Ancient Philosophical Influences

• Who was a rationalist philosopher known for his ideas on knowledge?


  Plato
• What does Plato believe is the primary source of knowledge?


  Reason
• How does Plato define reality?

  As a division between the physical and spiritual worlds
• What is the physical world known through, according to Plato?

  Sense experience
• Why does Plato believe knowledge of the Forms is more certain?

  Because the Forms are unchanging
• What does Plato think about the world of Forms?

  It is eternal and unchanging
• How do physical phenomena relate to their Ideal Forms?


  They participate in their Ideal Forms
• What are the Forms according to Plato?

  Concepts and universals in the spiritual world
• How do we recognize concepts like Justice or Beauty?


  By seeing examples in the physical world
• What is the significance of the Form of the Good?


  It illuminates all other Forms
• What does Plato believe about philosophers ruling the state?

  Philosophers recognize true goodness
• How does Plato explain our knowledge of the Forms?

  We know them innately from birth
• What does Plato suggest about the nature of our souls?

  They are immortal and exist without bodies
• What does the Allegory of the Cave illustrate?


  The inferiority of empirical knowledge
• How does Plato compare the physical world to the cave?

  As dark and shadowy
• What do the prisoners in the cave represent?

  People who accept sensory experiences uncritically
• What happens when a prisoner leaves the cave?

  They gain knowledge of the true world
• What does Plato suggest about those who never question their senses?

  They are imprisoned by ignorance
• What is a criticism of Plato's thought regarding the existence of the Forms?

  There is no evidence for their existence
• What do critics say about the physical world in relation to knowledge?

  It is worth studying despite uncertainties
• What is unclear about Plato's theory of Forms?

  How phenomena participate in their Forms
• What do critics argue about the recognition of Goodness?


  Not everyone agrees on its definition
• What is a positive aspect of Plato's thought regarding senses?

  It encourages looking beyond surface appearances
• Who was an empiricist philosopher known for his ideas on knowledge?


  Aristotle
• What does Aristotle believe is the primary source of knowledge?

  Experience through the senses
• How does Aristotle explain reality?

  Through observation of the physical world
• What are Aristotle's four causes?


  Material, formal, efficient, final causes
• What does the material cause explain?


  What something is made of
• What does the formal cause explain?


  What shape or features something has
• What does the efficient cause explain?


  The activity that brings change
• What does the final cause refer to?


  The purpose or reason for existing
• What is Aristotle's concept of the Prime Mover?


  The first cause of all actuality
• Why must the Prime Mover be eternal?


  It exists necessarily
• How does the Prime Mover cause change?

  By attraction towards its perfection
• What must the Prime Mover be in terms of potentiality?

  It must have no potentiality for change
• Why must the Prime Mover be perfectly good?


  It is uncompounded and cannot be corrupted
• What is a criticism of Aristotle's writing?


  It often lacks clarity
• What do critics argue about the universe's purpose?


  It may exist without any overall reason
• What do some critics praise about Aristotle's approach?

  It encourages scientific investigation through observation
• What is Aristotle credited with in philosophy?

  Laying groundwork for later philosophers