Philo_ Unit 4 Review (5)

Vocabulary Words 35. Autonomy: the right or condition of self-government or self-determination. Example: The country fought for autonomy and independence from colonial rule. 36.a) Consciousness: the state of being aware of and able to think and perceive one's surroundings and experiences. Example: Meditation can help in expanding consciousness and improving focus. b) Conscience: an inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one's behaviour. Example: She listened to her conscience and decided not to cheat on the exam. 37. Transcendence: the act of rising above something to a superior state or level. Example: Through meditation, one can achieve a sense of transcendence and connection with the universe. 38. Zeitgeist: the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history. Example: The 1960s were characterised by a zeitgeist of social and political upheaval. 39.a) Doublethink: the act of simultaneously accepting two contradictory beliefs or values as true. Example: In Orwell's "1984," the ruling party used doublethink to control the minds of the people. b) To memory hole: to discard or delete information or memory. Example: The government tried to memory hole the controversial decision from public memory. 40. To manifest: to display or show a quality or feeling. Example: Her anger manifested itself in a fit of rage. 41. Panacea: a solution or remedy for all problems or difficulties. Example: The belief in a single panacea for all diseases is a myth. 42. To mitigate: to make less severe, harsh, or painful. Example: Regular exercise can help mitigate the risk of heart disease. 43.a) Periphery: the outer edge or boundary of something. Example: The small town was located on the periphery of the city. b) Penumbra: the partial or imperfect shadow (casted by an opaque objectect) outside the complete shadow of an opaque body. Example: During the eclipse, the penumbra of the moon was visible in the sky, creating an eerie and otherworldly atmosphere. 44.a) Elusive: difficult to grasp, find, catch, or achieve. Example: The criminal remained elusive for years, evading the police at every turn. b) Illusion: a false idea or belief that appears real or true. Example: The magician created the illusion of a disappearing act. c) Chimera: a thing that is hoped or wished for but is impossible to achieve or exists only in the imagination.

Example: Achieving world peace remains a chimera for many nations. 45. To instantiate: to represent or embody something in a concrete or tangible form. Example: The painting sought to instantiate the artist's vision of the world. 46. Contingent: dependent on certain conditions or circumstances. Example: The success of the project is contingent on obtaining enough funding. 47. Conjecture: an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information. Example: The statement was mere conjecture, with no evidence to support it. 48. Ineffable: too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words. Example: The beauty of the sunset was ineffable, leaving us speechless. 49. To galvanize: to shock or excite someone into taking action. Example: The speech by the activist galvanized the audience to join the cause. 50. To intimate: to hint or suggest indirectly. Example: She intimated her feelings about the decision without explicitly stating them. Basic Matters a. What is Morality? How we ought to act, be, and live. Normative vs.Descriptive Claim - Normative: asserts what should be. - E.g: You should not steal. - Descriptive: asserts what is. - E.g. The man did steal the apple. Plato Context: - week of Socrates trial - Euthryohro was going to persecute his father and encounters Socrates who was going to HIS trail a. Euthyphro’s 3 Definitions of Piety & Socrates’ Corresponding Objections 1. Piety is To prosecute the wrongdoer. ● This fails to define the essence of what piety is. ● It provides an example, a particular, of what piety could be. ● And a particular does not = an essence. (Particular is not a definition)

❤ Divine Command Theory and Its Relevance Here ● What is The D.C.T: ❖ If God commands X, then it is good. If God forbids X, then it is evil. ● Its Relevance: ❖ Case 1 and Case 2 of D.C.T.: respectively challenge each horn. (WDYM) ❖ DCT is relevant because it addresses the question of whether an action is good because the gods command it, or if the gods command it because it is inherently good. ❤ Critical Assessment of Divine Command Theory (ITS WRONG as its similar to euthyphors dilemma) - With DCT, God is presented as a humanesque being. ❖ Suggesting that God is dependent on other things as we are dependent on other things (oxygen, water, food, shelter). ❖ s uggesting that God has many parts just like how humans are complex beings made of many parts. (e.g. oxygen, water, caregivers). - ✯ CONTRADICTORY → the DCT violates 2 key principles: 1) There is no being greater than God. 2) God’s existence is completely independent of others. ( (note: to be independent is greater than to be dependent) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. - Since God possesses no qualities, God is x,y,z itself. . ❤ The relevance of divine simplicity here? - There's nothing greater than God, God is independent → it follows God depends on nothing else → if this is true, then: - Conclusion: God is simple, and cannot have any parts(material or immaterial); essentially is esse. - If we follow the idea that something is good because God commands it → piety being arbitrary. THIS CAN BE SOLVED with divine simplicity. - ✯ Divine simplicity: (this is true) - Says that God is simple. ( All perfections are contained in God’s form - God has no parts - he is one) - Since God is a simple being ,normativity emanates from God’s nature - So, God is “ what should be”. - Meaning → ( God is not loving, nor justice, nor beautiful→ he is love, justice and beauty itself - God is completely simple, he is what he has. ) - ✯ So: God’s command - “Be like me” - is non-arbitrary and unchangeable. - Divine simplicity the DCT is wrong as God is not loving, or just, he IS love and he IS justice. ❤ At the university level, what conclusion is often drawn from this dialogue? ● Preface: You begin with Plato in Intro to Philosophy. The Prof determines that no one is truly a relativist. ● ✯ The most common conclusion concerning the Euthyphro Dilemma, DCT, and the modern DCT: Morality doesn’t depend on, nor is it influenced by God. ❤ 3. Do you think this conclusion is justified? ✯ When considering just the Euthyphro Dilemma → yes the conclusion is justified (as these things have obvious flaws) But: ● Conclusion do not consider Divine Simplicity . ● It ignores centuries of Natural Law Ethics (e.g. the establishment of university philosophy, latin philosophy) which laid the foundational concepts and principles of philosophy.

