God is perfect, lacking nothing. That is, God is distinguished from other beings on account of God's complete actuality. Thomas defined God as the ‘Ipse Actus Essendi subsistens,’ subsisting act of being.

3. God is infinite. That is, God is not finite in the ways that created beings are physically, intellectually, and emotionally limited. This infinity is to be distinguished from infinity of size and infinity of number.

4. God is immutable, incapable of change on the levels of God's essence and character.

5. God is one, without diversification within God's self. The unity of God is such that God's essence is the same as God's existence. In Thomas's words, "in itself the proposition 'God exists' is necessarily true, for in it subject and predicate are the same.”

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PHILOSOPHICAL CONTRIBUTIONReason

He believed that: • Humans could – through

reason alone – know much of the natural order, moral law, and the nature of God

• All essential knowledge could be organized coherently

Wrote a series of Summas (highest works) that employed careful logic to counter any possible objections to truth as revealed by reason and faith

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Ethics• Four (4) Cardinal Virtues: Prudence,

Temperance, Justice, and Fortitude• Three(3)Theological Virtues: Faith,

Hope, and Charity• Four (4)types of Law:

1. Eternal: direct word of God, governs all Creation

2. Natural: human adherence to eternal law, discovered by reason

3. Human: positive law (natural law applied to human government and society)

4. Divine: the law as defined in the scriptures

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ST. ANSELM

motto is: “faith seeking

understanding” (fides quaerens intellectum)

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The Ontological Argument

1. God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived.

2. It is greater to exist than to not exist.3. Therefore, God exists.

Anselm is perhaps most famous for developing the ontological argument for the existence of God.

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MODERN PHILOSOPHY

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THOMAS HOBBES

Argued that natural law made absolute monarchy the best form of gov’t…..

• Humans were natural selfish and violent

• People couldn’t make their own decisions

• If they did life would be “nasty, brutish, and short”

• Only a strong ruler (Leviathan) could give people direction

1651 – Published Leviathan (Sea Monster)

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• People shaped by their experiences not natural violent

• All people had 3 natural rights – life, liberty, & property

• People are born with a “tabula rasa” or clean slate.

• Purpose of gov’t = serve the people – people have the right to overthrow the gov’t if it is not serving its purpose

• Social Contract – agreement b/w ruler & people

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• Separation of Power – equal divide power among the 3 Branches of gov’t

• Executive (Monarch) enforce laws, Legislative (Parliament) makes laws, Judicial (Courts) interpret laws

• By separating these powers, gov’t could not become too powerful – checks and balances

• 1748 – published – Spirit of Laws

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Jean Jacques Rousseau

• 1762 – published Social Contract• Gov’t should be based on a Social

Contract• Everyone must agree to be

governed by the general will – whats good for the people (foundation for totalitarian gov’t)

• Humans being were naturally good but corrupted by society

• Importance on Education and Civic Virtue – train ppl how to be good citizens.

• People should pay more attention to emotions & feelings instead of new ideas –seek a balance

CONTEMPORARY

Søren Kierkegaard• 1813-1855, Danish

• Considered to be the first Existential Philosopher

• Considered as “the Father of Existentialism”

• Insisted on the distinctiveness of personal experience/subjectivity.

• He argues, “subjectivity is truth, truth is subjectivity

Human Nature• For Kierkegaard, human beings stand out as

responsible individuals who must make free choices.

• According to him the deepest "inwardness" of the human being is the place of passionate choice wherein one must take a "leap of faith" despite one's finitude, the fact that we can never know with certainly the outcome of our choices despite our accountability for them.

• His psychological work explored the emotions and feelings of individuals when faced with life choices.

There are three modes of existence that can be chosen by an individual.

(3 Sphere/Stages of Life’s Way)1.aesthetic = a redefined hedonism, consisting

of the search for pleasure

2.ethical = involves intense commitment to one’s duty in faith and social obligations

3.religious = submission to God, and only God’s will

“Christianity is therefore not a doctrine, but the fact that God has existed.”

"...the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live

and die"

Arthur Schopenhauer

• The World as Will and Idea / Representation

• The human body and all its parts being the visible expression of the will and its several desires. The teeth, throat, and bowels for example being "objectified" hunger.

• For Schopenhauer, who is considered to be a pessimistic philosopher, the tragedy of life arises from the nature of the will, which constantly urges the individual toward the satisfaction of successive goals, none of which can provide permanent satisfaction for the infinite activity of the life force, or will

• The title of Schopenhauer’s masterwork contains the central thesis of his philosophy.

