Ancient Philosophy Final Exam Review Sheet Introduction to Greek Thought small i nfluences on Greek thought - Egyptian math

and Babylonian astronomy myth - form of thought embodying truth in poetic language legacy of Greeks - uncontested orig inal thinkers and scientists of Europe; the Greeks went beyond myth to rational, literal, scientific philosophy Major Challenge: to find order, unity, stability (t he limited) in the universe which often appears to be irrational, many, and chan ging (the unlimited) The Milesian School Ionia is the Cradle of Greek philosophy cosmology = study of the world order cosmogeny = study of the birth of the univ erse seeking unity / permanence in the changing cosmos (the One and the Many) co nceive of matter as eternal and not separate from spirit; hence, they propose va rious types of matter as the primary substance Thales - water is the primary sub stance first to ask what one primary substance (Urstoff) the world was composed of Anaximander - the indefinite (apeiron) is the primary substance through etern al motion, elements separate off from the indefinite Anaximenes - air is the pri mary substance The Pythagoreans a religious and philosophical society units (num bers), understood spatially, are the primary reality of which all things are com posed as musical harmony depends on numbers, so does the universes harmony table of oppositesthey preferred the Limited side Limited Unlimited (Void) odd, one, go od, square, etc. even, many, evil, oblong, etc. Heraclitus everything in the uni verse is inchange (strife / becoming) there is some permanence the eternal stru ggle of opposites in which no side every completely wins theWor d (logos) is the principle of unity; it draws things together and then lets them out; hence,f ir e, which flares up and down, is the primary substance Parmenides and his followe rs Parmenides - all reality is eternal, unchanging limited unity and being (One) Three Paths to Truth 1. being - it is *Accepted* 2. becoming - it is not yet, *Rejected,* resolves into non-being 3. nothing - it is not *Rejected* denies time, motion, and the senses as illusionsthe way of seeming Parmenides is th e seminal Pre-Socratic; after him, others react to his thought Melissus - the un changing One must be spiritual and unlimited Zeno - created paradoxes to show th e absurdity of motion e.g. The Racetrack if it can be subdivided into units, it can be divided infinitely. But how can a runner cross an infinite number of poin ts? e.g. An arrow in motion occupies a position in space at any given moment. Bu t to occupy a position in space is to be a rest. The Pluralists reconcile Parmen ides unchanging One with the reality of change and motion Empedocles - the univer se is composed of four elements (many Ones) which continually mix and remix, in a cycle, guided by two forces Elements: Forces: 1. earth 1. Love - brings particle s together 2. water 2. Strife - separates particles 3. air (strife may relate to the void / unlimited) 4. fire Anaxagoras - the universe is composed of permanen t seeds (many Ones) each seed contains a portion of everything, and can become any thing theM i nd (Nous) brings out different of these hidden (latent) possibiliti es at different times, thus accounting for the change we observe Atomists(Democr itus and Leucippus) - reality is composed of small, indestructibleatom s (many On es) which arrange and re-arrange themselves, separated by a void do not consider God or a universal order; areduct io n of reality to randomnes The Sophists trav eling teachers and practical philosophers who earned a living teaching rhetoric (speech and clever argumentation) to men who wanted to get ahead focus on man (h umanism), not on cosmology ethics - mans end or goal is achievingpl ea sure (hedo nism) and power (virtue in general - efficiency at a task, particularly the tas k of being human) mans virtue (arete) are those things which lead to pleasure, name ly cleverness, relativism, skill in arguing, etc. (Contrast with Socrates below. ) Protagoras - Man is the measure of all things. truth is found on the level of se nsation what you sense is true for you civil law is merely custom; it is not roo ted in God or nature (relativism) Gorgias - clever skepticism; claimed the follo wing: 1. Nothing exists 2. If anything exists, we cant know it 3. If we can know anything, we cant communicate it Socrates Delphic Oracle: Socrates is the wisest man because he sees his own ignorance becomes a gadfly seeking to reform Athens by teaching wisdom The unexamined life is not worth living; we must face our ignoran ce accused of corrupting youth and denying the gods submits to the death penalty

