Review for Intro to Western Philosophy Test DO NOW: Take out all notes and handouts that you have for this class. This review will touch on the major themes, names and vocabulary that you will be tested on on the coming Exam.

I.Introduction to Philosophy A.Vocabulary 1.Philosophy From the Greek: Philo (Love) of Sophia (Knowledge) - study of ideas about knowledge, truth, the nature and meaning of life, etc.

Knowledge Knowledge is the awareness and understanding of particular aspects of reality. It is the clear, lucid information gained through the process of reason applied to reality.

Types of Knowledge: a priori - - knowledge is possible prior to, any experience, and requires only the use of reason.

a posteriori (or empirical), where knowledge is possible only after certain sense experiences, in addition to the use of reason (e.g. knowledge of the colour or shape of a physical object, or knowledge of geographical locations).

II. Socrates “An unexamined life is not worth living” Symposium - a convivial party after a banquet in ancient Greece with music, conversation and a free interchange of ideas

Socratic Dialectic

III. Plato A. Things to Know: 1. The Apology 2. The Allegory of the Cave 3. Forms

Recognizing his ignorance in most worldly affairs, Socrates concluded that he must be wiser than other men only in that he knows that he knows nothing. In order to spread this peculiar wisdom, Socrates explains that he considered it his duty to question supposed "wise" men and to expose their false wisdom as ignorance. These activities earned him much admiration amongst the youth of Athens, but much hatred and anger from the people he embarrassed. Plato’s Apology Things you should know:

Socrates likens himself to a gadfly stinging the lazy horse which is the Athenian state. Without him, Socrates claims, the state is liable to drift into a deep sleep, but through his influence--irritating as it may be to some-- it can be wakened into productive and virtuous action. Plato’s Apology Things you should know:

Allegory Allegory - a story in which the characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life or for a political or historical situation allegory-of-the-cave-by-plato-summary- analysis-explanation.html Allegory - a story in which the characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life or for a political or historical situation allegory-of-the-cave-by-plato-summary- analysis-explanation.html

II. Aristotle A.Things to Know: 1.Empiricism

The Law of Non-Contradiction

Inductive Reasoning

Deductive Reasoning

Circular Logic

Using the examples of four types of logic you have learned about, create an original example for each. The Law of Non- Contradiction Circular Logic

Works of ancient philosophers are translated from Greek to Arab and finally to Latin and brought to Europe with the meeting of cultures during the Crusades and through trade with the Arab world. Arab and Jewish philosophers also had a great influence on the development of scholasticism. The Intellectual life of the Middle Ages is based in Scholasticism – a method of philosophy/learning that attempted to reconcile the philosophy of the ancient classical philosophers like Aristotle with Christian theology.

The Christian (Catholic) Church was considered above such earthly concerns and is the center of learning in Medieval Europe.

St. Augustine 354 – 430 CE Originally a believer in Manichaeism: A religious belief that the world is is a constant struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness.strugglegoodevil

Humans are rational beings In order to be rational humans must have free will If humans have free will then they can choose between good and evil. According to Augustine:

According to Augustine, God is all powerful and all good, therefore he did not create evil. Evil is simple the lack of good, similar to a blind man who lacks sight or a thief who lacks honesty.

St. Augustine saw Plato’s philosophy as profoundly congenial to Christianity in that Plato’s concept of two worlds, one eternally perfect and the other inherently imperfect, mirrors Christianity’s own postulation of two worlds, earthly and divine.

Thomas Aquinas In his work "Summa Theologica", Aquinas details five rational proofs for the existence of God,

Faith and reason are the two primary tools which are both necessary together for processing this data in order to obtain true knowledge of God. He believed that God reveals himself through nature, so that rational thinking and the study of nature is also the study of God (a blend of Aristotelian Greek philosophy with Christian doctrine). Aristotelian

Teleology - a reason or explanation for something in the function of its end. For example, a teleological explanation of why forks have prongs is that this design helps humans eat certain foods; stabbing food to help humans eat is what forks are for. According to Aristotle the teleology of an acorn was an oak tree.

Ockham’s Razor