Ancient Philosophical Influences

• Why did Plato question how we can know what is true and real?


  Because the world is constantly changing and our opinions clash.
• Why did he think it must be possible to know something?


  We are able to understand universal concepts such as beauty or justice.
• What was Plato's one over many argument?


  There are many different examples of a concept (like beauty), but they all share one common property.
• What was Plato's ideal standard argument?


  That we measure things against the common property/standard. For example, we measure a beautiful statue or person against the common standard of beauty.
• Can you remember the features of the analogy of the cave?


  The prisoners, the outside world, and the Sun.
• What did the features of the cave represent?


  The prisoners represent how humanity sees the world (i.e. the World of Appearances), the outside world represents true reality (i.e. the World of the Forms), and the Sun represents the Form of the Good.
• What conclusions did Plato draw from the cave analogy?


  That empirical knowledge is flawed since our senses are deceptive, so we cannot gain knowledge through our senses.
• What are the three levels of reality?


  Mental images/perceptions, sensible objects, and the Forms.
• Describe the World of the forms.


  Immaterial, pure, reality, unchanging/immutable.
• What word describes the relationship between particulars/phenomena in the world of appearances/senses and the world of the Forms?


  Participate.
• How do we gain knowledge of the World of the Forms?


  Through logic and reason.
• Who created the world of appearances?


  The Demiurge.
• Why are we able to identify particulars/phenomena in the world of appearances?


  Anamnesis: our souls come from the World of the Forms, explaining why we can recognise universal concepts.
• How are the Forms arranged?


  In a hierarchy.
• How are the Form of the Good and the other Forms connected?


  The Form of the Good participates in every form.
• Why is the Form of the Good important?


  It is the most universal form and is at the top of the hierarchy.
• Give a strength of Plato's theory.


  Plato's theory explains why we are all able to recognise universal concepts such as beauty and justice.
• Give a weakness of Plato's theory.


  Plato does not clearly explain the link between the World of the Senses and the World of the Forms, he only uses vague terms such as 'participates' and 'particulars'.
• Who was Aristotle?


  Plato's student.
• How did Aristotle differ from Plato?


  Aristotle argued that knowledge comes from our observations and experiences using our senses, rather than from reason.
• What term would we use to describe Plato and what term would we use to describe Aristotle?


  Plato is a rationalist and Aristotle is an Empiricist.
• How did Aristotle explain motus/change?


  Aristotle said that change was caused when things moved from actuality to potentiality.
• What were the four causes? Give an example of each.


  Material cause: what it is made from e.g. the material of a car, formal cause: the shape that makes something recognisable e.g. the general shape of a car, efficient cause: the cause of its existence e.g. the engineer of the car, final cause: the purpose of its existence e.g. the car was made for transport.
• What is the Prime Mover? Give four terms to describe it.


  The ultimate final cause that causes things to change. It is unchanging, eternal, immaterial and perfect.
• What phrase does Aristotle use to explain how the Prime Mover is the cause of motus/change?


  It causes change by desire/attraction.
• Is the Prime Mover the cause of the universe itself?


  No, for Aristotle the universe always existed and so nothing caused it.
• Does the Prime Mover know you exist? Why/why not?


  No, it is a deistic God, meaning that has no knowledge of us, since the process of thinking would require change, which would make it imperfect.
• Give a strength of Aristotle's theory.


  Aristotle's theory explains why we can observe motus/change in the universe.
• Give a weaknesses of Aristotle's theory.


  Aristotle offers no evidence for the Prime Mover's existence, despite being an empiricist.
• Give one similarity of Plato's form of the good and Aristotle's Prime Mover.


  Both are transcendent and cannot be known through the senses.
• Give one difference between Plato's Form of the Good and Aristotle's Prime Mover.


  The Prime Mover is part of the material universe beyond the planets, while the Form of the Good is part of the World of the Forms, separate from the universe.
• Give one strength of rationalism.


  We all have an understanding of universal concepts such as beauty or justice. This knowledge can only come from reason.
• Give one strength of empiricism.


  Empiricism is the basis of modern science: rejecting it would include rejecting modern scientific theory.