rather than abandon his call to teach opposes the relativism of the Sophists hu man nature is constant, so ethics must be objective (based on natural law) mans v irtue (arete) is to exercise his highest possession, reason dialectic method - a position is proposed which generates an opposing position; through question and answer, a definition is sometimes arrived at induction used to move from partic ular examples (e.g. many just acts) to a universal definition which applies to a ll however, definitions are still opinion knowledge is (1)rec olle c t i o n of forms as known before birth, (2)i nt ui ti on of being, of the forms, (3) a divi negift virtue is knowledge - if we know what is right and best for us, we will do it genuine knowledge of justice transforms a person; he will act justly this com bines action (virtue) with contemplation (knowledge) since the soul engages in t he spiritual act of thinking, it is transcends matter thus, the soul is personal ly immortal (not subject to physical death) Platos Metaphysics created a unified system covering all areas of human thought Doctrine of the Forms: recognizedcha nge in the material world of particulars preservedstability in the immaterial wo rld of universal Forms Forms = principles of permanence, eternity, reality, unit y, perfection,etc. the soul journeys from appearance to reality the Cave Allegor y is symbolic, the Divided Line tells what it represents Allegory of the Cave Di vided Line * The Sun * * The Good * 4. objects outside the cave 4. the immateria lf orm s [reason] 3. shadows, reflections outside the cave 3. mathematical image s [understanding] 2. objects on the roadway and fire 2. material objects in the world [belief] 1. shadows on the caves wall 1. images, shadows in the world [conj ecture] for Plato, level 4 is the real,know ledge levels 2 and 3 are hypotheses, d efinitions, jumping off points to the real levels 1 and 2 are sense appearances, o ropin ions doctrine of participation - material things share in the likeness of the forms all the forms are united in the form of the Good (a principle of unity ) eros - the human love or spiritual desire which causes man to want to know the forms and the good Platos Cosmology Cosmology (theTi m a e us): world comes from 1. archetypes - forms 2. Demiurge - divine mind 3. receptacle (matter) - formle ss and shapeless the Demiurge takes the formless receptacle and shapes it into a world of particulars using the forms as the archetypes a necessity or inertia in the receptacle resists the forms (explanation of the disorder found in the world ) Platos Ethics souls have fallen from union with forms and must recover a lost ha rmony justice / the good life = harmony, order, each part perfecting its own role the just state is based in and parallels just individual souls Three Parts of th e Soul Three Classes of the State Virtue 1. therational part 1. the guardians (philosopher kings) prudence 2. thespirite d part - like the will 2. the auxiliaries (military) courage 3. thepassionate pa rt 3. the workers temperance in each case (soul and state), part 1 must govern an d part 3 must obey part 2 must align with part 1 Horse and Chariot Image: rational part is the charioteer, guiding a cooperative horse (spirited) and a resisting horse (passionate) which must be whipped Platos P olitics - man is social, and the state is a natural entity cycle of governments: aristocracy (rule by best qualified for common good) timocracy (rule by famous) pl utocracy (rule by wealthy) democracy (mob rule by all) tyranny (one despot) Platos A esthetics there is an objective foundation of beautyparticipation in Form of Beauty paintings, poems are less real - they are copies, another step away from Forms Aristotles Epistemology Three products of the human intellect: Concepts (corresponding to simple apprehension) Judgments Arguments and reasoning Arguments Reasoning third act of the intellect Fallacy an error in reasoning

Deductive Valid Invalid Formal fallacies informal fallacies relevance ambiguity Inductive Probability (less or more probable) Moderate Realism sire to know Distinguish two-level cognition Sense knowledge (particular, material) Intellectual Knowledge (universal, necessary, immaterial) All men by nature de

Sensation Operation Chemical physical Faculty: Organs bodily organs Sensible; species sensible common with brute animal s External senses Sight Hearing Taste Touch Smell Internal senses Common Sense Imagination Sense Memory Estimative faculty Intellection Operation Immaterial Faculty: Spiritual Intelligible; species intelligible Aristotles Logic inventor of formal logic as a tool (does not reduce philosophy to mere logic) intuition remains the most fundamental source of knowledge for deductive logic (moving from the universal to the particular), Aristotle devised thesy llo g ism (two premises yield a conclusion) demonstration - true pr emises and valid syllogism give a true conclusion tencategories (listed below) us ed to relate subject and predicate: predicables: genus (general group, e.g. anima l), species (specific kind, e.g. human), specific difference (property that sets apart the species, e.g. reason) The Great Laws of Being and Thought (also called thearc h a i - first things) 1. Principle of Identity (A is A.) 2. Principle of Non-Contradiction (A thing cannot both be and not be.) 3. Principle of Excluded Middle. (A thing is either this or that.) Aristotles Metaphysics metaphysics defi ned as study of beingqua (as) being Aristotle combines change and stability in his metaphysics act - an actual perfection present in a thing at this time (being/stability) potency-the capacity of a thing to acquire new perfections (becoming/change) substance - the individual thing itself here to a substance 10 categories Substance Accidents (9 in total) accident - particular perfections which ad

