PHILOSOPHY Murphy Fall 2012 FINAL STUDY GUIDE TEST: Monday Dec. 17, 8:00 10:00 a.m. (can leave if completed after 9:30 a.m.) FORMAT: 20 Objective Questions 50% re-runs, 50% new = 40 points [15 minutes] 7 Short Scenarios 70 points [45 min] o You will be given 8 factual scenarios (some with a quote). o You must answer 7 of the 8. o You must identify [1] the philosophical issue involved, [2] resolve the issue, applying concepts and arguments developed in the class. o Movies are good material for these scenarios see in outline. 1 Essay 20 points [30 min] o You will be given 3 essay prompts that are pretty broadly worded, so will allow for a variety of fully thought out responses. o You will choose ONLY ONE to answer, picking the one that you believe you can answer most fully. o You must apply the thought of at least two philosophers discussed in the course. They can either agree or disagree with the argument you are making. COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE. philosophy metaphysics ethics --- Ch 1 What is Human Nature? nature / human nature Hobbes 7 aesthics morality and justice Huxley animal-like desires beneath thin veneer of civility 14 Existentialism o No human nature: humans thrown indifferently into indifferent world o Often not always - atheists o Albert Camus Sisyphus & the rock absurdity of life 15 o Jean-Paul Sartre pp 16-17 - being radically free = each person must take full responsibility for his/her existence // live authentically & responsibly Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into world, he is responsible for everything he does No God or God-given blueprint that defines humans in advance = each human must define & choose her or himself Historicism: Hegel p16 - understanding of any aspect of human life cannot be had without understanding: o Relationships among humans o Groups to which they belong
o Larger historical and social forces soul Plato 8-9 o Dualism // Body v. Soul (mind) Appetite / Spirit / Reason --- Car accident analogy Ch 2: What is Personal Identity? Big Questions: Who Are You? Do you have a blueprint of you and does that blueprint stay the same over time? Is Identity based on your body?. Or does it come from your mind, memories & experiences? and, if the later, how does memory affect identity? numerical identity (1 and the same) vs. qualitative identity (2 are exactly the same) Hume s bundle-of-perceptions theory - p 19-20 forms Aristotle p. 20-22 continuity p22-23 Heraclitus : identity in constant state of flux/no continuity: You could not step twice into the same river; for other waters are ever flowing on to you. Shinto shrine: destroyed every 20 years and rebuilt cloning memory as part of personal identity continuing or continuous consciousness - John Locke p28-29 o keeps you connected to the past >>>over time, even though things change (such as body), you stay one & the same. o As far as this consciousness can be extended backwards to any past action or thought, so far reaches the identity of the person - Locke o Vs. Thomas Reid objects gallant officer objection : Boy who stole apples NOT the same as: Soldier who saves dying comrade in battle, and also NOT same as: Decorated army general Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Groundhog Day Ch3 If it Thinks, Is it a Person? Big Questions: What makes a human being a person? Thinking?. And just what is thinking anyway? Does not thinking = not a person? Can thinking animals or machines = persons? thinking René Descartes
o o Locke agrees I think, therefore I am self-aware = person Aristotle: To be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious of our own existence Thinking = doubting, willing, imagining, feeling, reasoning, reflecting, remembering Only humans do this type of activity >>> only humans = persons Is capacity to think enough? - Sleepwalker? Coma? - Newborn? Fetus? - Descartes: must be always thinking vs. Locke: capacity for thought enough Animals? Descartes: dumb brutes p39 If thinking, does that = persons with legal rights? Koko the gorilla? Computers/Machines? Watson the Jeopardy computer? Descartes: animal = non-conscious biological machinery = machines Artificial intelligence Ch4: Does God Exist? Big Question: Can the existence of God be proven by reason? only by faith? Are there alternatives to theism that give meaning, provide morals? theists // atheists // agnostics deism God as disinterested entity sets universe in motion, then sit back Voltaire CRITIQUES: Karl Marx p53 Religion as opiate for masses Friedrich Nietzsche p54 whether God exists or not, people would need to create one God is dead meant to shock, critique, describe David Hume p54-55 o Criticism of miracles Can Philosophy/Reason Prove God Exists?: o Aristotle Prime Mover universe so complex, must be divine o Proven by First Cause : o Aquinas p58: God = uncaused first cause o More rational to conclude an eternal Being/God caused the existence of finite things than argue they came out of nothingness. Design Argument vs. The Design is Flawed vs. No Design Experience-with-the-Divine = Existence (Augustine, Mohammed)
