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

Knowledge in the Modern Age

The understanding of reality in the modern age shifted from passive reception of sensory information to an active role of the subject in constructing knowledge.

Two Positions in Modernity

1. Empiricism: Knowledge originates and culminates in experience derived from sensory information. The empiricist view posits the human mind as a blank slate upon which knowledge is imprinted.
2. Rationalism: The mind constructs reality through reason, distrusting sensory information and seeking innate ideas. Senses play a secondary role in this theory.
3. Kant's Conciliatory Position: Senses provide the raw material of knowledge, but human reason organizes it in a specific way common to all.

From Sensation to Concepts

Sensations

All beings share... Continue reading "Knowledge and Language in the Modern Age" »

Cordial Reason: The Foundation of Ethical Dialogue

Reason cannot truly engage in dialogue unless it is a friendly reason—a reason that carries elements that for centuries have been considered outsiders, but which are essential to human connection. The term 'cordial' comes from the Latin word cor cordis, meaning 'heart,' signifying the deep core of each person.

People cannot participate in a dialogue about what is fair for everyone if certain preconditions are not met. These include:

• Feeling attracted by certain values.
• Forging a certain character.
• Experiencing moral sentiments (always avoiding violence in all its manifestations).

Thus, communicability, values, character, and moral sentiments constitute Cordial Reason. Like everything friendly in... Continue reading "The Philosophy of Cordial Reason: Justice, Character, and True Happiness" »

The Sensible and Intelligible Worlds in Plato's Philosophy

The Relationship Between the Sensible and Intelligible Worlds

Plato explores the connection between the sensible (perceptible) and intelligible (conceptual) realms through several key ideas:

1. Participation: Ideas are fundamental beings, and physical things gain their existence by participating in these ideas.
2. Imitation: Physical things are created by a Demiurge (divine craftsman) who imitates the eternal Forms or Ideas.
3. Purpose: Ideas serve as the cause of all occurrences, as things strive towards a soul-body ratio idea.

Soul and Body

The union of the soul and body is considered accidental and superficial, with the body acting as a prison for the soul. Plato views the body as an impediment,... Continue reading "Plato's Theory: Unveiling the Sensible and Intelligible Worlds" »

Knowledge and Empiricism

Hume, taking empiricism to its ultimate consequences, refused to formulate hypotheses, arguing that the passage from particular experience to general law cannot be rationally justified. He sought to discover psychological laws and base knowledge on them, setting real limits to what we can know. Hume stressed that our ideas are merely representations of reality, and the laws of nature are never certain. He identified two elements of consciousness: impressions (perceptions) and ideas (representations of impressions in the mind). Ideas derive from impressions and are weaker, less vivid versions of them. Ideas can be simple or complex, but there are no innate or abstract ideas. An idea is true if it corresponds to a sensory... Continue reading "David Hume: Empiricism, Skepticism, and Morality" »

The Social Contract: Creating Political Order

A social contract is an agreement that creates a state. Its aim is to benefit individuals and improve their situation. The resulting political system varies depending on how the contract is designed: between whom it is made, for whom it is made, and whether it is revocable.

Key Thinkers on the Social Contract:

a) Thomas Hobbes

Hobbes defended extreme individualism, where each individual is completely independent. In the state of nature, humans are driven by two principles: self-preservation and satisfying their appetites. Without organization and with unlimited freedom, individuals pursue their interests. While resources are plentiful, there is no conflict. However, when resources become scarce and... Continue reading "Social Contract Theory: Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau" »

Active listening: Letting others talk, using expressions of reinforcement or compliments, avoiding being the center of attention, and being aware of nonverbal language.

Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Critical Thinking: Examining beliefs, opinions, decisions, or behaviors. Addressing problems individually with concrete critiques and proposed solutions.

Self-Control: Consciously regulating impulses, avoiding the accumulation of negative emotions, and refraining from reproaching past events.

Final Thoughts on Human Relationships

Human relationships are structured around rules.

Understanding Love

Love is a spontaneous feeling of affection or esteem for another person. It is complex, easy to communicate, difficult... Continue reading "Understanding Love, Relationships, and Self-Esteem" »

Understanding Truth and Knowledge

Truth is a quality that applies to knowledge.

Types of Knowledge:

• Conjecture: Uncertain knowledge.
• Faith: Knowledge that cannot be proven.
• Knowledge: Uncertain knowledge that can be demonstrated.

Philosophical Perspectives:

• Epistemological Sense: The study of reality.
• Ontological Sense: The understanding of something's existence within reality.

Knowledge: Objective knowledge, which is a provable belief corresponding to reality.

Ignorance: The state of not having any knowledge, neither true nor false; an unknown truth.

Ignorant: Believing one knows something when they do not.

Dogmatic: Asserting or believing something without justification, often with anger, believing it to be self-evident. Dogmatic individuals do not... Continue reading "Understanding Truth, Knowledge, and Reasoning" »

Ethics and Morality: Core Concepts

Similarities Between Ethics and Morality

• Both maintain relations with customs and social norms.
• Both concern the field of human action.

Key Differences

• Origin and Scope: Morality originates in customs, practices, and values inherited and acquired in society. Ethics, conversely, analyzes and evaluates different sets of rules to determine their moral character.
• Relationship to Action: Morality is closely related to praxis (action), while ethics has a more distant relationship with the facts themselves.

Definitions

What is Morality?

Morality is the set of rules and customs that are accepted as appropriate or correct in a given location or society.

What is Ethics?

Ethics is a critical reflection on moral rules and the consequences... Continue reading "Defining Ethics, Morality, and the Three Types of Freedom" »

Fundamental Principles of Self-Governance and Authority

Autonomy

The ability to set one's own standards without influence from external or internal pressures.

Heteronomy

Being under the authority or mandate of another person.

Emancipation

Relates to any action that allows a person or group of people access to a state of autonomy by ceasing subjection to any authority.

Characteristics of Legal and Social Norms

The following terms describe the nature and enforcement mechanisms of rules and mandates:

• Coercibility

The threat to use violence of any kind, with the aim of constraining the behavior of individuals.

• Irrepressibility

A characteristic meaning the rule cannot be enforced by means of force; it must be obeyed spontaneously.

• Bilaterality

The characteristic... Continue reading "Defining Core Concepts in Law, Ethics, and Philosophy" »