Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Philosophy and ethics

Descartes's Quest for Knowledge and Method

Our understanding of reality stems from various sources. While empiricism posits that knowledge originates from our senses, rationalism asserts that true and valid knowledge about reality is derived from reason. This rationalist perspective, particularly as championed by René Descartes, is deeply connected with the foundational ideas of modern science, emphasizing deduction. For Descartes, our knowledge of reality can be established deductively from certain self-evident ideas and principles, which he considered innate.

Background to Descartes's Philosophy

• 1. Motivations for a New Method

  • Negative Motivation: Descartes was critical of his contemporary educational environment, which he found to be based

Plato's Political Philosophy and the Common Good

Plato's Ideal City and the Philosopher King

In the ideal city (polis), the primary objective is the common good. The goal of justice in society is to safeguard the common good through objective laws. In the philosophy of Plato, the Philosopher King is crucial.

The wise have the task of governing because they are in contact with the World of Ideas (Forms), meeting authentic reality, where the supreme values reside.

5.1. Plato's Five Forms of Government

Plato distinguishes between just and unjust states. We identify five forms of government, listed from the fairest to the worst:

• Aristocracy (Monarchy): The government of the best (the wise). This is the fairest form, whether ruled by one (Monarchy) or

Understanding Metaphysics

Reason faces issues it is incapable of solving, themes that have emerged for humanity and have never received a response. These unresolved questions form the core of metaphysical thought. Metaphysics rationally and conceptually provides the essence of what exists beyond the information gained through the senses, that is, a priori.

Reason itself provides basic knowledge and decides which ones are true. Its purpose is to achieve perfect knowledge of everything.

Metaphysics is also responsible for any mental speculation that goes beyond sensory and spiritual reality. It deals with essences, first and final causes, and the necessary relationships in all that exists. It also influences moral issues dogmatically.

Different Interpretations

What is History?

History is a social science that studies human life in society, considering the space and time in which they live. It uses a specific method and selects documents to develop historical knowledge. Historians define their object of study and then select and define the documents they will use. These documents can include oral testimonies, material remains, written documents, etc. Space and time are key to the historian, as human societies occupy a space and exist within a given time that influences them.

• It is a social science.
• Based on documents from the past: evidence, letters, testimonies, images, and fossil remains.
• Space and time are key.
• Hypothesis, observation, experiment, conclusion, or theory.

Reflection on the Meaning of Studying

Karl Marx: A Materialist Perspective

The Essence of Man

Marx argues that the essence of man lies in work, emphasizing our material relationship with nature and others. While this perspective holds merit, it overlooks the sentimental aspect of human existence. Family bonds, for example, are not solely material but deeply emotional. However, I agree with Marx's assertion that humans must produce their livelihoods; acquiring goods or food necessitates work.

Alienation of the Worker

Marx's theory of alienation posits that workers are alienated from the product and process of their labor. Forced to sell their labor power for survival, they lose control over their work and themselves. This resonates with the current reality where unskilled workers... Continue reading "Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche: A Comparative Analysis" »

Thales of Miletus

Little remains of Thales's original writings, but his views are widely referenced. He theorized that water is the fundamental principle of all things. He also believed the Earth was motionless, floating on water.

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander followed a similar philosophical path, interpreting the relationship between humanity and the cosmos. He introduced the concept of Apeiron (the boundless or indefinite) as the fundamental principle of existence, containing the cause of birth and destruction throughout the world.

Anaximenes of Miletus

Also from Miletus, Anaximenes proposed air as the foundational element of all things. He theorized that the varying densities of air, through condensation and rarefaction, give rise to the... Continue reading "Foundational Ideas of Early Greek Philosophy" »

Critique of Anselm's Ontological Argument

St. Thomas' Rejection of the Argument

St. Thomas, consistent with his realism, cannot accept an argument like the ontological argument, which derives God's existence from His essence alone.

Formulation of the Ontological Argument (AO)

Indeed, the AO can be formulated as a syllogism whose premises are:

• Major premise: God is perfect.
• Minor premise: Existence is a perfection.
• Conclusion: God exists.

Knowledge of God's Essence

St. John of Damascus would have raised the difficulty about rationally proving God's existence from His essence, because regarding God, we only have negative knowledge ("In God, one only knows what is not"). One cannot prove the existence of a substance that is unknown.

Aquinas' Counter-Argument

Parmenides' Concept of Being

Parmenides of Elea proposed a radical concept of "Being" with several fundamental characteristics:

• It is eternal. It is neither generated nor can it perish. It is not generated, because if it were, it would come from non-being, which is unthinkable, or from being, in which case it would already exist. It cannot be destroyed, because to do so would be to cease to be, which is equally unthinkable.
• It is one. If there were two, they would have to differentiate into something. That 'something' would either be being, in which case they would be identical to the one, or non-being, in which case it would imply that non-being is being.
• It is indivisible. For it to be split, it would consist of 'parts,' and these parts would

Kant's Distinctions: Phenomenon and Noumenon

Kant presented in detail the distinction between phenomenon and noumenon, and on the other hand, the distinction between knowing and thinking.

1. Only phenomena we know, what appears to us in sensible intuition:
   1. Our knowledge of phenomena is the result of a double synthesis: the first level of sensitivity between the data of experience (sensory impressions) and the a priori forms of sensibility: Space and Time; the second between the spatially and temporally organized data and understanding, the concepts or categories.
2. Our theoretical knowledge is limited to objects of experience, to what is shown to us, so that any application of the categories to that of which I have no experience does not produce knowledge.

The Hegelian Dialectic

Kant argues that there is only technological progress, not moral. Hegel takes up these ideas, stating that there is moral progress as a result of history. History is dialectical; it works reasonably well with the triad thesis-antithesis-synthesis. Any statement in itself implies a negation, so the whole thesis generates an antithesis. These confront each other. The confrontation can only be overcome by another phase: synthesis. The synthesis is a time where we integrate the best, most rational aspects of the thesis and the antithesis. The synthesis generates a new thesis, and therefore another antithesis. It forms a chain, but Hegel says that there will be a final synthesis. This process is history. Each new synthesis... Continue reading "Hegel's Dialectic and Marx's Class Struggle" »