Ch5 What is a Good Life? Big Questions: Should a good life be happy?...pleasureful?...equal the performance of duty?...equal fulfilling wants and desires? /// Does luck or fate dictate a good life? Is it measured on a daily basis or at the end of your life?... And does that matter? Pursuit of happiness Jeremy Bentham - good life = pleasure (same as happiness) - higher and lower pleasures - consider intensity, duration and certainty duty = doing right things at the right time (see also p.93 ch 6) Immanuel Kant: - have a duty (imperative) to do important (virtuous) things - should not be done out of mere inclination but duty >>> lasting happiness - "...it is always a matter of duty that a dealer should not overcharge an inexperienced purchaser, and wherever there is much commerce the prudent tradesman does not overcharge, but keeps a fixed price for everyone, so that a child buys of him as we'll as any other." - responsibility not just to acquire virtues but also to exercise in ways that are consistent with carrying out moral duties - virtues n to carried out in this way can become dangerous [Darth Vader/Dark Side scenario] Confucius - good life (dao) = life of virtue (de) - humaneness (ren) // - righteousness (yi) // - propriety (li) egoism = good life is one in which self-interest is the only fundamental object of pursuit in life - only duty in life = look out for self (see also p93, ch6) existentialism (see also p.93) for people to truly exist = strive to give lives meaning, no matter how hard to do on your own or how fearful you are of that freedom vs. happiness dependent on God, political leaders, employer, evolution, etc. Soren Kiekegaard - don't take your existence for granted; honor it by taking full responsibility for your lives & your happiness Jean-Paul Satre: condemned to be free good life from commitments & choices you make Ch6: What is a Purposeful Life? --this repeats a lot of material from ch.5 SKIP all of chapter except: Communitarian Michael Sandel : loss of commitment ot community service and civic engagement >>> economic selfishness and social isolation see also p.258 Additional thoughts re: hedonism, egoism, virtue/duty, existentialism p 93 Groundhog Day
Ch7: What are Beauty and the Arts? Ch8: What is Value, Purpose, Meaning and Truth in the Arts? Ch9: Is there Good and Bad Art? aesthic 2 definitions of beauty p102 aesthetic judgment disinterest = voluntary detachment of yourself from everyday desires, opinions and thoughts that might interfere w/ aesthetic enjoyment of artwork or natural object >>>experience w/out bias or prejudice. aesthetic experience [vs. instrumental value or intrinsic value] imitationalism emotionalism formalism instrumentalism institutionalism content & context taste: subjective vs. objective cultural relativism difficult art dangerous art // censorship Simon Schama: The Power of Art Guernica YOUR art, movie, music choices Ch10: Where Do Good and Evil Come From? Ch11: Why be Good? Ch12: What is Good? morality separate from God? Plato the Euthyphro dilemma Aquinas: God endorsed a moral standard God discovered William of Ockham: divine command theory: God invented standards of what is good and what is evil MLK: self-evident truth The problem of Evil: If God exists, why is there evil? moral rationalism (= moral theories emphasizing use of human reason to discover moral truths): natural law theory = standards governing human behavior derived from very nature of human beings)
o human thinking processes (by their very nature!) >>> moral beliefs and judgments o don t like pain? >>> don t inflict it on others o Aquinas: human reason central to humanity >>> natural for moral code to come from ability to reason best reasons approach = moral actions are consequences of people thinking about moral questions (such as how to act in given situation) o moral errors from imperfect human reasoning: faulty reasoning insufficient facts categorical imperative Immanuel Kant Act as though the maxim of your action were by your will to become a universal law of nature categorical rule = NO exceptions // imperative = moral person MUST give that command. Hobbes: morality is NOT innate people are born basically selfish creatures and our lives ongoing struggle to fulfill selfish desires. NO human instinct to be good. moral relativism vs. universal law moral skepticism WHY be good? Avoid punishment: o Aristotle: need threat of punishment because even virtuous people can behave irrationally o Augustine: most folks are evil & will suffer punishment by an omnipotent God; a few good souls saved and off to heaven o Hobbes: HARSH punishment a good idea for rule breakers. MILGRAM Experiment CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS a few more ideas to come.