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

The Existence of the World

Having demonstrated the existence of God, who is perfect, the possibility of self-deception and the possibility of an evil genius constantly deceiving me are eliminated. Therefore, the stated reasons for doubting both mathematical and general intelligible truths, as well as truths derived from the senses, are removed. Since God exists and is perfect, He cannot allow me to be deceived into believing that the world exists if it does not. Thus, the world exists.

The Structure of Reality: Three Substances

Descartes distinguished three levels of reality:

• An infinite substance (God), which is the ultimate cause of the other two substances.
• The thinking substance (Self), also known as the soul.
• The extended substance (the World)

Hume's Moral Philosophy: Feelings, Empathy, and Reason

For Hume, freedom is the power to act or not, according to the determinations of the will. The moral distinction lies between virtuous action (morally approved of) and vicious action (not morally approved of). This approval does not come from internal impressions or innate nature. Instead, it stems from feelings and emotions, as nature only provides facts, and moral valuations require more than just pure facts.

Hume distinguishes two types of feelings:

• The Direct: These are tendencies that spontaneously evoke feelings of pain or pleasure in certain situations.
• The Indirect: These arise from thought, stemming from an idea developed from an external impression. This reflection is caused by passion.

Descartes and Locke on the Causes of Error

Descartes: Causes of Error

Descartes posits a conflict between will and understanding as the root of error. The will, he argues, desires to extend beyond the boundaries of understanding.

He identifies a hierarchy of ideas:

• Innate ideas: Possessing the highest degree of certainty, originating from God. Examples include the cogito and adventitious substance.
• Adventitious ideas: Possessing a lower degree of certainty, with God serving as the guarantor of truth. An example is factitious extension.
• Factitious ideas: False ideas stemming from the imagination, representing arbitrary inventions.

Locke: Causes of Error

Locke attributes error to several factors:

• Insufficient evidence
• Inability to discover evidence
• Unwillingness

Plato: Historical and Cultural Context

Plato was born after the death of Pericles. Athens and Sparta were engaged in the Peloponnesian War, marked by inequalities in political administration. Sparta eventually defeated Athens, leading to the establishment of the Government of the Thirty Tyrants, which failed, and democracy was restored. With the rise of King Philip of Macedonia, the city-state was elevated. There was significant social division, with the aristocracy embracing democracy, which in turn led to demagoguery, a political system that Plato did not approve of. An economic crisis occurred, although cultural life was at its peak. Education was highly valued, based on stable knowledge and learning.

Philosophical Context

Pythagoreans: Plato... Continue reading "Plato's Philosophy: Ideas, Context, and the Theory of Forms" »

John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism: Chapter III Summary

The Ultimate Sanction of the Principle of Utility

To those who question the binding force of the Principle of Utility (or the Principle of General Happiness) as a determinant of our actions, Mill responds that whenever we adopt an ethical criterion, we inevitably ask: Why must I act in a certain way?

The answer lies in the forces that condition our actions, which are categorized as either external or internal. (Mill notes that only with deeply ingrained moral education and public opinion would the foundations of morality not be jeopardized.)

The Obligation to Promote General Happiness

In the case of Utilitarianism, we wonder: Why am I obligated to promote the general happiness? Mill argues that... Continue reading "John Stuart Mill: Internal and External Sanctions of Utilitarianism" »

For Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle's theory, the ultimate human goal is happiness, achieved through the realization of human potential. Thus, to determine moral standards of behavior, we humans rely on knowledge and reason.

Natural Moral Law: Aquinas's View

God created the world and its development, imposing a set of laws known as the eternal law. Natural law is a part of this eternal law and refers to human behavior that is dictated by reason. The rules governing human conduct, according to natural law, are:

• As a substance, humans tend to preserve their existence.
• As an animal, humans tend to reproduce.
• As a rational being, humans tend to know the truth and live in society.

Achieving these tendencies is considered the natural good.

Natural

"Among the things / natural inclinations."

In the text, Aquinas makes a parallel between speculative reason and practical reason to try to show that the precept of natural law is unique. Like the first thing to be understood is the entity, the second captures "good." And like in that there is a first principle of any demonstration, obvious and provable, the principle of contradiction, in this there is a first principle: "Good is what all people crave," which is derived from the first moral precept of natural law: "We must act and pursue good and avoid evil." This bill, only natural, immutable, indelible, and universally valid, is that which serves as a criterion for evaluating all moral actions of man, all the ethical, "All other precepts of... Continue reading "Aquinas on Natural Law: Principles and Inclinations" »

Transcendental Idealism

Transcendental idealism is an epistemological and metaphysical conception developed by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant in the eighteenth century.

Briefly stated, transcendental idealism posits that all knowledge requires two elements: first, something external to the subject (given, or material principle), i.e., an object of knowledge. Second, something internal to the subject (the job or formal principle), which is the individual who knows. Kant claims that the conditions of all knowledge are set not by the object known, but by the knowing subject. The knowing subject introduces ways of understanding that are not pre-existing in reality. For Kant, knowledge is born from the union of sensibility with understanding;... Continue reading "Kant, Marx, and Hegel: A Comparison of Philosophical Ideologies" »

Kant's Concept of Duty and Free Will

According to Kant, our choices are free only if they are determined by duty. The human will is autonomous when it acts according to its own dictates, irrespective of other considerations. These actions are undertaken out of a sense of duty.

Rawls's Theory of the Original Position

Rawls's concept of the original position imagines a group of individuals behind a "veil of ignorance." They are unaware of their gender, wealth, race, religion, or any other characteristic that could lead to biased interests. This total ignorance defines the original position.

Justice According to Plato and Rawls

Plato views justice as the state where each part of the soul fulfills its specific virtues. The rational part of the soul... Continue reading "Kant, Rawls, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes: Philosophy Insights" »

Thought and Language: Speaking as We Think

We maintain that you first think and then externalize the inner thoughts through language, i.e., that there is a thought prior to language which is then channeled linguistically.

Thinking as We Talk: Language Dependence

This affirms the dependence of our thinking on our language.

Thought to Speech: Flawed Yet Exuberant?

Flawed (or Deficient) -> In expressing our thoughts orally, nuances are lost.

Exuberant (or Rich) -> Because we can realize new nuances.

Beyond Reflection: Other Language Functions

With language, we reflect ourselves, communicate with others, and also try to change the thinking and behavior of others.

Origin of Jargon and Slang

Each society has its language, i.e., a specific way of using... Continue reading "Language, Thought, and Society: Key Questions" »