Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Philosophy and ethics for Baccalaureate

Physics and the Limits of Perception

Physics can explain the world, but it does not explain telepathy. While the power of the mind and the bending of spoons are often considered tricks, telepathy remains difficult to verify.

The Creative Process of Cliff Dorfman

Everything in Cliff Dorfman’s life is reflected in his characters. His work, including Pulp Fiction, is deeply personal. He once spent several days alone in a forest to find inspiration.

The Science of Taste and Smell

• Our sense of taste depends heavily on smell.
• In a weightless environment, aromas are perceived differently.
• Loss of smell can be a persistent condition.
• Powdered milk is a common food staple.

Artistic Vision: Dalí and Napoleon

While looking at Germany, Dalí often incorporated...

Aristotle's Virtue: Finding the Balance

The main theme is that virtues such as temperance and courage can be destroyed by both defect and excess, and that finding a balance or proportion in their exercise is essential to their preservation and growth. The text uses the examples of strength and health, as well as cowardice and rashness, to illustrate this point.

Aristotle's Concept of Virtue

Aristotle's concept of virtue is central to his ethical philosophy. He believed that virtue was a habit or disposition that allowed a person to act in accordance with reason and to achieve their goals in life. Virtue, according to Aristotle, is a mean between two extremes: deficiency and excess.

Examples of the Golden Mean

For example, the virtue of courage is...

Room to Grow (John Stuart Mill)

- He was a genius, raised on utilitarianism.

- There are different types of pleasure, and some are better than others.

- Anyone who has experienced high and low pleasures prefers the high.

- Paternalism: Forcing someone to do something for their good (acceptable only in children).

- The Harm Principle: Every adult should be free to live as they want as long as they do not harm anyone.

- The more freedom, the happier.

Unintelligent Design (Charles Darwin)

- Everyone has apes in their family tree; we are part of nature.

- His theory explains how human beings, plants, and animals have come to be what they are and how they are still changing.

- You cannot be a Darwinian and also believe that God created all species as they...

Major Theories of Truth

Truth as Correspondence

Considers a proposition to be true when there is a match between what the proposition expresses and the reality to which it refers.

Truth as Coherence

A proposition is true if it does not contradict the rest of the accepted propositions. The coherence of the new proposition with those we already know to be true indicates that this new one is also true.

Truth as Success (Pragmatism)

Considers a proposition to be true when it is useful and therefore leads to success. The truth of a proposition coincides with its consequences. A proposition is true if its implementation has positive results.

Limits of Knowledge

Dogmatism

Admits the possibility of knowing things in their true being or in themselves, and the...

In addition to theoretical science, Aristotle distinguishes two other classes, which he calls practical and productive. To the practical sciences belong Politics, whose object is the common good, Economy, and Ethics. This understanding is crucial for his claim that Ethics is subordinated to Politics. The Greeks understood man not in isolation, but as a social being, integrated within the family and the city, outside of which they believed individual perfection was unattainable.

The Natural Political Community

The political community is a being, and as such, it also possesses its own goods. These goods consist of the perfect development of its nature. But what kind of being is the political community? At first glance, the simplest answer might...

The Purpose of Philosophy

• Integration of knowledge.
• Analysis and interpretation of concepts and theories.
• Rational critique.
• Transformation of reality.

Unity and Plurality in Philosophy

Philosophers who defended monism believe in the unity of reality. Philosophers who defend pluralism believe that the diversity of reality is essential, and that plurality cannot be reduced to an original unity.

Monism argues that there is a single reality which appears to be plural. Pluralism claims the opposite: reality is plural but it appears to be unitary. This clash of ideas forces us to distinguish between reality and appearances.

Monism claims that reality is essentially static (it remains permanent as changes occur). Pluralism claims that reality is essentially...

Introduction to the Psychology of Intelligence

Thought is considered an overall psychological phenomenon of intelligence. It has historically been poorly studied due to several factors:

• Difficulties in experimenting: This is due to the separation of its physical substrate and a lack of necessary dependence on its psychological precedents.
• Difficulties in isolating it from words: There are no guarantees that you know what you are saying.
• Difficulties in isolating it from philosophy.

Biological Perspective

From a biological point of view, intelligence is characterized by the following:

• It is a necessary requirement for life.
• It is a necessary consequence of life: a natural and innate activity (similar to instincts).
• All individuals of a species are intelligent.

Philosophy of Science

1. Classification of Science

• Formal Science: Not concerned with facts but with the relationships between series of symbols that have been previously established with specific rules (e.g., Mathematics, Logic).
• Experimental Science: Focuses on observable occurrences and the relationships we can discover between them (e.g., Physics, Biology).

2. The Scientific Method

Classical Scientific Method (Inductive-Deductive)

Inductive Phase:

1. It involves a large number of observations.
2. Observations must be made in a wide range of different circumstances.
3. No statement based on observation contradicts the universal law derived.

Deductive Phase:

This phase involves the explanation of a phenomenon. Historically, this approach sometimes lacked the...

Machiavelli, Natural Law, and Virtù

Niccolò Machiavelli introduces a realism closer to Aristotle than to Plato, but he is also developing and applying the Stoic and Christian idea of natural law.

In Machiavelli’s hands, natural law becomes elevated above divine law and connected to the notion of good ruling or ability, known as virtù.

Defining the State

What is the State?

According to Velasquez: “The state is the highest authority in a society, with a legal power to define the public interest and enforce its definition” (520).

Contract Theory and Political Legitimacy

Contract Theory is one of the most influential theories in modern political philosophy. It posits that a healthy government and state derive their legitimacy from an agreement...