Aristotle a. The Chief Good ✯ Chief good is things that we desire for its own sake. All creatures aim chiefly at pleasure, for its own sake and not for the sake of anything else . CHIEF GOOD = EUDAIMONIA (as it’s the highest of human good) ● This is: eudaimonia (the state of flourishing, functioning/living well, success, thriving). ● It’s the highest human good, and the only good that is desirable for its own sake (i.e it’s an end in itself). b. The Function Argument ● Premise #1: You achieve the chief good, insofar as you achieve eudaimonia. ● Premise #2: You achieve eudaimonia, insofar as you fulfil your function (your telos). ● Premise #3: You achieve your function insofar as you participate in rational activity of moral and intellectual activity. ● Conclusion: You achieve eudaimonia insofar as you participate in rational activity of moral and intellectual virtue. Moral Virtue (Courage & Temperance) ✯ You must act with moral and intellectual virtue consistently in order to achieve eudaimonia. ✯ When you act with a deficiency of virtue, or with vice, then you are failing your telos, and distancing yourself from eudaimonia. (You achieve eudaimonia in so far as you fulfill your telos) (YOU MUST ACT IN MODERATION); ● Ex. Courage: ● As a deficiency (Cowardice) - There is a lack of willingness to face danger for the sake of a good, and a lack of confidence in the face of danger. - E.g. A refusal to save a child from fire when it is safe for you to do so. ● As a vice (Foolhardiness) - There is an excessive willingness, sense of confidence, and a lack of fear in the face of danger. - E.g. Putting yourself in danger to save your goldfish. ● As a rational mean (Courage): There is a balance of willingness, confidence, and fear that enables you to act rationally in the face of danger to attain a good. - E.g. You are able to save a child from fire successfully. ● E.g. Temperance: ● As a deficiency (Insensibility): There is a deficient willingness and desire for pleasure to the extent which is harmful to you and others.

WHAT Is the by product of these activities: pleasure and flou rishing ✯ You need all 5 to wholly live in eudaimonia. ✯ Acting in line with our rational faculties (engaging in rational activity) allows us to flourish, which allows us to feel pleasure. (Flourishing is pleasurable) ✯ Pleasure is a by-product of these activities (alongside flourishing) - Pleasure ascends as one goes up the triangle. Remember: we do not engage in these activities for pleasure (e.g. we are not courageous for pleasure, we are to attain some good) - Reason doesn’t demand we search for pleasure. ★ Aristotle emphasises the top 2 activities( moral virtue and contemplative activity) because they require the strongest use of reason. -And reason is what arguably makes us human… d. Critical Assessment of Aristotle’s Moral Philosophy ❤ Is it wrong to judge others? - No. - Aristotle only gives us the responsibility of making right or wrong choices. - There are many different ways to live a good life (e.g. to raise a family vs. being a priest). FLAWS ● Is it elitist? - Yes - Not everyone has time to dedicate to practices ranked higher on the triangle. ● Lack of emphasis on the communal telos of the human person? - Aristotle prioritises intellectual activity over human relationships. - This demotes the importance of love and communion - This could arguably be the highest good... - This is arguably against human nature, and mistaken... ● Is Aristotle correct? ● He is correct in his Core Idea: We act towards a good. ● Evidence: ● We determine what is good by observing the consequences of specific actions. ● We mimic this behaviour in order to act for the good, and fulfil our telos. St. Thomas Essence of Law ❤ What is the essence of law? ✯ Law is nothing else than an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community and promulgated