• The world is a “phenomenon,” a representation or idea ; Schopenhauer makes no distinction between a phenomenon and an appearance; he says that the two are identical.

• The world as we know it is an appearance or deception.

Jean Paul Sartre• 1905-1980• 20th century’s greatest existential

thinker• French• “Existence precedes essence”-

– What makes you who you are by what you make of yourself.

• We are all “condemned to be free” Believed that there is no authority that defines freedom or provides rules or guarantees decisions.

Existence – Humanism-- Essence

IT MEANS:

Being and NothingnessExistentialism is Humanism

• Meaning there is total responsibility on the individual for all actions.

• Sartre is convinced that human responsibility makes

sense only if there is no God; otherwise divine foreknowledge and predestination necessarily exclude alternative options and consequently responsibility.

There are at least three circles in the extension of our responsibility:

1. Individual responsibility: If existence precedes essence man is responsible for his own actions (and his individuality)

2. Total Responsibility: If man is free to choose what he is going to make of himself, he is entirely responsible for what he is becoming;

3. Universal Responsibility: If man is fully responsible for what he is presenting as the image of man, he is responsible for all men

• Individual responsibility corresponds to the common sense notion of responsibility.

“Hell is other people”- NO EXITHell is other people because we

can try and force the others to see us in the way we want them to see us, but they will always see us in the way they want to see us.

The form which is easiest for them in most cases.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche and Nihilism

• So in saying “God is dead” this was what he really meant:

• Nietzsche sought to draw the consequences of the death of God, the collapse of any theistic support for morality

• In such a situation the individual is forced back upon himself.

AKA. Personal responsibility

There are two ways to take this:

• On the one hand, if he is weakly constituted he may fall victim to despair in the face of nihilism, the recognition that life has no intrinsic meaning.

• On the other hand, for a “strong” or creative individual nihilism presents a liberating opportunity to take responsibility for meaning, to exercise creativity by “transvaluing” her values, establishing a new “order of rank.”

• Friedrich Nietzsche is notable for having declared that God is dead and for having written several of his works in the presumption that man must find a new mode of being given the death of God.

GOD IS DEAD

• Implications of the Death of God according to Nietzsche:

• Rejection of absolute values. (Can’t have a "secularized" form of Christianity)

• Nihilism (because most men in the West know no other values but Christian values)

• "Active nihilism" a nihilism that seeks to destroy what it no longer believes

SUPERMAN• Ubermensch or superman [Zarathustra] is not

superior in breeding or endowment, but in power and strength.

• The superman confronts all the possible terrors and wretchedness of life and still joyously affirms it.

• In Thus Spake Zarathustra Nietzsche proclaims, "Not `humanity’ but Superman is the goal." "Man is something that must be surpassed; man is a bridge and not a goal."

• Superman is not inevitable, the result of some determined process. It is more a myth, a goal for the will: "Superman is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: Superman is to be the meaning of the earth." Superman cannot come unless superior individuals have the courage to transvalue all values.

• For Nietzsche a recognition that God is Dead to his own generation of men and women ought to come as a Joyous Wisdom allowing individuals to lead less guilt-ridden lives in a world that was no longer to be seen as being inherently sinful.

• He considered that earthly lives could become more joyful, meaningful and "healthy" when not lived within narrow limits set by faith-related concerns for the state of an individual's eternal soul.

• Nietzsche seems to be suggesting that the acceptance that God is dead will also involve the ending of long-established standards of morality and of purpose.

• Without the former and accepted widely standards society has to face up to the possible emergence of a nihilistic situation where peoples lives are not particularly constrained by faith-based considerations of morality or particularly guided by any faith-related sense of purpose.

• Given what he saw as the "unbelievability" of the "God-hypothesis" Nietzsche himself seemed to favour the creation of a new set of values "faithful to the earth."

• This view perhaps being associable with the possibility of the "Overman" or "Superman."

• "I teach you the overman. Man is something that shall be overcome.

• What have you done to overcome him? All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood and even go back to the beasts rather than overcome man? What is the ape to man? A laughingstock or a painful embarrassment. And man shall be just that for the overman: a laughingstock or a painful embarrassment..."

Nihilism- nothingness

• Nihilism- belief that traditional morals, values, ideas, etc. have no worth or value

• The denial of existence as any basis for knowledge or truth

• There is no meaning or purpose to existence (nil).

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