Quantity} } Quality Being in a secondary sense Relation Place Time Being which inheres in anoth er Action Passivity Posture Does not exist on its own Habit form - the specific nature of a thing which perfects matter; an ACT matter - something that receives form; a POTENCY

change is movement from potency to act substantial change involves three principles (1) matter, which stays the same, (2) form, which changes, and (3) a privation or lack which is fulfilled change al so involves four causes: formal, material, efficient, final Examples of four caus es: Formal Paint Material Paintbrush Efficient Painter Final The final painting Aristotle bases metaphysics on the Unmoved Mover (pure act of thinking) the Unmoved Mover is the final cause; it attracts all things to itself in pure act of thinking, the Unmoved Mover contemplates itself, not the world Aristotles proof for the Unmoved Mover based on motion: Motion involves movement from potency to act. Finite movers cannot cause motion; they need to receive act from another. Hence, an Unmoved Mover (pure act) is the ultimate cause of motion. Comparison of Platos and Aristotles metaphysics: Platos metaphysics Aristotles metap hysics One form for an entire species One form for each individual Forms located in Ideal World Forms located inside individuals Explains Being (unchanging Form s) Explains Being (form / act) as well as Becoming (potency) Aristotles Philosoph y of Man man is one substance composed of body and soul Aristotle seems to deny pe rsonal immortality (although this is debated) Hierarchy of Souls: 1. vegetative soul (reproduction, nutrition, growth) plants 2. sensitive soul (above three + s ensitivity/consciousness) animals 3. rational soul (above four + rationality) hu mans } } } } Aristotles Ethics the end (telos) of human life (the good for man) is living in a ccord with reason, because this fulfills mans rational nature virtue = the good us e of reason Two Types of Ends 1. intrinsic end - something done for its own sake 2. extrinsic end - something done for the sake of another end reason and virtue will lead tohapp iness, the intrinsic end all men desire pleasure, fame, and weal th should not be seen as ends in themselves, because they do not lead to happine ss moral virtue is the mean between two extremes Defect (a vice) Virtue Excess (a vice) cowardice courage rashness insensibility temperance profligacy intellectua l virtueinclud es Science demonstrating truth Understanding Grasping self-evident truths Speculative Wisdom Highest objects (Understanding and science) Prudence Doing Prac tical Art Making Aristotles Politics - agrees with Plato that the state is a natura l entity Good governments rule for common good; bad ones for their own interests Good Governments Bad Governments Rule by one monarchy tyranny Rule by a few aristo cracy (best qualified) oligarchy (rich) Rule by many polity (middle-class) democr acy (mob) Aristotles Aesthetics - beauty is found in the thing itself (not Ideal w orld) tragic drama involvescat harsis, a purification of the soul Romano-Hellenis tic Period rise ofi ndiv idualism as communal city-states are replaced by empires practical philosophy emerges to show people how to personally live a good life a nd find tranquillity focus on ethics; less interest in metaphysics and cosmology materialism (matter alone exists; nothing spiritual) emerges loss of focus on the spiritual dimension leads to the dying of philosophy } } } } Stoics (early - Zeno, Cleanthes; late - Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius) reduce all re ality to matter (a cosmic fire), but still identify an active spiritual force in t he material world, calledN a t ure or Reason ethics - man should control his soul by reason and keep it tranquil man should assent to the will offate / Nature, which determines all things

man should not be disturbed by external things, such as loss of wealth or death of a loved one, because they cannot harm the soul thus, the passions and em otions should be suppressed Epicureans( Epicurus) strong materialists - the world is composed ofa toms constantly re-arranging ethics- seek pleasure, avoid pain (hedonism); pleasure the end (goal) of life sensible pleasure creates restlessness; intellectual pleasure is better Skeptics( Pyrrho ) I know nothing - reach tranquillity by suspending all judgments P lotinus a Neo-Platonist (revived Platos thought); brought back a spiritual focus M etaphysics - Four Hypostases (individual principles) emanation - each of the hypo stases emanates (flows from) the one above 1.The One (the Good) - subsists withi n itself 2.Nous - the exemplars / forms are located here 3.World- Soul - Nature, encompasses all human souls 4.matter - good, but farthest from the One; hence, matter is on the verge of non being and is the cause of evil because it resists order cosmogeny - Nous overflow s from the One; it is actualized by contemplating the One, then turns around (co nversio) and forms the World-Soul the World-Soul contemplates Nous; contemplation gives way to production and it expresses itself as matter, which it shapes to f it the exemplars in Nous the humanso ul is fallen into matter and must ascend to the One in four steps 1. rise above the senses and practice virtue 2. contemplate Nous to gain knowledge of philosophy and science 3. attain contemplative union with Nous 4. attain mystical union with the One Early Christian Philosophy Church Fathers use philosophy (1) as apologetics - to defend the faith, and (2) to penetrate dogmas and grow in understanding Justin Ma rtyr, Clement of Alexandria - Greek philosophy is an limited but real expression of the One Truth