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

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" »

**Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas**

**Reality and God**

Aquinas affirms that God is the creator of the universe and, therefore, is necessary, whereas created beings are contingent. In contingent beings, there is a distinction between essence and existence, as their essence does not imply their existence, but God's does. Essence is the power of being, and existence is the act of being. In turn, Aquinas provides a hierarchical organization according to the potential of their essence and likeness to God. The God of St. Thomas is a creator God who knows and loves his creatures. Aquinas argues that reason is the demonstration of the existence of God. In turn, he defends that God is a necessary being. He distinguishes two types of demonstration: *a priori*... Continue reading "St. Thomas Aquinas: Philosophy on Reality, Faith, and Ethics" »

Nietzsche's Revaluation of Values

Critique of Existing Morality

Nietzsche argued that humanity is often despicable and corrupted, primarily due to its false table of values or axiological hierarchy. He proposed the following principles:

• The Transmutation of All Values: We must replace current values with others that elevate us beyond spiritual poverty.
• Critique of Metaphysical Notions: Current values are often based on non-existent entities (e.g., God, truth). Their absence offers no guidance for humanity, leading to hypocrisy.
• The Will to Power: Our most immediate reality is our desire for power. Our actions are governed by instincts, with the will to power as the primary drive.
• Affirmation of Life: Life itself is inherently good and exuberant.

Political Power and Legitimacy

Political power, as understood by powerful politicians, involves the authority responsible for enforcing laws. We obey the law out of fear of punishment. Throughout history, there have been various understandings of political power:

• Absolute: Grants political authority all powers (legislative, executive, judicial).
• Democracy: Power is distributed among various institutions (e.g., the executive branch runs the government; the legislature makes laws; the judiciary judges). In a democracy, the law takes precedence over the ruling power.

Legitimacy: The basis upon which political power rests. It concerns:

• The manner in which the person possessing authority acquired it.
• The exercise of that power, guided by the laws dictated

Epicureanism: Ethical Hedonism

Epicureanism states that the wise person seeks self-sufficiency. Happiness is achieved through pleasure—the satisfaction of natural desires—considered the primary natural asset, the beginning and end of a happy life. The goal is to achieve pleasure and avoid pain.

The wise person is cautious and moderately happy, not carried away by debauchery and excess. The wise person estimates activities that yield more pleasure and less pain, organizing their life by calculating which pleasures are more intense and lasting, with fewer painful consequences. The wise person intelligently distributes pleasures throughout their life. Morality, in this view, is the art of living happily.

Utilitarianism: The Principle of Utility

Utility... Continue reading "Pleasure, Utility, and Duty: Foundations of Ethical Thought" »

Plato's Theory of Ideas: Challenges and Structure

The dialogues Parmenides and Sophist review and question the Theory of Ideas, raising critical issues:

• What sorts of ideas are there? Must there be an idea for each common name?
• In addition to moral ideas, aesthetics, and mathematics, is there an idea for everything, even the ridiculous and the ugly?
• What are the relationships between ideas and things?

If the relationship is based on participation, the idea seems to lose its unity and transcendence. If it is imitation, that would imply a mutual similarity between the idea and the thing, which would lead to supposing another idea beyond both, and so on indefinitely (the Third Man Argument). Do the ideas maintain a relationship among themselves?

The

The 17th Century Knowledge Crisis and Its Responses

The profound crisis of knowledge that emerged in the seventeenth century prompted various philosophical and scientific responses. One significant path was the development of new scientific methodologies aimed at constructing true knowledge, a direction influenced by the rationalism of Descartes. British Empiricism offered another distinct attempt to resolve this crisis.

Rationalism and Empiricism: Divergent Paths

Turning to science, Galileo Galilei significantly emphasized the scientific method. To some extent, the hypothetical-deductive method, evolving from both deductive and inductive approaches, was a creation attributed to Galileo. Following the deductive method, one could align with deductive

Kantian Concepts: A Priori, Freedom, and Ethics

A Priori and A Posteriori in Kant's Philosophy

The concept of a posteriori is not limited to the issue of knowledge; it is also present in Kant's ethics. In general, a priori is defined as that which does not originate from, or is mediated by, immediate experience. Conversely, a posteriori is that which has an empirical origin, lying in experience and ultimately in perception.

The Concept of Freedom

Theoretical reason cannot prove the existence of freedom. It is only able to grasp the phenomenal world, a world in which everything is subject to the law of causality, and therefore where everything happens by natural necessity.

Practical Reason and Moral Experience

However, from the perspective of practical... Continue reading "Kant's Ethical Framework: Freedom, Reason, and Heteronomy" »

Empiricism

What is Empiricism?

Empiricism, as a philosophical current, developed during the 17th and 18th centuries. The term "empiricism" signifies that experience is the essential source of knowledge.

British empiricism stands in contrast to continental rationalism. These are two opposing ways of understanding philosophical activity that persist to this day.

Both share certain characteristics, and empiricism is an heir to rationalist philosophy. Above all, they have in common that we do not know things directly, but rather our knowledge of these things is driven by ideas. The primacy of subjectivity or consciousness is a feature of all modern philosophy, whether rationalist or empiricist.

They differ with respect to the origin of those ideas.... Continue reading "Empiricism and Kantian Ideas: Understanding Knowledge" »

Descartes' Arguments for God's Existence

The Causal Argument for God's Existence

This argument rests on two foundational principles:

1. The theory of the objective reality of ideas, which refers to their representative content.
2. The principle that "nothing comes from nothing," asserting that everything has a cause and a consequence.

The objective reality of an idea must have a real cause proportional to that idea. The idea of an infinite being cannot be caused by a finite being; therefore, its existence is inferred.

God as the Cause of My Being

This argument, also rooted in the theory of objective and formal ideas, posits the following: Within my mind, there exists an idea of perfection. If I were the cause of the objective reality of this idea of perfection,... Continue reading "Descartes' Proofs for God's Existence and Divine Truth" »