Main Types Of Law ❤ What are the 4 main types of law? ✯ Eternal Law: God’s perfect plan (not fully knownable to us) Example: The blueprint of the entire universe - this determines the way animals, people etc should behave ✯ Divine Law: The law revealed through divine revelation,intended to guide our behaviour. ★ which is the law first given to us by God ✯ Natural Law: Our participation in eternal law through reason. ✯ Positive Law: Human Law: Law that is man-made. 1st Principle of Practical Reason ❤ What is the 1st principle of practical reason? ✯ To use reason as a means of directing our actions towards the common good. ● Objectivity of goodness: : - What we subjectively desire is good. - If we look at what we all desire, we can determine what is good for society. - Issues: We control what is good, and our desires are not always moral. - Remember: Aristotle and St. T argue the opposite. - Morality is objective. - Things are intrinsically good/bad, and we use our reason to determine it. - In natural law, we observe the telos and nature of things, and understand it to be good/evil by looking at consequences. Through patterns we perceive goodness. and evil. - Then: we seek to imitate goodness, in hopes of flourishing. ✯ Goodnes is something that we subjectively desire. ✯ Therefore, if we examine what we desire, we can deduce what is good. Problem : Our desires are not always moral, thus our outlook on what is good or not can be flawed. ✯ Morality is objective . - Which is why we use reason to determine what is intrinsically good or bad. ✯ In natural law, - we observe the telos and nature of things, - and understand it to be good/evil by looking at consequences. - Through patterns we perceive goodness. and evil. ● Basic Human Goods: - Health - Wealth - Communal Relations - Etc. ● Secondary Precepts: - They are the products of the first principle and the basic human goods. - 1st Principles: self-evident truths concerning natural law. Human Actions + Evaluation ✯ 1. Moral Object: Look at what is being done. ✯ 2. Motive: Look at why the action is being done. ✯ 3. Circumstances: Answers W5H (Example: the circumstances surrounding the situation.)

- - Asserting morality is rational, and being moral/engaging in moral activity is good for us, and that immorality is irrational because it is bad for us. ✯ from eternal law, each being is given a unique form and level of intellect which it cannot derive from its nature. ✯ Natural law orders us to fulfil our telos and outlines how we can do this (bc it comes from our nature) ✯ Humans create the positive law from determining natural law through the use of reason. - Humans have the most intellectual capacity - this also means that we can move away from what we are naturally ordered to do. ★ The underlying theme is divine law, which is the law first given to us by God, and it is revealed through revelation. John Stuart Mill - Has written many books - Lived in England during 1806-1873 - During his childhood he lived a rigorous education and had an outstanding intellect - The consequences of an action determine if an action is right or wrong, not what the action itself Greatest Happiness Principle ❤ What is the greatest happiness principle? ✯ “The Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” The Swine Objection & Mill’s Response ❤ What is the swine objection? ✯ “To suppose that life has (as they express it) no higher end than pleasure—no better and nobler object of desire and pursuit—they designate as utterly mean and grovelling; is a doctrine worthy only of swine. . .” - what Mill calls the “doctrine of swine” that is an objection to Utilitarianism. - This objection takes the utilitarian doctrine is - unfit for humans because it recognizes no higher purpose to life than the mere pursuit of pleasure. - Like pigs ❤ What is Mill’s reply?

✯ 1. We must consider the quantity and quality of pleasure. 2. We can distinguish higher from lower pleasures only by the judgement of those who have experienced both. 3. Given (1) and (2), we can conclude that “[i]t is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.” What is the Unreasonable Standard Objection? - jsjs What is Mill’s reply ? Don’t confound the rule or action with the motive of it Happiness is desirable, only thing that matters Mill’s account of how we can determine which pleasures are higher and lower Millian Utilitarianism vs. Benthamite Utilitarianism ✯ Bentham: Push pin is as good as poetry? - more simplistic utiliarism, no rank of pleasure ✯ Bentham Updated: Playstation is as good as poetry? - Telos being end of good, their fufilment brings good/happiness ✯ Fulfillment brings good/happiness Critical Assessment of Mill’s Utilitarianism Utilitiarianism: the doctrine that something is good only if it - Manifesting wrong actions declared right, evil decalred good - Telelogical smuggling - Demolition of reason; reason as servant - Calculation and moral epistemology Friedrich Nietzsche ● the aphorism of the madman: - Overview: - The madman calls out “I seek God!” in the marketplace. - “Questions - “where has God gone? - “We have killed him” - How? - Consequences: - Loss of human dignity - Loss of souls - Loss of free will - Loss of objective morality - Loss of the intelligibility of the universe - With no intelligent order to the world, there is no order - it is all just stuff.